Chapter 3 – Raine

The man continued to laugh as the three flying-types attacked the adults.

"Stop what you're doing!" shouted Franklin, obviously upset that his father was in pain. "I choose you!" he bellowed, throwing the red and white Pokéball onto the floor. From it, a blinding light emerged, cloaking everything for a few seconds.

When she discovered it was safe to open her eyes, Cadence saw the remains of the light forming into a Pokémon.

The Pokémon was green, looking more like a water-type than a grass-type. There was a leafy twig on its head, and a shell made of hard mud on its back.

"Tuuuuur!" it called, looking at its surroundings. The trees and grass seemed to make it feel happier. It's wide yellow jaw was chattering with excitement.

"Turtwig," called Franklin, "Use Tackle on that Starly! Josh, Cadence, send out the Pokémon I gave you." As the two grabbed at their new Pokéballs, the short Pokémon dashed with uncanny speed towards the birds, all of whom flapped away before it got there.

"I choose you!" shouted Joshua, throwing his Pokéball.

"Come on out!" exclaimed Cadence, throwing hers into the same space. The lights merged, before separating and forming two Pokémon.

The first to become visible, from Cadence's Pokéball, was taller than Turtwig. It was covered in bright orange fur, and the tufts resembled burning flames. There was a fire on its tail, and it had big bright eyes,

"Chaaaaaar!" it cried out.

"Aww, a Chimchar," cooed Joshua, looking on as his Pokémon formed into a smaller blue creature. It looked as though to be wearing a darker blue cape, and resembled a flying-type Pokémon. Its beak was an out of place orange on the blue body, matching only the orange talons. "Ooh, I got a Piplup." Joshua seemed to marvel at his new Pokémon, "I'm going to call you…Dapper!"

"Piplup, use Pound!" shouted Franklin, getting impatient with the two, "First, Chimchar, use Leer to bring them to the ground!" Chimchar obeyed almost instantly, staring down the three birds, which all lost their balance and landed on the floor.

Piplup took a while to register, and instead seemed to be staring at the end of its own beak, until a nudge from Joshua sent it running towards the birds, knocking one of them off its feet.

"Dapper, you did great!" beamed Joshua. Franklin shook his head again.

"Chimchar, Scratch the last birds" he ordered, "Turtwig, use Tackle on the other!" Turtwig once again charged at the birds, hitting the middle on square in the chest.

Chimchar hopped over to the birds, spinning its claws into the face of the third Starly.

"Now, Munchlax, throw this Quick Claw at them using Fling!" shouted the voice of Professor Rowan. Turning, they saw he had brought a blue and cream furred Pokémon, half the size of the Professor. He was holding a small claw, what looked like the nail of a Pokémon.

Munchlax focused on the claw for a moment, before it began to glow. The Pokémon threw it at the three Starly, where it exploded on contact with the ground. When the smoke cleared, they were all knocked out.

The man in red had stopped laughing, and was on his way over with his Pokémon.

"Professor, are you okay?" asked Joshua, running to the old man. Franklin was hugging his father, while Cadence went to Chimchar. The fire-type seemed to be doing a little victory dance.

"I'm fine thank you," the Professor said, "You all did well with your Pokémon. You're Cadence and Joshua, am I right?" The teens nodded. As Cadence stood to move over to the group, three thin red beams wrapped themselves around the three Starly, all fainted, enveloping them before causing them to disappear, and returning to the origin.

The beams staggered back to three Pokéballs held by the man.

"Him and his Milotic don't look happy," pointed out Andrew Jonah, Franklin's father, "If he really is here to catch Mesprit, then he can't be happy we've stopped his guards."

The man jumped off the cream snake, whose tail was decorated with blue and pink shimmering scales. A fan-like tail end was flapping in front of the long ear-like appendages, furry and pink.

"You idiots!" the man shouted, thrusting the older men out of the way to get to the children. His face was still almost impossible to see under the crimson hat he wore. "You've taken out my Starly. They were meant to be giving me time to set up some more defences for Mesprit."

"A likely story," Andrew said, quite snootily, "You've come here to steal the Pokémon!" The man shook his head and sighed.

"My name is Raine," he began, "I'm from a group called Wayward. We're on a mission right now. We're on a mission to stop Team Galactic from stealing the three lake Legendaries. I'm trying to set up some Pokémon to protect Mesprit from them."

"Why would they want the legendary Pokémon?" asked Professor Rowan, crossing his arms, quickly copied by Munchlax.

"I'm not sure," Raine admitted, "Maybe something sinister, maybe not. Either way, Mesprit, Uxie and Azelf can't be moved from their respective lakes. They're needed at them."

"I'm not prepared to believe you outright," Professor Rowan contemplated, "But I assure you, the lake will be in good hands if you are telling the truth. As you may have noticed, I'm formidable myself. Lake Verity will be protected by Sandgem Town and Twinleaf Town."

"But," Raine tried to argue.

"No!" bellowed Professor Rowan, making all of them jump, "It is our responsibility. If it happens to be true, I'll owe you an apology. But until then, I want you to leave. Now!"

"I'll go then," Raine said, pulling the Milotic into the Pokéball with the same red light, "But I'll be back when it happens. And I won't be alone." He sent two more red beams across the lake and ran out of the entrance.

"You think he had two more Pokémon out there?" asked Franklin, looking over the lake.

"I think so," the Professor replied, "Obviously he took them back with him. I'll be keeping a close eye on this place myself. Now. We must attend a conversation on the nature of Pokémon. Namely, the one's in your possession."

The entire group looked at the Pokémon, stopping Piplup dead in its tracks about to pick at its beak.

"Pip, Piplup!" it shouted, glowing with embarrassment. Joshua laughed harder than anyone.

"Dapper, we'll need to teach you some manners," he giggled.