Amanda left the beach in disappointment. She had hoped to find Karen and apologize for being so cruel to her. It wasn't the Lugia's fault that this insanity happened. And now I can't say anything to her. She probably found a whole bunch of Lugia to hang with. Amanda though bitterly. She flew back to the town. Or, rather, what was left of the town.
Heather was teaching several water Pokemon how to defend themselves in case of an attack. "Okay. Now watch carefully. I'm going to use Bubblebeam. Watch and learn." She turned to a tree and fired a blast of bubbles from her mouth. The younger Pokemon watched with interest. "See? Easy?" Heather turned back to face the random assortment of water types.
"Yeah! That looked cool!" They yelled and began to fire Water Gun at each other. Heather moaned and looked down at the ground.
Amanda chuckled and landed next to her. "Havin' fun?" She asked.
"No. Not really." Heather replied dryly. "I'm not used to playing teacher to these…newly formed water Pokemon. I would like to be human."
"I agree, but we can't do anything until Spirit returns to us." Amanda raised her brightly colored head to face the sun. "Which I hope will be soon."
Meanwhile, Karen and Mercury swam deeper in the sea. They were trying to find food. Follow me. Mercury told Karen and shot ahead of her.
She laughed and called, Hey! Wait!
Mercury turned and looked amused at Karen. Then, with a moan, he shot toward the surface of the water. Karen followed him. Both of them leaped from the water and opened their wings. "YAHOO!" Mercury yelled using his own voice.
"Mercury! This is so fun!!" Karen called. She realized that his voice sounded different from his telepathy voice. Of course it would—he was actually speaking to her.
"You are so right! This is great!" He back flipped and looked at her keenly. "So, Karen, what do you think?"
She hesitated. What did she think? And what was he asking her? "About?" She asked cautiously.
"Uh, I guess not then."
"Not what? Tell me."
Mercury shot toward her and, right when he looked like he was going to run into her, he stopped. Then, to Karen's complete shock, he began to preen her neck calmly. His snout raked across her neck feathers. "It's nothing." He whispered.
Karen, on the other hand, was almost having a heart-attack. Is he flirting with me?! She could barely catch her breath. "Are you sure?" She could barely get those words out.
"Of course," he said quietly. Then he looked up. "What's that?"
Karen's gaze followed his. A large black bird was flying closer toward the duo. "Wait!" The crackling voice rang out. It was that Honchrow from earlier. "Odd, this is. True and false Lugia. Interesting. Interesting most this is. Message I have. From Spirit. Wants me you know about machine. Worried is she. Amanda you should join. Forget mistakes."
"What? Then why doesn't Spirit come down here and tell me herself?" Karen challenged. Mercury remained silent. He was listening.
"With Arceus, Spirit is." Honchrow replied.
Karen looked annoyed, "Ah. Like that answers everything."
"Spirit? You mean, the white beast?" Mercury asked.
"Yes." Honchrow said. Then he cried, "Evil machine causes. Beware! Beware!" With that, he flew off.
"Who was that Amanda he spoke of?" Mercury asked, looking at Karen.
"She's this girl that was turned into a Ho-oh."
"Ah. Well then, don't you think we should give her a visit?"
Karen couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You mean, you're willing to go with me? This might be dangerous."
Mercury laughed, "I'm not worried. Karen, if what that Honchrow says is true, you need help. I can help you. I…I want to help you."
"Mercury…" Karen looked right into his eyes. She couldn't help but feel like she belonged with him. But that was impossible. He was a true Lugia. She was, as Honchrow called her, a false Lugia. They just were too different.
"You're curious." Mercury observed. He winked and looked at the land. "Karen…I don't care if you were once a human." With that, he began to fly toward the shore. Karen followed him.
All of this was observed by Spirit, who was in the heavens with Arceus. "I just don't understand Karen. I can understand Amanda, Heather, Kyle, and Mark. Karen is a mystery. Now she's with a real Lugia. What else could go wrong?" Spirit wondered.
Arceus approached her and shook his head. "Humans. For all my life, I have wondered how humans even have survived all these years in semi-harmony with Pokemon. These creatures destroy their world. They even killed off Mew."
"Arceus? Do you have a plan on what should happen to those kids?"
He looked amused. "No. However, I have sensed that those children aren't the only problem we need to focus on. Spirit. I sense a terrible even that is about to unfold. Those men that have the machine are planning on turning it on themselves."
"That's good, right? I mean, if they're Pokemon, then they can't do any more harm. Right?" Spirit was confused.
"No. They will attempt to make themselves overlords over the entire world. We cannot have that. Spirit, I want you to gather together the force of humans-turned-Pokemon and battle that beast. I will join you. I am certain that once the word spreads, the other legendary Pokemon will join." Arceus nodded slowly.
Spirit glanced down and replied, "Then I will go down now and prepare them for the ultimate battle."