Chapter Two
Scarlet was far from happy about the situation, her golden eyes dark with suppressed anger as she leaned back in her seat, her fists clinched in her lap. It wasn’t that she disliked Kakisu. He reminded me a lot of Kirio, friendly, but serious at the same time. I made a mental note to ask Kirio where they had met. He hadn’t talked much about his life before being pulled into the Shadow Forces at an early age. Perhaps they had been early childhood friends? But…Kirio had grown up on Orre, not in Japan…
Scarlet wasn’t happy about having to ask another nation for help in taking back her position as Champion, especially since the person who had forced her from the capital had been a one-man army. “We need soldiers to start a force strong enough to at least slow down the Aquapolian army in case he decides to use it for invasions.”
Kakisu’s eyes widened. “I’ll only be able to spare part of my forces…”
“How many troops would that be?”
“1,000”
Scarlet shook her head. “That’s not nearly enough to conquer the 50,000 that he has under control…”
Kakisu thought for a moment, glancing at me. “Then I’ll donate the entirety of the Japanese-Aquapolian force. 25,000 troops.”
“What?” I asked. Scarlet and Katie gasped.
“My forces were made to serve both Japan and Aquapolis in times of need. Since Japan isn’t currently in a war or skirmish…I’m free to serve the Aquapolian government…” He trailed off, looking at me strangely. I knew that the three of us Heavenly Warriors must look pretty weird, with my apparently rising from the dead, Scarlet’s body having turned back in time, and Katie’s personality divided between angelic and demonic. Would he even believe what we were saying? A horrible thought washed over me. What if he thought we were crazy and raising a panic over nothing? Surely Kirio had reassured him that we knew a threat when we saw one? Suddenly, I wished Kirio had come with us as back up. Could Kakisu even believe that I was who I said I was?
My head was spinning with these thoughts, and I was finding it hard to breathe suddenly. Maybe we were exaggerating things? I mean, Lugia could just be using these armies to strengthen Aquapolis against a demonic attack he believed that Scarlet alone couldn’t counter? Maybe we were dragging the Japanese-Aquapolians into nothing?
“Is everything okay?” Kakisu asked. I snapped out of my thoughts.
“Yes. Everything’s fine. We’re just…still trying to get a grasp on the situation ahead of us.”
“I’ll have to come without the knowledge of the Japanese government, if what you say is true. Of course, there’s absolutely no guarantee that they won’t notice when I bring over such a large force.”
“We don’t even have a place to house them all…” Scarlet muttered. “It would have to be somewhere far away from Ever Grande in order to not catch Lugia’s attention.”
“Wait!” Katie exclaimed. “There’s an island north of Snowpoint…it’s completely deserted with no wild Pokemon on it. Why don’t we build a base there?”
“That would take quite a while…” Kakisu muttered.
I smiled. “I’m pretty sure we could get a reasonably-sized base up in a few weeks. We’d just need you to bring over a part of your force to help us.”
Kakisu wasn’t exactly convinced of this, but he nodded in agreement. “Okay, then. Give me the coordinates of this island, and we’ll start setting up in the next few days.”
I smiled and nodded, rising from my seat and bowing. “Thank you very much, Commander.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I assume that you’ll be in charge of whatever forces we’ll bring together?”
Scarlet nodded. “As the Chosen One and the leader of the original Legendary Team, Kris will handle everything as our leader. We’ve decided that I’ll be second-in-command, and Katie will serve in our absence if we have to leave for any emergency.”
He nodded. “That sounds right…the three Heavenly Warriors leading a battle against a legendary?” He shook his head. “I thought all of this ended in the Great War years ago.”
I frowned and glanced at Scarlet and Katie beside me. “Unfortunately, I think this war will be even bigger.”
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“So, how did it go?”
