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Hero's Path

Blaziken10285

The Dojo Master
I totally agree. Nice chapter. After so much intensity of war it's nice to just relax and listen to the the music.
 

Firebrand

Indomitable
Kindled Hope

“… Just off the coast of Sootopolis City. A team of divers is working to salvage what remains. The submarine was rumored to be carrying the leader of Team Magma, Maximillian VanByron.”

Cole’s hand clenched on the arm of the chair he was in. Maeve, sitting on the opposite arm, looked up from her book and glanced at her trainer. “You mean…”

“Shh!”

“A report has come in saying that a dark shape was seen swimming away from the wrecked submarine, which was attacked by a team of Empoleon and Dragonite, led by Wallace and Lance. Wallace himself has confirmed that the size of the object matches a Swampert, a pokemon that Maximillian is confirmed to own.” The anchor shuffled a stack of papers in front of her. “We await confirmation as to Maximillian’s fate. Should he be confirmed dead, the tide of the conflict in Hoenn could change drastically as the morale of all Magma operatives continues to drop. Ahem. Now, onto a report on the recent gas leak at the Kanto Power Plant.”

“Gas leak…” Joan muttered. “That’s how they explain everything they don’t want us to know.”

“Full fathom five, thy father lies,” Feste sang. “Of his bones are coral made. Nothing of him that doth fade, but doth suffer a sea-change, into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell…”

“Shut up, Feste,” Cole snapped.

The parrot pokemon continued regardless. “Hark! I can hear them now. Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong bell.”

Maeve hissed at the bird. “He said be quiet!”

Feste squawked and flew to the relative safety of Magnus’s head. Cole cradled his head in his hands. Maxie… dead, in all likelihood. His father, the father he hated and despised… dead. So, why did he feel so much sorrow?

“Cole,” Joan asked gently. “Cole, what’s wrong?”

The Firebrand shook his head. Joan did not know of his ancestry. Better she did not. He waved her away. “Nothing. It’s nothing, really.”

“You’re lying to me,” she said, still gently. “You don’t have to.”

“I promise, I’ll tell you some other time. But not here, not now.”

Magnus took her arm. “Leave the boy his peace.”

They walked out of the pokemon center, and into the plaza. Suddenly, Cole’s vision flashed white, and he clapped his hands to his temples, such pain was caused by the headache. But the vision did not come. Instead, he found his feet moving of his own volition. When he reached the edge of the Cerulean River, his right arm extended, and pointed to the rocky cliff face opposite. “There. That’s where we have to go.”

Magnus’s eyebrow went up. “Cerulean Cave. Oh dear. Yes, I have heard that there is a Gate there… in the deepest part. The part where Mewtwo is said to dwell.”

Cole called out Masamune, and motioned for Joan to sit behind him on the water type’s back. “Well, we accomplish nothing by standing here. Let’s go and greet N’s killer.”

***

The darkness within the cave was suffocating. The light from Prometheus’s flame and Newton’s Flash did very little to dispel the blackness. As it stood, Cole could not see outside the dim circle of light they provided. A small column of sunlight flickered through an opening in the cave ceiling far away, and it appeared to go down into the lower levels via a hole dug through the ground.

“Be on your guard,” Cole told Thor and Maximus, who stalked next to them, keeping an eye out for any wild pokemon that might try to harm the travelers.

“Of course,” Thor murmured, as if it were obvious. And, to be honest, it was.

The trainers descended a set of stone stairs, to the deepest level of the cave. An underground lake glittered, and the sunlight from the whole in the ceiling made it sparkle. The darkness of the earlier levels was gone. A stone path led to a roughly circular island in the center of the lake. The telltale obsidian arch was set into the rocks in the far edge of the island. Cole nodded to his companions, and they slowly made their way over the calm lake.

Intruders! a voice roared. Destroy them!

Green Energy Balls flew from the cliffs along the edges of the lakes, followed by brilliant Thunderbolts. Parasects and Raichu stood in rank and file, switching off between volleys. Golducks and Starmie appeared from just beneath the surface of the water, making the lake seethe as though boiling. Hydro Pumps and Psychics joined the assault. Several of the Parasects began launching Poisonpowder and Sleep Powder. Members of the Abra family launched psychic attacks from the island. Onix and Graveler hurled rocks behind the three trainers. A group of Gengar and Haunter whirled through the air, raining down Shadow Balls. Nidoking and Nidoqueen launched various poisonous projectiles.

“Take cover!” Magnus shouted, diving to the ground. Prometheus leapt from his pokéball with a roar. He used Heat Wave to blow a hail of Energy Balls back. Thor reared up, and used his Lightning Rod ability to draw the Thunderbolts to him. Tesla and Nimbus joined in the effort, the lightning simply crackling along their bodies harmlessly. Scathatch and Maeve leapt in front of the psychic pulses, their innate dark typing negating the attacks. Masamune slashed out at the falling rocks with water type attacks, driving them back with his shell swords. Nimbus and Halcyon blew the spores from the Parasects by beating their wings frantically. Maximus took all the attacks he possibly could, standing directly over Joan and Cole.

Athena soared out over the lake, and repelled a Focus Blast with a wall of telekinetic energy. “What’s your problem?” she screamed. “Leave us alone!” When a Golduck leapt from the lake to attack her, she swerved out of the way… in midair. “Fusion Bolt!”

The Victini’s body became cloaked in blue electricity and she dove at the lake’s surface, spreading the charge through it. As a Nidoking leapt at her, Hamlet tackled the poison type out of the air and grabbed Athena, carrying her back to Cole. Macbeth lashed out at a Graveler with his long sharp claws. When three Alakazams launched Focus Blasts at him, Eris dove in the way; the fighting-type attacks completely ineffective against her.

Caliban and Miranda used their grass type attacks to keep the water types away from the stone bridge. Ophelia leapt into the lake, twirling about and forming a whirlpool. Newton used his psychic powers to hurl enemies against each other, while Oberon used his sturdy steel claws to protect Magnus. Aslan and Shadowfax shot powerful fire attacks to support Prometheus, who whirled through the air.

Sander pirouetted across the bridge, executing an elegant series of Leaf Blades to drive an Onix back. Maeve slammed an icy claw into a Golem, and sent it tumbling. “There’s too many!” she shouted.

“We can’t cause unnecessary harm!” Thor cried back, discharging electricity from his mane.

“They attacked us!” Prometheus shouted. “If we hurt them, it’s not our fault!”

This has dragged on too long! the mysterious voice rang out again. Why do you fight against your brothers and sisters? My kin, the humans have made you blind! Why do you fight to defend your slavers?

Three flashes appeared on the far side of the lake; incredibly powerful psychic pulses aiming straight at Cole, Magnus and Joan. Masamune, Oberon and Maximus took up defensive positions in front of their trainers. “It’s been an honor fighting beside you,” Masamune growled.

The two steel types made a quiet affirmation.

That’s enough!

A dark shape flew in front of the pulses, and they exploded in another brilliant flash. The dark mass seemed to glare across the lake. Stop being a fool. We know these humans. Or at least, one of them. And you owe him a debt.

“Arceus,” Cole whispered. “Are you… you can’t be…”
The dark shape chuckled. I shall reveal all, Master, in due time.

“I wish I knew what was going on here,” Joan hissed.

Your wish is my command. The dark shape turned around, and winked. In his right hand, he held a small golden oil lamp. The Darkrai bowed. Noir, your ever-faithful servant, is once more at your side, Master.

Cole couldn’t help but laugh. “Noir, I’ve told you a thousand times! You’re not a djinn!”

A thousand and one, Noir corrected. As many nights as I spent drifting over desert sands in a faraway land.

“Noir, you’ve never been to a desert in your life,” Cole chuckled. “You’d hate the sand.”

Now, now, Master. I’ve ranged far in our time apart. I have indeed seen several deserts. But I have occupied you with my prattle long enough. Shall I introduce you to our host? The Darkrai turned across the lake, and with a wave of his hand, sent the wild pokemon running away. A shape moved on the far shore, and leapt clear across the lake to stand before the dark type.

You welcome humans into my home, Noir? Have you no shame? My hospitality extends to you, and even then just enough to keep a roof over your head! The strange gray pokemon’s brow furrowed. You presume much, saying I have debts that must be… Oh my. The pokemon inclined his head. Sir Culain.

Cole’s left hand tightened on Anduril’s hilt. Don’t do anything stupid, don’t do anything stupid.


Whatever you choose to do to me, I am sure I deserve it, after my heinous actions.

“Telepathy’s a bitch, isn’t it?” the Firebrand muttered. He extended his right hand. “Mewtwo… I… I’ll be lying if I say I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. But for the moment at least, I won’t pick any old wounds.”

The psychic type nodded, and shook Cole’s hand with his three-fingered one. His violet tail swished through the air. Even that… it is better than I deserve.

Magnus glanced at Mewtwo. “The Omega War, you mean? I’ve heard some rumors. You were under Ghetsis’s control, and he blinded you with rage and bloodlust. Your mind wasn’t your own, even with the collar deactivated. What you did to the western cities of Kanto was not your fault. It was Ghetsis, in the end.”

You are most kind, Old One.

Joan threw up her arms. “Okay, will someone please tell me what’s going on here? What’s a Darkrai doing in Kanto?”

Cole quickly explained that he had saved Noir from a riot in Canalave City some years ago, and the Darkrai had followed him around for a long time after, occasionally offering aid. What he did not mention was that Noir’s tagging along was almost slavish devotion, to the point where it made him visibly uncomfortable. The Firebrand would never admit it, but he was very relieved when the Darkrai had vanished from the Flare Gym and had not returned.

“But, Noir, what are you doing here in Kanto?”

The Darkrai placed a clawed hand on Mewtwo’s shoulder. I followed this one after he ran away at the end of the Omega War. My Dark Void keeps him on a short leash.

Mewtwo smiled ruefully. Your djinn has become my nursemaid. I found that after the fall of Omega, my mind was more prone to fits of madness than ever before. Noir would put me to sleep should I ever fall into a rage, and I would slumber until the madness passed. He is one of the two things that keep me from rampaging yet again.

“One of… two?” Magnus asked, returning several of his pokemon.

Noir chuckled. Gracious host, perhaps we should extend some measure of hospitality to our guests?

Of course, Mewtwo said, as softly as his telepathy would allow, and led them across the stone bridge to the center island. A muffled cry came from a cave in the rocks. I… I must see to this. The pokemon strode quickly away.

Noir flicked his hand, and a small fire appeared, igniting under a pot of water. Our mugs are a little broken, but would you humans care for some tea? If your pokemon are hungry, we have several berry trees growing in the arboretum. They may help themselves. He gestured to the column of sunlight, where indeed, several rather stunted trees grew. Cole sat down on a boulder, and stared ruefully at the Gate.

Mewtwo returned a few moments later, holding a bundle of cloth in his arms. He watched as Cole’s pokemon wandered through the small orchard. He slowly rocked the bundle in his arms, and made small vocal sounds.

Noir glanced at Cole. Meet sanity helper number two, Master.

“I didn’t think Mewtwo could breed,” Magnus said softly.

He can’t.

“Well then, how?”

She’s adopted, Mewtwo replied. She may not be mine, but she’s my daughter. Sir Culain, allow me to introduce you. To Hope. He allowed Cole to take the bundle into his arms, and some of the soft brown cloth fell away, revealing a small pale face.

“Mewtwo… she’s human.”

Does that invalidate my claim on her? The pokemon’s voice gained a touch of protective malice. I found her alone in Saffron City. Abandoned. Starving. Would it have been better if I left her to die? Because I am a pokemon, I cannot raise her as a human could? An indigo aura flared around him. You will not take my Hope away from me!

The infant let out a muffled cry. Cole murmured a consoling string of sounds, and Hope soon quieted. She blinked up at him with startling violet eyes. “No. No, Mewtwo, I’m just surprised.” He passed the baby girl to Joan. “I… I’m happy for you. But think of her parents. They must be heartbroken.”

