Wow, it seems like forever since I've updated even though it's only been like two or three weeks! Here is, at long last, part two of Jirachi: Wish Maker. I hope you enjoy it. See you at the bottom!
On the morning of the second day of the Millennium Comet things started off as any other day. Max and Jirachi stuck close to each other as the group gouged down their breakfast. With six days left until Jirachi returns to its thousand year long sleep, the group were stuck on what to do until that time. With little ideas, Diane requested them to help out with their magic show.
This was how Ash ended up in an orange and white striped clown costume that morning. The costume had an exuberant blue collar with green balls hanging off eight different ends. He wore an orange hat with a green ball hanging off the top as well. Ash's face was painted at least three different colours; red, green and blue. Finally, completing the look was a red rubber nose.
When May saw him, she laughed. She didn't laugh out of spite but out of humour for Ash looked hilariously funny in that outfit. This was obviously a good thing as people were meant to laugh at clowns.
"You should look like that all the time, it's an improvement," May teased.
"Ha, ha, very funny," Ash laughed sarcastically. Diane smiled.
"She's right, you look good in it," she said. She brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face and walked into an opening in the tent, "Anyway, come with me and meet the other assistant that's here."
"Okay," Ash said, not knowing that there was another clown assistant, 'It must be one of the clowns from yesterday's show.'
"And May, could you bring in the equipment?" she asked the girl. The brunette nodded.
"Sure thing," she nodded.
"Thank you," Diane thanked. She pointed to a load of boxes, crates and trolleys holding numerous objects. May's face dropped, "Be careful though, some of it's heavy."
That said; Ash and Diane walked into the tent. May sighed.
"Ah…, thanks for the warning…," she muttered, getting straight to work by lifting, or attempting to lift, a crate that had God only knows what in it. It was a typical wooden crate with a strange logo on the top; May assumed it to be the logo of the Great Butler but she couldn't help but notice how similar it looked to her wish maker charm that she purchased the night before. Setting that thought aside for now, she put all of her energy into lifting the box. The Hoenn native somehow managed to lift it up to torso level but the weight made her stumble. She only just about managed to stay on her feet. May sighed, "I'm just not built for this sort of stuff."
With a determined effort, she walked with the crate and placed it in the allocated area in the tent. She wiped a bit of sweat that had already formed off of her brow. Grudgingly, she walked back to the pile of equipment. She examined the row of boxes, annoyed that they are even out there in the first place.
"Why are they even out here anyway?!" she asked no one in particularly, "I mean, surely, it would make more sense for this stuff to stay in the tent!"
"It's for security reasons, little lady," a gruff voice startled her. She whirled around and cam face to face with a white t-shirt. After staring at it in surprise for a good few seconds, she slowly started to carne her neck higher. Looking down at her was a bald head and incredibly white grin full of pearly white teeth. May gulped.
"S-security reasons?" she repeated nervously. It's scary enough being the presence of an incredibly big man but it's even scarier being practically right up against him; they were as close as you could get without touching. The man's shadow completely engulfed her petite frame.
Seeing the girl's nervousness, the man stepped back to give her some room to breath. He chuckled as she breathed a sigh of relief and created some more distance between them. He didn't blame her, after all, there were only two people he weren't frightened of him. He continued his explanation, "A tent isn't exactly the best place to store a lot of valuable and expensive equipment; just about anyone could rip open a hole, walk in and steal some. So, at the end of every show they move the equipment out of the tent and into special storage areas."
"Oh, I see," May said in understanding, "That makes sense."
"It sure does," the man said, "But what doesn't make sense is the fact that they made you carry this stuff in and not that boy… wouldn't you much rather be the clown?"
"…," May hesitated as she was thinking about the question, "I guess so… but I really don't want to be a clown; I don't want to look like an idiot."
The man chuckled heartedly. It was humorous that a girl would care more about their physical appearance than their own physical well being, 'Oh well, it's their life I guess.'
"Well, I'll help you out," the giant man said, "You don't want to break anything, do you?"
"No, not at all," May said, smiling, "Thanks for helping me."
"Sure, don't worry about it," the man said, easily picking up two crates with each hand and walking into the tent. May stared in shock over the display of strength, "I make a living out of doing stuff like this."
