On top of Mt. Pyre, a small Meditite was crying. He sat hidden behind a large tombstone, of which the Pokémon living on top of Mt. Pyre were sure the Trainer must have forgotten about his "beloved Swampy", as it read on the stone. That's how it went. Trainers buried their Pokémon here, and after a few years, never showed up again. Sometimes it didn't even take that long.
Meditite sincerely hoped the bullies wouldn't find him here, because he was still very weak from their last bullying. The gang of Duskull and Shuppet had already scared off all of the beautiful Vulpix who used to live here, and Meditite was the last of his species left. But unlike most other Pokémon, Meditite didn't have a place to go. His whole family was here, on Mt. Pyre. Underneath one of those stones. He didn't even dare to go back to his mother's grave, because he knew the Ghost Pokémon would be waiting for him to beat him up again.
Sobbing uncontrollably, he didn't even hear someone approaching from behind. He only flinched when he heard the voice behind him.
"Why are you crying?" said the voice. It wasn't a mean voice, but a young, curious voice. Meditite turned around and saw a young Wingull sitting on the tombstone. A kind-looking Pelipper, presumably its mother, landed next to it.
"Now, now, don't start bothering other Pokémon," she said to her child, but as soon as she saw Meditite crying, she asked, "Oh dear, what's wrong little buddy?"
Meditite explained how the Ghost Pokémon tried to scare all other Pokémon off the island, but that he couldn't leave since he doesn't have any family. When the young Wingull asked why he didn't just fight the Ghosts, he explained how he isn't strong enough since he has no-one to teach him the wonders of meditation, and how he'll never evolve into a Medicham that way.
"But mommy, there are some other Medicham living on that other island in the big sea, right? Can't Meditite go there to learn from them?" Wingull asked its mother.
"I'm afraid Medicham will only teach their own offspring, son," she said to Wingull, and turning back to Meditite: "This might be an incredibly stupid idea, but have you ever heard about a Pokémon named Lucario?"
"Lucario?" Meditite had never been off the island, so he didn't know a lot Pokémon.
"Lucario is a Pokémon said to live in a cave on Iron Island, in other region, the Sinnoh region. It is said that he considers every young Pokémon who comes to find him is worthy enough to train, and he will teach them everything he knows. But even if you would want to find him, it would be a nearly impossible journey."
"I'll do it, no matter what. It's the only choice I have," Meditite said.
"You'll need to take at least three human ships as a stowaway, and we know how humans are," Pelipper said with a grim look at the tombstone.
Meditite hesitated, but then was determined: "Tell me how to get there."
"I can take you to Lilycove City, if you want. You can try to get onto a ship heading for Canalave City in Sinnoh. But from there on, you're on your own. Are you still sure?"
"I definitely am!" Meditite said, and Pelipper allowed him to climb on her back. It felt like dozens of little Beautifly flying around in his stomach, as the wind soared around them and they gained height and speed. Soon they reached the mainland, and flew over a large route, filled with all kind of colourful Pokémon Meditite had never seen before. A tall building erected from the horizon, and soon a whole city's skyline was visible. There were people, lots of them. Shopping, talking, or just wandering around. They didn't even notice the Pokémon when they landed next to the harbour.
"Wait here," Pelipper said to Meditite and her son, as she flew to the harbour's entrance. "The next ship arriving is the S.S. Sinhoenn, the one you'll have to take," she said when she returned, "It'll be here soon, so don't wander off too far. I wish you lots of luck, young man. And take care."
Meditite thanked her and Wingull for their kindness and their help, and the two birds flew off.
"Mommy, how do you know so much about Sinnoh?" Meditite could hear Wingull asking his mother.
"Well, I met your father in Sinnoh, young boy. We met at..." but their speech became inaudible due to the strong winds and the arrival of a huge ship: the S.S. Sinhoenn.
People started crowding the harbour, some of them impatiently waiting to get on the ship, others to welcome their loved ones. One or two were just there to take pictures of the ship.
A woman's voice echoed around the harbour through a PA system. "The S.S. Sinhoenn will leave for Canalave City in Sinnoh in exactly one hour. Make sure to show your ticket to sailor Phillip when entering."
People and some Pokémon started disembarking from the ship, and after that, a lot more boarded the ship. Meditite saw a lot of Pokémon he had never seen before, but also recognised some. He saw a man with a Swablu on his shoulder, and felt bad for the little bird. He reckoned it must feel terrible to be captured by a human, and work as their personal possession. Because he knew that, eventually, they would end up like Swampy, buried and eventually forgotten by their Trainer.