Her parents are dead. The psychic type turned away. I killed them in my blind rampage. Through her, I may begin to atone for my sins. And that is why she is named Hope. Hope for a better world, a better tomorrow. That someday, humans may come to regard pokemon as more than tools.

“That day has long since come and gone!” Prometheus said as he and the rest of Cole’s pokemon returned from the orchard. Joan’s and Magnus’s still ghosted between the trees, but their eyes were on the rather tense stand-off. “Many of the trainers we have met regard us as precious friends.”

Cole’s mind invariably turned to Nick’s intense grief at the death of Flayme. If the Charizard clone were a mere tool, a weapon, how could Nick have felt like that? But he kept silent. It would not do to tell Mewtwo that one of his creations had perished, not so soon after the fact, and with Mewtwo in such delicate sanity.

Perhaps, Mewtwo replied, looking at the assembled Six. Scathatch made a noise low in her throat.

“Cole loves us. And in return, we love him. It is very simple, you see.” The Zoroark moved to Cole’s side, and butted his hand with her head. The Firebrand scratched behind her ear. “It is through humans that we pokemon can reach our fullest potential. My life before meeting Cole was a hard one. I roamed the forests of Unova, never feeling truly safe, for there were those who sought to abuse my power. But when Cole came to me, he showed me there was more to life than just running. There were things to see, experiences to have… others to love.” She drifted away and nuzzled Masamune.

Thor stomped one hoofed foot. “Just raise the girl right.”

Mewtwo nodded. I will.

Noir rose about a foot in the air. Now… why are you all here? I don’t think this is a social call, Master. He fingered his oil lamp. What’s your game?

Magnus pointed at the Gate with his walking stick. “That. We need to pass through that Gate. Our time is short, there are enemies following closely behind us.”

Mewtwo and Noir shared a glance. I know the power of these Gates, Mewtwo finally said. And I regret to inform you that this Gate cannot be what you seek.

“What do you mean?” Joan cried.

Noir folded his arms. From what Mewtwo tells me, the Gates will take someone where they’re needed most, and then from there that person has as long as they need to get to the next Gate. This one is special.

This Gate will take you to where your heart longs to be, Mewtwo said. But only for twenty four hours, one turn of the earth. Then, you will be brought back here, regardless of how far you travel.

“Where my heart longs to be…” Cole murmured.

“How is that possible?” Magnus asked.

Mewtwo led him over and pointed to a large crack that ran down the length of the Gate. It is damaged. But not completely. It is simply removed from the force that governs the other Gates. The traveler has more control.

The old man thought for a second. “We’ll have to risk running into Jasper, then. I think the closest Gate from here is… Mount Silver.”

Cole stood. “We can afford to wait a little while.” Mount Silver meant Red. And after the Firebrand’s last meeting with the Pokemon Master, he had no desire to meet him again. Ever. “I want to use this Gate, Magnus. You’re welcome to come along. If not… I’ll see you in twenty four hours.”

Magnus placed a hand on Cole’s shoulder. “Of course I’ll come with you.”

“And me, as well,” Joan said, taking Cole’s hand in her own. There was a brief pause as all the trainers returned their pokemon and prepared to leave. Mewtwo lay Hope in her cradle and turned to the travelers.

I will await your return. My place is here with her.

Noir laughed. I’ll go with you, Master, if only for a little while. The Darkrai turned to Mewtwo. Promise me you won’t go on a bloodthirsty rampage until I’m back.
I promise, my friend.


Noir nodded to Cole, and the Firebrand walked towards the Gate. “Take me where my heart desires most.”

The Gate activated in a rush of light and wind. Hope began to cry. Noir laughed. Open sesame, indeed!

The four passed through the stone arch, and emerged on a war-torn slope. The scars of old battles still littered the mountain face. Cole clenched a fist. He was back at Mount Pyre.



Several remarks:
Darkrai, Mewtwo, and his adopted infant daughter... someone call NBC, because I smell this summer's hottest sitcom.
Also, Feste's song at the beginning was one of Ariel's songs from the Tempest, sung to Ferdinand when he landed on the island.
 
Last edited:

Glover

Pain in Rocket side
I see where this is going, but I'm not entirely sure that Cole wanted to be there. Ah, family bonds.

This also means I'm not allowed to impale Maxie with a shattered junk of Orb, right?

There's a spacign issue between Nior Laughed and the "I Promise" line from Mewtwo, if you're interested in such things.

Thor stomped one hoofed foot. “Just raise the girl right.”
And once aghain, Thor lives up to his character and gets the obvious point across.

I'm really liking this portrayal of Mewtwo, good job on that. Guess that means Noir's been demoted to cameo appearences though.

If you get bored, I really think a Babysitter skit would be funny, with a super-powerful Pokemon as the Doting mother and all.
 

Firebrand

Indomitable
This also means I'm not allowed to impale Maxie with a shattered junk of Orb, right?
Depends on your timeframe. If Glover is still in Hoenn after mid-autumn, by all means. And if not, feel free to do whatever you want to Archie after our fateful double battle.

And once aghain, Thor lives up to his character and gets the obvious point across.
Every so often, I'll think "Oh, Thor hasn't said anything in... eight chapters. Maybe I should... Wait a minute. Silence is in character for him."
 

Glover

Pain in Rocket side
Depends on your timeframe. If Glover is still in Hoenn after mid-autumn, by all means. And if not, feel free to do whatever you want to Archie after our fateful double battle.


Every so often, I'll think "Oh, Thor hasn't said anything in... eight chapters. Maybe I should... Wait a minute. Silence is in character for him."

I'll probably stay East of Fortree and leave that ambiguious so that I don't step on you and more imporetantly Xman, since we were guests in his story, but I had a few ideas so I may do them as a One Shot.
 

Firebrand

Indomitable
Empty Chairs

There's a song in this chapter. Just look for the underline to know where the link is. It's easily one of my favorite songs of all time, and I highly encourage you to listen to it, it will help capture the emotions this chapter is trying to convey so much.

“I… I can’t believe I’m here again.”

A lonely plain stretched out before them. Long black marks on the dry, brittle grass showed where a battle had been waged. Indeed, several battles. A few wildflowers had sprouted, their colors vibrant against the dun. They were fed on the blood of brave warriors, soldiers in an army that fought for a better tomorrow.

Dark clouds drifted slowly across a gray sky. It was dawn here. The world was still. In his last time here, the screams of the wounded and dying had filled the air, and the scent of blood was overpowering. Now… all was quiet and calm.

Cole stepped slowly through the warped, destroyed gates of the work camp. Noir, Joan and Magnus hung back, allowing the Firebrand to be alone with his thoughts. As he slowly walked away, Joan glanced at Magnus. “This is where our hearts most desire to be?”

The old man nodded. “I desired most to be at Cole’s side, for I feared we would be brought here. His sanity is delicate enough to start with.”

Noir tried to smile, but the melancholy aura in the air was permeating to him as well. Where my Master leads, I follow. What of you, Madame?

Joan rubbed at her arms, trying to dispel the early morning chill. “I just wanted to know why Cole was always so sad.” She slowly ran her hand through Athena’s fur. Cole had left the Victini with them to protect her from his grief, more than anything else.

A gray and lavender figure moved on the edge of what was once a proud forest now burned and blackened by collateral damage. Soft cries of pokemon could be heard, very faintly. Cole made his way closer, trying to make out what it was. A human female was placing flowers on a row of simple stone graves.

“Winona!”

“Firebrand?”

The flying leader of Fortree raced to her friend. “H-How are you back?”

“I… I am not sure myself,” he confessed. “Winona, where is, well, everyone?”

She motioned slowly to one of the graves. “Garret.” Then, another. “Orrin.”

Cole’s heart leapt to his throat. The boy he had seen rise up as a young man, to defy Kain and Jasper… dead. And Julia’s faithful Tauros, gone as well. They were not the only graves in the line. Winona ran off all their names, coldly and mechanically. Or at least, she tried to. Tears welled up close to the end, and she broke down.

“What about Sin? Marcus? John?” He helped Winona stand up. “Lisana and Colette?”

“All five of them,” Winona said through tears, “went west. I haven’t seen them in… in months. Or heard anything.” She leaned her head against Cole’s shoulder. “The war’s moved on. Fortree, Lilycove, Mount Pyre, they’re all safe. It’s all but deserted now. But these…” she gestured to the graves, “these will never leave.”

Cole shook his head. “Do you know if Sin is alive or dead? Winona!”

The flying leader sighed. “Cole… sometimes it’s best to assume the worst. That way… when you know… it’s easier.” She placed her hand over his. “To the best of my knowledge, I’m the last survivor from this camp.”

The Firebrand staggered back. Of their own volition, his feet carried him to Barrack 6. Where he had slept and plotted those awful seven weeks trapped here. The door was reduced to a cavernous opening, and he stepped through. In the dim light that filtered in through the barrack’s lone, barred window, he saw the overturned crates and boxes that had been their command center.

Of their entire rebellion… only he and Winona were left.

“There’s a grief that can’t be spoken,” he murmured. “There’s a pain goes on and on…” His fingers trailed against the rough wood. “Empty chairs at empty tables… Now my friends are dead and gone.

“Here they talked of revolution. Here it was they lit the flame.” He walked to the window, unable to face the memories contained within the barracks. “Here they sang about tomorrow… and tomorrow never came.”

His eyes drifted through the destroyed camp. Ruins of buildings lay scattered on the ground. Rods of iron were jabbed into the earth, where their wielders had fallen. “From the table in the corner, they could see a world reborn! And they rose with voices ringing! I can hear them now!” Burying his face in his hands, he felt the tears burn his irises. “The very words that they had sung became our last communion… on a lonely barricade… at dawn.”

His eyes settled on the Palisade itself, a clear path blazed to it through the forest. The once proud edifice was scoured with the remains of a long battle. It looks as though it might break apart at any moment. To Cole, it seemed as though his comrades still stood atop it, fighting the encroaching host of guards.

“Oh, my friends, my friends forgive me. That I live and you are gone! There’s a grief that can be spoken… there’s a pain goes on and on! Phantom faces at the window! Phantom shadows on the floor!” He sank to his knees. “Empty chairs at empty tables… where my friends will meet no more.”

It seemed as though Sin and Marcus stood again before him, ghostly pale, and their eyes moist with unshed tears. Cole reached out to them. “Oh, my friends, my friends! Don’t ask me, what your sacrifice was for!” The two young men faded away, leaving Cole with nothing but the bare table. “Empty chairs at empty tables… where my friends will sing… no more…”

***

I’m worried about him,” Thor said, scuffing a hoof along the ground. “He has been gone for a long time.”

Masamune lifted his head from where he was lying on the rough earth. “This place means more to Cole than I think we can ever fathom. The memories are not pleasant, but… this is a step he has to take.”

Prometheus flared his wings out. “I don’t know. Cole’s seen bad things happen before. People and pokemon get hurt. Hell, I’ve been next to him through most of it. Masamune, you too, in Unova.” The dragon turned around in a slow circle. “Where is he, anyway?”

Maeve moved a white stone to another box on a grid she had drawn with her claw. “He went into the forest a little while ago. No, Magnus, that’s a knight.”

The old man moved the black stone back to its square. “Oh, so it is! Ah, chess is much harder when you can’t tell which pieces are which. Maeve, which one is your queen again?”

“That one.”

“Right.” He skirted around the formidable oval stone.

Joan rested her hand on Thor’s flank. “I agree with you. Cole… he’s not in the right state of mind right now. It could be dangerous.” She watched silently as Winona placed her last flower and called out her Swellow. With a beat of the bird’s midnight-blue wings, she was back on her way to Fortree. Or rather, what was left of it.

Athena wiped a paw across her eyes. “It’s sad. I didn’t like being here, and Cole didn’t either. Was this really where his heart wanted to be?”

