Introduction: This next story is one that's been a really long time in the making. When I started the Thunder in Kanto story, I kept wondering how I was ever going to solve things with Bolt and Christine, and this story is the best solution I could come up with. So while Ash and Misty were dealing with the Marowak Ghost of Lavender Town in Dusk of the Dead, and while Lisa and Marie were facing Team Magma in Magma Rising, Bolt and his fellow band members were dealing with the events that this story is about to recount.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Chapter 1: "Seeing You Again"
In the Sinnoh Region, near the based of the famed Mt. Coronet was a small town called Stardust Falls. The town was so named for the magnificent waterfalls that flowed down from the mountain right where the town was founded. According to local legend, the falls got their name from a small comet that crashed into the side of the mountain. It is said that the comet impact was what caused water trapped inside the mountain to flow down its side. The legend also stated that the comet brought with it a fabled Pokemon that was said to grant wishes to anyone who encountered it.
It was late in the afternoon as Trevor "Bolt" Hanson looked out at these legendary falls. He and the rest of his band, Raging Thunder had come to the town as part of a rock music festival that the town held every three years. Walking up to Bolt as he looked at the falls was a young man who, like Bolt, was in his mid twenties. He had blonde hair styled in a mullet along with a thick mustache, and wore black jeans and a white jacket with the sleeves rolled up over a blue t-shirt. On his wrist was a thick black bracelet with a light-blue marble-like stone fitted into the top. The young man in question was the keyboardist for Bolt's band, Quinton Mercury.
"Hey Bolt, we're almost done setting up on the stage." Quinton reported. "We should be able to begin rehearsal here in a few minutes."
"I'll be there in a bit." The blonde rocker replied. "You know, these waterfalls sure are quite the sight."
"I'll say." Quinton agreed as he stepped closer to the railing to take a closer look. "You know, we really are blessed to have gotten a gig at this rock festival. People from all over come here just to see it."
"Well it's about time we got a gig at this thing, considering we've had like what, eight hit albums?" Bolt recalled.
"Nine, actually." Quinton corrected. "Our little band really has come a long way from when we first played on the roof of that Pokemon Center."
At that moment, two other young men in their mid twenties approached Bolt and Quinton. One had long white hair and wore a black headband and a black leather jacket over a yellow t-shirt with faded blue jeans. This was the bass player for Bolt's band, Ross Jones. The other young man had long dark hair with a thin black mustache, and wore orange sunglasses with a black vest over a long-sleeved tan shirt with black jeans. Around the dark-haired young man's wrist was a thick bracelet that was practically identical to Quinton's. This was the drummer of Bolt's band, Ted "Skins" Vincent.
"Hey Bolt, we're ready to go when you are." Ross reported. "You and Quinton can sightsee later."
"Okay man, we're on our way." Bolt replied. "Let's get ready to rock this town."
"There you guys are!" a voice suddenly cut in. "I've been looking all over for you."
Standing a few feet away from Bolt and the rest of the gang was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She had long dark-blue hair that grew half way down her back and very deep forest-green eyes. Bolt also couldn't help but notices that the woman had a fairly impressive bust that was barely contained by a tight low-cut black t-shirt that had the name of his band written on the front in yellow handwritten letters. The rest of her outfit consisted of a pair of tight-fitting jean shorts and red sneakers. She had a small white bag slung over her back, and on her right wrist was a thin silver bracelet with a light-blue marble-like stone fitted into the top.
Bolt almost instantly removed his sunglasses to reveal his brown eyes and began to walk over to the girl. The rest of the gang followed close behind him.
"Why hello there, beautiful." Bolt greeted in a suave manner as he took the girl's hand. "You must be quite the fan of me and my band to come looking all this way for us."
"If you're after something other than an autograph, I'm sure something can be arranged." Ross added.
"Back off, dude. I saw her first." Bolt told him.
