"'No matter how long it takes,' eh, Colin? Isn't that what she said?" The rugged teenager tossed a pokéball into the air, letting the Pidgeot catch it. "…Not that I blame her. Becoming Champion doesn't take nearly as long as they say it does, and Syl is probably still scouting out that new region…"
"Pwidge," his companion responded, dropping the capsule into the trainer's hand. At level 81, the bird was not the same pokémon that had cowered in fear before two boys in crimson baseball caps so long ago. His muscles now bulged larger than those of the average Pidgeot, and his wingspan was well over nine feet. The only thing that hadn't changed about him was the slight knot in his beak, where a certain Pikachu had knocked him into a tree with Volt Tackle many battles ago…
Blue finally released his pent-up breath, losing it to the humid air of Cinnabar Island. "I've finally accepted it, buddy. It was childish to believe a little twerp like her could ever find such a rare landmark and manage to report back to me. I haven't even seen her since that first encounter with Giovanni; when she left to go explore Johto. I doubt she even knows I beat the Red-Hat Clan, or that I finally became the Champion! Maybe… Maybe she was even lying to me all that time ago, and only made the promise in order to save her own skin… Let's face the facts, boy. She's never going to come."
"Pwidge!"
"No way, you're not going to convince me this time! You got my hopes up last month, and it turned out to be some Beauty that you had the hots for!" The Champion kicked a rock savagely, disgusted by the memory. "And she wasn't even your age…" He trailed off, following the path of the bouncing stone down the hillside; all the way to… "Sylvia?!"
A lone figure was stumbling up the slope, ripped bag and soiled jacket pounding against her side as she made her way up. Even visible from the peak of Blue's mount, the thirteen gym badges flashing from the inner pocket of her vest were blatantly visible. Sylvia had certainly been busy in the past few months…
"Sorry I took so long," she panted upon reaching the summit. Balthazar released himself from his pokéball to nuzzle the former enemy until she caught her breath. "I heard about your accomplishment a while back, but I didn't have the time to visit. So, congratulations, Blue! And… I've got good news! There was actually a waterfall right under our noses this whole time!"
The boy shook his head, disbelieving. "If you knew that, why did you visit Johto?"
"Well… I only just found out. See, I was revisiting Mount Moon to check on a Clefairy I released up there a while back, and he showed me a big chamber I'd never seen before!" Sylvia scratched the back of her head nervously, tossing red locks much longer than those she had had upon her first encounter with Blue. "Then Nurse Joy came up and talked with me, and I kinda got the feeling I wasn't supposed to be in there…" She hesitated, leaning back against Balthazar's tree.
"Keep going," the Champion pressed, feeling her confidence wavering. "I won't tell anyone; I promise! What was in that chamber?!"
She averted her eyes, looking at the ground. Suddenly she leapt at him, dark eyes full of mirth. "A waterfall, silly! What did you think I was going to say?"
He raised an eyebrow at her from where he'd dropped to the ground reflexively. Too many Team Rocket encounters… "Was that really necessary? You were jumping at the Champion in such a childish way when I barely know you. Colin would have ripped your face off in moments if he'd thought there was real danger!" Blue staggered to his feet, glaring peevishly back at the Pidgeot who was preening himself several meters away. "The point is-"
"The point is, he didn't," Sylvia quipped, pushing him over as soon as he was upright again. "Anyway, I'm dead tired, and downright sick of the 'thrill of adventure.' No point in standing when I could be sleeping," she groaned, flopping down beside him.
He sighed in defeat, letting his head drop back into the grass. It was clear that the girl had been pushing herself hard. How was he going to make it up to her? "Thank you, Syl… You don't know how much-"
"How much this means to you? Oh, I think I do," the lump next to him muttered. "The only reason you want to find this waterfall is so you can capture the mythical pokémon that jumps off cliffs, right?" Blue remained silent. How had she known? "Well, I didn't see it anywhere… but that may have been because I wasn't searching for it at all. I'm leaving that bit to you," Sylvia said with a wink. "I had my work cut out for me with making a map of the place! Here ya go!" She rolled over, rummaging through her bag to pull out a tattered piece of paper. "Good luck."
Blue accepted the parchment with trembling fingers. With this, the cliff-jumping pokémon was as good as his! "Sylvia, I…"
"Just leave, already! I know you're dying to!" Sylvia laughed, shoving her friend playfully as he stood back up.
Raising Colin's pokéball into the air, he nodded at her. "So long, Rox… and thanks. …Let's go, buddy!" In a flurry of wind and feathers, he was gone.