“I think so,” Masamune sighed. “Perhaps he thought he could right the wrongs he felt he created when he left. Or perhaps he held the vain hope that his companions would be here to meet him, and he could join them again. But now… after this…”

Scathatch growled softly. “It pains me to see him like this…”

Noir inclined his head, and polished his small oil lamp. All he has to do is say ‘Noir, I wish it was all better’, and I’d do it. He doesn’t even need to say Noir. Just ‘I wish’.

Joan flipped out her old pocket watch. “Ten hours left. Hard to believe we’ve been here so long.” Tesla glanced up at her from where he had fallen asleep, and grumbled something about her brushing Thor’s fur. The young woman crouched down and scratched behind Tesla’s ear. “Aw, don’t worry. You’re still my favorite electric type. Uh, no offense, Thor.”

“None taken.” The Zebstrika snorted through his nose. “I like Athena better than Prometheus. As far as fire types go.”

“Hey!” the Charizard barked. “I’ll get you!” The dragon lunged at the electric pokemon. Thor capered away, his hooves swishing through the dry grass. Prometheus fell flat on his face, drawing a general nervous laugh from the gathered company.

Noir glanced at the forest. Perhaps I should go to him. The Darkrai drifted away silently, into the shadows of the trees.

***

Cole was standing atop the Palisade, remembering the last time he had stood here. Evening was just setting in, but the last time, it had been dawn. A soft birdsong caught his ear, quite unlike the shouts and roars that filled the air not so very long ago.

He leaned against the rough, splintery wood, and closed his eyes. They were dry now, he had no tears left. He simply would not, could not believe that all his friends were gone. Surely, he would have felt something, or known somehow. But no, that was ridiculous. How could he know?

Well, at the very least, he could hope. Pray, maybe, but he never put much stock in prayer. If Arceus truly listened to every prayer, nothing bad would happen in the world. And he wouldn’t be here.

An autumn wind blew several brightly colored leaves past his field of vision. One was snatched out of the air, and immediately burst into iridescent orange fire. Noir glanced down at the charred remains of the leaf in his palm. Master, you look troubled.

“No really, Noir? What was your first clue?”

The dark type sighed. We cannot change what has already happened, Master. We can only learn to accept it. I have made my share of mistakes. Injured many, even if I did not mean it. I have left friends behind, when they needed me most. Noir drifted to stand next to Cole. I, more than anything else that breathes, know how you must feel at this moment, Master. It is not for nothing that Darkrai are scorned and feared the world over.

Cole gave a half-smile. “You aren’t like the other Darkrai. Other Darkrai wouldn’t follow me halfway around the world just so they could ask what my ‘wish’ was.”

Well, indeed, not every Darkrai has met my noble Master!

“Noir… I wish you wouldn’t call me that. It makes me a little uncomfortable.” Cole’s eyelids began to droop. “Ah… I have six hours left.”

Noir placed a claw-like hand under Cole’s chin. Sleep now, Master. You are very tired, and you must allow yourself to rest. I will wake you in a few hours… to say goodbye. There was a thrum of psychic energy, and Cole felt his eyelids droop. In an instant, he was enveloped in dark, blissfully dreamless sleep.

***

The birds were singing again.

In all his time here, Cole had heard only the barest, faintest sounds, but now, the birds were really, truly singing. He slowly floated up to consciousness, and glanced to his side. Joan had her head pillowed on Cirrus’s fluffy wing. Magnus leaned against Macbeth’s warm flank. His own pokemon were piled atop each other, sleeping soundly. As he rose, Athena looked up from the top of the pile. Thor, walking nearby, glanced over and flicked his ears.

“You’re awake.”

“Thank you, I hadn’t noticed.”

The Zebstrika scoffed and carried on his way. “You’ve got about half an hour left.”

Cole gently woke his other companions, and Noir appeared at his side. Joan flicked open her pocket watch. “Fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll be back shortly,” Cole replied. “Or, not. We’ll probably all end up in Cerulean Cave anyway, so, see you soon.”

Athena jumped up onto his shoulder, and he sprinted off to Barrack 6. Just one more time, I just have to see it one more time. His soul was laden with the ghosts of his past. He couldn’t escape them, not by just running away. No, he had to confront them. Only then could he really, truly be free.

Delicately, he picked one of the wildflowers that now dotted the camp. Then, he pushed the door to the barracks open, and walked slowly to the empty table. He laid the flower over the bare wooden surface. “For the dead, to live ever in our hearts. And for the living, that we may someday meet again.”

Then, the Firebrand smiled and turned away. On his shoulder, Athena cried out. Her body was enveloped in a white glow that slowly consumed her, leaving nothing. Cole glanced down, and saw that he too had begun to glow. The light spread up through his body, and as he stepped out into the Hoenn sunlight, he was whisked far away, across the sea, away from the war-torn region one last time.
 
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Glover

Pain in Rocket side
In Flander's field the poppies blow
between the crosses row on row
that mark our place
and in the sky
the lark bravely singing fly
...

Your imigery is very good, and so brought this poem to mind, so I share it. Wildflowers and camps and the dead and all that.
 
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Firebrand

Indomitable
Brigand's Choice

“Where’s the next Gate?” Cole finally asked. The awkward silence had gotten downright uncomfortable. He put his earthen mug of bitter tea down. “Magnus, come on. I can’t stay here any longer. There’s… There’s more to do, I just know it.”

The old man stroked his beard for a moment, deep in thought. “I believe… but no. We shouldn’t.”

“Magnus, out with it,” the Firebrand growled.

“Mount Silver. The closest Gate is at the top of Mount Silver.”

Mewtwo bristled. That foul man. The place is cursed, I daresay.

Cole wrapped a hand around Anduril. “Red, huh? Looks like the ghosts of my past really don’t want to leave me alone.”

“Dear boy, if we’re willing to wait a little longer, we could find another.” Magnus shrugged. “It would take some doing, but I think there’s a Gate on Cinnabar Island. Perhaps the recent eruptions have left it unharmed…”

“No,” the younger man snapped. “We have to leave Kanto as fast as possible. Jasper could be lurking outside the cave for all we know.”

He’s not, Mewtwo replied. I would sense his malice.

“Still,” Joan murmured. “Cole has a point. We have to get out of here fast. Jasper and his allies outnumber us, and they can overpower us, too. We all saw that at the power plant. No, I think Mount Silver is where we have to go.”

It won’t be an easy journey, Noir grumbled. Not at this time of year. The wind will be coming down from the mountains, straight from the Sinjoh Pass. The closer you get to the mountains, the more risky it will be to fly. The Darkrai shook his head. I’m afraid you’ll have to do low altitude flight anyway, there’s a storm system blowing in off the sea. Nothing can get out of Vermillion Port, and it’s just ripping through the entire region.

As yet, Mewtwo added, Cerulean is safe, as are the lands eastward. But go south or west, I’m afraid even Prometheus and Halcyon would have trouble. Cinnabar is out of the question, Magnus.

“It’s Articuno and Zapdos, isn’t it?” Joan asked. “They’re angry about what Vladimir did.”

Cole nodded. “I’ve seen legendaries do this before. Old, wise and powerful they may be, but most of them are vindictive too. The weather around Unova was a mess following the Omega War. I’m just glad Rayquaza was there to help mitigate the damage.” He picked up his pack and whistled to his pokemon, relaxing in the orchard below. “Well, let’s be off.”

So soon? Mewtwo cried, turning on his heel. His indigo tail whipped through the air.

“Yes, I fear we’ve imposed on your hospitality long enough. I’ve got a path to follow now. Thank you Mewtwo, for everything. And good luck.” He shook the clone pokemon’s hand, and turned to Noir. “It was good to see you again. Take care now.”

The Darkrai laughed. Oho, Master, you shall not get away from me so easily! If there’s evil afoot, it’s your loyal servant’s duty to protect you.
“Oh, Arceus spare us,” Prometheus groaned.

Noir swept up into the air. Yes, indeed, Master! Nothing you say can dissuade me from this course! I’ll see you safely off!

Maeve tugged at Cole’s duster. “This isn’t going to end well, is it?”

Magnus hid a laugh behind his sleeve, and Joan was trying as hard as she could not to break into a fit of giggles. Cole looked beseechingly at Mewtwo. “Please, please, don’t you need him here?”

Mewtwo winked. I think a little fresh air and a change of scenery will do Noir some good.

“You haven’t changed at all, have you?” Cole growled affectionately. “Still a black-hearted, evil, scoundrel.”

Now, now, not in front of the baby.

***

“So, he’s really coming with us?” Prometheus mumbled as they soared just over the rocky cliffs outside Cerulean. The sky above was dark, and occasionally illuminated by a brief flash of lightning. Noir zoomed by their side, propelled through the air by psychic force. The Charizard sighed. “Do you remember how hard it was to ditch him last time?”

“Who knows?” Cole whispered. “Maybe he’ll come in useful.”

“And maybe it’ll rain perfectly cooked medium rare steaks,” the dragon snapped back. “Both have about the same chance of happening.”

Athena hissed. “Look behind us.”

Cole glanced over his shoulder and cursed. “Prometheus, we’ve got Mephistoles on our tail, Talreya’s Charizard and Beckett’s Honchkrow.”

“All right,” the Charizard growled. “How do we deal with these bastards?”

“We don’t,” Magnus snapped as Halcyon flew by. “We outrun them.”

Cirrus twirled through the air in a Dragon Dance, loosening his muscles for more agility and honing his claws. Cole leaned low to Prometheus’s back to reduce wind resistance. “Listen, I don’t think we’ll be lucky enough to make a clean getaway. If they catch up to us, get into the trees.”

“I’m sure Aldrick, Liath and Peiotr are waiting for us…”

“Yeah, but up here we can only use a few pokemon, and I don’t think Joan and Magnus are used to fighting hand to hand in the sky like we are. If we get on the ground, we can do more, slip into shadows.” Cole’s mouth twisted into a grin. “Athena, I want you ready with a V-Create. Prometheus and I can cover you if it leaves you breathless.”

The Firebrand was right to be cautious. Mephistoles was the first to draw close, and launched a Dragon Pulse at Cirrus. “Protect!” Joan shouted, and the bird was surrounded in a wall of blue-green light. Talreya directed her midnight black Charizard to harry Halcyon. The Pidgeot wheeled through the air, buffeting the dragon with his giant wings.

Prometheus glowered at the Honchkrow, with Beckett on his back. The ex-crime lord cracked a whip, and raised an eyebrow. “Let ‘em have it,” Cole snarled. Prometheus leaned his head back and roared, expelling a Flamethrower. The giant black bird singed its wingtips, but for the most part escaped unscathed.

“Get down, get down!” Cole shouted to his comrades. “We’ll beat them back on the ground!”

Cirrus pulled in his wings and dropped like a stone, making Jasper snarl in surprise. Magnus recalled Halcyon, and entered freefall. He dove through an opening in the trees, and there was a flash of light as Hamlet surged forth, his arms wrapping around Magnus’s waist as his wings slowed their descent.

“One more Flamethrower!” Cole shouted.

“Sucker Punch,” Beckett snapped.

Honchkrow ducked under the stream of fire and drove a hooked claw into Prometheus’s abdomen. The Charizard reeled back, but recovered in time to dive after Magnus. His wings flared to come in for a landing, and they saw the trees burst into motion. Peiotr and Illyrian leapt at Magnus, only to be intercepted by Aslan and Newton.

Maximus burst from his pokéball with a roar, hurling one of Liath’s Mightyena against a tree. Cole threw out Maeve, Scathatch, Masamune and Thor all at once, trying to blind the enemies with their light. “Where’s Noir?” Masamune shouted.

“Haven’t seen him since the attack started!” Prometheus roared back. “Typical, really, that he runs at the first sign of danger!”

Joan raised Excalibur high. “For Arceus!”