"Oh… my… GOD!" the girl exclaimed. "Don't you idiots recognize me? It's me! Lorain Verdant? We traveled all over Kanto together for months!"
Bolt and the others all dropped their jaws in utter shock upon finding out just who the blunette was. Ten years before, Bolt and the others traveled around Kanto with a young Bug Pokemon enthusiast named Lorain Verdant, but back then Lorain was short, had thick glasses and wore her hair in pigtails. She looked nothing like the tall goddess that stood before them now.
"Holy crap!" Bolt exclaimed as he quickly let go of Lorain's hand and put his sunglasses back on. "Wow! Lorain? You uh… you uh… I mean wow! You…"
"You turned out hot!" Skins declared, prompting Quinton to stomp on his foot.
"What Skins was trying to say is that you've really grown since we last saw you." Quinton explained.
"Yeah, and you perverts haven't changed one bit." Lorain replied with a look of irritation.
"So, uh… what brings you here, kid?" Ross asked.
"I was in the area when I heard you guys were going to be in the big rock festival here in town." Lorain explained. "I thought this would be a great time for us to catch up."
"So what've you been up to Lorain?" Quinton asked.
"Oh you know, just traveling the world trying to catch and raise more bugs." Lorain answered. "I actually spent the last three years helping my parents with some research in Kalos. I guess I don't need to ask how you guys have been doing though. You know I have all your albums."
"Yeah, our band's done pretty well for itself." Bolt replied. "Um… if all of you will excuse me, I think I'm going to take a quick walk."
Quinton and the others watched as Bolt walked away in silence with his hands in his pockets.
"Is Bolt okay?" Lorain asked.
"Probably just embarrassed more than anything after the way he just came onto you." Quinton assumed. "I mean you've always been like a little sister to all of us."
Lorain sighed. "I'm glad that's all it is, considering what else is going on in this town."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ross asked.
"I guess you guys don't know." Lorain began. "I was reading this town's local newspaper and ran across an article in the society page. Richter Chase and Christine Wyler are getting married here, tomorrow."
"…Son of a bitch!" Skins cursed as a look of shock came to his face.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Ross exclaimed. "That's happening here?"
"Yeah. It seems Christine's father has a villa here." Lorain explained. "That's where they're holding the wedding."
"Well… we knew it was only a matter of time before this happened." Quinton reminded them. "Christine was already promised to Richter when we met her. But for the wedding to happen here and now…"
"When Bolt finds out about this, he'll be crushed." Ross declared.
"So… I guess this means Bolt never really got over Christine, huh?" Lorain deduced.
"Over the years, Bolt's had more than a fling or two." Quinton answered. "I mean we all have, what with us being internationally famous rock stars and all. But he's never been in a relationship as serious as the one he had with Christine."
"It's not gonna be pretty when Bolt finds out about the wedding." Ross declared. "I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid."
Bolt had been walking for almost half an hour lost in deep thought. His chance reunion with Lorain had not only been awkward, it had also brought back a lot of memories, some not very pleasant. That time he had spent in Kanto was probably both the best and worst time of his life. It was in Kanto where Bolt first met all of the other members of his band, but it was also the region where he had met the only girl he ever had real feelings for, Christine Wyler. Bolt had first met Christine while passing through Mt. Moon.
For Bolt, it was practically love at first sight with Christine. She was not only beautiful; she had the most magnificent singing voice Bolt had ever heard. Though perhaps what Bolt had loved most about Christine was her kind heart. The attraction between Bolt and Christine was mutual, and for a while they traveled around Kanto together. Though it seemed that Christine and Bolt's relationship had not been meant to be. Christine's father had already arranged her to marry a young man named Richter Chase, a powerful Ground Pokemon trainer who had quickly become Bolt's nemesis.