Balthazar roared after him, outraged at being left behind. "Don't worry, big guy," Sylvia chuckled. She patted the Venusaur endearingly, slipping a pokéball out of her pocket. "I'll take much better care of you than that jerk…"
"Well, Sylvia's map says there should be a secret tunnel right about… here?" Blue scratched his head, looking to Colin in bemusement. "I don't see any way in. Think we should ask for directions?" His bird didn't respond; instead staring intently at the cave entrance they'd come in through. "Is that…?"
A lonesome figure stomped into the darkness, pink hair curling up in the damp air of Mount Moon's largest cave. Her nurse's uniform stuck out against the dull colors of the walls, and Blue recognized her instantly. "Hey, Joy. What do you want now?" After assuring herself that no one else was around, the pokémon resumed her natural form and floated indignantly up to Blue.
"I want you to leave, young man! Who gave you permission to vandalize this historical landmark again?"
He winced at that; his last visit had left behind many scars in the rock faces, ranging from Colin's numerous battles with Zubat to the boredom of his Bulbazar. "Look, I'm still sorry about that… but I'll only be here for a while! Please, it's urgent business!"
Joy didn't look convinced. Flipping her tails impatiently, she pointed up to a jagged crack in the ceiling. "You said you'd fix that, and that you wouldn't come back until you knew how. Your return… must mean you've figured out a way to melt stone together?"
He sighed in exasperation. "I told you; just get a Slugma to use cooled lava to fix that harmless crack!" Turning back to the solid rock wall, he pleaded, "I'll just be a minute longer, I promise. I'm looking for a special pokémon…"
Joy rolled her eyes. "You'll never find it."
"And who says I won't?!"
"It's not here!" The Mesprit risked a nervous glance at the hole leading back outside before turning sad yellow eyes on the boy. "I know what you're trying to do here, but you won't ever find that pokémon! I'm sorry, Blue… I- I lied to your friend."
Blue shook his head. "What?! Joy, what on Earth are you talking about? And be honest, please…" He locked eyes with the pokémon and found himself absorbed in their infinite deepness.
After countless visits to PokéCenters all around Kanto, the phony nurse had revealed that she and her sisters were legendary pokémon who had disobeyed Arceus long ago. Their punishment was to take on the role of Pokémon Nurses in his world; a job that no sane creature desired. As legendary pokémon, it was grueling work; requiring countless intelligent clones throughout Kanto that sapped the real pokémons' strength. Their only way out of the job was to befriend a trainer and become part of their team…
"Blue, did you hear me?" Joy's voice cut his reminiscing short, and he shrugged. She fluttered up to him, her expression grave. "I was saying, that pokémon has never set foot in Kanto! I don't know how that girl knew about the Waterfall Legend, but when she asked me if I knew where the ancient pokémon was, I couldn't turn down that desperate face! So I…" The Champion raised an eyebrow, goading her on. "…I made up a story about the creature being in the waterfall cave here! She started making a map, so I let her be… I'm sorry. I didn't know she was doing this for you, or I would never have done such a terrible thing!"
Blue sighed, pocketing the tattered paper Sylvia had given him. "So, the waterfall bit is true… but the part about the pokémon isn't?"
"Sorry…" Joy turned away sorrowfully. "The pokémon that jumps off cliffs does not, and never will, live here."
"I see." This was an unwelcome turn of events, and Blue was feeling a powerful pull to return to Cinnabar. He fought it, instead turning to the Pidgeot by his side. "Well, we can still go see the pretty waterfall. How about it, Colin?"
Joy wasn't too keen on the idea. "Look, I know you came out all this way, taking a lot of time from your duty as Champion. Shouldn't you be getting back to that, instead? There must be tons of trainers to battle. And it's a shame that you'll be taking on challengers for the rest of your career. There'll be no time to search for the cliff-jumping myth, huh? Good thing you have a little ghost-lover to help you!" Engaged, Blue whirled on her, but she continued, "And remember; the pokémon is destined to only one master. Even though you're the Champion, you have no right to believe that you're it!"
"Grrrr… Shut it! Like you know anything about destiny! You're just a naughty little pokémon who back-stabs its own kind to get what it wants!"
"You don't know anything about that…" The Mesprit grit her teeth, seriously considering blasting the boy with Psychic. "We may have been a bit too cruel, but we didn't mean any harm…" She broke off and averted her eyes, stopping herself before she revealed too much.
Brown eyes narrowed, and the Champion stepped forward warily. "'Didn't mean any harm' to what? What aren't you telling me, Joy?!" Colin squawked, realizing the unspoken truth almost as quickly as his trainer.
"I'm sorry!" She squeaked as she backed away towards the exit. "We were forbidden to tell… Please disregard everything I just said!"