Lacho callad! Drego morn!” Anduril glinted in the sunlight as Cole kicked out at Jasper’s Sableye. Then, he whirled and raised the blade to block an incoming strike from Aldrick’s Scyther. The brigand trainers stood on the outskirts of the clearing, shouting out commands to their pokemon. Nimbus twirled through the air, smashing Mephistoles out of the sky. Tesla leapt off Maximus’s back, and launched a Thunderbolt at Illyrian. The savage Infernape shrugged off the blow, and kept on charging, fire cloaking its body. Masamune slammed into him, knocking the primate off his collision course with Macbeth. Then, with a roar of fury, Illyrian turned on the Samurott and began to pummel him with lightning-quick fists.

Masamune tired to fend him off with his shell blades, but the strikes came too fast. “Leave him!” Thor shouted. He slammed into Illyrian with a Victory Star-infused Wild Charge. “What’s this drivel you spout? You are no god! How dare you stand before the lord of thunder?”

He discharged all the electricity in his mane, and forced Illyrian back. The black Charizard dove at Maximus, preparing a Heat Wave. “Stay away from him!” Athena cried, slamming into him with a wicked Fusion Bolt.

Scathatch had thoroughly confounded her foes by using an illusion to turn herself into a Mightyena and mixing into the pack. The lupine creatures all began to warily sniff each other, their hackles raised. Finally, one whirled and shot a searing Flamethrower, driving back the other three. Scathatch then created a Night Daze that blinded her pursuers and vanished, cloaked in yet another illusion.

“Are your noses just for show?” Liath shouted. “Find her, stupid!”

Maeve traded blows with Aldrick’s Mienshao, flashing through blindingly fast movements, neither one able to land a deciding blow.

Master, recall them all!

Cole responded immediately to Noir’s telepathic command, motioning for his companions to do likewise. Now, get down! Without question, the Firebrand dropped to his stomach and rolled out of the way of Jasper’s Rhyperior.

Noir appeared in the midst of the clearing, a dark aura surrounding his clawed hands. Sleep now! All who stand before my noble Master shall be cast asunder, like sand in a gale! A sphere of darkness enveloped the brigands, and when it receded, left them all unconscious on the ground. Noir dispelled the last of the energy from the Dark Void, and nodded to Cole.

Quickly Master. They will return to consciousness shortly. It would serve us well to be gone.

In an instant, they were in the sky again, winging away to the towering Mount Silver, looming on the horizon.
 
Wow, this is awesome, you have great skills man! :)
 

Firebrand

Indomitable
Midnight Visit

There's a song in here, be wary of the underline.

“This isn’t safe,” Cole growled as he dumped the armful of kindling down. “It’s all too exposed. I feel like… I don’t know, a caged animal!”

“You’d feel caged no matter where we were,” Joan murmured, laying a hand on his sleeve. “And the pokemon need to rest. We’ll stand guard, and at the first sign of trouble…”

Magnus nodded, his blue eyes solemn. “Cole, we’ll rise before the dawn.” He slumped down against a tree trunk, and his eyelids began to droop. Aslan and Oberon appeared from their pokeballs, and came to stand at Cole’s side. The Arcanine growled softly.

“He says they’ll take first watch with you,” Athena translated. She nestled into Cole’s arms and was soon asleep. The Firebrand handed the Victini to Joan, who was about to drop off. He leapt into a nearby pine tree and felt the rough bark dig into his back, keeping him alert and awake. He could not relax his vigilance.

Jasper could be anywhere.

Aslan prowled just inside the circle of amber light the small, dim fire cast, his hackles raised. The giant canine’s mane waved slightly in the wind, and his fangs glinted. The firelight glinted off Oberon’s armor, at the same time chitin-like and with the same sheen as steel. His golden eyes flickered in the darkness. The bug type schooled his face into impassiveness, and let his eyes drop into something that would give the illusion he was asleep, to throw off any potential foe lurking.

Cole had to give the red pokemon credit; he knew what he was doing. After a time, Aslan stopped prowling, and sat just in front of the fire, his lowered eyes sparkling occasionally as he tracked noises through the forest. Noir had collapsed some time earlier that day. He had concealed a wound from the earlier engagement, and it had begun to fester. It had finally drained Noir to the point where he dropped out of the sky. Prometheus and Nimbus had borne the Darkrai between them to this point.

Cole glanced at the slumbering dark type, and knew that should an assault come, he would be no help. Not in his current state.

***

Jasper ran his tongue over his teeth. “Here they are, the old fox is down. They’ve fallen far; they’re lying close to the ground! Ten weeks ago, Firebrand paid me a call, I let him go for a song, it’s time I settled the debt, this’ll cost them dear!” His eyes were wild, and the brigands could tell he was clearly drunk on bloodlust.

Peiotr leaned in. “What do I care who you should rob? Give me my share! Finish the job!”

“You shut your mouth! Give me a hand!”

Liath inclined her head. “Who’s this hussy?”

A woman dressed all in gray stood just outside the light of the traveler’s campsite. “I know this brat, Epiny!” Jasper cried, the name surfacing in his mind. He hadn’t seen the girl since the work camp. What was she doing here? Well, the only way to know…

“Epiny, get on home,” Jasper hissed. “You have no stake in this, it’s complicated enough without you!”

Epiny stalked forward, her gray dress trembling. “I know these folk, I tell you. There’s nothing here for you! Just Cole, the old man and the girl. They live ordinary lives!”

Talreya swept in front of them. “You’ve got some gall, take care young miss, you’ve got a lot to say!”

“Jasper’s going soft,” Aldrick hissed.

“Happens to all,” Liath replied.

“Go home, Epiny, go home, you’re in the way!”

The girl shook her head. “I’m gonna scream, I’m gonna warn them here.”

Jasper lunged forward. “One little scream and you’ll regret it for a year!”

“What a palaver, what an absolute treat!” Beckett chuckled. “Watching two rats pick a bone in the street!”

“Not a sound out of you!” Jasper growled.

“Well I told you I’d do it, told you I’d do it!” Epiny threw back her head and let loose an unearthly wail. The brigands clutched their hands to their ears as Cole leapt from his tree, their weapons in hand.

“You wait my girl, you’ll rue this night!” Talreya shrieked. “I’ll make you scream, you’ll scream all right!”

“Leave her to me!” Jasper shouted. “Don’t wait around! Make to the shadows, get underground!”

The brigands scattered like leaves before a tempest as Cole and the newly summoned Masamune charged from the firelight. He turned to the woman in gray. “It was your cry sent them away, you have my thanks, you saved the day!” Then, he realized whom he was talking to. “By Arceus! Epiny! How are you here? This is so strange!”

The gray woman placed a startlingly cold hand on his arm, silencing him. “I owe you a debt, Firebrand. You saved the life of my Marcus. And now, now I can rest in peace, knowing I have repaid all I owe.”

“Epiny, I don’t understand!” Cole tried to grab her hand, but she pulled away. Masamune started forward, but his fur began to bristle.

“You don’t need to understand,” Epiny said, brushing a tear away. “It’s all right, Cole. We’re all safe now. You’re alive, and so is Marcus. That’s what matters.”

She inclined her head, and began to rise, somehow floating several inches off the ground. “Epiny!” Cole shouted. The woman scattered into hundreds of tiny whisps of gray smoke. “Epiny, don’t go! Please, I need to…” But Epiny was gone. Perhaps that was for the best.

Cole didn’t know what he needed.

Magnus and Joan had been awoken by the commotion, and came quickly to his side. “We have to get out of here,” Cole growled, tightening his duster. “Jasper’s here. Something scared them away. I don’t know what, but…”

“We know, it woke us up,” Joan said brusquely, calling out Cirrus. “Well, it does no good waiting around here. Let’s go. None of our pokemon can blend into the darkness particularly well, so we’ll have to rely on speed alone.”

Magnus nodded. “Perhaps we’ll lose them in the squall over the mountains. We may have bought ourselves a few precious hours, and I intend to make the most use of them.” He swung onto Halcyon’s back and clicked his tongue.

The bird spread its massive tawny wings, and lifted off. Cirrus lifted off just after. Prometheus glared at Cole. “That wasn’t just a sound in the forest. You’re visibly shaken. I want an explanation as we fly.”
Cole nodded mutely, climbed on his partner’s back, and the Charizard soared off into the waning moon.




I'll be honest. I don't much care for this chapter. I did try to capture the chaos of the Attack on Rue Plumet, however, I fear I corrupted the original song too much, and the whole thing just seems so hackneyed. However, it was a vital part of tying up the loose ends of a certain plot arc, and I can reconcile myself knowing this is about as bad as Hero's Path gets.
 

Glover

Pain in Rocket side
I have to be honest as a reviewer. Up to now, outside of personal preferences, you're stuff has been top shelf.

This one, especillay on the heels of being published...

I'll be honest. I don't much care for this chapter. I did try to capture the chaos of the Attack on Rue Plumet, however, I fear I corrupted the original song too much, and the whole thing just seems so hackneyed. However, it was a vital part of tying up the loose ends of a certain plot arc, and I can reconcile myself knowing this is about as bad as Hero's Path gets.

That little afterward doesn't cover it. This chapter doesn't even feel like yours. It relys on song and nost story. The action is uncharacteristically weak feeling, muddied up by an unknown to me and sing-songy tune that reads like a bard's song, and I couldn't keep myself from skipping parts. This is my complaint with heavy musical references, when it blows the story completely out of the water.

Was this, by chance, writen while you were working on the your theatrics? Could a lack of time been the death of this chapter? I would storngly encourage a rewrite, a chapter "Midnight Visit"V2 on next week's docket. There's something important in this chapter, I can tell that, but I haven't the foggiest what.
 

Firebrand

Indomitable
Dead Walking

Because of the VBulletin update, let's play a game of "find the song link!" It's in there somewhere...

“We can’t go on like this!” Prometheus roared above the howling winds. Cold rain lashed Cole’s face, and he shivered as the frigid air crept along his exposed skin. Halcyon tumbled through the air, screeching and cawing.

“The only positive here,” Cole growled to Athena, “is there is no way in hell Jasper would follow us into this.”

The tempest would have put a certain dread wizard to shame. The winds seemed to come from three directions at once, shoving Prometheus all over the sky. Visibility was almost zero; they could barely make out Cirrus and Halcyon not fifty feet away. Noir was an occasional darker blot on the black clouds. The rain was bitter cold. Cole’s hair clung to his forehead in wet, limp tangles. Athena’s fur was matted, and water cascaded down her now-smooth back.

“Land?” Joan screamed over the roar of the gale.

Magnus shouted something back, but the wind stole his words, sending them spiraling away, forever unheeded. Instead, he gesticulated wildly, and made his meaning clear enough. Get to the ground below.

The three flying types dove, their wings folded into their sides. The wind howled louder in Cole’s ears as the mountainous earth rushed up to meet them. “Clearing!” Athena shouted over the wind.

Prometheus nodded, seeing where she was pointing. He angled his descent, while Cirrus and Halcyon followed close behind. Prometheus snapped his wings out, creating just enough drag to help him land. Yet even then, he stumbled for several yards, almost to the far tree line. The Charizard had torn up large clumps of sodden earth in his rapid stop, and he cradled his head in his claws, reeling from whiplash. Cole slid from his back, and leaned against his partner. “We did it. We’re okay.”

Joan and Cirrus fell with a little more grace, the Altaria’s light form allowing for an easier descent. The blue dragon was exhausted, and slumped to the ground. Halcyon was not as lucky.

The Pidgeot plummeted and, unable to spread his wings and stop his descent, he crashed into the tall evergreen trees. Oberon, acting quickly, had leapt from his pokéball, grabbed Magnus from the bird’s back and darted to the ground. Halcyon let out a feeble cry, and thin rivulets of blood trickled through his sodden feathers. Athena bounded to the flying type’s side with a burst of telekinetic energy.

“I think his wing is broken,” Athena called down. “And Halcyon says he can’t breathe very well.”