Meditite figured he'd better wait until the crowd thinned out, and then try to get on board. Maybe he'd try to jump onto the ship's deck. By trying not to be seen, he accidentally hit a postcard's stand outside a souvenir shop, but the owner didn't notice. Meditite, though, did notice something. A postcard with Mt. Pyre on it. He looked around to make sure no-one was looking, took it, and ran off, around the corner of the souvenir shop, next to the big ship. No-one was around, so he went for it. He positioned himself on a crate standing on the dock, and jumped. He only just made it onto the ship, but he was aboard. He looked at the postcard still clenched in his hand. "See you soon," he whispered to his home, and began his search for a hiding place.
He found a good hiding place in the cargo hold, behind some old, unused crates, just when the ship left the harbour in Hoenn. He wished there was a window in the cargo hold, but then figured out he'd probably be under the sea level. He laid down, and soon fell asleep on the rocking of the waves.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our destination. Welcome to Canalave City, the whole crew and I wish you all a pleasant stay in Sinnoh."
That surely startled Meditite to wake up. He grabbed his postcard, and tried to memorise the way out. The sun was brightly shining, he noticed when reaching the deck, and the city had this lovely sea scent. It smelled differently of Hoenn seas, Meditite thought, but that might have been his imagination. Strange, pink Pokémon were sunbathing on the docks of the bay, and Wingull and Pelipper swarmed around the ships. He disembarked the same way as he boarded, unnoticed. At least, that's what he thought.
A human voice crept up right behind him, saying, "We have reached our destination." It was the woman's voice Meditite heard over the ship's PA system. Scared, he turned around to see, but there was no woman.
"Enjoy your stay," said a deep voice very close to him. He turned around again, but no human was to be seen. Instead, a brightly coloured bird-like Pokémon sat on top of a crate.
"Who are you?" it said in another, presumably its real, voice, "I haven't seen you around before. I'm Chatot."
"I'm Meditite, from Hoenn," Meditite said, showing the postcard in his hands.
"Hello Meditite From Hoenn, where are you going?" Chatot said, laughing at his own rhyme.
"I'm heading for a place called Iron Island, I'm here to meet Lucario."
Chatot's laughter faded away immediately. "Are you sure you want to do that? Iron Island is a though place to visit, little boy."
"I have to, I have no other choice," Meditite said.
"Let me help you get there. I know how I can get you on the ferry. I know human speech. Follow Me!" He chuckled again, but Meditite didn't get the joke.
On a much smaller dock than the one where the S.S. Sinhoenn arrived, a small ferry laid anchored.
"Wait here," Chatot said, not unlike Pelipper did in Lilycove City, but Chatot flew straight into the ferry, where he talked to a sailor, probably the captain of the ship. Chatot flew back to Meditite with a smile. "That's Skyler, a friend of mine," Chatot pointed to the sailor, "He will take you to Iron Island if you wish. I can go with you, but I won't go into the cave with you. I don't trust the Pokémon living there."
"Thank you," Meditite said, "But did you really say you're friends with a human?"
"Why not?" Chatot cackled, "It's not like humans are monsters!"
Meditite didn't answer. Maybe they weren't, but he still thought about Swampy, and how his Trainer never returned.
Meditite and Chatot entered the ferry, and the Sailor smiled at them, but Meditite didn't really feel comfortable though. People aren't trustworthy, that was his opinion.
It didn't take long before they reached Iron Island, and Meditite got off the ferry.
"Be careful, and good luck," wished Chatot him.
Meditite thanked him and waved at the sailor. He watched the ferry take off, as he looked at the huge mountain towering over him. The entrance of the cave was near.
When he entered the cave, it became clear to him that it wasn't a natural cave. Human activity had clearly left its traces, but it seemed like it had been a long time since humans entered it. Empty barrels laid scattered all around, and the lamps that were once shining brightly now only dimly lit up the cave.
It wasn't empty at all though. Zubat and Golbat hung upside-down from the ceiling, and Geodude and Graveler lurked from the dark corners to the small Meditite following the thin line of light on its own. He was pretty certain though that Lucario wouldn't be waiting on the end of the light, but he didn't dare going into the dark. He panicked. He didn't know what to do. He was scared, terrified. He wanted to go home. He turned around, with tears in his eyes, ready to head his way back out, but something huge blocked the way. An enormous, steel, snake-like Pokémon stood before him. The Steelix looked angry. It was ready to charge. Meditite knew it was over with him.
"Quagsire, use Mud Bomb!" sounded from behind the Steelix. A heavy splash of brown mud came charging at the Steelix, and hit it hard on the head. The Steelix howled. "Good one, Quagsire," yelled the Trainer, "Now use Muddy Water!", and his Quagsire emitted a spiral of thick, filthy mud and whipped it at the Steelix. The Steelix fled.
Meditite stood speechless, nailed to the ground. The Trainer came up to him.