"I see…"
Within the Magic Show tent Diane was leading Ash to the main area behind the stage. When they arrived there, Ash saw a clown around his age and height leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and a rather sour look on his face. His eyes were glaring at presumably nothing as h is extra large red hat drooped over his face. His outfit was identical to Ash's in design; the same strange collar and balls sticking off of them. The only difference was that his was red and white and not orange and white. Tufts of blond hair could be seen sticking from underneath the hat. He looked at Ash and Diane with indifference before turning back to glare at nothing.
"Ash, this is Alexander," Diane introduced.
"Nice to meet you," Ash said in courtesy as he outstretched his hand for it to be shook. Alexander did nothing; just continued glaring into nothingness.
"Hm?" Alexander seemingly snapped out of his trance. He saw the confused face of Ash and the concerned face of Diane. Alexander shook his head a couple of times before shaking Ash's hand, "Yeah… nice to meet you."
"Are you okay, Alexander?" Diane finally asked. The clown slowly nodded his head in the affirmative. There was a bit of awkwardness. Alexander cleared his throat loudly and span on his heel.
"I'm gonna go help set the stage up," he informed as he walked in that general direction. Ash looked at Diane inquiringly.
"Is he really okay?" he asked her. Diane shook her head.
"I really don't know," she admitted. The blonde woman then shrugged, putting the thought aside for the moment, "Anyway, why don't you go help Alexander? The first show doesn't start for another two hours."
"Fine, I'll do that."
The last show of that day finished at around dusk. Backstage, May was wheeling a tall piece of metal scaffolding to a specific place where it could be taken out of the ten and stored securely. The brunette was rather fed up of having to do all the taxing jobs. She was so fed up that she just casually wheeled the scaffolding along, not putting any effort into it at all. She was pushing the thing along with her arms while she leant her head on her left hand. Unknown to her, there was an obstacle in her path.
The scaffolding suddenly ran over a thick piece of timber. The metal framed structure jerked upwards and started to lean sideways. May cursed, "Oh, crap!" She ran to the other side to catch it before it fell. The structure was heavy and May's small arms struggled to hold up the weight.
"Max, help!" she yelled to Max who had been looking at a large mirror, Jirachi hovering around his head like some annoying fly. Max glanced over. Seeing his sister in trouble, he hastily ran over in her aid. Jirachi followed after him, declaring that it wanted to play with Max more.
"Come on Max, let's play!" the Pokemon said with its tone almost whining. Max strained as he answered; the weight was quickly overpowering him.
"Not right now!" he told it. But Jirachi would have none of that. It wanted to play. It couldn't see any reason why it couldn't. The Legendary Pokemon flew over and pinched Max's glasses from his face, much to his surprise.
"I got them! I got them!" the Pokemon declared as it flew away. Not thinking about May, Max left to chase after Jirachi. The brunette girl didn't anticipate the additional weight; she couldn't hold it up anymore. She sidestepped out of the way of the tumbling frame before she got crushed. The scaffolding crashed to the floor with a resounding clang. May breathed a sigh of relief.
Max chased Jirachi all around the room and eventually caught it by the mirror, "I got'cha!" he said as took his specs back and placed them on his face. He began to tickle Jirachi as 'punishment'. The little Pokemon giggled childishly.
The small boy suddenly felt an eerie presence behind him; the type of feeling one would get when they 'sensed' something bad was going to happen. Slowly, Max turned on the spot. Drowning out Jirachi's laughter and May's protests from earlier, Max stared into the highly polished surface of the mirror. A cracking noise then echoed throughout the area. There was silence afterwards. The sound of rushing wind could be heard. Max looked at the source. There was a rip in the tent. Something was telling Max to move. Acting purely on instinct, Max moved away from the mirror. A split second afterward, the glass burst. Fragments were scattered everywhere. Max looked up fearfully. Standing where the mirror once stood, growling violently, was a creature with a frightening appearance. Its red eyes glowed eerily as its majestic white fur coat glistened in the late afternoon sun. Its body was black, as was the strange protrusion on the top of its head. Slowly, the protrusion started to glow white. With a mighty swing of its head, a visible white wave rippled through the air and collided with some lights. The lights exploded mildly.
"What the hell is going on in here?!" a man shouted as he ran unto the scene. It was the same giant from before. He surveyed the area. He saw May, the girl from earlier, staring frightfully at something. He saw Max, the girls little brother, staring frightfully at the same thing. He looked at as well. The creature glared at the man. The strange protrusion started to glow again. The man tensed, "Shit… hey, we have a problem over here!"
