Location: Ecruteak City, Johto

"Kris' diary: Sunday morning – I have exactly two weeks and a day before the Silver Conference begins. I have arrived to Ecruteak, having used the whole Saturday for training. Eusine offered me a ride directly here, but I'm not sitting in a car which he's driving. I like my head where it is, thanks. I didn't battle Jasmine, who was apparently accepting challengers again – why, thank you, Lyra – but I fought several trainers on my way back here. Croc, Lampent and Murkrow have become much more powerful. I know Morty might just be the toughest leader in the region, next to Clair of course, but I have to try!"

Leaving the Ecruteak City Pokémon Center, a newspaper stand caught Kris' attention. It was the extra-thick Sunday edition, and Kris felt her blood-pressure rising as she saw the headline:

"New Bark's Lyra crowned winner of the Whirl Cup."

And, of course, most of the page was dominated by the obnoxiously smiling picture of Lyra, posing to the camera and winking. Still, her mood was slightly improved by the headline below the picture:

"Slow news day boggles reporters – see pictures from page 2 to page 39."

Chapter Nine: The Bells of Ho-Oh

"I'm afraid master Morty isn't taking in any challengers today."

After about twenty minutes of walking, Kris had located the gym. But unfortunately, a monk at the door rejected her and was about to shoo her out.

"I don't understand," Kris complained. "Why?"

"He has just returned from an excursion at the Burned Tower," the monk explained, Kris being clueless as to what that meant. "He has done secret work there with a... beleaguering partner. I am not at liberty to say anything else."

"Hey, baldy, I'm back," an obnoxious voice suddenly yelled from behind Kris. "Just forgot to tell good ol' Mort one more thing. You, twig, make some space!"

Kris didn't bother looking. Soon enough, Eusine walked up to her and recognized her, shaking Kris' shoulders enthusiastically.

"Well pump me full of nitrates and call me a workman's dinner!" Eusine gushed. "You're finally here! Too bad you didn't ride with me in the Porsche – you could have gotten here early yesterday afternoon. Oh, well, gonna challenge Morty, then?"

"I-"

"Splendid!" Eusine said, grabbing Kris under his arm and dragging her past the monk. "Take five, brother... you. Go and meditate or whatever you guys do. Don't bother calling Mort, I want to surprise the guy."

"You know Morty?" Kris wondered as she took Eusine's arm off her shoulder and walked on her own. "Oh don't tell me. He's also a-"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Eusine asked. "We're practically blood brothers, he and... I."

"This better not be total crap like your story about Lance," Kris reminded as Eusine led her towards a door leading to the gym area.

"Hey, Lance is a bro," Eusine said defensively as Kris rolled her eyes, "but Morty is something else. He's been helping me from the beginning. I have hunted Suicune down for ten years, and Morty has been there to help me every step of the way. Morty's even my partner in this whole Suicune case."

"Well that's, um, neat," Kris said. "You know, I'm a pretty big fan... a huge fan, actually. I mean, don't tell anyone, but I've fangirled over some of the more famous trainers for many years now. And after Cynthia from Sinnoh – and Suicune, of course – Morty is my absolute favorite. He's just so... cool, you know?"

"Oh yeah," Eusine agreed.

"You'd just want a guy like that to..." Kris blurted out before catching herself. "Um, battle you."

"Yup," Eusine said. "Me and Morty have given each other a pretty intense pounding a couple of times, I can tell you that."

"...oh?"

Eusine opened the door, and before Kris could ask any more questions or come up with fantasies, she found herself squealing in surprise as she and Eusine stepped into what appeared to be literally a huge room of nothing... except for colorful shapes swirling around silently. There was just space in every direction Kris looked, and the door leading to the entrance had vanished, too.

"Did you just drug me or something?" Kris asked.

"Huh?" Eusine wondered calmly, just looking around him as if he had dropped his keys somewhere. "No, this is the layout of the gym. There's usually trainers here, too, but it's Sunday, so they're all either home or in service at the Bell Tower. The trick is to find tell the right path from the illusions, and if you don't, you're-"

"Sucked into a quasar?" Kris asked in horror.

"Returned to the entrance," Eusine mumbled. "But for special visitors such as yours truly, there's a shortcut to the gym leader's chambers. Ah, here! Quick, hold my hand."

"Eww! Well, you're wearing gloves, so fine..."

Kris squealed in shock for the second time today as Eusine stepped on a secret floor panel that transported them both somewhere – but not to the entrance, nor to outer space, but into a cold room lit by torches hanging ominously on the walls. In the middle of the room, a tall man with blonde hair trained on a punching bag. He was only wearing pants and a purple bandana, but his feet and his muscular, but lean upper body were completely bare. Kris tried not to squee at finally meeting her idol, but Morty just kept working on the bag, barely blinking an eye at the sudden arrival.

"Hi, Eusine," he muttered between punches. "Did you forget something? Because I'd rather train alone."

"Manners, Morty!" Eusine said. "We have a visitor! I brought you a challenger and – don't you usually just spend your Sundays meditating?"

"Gee, usually, yeah," Morty grunted, punching the bag even harder. "But every time we go on a job together, I feel the urge to do some physical training. Funny, that."

"Oh, great, so I'm motivating you!" Eusine beamed. "Anyway, this here's Kris. I told you about our work at the Society-"

"Eusine!" Morty snapped as he stopped punching the bag and turned to glare at the caped schmuck. "Ixnay!"

"You know I don't speak French, man," Eusine said. "And anyway, don't worry about the secret stuff, Kris here is already in the know. She's from New Bark Town and she's on the challenge to get admitted into the Silver Conference."

"Uh, I... nice to meet you," Kris said and bowed respectfully, wondering if it was considered polite or stupid.

Morty just nodded. "That doesn't explain why you brought her here."

"You're supposed to be clairvoyant, dude, you figure it out!" Eusine said. "The runt just wants to get stronger. She's still got a long way to go, but maybe she could learn a thing or two from you. I mean, I trashed her, but maybe you're more on her level – and she did just make it to the Top 8 in the Whirl Cup."

Morty looked at Kris curiously for a moment. Kris felt like she had gotten several inches smaller in a short time. Finally, Morty nodded to Eusine.

"All right," he said. "But if we're going to battle, we'll need some privacy."

"Hey, I gotcha, buddy," Eusine said and made a strange hand gesture in Morty's direction – Morty returned it halfheartedly. "I'mma just swing by the Bell Tower and then it's back to tracking Suicune. Laters!"

Eusine casually stepped on a strange, glowing floor tile and suddenly vanished, prompting another squeal from Kris.

"He's just been taken to the entrance," Morty explained and sighed deep. "Thank the Original One. Don't get me wrong, he's a friend, but spending too much time with him in one go..."

"Oh, I understand, believe me" Kris said meekly, trying not to look at the half-naked gym leader in the room.

Morty smiled, and to Kris' surprise, bowed respectfully as well. "Now then, sorry for being rude before, Eusine tries my patience at times. I am Morty, Ecruteak's Gym Leader. And you're taking the Silver Conference trials, I see."

"Uh huh."

Much to the both relief and disappointment of Kris, Morty picked up a T-shirt he had placed on a nearby stool and put it on, though he still kept his feet bare.

"I wish you luck on that, but to be honest, I'd rather they discontinue the thing," Morty remarked as he walked around the room. "I've seen a few promising young trainers take on the challenge but get crushed by the difficulty, or hazed by my fellow members."

"Well, um, I haven't been hazed," Kris said quietly, and Morty stopped walking and listened politely. "I've met Lance and Wallace before and they were fairly polite."

Morty nodded in understanding. "Of course," he chuckled. "Even they think being partnered with Eusine is punishment enough. But still, your quest is far from over, and even when you think it is, you'll be forced to undergo evaluation in front of the Wise Trio. They're three monks who live here in Ecruteak. They take care of the two towers, serve as our town's religious leaders and do important work for the Society. And they're an uptight, nitpicky bunch."

Kris wasn't sure whether to laugh or not, so she just made an odd chortling sound, which Morty thankfully ignored. Kris quickly decided to change the subject.

"Can you tell me about the Society?" she asked. "I don't really know as much as I'd like."