Cole dug through his back. “Fractured ribs, then. Or perhaps those are broken as well.” He pulled out a Sitrus Berry and a small vial of Heal Powder. Using a pocketknife, he cut a small cavity in the fruit, and shook in a little powder. “Athena, come take this up to him.”

The Victini quickly returned to Halcyon’s side, and helped the bird swallow the bitter mixture. Cole turned to Magnus. “The berry should take some of the edge off the pain, and the powder will boost his metabolism and other natural processes, allowing Halcyon to recover from the surface wounds faster. I think you can return him to his pokéball, but don’t call him out again until we can get him to a pokemon center.”

Magnus nodded, and returned the wounded Pidgeot. Joan glanced around. “Where are we?”

The old man clenched his fist around Halcyon’s capsule. “The Silver Foothills. See, look, you can see the mountain through the clouds.”

As a flash of lightning blazed across the sky, Cole could indeed make out the giant mass of Mount Silver in the distance.

Athena glanced around. “Noir? Noir!” The Victini looked around frantically. “Where’s Noir?”

“We lost him in the storm. Noir doesn’t have wings; the wind won’t affect him as much. Once he sees we’re missing, he’ll probably fly back to Cerulean Cave.” The Firebrand turned to his companions. “We don’t have time to waste. If we find a sheltered, defensible area, we’ll make camp. But I think it’s best if we continue on tonight.”

Magnus leaned against his walking stick. “Normally, I would disagree, given the weather and terrain. But Jasper… Cole, that man is a fanatic. He won’t stop until he kills you, or you kill him.”

“Or,” Cole growled, shrugging his pack back on. “I get beyond his reach. And the only way to do that is by getting to the Gate.”

***

They followed a faint trail left by a somewhat annual migration of Stantler. Fortunately, it angled south, and for a time that night, they escaped the worst of the squall. By morning, the rain had slowed to a mere drizzle. The scent of wet earth permeated the air, and wet leaves carpeted the ground.

The rocky cliffs narrowed ahead, before opening to Silver Valley, and a lush forest. They found the league-sanctioned path, which was blissfully clear of obstructions. For a time, Masamune and Maeve trotted beside them, relishing in the damp mountain air. Feste and Caliban crouched on Magnus’s shoulders, while Eris drifted a foot behind Joan. Were it not for the tragedy of Halcyon, the setting might even have been described as pleasant.

Around midmorning, when the group of weary travelers was ready to collapse, they heard the sound of a harp in the distance. Suddenly invigorated, they raced forward, the haunting sound giving them strength.

They came upon a man sitting on a stump, just off the trail where it curved sharply to the right. A Dusknoir drifted to one side, while an Espeon and Umbreon reclined at his feet. A Chandelure hovered over his head, swaying in time to the soft, beautiful song the man played. He partially concealed his harp behind his long dark cloak. His voice had a strange quality to it, neither young nor old, tenor nor bass. A wide-brimmed hat pulled low obscured most of his features. All Cole could deduce was he was scarily gaunt.

“What’s a miracle, if life itself is not? Who am I to praise its worth with a hymn? I may stumble over words that I forgot, just as life itself slowly begins.” He strummed his harp for a moment, a beautiful, melancholy sound. “Sing me a song for the mountains to move. Sing me an anthem; sing me the anthem of life.

“I am skeptical, I like my glass of wine. I don’t know your name, or what I am to do. One day you’ll wonder why I read between the lines, and you will sing for me, the way I sing for you.” He raised his head ever so slightly, his slim mouth touched with the ghost of a smile. “Sing me a song for the ocean to part. Sing me an anthem, sing me an anthem. Sing me the anthem of life!”

His fingers delicately plucked the strings, and his voice became much softer. “And so another page is turned. I pray I understand what’s happening. But if anything… I do know this. I’ll be the best I can…

“Sing me a song! Let the angels rejoice! Sing me an anthem of life! Sing me an anthem, sing me an anthem, ooh, sing me an anthem… of life.”

His song finished, he rose to greet them. “Did you like it? A small thing, to be sure, but beautiful in its own right.” He extended his hand. “A pleasure to meet you. My name is…” He trailed off, and furrowed his brow. “I think it will suffice to call me Necro.”

“Strange name,” Joan remarked.

“I’m a strange man. What brings you all out here?”

“We’re just travelers,” Cole said, wary of this ‘Necro’. “Some of our pokemon are hurt. Is the center nearby?” He had come out here only once before, and knew that a pokemon center was nestled in at the base of the mountain.

Necro shrugged. “About three miles. But I can get you there. Hang on a moment.” He took out three pokeballs, and returned his Chandelure, Dusknoir and Umbreon. Then, Necro rubbed a hand through his Espeon’s fur. “Equi, Teleport.”

Cole felt a strange sense of vertigo, as the scenery seemed to slip away. The world seemed to turn into a vast expanse of white. When color and form began to return to the landscape, he found himself in front of a large log cabin, with a cliff face before him.

Necro showed them in, and smiled at the nurse behind the desk. She glanced up from an entertainment magazine and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said you were gone until sunset.”

“I met these travelers on the road,” the bard explained. “Apparently, they have a hurt pokemon or two.”

The nurse nodded brusquely and tossed her magazine aside. “You’re lucky I’m here. Because hardly anyone uses this center, I’m only up on the weekends. All right, how many are hurt?”

Joan glanced at her male companions. “Well, all of them should be looked at…”

Cole folded his arms. “We’ll deal with the priority cases first. Halcyon, Prometheus, Cirrus, and Maximus too, he needs to have his wounds looked at again.”

They passed their pokeballs to the nurse, and she strode off to the operating room. Joan and Magnus called out some of their smaller pokemon, and went off to find some food. Cole sent Maeve and Athena with them, while Masamune, Scathatch and Thor went outside to ‘look around’. When the Firebrand glanced out the window, he saw that they were rigidly staring at the sky and trail. Keeping watch.

Cole and Necro sat down on a pair of comfortable looking couches in the lounge area. The bard raised an eyebrow and glanced at Cole expectantly. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Why are you so far out here? What were you doing flying in that storm last night? What’s with all the healing scars on your hands? Or, you know what? How about we just start with your name.”

“I’m Cole.”

“Isn’t that a nice start? What about your friends?”

“The man is Magnus, the woman is Joan.” Cole assumed he could trust this man. He had selflessly helped them, and seemed to bear no ill will. And besides, it wasn’t like the Omega War, where anyone at all could be an enemy in disguise. Necro the bard, despite his rather strange name, didn’t seem that bizarre, and certainly not the kind Jasper would have recruited to his Brigands.

“We’re out here… looking for something. And hiding from someone. The storm was the best cover we could think of.”

“What are you looking for?”

“A… place.”

“That was clear.”

Cole ran a hand through his hair. “Believe me, if I told you what it really was, you’d think I was insane.”

Necro threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, believe me; I’ve been accused of that more than enough times. Try me.”

So, with a deep breath, Cole explained their quest, Gates and all. Necro sat with rapt attention, only speaking when he was unclear on a specific point. When all was finished, Necro leaned back and folded his arms. The sun was much lower in the sky, and Oberon, Sander and Tesla had taken over the watch.

“So… Joan’s the Chosen Warrior of Arceus, eh? And that was you who did all that at the Power Plant? I saw that on the news, they said it was a gas leak.”

“The news lied.”

“Well, obviously, if I’m to believe you.”

I’m not lying!

“I didn’t say you were.” Necro strummed a chord on his harp. “It’s just a lot to take in. Now that I think about it, you do look a lot like the pictures of the Firebrand I’ve seen, on TV and in magazines and newspapers.

“Anyway, you think this next Gate is one Mount Silver somewhere? I’ve never heard of anything like them. Well, best you get there quickly if the tale you tell is true.”

Cole nodded. “As soon as Halcyon is safe to travel, we’ll look for it.”

Necro rested a hand on his chin. “But what about Red? From what I hear about what happened in the war, you probably won’t want to cross paths with him again.”

“We’ll just have to avoi—”

Cole bent double, his hands on his temples. A white flash pierced his mind, and he saw a small rocky field completely covered in snow. Winds howled around him, and the remains of an ancient temple stood at the other end of the expanse. A lone dark figure stood atop the ruins, unmoving and silent.

“Dammit.” At Necro’s quizzical glance, the Firebrand shrugged. “Arceus’s Gift. A vision of where the next Gate will be. And, just my luck, it’s on the summit. Where Red is.”

Some time later, Joan and Magnus joined them. The nurse had been seeing to their pokemon in groups the entire day. When she emerged from the operating room, Magnus glanced over his shoulder.

“Halcyon?”

“The Pidgeot?” She shrugged. “He’ll pull through. That fall broke his wing in four places, broke two ribs and cracked three more. Flying types tend to have very small bone density, so they are more fragile than other types. However, this also means that they recover faster. I think in a few months, he’ll be as good as ever.

“There was, however, one complication. One of the shattered ribs pierced a lung. The surgery to correct it is relatively straightforward, and I have already performed it. He is recovering now, but it’s not safe to move him just yet. And even after that, he shouldn’t tax himself for fear that more issues will come up. Will you be able to stay here at least a week to keep him under observation?”

Magnus chewed his lip, and Joan glanced at Cole. “If Jasper tried to follow us through the storm, odds are he hit the same complications we did. And if he didn’t, well, it’s still raging in the mountain passes. He’ll have a hard time of it.”

Cole laid his hand over Magnus. “I want Halcyon to be well as much as you do. We can wait. I think we could all use the rest.”

***

Scathatch glanced at the cloud-capped peak of Mount Silver. “The snows don’t look like they’re going to stop.”

“It’s the time of year,” Cole said. “Here in the mountains, autumn is wet, and it’s so cold that the rains turn instantly to snow. We’ll have to slog through it.”

“Ugh. Keep me in my pokéball, thank you.” The Zoroark flickered as she cycled through several illusions of various pokemon. “Though I love him dearly, I can never quite understand why Masamune loves tramping through the cold.”

“If it weren’t for Prometheus being a walking hot water bottle,” Cole laughed, “I don’t think I could do it either.”

“Walking hot water bottle, my left foreclaw!” Prometheus growled indignantly. “Glad to know where I stand with you, Firebrand!”

“Oh, you’re more than just that! You’re also a convenient pillow.”
“At least you’re a step up from Masamune,” Thor chuckled. “He’s just a wet blanket.”

Magnus and Halcyon walked by, the Pidgeot walking awkwardly on his thin legs. He fluttered his wings, but Magnus hissed at him. “No, you mustn’t move them any more than you have to!”

Halcyon chirped something back, and Magnus ran a hand through his feathers. “I think it’s about time we left, Cole. We’ve been here too long already. The nurse says Halcyon is cleared to travel again, and we’ve all rested. We can start as early as… well, today.”

Joan and Necro came out of the center, and the young woman glanced at Cole. “He wants to come with us.”

Necro nodded. “These Gates are intriguing. I want to see one with my own eyes.”

Macbeth and Oberon emerged just after the two humans, carrying the groups’ packs. The trainers took their baggage, and with a word of thanks to the center’s nurse, set off down the rocky mountain trail. Necro drew out his harp and began to play a lilting song.

“Raise me up, up through the ashes. Make me king, king of all I see…”




Notes time. Okay, first off. This chapter is a whole hell of a lot better than last week's. For sure. Anyway, onto important stuff. Necro, for those of you who care to know, is a character from the Blazing Heart saga, the first book of which was recently published and can be purchased on Amazon via a link in my signature.

Also, I was recently recruited to join an upstart writing forum. If you haven't read Sin yet, because the sheer volume has daunted you, I've started to re-serialize it on Fiction Master, so now is a great time to jump in.
 

Glover

Pain in Rocket side
Much better. That's the Hero's Path.

because I like oobscure, I have to pont out the unintended John Wayne reference, in which he gets the girl not because h'e thick and muscular, but that he's more comfortable to lean against than a rock.