The creature unleashed a white wave. The giant rolled out of the way. The ripple sliced through a red curtain that the stage was behind. The man had no time to gawk as the creature charged at him. He rolled out of the way again. The creature skidded onto the stage.
"What's going on?!" May exclaimed. She walked up to Max who was scared stiff, "Max? You okay?"
"Yeah…," Max slowly nodded. He then looked down at the Pokemon clutched tightly in his grasp, "What about you, Jirachi?"
"Absol… has come to take me home..," it said bewilderedly. Max and May looked at it confusedly.
"Absol? Is that what that creature is?" Max asked, "And what's this about taking you home?"
"Uh oh… it's coming back!" the man abruptly screamed. Reacting the quickest, May pulled Max out of the way of the charging Absol. The white furred creature tackled the side of the tent; the sickle like protrusion creating a large gash in the tent's side.
"Phew, that was close," May said relieved as she clutched Max close to her, "I think we should get out of here, Max."
"Don't move!" the man suddenly ordered. May froze on the spot, "That thing will go after you if you make any sudden movements. Stay absolutely still and let me handle this."
May nodded, holding on to Max tighter; scared in case he made any sudden movements, "Where's Ash and the others?"
"I think he and Alexander are getting changed," the man said, "Not sure where the woman and that Butler guy are."
The Absol snarled and began to charge up the same wave like attack from earlier. The giant man smirked and braced himself. He taunted, "Come on then beasty. Show me what you got!"
Absol needed no extra incentive as it swung its head down hard. The man once again rolled away from the blast. Absol charged at him. The man side stepped and tackled the beast to the ground. Absol and the man wrestled on the ground for a while before Absol somehow through the giant off of it. It then unleashed the attack from the sickle. The man had to go to ground in order to avoid being sliced in half. The blast created another rip in the tent.
"Hey missy!" he called out to May, "Do you have any Pokemon?!"
May looked back at him, "Yeah, I do!"
"Any good ones?"
"…Yeah, I think so," May answered meekly. She then snapped out of it; this wasn't the time to be thinking like that! She said more confidently, "Yeah, they're good!"
"Then use them!" the man yelled as he avoided another charge from Absol. May frantically searched through her fanny pack and just about picked out a Pokeball without dropping it in her haste. She threw it out into the fray.
"Torchic, we need your help!" she called as the energetic fire type appeared. She looked at Absol and, for once, stood up determinedly to it, "Use Ember!"
Torchic opened its beak and rapidly fired multiple small fireballs. Absol anticipated the attack and blocked it with the protrusion on its head. Torchic hesitantly tried again, but was met with the same result. Absol growled at Torchic, shattering its confidence and scaring it to death.
The giant man took this opportunity to tackle Absol to the ground again. He called out to May and Max, "Run, now!"
"Come on, Max!" May said as she grabbed Max's arm and started to drag the boy along with her.
"Don't hurt… Absol," Jirachi suddenly spoke. Max looked at it strangely. Before he could ask something, May announced something.
"Look, its Ash!" she said as she ran out onto the stage. She halted in front of him. The boy was dressed in his regular clothes. He gave her an odd look.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"What is going on?" Alexander dressed in his 'gangster' suit repeated. Butler and Diane, who were standing next to Alexander, also looked at May questioningly.
"This Pokemon just appeared out of nowhere and started to attack us!" May explained quickly, "It's being held off by—"
"Oh crap, that ain't good!"
"--… never mind."
"Heads up!" the man yelled at the small group. Absol was charging at them, seemingly aiming for Butler, at full speed with malice in its eyes.
"Whoa, beasty!" Alexander exclaimed as he moved to the side, along with Ash, May, Max, Butler and Diane. The Absol skidded on the highly polished stage floor.
"What is that?" Ash asked bracing himself for whatever the Pokemon will do next.
"That's an Absol, a Pokemon said to only appear when disaster is about to strike," Butler explained. He cast a brief look at Jirachi, "It's here for something…"
"Like what?" Ash asked. Butler shook his head.
"Don't worry about that," he said, "Focus on the Absol."
Ash nodded as Pikachu jumped from his shoulder and onto the stage in front of him. Sparks flew from the electric-types cheeks in anticipation. Ash saw that it was ready to fight, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu shocked Absol with the massive charge. The angry Pokemon easily shook off the charge and ran towards Pikachu quickly, lowering its head in order to ram the electric type.