"Well, we were supposed to be secret," Morty said coyly. "But that Skitty has been out of the bag for a while now, thank you very much, Eusine. And I see you're a reliable person, so all right. Ecruteak City is our base of operations. Our leader, whose identity I won't tell you yet, founded us fifteen years ago. He used to be a part of an ancient order of monks, but left them to start his own section here in Ecruteak. That was fifty years ago, and today, that section has become the leading religious group in Johto. He and his monks do continuous research and Pokémon training to understand and uphold the ancient ways, to worship our lord Arceus and await the return of Johto's legendary Pokémon."

"You see, here in Ecruteak, Pokémon have long been revered. It is said that one particular rainbow-hued Pokémon will come down to appear before a truly powerful trainer. Our leader was originally supposed to train powerful people to ensure its return and pay tribute to it in the meantime, but the MO of our organization grew along our numbers. Today, we study Pokémon, particularly the mythical and powerful ones. We protect them from humanity, and if need be, humanity from them."

Kris blinked. "Wow," she simply said. "Um, Morty, I sure you get this a lot, but-"

"I'm sorry, but we're not accepting new members at the moment," Morty said politely. "We have our hands full with Eusine, I'm afraid, and you need to have years of experience and either overwhelming skill with Pokémon or some other talent. In Eusine's case that talent happens to be in his wallet. In my case, I can occasionally see things that others cannot – call them latent psychic abilities if you wish. More importantly, I descend from a long line of holy men and women and have studied the rainbow-colored Pokémon more than anyone else. As a trainer, though... well, I'm good, but nowhere near the league of someone like Lance, or Wallace or Cy... the others."

"Right," Kris said awkwardly. "I was going to ask for an autograph, though."

"Oh," Morty said, but quickly recovered from this and signed the picture Kris had handed to him. "Sure thing."

"Thanks," Kris said as she carefully took the picture back from Morty, holding it with the same care she had held the GS Ball. "So, can we really battle?"

"Of course," Morty said. "I believe battling you will bring me one step closer to being worthy of Ho-Oh's honor. But, I have one condition – I get to choose the terms of combat. One Pokémon each, no time limit – acceptable?"

"Of course," Kris said, though she was confused. Morty hadn't made any gestures to take out any Poké Balls from anywhere, and his pants had no pockets. "Uh, don't you need-?"

Morty shook his head. "My ghost-type Pokémon roam free here at the gym," he proclaimed as he folded his arms. "They come when they are called. Gengar, I choose you!"

Kris had to suppress an impressed gasp when she saw a dark purple ghost-type Pokémon emerge from the shadows as if it was thin air, having glowing red eyes and a sinister grin on its face. The Gengar took its position on the battlefield, and both it and Morty waited for Kris to make her move.

Okay, he's a ghost-type expert, that I know. I've studied his techniques, too, I've seen him battle on TV dozens of times. So, I should use Murkrow! But he probably faces dark-types all the time, I'm sure he has some move to deal with them. Lampent, then? No, it's too slow and weak to Gengar's moves, so that leaves...

Please let this work.

"Croc, go!"

Kris sent out her Croconaw, and couldn't help but to smile proudly as it didn't dance or flail around disobediently. It simply gave out a battle roar and readied itself for battle. Kris decided not to waste a second and made the first move:

"Croc, Water Gun!"

"Gengar, dodge and use Shadow Claw!"

As Kris had seen many times before, the Gengar was unbelievably fast, moving faster than Kris' eyes could keep up. It leaped out of the attack's way with ease and moved in on Croc in a second, striking the Big Jaw Pokémon with its glowing claws. That attack alone did a great deal of damage, but now Gengar was close.

"Croc, Headbutt!"

The moment the words left Kris' lips was the moment she realized she had screwed up. Croc simply passed through the gaseous Gengar, leaving itself wide open for a counter-attack.

"Gengar, Hypnosis!"

Kris bit her lip as she watched Gengar release black, glowing circles towards Croc that first made it dizzy, then caused it to tumble on the floor. Fortunately, Morty didn't start lecturing Kris about type matchups – Kris was already berating herself internally.

"Wake up, Croc!"

"Gengar, Dream Eater!"

As expected, Croc continued to be under the thrall of Hypnosis, while Gengar started sucking its energy. Fortunately, this attack snapped Croc out of it and allowed it to get back into the battle.

"Yes! Croc, Bite!"

It's all or nothing now. Gengar is frail, I've seen it, so I just have to-

"Shadow Ball!" Morty ordered.

Before Croc even got to speed, Gengar had already materialized a sizzling black ball of energy between its hands and send it flying towards it. Croc was too slow to dodge and was hit in the face with the Shadow Ball, which knocked it out. Sighing mournfully, Kris returned the Pokémon.

"Thanks anyway, Croc," Kris said to the Poké Ball, smiling sadly as she pocketed it.

"Good work, Gengar," Morty praised the Pokémon, which smiled at its owner before slipping back into the shadows. "And thanks for the battle, Kris. It honestly lasted longer than I expected. Had you used Bite instead of Headbutt there, you may have actually given Gengar some trouble."

"I know," Kris moaned. "I should have – I don't know what I was thinking. I just thought I'd just go for Croc's most powerful attack without realizing who I was fighting against. I kinda lost it – I don't know how you stay cool all the time."

"Believe me, I'm a big old pressure cooker underneath it all," Morty quipped. "But yes, keeping cool in battle is one of the most important things a trainer must do. They must accept the fact that both them and their Pokémon might lose, and in worst situations, that them and their Pokémon might suffer, or even die. You have to know every kind of strategy you can think of before starting the battle – there's no time for error once you're actually in the thick of it. You have to know which move to use and be ready to do the complete opposite if the situation warrants it. And most importantly – you must have fun and enjoy even in the face of loss."

The last part made Kris smile a little. "I am happy you battled me, though," she said softly. "And thanks for the quick lesson, too."

"It was my pleasure," Morty said as he bowed again. "Please, step on the warp pad and you'll be returned to the entrance. I'm afraid I have lots of work to do."

~o~O~o~

Having said her goodbyes to Morty and vowing to come back to the Ecruteak Gym before the end of her journey, Kris left the gym. But surprises just wouldn't end for that day, as a small but familiar smiling figure squeed in delight upon seeing her and hugged her before Kris could raise her hand to make a meek greeting.

"Glomp!" Iris gushed as Kris stood awkwardly again – why did she always have to hug? "I knew it! I knew you were here!"

"Mgwhm!"

"Oh, you're so emotional you can't even talk!"

"It's not that," Kris mumbled as Iris finally let go. "Some of your hair just got in my mouth. Pthoo!"

"Oh... sorry," Iris said slightly less cheerfully. "Do you think I should cut it?"

"No, it looks, uh, it suits you," Kris said quickly, founding herself smiling despite the devastating loss. "It's, um, good to see you... I guess?"

"You're getting better at this," Iris said with a grin. "Oh my gosh, I want to hear everything you've done since we met!"

"It has only been a couple of-"

"Hold that thought!" Iris chattered and suddenly spoke into her PokéGear in a more serious tone. "Found her, she's in front of the gym – no one else in the vicinity."

Kris wanted to ask what was going on, but was cut off mb an ever-loudening rumbling sound and focused her attention to the rusty gray van speeding from behind the gym, pulling over directly in front of Kris and Iris, almost flattening Kris' toes as Iris pulled her back a bit. The van's side door was opened, and Kris found herself staring at another familiar face: Leaf, who didn't say anything, just motioned for Kris to hop in.

"The crud is going on?" Kris wondered. "This isn't-"

"Come on, Kris, we're in a hurry," Iris said as she nudged Kris towards the van.

"I don't-"

"I'll explain later, we need to move!" a rough voice yelled from the van's interiors.

Kris was just bewildered, but neither Iris nor Leaf had given any reasons to doubt the, so she let out a sigh of resignation and nodded. She gave her hand to Leaf, who pulled Kris into the van. Iris managed to just jump in when the car started moving, and a large hand suddenly appeared to close the door.

The van drove through the streets of Ecruteak, sharply turning around the gym and speeding past confused pedestrians. Kris looked around the van, grabbing a handle near the ceiling. There were lab equipment, computers and radio devices, along with piles of notes, scattered all over, some of the papers flying around carelessly as the car drove at reckless speed towards an unknown destination.

"Welcome to our moving laboratory, Kris!" said the rough-voiced man who had closed the door, revealing himself to be Blaine, instantly recognizable from his sunglasses, lab coat and unnaturally thick mustache.

Kris just nodded in acknowledgment and peeked into the car's driver's seat, smiling widely at the driver once she recognized the tall, thin man also wearing a lab coat and thick glasses.