"Are you alright, little buddy?" he asked, and Meditite nodded, but was still shocked. "It dangerous out here. Where are you from? I haven't seen a Meditite since I've been to Hoenn. Or are you from Mt. Coronet?" Meditite shook his head. He showed the postcard, still clenched in his hand, heavily damaged.
"Mt. Pyre?" the Trainer asked, with a worried look on his face "Come with me, I'll get you out of the cave and I'll help you going back home."
Meditite shook his head. He was confident now to find Lucario. It he wouldn't have turned around, if he hadn't thought about giving up, he wouldn't have faced the Steelix. 'I have to go on,' Meditite thought, 'If Lucario trains me, I can defeat Steelix myself. And the Ghost Pokémon on Mt. Pyre.'
"Okay," the Trainer said, "If you finished doing what you're here for, come to my home. I live just outside of this cave, half a mile from the pier." He looked Meditite in the eye, and said, again rather worried, "Be careful, little buddy."
The Trainer turned around and made his way out of the cave. Meditite called after him to thank him, but of course, only his Quagsire walking next to the Trainer understood what Meditite said. Quagsire turned around and waved with a friendly smile, before they disappeared from sight.
Meditite walked on, carefully looking around, worried about what was lurking from the dark, but still very determined. He thought about the human. He thought about the fact that his life got saved by a human, the same species of the ones who bury their Pokémon at Mt. Pyre and never showed up again. He thought about Swampy, the poor old Pokémon, and he wondered whether that Trainer would visit the graves of his lost Pokémon.
With his head full of thoughts, he didn't realise the light became more and more dim as he get deeper into the cave, until one moment, the lights disappeared completely. The spots hanging from the ceiling were all dead, and the only light came from behind him. Visibility was poor. Meditite could only see about two or three meters in front of him. He figured he was getting closer. Just when the light from behind him was about to die out completely, a very dim shining came from the distance. It was clear it wasn't an artificial light, but a fire, since the glow seemed to dance on the walls. Meditite started walking faster. The light seemed to call out for him. Something told him he was close to his goal. He smelled fresh air. Was he reaching an exit? Had he walked in a circle? He couldn't be, since there was light where he entered the cave.
He didn't reach an exit. What he did reach, was a large, open room, without a ceiling. The sky was visible, but it was cloudy outside. Meditite figured he was on the other side of the mountain, since the sun was shining where he arrived with the ferry. The walls of the circle-shaped room hung full of torches, which gave the room an eerie presence, even though the natural light from the outside lit the room too.
"I expected you to come," said a deep voice from the other side of the room, hidden in the only shadowy place, "You thought about giving up, but you didn't. It shows more courage to think about giving up, but still going through, than to foolishly take decisions without thinking about the consequences. You're a wise Pokémon."
Lucario walked out of the shadow. He was a beautiful Pokémon, looking very strong and wise. He seemed very dangerous to mess with, but still very reliable.
"You want to know how to fight Ghost types," he said.
Meditite regained his speech: "How... how... how do you know that?" he asked.
"That, my young apprentice, is because I know the power of Foresight," Lucario said, "I saw your worries from the moment I saw you. And that's what you have to learn. I'm no fighter, and I would never recommend revenge. But I see how difficult life of you has become. Something needs to be done. I will teach you the power of Foresight. It will help a noble Fighting-type like you to fight Ghost Pokémon. But I must ask you. Use it wise," he said very seriously. "Come forth," he added.
Meditite walked up to Lucario. Lucario placed his hand on Meditite's head.
"Look into my eyes," he said, "What colour am I thinking of now?"
"I don't know," Meditite said.
"You do. Concentrate. Empty your mind and enter mine."
Meditite looked into Lucario eyes and tried to empty his mind. The cave around him started to disappear. He only saw Lucario's face. Suddenly, a light green aura appeared in front of Meditite's eyes. Meditite flinched, scared it was an attack that Lucario was readying, but the moment he flinched and lost his focus, the green aura disappeared.
"What did you see?" Lucario asked him.
"Green," Meditite said, "A bright green. Greener than grass. Greener than leaves. It was those kinds of green, but brighter. Combined. It was the colour of nature."
Lucario nodded, but only said: "Look into my eyes again. What Pokémon am I thinking of now?"
Meditite did the same as before. He looked into Lucario's eyes, and tried to empty his mind. Soon, a red structure seemed to appear. First, it was only a vague circle. Then, more details came through. White spots. A yellow circle in the middle. A blue body underneath the red circle, which now seemed more like a flower than a cirlce...
"Vileplume!" Meditite exclaimed.
Lucario nodded again, "Very good. One more time. What do you see?"
It got easier every time Meditite did it. He started to explain what he saw: "It's raining. There's a lot of tall grass, very high. A small pond, rain dripping in it. Marill and Azumarill are playing in the rain. Other Pokémon are hiding. A wooded bridge is stretched out over the pond. A small Pokémon hides underneath it. It's crying."