"Try using Iron Tail!" Ash decided. If attacks like Thunderbolt won't work, then maybe some hard physical attacks would. Heeding his command, Pikachu jumped high into the air, successfully dodging Absol's attack. Pikachu charged up energy in his tail, making it glow silver. With a mid-air twist, Pikachu swung his tail down hard on Absol's head. The white and black Pokemon, instead of falling to the ground in pain, suddenly turned sharply and hit Pikachu with its own Iron Tail attack. Pikachu flew through the air and straight into Ash's arms. The rodent quickly jumped out and back into a battle stance.
"Nothing's working!" Ash said frustratingly. Alexander stood at his side.
"No, something is working," he told him, examining Absol, "There isn't a single Pokemon that can withstand two attacks like that. This Absol is just making it seem like he's not in pain but in reality, he's in a world full of it."
Ash nodded to himself. He then told his first Pokemon, "Okay Pikachu, just one more big attack!"
"That won't be necessary," Butler said calmly, stepping out in front of Ash. He held up his walking stick. Everyone looked at him curiously. He taunted Absol, willing it to charge at him. The angry Pokemon did so. Butler smirked and used his thumb to flick open the silver tip atop his walking stick. A red button was revealed. His pressed down on the button with his thumb. Suddenly, a door opened up in the floor. Unawares, Absol ran straight into it. Butler dusted his hands off, "A magician always has a trapdoor handy."
A cage then appeared on the surface. Absol was imprisoned as it rammed the bars in an attempt to escape. Butler walked up to the cage. Absol growled at him.
"And now, for the finishing touches," Butler said, opening up a Pokeball. His Kirlia appeared in front of him, "Kirlia, Hypnosis!"
Kirlia's green eyes started to glow red. Absol looked straight into them. The strong Pokemon suddenly felt drowsy. After swaying a bit in the cage, it collapsed onto its side.
"Well, that was easy," Alexander commented, "I wonder where Tiny is?"
"I'm here," Tiny said, his giant frame stumbling over to the group. His clothes were ripped partly and he was covered with a few cuts. He grinned at everyone, "A little beaten up, but I'm fine nonetheless."
Alexander smirked, "Even though you lost," he said. Tiny shrugged. Alexander then addressed Butler, "So, care to explain why this Absol was attacking us?"
"Absol… came to take me back to Faunz," Jirachi spoke up from Max's grasp. Max looked at him Jirachi with concern.
"Jirachi, where's Faunz?" Max asked. Jirachi looked up at him. It didn't answer straight away. Everyone waited expectantly for a good minute.
"…Home," Jirachi finally answered.
"You're home?" Max asked quietly.
"I'm… sleepy," Jirachi said quietly. It closed its eyes and entered into slumber.
"Faunz, eh? You don't think--?" Alexander muttered to Tiny discreetly.
"It's possible," Tiny whispered back, "Shall I tell her?"
"Not right now," Alexander answered, "Let's see what happens."
The evening of day three was a very clear and mild night. The day before hand was nothing different; the group consisting of Ash, May and Max assisted Diane and Butler with their magic show and enjoyed some time around the carnival themselves. Max and Jirachi spent a lot of time together rather than with Ash and May. The bond between the young boy and the Pokemon was growing stronger with each passing day. For May, it was an incredibly adorable and happy sight. Jirachi was like Max's little brother; someone who Max could play with and entertain all he wants.
Mysteriously, Alexander and Tiny didn't show up at all today. May pondered if they were at the hospital considering that Tiny came out of last night's 'scuffle' with more than enough cuts and gashes, not to mention a couple of bruises here and there. She assumed that Alexander was his friend, so naturally she just assumed that Tiny was getting checked out at the hospital along with Alexander keeping him company and that today was just a day off. May suspected they would be back tomorrow.
On top of that, Steven Stone had made a surprise appearance at tonight's show and although May wasn't the sharpest of people, nor did she hardly ever play close attention to many things, the brunette rookie trainer noticed how edgy, for lack of a better word, Steven looked throughout the show. May was sitting with the audience having done her backstage 'chores' and was curious about Steven's appearance. Throughout the whole show, Steven was looking from side to side, up to down, twiddling his thumbs and moving his feet in an impatient manner. It looked like he was expecting something to happen, but the brunette couldn't quite figure out what exactly.