"Professor Elm!" Kris sputtered. "I thought I'd never see you outside the lab!"

"Good to see you," Elm said quickly, though Kris could sense anxiety from his expression and he focused entirely on the road. "Sorry about the bumpy ride, I can't remember the last time I drove – Blaine's van isn't exactly built for these situations."

"Don't insult my baby!" Blaine growled, but soon laughed it off and slapped Elm on the shoulder, almost causing the car to crash as Elm practically jumped in his seat. "Now that we have everyone on board, get to the Bell Tower. Step on it!"

"I already 'stepped on it'," Elm grumbled. "I swear, if someone is chasing us, they'll catch us in the time it takes this car to switch to another gear."

"Moving laboratory?" Kris asked Blaine, who walked around excitedly around the constantly shaking van as if it was nothing. "For what?"

Before Blaine could answer, he let out a cry of pain and grasped his left hand, the one covered by a black glove. Elm glanced at Blaine with the rear view mirror, but had no time to stop and help him. Leaf and Iris shot concerned looks at him, but were obviously as clueless as Kris.

"Explain to her," Blaine rasped at Iris and Leaf as he stumbled to the passenger seat and opened the glove compartment, doing something out of sight.

"Right, first off, hi Kris!" Iris said happily. "Is it true you helped Eusine free the Slowpoke? And competed in the Whirl Cup? I'm so sorry I didn't come with you, but-"

"Iris," Leaf said tensely.

"Right, matter at hand," Iris babbled and took a deep breath before assuming a more professional tone. "Kris, we might have a lead on Mewtwo's location."

"We've been monitoring radio communications between Legendary Pokémon Society members," Leaf clarified, seated by a radio and holding large earphones close to her head. "The one called Eusine and some monks. They said there's a situation at the Bell Tower, which is in the northeastern part of the city. That Morty will no doubt get there any minute now and we must be there before-."

"Okay, first," Kris interrupted. "How do you know this Mewtwo thing is here?"

"Blaine says he knows," Leaf said with a shrug. "But he's a bit too crazy for us to take his word for it," she added under her breath.

"We mean it with love!" Iris chipped in.

"Anyway, it's not just his word, though," Leaf exposited. "Professor Elm borrowed us some equipment that located a huge amount of psychic energy coming from this town. This is pretty normal for a population center of this size, especially one with a lot of ghost-type trainers, but today, there was a spike that put this town's rating above Goldenrod's!"

"Eusine mentioned your name in his transmission, so we figured that as long as Kris is in town, she should come along!" Iris chirped. "And I wanted to see you again."

"Me too," Elm added from the driver's seat.

Kris felt both pleased and embarrassed, so she quickly continued on track:

"So why don't we co-operate with the LPS? Isn't this kind of thing exactly what they're supposed to do?"

"No!" yelled Blaine, and Kris flinched when the man's face was inches away from hers. "I agree Mewtwo is dangerous and has to be stopped, but they will not hesitate to use lethal force against it. I can't stand that."

Elm gave his own two cents: "It, ah, it may be the only way!"

Blaine didn't respond to Elm, just frowned even more as he rubbed his gloved hand. Kris could swear she saw it twitching a bit.

"How much further?" Blaine grunted at Elm.

"Well, um, if that light stays green – crap!"

"Damn it," Blaine whispered.

"Is it okay now?" Iris asked Leaf, who nodded, much to Iris' delight. "Yay! So, Kris, tell me now, what did you do? Were the rumors true?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Kris said uncertainly, wondering how much truth she could tell. "I helped save the Slowpoke, which scored me some major points with those LPS guys. I even met Lance!"

Blaine grumbled something incoherent, but Kris ignored him.

Iris' eyes went wide. "The Indigo League Champion?"

"Uh huh. I met Leaf at this Miltank ranch after there was some trouble with Shrew – but don't worry!" Kris added quickly when Iris looked concerned. "It's fine now. I went to see this Pokémon expert in Cianwood and visited a pharmacy, that... huh. The medicine..."

"What's that?"

"Nothing. Then I competed in the Whirl Cup. I'm sure you saw the headlines already."

"Indeed," Elm remarked as he tapped the steering wheel impatiently, stuck in another red light. "A New Barkian won the tournament! I didn't think Lyra had it in her. She's pretty amazing and – oh, uh, congratulations for coming in eighth place, Kris."

"Yeah, they listed the top eight competitors in the paper and we saw your name there," Iris said. "I honestly thought you'd give up somewhere en route to Goldenrod!"

"Say what? You saw me fight Falkner!"

"That's exactly why," Iris smirked. "C'mon, Kris, I'm just teasing you! That's awesome! One of these days I'm going to see what you've learned myself."

"You're on," Kris said, hesitated a little, and added: "You know, Iris, y-"

"Hold on!" Elm yelled.

Iris, Leaf and Blaine all managed to grab something and hold steady as Elm hit the brakes, coming to a screeching halt which sent Kris tumbling on the van's floor. Fortunately, Iris and Leaf pulled her up almost immediately.

Kris was about to give her opinion about Elm's driving, but the rest of the gang had already opened the van's door and jumped out, forcing Kris to follow.

The van had pulled over in front of a gatehouse leading towards a small trail surrounded by the most beautiful trees in Johto. The Bell Tower could mostly be seen amidst the trees, leaving the city in its shadow. Kris couldn't even see what exactly was at the top, and had no time to ask either, as the others marched towards the gatehouse, where a monk stood blocking the front door.

"Halt," the monk said dramatically. "The Bell Tower has been closed from audience until further notice. I'm afraid you have to-"

Blaine walked casually to the monk, grabbed him by the shoulders and kneed him in the stomach. As the monk doubled over, Blaine struck him in the neck, knocking him out. The others voiced their shock, Elm doing it rather meekly.

"You hit a monk!" Iris gasped, pointing at the unconscious holy man. "Is he going to be-?"

"He'll be fine, and besides, the Almighty forgives," Blaine grunted, holding up his gloved hand. "Blame it on the Evil Hand Syndrome!"

Kris noticed the hand wasn't twitching anymore, though.

"Kris, you, Iris and Elm will go first," Blaine ordered. "You know that Eusine guy, so he might tell us what's going on. If not to you, he'll do it for me. Leaf, help me get some of the equipment off the van!"

"Was, uh, punching him really that necessary?" Elm asked quietly as he crouched over the monk, checking his pulse just in case.

"Hey, these guys have been trained in every possible kind of self-defense!" Blaine countered. "And say what you will, but I don't trust them at all. We'll be the ones to capture Mewtwo, and no one has to get hurt."

"'Cept him," Leaf remarked, gesturing at the monk.

Kris still wasn't sure what was going on and what the urgency was about, but followed Iris and Elm inside the gatehouse. They encountered no resistance inside and soon got through the exit, coming to the Bellchime Trail, a path littered with colorful leaves and surrounded by trees growing so thick that the rest of the city was effectively blocked off.

The three jogged closer and closer to the Bell Tower, which grew more and more ominous as the trio approached it. Finally, at the very foot of the tower, Eusine and a trio of older-looking monks in unusually colorful robes stood near the entrance, Eusine gazing up restlessly and yelling something to the monks before he noticed someone was coming.

"Kris!" Eusine shouted in surprise. "I thought you'd go lonely without me. What are you-"

"Shut up and answer my question!" Kris snapped.

"How am I supposed to do both?"

"Okay, answer my question and then shut up!"

"You haven't asked it yet!"

Kris groaned. "What's happening over here?"

"The crystal bell at the top of the tower just rang!" Eusine proclaimed as he dramatically pointed at the sky. "Legends say this is where the mythical rainbow-colored Pokémon, Ho-Oh, roosts, and that the crystal bell only rings if the mythical Pokémon returns. No one has heard the bell ring in fifty years! I called Morty in to check it out – and if Ho-Oh truly is here, then Suicune can't be far behind either."

"Um, based on what?" Elm asked curiously as he pushed up his glasses.

Eusine turned to look at Iris and Elm smugly as if he just noticed them, making a face like they were dirt under his unnecessarily expensive shoes.

"Oh, right," Kris said. "Eusine, this is Iris, and this Professor Elm, we're here to, uh... line?"

"Help you out!" Iris chimed in. "We've heard so much about the magnificent Eusine!"

"Oh, have you seen my magic show?" Eusine asked, suddenly interested in Iris. "Well, I would be blushing if this didn't happen wherever I go. But it's always nice to meet a fan – say, what's that behind your ear?"