I sighed, releasing all the stress pent up inside by our visit with Commander Kakisu. I regretted not dragging Kirio with us to meet with the commander. Since they were old friends, it may have smoothed things over instead of me babbling like a loon and trying to explain why I wasn’t dead and Scarlet looked nearly two decades younger than her actual age. “It went well enough for him to agree to lend us 25,000 troops. We told him that there’s an island north of Snowpoint that we can build a base on. Since the entire Aquapolian government has gone rogue now, we don’t have to worry about getting permission to build on it, I guess…”
I glanced over to where Scarlet and Katie sat on a park bench. The commander’s home base was set up on warm and sunny Sentan Island off the coast of south Japan. The sea breeze lifted Katie’s hair up, spinning it into black ribbons while Scarlet’s looked the color of faint lavender. She was twirling one purple strand around her finger, staring listlessly at the other park-goers. One couple who seemed to be in their early twenties laughed and chatted as their Luxray and Linoone sat speaking with each other in turn. Things were certainly not as calm in Ever Grande’s capital. I frowned. That was, unless Lugia was able to keep an air of normalness about the city. What if the general public didn’t know that Scarlet had been overthrown?
“Whatever we do now…we can do in the name of the true Champion,” I said confidently. Scarlet turned her golden gaze to me, a little of the uncertainty that had plagued it over the past few days washed away at my words. A spark of confidence filled her eyes, and, I once again saw the girl who had been brave enough to stand up to a demon and save me from captivity nearly two decades prior. She sat up straighter, and I could see both the true Champion and Dimensional Warrior reflected in her presence.
“Are you returning home today?” Kirio asked, a slightly worried tone in his voice. It had been dangerous venturing out of Snowpoint, even for this short meeting. Then again, there hadn’t been any signs of Lugia tracking us down, so it wasn’t as if we were one the run. He could have easily tried to kill Scarlet after declaring himself Champion, though that would have definitely not been an easy task. Scarlet still held part of Giratina’s power over the past few decades.
“Yes, we’ll be hopping on the next boat over…” I trailed off as I saw Commander Kakisu approaching us. “I’ll talk to you when we’re halfway there. I love you…” I clicked off, wondering what the Japanese-Aquapolian wanted. He stepped close enough to me to ensure that Scarlet and Katie couldn’t hear our conversation, and I frowned. What was this about?
“I don’t know if Kirio told you this, but we know each other from before the Great War.” He spoke as if what he had to say was something far to difficult to put into words, but he pressed on. “I don’t believe you ever remember running into me during the war, but I was one of the Shadow Commanders stationed in Sinnoh at the time. I was supposed to be keeping tabs on Kirio while he…followed you during the Diamond Conference.”
My eyes widened, and I started to speak, but the commander had already turned away. “I’ll see you in a few days,” he said softly, bowing before he made his way back to the base. I stared after him, as did Scarlet and Katie. Finally, after a few moments, Scarlet snapped out of her daze and stood up from the bench.
“We need to get back to Snowpoint.”
I nodded.
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We crunched through the snow, enjoying the nice day outside on our walk to Snowpoint. I heard a rustling noise from the bushes beside us and stopped, glancing in that direction. Scarlet and Katie walked past me for a few steps before stopping and turning. “What’s up?” Katie asked, her Aquapolian crystal blue eyes sparking with interest. Suddenly, something jumped out of the bushes, bowling me over into the snow as it raced around me, a black and red blur. I pushed myself onto my side to see a small Pokemon I had never laid eyes on before. It wagged its tail and smiled at me, obviously happy to see me.
“What in the world…?” I muttered as it licked my face. Scarlet and Katie gasped.
“I’ve never seen that Pokemon before,” Scarlet murmured as I picked it up, standing up as it wiggled in my arms.
“Zo…zo…” It muttered.
“It must be a baby,” I said, holding it out to look into its ice blue eyes. “It can’t speak yet…”
It barked. “Zo…zo…rua!!”
I squinted. “Your name is…Zorua?”
It barked again, happily shaking its tail before it spun out of my arms. After a brief flash of light, I gasped as another me appeared before me. The experience was just like looking in a mirror for a few moments, with me staring into my own Aquapolian crystal blue eyes. I gaped, and the mirror image gaped along with me, following my movements down to the breath for a few moments before laughing hysterically. This action caught me totally off guard, and I reared back for a few moments, slightly repulsed by the maniacal laughter coming from my mirror image’s mouth. I glanced over to gauge Scarlet and Katie’s reaction, only to see that both girls were as dumbfounded as I was.