Richter had also been the leader of the Viridian City Gym, and after Bolt had managed to beat Richter in a gym battle, Christine had suddenly decided to go back to Richter for some unknown reason. Bolt could never figure out why Christine had gone back to Richter. Quinton and the others thought that perhaps Richter or Christine's father had put some kind of pressure on her, though none of them could be entirely sure if that was the case. Whatever the reason, Bolt had utterly crushed when Christine had left. It had taken Bolt a long time to get over that pain, but remembering that time in Kanto had shown Bolt that the wound had never fully healed.
Just as Bolt was about to head back and rejoin the others, he suddenly heard a very familiar song on the wind. At first he thought he might just be hearing things, but it soon became clear that he wasn't. It was the song of Meloetta.
Bolt pulled a pokeball from his belt. "Help me out, Raikou!"
Bursting out of the thrown ball with a roar was a yellow saber-toothed cat with black stripes. It had red eyes, and over its nose was something that looked a blue X. A dark-grey crest covered its forehead, and on its back was a purple thundercloud that flowed like a cape. The beast's slender light-blue tail looked like a lightning bolt striking the ground.
Bolt got onto Raikou's back. "Follow that song, Raikou! And hurry up!"
The tiger of thunder nodded before taking off like a rocket down the road. Raikou jumped off the path and ran down the side of a steep ragged hill. Bolt held on for dear life as the tiger ran down towards the bottom, jumping from the large rocks that were sticking out of the hill. When they reached the bottom, they saw another Pokemon sitting on a large rock and singing her heart out. It was small humanoid Pokemon with a very feminine shape.
The Pokemon in question had a large almost ovular head with big green eyes and long mint-green hair that looked like music bars with notes flowing down the left side of her. On the right side of her head there was what looked like a black headset microphone that resembled a treble clef. Much of the Pokemon's body looked to be covered in a black dress with a long skirt that opened in front to reveal a pair of thin white legs. Across her midriff was something that looked like a green sash. There was no question what species the Pokemon was: it was Meloetta.
Upon seeing Bolt, Meloetta immediately stopped singing and flew up to him. She took the blonde rocker's hand and tried pulling him off Raikou. Bolt quickly dismounted the tiger of thunder and followed Meloetta to where she was trying to take him. On the ground before them was a young woman in her twenties who was out gold. She had long shimmering dark-brown hair and was wearing a simple sky-blue dress with a pair of high-heeled sandals. The heel of the right sandal had been broken. Bolt instantly recognized the young woman as his lost love, Christine Wyler. The Meloetta he had just encountered was her Pokemon.
Bolt quickly went over and kneeled down to check out Christine. She had a swollen black eye and a streak of blood across her forehead.
Bolt began to gently shake Christine to try and get her to wake up. "Christine! Christine, come on!"
After a few tense moments, Christine finally opened her pale-blue eyes. "Bolt? Is… is that really you?"
"It's me, babe." Bolt confirmed as he breathed a sigh of relief. "What the hell happened?"
Suddenly tears came to Christine's eyes. "I killed my father!"
It was around 5:30 as thirty-seven-year-old Gloria Finch pulled into the driveway of her small house in Stardust Falls. She had just finished another soul-crushing day at her dead end office job. Every day for Gloria was practically the same. Day in and day out, she was stuck sitting in an office cubical answering phone calls and filling out meaningless reports that no one would ever actually read. It was far from being a glamorous job, but it at least paid the bills.
Gloria went into her house, slipped off her shoes, turned on the T.V. and opened the window to let in the breeze; the same thing she did at the end of every day. She then went back to her bedroom and sighed as soon as she saw her reflection in the mirror. Her dark hair was done up in its usual bun and she had on horn-rimmed glasses like the kind her great aunt Gertrude wore. She was by no means unattractive yet at the same time not a woman that most guys would call drop dead gorgeous. As Gloria undid her bun, she once again found herself wishing that she could change not just her appearance, but also her whole life.