He nodded knowingly. The loophole was too good to ignore. "Even that part about you lying to my dear friend Sylvia? Should I disregard that, too?" He grinned to see Mesprit stop mid-swish, her small body drifting slowly to the ground in silent dismay as she realized her error. "…I thought so. You let something slip, didn't you? 'What you didn't mean any harm to' wouldn't happen to be the pokémon that jumps off cliffs, now would it?"
"Eep! I, well, that, umm…" Joy stuttered, waving her little arms as she struggled to get into the air again. "That would be…"
"That would be completely correct." Azelf materialised out of the shadows, her oddly-shaped head easily distinguishable from that of the Uxie right behind her. "You nailed it, Blue, just like I said you would! Which reminds me, Ux… five Oran Berries."
As the yellow pokémon payed off her gambling debt, Blue glared accusingly at Mesprit until she hung her head. "I'm very sorry. But when I realized what that girl was doing, I just had to make up a story so you wouldn't find her…" She shuddered, unable to continue for the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"We know it's hard to understand," Uxie piped up in the awkward silence. "It's just, we're all quite jealous that her time is coming before ours… She was always Father Arceus' favorite, even though he couldn't help her all that time ago…"
"Pardon me, but what are you talking about?" The Champion scanned each downcast face, but could glean no information from them other than what he already knew. "You were the pokémon that trapped the one from the Waterfall Legend?!"
They nodded ashamedly. "That was the crime we did to get punished with nursing duty… Though, I guess now that I'm used to it, it's not so bad…" Azelf was trying hard to seem cheerful, but Blue could tell she was just as disappointed as her sisters. "But in the whole career, we only had one Code 909. Sometimes I wish we could meet more people…"
"Don't worry; you will." Blue grinned, an idea forming in his mind. "But how about you show me this Waterfall Legend first…?"
"This is it?"
"This is it." Mesprit's voice was barely audible over the thunderous pounding of water against the rocks below. She soared up to the roof of the cavern; her sisters close behind. "But she jumps the cliff at random, so I have idea where she is now."
Blue nodded, prepared to wait. After all, a few hours were nothing compared to the years he had spent biding his time already. As he settled down on a polished stone, he began to take in the surroundings. Pale white trees grew from cracks in the rock floor, and sparkling Diglett and Sneasel ran about underneath them. Giant stalactites hanging from the ceiling reflected sunlight and the shadows of the green Zubat flying around them. It was like an underground world, and even the cracked walls held ancient beauty. But the most magnificent feature of the room was the waterfall.
A long river snaked through the upper level of the cavern; its water as crystal clear as the carbon icicles above. A steep slope made for a fast, final turn, where the rushing stream met only open air. It kept going; pouring over the cliff to fall to the pool below in a drumming cacophony that soon became all that Blue could hear. "It's amazing," he breathed.
"Isn't it." Uxie smiled sadly. "But this place is too small for her. We always knew it would come to this; only a trainer can let her see the world…" The Wisdom Pokémon wiped away a tear. "We may have been young and spiteful, but we had no idea Tina was capable of such a curse…"
Azelf shook her head, staring out at the falls. "And we would never have asked Giratina to destroy her precious dream if we had known we'd have to take care of her… It's been a while since I've been here. She must have been pretty lonely… Aah! I see her!"
"What? Where?!" Blue stood, cranking his neck to peer at the top of the cliff. "I don't see anything!"
Mesprit and Uxie lifted him by the arms, carrying him closer to the bottom. "Our sister has better eyes than any of us, and she can also sense the pokémon's willpower. If Azelf says she's there, she's there. Hmm… Just stand right here," Mesprit said, dropping her side of Blue into the pool's shallows. "If you are her destined trainer, something good will happen… I think."
The Champion gulped, stumbling up against the flow of the current. He had anticipated this moment for years, but now that it had finally come, he felt almost too jittery to stand. …Come to think of it, he didn't even know what the pokémon looked like! He didn't know how it behaved, or even what mysteries its PokéDex entry would resolve. And what if it didn't like him, and wouldn't even let him catch it?!
"Gyaaaah!" A monstrous roar broke through his cluttered thoughts and left a faint ringing in his ears. Mouth dropping open, Blue stared up at the waterfall. A fifty-foot drop stood between the cliff edge and Blue's pool, but nothing had stopped a lone figure from flinging itself from the top. The boy stared, transfixed, as the creature fell nearer and nearer… He was too spellbound to contemplate the size and the distance from which he was viewing; the pokémon streaming and surfing through the falling water was so mystifying that he was unable to think about anything else.
He could hear Azelf twittering something behind him, but the words were all a jumble. The red object was looming closer, closer…
THUD.