Finally, my image spun back up into the air, disappearing as the strange new Pokemon reappeared again, its fluffy black and red fur standing out clearly amongst the snowdrifts around it. It laughed maniacally again, but, this time, it looked much more cute. I reached out carefully to stroke its fur and picked it up. Immediately, the Pokemon cuddled against my chest, closing its eyes and shivering. “He must be really cold…” I murmured.
“Well, it sure isn’t from around here,” Scarlet said, crossing her arms tight against the cold wind that blew down from the mountains. Her golden eyes sparked as she started to walk in the direction of the Karasuma home once again. “Let’s get it back to Professor Rowan to have a look at it…”
“Zo!” The Pokemon exclaimed, its blue eyes sparking. I wrapped my scarf around it as I trudged forward, wondering what in the world I had picked up in the mountains around Snowpoint.
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The three former Champions glared across the room at Lugia, who had insisted on being called Sky while he was in his Aquapolian form. Having been summoned under no pretense at all, Steven Stone and Drake Blackthorn had no idea what had gotten Wallace so agitated until they discovered that the current champion had been overthrown. Sky had done a remarkable job keeping the public unaware of the regime change. Life outside was going on as normal.
Steven’s steel grey head had been bowed for quite some time, his eyes fixed on the floor as Sky spoke to the guest that had entered only a few moments beforehand. Whoever this woman was, Steven didn’t want to know…She was surrounded by darkness. He couldn’t see it…but he felt it, as if evil followed her at every step. He tried to push back the notion that, in the very room with them, a demon stood, keeping council with Sky as if they were old friends.
Moment by moment, his anger built. How dare Sky do this? How dare he bring a demon into the sacred capital of Aquapolis? How dare he overthrow a Heavenly Warrior from her post? After half an hour of picking up exchanges that infuriated him, he opened his mouth to scream, but Wallace beat him to it. At his tirade, both Sky and the demon spun around, coldly taking the former Champion in as if he were nothing but a lowly Weedle jumping from his chair in anger.
“You won’t get away with this! Either of you!” He shouted, throwing the chair aside in anger. The metal seat clattered against the floor, echoing with Wallace’s voice as he pressed on. Steven raised his eyes and could feel Drake tense beside him. A horrible feeling filled the steel-type for a brief moment. Death was in the air.
“And why do you say that, mortal?” The woman’s voice was low and cold. Steven flinched as if he were physically in pain by even hearing one word come out of her mouth.
Wallace glared at her, not backing down. “The three Heavenly Warriors will stop you. They won’t let you take over in this fashion.”
The demon laughed. “I believe you’re mistaken. The Chosen One may have recently returned to Earth, but there is no way that she’ll be able to put together an army to combat ours.” Wallace, Drake, and Steven’s eyes widened at the news that Kris was back on Earth.
Sky cleared his throat. “I believe everything is in order here, Nyx. When will you next visit us?”
“Not until the other five join you. Only then will we bring this world to its knees.” With that, she vanished into thin air.
Sky smiled cruelly at Wallace. “You’re lucky she was in a good humor, former Champion. To speak to the head of the Demon Council of Hell in such a way would usually grant a mortal a slow and painful death.”
“Then you are dealing with demons,” Steven snapped.
“Of course. The armies of Aquapolis will not be enough to completely gain control…”
“Of what? What are you doing with our military, Sky?” Drake demanded, but in a calmer voice than the two younger Aquapolian men on either side of him.
“We’re going to destroy the human race and take back the world which is rightfully ours.”
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“I’ve never seen this Pokemon before,” Rowan muttered, observing Zorua from all angles.
“We found it in the mountains south of Snowpoint,” I explained. “It seemed to be lost.”
“It’s a shape shifter,” Katie added, her eyes huge. “It changed into Kris in a few seconds flat.”