Many times Gloria would find herself fantasizing about what she might do if she ever had a few million dollars. She would quit her job, move to a mansion in the Alola Region, and maybe even get a boob job. Of course Gloria knew that such a thing would never happen to someone like her. She had a better chance of getting hit by lightning than suddenly getting rich.
"Hello there!" a cheerful child-like voice suddenly spoke in Gloria's head.
Startled, Gloria cried out and turned around. Floating before her was a small white creature with a fairly humanoid body. It had short arms and two very stubby legs. The creature had a cute face with two blue triangular markings under its small dark eyes, and its chest looked like it had a third much larger eye that was closed. Atop its head was a yellow headdress with three large points that had a blue tag hanging from the end of each one. Hanging from the creature's back were two yellow ribbons that were almost like a cape.
"What… what are you?" Gloria asked the creature. "How did you get in here?"
"I'm Jirachi, the wish granter." The creature answered. "As for how I got in, I came in through your open window."
"What're you doing here?" Gloria asked.
"I've come to grant you a wish." Jirachi answered. "Whatever you desire, I can make a reality."
Gloria gave the Pokemon a dumbfounded look. "Are you for real?"
"Of course!" Jirachi answered. "I am as real as you are."
"Okay, but… why me?" Gloria asked. "Why pick my house to fly into?"
"Because it was there." Jirachi answered as he did a flip in the air. "Now then, what is it that you wish for?"
"…You said that you could grant me any wish I want?" Gloria asked.
"That's right! Anything that your heart desires I can make happen." Jirachi answered.
"Okay then. What the hell?" Gloria replied. "I wish for a hundred-million dollars to appear in my house right now!"
"That's easy enough." Jirachi responded. "Consider it granted!"
Suddenly the room was bathed in a bright silvery light. When the light cleared, the bed, the floor and all the furniture in Gloria's room had been covered in piles of money. Feeling both stunned and giddy, Gloria ran to the living room with Jirachi following close behind. Every piece of furniture in her living room was also covered in money piles, even the top of her small T.V. set. Gloria began to laugh and threw some of the money into the air. She wanted to go back to her room, take off all her clothes and roll around naked in the pile of cash on her bed.
"I take it this pleases you." Jirachi observed.
"You bet your little ass it does!" Gloria told him. "Hold on… there's something I gotta do."
With that, Gloria pulled out her phone and called her boss's number. She put the phone to her ear and waited patiently for him to pick up.
"Hello? Mr. Wilson?" Gloria began when her boss picked up on the other end of the line. "This is Gloria Finch. I'm just calling to tell you that I quit! You can take that soul-sucking job of mine and shove it up your ass!"
Gloria hung up the phone and threw another pile of money into the air as laughed with glee. Suddenly the game show that was running on the T.V. changed to the image of a female newscaster with long pink hair wearing a blue blazer.
"We interrupt this program to bring you a special bulletin." The newscaster announced. "The Stardust Falls Bank has just reported that a hundred-million dollars has mysteriously vanished from its vault. Authorities are at a loss as to how the money vanished, but have begun a massive search to find the culprit of this baffling robbery."
Gloria felt her heart drop into her stomach. "Uh… Jirachi? Did… did you take the ten-million dollars that I wished for… from that bank?"
"Why yes!" Jirachi cheerfully confirmed. "Is that a problem?"
"Of course it's a goddamn problem! You just gave me a bunch of stolen money!" Gloria screamed. "If the cops find me with it, I'm screwed! What the hell am I supposed to do?"
"Not my concern." Jirachi answered as he headed for the window. "Have a nice life!"
With that, Jirachi was gone. Gloria was left alone with piles of stolen money that she couldn't get rid of.
Gloria went over to the couch and slumped into the pile of money covering it. "I hate my life."
Author's Note: I forgot to mention up top that the title of this song comes from a Dan Fogelberg song. Anyway, this Jirachi is not going to be anything like the one from that movie featuring May's annoying little brother, Max. This one will be a lot more twisted.
Please review and let me know what you think.