“Oh, you’re more than just that! You’re also a convenient pillow.”

I do love the little discussin between the Pokemon there at the end. I am minorly paranoid about Necro, not knowing his reference character, but he's either go something up his sleeve or is going to unintentionally be the group's downfall. I'm not sure which.
 

Emeraldfan

Well-Known Member
So, Necro's been introduced now, who's next? Delphia, Spacio, Tempora? Will you feature Michael?
Anyway, I liked the chapter, it covered some time and showed some more of personalities and such.
Keep it going please, I love every single update :)
 

Firebrand

Indomitable
I am minorly paranoid about Necro, not knowing his reference character, but he's either go something up his sleeve or is going to unintentionally be the group's downfall. I'm not sure which.
In Blazing Heart, Necro serves as a mentor character to the Seven. His past is intentionally an engima, but he's "good-alligned". Though, I suppose he's always got something up his sleeve...

So, Necro's been introduced now, who's next? Delphia, Spacio, Tempora? Will you feature Michael?
No spoilers, but the next major crossover character is sure to please.
 

Firebrand

Indomitable
Icy Visage

The giant marble ruins appeared as if by magic, as if the snow was given shape and form. Cole hissed out a breath. “Easy,” Joan murmured. “Your shoulders are so tense. That’s not good, with your injury. Take a deep breath, relax.”

Magnus nodded. “This isn’t the one who killed N. Mewtwo has already shown contrition, and you forgave him.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Cole said, shaking his head. “This isn’t about N. Hell, this is barely about Omega. This about seeing someone I cared about, idolized, wanted to be, and seeing him change into someone who can kill in cold blood, desire only to become ‘stronger’ and lose everything that makes them human.” He started to tremble, and not from the cold. Prometheus placed his claws on Cole’s shoulder, and drew the Firebrand against his warm, muscular bulk.

Noir and Necro, walking several paces ahead, stopped at the base of a set of carved stone steps. The bard pulled his hat down over his eyes, and turned expectantly at the Firebrand. "It’s your quest. Lead on.”

Cole nodded and slowly took each stair one by one, as if each was its own individual trial to overcome. As he crested the final one, Red came into view, a solitary dark point amidst a long field of white. As far as Cole could tell, the Pokemon Master was staring out at the swirling clouds below, and had not even noticed their approach. Athena’s paw tightened around a strand of Cole’s hair, and she gave a nervous whimper.

It was only when Cole’s other companions had come to stand by his side that the Firebrand dared to move forward again. When he was within twenty feet of Red and the man still hadn’t acknowledged him, Prometheus gave a soft warning growl. The Pokemon Master turned slowly, the Pikachu on his shoulder murmuring a small, vaguely interested sound.

Cole and Athena silently regarded Red and Pikachu for a long, terse moment. Red’s face was impassive, almost as though he did not recognize Cole at all. This in and of itself struck Cole harder than anything Red could have said to him. For Arceus’s sake, they had grown up not a half-mile from each other, played together as children! But still, Red said nothing, made no move, and hardly even blinked. Finally, Cole swallowed and took a tentative step forward. His foot brushed something in the snow, and when he drew back, he saw a bright spot of vivid color. Reaching down, he drew a long, thick bit of cloth from the white expanse.

“Oh,” Red finally murmured. “Is that where I left that?”

The scarlet and golden cloak was covered in decorative, artistic whorls, with a baseline pattern that was supposed to suggest a crown. A giant golden Ω was emblazoned on the back. Despite having been buried in the snow for a long time, and being sopping wet, the washed-out cloak still managed to hold on to some of its old magnificence.

Cole hurled it away with revulsion, and it landed at Red’s feet. “Take your damn coat,” the Firebrand snarled.

“I don’t want it anymore,” Red replied evenly. “I am no longer King. I left all that behind when Ghetsis fell. I don’t deserve to have it any longer.”

Cole noted that the cloak was probably far warmer, even in its current waterlogged state, than Red’s light vest. And yet, the stoic Master didn’t seem to feel the cold. Red ran a hand through Pikachu’s soft fur. The electric mouse made a soft cooing noise. Red shrugged. “Cole… I don’t want to be who I was. Remember me not as the cold, unfeeling Master, but as the passionate hero who took down Team Rocket. I want to be who I was, not who I became.”

“I… I can’t do that,” Cole murmured. “Red, you have done horrible things. I can’t just wipe that slate clean. And even if I did… everyone knows you were the King of Team Omega. No one can forgive that, least of all me. You betrayed me, Red. When I was a kid, I looked up to you. I idolized you! When you needed help taking back Silph Co., remember? I was the first to join up with you! And then, on the news, when I saw you defeated Giovanni it was… I don’t… Arceus, Red! What happened to you?”

“I wanted to get stronger.”

“Maybe you did get stronger,” Cole spat. “But you lost what made you human along the way!”

Red winced and retreated a step. “I… I know.” He took Pikachu off his shoulder set him on the ground. The electric type looked expectantly up at Athena. The Victini descended and the two began to talk in hushed tones. “In my training, I stopped seeing my pokemon as my companions, and only as my tools. And that’s what they became. They had no emotions, because I had no emotions. No empathy, no limits. After Snorlax died, I should have seen what was happening, because not a single one of them mourned. But no. I kept pushing onward.”

“Your Lapras almost killed Prometheus!” Cole shouted. “Without remorse! It would have, if N hadn’t saved him!”

“Lapras is gone,” Red murmured. “I released her when I fled the Entralink. I couldn’t… she was too far-gone. She needed time. Somewhere in Undella Bay, she’s probably happier now.” The Master nodded. “All I have left now are Charizard, Venusaur, Blastoise and Pikachu. Rather… fitting, isn’t it? I feel like I have been given a palate of basic colors, and a blank canvas.” Then, he shook his head. “But what does it matter? Everyone lives in fear of me.”

“Perceptions can change,” Magnus said.

Red appeared startled, seemingly noticing Magnus, Necro, Joan and Noir for the first time. He inclined his head in acknowledgment. “Yes, that’s true. It won’t be an easy path to walk, but… well, it must be done.” He reached out slowly and ran a hand along Prometheus’s jaw line. The Charizard tensed but allowed the contact. “I remember you. From before the War, even. You and Cole flew next to us in Saffron, didn’t you?” Prometheus gave a jerky nod. Red smiled. “Yes, you’ve gotten a little bit bigger, and you have some new scars. But that fire still burns in your eyes.”

Here, Prometheus reared back, baring his fangs. “You dare…? It was by your orders that my brother was blinded!”

“Easy,” Cole muttered, stroking Prometheus’s flank. “Easy now, calm down. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know. He didn’t mean it.”

Prometheus glowered at Red. “But… eyes. Surely, you can see why…”

“Your anger is righteous,” Cole agreed. “But misplaced. He’s a different man now.”

Red folded his arms. “What’s going on here?”

“Some years ago, a girl came here to challenge you. Her name was Becca. She lost. Badly. Her Charizard, Dracoburn, was blinded by your Lapras’s Blizzard and nearly died. Dracoburn… is Prometheus’s brother.”

Red retreated another pace. “Arceus… I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t know! By Arceus, I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t be,” Prometheus snapped, and Cole translated. “It’s in the past, it’s done. We can’t fix him now. He’s learned to live with his burden, and it taught him humility. Perhaps you would do well to follow his example.” Then, the great orange dragon turned to Cole. “It would be best if you returned me now, before I do or say something I will regret.” His trainer obliged, and Prometheus disappeared in a flash of red light.

Red shuddered. “He’s right, damn it all.”

Necro vaulted up onto a nearby pillar. “Well hey. I’ve always found a bit of questing is perfect for some soul-searching. Much better than staring at gray clouds all day, at least.” The bard shrugged and plucked at his harp. “I was thinking of moving on after this detour. You can come with me if you like. If anyone knows how to escape their past…”

The enigmatic bard smiled ruefully. “Well, it’s me. I’ve had a lot of practice.”

Red blinked up at him. “You mean that? A journey might help. I haven’t had one since… since…”

“Since you became the Pokemon Master,” Cole volunteered.

“Yes, so many years,” Red replied. “A new start may be just what I need…”

Athena and Pikachu looked up. “Trouble coming,” the Victini reported. “Jasper.”

Cole scooped her up. “Damn it. The Gate, where’s the Gate?”

Joan was already a step ahead of him. “Over there, in the center of the altar.” Magnus was already in motion, and Cole not far behind. The Chosen Knight of Arceus glanced at Necro and Noir. “You two should get out here.”

“No.” Necro swung off the pillar and called out his pokemon. “We’ll buy you some time.”

“The travel is instantaneous!” Cole called. “Save yourselves! Noir, come on, you’re hurt!”

What, this? The Darkrai gestured to his chest. Just a scratch Master, really. Besides, I need to pay him back in full. Your permission not to hold back?

Cole nodded gravely. “Permission granted.”

The Darkrai came as close to smiling as his visage would allow. And make sure to come visit us sometime. I think Mewtwo wants to make you Hope’s godfather. Of course, he passed right over me…

Cole smiled. “Goodbye Noir, and good luck.”

Goodbye Master.

Red clapped down on Cole’s shoulder. “All right. What’s going on here?”

“A bad man is following us. He wants me dead. If I go through this Gate, I can get away, go beyond his reach. Necro and Noir are going to get me the time I need.”

Red nodded to his Pikachu, and called out his other three pokemon. The behemoths reared up behind the Pokemon Master, and roared loud enough to rattle the bones of the mountain. He turned to Cole. “I have to start doing the right thing somewhere. And why not here? Go, Firebrand. We have your back.”

Cole nodded. “All right. And… thank you.” He turned to move away, to enter the Gate. Red stopped him one last time.

“Firebrand… do you think you could ever find it in your heart to forgive me?”

Cole took Red’s hand in his. “It’s going to be a long, hard road. It may take years. But someday, if you truly want to become a better man… yes, I think I could find it in my heart to forgive you.”

The Gate opened with a rush of light and sound. Cole turned his back as Jasper, Talreya, Beckett and Peiotr raced up the slope, only to be met by Noir, Red, Necro and their pokemon. The sounds of battle slowly died away as Cole traversed the bounds of space and time.

A great and terrible weight from the past had been lifted, and the future looked ever brighter.
 

Glover

Pain in Rocket side
That, was really pretty. I liked that, and now that you've done it, we need to get Becca to do a closure chapter too. For all the evilness, I truly love your protrayal of Red, although the idea of a bloodthirsty seamonster of a Lapras in Undella Bay is both terrifying and an intiguing plot point to bring up. I liked the Mewtwo chapter better, I think you did a better job of getting into Mewtwo's head when you wrote it, and perhaps it's a project of redunancy that hurts this one, but it was quite good.

“It’s going to be a long, hard road. It may take years. But someday, if you truly want to become a better man… yes, I think I could find it in my heart to forgive you.”

I'm going to do something I haven't felt the need to do for most of your work: I'm going to call out a section. Truthfully, for the scene this line came from, this feels to structutred and scripted, it looses Cole's (or is it Coles'?). frustrations and heartbreak, and doesn't really generate a warm fuzzy feeling of trying to be forgiving.

You know what, Jasper's going to find the Gate. He has to. Maybe he can't use it, or maybe he's able to piggyback off Cole's trail or something, but it's going to come down to him finding the Gate. And Arceus help us if he can hack into the gate system...
 

Firebrand

Indomitable
Lonely Hearts

Joan flicked her toes upward, causing a small spray of water to sail up and strike Cole in the face. When the Firebrand made a spluttering protest, Joan uncharacteristically giggled. The cool air of Pinwheel Forest played over their skin as they lounged beside one of the forest’s many pools.