May closed the third flap down on her wish maker charm and held it close to her. She didn't know if her wish would come true, but she really hoped that it would, or at least something similar would happen. Looking back on it, she noticed how her journey so far has had more downs then ups. Now, it seemed like she, along with Ash and now Max, were travelling in constant danger with not one, but three crime organisations lurking about not to mention the incredible amount of bad luck they have (like the trek through Petalburg Forest, for example). Hopefully, she thought, they would have some good luck and she hoped it started with her first contest.
Looking down from the small hill top at the van they were staying in, May saw The Great Butler, as he likes to call himself, exiting said vehicle with a bundle in his arms. Curiously, May adjusted herself so she could more clearly; the angle of vision was preventing her from seeing the man in full.
"I wonder what Butler is doing," she mused out loud. Squinting her eyes, she could see that the bundle in the man's hands was none other than a certain yellow and silver Pokemon. Realisation dawned upon her, "That's Jirachi!"
Hurriedly, she leapt off of the rock she was relaxing on and carefully ran down the side of the hill; though it was small, it was steep and a little bit slippery. Quickly, she rounded the corner of the van and threw open the door to the back of it; she didn't care about the noise, the more people she awoke the better. Leaping up the tiny three-stair stairwell she entered the temporary sleeping quarters of the vehicle. There were two bench-like seats on either side of the van. On the one closest to her was Max, sleeping peacefully and completely oblivious to the fact that his sleeping companion was missing. On the one farthest to her was Ash, sprawled out across the sea and snoring quietly. She couldn't see Diane anywhere. She decided that the next best thing for this situation would be Ash; she didn't want Max to start panicking.
Putting her hands on his shoulder, she shook Ash in an attempt to rouse him, "Come on Ash wake up!"
Ash murmured something in his sleep but merely stayed in the land of dreams. May shook him again, but to no avail. She sighed exasperatedly. Ash was out like a light, so it would take some drastic measures to wake him up. Taking a deep breath and moving closer to his ear, May screamed, "Ash, wake up! We have a problem!!"
Ash snorted as he shot up with a horrible ringing in his ears. He groaned tiredly as he rubbed his sore ear. He glared at a proud looking May. His sleep was disturbed and he was no where near happy about it.
"May, what's wrong with you!" he exclaimed, "Man, I was having such a nice dream as well."
"Well, that dream can wait!" May responded, "We have a problem that needs solving!"
"This better be worth waking me up for," Ash muttered. With a sigh, he asked her, "Okay, what's the problem?"
"Jirachi has been stolen by Butler!" May explained. She expected the Kanto native to suddenly leap out of bed and put his sweatshirt and hat on before rushing into action, but the teen looked at her oddly and with a small amount of annoyance.
"Come on May, Butler's not going to harm Jirachi," Ash reasoned, "For all we know, Butler could've asked Max to borrow Jirachi fro something."
Frustrated, May said, "I just have this strange feeling that something bad is going to happen. Beside, why would Butler want to borrow Jirachi?"
"I don't know," Ash said, shrugging his shoulders, "A magic show?"
"At this time of night?"
"Okay, maybe not a magic show but maybe his working on a performance that involves Jirachi in some way," Ash theorised, "I'm sure he's not doing anything harmful."
Unexpectedly, May grabbed Ash by the arm and pulled him out of bed with surprising strength. Ash landed awkwardly on the floor with a resounding thump echoing throughout the van. Next to him, Max stirred but only turned over and stayed asleep.
"What was that for?!" he asked agitatedly. May leered down at him.
"For not cooperating!" she said, "Now come on, let's check this out. It's better to be safe than sorry, right?"
Ash stared at her for a moment. He knew May was stubborn, but never thought she was this stubborn and persistent enough to literally drag him out of bed over a conspiracy theory! May had a stern look on her face. Knowing better than to anger women, Ash sighed as he stood up.
"Fine, we'll go see what he's up to," Ash surrendered, "Just let me get ready."
On stage, Butler confidently walked forward with his trusty magic stick in hand. A wide smirk was etched across his face. In front of him was a strange machine. There were two large components with a protrusion sticking out of the side. The protrusion of each machine faced eachother. In-between the two components was a small platform, or table-like component. Lying atop of it was none other than Jirachi, peacefully asleep.
Butler opened the tip of his stick and pressed a red button. Before him, two mechanical tongs raised from the floor. Butler reached into his jacket and took out a glass tube. Floating within the blue liquid residing in the tube was a small fragment of rock. He held the tube horizontally between the two tongs. The tongs suddenly moved and attached themselves to the tube, holding it in place.