Not waiting for Iris' reply, he reached out towards her head and pulled a photograph seemingly from out of nowhere. Kris facepalmed as she realized it was a signed photo of Eusine himself, but Iris seemed quite pleased.

"Thanks!" she said, though she threw the picture away as soon as Eusine looked away. "Now, what's this link between Ho-Oh and Suicune, then?"

Eusine cleared his throat. "Three hundred years ago, lightning struck the Brass Tower, which is now the kitschy tourist trap known as the Burned Tower. Three Pokémon were living in the tower at the time, along with the silver-feathered Pokémon Lugia that roosted there. The tower burned down and Lugia fled, as did Ho-Oh, but not before reviving the three Pokémon that had perished in the fire. Those three Pokémon were reborn as the legendary beasts Raikou, Entei and..." Eusine sighed wistfully. "Suicune. Owing Ho-Oh their lives, the three beasts dedicated their lives to serving its wishes."

"Master Eusine, please," one of the three monks urged.

"Right-o, Brody I'm sure Mort will find here himself," Eusine said. "Oh, everyone, this is the Wise Trio. They're the right-hand of our society's leader and the head of this order. Their names are Allen, Tim and Brody."

"Broderick."

"Yeah, sure," Eusine said and pulled an old-fashioned skeleton key from his pocket as dramatically as possible. "Anyway, since Morty is away, I'm the one in charge, and I have the key to the Bell Toweaaaaaaaahhh!"

Without warning, a freezing gust of wind blew across the Bellchime Trail, forcing everyone to shield their faces. Keeping one eye open, Kris saw the wind blowing the key off Eusine's hand.

The wind stopped as abruptly as it had begun, and the cause soon made itself clear. The entire group stared slack-jawed at the figure standing on a ledge above the Bell Tower's front door. It was not a Pokémon, but it didn't look human either. It was clad in a long black cloak that floated around in the wind as if it was made of gas, had extremely long and fluffy white hair and obscured its face with a blue mask with a permanently grinning face painted on it in strange markings.

"Why, thank you!" the figure spoke in a commanding, yet somewhat stretched voice. "This would have certainly made my job easier, though – do any of you have the slightest idea how hard it is to climb on top of that tower? Still, it was worth every drop of sweat it took – the view was magnificent."

The group just stared, Eusine making weak, high-pitched noises, grasping the air pathetically. The cloaked figure erupted in a cackling, hysterical laughter.

"Oh, I must admit," it said amidst the laughs. "Your first reaction was one of the best I've gotten so far! By the way, you didn't need that huge crystal bell up there, did you?"

For further dramatic effect, the figure tossed a piece of crystal marked with cryptic engravings on the ground in front of the group.

"D-did you ring the bell?" Kris asked, being the first to get her voice back, though it wasn't easy – it felt like the temperature in the area had dropped below zero Celsius in the middle of summer.

"What can I say? I love spectacles. You see, I had a date all planned for today and got bored waiting for her. And I figured this way, I'd get to meet both her and the famous Legendary Pokémon Society at the same time."

"Well, you've met them!" Eusine yelled and took out a Poké Ball, holding it between his index finger and middle finger. "I don't care who you are or where you bought your costume, but unless you give me back that key, you're about to feel the wrath of the Leg-"

The eyes on the figure's mask suddenly lit up, turning bright white. With that, it whipped up another freezing gust of wind that was powerful enough to toss everyone about – everyone but Eusine, whose cape blew up on his face and made him fall and start struggling frantically.

"As I said, I can't wait for the Legendary Pokémon Society to get here! While we wait, though, I'm ready to meet my date..."

A bony arm emerged from the depths of the figure's cloak, pointing directly at Kris, whose eyes widened in shock.

"...you."

"W-what?" Kris stuttered. "I don't... I don't even know w-who you are!"

"Where are my manners. You may call me The Masked Man. And I want one simple thing – a certain gold and silver Poké Ball you're carrying. Be a good girl and hand it over. I wouldn't want to have to pry it off your frozen corpse – that tends to be so messy."

"What is he talking about?" Iris wondered.

"The GS Ball," Kris muttered, staring at the Masked Man, who continued pointing at Kris. "Kurt gave it to me in Azalea Town, asked me to deliver it to this guy at the Whirl Islands. And he asked me to bring it to Mahogany Town. All I know is that it's very important."

"We can do this the hard way, too – I kill someone here one at a time until you give the GS Ball to me. But I'd hate to do that now that you've gotten so far... Kris."

Kris gulped, but was spared from answering as Eusine finally got his cloak back in order and pulled himself back on his feet. His usually tidy hair looked frenzied and his eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets as he glared at the Masked Man. Kris was quite impressed – she figured he'd have pissed himself by now.

"Okay, this is just freaking ridiculous!" Eusine ranted. "No one messes with my style! Electrode, go!"

Eusine tossed the Poké Ball he was carrying at the Masked Man, and his Electrode emerged, grinning triumphantly and ready to battle.

"Electrode, Thunderbo-"

But the Masked Man pointed his open palm at the Electrode, firing a blue beam at the Electrode that froze the Pokémon in a solid block of ice within seconds. Kris shuddered as she felt the effects of the attack even from where she was standing.

As Eusine stared at his Electrode in horror, the smirk still on its face, the Masked Man hopped off the ledge, prompting everyone to back down several feet. Kris couldn't see the figure's feet, but the grass died and the land froze beneath him.

"Ah, you're saying you wish to be the first to go," the Masked Man said, Eusine trying to back down and tripping on his cape again. "I was hoping that. Just stand still and think of what a great statue you'll make – the people of Ecruteak will always remember you, seeing your pained expression forever frozen on your face!"

Eusine close his eyes, the Masked Man raised his hand... and a shadowy blob of energy emerged from the woods, striking the Masked Man and sending him flying into the trees and out of sight.

A familiar Gengar soon emerged from the woods, followed by Morty, who was thankfully wearing clothes this time. He ran to Eusine and helped him stand up. Eusine thanked by muttering indignantly.

"Yeah, you're welcome," Morty said tersely. "All of you!" he shouted at Kris, Iris, Elm and the Wise Trio. "Get out of here, quick!"

The Wise Trio didn't have to be told twice and they rushed back towards the gatehouse, as their martial arts training and meager Pokémon skills did little against such an opponent. Eusine and Professor Elm followed suit, leaving Kris and Iris still hesitating.

"Morty, you don't know what this guy can do!" Iris yelled. "I mean, you don't know if this thing is a human at all! I'll back you up with Kris."

"Um, sure, we'll back you," Kris said. "It's just that... you use dragons, Iris. This guy can shoot Ice Beams from his hands!"

"Did you forget Excadrill?" Iris asked.

But before Iris could grab Excadrill's Poké Ball, Morty grabbed her by the arm. Under Morty's strict glare, Iris gave in and nodded. She and Kris charged towards the main gatehouse, leaving Morty to deal with the threat.

At the gatehouse, however, Kris and Iris merely bumped into the others, who stood petrified in place, watching the two enormous Pokémon that had blocked the exit leading back to the city. They both stood about eight feet tall, the other one being brown with thick fur and enormous tusks, and the other one resembling a thick tree covered in snow with a menacing face. Iris finally let Excadrill out of its Poké Ball to prepare for the fight, while Kris took the opportunity to scan the two Pokémon.

"Abomasnow, the Frost Tree Pokémon" SkrillDex reported of the tree-like Pokémon. "Types: Ice and Grass – would you have guessed? It is the evolved form of Snover, a Pokémon found mostly in the Sinnoh and Kalos regions. With its ability, Snow Warning, it can create blizzards from practically nothing."

Kris then scanned the one with tusks.

"Mamoswine, the Twin Tusk Pokémon. Types: Ice and Ground. It is the fully evolved form of Swinub, a species that is over 10 000 years old. It weighs 640 pounds and can run at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour."

"Gee, ice-types, wonder who could have done that," Kris muttered.

But the two ice-types had no time to attack, as a voice suddenly shouted: "Petal Dance!"

A wind of magical, pink leaves suddenly erupted, tossing even the heavyweight Mamoswine about like a deflated balloon. The Abomasnow was distracted, so Iris ordered Excadrill to use Metal Claw against it, knocking it out as well.