After emerging from the Gate not far from Nacrene City, Cole and Magnus had decided there was simply more room to travel by heading northwest to Castelia City and the majority of northern Unova. After a day’s travel, they had made it as far as Pinwheel Forest, and had decided to rest here and recover from the hard, bitter race across Kanto. Magnus had gone off into the forest look for Rumination Field and clear his head, leaving Cole and Joan relatively alone. Their pokemon were ranging nearby, leaving their trainers be.

Joan made to splash him again, but Cole quickly leapt out of range. The young woman turned around and smiled flirtatiously. “What, is the big, strong Firebrand afraid that a little water will put him out?”

Cole grinned back. “It’s cold, that’s all.”

Joan took his hand and pulled her back down next to her. “You’re always so distant,” she sighed. “Why can’t you just be happy more? You’re kind of cute when you’re happy.” She laughed when color flushed Cole’s cheeks. “No, it’s true. After the Omega War, when they interviewed you on TV, you had a sparkle in your eye, but ever since I met you, I’ve never once seen it. You… you’re so sad now.

“And I suppose that might be just because you got older, but I think there’s something more. Your heart is heavy. You love your pokemon; that much is clear. But you don’t let yourself love anything else. Maybe you don’t even realize it, but you keep everything else at arm’s length. Why?”

Cole sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just because I know I’ll always have Prometheus and Athena next to me, and at least a few others. Even those I don’t take along, I know they’ll always be waiting for me when I get back, almost exactly the same as how I left them. Pokemon don’t change as often as people do.

“After the War, the Journeymen really didn’t see much of each other. Sure, we hung out in little pockets here and there, but after a little time had gone by, things started to drag us apart. And then from there, the league just fell to pieces.” He shrugged. “It was nice when we had something to bind us together, but we didn’t, not anymore. We didn’t have the challenger base of other leagues, so most of the leaders just gave up, closed shop and went on with their lives.”

Cole leaned back and stared up at the puffy clouds rolling through the clear blue sky. “I don’t think I really helped matters, taking off like I did. But I think that’s why I had to. I saw the league falling to shambles, people who I had fought next to becoming strangers. I couldn’t bear to be there when everything crumbled. Best to get out when the cracks start to show and wait for the dust to settle.

“I guess that’s why I don’t want to let more people get close to me. Because I’m afraid of what’s going to happen when we change.”

Joan placed her hand over his. “There’s more to it than that.”

“I’ve seen a lot of horrible things in my time,” Cole finally replied. “When I was in the work camp… that really did it for me. The old Cole, he died in there. I’m what’s left. A broken man, if you can believe that.”

Joan shook her head. “No. You’re just changed. Different. You had to make changes in order to keep going, to do what you had to. But the real Cole still lives in your heart. I don’t know who that Cole is, but he’s there.”

This brought back sharp, potent memories of Cole’s vision at the base of the Bell Tower, when the three fragments of his psyche had tried to force him to choose one of their number. “My true self is a damn nasty piece of work.”

Joan winked. “The heart is hard to translate. It has a language all it’s own. It talks in tongues and quiet sighs, and prayers and proclamations. In the grand days of great men and the smallest of gestures and in short, shallow gasps.” She flopped back on the soft autumn grass and dragged Cole down with her. “With all my education, I can’t seem to command it, and the words are all escaping me, coming back all damaged. I would put them all in poetry if I only knew how, but I can’t seem to understand it.”

She suddenly leapt to her feet, surprisingly animated. “And I would give all this, and heaven too, I would give it all if only for a moment that I could just understand the meaning of the world you see. I’ve been searching it for ages, but it never makes sense to me.

“It talks to me and tiptoes and sings to me inside. It cries out in the darkest night, and breaks in the morning light.” She reached down, took Cole’s hand and pulled him up, startlingly close to her. “With my education, I can’t seem to command it, and the words are all escaping me, coming back all damaged. I would put them all in poetry if I only knew how, but I can’t seem to understand it.”

Leaning in close, she placed her lips just under his ear. “And I would give all this, and heaven too, I would give it all if only for a moment that I could understand the meaning of the world you see. I’ve been searching it for ages, but it never makes sense to me at all.” She darted away, and then quickly back, teasing him into chase her. When he finally caught up to her, she grabbed his hand and pulled him closer, close enough that they could hear each other’s racing heartbeats.

“No, the words are a language that doesn’t deserve such treatment, and all my stumbling phrases never amounted to anything worth this feeling. All this heaven never could describe such a feeling as I’m having. Words were never so useful…” Her voice dropped to a whisper, and Cole realized just how very close they were. “So I was screaming out a language that I never knew existed before.”

“Are we still talking about the ‘true me’?” Cole asked.

“Maybe,” Joan whispered back. “Maybe not.”

Her lips were nearly brushing his when a twig behind them snapped. The two trainers whirled to see Masamune and Magnus standing rather sheepishly at the other end of the clearing. The old man cleared his throat. “Well. I fear we’re interrupting something.”

Joan and Cole shoved away from each other, making their excuses. “So, um, did you find Rumination Field?” Cole asked, trying to regain his composure.

Magnus nodded. “From a distance, I think. Virizion wasn’t there, or if he was, I did not see him. But regardless, I saw a large field of wildflowers in the northeast. Even if it wasn’t Rumination Field, it was certainly nice.”

“And Masamune? Have a nice swim?”

“Yes, I made friends with a few Swadloon along the banks. They wanted me to ferry them across the river, so I did.”

After a time, the other pokemon came back from their little detours. After a quick lunch, the group decided to make for Skyarrow Bridge and beyond that, Castelia City. The main trail through Pinwheel Forest was well worn, and many novice trainers battled on the outskirts. Athena sat on Cole’s shoulder, and drew several awed whispers. A few kids even asked Cole to autograph their badge cases, most with the Nacrene City Badge sparkling and new.

At first, he was disinclined to do so, but after some good-natured teasing and jostling from Joan and Magnus, the Firebrand reluctantly agreed. Athena tapped her paw against the black permanent marker and put her print just under Cole’s, which the young trainers seemed to think was a sign of good luck.

As they left the children behind, Cole shook his head. “We really shouldn’t encourage them like that.”

“Oh, they’re just kids,” Joan replied. “You must have been like that once. Actually, I know you were like that once. I saw that unauthorized TV biography they did on you.”

Cole smiled ruefully. “The league got a bit of money from that lawsuit.” Then, he shrugged. “I guess if they go and tell their friends that they met the Firebrand training in the forest, it’s not going to hurt anyone.”

***

Masamune smiled as the sea breeze played over his thin, bristle-like fur. “Cole, do you remember the last time we crossed this bridge?”

His trainer nodded. “A long time ago. You were just an Oshawott, and Thor a Blitzle. We hadn’t even met Athena and Scathatch yet.” The Royal Unova passed by below; it’s horn blaring as it hailed the many cars passing over the Skyarrow Bridge.

The Castelia skyline loomed up ahead. Below their feet, the rumbling of automobiles made the footpath vibrate. The travelers walked along at an easy pace, greeting the other pedestrians walking across the bridge graciously. When they saw a large group of tourists, the three trainers returned their larger pokemon so that the people could pass by.

When they emerged from the gatehouse at the other end of the grand, sweeping bridge, Joan gasped. “It’s so huge!”

Castelia City sprawled in front of them, spectacular crowds thronging in the streets. The voices all blended together, forming an audible tapestry that hung in the air. The sounds of the city formed a backdrop to everything, and after being in the relatively isolated wilds of Kanto for so long, it was literally breathtaking.

The company checked into the towering pokemon center, and went their separate ways to explore the city. Magnus disappeared down Mode Street to look at the various art galleries; while Cole took his pokemon down to the piers to watch the ships come and go. Joan vanished into the crowd to simply see what Castelia had to offer.

The late autumn air was chilly, blowing in off the sea. And yet strangely, the spray that was dashed against the rock and metal pylons was almost warm against Cole’s face, a product of the warm water currents that were just reaching northern Unova at this time of year. Masamune’s tongue flicked in and out from between his lips, tasting the salty air. Scathatch, in the form of a Mienshao, barked at a flock of Wingull wheeling above a tanker. Thor and Prometheus posed for pictures when a group of schoolchildren wandered by, allowing the youngsters to climb on them and experience what it was like to be in the presence of such ‘giant’ pokemon. Maeve and Athena stayed by Cole’s side, watching a large group of tourists disembark from the Royal Unova.

The Firebrand turned up his collar to avoid notice, and laid a hand on Masamune’s flank. “Do you remember, months ago, I promised you something?”

The Samurott shook his head. “No more than you remember what we had for breakfast three days ago.”

Cole cuffed him, but laughed. “I told you I’d take you to F. A. O. Schwartz, to play the giant piano. Remember?”

Masamune’s eyes lit up. “Yes, I do now! Are we going?”

“Tomorrow, I promise. Besides,” Cole lowered his voice, “I think Athena and Maeve will want to see all the toys.”

Masamune smiled back at Cole. “I’m sure.” Then, he began humming Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony under his breath.

***

Trainers were always passing through Castelia City, and as such, the center was always full to bursting. Cole craved a little peace and quiet, and found some measure of it on the roof of the skyscraper that housed the facility. The neon sign below him blinked, and the lights of the city were vibrant all around. But up here, so high he might as well have been flying on Prometheus’s back, the sounds of Castelia were muted ever so slightly.

Cole dangled his legs off the edge of the skyscraper, and tossed little bits of gravel down at the fire escape three floors below, listening carefully to the pinging noise they made as they clattered down the steps. There was a click, and a flash of light.

Cole did not even turning around. He knew Prometheus was standing behind him. It could only have been his pokéball. Maeve and Athena were eating with Joan and Eris, Thor and Masamune had too much decorum to leave their pokéballs without being called upon, and Scathatch was soundly asleep. “What’s up?”

“I think I should be the one to ask you that.” The fire type lowered his head onto Cole’s shoulder, his deep eyes gazing right into Cole’s. “You have that sad, melancholy look about you, and you have no right to.” Prometheus growled softly. “We saved Arceus from Vladimir, escaped Jasper, made our peace with Mewtwo, forced Red to turn over a new leaf, and finally found a little breathing room. What could possibly be wrong with you?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” the Firebrand replied. “I just feel so… empty. After all that happened in Hoenn, and then the clashes with the cultists, and all the pain and suffering I’ve caused, I have no right to be happy. Ever.”

He stood up, stretched, and took Prometheus’s head in his hands. Then, he began to sing. “I have climbed the highest mountains, I have run through the fields. Only to be with you, only to be with you.”

The Charizard growled again. “I am not afraid of anything in this world. There’s nothing you can throw at me that I haven’t already heard.”

Cole smiled and continued. “I have run, I have crawled. I have scaled these city walls, these city walls! Only to be with you.”

The momentary pause was filled with Prometheus’s deep baritone voice. “I’m just trying to find a decent melody. A song that I can sing, my own company.”

“But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for!” Cole turned from Prometheus and walked several paces away and clenched his fist. “But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for!” He raised a hand to his eyes so his partner would not see the tears of bundled up rage welling up.

“I never thought you were a fool, but brother, look at you!” Prometheus swept to Cole’s side. “You gotta stand up straight, carry your own weight. These tears are going nowhere, nowhere. You’ve got to get yourself together, you’ve stuck in a moment, and you can’t get out of it.” When Cole tried to bolt, the dragon grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t say that later will be better, now you’re stuck in a moment. And you can’t get out of it.”

Cole smiled ruefully. “I have kissed honeyed lips, felt the healing in my fingertips. It burned like fire! This burning desire!” His hands were shaking as his memories overwhelmed him, the spectacular Presence he felt at the climax of the Omega War. “I have spoke with the tongue of angels, I have held the hand of the devil. It was warm in the night… but I was cold as a stone.”

He clutched his temples and sank into a crouch. “But I still haven’t what I’m looking for!”