"Soon, my plan will come to fruition," he said boomingly, "My long awaited revenge will be exacted, at long last!"
With an almost manic gleam in his eyes, Butler pressed the button on his stick again. The machine started to whir. Two purple beams shot from the protrusions of each component and as they met in the middle, a strange force field was created. This field suspended Jirachi in mid air. The legendary Pokemon struggled against the force, squirming about. It was painful for it.
"Now Jirachi, open your true eye and absorb the energy of the Millennium Comet!" he demanded.
"N-never!" Jirachi yelled out. It refused to be some type of tool for this man. Butler didn't frown and was not surprised with the answer.
"Well, if you won't open it," he started. He opened up a Pokeball and his Dusclops appeared beside him, "then I'll jus have to force it open myself. Dusclops, Psychic!"
Dusclop's one eye glowed an eerie blue, almost purple. The same coloured aura surrounded Jirachi. Dusclops started to slowly move its unattached hands about. With its mind, it focused on opening Jirachi's true. The Wish Pokemon struggled all it could and tried its hardest not to succumb to the attack. Being incapacitated by the force field restricted Jirachi greatly, but the little Pokemon somehow managed to keep fighting.
A small distance away, hiding round a corner, were three men. The smallest one, garbed in a fancy black suit and brim hat, scowled at the sight before him. Next to him, a giant man dressed as an army member cracked his knuckles.
"I think it's time we intervened," he said.
"Yes, I think so too," the smaller one replied. He then turned to the other man, a silver haired man in a purple suit, "And you, Mr. Stone? Will you be assisting us?"
'Stone' nodded and held a Pokeball tightly in his hand, "As a former member of the Hoenn Elite Four, it is still my job to protect the peace. I will continue to uphold that vow I made."
The suit wearing teen nodded. He then said to the large man, "Tiny, I want you to use Skarmory as a distraction. I know you want to crack that guy around the face – I can't blame you for wanting to, but it's best if you distract him for now. The objective is to retrieve Jirachi, not create any unnecessary casualties. Understood?"
"Yeah, yeah, got it," Tiny grumbled. He really wanted to punch that guy…
"Steven, if you don't mind, could you take out that Dusclops? I know I can't order you around, but for my plan to work I'm going to need you to as I say, at least for now," the teen said. Steven nodded.
"It's fine by me," he said, his face serious, "Am I right in assuming that you are the one who is going to get Jirachi?"
"You would be," the teen said, "Okay guys, let's do this!"
"Right, come on Skarmory!" Tiny yelled as his trusty steel-flying type appeared. Tiny mounted the bird as it hovered above the ground, "Let's go!"
Skarmory flew Tiny over the stage. The steel-flying type screeched loudly, resulting in Butler spinning around and Dusclop's concentration to waver slightly. Skarmory swooped down close to Butler, sweeping him off of his feet. Butler growled.
"Grr… Dusclops use Willow-wisp on that nuisance!" he ordered. Dusclops turned around and created a blue ball of fire between its hands. It then threw the ball as hard as it could. Skarmory, however, easily evaded the attack in the air. Tiny laughed loudly and grinned.
"Oh come on you one eyed freak, you can do better than that!" he taunted. Dusclops was angered. It charged up another Willow-wisp and threw it, along with several others. Tiny grinned.
"Skarmory, Air Slash!" he ordered confidently. Skarmory shrieked as it flapped its steel plated wings quickly, creating several cutting waves of air. The waves easily sliced through the fireballs and rained down on Dusclops. Suddenly, a purple aura consumed Dusclops. The ghost-type was then thrown into the air and into the audience seating. Butler looked towards the backstage curtain and saw Steven along with a massive four legged Pokemon. It was blue in colour and silver plating here and there. It was like a four legged spider.
"Nice work, Metagross," Steven complimented. Steven then called back at the curtain, "Now's your chance, Alexander!"