The source of the Petal Dance soon arrived to the scene – it was Leaf, along with a Bellossom, Oddish's other fully evolved form, achieved by using a Sun Stone on a Gloom. She waved cheerfully at the others, who responded meekly.

"See, I don't have to scan everything," Kris muttered to SkrillDex, though the machine did not respond.

"Never send a Pokémon to do a man's job," a booming voice suddenly called, and just like that, the temperature inside the gatehouse dropped rapidly. The others turned to the Bellchime Trail exit, watching The Masked Man holding an unconscious and battered Morty with one hand. The Man roughly dropped the gym leader, but no one dared approach to help him. "Oh, pardon me, I figured you'd probably want this. His little wisp is over here somewhere, too. My, my, the state of our current gym leaders is pitiful. Quite unlike back in my day. Now, little Kris, will you hand me the GS Ball, or do I have to turn this place into a pile of kindl-"

"Fire Blast!"

A scorching, all-consuming 大-shaped blast of orange fire flew towards The Masked Man, forcing him to stop his ranting and extend both his arms to absorb the attack. The attacker was a Magmar, appearing through a hole the Fire Blast had burned into the wall.

"Oh, that's right, use fire against the guy who can manipulate ice," the Masked Man chuckled. "How predictable."

The Masked Man whipped up another gust of wind, except this time it came with snow. The small-scale blizzard swept through the entire gatehouse, blocking everyone's vision with snow and throwing the Magmar out of the gatehouse.

But the Man had forgotten to watch his back, and turned around as he heard the sound of a shotgun being cocked from behind him. Blaine was standing sternly behind the Masked Man, only a few feet away from him, his 12-gauge shotgun pointed at the Man's "head".

"You did not just do that," Blaine growled at him.

"Oh, it's you, Dr. Blaine, how could I have forgotten," the Man said evenly. "A failed scientist and failed gym leader only known for his brute-force tactics, and he thinks he can stop me? I'm glad you're here, though – you may even get to see my surprise."

"Or I can just shoot you," Blaine said.

"Nah," the Man simply said.

The Man raised his arm and Blaine prepared to pull the trigger – but the shotgun had already been frozen solid, forcing Blaine to drop it with a pained yowl.

"You can't," the Man finished.

The Masked Man grabbed Blaine by his collar, which froze the moment he had touched it. With one graceful swing, Blaine was tossed into the gatehouse directly at Elm, who barely caught the man but fell under his weight.

"That's it!" sage Broderick of the Wise Trio suddenly yelled. "You come to our town, desecrate our sacred buildings, assault our gym leader and terrorize our population. This ends here!"

Broderick pulled out a short machete he had hidden somewhere in his robes, and his comrades pulled out similar weapons, then charged at the Masked Man, who remained perfectly still, countering the Wise Trio's attacks with his bare "hands", though the trio didn't give up and kept attacking him.

Taking advantage of this opening, Kris and Iris glanced at each other, then made a mad dash towards the unconscious Morty and dragged him away from the battle, while Elm, who was finally back on his feet, did the same to Blaine. Leaf and her Bellossom rushed over to the wounded fighters, inspecting them both.

"He didn't kill them," Leaf said bluntly. "Kind of strange – it's what I would have done."

"He wants that GS something," Iris said. "He figures that if he kills anyone here, we'll grow desperate and refuse to give it up – even this guy is not invulnerable."

"What should I do?" Kris asked anxiously, finding it hard to breathe and her heart kept pounding almost painfully. "S-should I give it up? I don't want anyone to get hurt!"

"No!" Leaf said firmly. "I don't know what that is, exactly, but if a guy like that wants it so bad – well, it won't be happy times for anyone. Besides, once he get what he wants, he'll have no reason to keep us alive."

"I, uh, agree with Leaf," Elm said – he was sweating and his voice was higher than usual, but he didn't lose his composure. He took a syringe from his pocket and calmly injected Blaine with it. "I have something that'll get him back on his feet."

"And I'll take care of Morty," Leaf said. "Bellossom?"

The grass-type Pokémon nodded cheerfully and practically floated over to Morty, holding its little "hands" above the gym leader. Kris and Iris just stared as gold-colored pollen was released, floating above Morty for a few seconds. Then, with a gasp followed by some violent coughing, Morty came to, though he still didn't open his eyes and communicated by groaning. Blaine came to slowly as well, while Eusine had buried his face with his cape and was just leaning to the wall in a fetal position, shaking and whimpering.

"There, everything's fine," Iris said breathlessly. "Kris, you have to join the fight."

"I can't!" Kris wailed. "You saw what happened to Morty – and that guy just trounced me earlier. What chances do I have? Besides, Croc is still weak and there's no way Shrew, Shuckie or Murkrow can take this guy on."

"Well, don't you have that ghost-type?" Iris pleaded.

"Yeah, but... I can't do it! What will it help, anyway? Lampent will just get defeated like the rest and then he'll kill us all! We are going to d-"

Taking a deep breath, Iris suddenly slapped Kris across the face, silencing her for a moment. Kris rubbed her cheek and just stared at Iris in confusion.

"Sorry," Iris said with a nervous smile. "I haven't ever done this before and they always do that to panicking people in the movies. But listen!" she shouted, grabbing Kris by the shoulders. "Everything counts! Whatever we can do, we have to do! We have to fight!"

Kris inhaled deeply as well. Nodding nervously, she took Lampent's Poké Ball from her belt and opened it, releasing the ghost-type, which had beefed itself up considerably as Kris had fought the random trainers en route to Ecruteak.

"I'll help too," Leaf said, opening a Poké Ball attached to her bag.

She set out a Rapidash, a large, regal-looking horse Pokémon with a sharp horn, its mane and tail made of orange, constantly burning flames.

But the Masked Man had swiftly taken care of the Wise Trio, who were now scattered all over the gatehouse, barely conscious and battered as badly as Morty, some covered in frostbites.

"Wow, how many LPS members I've mowed down now?" the Man bragged. "Five, counting that guy in that stupid suit? This day has been a gigantic disappointment, I tell you that."

"Why," Leaf suddenly asked, standing up with her fists clenched, "do you have to be such an asshole?"

"It's not like I have to be. It's not in the job requirement – I just threw it in for fun. Why do you care, anyway? Do you want to be the next person whimpering on the ground and losing control of their bowel movements?"

"You don't remember me?" Leaf asked, her voice suddenly turning shaky.

"Hmm... no. You do look like one of the people I've killed, but there have been so many. Do you expect to keep a scrapbook of them or something? Besides, if I'm as bad a guy as you claim I am, let Arceus smite me down where I stand!"

With that proclamation, as the Masked Man stood there with his arms spread, a bolt of lightning tore through the gatehouse's roof and struck him directly, causing an explosion that covered the gatehouse with smoke. Leaf ducked and quickly covered her face, Kris and Iris once again dashing to pull her away from the Man.

As the smoke subsided, the Masked Man somehow still stood there, his attention focused on the brand new hole in the ceiling. The others looked up too – a tall man with red spiky hair wearing a dark cape stood dramatically on the roof, and standing next to him was a Dragonite Kris had seen on TV countless times.

"Lance!" Iris gasped.

"Oh, good, I was wondering when the real fighting force would show up," the Man said, though less calmly than before. "Too bad you didn't prevent me from internally messing up your little henchme-"

"Hyper Beam!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite opened its mouth and quickly charged up energy, then released a blinding white beam of energy towards the Masked Man, hitting him almost instantaneously. A normal human would have been vaporized, but the Masked Man was thrown across the room, hitting the opposite wall, tangling himself in his flowing black cloak.

"Now's our chance!" Leaf yelled. "Rapidash, Fire Blast!"

"Excadrill, Rock Slide!"

"Lampent, Flamethrower!"

The Masked Man barely had time to stand upright again when the three powerful attacks hit him, together causing an even more powerful explosion than before. Even at the opposite corner of the gatehouse, Kris could feel the heat of the blast burning her skin, having to shield her eyes as dust and debris were knocked everywhere.

The group had to wait for the smoke to clear again, witnessing a crater where the Masked Man had just been, the Man himself at the bottom of it, still moving and in one piece. Though he was covered in dust and his cloak had torn from several places, he looked unharmed on the outside, but instead of attacking or bragging like before, he was shuddering and struggling to stand.