Prometheus lowered himself down onto a level with Cole. “I will not forsake the colors that you bring. The nights you’ve filled with flowers have left you with nothing. I am still enchanted by the light you brought to me. I listen through your ears, and through your eyes, I can see.” He extended a claw, careful to make sure Cole didn’t cut himself on the sharp talons, helped his trainer to his feet, and continued his deep, beautiful singing all the while. “And you are such a fool, to worry like you do. I know it’s tough. And you can never get enough of what you don’t really need now. My, oh my.

“You’ve got to get yourself together. You’ve got stuck in a moment and now you can’t get out of it. Brother, look at you now. You’ve got yourself stuck in a moment, and you can’t get out of it…”

Cole’s weak smile grew a little wider as he placed his hands on Prometheus’s bony shoulders. “I believe in the Kingdom Come, when all the colors will bleed into one. But yes, I’m still running! I still haven’t found what I’m looking for!”

“I was unconscious, half asleep,” Prometheus sang. “The water is warm, ‘til you discover how deep! I wasn’t jumping, for me it was a fall; it’s a long way down to nothing at all!

“You’ve got to get yourself together, you’ve got yourself stuck in a moment, and you can’t get out of it! Don’t say that later would be better, you’ve got stuck in a moment, and you gotta get out of it!”

Prometheus broke off in surprise as Cole grabbed the dragon’s forehead and pressed it against his own. “You broke the bonds, loosed the chains!” the Firebrand sang. “Carried the cross of my shame… Oh my shame, you know I believe it!”

Prometheus smiled, his teeth glinting in the moonlight. “And if the night runs over, and if the day won’t last! And if your way should falter along this stony path…”

“I still haven’t found…”

And if the night runs over…

“But yes I’m still running…”

And if your way should falter!

I sti-ill haven’t fou-und what I’m lo-oking fo-or!

“It’s just a moment, this time will pass!”

And then, Cole’s rage and grief evaporated, replaced by tears of the most profound joy. He cried out and wrapped his arms around Prometheus’s neck.

And the two brothers embraced.




This chapter contains both of my recent music kicks. The latter two songs in the chapter are U2's "Stuck In a Moment" and "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". To the best of my knowledge, no mashup exists, mostly because the musical styles are vastly different. However, lyrics-wise they are very close, and I like how that all turned out.
 
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Firebrand

Indomitable
Grand Maestro

“… antioxidants to keep you feeling at top form,” Maeve read, peering intently at Cole’s bottle of VitaminWater. Cole put down his veggie wrap on the wax paper covering the café tray and scratched the Weavile behind her ear.

“There were some big words in there and you didn’t stumble once. You’re getting really good at reading! I’m impressed!”

Maeve beamed up at him and took a bite out of her egg salad. “I’ve been practicing a lot.”

Athena turned to Cole. “Why does ‘xxx’ have a bad reputation?”

Cole nearly choked. Magnus thumped him on the back as Joan collapsed into nervous laughter. “She’s your pokemon,” Magnus chortled. “You explain.”

Taking a deep breath, Cole tried to think quickly. “I’ll, uh… tell you when you’re older.”

“I’m two hundred thirty six years old!” Athena cried indignantly. “How much older do you want me to get?”

This gave Cole pause. Athena was really that old? That meant a mere, negligible fraction of her life had been spent with him… What kind of life had she lived before coming to him? And if she lived this long, would she still be around when he was… gone? “Are… Is that true?”

Magnus nodded. “It would make sense. You see, some pokemon, like several species of dragon, rock and ground types, live exponentially longer than normal human life expectancy. Maximus, for example, may prove to live to be one hundred and fifty years old if he remains healthy. Legendary pokemon usually become such due to their extreme longevity. Look no further than Dialga and Palkia, who have existed as long as there has been something for which to exist. Jirachi slumbers for eons on end. What makes you think Athena is any different? However, as far as I can tell, two hundred and thirty six is relatively young for Victini.”

A sliver of roast Tauros meat disappeared down Scathatch’s throat. “A mere puppy, in the scope of things. But don’t worry, Cole. Most of your pokemon will age at about the same rate as you. Prometheus, Masamune, Thor, Maeve and myself all age at a rate similar to humans.”

Joan, clearly unnerved by all this, squeezed Eris closer to herself in the same manner a young girl clutches a doll for security. The Banette’s soft, fabric-like body probably only supported the image.

Magnus dusted crumbs from his lap and fed a slice of berry to Feste, perched on his shoulder. “But now is no time for this conversation! Come on, do we not have plans for today?”

***

Maeve and Athena both visibly went into shock as the sliding glass doors opened. Cheery music pumped through hidden speakers as young children and small pokemon scampered in every direction.

“It’s gigantic!” Maeve gasped. Eris trilled something and tugged at Joan’s sleeve. Feste whistled appreciatively as Newton cast his appraising eye over a display of puzzles.

You take enjoyment from this?

“Yes,” Athena retorted, drifting a few inches off Cole’s shoulder. “Can we go look at that?” She pointed at a massive display of life-sized stuffed pokemon dolls. Magnus escorted Maeve to a large room devoted entirely to puzzles, while Feste and Newton tagged along with Cole and Joan.

F. A. O. Schwartz allowed small pokemon to travel outside pokeballs so long as they behaved themselves, but larger pokemon, like the brunt of the trainers’ teams, were simply too big to fit in with the displays. After perusing the giant toy store for some time, and following Athena’s winding path through exhibits and shelves, Cole finally found enough time to go to the large balcony that overlooked the store’s entry foyer. The Firebrand nodded to the huge piano keys laid out on the floor and looked at an employee.

“Will that support the weight of a rather large pokemon?”

The employee folded her hands. “I suppose it depends what pokemon is in question. Sir, my manager wouldn’t really like it if…”

Cole waved a hand. “It’s my Samurott. He’s sort of a classical music enthusiast, but he’s never found a piano big enough to play. Can he at least look at it?”

The girl smiled, a little relieved. “I suppose looking couldn’t hurt.”

Masamune appeared in a flash, and his eyes went wide. “It’s… massive!”

“Everything in this store seems to be oversize!” Cole joked back.

After explaining the employee’s terms, the Samurott nodded. “I suppose I still can’t play it. But… Cole, would you do me the honor of acting as my ‘fingers’?”

“It would be my pleasure!”

“Well, quickly, stand on that key there, and then jump to that black one… okay, good, now there, and there, and repeat and now hit that black one…”

After a minute of this, Cole was panting. “I didn’t know you knew chords!” He grinned at his water type companion.

“I had Kami help me look them up online a long time ago,” Masamune replied. “Now, again. This time E Minor.”

Cole again suffered the indignity of hopping from key to key. When he spotted Joan in the shifting crowd, he motioned her over. “You be the other hand.”

With Joan helping him, the work was just slightly less tiresome. By the time Masamune allowed them to finish, both trainers were sweating profusely. The store employee was trying to stifle giggles. She glanced around furtively before laying a hand on Masamune’s side. “You know… I feel bad now. I don’t see my manager around. If you really want to, and you’re very careful, I don’t think it would hurt to play a little.”

With a cry of delight, Masamune darted to a portion of the piano and motioned Cole and Joan back over. He continued barking commands at them, and the two trainers were having too much fun to gripe. They soon drew a small crowd, and Cole spotted Magnus bent double with laughter. Scathatch, Prometheus and Thor burst from their pokeballs to stand on the fringe of the gathering, stifling their mirth and calling out their support of the “maestro”.

When the song finally concluded, a cheer went up from the gathered crowd. Masamune, Cole and Joan took a bow before collapsing into raucous laughter themselves. Then, they went their separate ways again as Eris beseeched Joan to come look at dolls with her, and Maeve dragged Cole off to see a giant three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle.

***

The companions sat around a table in the central park of Castelia City as the evening sun sank in the sky. “So… do we know where to go next?” Joan asked.

Cole shrugged. “No vision, so assume we’ll just wander around.” He tapped a finger on the wrought iron bench. “I’m guessing we’ll have more luck going north, but I don’t really want to go through the desert, or deal with the crowds in Nimbasa City at this time of year. After Kanto, I’m ready to take it easy and go somewhere quiet for a while.”

Magnus nodded. “Perhaps we could take a boat up the eastern river, and then work our way south through the wilder part of Unova?”

“That sounds exciting,” Joan said, leaning forward. “Lacunosa Town and all that?”

“If we could find one that takes us all the way up to Opelucid City and Village Bridge, that would be fantastic,” Cole mused. “So, how about this? We stay one more night at the center, then look for a boat first thing tomorrow morning.”

***

A flock of Swana and Ducklett drifted over Marvelous Bridge, squawking and calling out to each other. Joan’s dark hair flew out like a banner in the easterly wind, blowing in off the ocean. She leaned against the railing of the riverboat and watched the aquatic pokemon jumping through the waves beneath her.

Magnus lounged in a deck chair behind her, a newspaper covering his face. Every so often, the old man would let out a soft snore and the paper would billow. The red-walled canyons on either side soared up and seemed to hold the sun between them. People atop the bridge waved down as the boat passed underneath.

When the craft emerged from the other side, Cole propped himself up on his elbows from where he was resting atop the cabin roof. “Got it. Cloud looks like a Hippopotas.”

Gerad, the owner of the riverboat and captain of his one-man crew, smiled. “Are you going to laze in the sun all day or are you going to do your job?” When Cole made a noise of protest, the captain threw the mop at him. “And if you don’t get down double quick, I’ll dump the bucket on your head and make you fill it up again!”

The Firebrand swung off the roof with a sigh. In truth, he had no grounds to complain. Gerad had given the three trainers and their pokemon free passage on his boat on the condition that they help him keep things tidy and clean, help him store the cargo he had brought downriver in Castelia, unload what he was currently shipping in Opelucid, and then cart the shipment waiting there for his return journey.

Miranda the Liligant appeared from the galley carrying a tray with four steaming mugs of herbal tea. Magnus and Joan gladly accepted theirs, while Gerad politely declined, opting instead for a beer in a cooler next to the helm. Miranda put Cole’s on a table for him to drink after he finished.

The Firebrand mopped the deck as quickly as he could, while still doing a satisfactory job. At some point, Masamune leapt from his pokéball for a quick swim in river, which flowed languidly in this stretch. The Samurott sighed with pleasure as the cool water rushed around him and surged against the current.

When Cole was finished, he placed the mop back in a small supply closet near the wheel. Gerad reached into the cooler for another beer. “You want one, Cole?”

The young man politely declined. While he was of an age to drink by the standards of Tojoh, Unova had a strictly enforced drinking age of twenty-one. And anyway, as of late, he had found himself to be quite the maudlin drunk. Better not to subject his companions to that.

Instead, he stood with Joan against the railing, watching the clouds reflected in the river. “Is Unova a pretty place?” she asked. “I’ve… well, naturally, I’ve never been.”

“I like the east more than the west,” Cole confessed. “Less people, more wide open spaces. And… well, my first memories of western Unova are a little less than pleasant.”

“Right. The whole Plasma thing. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Cole turned and watched Maeve playing with Sander and Eris. “Eventually, the land will heal, and the scars will start to fade.”

“On the land, maybe. But what about you?”

“I don’t really want to talk about this, Joan.”

She placed her hand over his. “If you ever do, I’ll be there.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

He walked away and jumped back up on top of the cabin. He was about to pillow his head on his arms, but Scathatch leapt up after him, circled three times, and lay down in just the right position for her long, fluffy mane to serve as a comfortable headrest.

“Ah, to be young and in love,” the Zoroark quipped. Cole growled something under his breath, and hoped the dark type didn’t see the color rise in his cheeks.
 

Glover

Pain in Rocket side
Whee! I love it. Music's an integral part of this chapter, but the words are all yours. I like it. For the life of me, I can perfectly see and hear Masamune playing that classic two person piece that every movie in the world is fond of, but I cannot think of the title. Even still, it's a wonderful scene to behold.

Love your theory on aging too, that's a nice touch.

One thing though:

A flock of Swanna and Ducklett
There's two Ns there.
 
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