The suited teen, otherwise known as Alexander, charged out from behind the curtain and sprinted straight for Butler. Surprisingly, the teen leaped over the man's head. Butler whipped around but was met with a straight kick into the gut courtesy of Alexander. Temporarily winded, Butler couldn't protect himself from Alexander's low leg-sweep. Butler fell to the floor on his back. For good measure, Alexander drove his fist right into Butler's private area, causing him to scream in pain and suddenly curl up into a ball. Steven and Tiny flinched as they unconsciously covered up that specific area. This would be the one time where they would feel sympathetic towards the man…
Alexander calmly walked up to Jirachi with a ghost of a smile on his young face. He reached out to grab the Pokemon, but his arm was forcibly stopped by a strange aura. Alexander gritted his teeth as he tried to fight it, but the force was too great. Alexander was then thrown away. He skidded along the polished stage surface and stopped beside Steven.
"Darn, that Dusclops is still going," Steven cursed, "Quick, Metagross, we must stop it before it opens Jirachi's eye!"
Steven hopped onto Metagross as it started to literally fly towards Dusclops. But they were too late as Dusclops used its remaining strength to finally open Jirachi's third and true eye…
The resulting collision of forces created an immense explosion. Everyone in the room was flung back by the sheer force. Even Metagross was taken off of its feet. Luckily, Steven was quick enough to return Metagross to its Pokeball before it crushed somebody. Tiny returned Skarmory as he held his ground.
As the explosion died, a voice could be heard shouting over the commotion, "What's going on in here?!"
The voice belonged to Ash as he, May, Max and Diane came running onto the scene. They all gasped at the sigh before them. The stage had nearly been completely obliterated. Pieces of machinery lie scattered everywhere, as well as four men. Max noticed a completely beat up and worn out Jirachi lying in a small crater. His eyes widening, he rushed over and picked the poor the Pokemon up.
"Jirachi, what happened to you?" Max asked the Pokemon, clearly upset. He then glared at Butler. He yelled, "What did you to do Jirachi!?"
"What amazing power…," Butler muttered amazed, seemingly ignoring Max for the moment.
"Hey, where's Absol?" Ash asked. May and Diane looked around and saw no sign of the strong dark-type Pokemon, "Wasn't he being kept here?"
"Absol has been taking away by a certain group of thugs," Butler suddenly spoke up, not turning around to face Ash and the others. Butler walked towards Max. The boy cowered slightly as the man had a manic gleam. He clutched Jirachi tightly to him, "Hand over Jirachi."
"No! I won't let you hurt Jirachi again!" Max said bravely. Butler snarled at the boy.
"Hand him over if you don't want to get hurt!" he demanded. Max stepped back, in fear of what the man might do.
"Max!" May exclaimed. Anger soon washed over her, "Hey, leave my little bother alone!"
Butler ignored her and reached out to take Jirachi from Max. Max inched back as Butler came close.
"Butler, please stop!" Diane yelled an upset look clearly on her face. This seemed to grab Butler's attention.
"Diane?" he questioned as he turned around.
"Butler, I don't want you to do this anymore," she said emotionally.
"Diane… I thought you off all people would understand!" he said angrily. He moved his am back, seemingly to hit her, but Tiny had other ideas. Butler was hit straight in the jar but Tiny's gigantic fist. Butler soared through the air and landed on the floor heavily. Diane gasped. Tiny grinned and punched his hand with the same fist.
"Now that felt good!" he exclaimed. He walked over and picked Butler up by the collar. He held him up in the air, "Hey buddy! You don't go around trying to hit women and scaring little kids! What kind of man are you? You're pathetic!"
Butler struggled in the giant man's grasp. He would respond but his jaw was sore, possible broken, by Tiny's strike. All Butler did was growl lowly at a grinning Tiny.
As this was going on, May tended to a frightened Max. She put her hands on his shoulder as she met face to face, "You okay Max? Everything is going to be fine now."
"I'm fine, don't worry May," Max answered, still clutching Jirachi tightly to his grasp.
"I'm glad," May said in relief.
Diane stood there, recovering from the shock of Butler attempting to strike her in anger. She just could not bring herself to help him anymore, not even with the way she felt about him. With courage, she made her decision. She would have to make sure Jirachi is safe and in order to do so, she must take Jirachi home.
"Everyone, follow me!" she called out. She started to run out of the area.
"Come on May, Max!" Ash called as he turned on his heel to run as well. May and Max, still clutching Jirachi, ran after him. Steven soon followed. Alexander got up and started to run. He called out to Tiny.
"Hey Tiny, drop that looser and follow us!"
Tiny dropped Butler to the ground without a care in the world. He ran over to the group who were scurrying into the van. Butler picked himself up and took out a strange device from his pocket. Calling out his Mightyena, he gave the device to it. Mightyena charged after the van and before it could leave, placed the device on the back bumper.