"Very well," Lucario said, "You have mastered the power of Foresight. Use it to predict the Ghost-types, and to find their weak spots. My son will guide you out of this cave."
Another Pokémon, not unlike Lucario, but smaller, came from out of the shadow. He had a big smile on his face, and seemed very friendly.
"Hi, I'm Riolu," the Pokémon said.
Lucario looked Meditite in the eye: "Young Meditite, thank you for coming here. It gives a very good feeling to help others. Take care."
Meditite thanked Lucario gratefully, and together with Riolu, started to make his way out of the room.
"But," Lucario said after him, "Use your power wise. I trust you that you will use it to defend yourself. Not for any kind of revenge or other violence."
Meditite nodded, and thanked him again. Riolu grabbed a torch from the wall, and together they left.
When walking in the other direction, Meditite realised how much he climbed when he went for Lucario. He didn't notice it in the dark. Riolu was a very friendly Pokémon, still rather young, and they chatted a bit on their way to the exit. They talked a lot about Hoenn. Seemingly Lucario had been there before, Riolu told him the place Meditite saw in Lucario's mind was a place in Hoenn. It was said a legendary Pokémon lived there.
When they reached the exit of the cave, Meditite thanked Riolu. Riolu, just like everyone Meditite met since he left home, wished him good luck and told him to take care.
Meditite started making his way to the pier, bathing in sunlight, until he heard a voice laughing behind him.
"Where do you think you're going?" Meditite turned around and saw the Trainer's Quagsire smiling behind him, "I thought my Trainer told you to come to our house?"
"I didn't think he meant that," Meditite said.
"Of course he did! We will take you back to Hoenn. Follow me."
Meditite followed Quagsire to a small, cosy house. A Hippopotas was sleeping in the front yard. Quagsire opened the door, where they met the Trainer.
"There you are, little buddy. Ready to go back to Hoenn?"
Meditite smiled, and nodded.
"Will you watch the house, Quagsire?" the Trainer asked, "And maybe Hippopotas too," he added with a wink.
Quagsire nodded, and said goodbye to Meditite. Meditite thanked him.
The Trainer went with Meditite through the back door and whistled. Almost immediately after that, a huge shadow came soaring through the sky. A huge bird-like Pokémon landed right in front on them.
"Ready to go back to Hoenn?" the Trainer asked Meditite, who nodded. "Staraptor will bring us."
They both climbed on Staraptor, Meditite holding on to the Trainer's jacket.
"Hold on tight!" he said, "Mt. Pyre, here we come!"
Staraptor reached incredible speeds, much higher than Pelipper, and they reaching Hoenn in only a couple of hours flying. Meditite had crawled inside the back of the Trainer's jacket and had fallen asleep. He woke up just as they landed on top of Mt. Pyre.
"So, this is where you live?" the Trainer asked. Meditite nodded, looking around, and they looking at his postcard he still had clenched tightly in his hand. He took the Trainer's hand and showed him his hiding place, behind Swampy's tombstone. Meditite's sleeping nest was still there, with lots of twigs and dry grass. It was practically his bed.
"Kekekeke," sounded behind him, "So you did came back."
Meditite turned around and saw the gang of two Duskull and two Shuppet.
"And you brought someone with you," one of the Duskull said, "More fun for us to haunt!"
"What are you doing here?" the Trainer said, "Leave him alone!"
"Poor human," one of the Shuppet said, "He doesn't even understand us!"
"Staraptor, come here," the Trainer said, but Meditite shook his head. Meditite concentrated. Looked at the Shuppet. He saw it. He saw its weak spot. High... Jump... Kick!
He hit the Shuppet hard, and it fled instantly. The other Ghosts were shocked, and ran off too, calling out things like: "Monster!" and "Who's the bully now?"
Meditite felt full of adrenaline. He felt strong. Powerful. Energy flowed through him. Something odd happened. He grew. The energy bundled. He looked at his hands, and they started to glow. Power raised through him.
Meditite evolved into Medicham.
He looked at the Trainer, but the Trainer didn't see him. The Trainer was gazing at a tombstone. At Swampy's tombstone.
Medicham walked up to the Trainer, and placed his new hand on his shoulder.
"This Pokémon... It was my brother's. My brother died shortly after his Pokémon. He died from pain, from sadness. I never knew where his beloved Swampert got buried. Now I know. Thank you." He turned around and faced Medicham. "You... You evolved?"
Medicham nodded.
"Today was a wonderful day," the Trainer said, "I have to go back to Sinnoh now. But you'll see me again. I'll come back. Until then, it's goodbye."
He shook Medicham's hand, and mounted his Staraptor. He waved at him while he flew off, into the distance.
Medicham waved at him. Today was indeed a good day.