“He seems to be in good health, despite being out in the snow for a supposed extended period of time,” Rowan said. “Of course, if what you say is true, he could have easily shifted into the form of an ice Pokemon and braced the weather in that fashion.”
I shook my head. “I’ve never encountered a Pokemon that hasn’t been discovered before…” I frowned. “Do you think he could be a legendary we don’t know about?”
Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Number one, does he look like a legendary to you? And…number two, don’t you know all of the legendaries in the pantheon?”
I stuck my tongue out at her. “I was just brainstorming.”
“Brainstorming what?” We turned to see Cyrus standing in the doorway.
I smiled. “Hey, maybe Cyrus knows what Pokemon this is,” I said, gesturing to the Zorua, who barked happily.
He studied the Pokemon for a few moments before shaking his head. “I’ve never seen this species before.”
I sighed. “Well, it was worth a shot…”
“Kirio’s looking for you.”
“Okay.” I looked from Scarlet to Katie. “I’ll be right back.”
As I turned to leave, Zorua barked and jumped off of the table, trying to follow me out the door. “No, Zorua, you stay here so Professor Rowan can gather more information.”
“Actually, Kris, it may be more advantageous to observe his daily actions and movements from here on out. Perhaps everyone here could report to me at the end of today to tell me what they saw?” Everyone nodded. “Great.”
I sighed and stooped down to pet Zorua. “Okay, follow me, then.” I left the room with the Pokemon on my heels.
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Kirio was in his office, sorting through papers and files. After knocking and stepping inside, he looked up at me, a tired expression on his face. After catching my eye, however, his eyes lightened up a bit, and he rose from his chair, stepping toward me to wrap his arms around me.
“How was your visit with Tojiro?” He asked after he pulled away.
“As I told you, it went much better than expected.” I frowned. “Though you should have told me that he used to be a Shadow Follower.”
Kirio sighed, sliding his hands down my arms. “I’m sorry. The Shadow Forces is where we met as kids…We worked together for years, and he was one of the Shadow Commanders who desperately wanted out, but didn’t have anyone to help him…” He smiled. “Not like me…” He glanced down at my feet, a puzzled look spreading across his face. “What is that?”
“Oh…” I glanced down at Zorua, who was wagging his tail and barking happily, obviously glad to be near to Kirio. “This is Zorua. We picked him up in the mountains south of Snowpoint.”
“I’ve never seen a Pokemon like this before…” He said, stooping down to pet the Pokemon. Zorua giggled and, in a flash of light, another Kirio stood before him. The original reared back, staring at him as if he were an alien. The mirror image laughed maniacally and shifted back into his original form. Kirio’s dumbfounded stare made me laugh as Zorua pranced around, quite proud of himself for accomplishing yet another great shape shifting feet. Kirio raised his eyes to mine, his black gaze glittering. “Where do you think he came from?”
I shrugged. “We might ask some of the legendary Pokemon, but, as a legendary myself, I’m pretty sure there’s no area in Aquapolis that we haven’t explored and documented Pokemon from…” I crossed my arms, weighing the possibility of something else extraordinary having occurred. “Unless there are some Pokemon indigenous to the human states, which is unheard of.”
Kirio frowned, picking the furry Pokemon up and looking straight at him as he spoke. “Which direction did you come from?” He asked loudly and clearly. Zorua cocked his head to the side, thinking about his question for a bit before barking and leaping from Kirio’s arms. He ran to the other end of the office and spun around in a black and red blur. We watched him for a little bit before Kirio muttered, “That’s to the north.” He frowned. “But, to the north is ocean.”
“Maybe he transformed into a water-type and swam here from an island off the coast or something?” I suggested. “Speaking of, you know that island a few miles off the coast of Snowpoint?” He nodded, his gaze not leaving Zorua as the Pokemon spun around in circles, obviously enjoying himself. “Well, the commander wants to know if we can build a base on the island to accommodate his troops.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Kirio muttered, his eyes turning to the snowflakes outside. “The island is pretty much too small on a map for anyone to think twice about it, and a base would be perfect for the expanding Legendary Team. Plus,” he turned to me, a spark of worry in his eyes. “The government knows where I live. I can’t exactly hide anymore now that I’m the CEO of Akagi International…My home is pretty well-known for its architecture.”