Lance hopped on his Dragonite's back, and the two flew into the gatehouse, landing next to the Wise Trio members, working on them one by one. Injecting them with similar syringes that Elm had used on Blaine, he nodded at them curtly as they got back on their feet, though with some problems. Then, Lance made his way to Kris and the group. Even though they had the won the battle, Kris felt oddly uncomfortable as Lance's face was cold and expressionless. Worse yet, she was painfully aware that she was covered in ash and dust.

"How is everyone?" Lance asked quickly, wasting no time for introductions.

"Um... Morty will probably need a doctor," Leaf muttered. "The rest of us will probably be fine, right guys?"

"It's gonna take more than that to get rid of me," Blaine grumbled, holding his head.

"Mr. Lance, sir, um," Iris started, stammering a bit when Lance looked at her, being over a foot taller than her. "If you don't mind me asking, who is this... Masked Man?"

"He's also known as the Mask of Ice among the International Police," Lance explained. "I didn't believe he existed before this – there were sightings of a figure like that in Orre, Fiore, Almia, Hoenn, Kanto and even Kalos, reports of strange murders by freezing. To think he was real, however..."

"Very good!" the Masked Man suddenly exclaimed, prompting everyone to turn at his direction. "But I didn't come this far to back down now. I offered you the chance of giving me the GS Ball and live – but it looks like my optimism failed me again. Dr. Blaine – take a good look! The surprise is on its way."

Before anyone could stop him, the Masked Man raised his arms and shouted: "Come forth and destroy these pests!"

A bright blue light appeared from the hole in the ceiling, and something enveloped by a blue glow floated slowly down. It was a bipedal, purple Pokémon, vaguely feline with a disproportionately large head supported by tubes sticking out of its neck. It also had a strikingly long purple tail that reminded Kris of a picture she had seen not too long ago – the picture Blaine had shown her.

Oh, crap.

"Blaine!" Kris gasped at the scientist. "Is that-?"

But Blaine was not fit to answer, because as soon as the new Pokémon had arrived, he had clutched his arm and started yelling in pain. The Pokémon had landed and stopped glowing, though its eyes still retained the pale blue glow. The Masked Man chuckled.

"Don't you remember Pokémon #150 anymore, Blaine? This is Mewtwo, a Pokémon created five years ago at the Cinnabar Lab – it is one of the most powerful in existence, dwarfing even Mew with it power."

"Mewtwo, my dear. Can you feel that? The man who brought you to this world and caused you all that pain is here, along with some friends. Destroy them, but take it easy on the girl with black hair – I need her belongings to stay intact."

"Dragonite, use Dragon Claw!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite's claws started glowing, and even with its mass, it advanced quickly at Mewtwo, but with a simple gesture of its hands, it created an invisible barrier that absorbed the attack, allowing it to jump out of the way. Then, it squeezed its three, ball-shaped fingers together, and Dragonite started glowing pale blue. It cried out in pain and shut its eyes tight, and just by moving its hand, Mewtwo was able to lift the Dragonite in the air quickly. It made it collide with the ceiling, then let go of it, dropping it roughly on the ground and knocking it out.

As Lance returned the Dragonite, Leaf hopped gracefully on her Rapidash's back.

"Kris, Iris!" she said. "I'll attack from the left, then you two flank him! Got it?"

Leaf didn't stick around for a reply, but rode on her Rapidash towards Mewtwo. Leaf ordered Rapidash to use Horn Drill and the Rapidash's horn started spinning rapidly. Kris and Iris ordered their Pokémon to charge too, Iris telling Excadrill to use Slash and Kris ordering Lampent to use Shadow Ball.

But Mewtwo quickly grabbed Rapidash by the horn and lifted in the air, causing Leaf to fall off its back. It used Rapidash as a shield to absorb the Shadow Ball attack, then tossed it away. It then created a brown orb of energy with its other hand and threw it at Excadrill with incredible speed, knocking it out with one hit as well.

Lampent was the only one left fighting now. Kris ran to support her Pokémon while Iris went to recall Excadrill and help out Leaf, who hadn't gotten up from the floor.

"Lampent, use Will-O-Wisp!" Kris ordered.

But Mewtwo retorted by launching a Shadow Ball attack at it before Lampent even registered the order. With one hit, Lampent was put out of commission as well. Lance sent out his next Pokémon, a Druddigon, for support.

"Now use Psychic on the girl!" the Masked Man yelled.

Lance had to hold back as Kris was enveloped in a similar blue glow. Kris was overwhelmed with the pain – it was as if rusty iron shackles had surrounded her entire body and were crushing her, preventing her from talking or even breathing. Somehow, through the pain, she could hear everyone's muffled voices and felt her feet leaving the ground.

"You, Lance, call off the Pokémon or I'll decorate the wall with her," the Man said. "Mewtwo, the bag, please."

Concentrating its psychic abilities on the bag hanging on Kris' shoulder, it let go of Kris and dropped her on her back. The impact knocked the air out of her and she found herself gasping for air on the hard wooden floor, her ears still ringing and her vision blurry. She saw Mewtwo tossing the bag to the Masked Man, who rummaged through its contents, roughly tossing out her clothes, hygiene products, books, recovery items, food, empty Poké Balls and even SkrillDex, who protested with an angry mechanical beep. Finally, the GS Ball dropped on the Man's palm.

"Finally!" he exclaimed. "We're done here at last, Mewtwo."

But the Masked Man's exuberant cheers were replaced by howls of anger as a powerful blast of water knocked the GS Ball out of his "hands".

"Who the f**k dares?"

At the same time the stream had appeared, a faint ringing sound came to Kris' attention. The others jerked their heads around too in attempt to figure out the cause of the sound, except for Eusine, who finally snapped out of his funk and stood up like a Growlithe on the hunt.

"The small bells!" he yelled. "The ones at the bottom of the tower!"

"Um, wasn't Ho-Oh's bell destroyed?" Elm asked.

"Yes!" Eusine exclaimed. "Which means it must be..."

Ignoring the splitting pain in her back, Kris dragged her head up and leaned on her elbows, looking at the newest arrival at the exit leading to the Bellchime Trail. At last, the Pokémon she had spent years dreaming about was standing before her. The crystalline blue legendary beast with a long, flowing purple mane, glittering in the sunlight – Suicune.

Ignoring the Masked Man outright, Suicune leaped at Mewtwo, slashing it with the long white ribbons sticking out of it, then striking it with Ice Beam, freezing its hands.

Mewtwo attempted to retort with Psychic, but Suicune was simply too fast and leaped out of the way before hitting it point-blank with another Ice Beam, this one weakening Mewtwo considerably. The Masked Man was restlessly gazing around the room.

"The GS Ball, Mewtwo!" he bellowed. "Where is it?"

"What, you mean this?" asked Lance, who was holding the ball between his fingers. "Don't worry, I'll hold onto it for you."

The Masked Man stared at him, his strange hands clenched in fists, while Mewtwo could only block Suicune's attacks, the beast being far too fast to get any kind of counterattack in.

"Retreat!" the Masked Man yelled at Mewtwo, who teleported away with a bright flash. "And you," he added, pointing at Kris. "Don't think you're out clear yet, little girl. It doesn't matter where you go. If I'm not there myself, my forces will root you out. I have this entire pathetic region under my thumb, and I'm ready to press down."

The Masked Man then whipped up another, small blizzard that covered him entirely, and a few seconds later, when the snow cleared, he was gone.

Suicune was still there, though, gazing at the group, as if it was anticipating for something. Though she couldn't tell for sure, Kris felt like the beast was looking directly at her.

Or did that guy knock the sense out of me?

"The Aurora Pokémon," Eusine said shakily. "The North Wind! The blue beast... thing. It has come for me, at last! Told you," he remarked at Kris before smugly smoothing out his hair and grabbing a Poké Ball. "I have waited ten years for this moment, Suicune. Prepare to be mine – Alakazam, go! Use Disable!"

Eusine sent out the psychic-type Pokémon, and it raised its spoons at Suicune, about to attack it. However, Suicune created an invisible wall in front of it, bouncing the Disable away, then let out an echoing, wailing roar unlike any Pokémon Kris had ever met. Alakazam's eyes widened in shock, and somehow, it turned itself back into energy and returned itself back into Eusine's Poké Ball. Eusine could only stare at the ball in shock.

"Alakazam! Hey, come out, you bastard! Suicune's-"

But Suicune was clearly fed up. With one incredible jump, it leaped out of the gatehouse through the hole Lance's Dragonite had created and disappeared from sight immediately, leaving Eusine dumbfounded, opening and closing his mouth like a Magikarp on dry land.