"It won't be long now…," Butler said darkly.
In the van, Diane was driving while Ash, May and Max sat in the passenger seats behind her. Behind the trio were Alexander, Tiny and Steven. There was silence. Soon, Ash asked a question.
"Diane, what was Butler trying to do back there?" This question piqued the interest of the three behind him.
Diane hesitated for the moment. She decided she should tell them, considering how she has dragged them into this mess. Slowly, she started, "Butler was trying to get Jirachi to absorb the Millennium Comet's amazing energy. He planned on using it to create his own Groudon and exacting his revenge on the people who denied him and betrayed him."
"What's a Groudon?" May asked this time. Everyone was listening intently, especially Alexander and Tiny.
"Groudon is said to be God like Pokemon that can create land mass," Diane explained, "It's an ancient Pokemon, said to still be alive even after thousands of years."
"How can Jirachi absorb the energy?" Max asked quietly, concerned about his 'little brother'.
"Jirachi has what is called his true eye. Every thousand years, Jirachi absorbs the energy from the comet and expels it throughout the entire planet, creating natural beauty everywhere," Diane explained, "But Butler sought for Jirachi for a different purpose. The energy from the comet is enough to resurrect Groudon from the small piece of fossil he has."
"Ah yes, I remember now," Steven said. Everyone's eyes focused on him, except Diane of course but she was listening intently, "I was studying the rock formations at Faunz until I overheard someone talking about revenge. That someone was Butler, if I recall. I followed him back to the carnival, wondering what he could possibly do with a strange rock like the one he had found. I had no idea it was Jirachi until I saw it with my own eyes. I suspected that Butler may be up to something that could possible have drastic effects on the world. As a former member of the Elite Four, I had to uphold my vow of protecting the peace. This meant I had to get the rock away from Butler somehow. I didn't expect him to give it to Max, though."
"So that's why you want the rock two days ago," May realised, "You wanted to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands."
Steven nodded, "That's exactly it. Once I had obtained the rock, I was going to return it to Faunz but someone else entered into the equation."
Steven purposefully looked at Alexander and Tiny. He continued, "To me, these two seemed suspicious. I noticed how they were hovering extremely close to the magic show tent and once overheard them talking about a mission of some sort. I knew I had to keep my eye out on these two. Earlier on, when we were going to attack Butler, I confirmed that you were interested in Jirachi as well."
"Your assumption is correct, but we are not interested in Jirachi in the way you are thinking," Alexander answered. He folded his arms across his chest, "We have the same goal as you do; make sure Jirachi doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Yet these hands aren't Butler's."
Steven nodded, "It has something to do with that other assistant, right?"
"You mean Grey?" Diane said, remembering the assistant, "He was here for the first day, claiming he needed work. I didn't suspect he was involved in all this."
Unnoticed by the others, Alexander's fist clenched. He continued, "The guy's a spy for Team Magma."
This was met by silence. Ash, May and Max processed the information and was shocked that Team Magma was involved in all of this as well. Ash asked the question on everybody's minds, "What have Team Magma got to do with this?"
"Team Magma is the same team that Butler wants revenge on," Diane answered. This was also met by surprise, "Butler went to Team Magma with an idea; he thought he could create a Groudon for them. But his experiment failed, and Butler left both humiliated and angry. He was banished from Team Magma."
"So Team Magma wants a Groudon?" May asked, "Why?"
"Nobody knows for sure," Tiny shrugged, "But we suspect that it has something to do with the land."
"We're heading for Faunz, right?" Max asked Diane. The blonde woman nodded.
"Yes, we are returning Jirachi to its home," Diane said.
"And delivering it straight into the hands of Team Magma," Steven said in realisation.
"What do you mean?" Max asked. Alexander picked up where Steven left off.
He said, "They have been one step ahead of us from the start. Team Magma will be a t Faunz, and they will be after Jirachi."
So, that ends part two. This chapter breached 7,200 words at the whole Jirachi: Wish Maker part of this story is still not finished. Imagine if I decided to make this one big chapter? It might have 20,000 words long! Anyway, I think I can safely say that the next chapter will wrap Jirachi: Wish Maker up.
Okay then, please take some time out to review. I'm off school for a week so I should be able to get Chapter 15 done quite soon if my focus does not get divided again.
See you and have a nice morning/day/night!