I smiled. “Really, Kirio? What, did you end up in some home and garden magazine somewhere?” I pushed him playfully, and he feigned anger, shoving me back.
“No…” He scowled. “But, people talk…”
“People in high society talk, don’t they?” I teased, poking him. Zorua barked, picking up on our laughter and spinning around even more furiously as if he was trying to catch his own tail. “But, seriously, I understand…We’ll make an announcement to the Legendary Team and start to work right away.”
“Perfect,” he muttered, leaning down to kiss me softly on the cheek. “Just perfect.”
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That night was exceptionally cold, causing me to curl up and shiver beside Kirio, burrowing into the blankets as if I would freeze to death if I didn’t do so. I fell asleep restlessly, curling my feet up especially to make sure that they remained underneath at least three or four sheets. A few seconds after I started to sleep, however, the cold disappeared, replaced by no temperature at all. I opened my eyes, wondering if someone was going to try and contact me through a dream. It had happened several times in the past, when a legendary needed to get in contact with me while I was in heaven. But…it had never happened while I was on Earth.
Then, I realized that there was no way I could just walk right on into the Cave of Origin and speak to any legendary I pleased at that moment. Lugia was sure to have some legendaries on his side. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed in the Hall of Fame past a few hours. Perhaps a legendary who was on my side had decided to call for help or to offer help him or herself.
Light flooded my vision, and I sat up, feeling soft green grass brush against my hands as I shifted into a standing position. The air around me started to grow warmer, and I sighed, letting it flow over me and erase all of the coldness that had infected my body. “Thank you…” I whispered, closing my eyes and lifting my face to the bright sun overhead. “I really needed that.”
“You’ll definitely need such strength in the days to come.”
The voice behind me was soft and soothing with a bit of a lilt to it. I opened my eyes and turned around, taking in the sight of a pink-haired girl dressed in a pink kimono on which thousands of colors of flowers literally danced. I smiled, recognizing one of my closest legendary friends, and the legendary who had lent me her voice when I was trapped after the Great War. The legendary of genetics smiled slightly, stepping forward.
“What’s going on, Mew?” I asked, as if she held all of the answers. I far out-ranked her in the legendary pantheon, but I had always run to her for help over the past few millennia. She seemed wise far beyond her years and rank.
She frowned. “The six orbs are missing from their places in the Cave of Origin. We believe that Lugia took them with him when he…rebelled…”
“Why did he do such a thing?” I demanded. “Why has he taken over…?” I almost literally choked with rage on my words. As the Chosen One, as the supreme protector of the legendaries and every living being on the planet, I was hopelessly lost in a situation that may bring death to thousands, whether they were Aquapolian, human, Pokemon, or animal. It infuriated me that I was so helpless when I apparently held so much power in this world.
Mew’s eyes dulled with sadness, the air around her sensing her distress and lifting her pink hair around her face, the psychic currents churning as if she needed to be protected from immanent danger. “We have tried to sort through the prophecy that told of the Daughter of Shadow and Light, but neither that nor any other that has appeared in the past few years have mentioned the rebellion of the power of the sky…Unless…” She ducked her head, her pink bangs spilling over her eyes so that I couldn’t see their expression at all.
My heart froze over as it dawned on me that maybe I was who started this. When the leader of Neo-Team Galactic raised Giratina and attempted to use it to destroy the universe, I had stepped down from heaven after being explicitly told not to do so to help Katie and Scarlet stop the disaster from happening. Perhaps my descent had caused too much of a shift in power? Maybe I was the one who had triggered this event, seeing as Lugia had been Shadowficated years earlier during the Great War.
I fell to my knees, feeling the dew from the blades of grass soak into my flannel pajama pants. I was numb to the coldness. Numb from shock. I had saved the world only to cast it into the fire once again. Mew lifted her head, her pearl pink eyes shining with defiance as she knelt before me, crossing the distance of several yards in only a thought. We were eye-to-eye, though I sensed her more than saw her because of the sheen of tears that was threatening to fall at any point.