"Eusine!" Lance said harshly. "Members of the Legendary Pokémon Society do not attempt to capture legendary Pokémon. What's more, we were close to solving the Route 224 murder mystery, and you let it slip away. It was as if it was trying to tell us something..."

"With all due respect Mr. Lance," Kris said weakly, having to lean on the wall for support and keep her other eye closed, "I believe this should prove Suicune's innocence. It saved our lives just now."

Lance didn't look at Kris. "That is our concern, not yours. Professor Elm! Are you hurt?"

Elm pushed up his glasses nervously. "Oh, uh, no, not really."

"Then please see to it that Morty and your friends receive treatment," Lance said coldly.

"Yes, sir," Elm said and swung Blaine's arm over his shoulder – Blaine had apparently passed out from the pain. "Um, how exactly did you get here so fast?"

"The Wise Trio signaled me when Ho-Oh's bell rang," Lance said simply as he returned his Druddigon and walked towards the exit. "I was fortunate enough to be visiting Blackthorn City at the time. I have to discuss something with them now. What a shame it wasn't actually Ho-Oh..."

And with that, Lance and the Wise Trio left. Kris looked at the spot Suicune had stood when Eusine had attempted to capture it when something shiny caught her eye. Making sure no one was watching, Kris hobbled over to the shining object, every muscle in her body aching as she did so. Kris grabbed the object, finding it to be an unusually large feather, mostly golden but with all the colors of the rainbow faintly visible in the tip.

"Kris, the ambulance is coming!" Iris shouted, heading out of the gatehouse with the others. "Can you walk?"

"Coming," Kris muttered.

Suicune... did you really come to see me?

~o~O~o~

Location: Ecruteak City Hospital, several hours later

Kris had been quickly discharged, the doctor having just patched her injuries and prescribed some painkillers for her. At the moment, she was sitting in the waiting room along with Iris, who barely had a scratch on her, though her clothes and hair were still dirty – there was even a splinter sticking out of her hair, but Kris didn't want to embarrass her. Either way, Iris was happily chattering to her about the stuff she had been up to since they split and about Blaine and Elm's research, while Kris listened and occasionally spoke up, but concentrated mostly on Suicune and whatever the thing Suicune had left behind was.

"...managed to get rid of that weird tree thing near the National Park," Iris finished another story. "It was a frickin' Rock-type of all things!"

"Wow," Kris could only say. "Sounds like you've been through a lot. Sorry I missed it."

"Eh, you were preoccupied," Iris simply said, her smile fading as she struggled to find the right words. "Sorry I slapped you before."

"Hey, you did me a favor!" Kris assured. "I'm sorry for acting like that. Looks like my help didn't count for much."

Kris stared at the GS Ball she had failed to let go of since Lance had returned it to her. Iris gave it a curious glance as well.

"What do you think it is?" Iris asked.

"Well, it is pretty unique, even better than the Master Ball," Kris said, echoing Dr. Gideon's words. "But I haven't been able to open it – it's completely inert. Maybe that masked guy knows something about it that I don't. Oh, and it's made of... of..."

Iris stared at Kris. "Was that the end of it?"

Kris pulled the feather she had found from the gatehouse from her pocket and held it next to the GS Ball. Iris gasped.

"Where'd you get that?" she wondered.

"I think Suicune left it behind," Kris muttered. "And this guy told me that this ball was made from the feathers of Ho-Oh and Lugia. See any resemblances?"

"D-do you think that's one of Ho-Oh's feathers?" Iris whispered. "Why would Suicune have that?"

"I don't know," Kris mumbled as she put both safely back in her pocket – well, relatively safely. "But um, can I trust you not to spread this around? I don't want that creep Eusine finding out that I have something Suicune dropped with me."

"Cross my lips and hope to fry," Iris said. "No, wait..."

"I think I'm heading out to train a little," Kris said, rubbing her back a little – the effect of the first painkiller was already fading. "I know that the guys evaluating my progress are here in Ecruteak and I'm not leaving before I'll do something to impress those guys. I could, um, use a sparring partner. What do you say?"

Iris sighed and started rubbing his temples. "I was worried you'd ask..."

"Well, you were so insistent on going with me before," Kris said defensively, "I kinda figured you'd want to, you know, travel with me again."

"Sorry, but I have other commitments," Iris said. "No offense, but I'm not your sidekick. I'm not someone who'll just track your progress and help you evolve. I have other reasons to train – my own journey to get through. And on top of that, I still have to study."

Kris nodded. "I hope we see again – and I really mean it this time."

Iris smirked. "That didn't sound half bad."

"I'm getting there."

Soon enough, Professor Elm, who also survived the confrontation unharmed, no that he did much of note, walked to Kris and Iris, helping Blaine walk. Blaine was forced to resort to a his question mark -shaped cane for the time being.

"He refused to accept treatment to his hand," Elm said in a defeated tone.

"It doesn't even hurt anymore," Blaine grunted. "Anyway, Elm, Iris, I want to suggest something to you. And Leaf, if she agrees."

"Where is she, anyway?" Kris wondered.

"She came to when you were with the doctor," Iris explained, "she was apparently fine, so she went back to the van. Oh, she has your bag, by the way."

"Yes, your PokéDex took some damage there, and Leaf said she could fix it," Elm said. "By the way, how has it, um, worked out so far?"

"We need to talk about that one day," Kris said dangerously, though still with a hint of a smile. "But so far it hasn't tried to kill me – well so far it hasn't been successful. And I think we're making progress."

"At any rate," Blaine interrupted sharply, "you three should take care of ol' Betsy from now on."

"W-what do you mean us three?" Elm wondered.

"You saw what Mewtwo did. If it hadn't been for Suicune's fortunately timed arrival, they'd be scooping us into buckets. It didn't even hesitate to attack."

"Which is kind of why we shouldn't hold back," Elm argued, "it's a danger to all people. And their Pokémon!"

"No, we can take it alive!" Blaine said firmly. "I know it. But I have to be the one to do it. I can't place you in any further risk, and besides, I prepared a different task for you."

"Really?"

"The Masked Man," Blaine muttered. "You told me Leaf knows something about him, right?" he asked Elm, who nodded so furiously that his glasses almost dropped. "And Lance says they've sighted him before and that he has killed people. We can't let a threat like that be. The police are powerless against him. I want you three to get to the bottom of this. Find out who he is, where he gets his power and how we can strip him of it. You'll need to keep on the move to do that."

"You're going to hunt Mewtwo down on foot?" Iris asked. "How will you find it? And what happens when you do?"

"Leave that to me," Blaine smiled. "And I may have been mostly out of it, but I saw you fight, Iris. You'll be a tremendous help for us."

Iris smiled bashfully, but Elm didn't seem convinced.

"And the combined brains of you, Leaf and Elm here," Blaine told Iris as he put his hand on Elm's shoulder, "are more mighty than anything that scumbag can throw at us."

Kris started feeling uncomfortably lot like a fifth wheel, so she got up and wondered if she could slip by without any awkward goodbyes.

"And you!" Blaine said so suddenly and loudly that Kris flinched. "Thank you for joining us! It didn't go like I wanted, but it's still more than yesterday. You're gonna be a great trainer some day."

"Oh... thanks," Kris said awkwardly and cleared her throat. "Uh, by the way, did you see Morty or Eusine there?"

"Morty is conscious, but he has to spend the night here," Elm said as he corrected his glasses. "The doctor recommended three nights, but he said he wants to be at the gym by tomorrow. And practically the entire hospital staff has asked for his autograph by now," Elm added in amusement.

"Yeah, great, he has his ass handed to him and gets worshiped for it," Blaine grumbled. "What a hero."

"Yes, er, as for Eusine, he just vanished," Elm said contemplatively. "Probably after Suicune again."

"Just wondering," Kris said and smiled nervously. "It was, uh, good to see you all again. I'll just swing by the van and grab my stuff. Bye!"

Everyone said their goodbyes, both Iris and Blaine insisting to hug Kris before she went. Not a fan of the smell of hospitals, Kris left the building as fast as she could.

~o~O~o~

Inside the van, Leaf was using her PokéGear to talk to someone, sitting on her station, one leg casually placed over the other.

"...him for sure. We're probably going to go after him next, but I doubt we'll get much leads."

"You said you were knocked out during the fight, though. How are you?"

"Like I said before, fine," Leaf said exasperatedly. "Really, for someone with such terrible people skills, you sure do worry a lot."