“Kristal. Quamachi. Chosen One,” she said each of my official titles one by one in a firm voice, placing emphasis on each and every syllable. “This is not your fault. You and the two other Heavenly Warriors were meant to finish this once and for all. This is the final stand against whatever horrors the Demon Council has planned for this earth. YOU will right all of the wrongs that will be dealt.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. Prophecies were spoken through legendaries, but they were rarely in each other’s presence when it occurred. I had never spoken a prophecy nor heard it spoken in all my millennia of existence. But now, coming from the legendary of genetics’ mouth was the ultimate prophecy…the one that would tower over all past, present, and future prophecies that lay in the Cave of Origin.
“Go forth and unite the three Heavenly Warriors. Together, the three of you will ensure the Earth’s safety once again.”
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I woke with a start, Mew’s last words ringing in my ears. I put my head in my hands, fighting back tears, then thrust the covers aside and swung my feet to the floor, rushing out of my room towards Cyrus’.
There was a moment of silence after I told Cyrus everything that had occurred in my dream. Then, he spoke, “Mew didn’t tell you where the six orbs were, did she?”
I shook my head. “But, with as many legendaries as we’ve gathered here, we’ll probably be able to find them ourselves. We could start with the Pearl Orb.”
He nodded. “We’ll wait until the morning before we set out.”
I nodded, turning away awkwardly to get some more sleep.
“She’s right, you know.”
I glanced back at him.
“It’s not your fault.”
I clinched my fists. “You told me…” I choked back tears. “You told me a million times not to leave. If I had listened to you…”
“It’s in the past. Mew has already prophesied that you will be the one to stop this.”
“But at what cost of lives?” I shouted. “True, I stopped the Great War, but not until after millions were dead!”
“But you stopped it, didn’t you?”
I froze, clinching my fists tighter as I struggled to hold back a sob. “Yes…” I whispered. “I did.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Then you will this time as well.”
I nodded, feeling the tears sliding down my cheek. Before Cyrus could make a move to console me, I fled from the room. I was thoroughly ashamed of myself for, once again, screwing everything up just after I did some good in the world. This time, however, it wouldn’t be at the cost of just one life.
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The next morning, I called another meeting of the Legendary Team who were still in the area. Looking across the room, I said, “Lugia has stolen the six orbs. We’re going to try and track down the Pearl Orb first, but we’re going to need some more help now that he’s got control of the military.” I paused. “We’ll be moving to a new base on an island north of here in a few months. Please don’t mention this to anyone. Not even regional Champions, Elite Four, or Gym Leaders can be trusted right now. We don’t know how many of them sympathize with him.” I turned to Max. “I’d like you to call up all of the Legendary Team members who aren’t here and inform them of our plans.” He nodded and raced off to his computer lab. I turned back to the others. “In the meantime, everyone needs to be prepared to move into this base. It will be large enough for you to move immediate family members there, so please tell them in secret and share this message with them as soon as possible.”
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After the meeting ended, Scarlet, Katie, Cyrus, and I stood in a circle talking for a few moments. “We need to track down the first orb right away. With all six missing, who knows what he could do?”
“It’s obvious that he split them up…” Scarlet added. “Outside of the Cave of Origin, bringing all six together could prove disastrous.”
Katie nodded and looked up at Cyrus. “Do you know where the Pearl Orb is now?”
“I can sense that it’s in the direction of Kanto.”
“Then we’ll go there,” I said.
“Wait, we can’t all go and leave the house unprotected,” Scarlet protested.
Katie frowned. “Where’s Grayson? Is he still here?”
I nodded. “Well, he’s still on Earth. I’ll have to track him down.” I sighed. “Everyone stay here until I’ve made it back to Snowpoint with him.” They nodded as I raced off.
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“I know, everyone at the Cave of Origin is concerned about this.”
I frowned down at Grayson, who was sitting on the floor of a cave in Mt. Coronet. “Have you tried to get into the Cave of Origin?”