"And for someone who trained with two of the strongest trainers in Kanto, your Pokémon sure fail a lot."

"Shove it," Leaf said, but couldn't help but to laugh a little. "Anyway, at least we know what the man is after – and who."

"How is she?"

"For someone who has been marked for the rest of her life, fairly well. Either the shock hasn't worn off yet or she doesn't fully comprehend the situation. But as much as you like to claim how weak she and the rest are, they fought fairly well."

"Luck. And the LPS was there helping them. As far I'm concerned, she's still a weakling. You... installed the thing we talked about, right?"

"Of course, remember who you're talking to. Question is, what are you going to do with that info? Stalk her or something? Is she prettier than me, then?" she added with a chuckle.

"No. And she's not my type, remember?"

"Oh, sorry, how could I forget. We'll find someone for you, then. Would help you not be on such a bad mood all the time."

"Whatever. One thing at a time, though."

"Right, I-"

The van's side door was suddenly opened and Leaf almost fell off her chair. She quickly turned off her PokéGear and assumed a normal face when Kris stepped into the van.

"Hi, Kris," she said evenly. "You're a healthy specimen, then?"

"Sure," Kris said with a frown. "Who were you talking to?"

"Professor Oak back in Kanto," Leaf said immediately. "He never shuts up, and I could use an excuse not to talk to him anymore. You probably want your bag back, huh? Your PokéDex's voice emulator was chipped when that guy manhandled your bag. Everything's here, though, so don't worry."

"You would have done me a favor by not fixing it," Kris muttered as Leaf handed the bag back. "Anyway, thanks a lot, though. And good to see everything's here. I thought I'd have to run by the store to buy more pads..."

Kris turned around and was about to walk out of the van to avoid talking any more, but turned to look at Leaf just before heading off.

"Can I ask one thing, though?" she asked. "How did you know that Masked Man character?"

Kris regretted asking it when the question seemed to make Leaf feel bothered and she turned to look at her hands when she replied.

"I, uh, don't think I can tell you yet," she said quietly. "Mm, maybe later."

"Okay, I got it!" Kris said quickly and was hoping to leave as soon as possible. "I'm off to train now! Um, good luck and... yeah. Bye!"

~o~O~o~

On the outskirts of Ecruteak and at the route connecting the city to the National Park, Kris finally stopped walking and finally let Shrew out of its Poké Ball, having only let it out the day before to feed it, but not for battling – it hadn't battled a single thing since she and Iris were at the Ruins of Alph. Let out of its capsule, Shrew shook its head and looked at Kris in confusion.

"Sorry to bother you," Kris said as she knelt at the little Pokémon's level. "But I'm about to start some intense training, and I need my entire team at the ready. Croc is finally with me now, but I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore..."

Shrew then made a noise Kris hadn't heard it make before – it started growling. Kris initially thought it was at her, but then turned around and was greeted by a person who annoyed her even more than Eusine ever could – a blonde-haired man wearing a blue coat. Wes, or whatever his name was.

"Hi," Wes said casually, arms folded over his chest. "I've been wanting to talk to you one-on-one."

"I can honestly say I haven't," Kris grumbled. "What did you steal from me this time?"

"Nothing," Wes said in a tone so faux-innocent that Kris' blood started to boil. "Don't lose your temper – you just got out of the hospital, remember?"

Kris scowled. "You're a douche and a creep, I see. Why should I not call the cops on you?"

"I'm sure someone already did," Wes said with a shrug. "And besides, me and your Sandshrew go way back. I saved its life, so y'all could be a little more-"

Wes didn't get any more words in and Shrew suddenly leaped at him and started clawing his face. Wes himself gave out a high-pitched squeal and tried to peel the Mouse Pokémon off his face, but Shrew just scratched him everywhere it could reach, squeaking furiously.

"Oh, God!" Wes screamed. "Get it off! Get it off!"

"Shrew, get over here!" Kris commanded, and the Pokémon reluctantly obeyed, running behind Kris' leg and glaring at Wes from there. "I'm not sorry, though. I'll let you say whatever you have in mind, but just remember that I can make Shrew do that again."

Wes panted and wiped his face on his sleeve – it was full of scratch marks, some bleeding, and he had lost his smug composure.

"Sheesh, thanks," Wes sighed. "I don't normally hurt Pokémon, but I swear-"

"Yeah, whatever," Kris said. "That incident just gave me less reason to believe you."

"Just listen to me," Wes pleaded. "I saw you guys fightin' against Mewtwo back there. Don't ask me how, I got people, got it?"

"And you're a stalker."

"I'm not – damn it, did anyone ever tell you that you're impossible to talk to?"

"Yes," Kris admitted it nonchalantly. "And?"

"You're on some quest to do somethin' really spectacular and vague, aren't you?" Wes asked. "How does tracking Mewtwo down and stopping it from rampaging sound like?"

Kris frowned. "Do you know something?"

"Yeah," Wes said. "I know the good folks of Neo Team Rocket are after it too, for reasons you'll probably guess. I know where they are, hence, I know where Mewtwo is."

"How?" Kris asked dubiously.

"Overheard them talking loudly," Wes said. "Figured you'd want to know – remember the Ruins of Alph? There's a tunnel connecting them to the Union Cave. Our little science fair project is charging its batteries there, and Rockets have been massing outside the place too. Led by that guy Petrel, I think. Remember him?"

Kris frowned even more and folded her own arms, trying to look intimidating. "What's the catch? What do you want?"

"Nothing, do what you want with this," Wes said calmly. "Must feel pretty good, though. Just a few weeks ago, you were a nobody, and look at you now! Team Rocket knows your name, a homicidal lunatic and a Pokémon thief are on your case. You're positively the most popular kid on the block."

"Can you leave now?" Kris asked. "Please."

"Just one more thing," Wes said. "I figured you'd want to know the specifics of Navel Rock. How little Shrew got the way he is."

Kris unfolded her arms. "How?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Your cute little critter is a former lab rat," Wes said. "One who slaughtered several of its kind, and people too. I should know – I was there. No idea why he's so hostile, though – we helped each other escape before the whole thing went sour. But I guess anything that reminds him of that place is something to be smashed and buried away. Funny thing, too – how little Shrew was quite fearsome back there."

Kris glanced at Shrew, who cowered behind Kris' leg. Kris could feel it shivering. Fearsome? It was better at battling than Kris thought, but for days on end, it hadn't done anything but sleep and be afraid of stuff. And it was so tiny, too!

"Well, just wanted you to know," Wes said and waved cheerfully. "Good huntin'!"

Wes retreated into the woods and fled out of sight, but Kris didn't pay him no mind. She knelt next to Shrew again, and with Wes gone, Shrew finally stopped shivering. Instead, it looked incredibly ashamed, avoiding eye contact with Kris.

"Shrew," Kris said softly. "I understand you're hurting. And I can sort of under... well, I can comprehend how you feel. I just want you to know, that I don't care what you've done before this. What's done is done, and you already seem to regret your mistakes enough."

Kris patted the Pokémon, who slowly turned to look at Kris again. Kris smiled at it, then dug a small brown pouch from her bag, sighing in relief when it was still there.

"I'm not sure we stand a chance against Mewtwo," Kris said, "but we have to try. I know this is a lot to ask, but I have to get through this trial. Everything I'll ever be depends on it! Oh, and we need to stop it from causing any more destruction, of course."

Shrew slowly nodded, and Kris nodded back.

"This is the hardest thing to ask," Kris said. "Apparently you used to kind of kick all sorts of ass. I totally understand wanting to start again, leading a new, better life, but if you can be fearsome one last time, I would be eternally grateful! I understand you're still feeling under the weather, which is why I have this."

Kris finally opened the pouch. Despite the name 'Secretpotion', the medicine was about a dozen of round red capsules. There was also a small note about the proper dosage taking account the condition's severity and the mass of the Pokémon. Kris decided that for Shrew, one was enough, and held the capsule in front of Shrew's face.

"I have no reason to believe this will taste good," Kris said. "I'd try it myself, but I'm kind of afraid it'll destroy my kidneys or something. But it can help you get better, so if you'd just consider-"

Shrew snatched the capsule from Kris' hand and quickly ate it. Based on its cringe as its tongue touched the capsule, it was not pleasant, but after some gagging, Shrew finally managed to swallow the medicine.

"Excellent," Kris praised. "And thank you – I swear that after this, your new life can begin."