Author's Notes: Much confusion, no? I don't know how I keep beating you to these things, Yellowspottedlizard, but it's quite probable that somebody beat me to them already. After all, there's nothing new under the sun, as they say.

Actually, Facia, Raikou has very little to do with the problem as a whole. If anything, you might possibly be able to call him one of the "good guys."

I'm going to stand by my original assertion that the world is not going to end particularly soon, PNEK MEKS. Of course, in this case I might call it somewhat of a matter of opinion.

Chapter Twenty-One: Rewriting History

Before Tobias had recovered from the shock of this statement enough to have any sort of reaction to it, he found himself whisked away to the dining room once more, hustled along by all three Professors, Marie trailing morosely behind. They sat the dazed boy down in one of the chairs and shoved a mug of some warm drink into his hands before reluctantly settling themselves down around the table and apprehensively waiting for the explosion.

Tobias blinked once. His fingers tightened slightly around the cup and he stuttered a few incomprehensible syllables before the language centers of his brain managed to sort out the correct message to send to his vocal cords.

"That was a legendary?" Tobias cried, staring wildly around at the table's other nervous occupants. "That…that monster that tried to kill me was a legendary Pokemon!"

"Yes, that was Raikou," Professor Elm restated, "one of the lesser legendary Pokemon, actually."

Tobias didn't care if it was the legendary of menial labor, it was still one of the legendary creatures. He had come within inches of going the way of many of his ancestors before him and being slaughtered by one of the legendary beasts. Fear, previously banished by shock and confusion, came flooding back in to reclaim him. He clutched the warm mug in his hands convulsively and shivered uncontrollably, staring blankly into the distance. He could see in his mind's eye the deadly red eyes glaring out at him from between the bars, the gleaming fangs made visible as the creature opened its mouth to let forth a terrible roar…

"I'm sorry he frightened you," Professor Birch began timidly, clearly unsure of how to handle Tobias's terrified withdrawal from reality. "He hasn't been thinking clearly lately. Really, I'm sure that Raikou wouldn't have attacked you under normal circumstances."

The words only barely registered in Tobias's panic-filled brain, but they had enough of an impact to jar him out of his terrified stupor. Fear was replaced by rage, and he gritted his teeth angrily, eyes focusing back on the Professor. "Wouldn't have attacked me under normal circumstances, huh? Funny, I didn't think that the legendaries had any qualms about killing people, seeing as they've slaughtered millions of them in the past. And now you've decided that you might as well catch one and stick it in a big cage, just to see what makes it tick…"

"That's not why he's…" Professor Oak began indignantly, clearly shocked by Tobias's attitude, but the young guide just rolled right over his interruption.

"…Are you all crazy? No, I suppose it's just your lineage. You may live well enough with the legendaries around, but I haven't forgotten the past. Raikou could probably smell where I came from easily enough, could tell I wasn't one of you weak-minded fools. That's why he tried to kill me! He knows who I am!" His outburst completed, Tobias took several slow, deep breaths to try to calm himself. He glared around the table at the Professors, feeling a twisted sort of pleasure at the looks of shock and hurt on their faces. Marie, on the other hand, looked at least as angry as Tobias had a minute previous. She quivered with rage, her face pale.

"Oh, so it's all about you now, is it?" she shrieked back, her hands clenched into fists. Her Combusken, which had taken the seat next to her in the hopes that the humans might consider serving more food, was now beginning to seriously regret his decision. He had sunk low in his seat, trying to become as innocuous as possible. Currently, only his three yellow crest feathers showed above the table, and they were pressed down as close to his skull as possible. "Didn't you even consider the fact that maybe there's something more important than you? Raikou isn't a murderer! He's angry with us for some reason, but whatever it is, you can bet that it's more important than you own petty troubles!" Her rebuttal finished, Marie seemed to deflate, slumping slightly in her chair.

There followed a period of silence in which Tobias and the three Professors stared in disbelief at Marie. Tobias in particular was stunned, having always thought of the girl as being a rather timid sort. Once his surprise began to fade, however, fury jabbed at him once again. Petty troubles? Was being stuck far from home in a doomed land petty? How about knowing that if you did manage to make it home, no one there would welcome you? The Combusken's eyes appeared over the edge of the table, glancing around nervously. The Pokemon hoped that the lull in noise meant that the humans were done shouting at each other.

Before Tobias could speak out again, Professor Oak said quietly, "Perhaps it would be best if we began by explaining exactly what's going on first. Once that has been done, then I assure you that you two can shout at each other as much as you want." He cast each child a stern glance and then cleared his throat, addressing Marie. "Would you please tell Thomas how you found Raikou, Marie?" he asked.

"Okay," she sniffled. Tobias was stunned. Was she actually crying? Marie raised her hand and rubbed her eyes angrily. She glared accusingly at Tobias for a moment, eyes pink and glistening, before beginning her story. "It was just a few days ago, back before you got here. I had just gotten my trainer's license and I was on my way to get my first gym badge from Whitney in Goldenrod City."

Gym badge? What was that? Tobias frowned as he listened to Marie's tale, but the girl didn't notice. Her eyes were far away and she was smiling as she recounted what had happened.

"My Combusken was really looking good in training, and my new Sentret was doing well, too," Marie continued. The Combusken, having decided that it was safe to reemerge, was now sitting up as usual in his chair. At this praise he puffed his chest out slightly and raised his crest proudly.

"I was almost to Goldenrod, within a half hour's walk, when it began to drizzle. Combusken hates rain, so I recalled him and ran for the city as fast as I could. It was almost in sight, and I hoped that I could get there before the rain really started to come down so I wouldn't get very wet.

"As I was running, though, I started to hear thunder. It wasn't normal thunder, it just kept rolling and rolling, like lighting was striking the same place over and over again. Then I saw where it was coming from; there really was lightning that just kept on coming down again and again in the same place. Whatever it was striking was somewhere in the middle of the woods, and all that I could see was the lightning bolts that flashed down into the trees. I was starting to get soaked through and the rain was coming down hard, but I was really curious, too. I decided that I would just take a peek at what was happening with the lighting, since the place that it kept striking was nearby.

"I walked through the woods, and soon I started seeing a funny light coming through the trees. It kept flickering on and off, but it was really bright. I started to hear other sounds, too. The thunder was getting louder than ever as I got closer, but it seemed to be less constant, too. There were these high-pitched shrieks coming from somewhere up ahead, and a sort of howling noise. I was a little scared, but it sounded to me like some sort of Pokemon battle, and I thought that maybe it was some rare electric Pokemon that was making the lighting strike like that. I kept going, though a little more slowly, trying to stay behind trees as much as possible, and at last I got a good glimpse of what was going on.

"Just ahead there was a clearing in the forest, and all of these flying Pokemon were attacking something in the middle of the open area. I couldn't see what it was, because it was where the lightning kept striking and it was too bright for me to look straight at it. I crouched down behind some bushes to watch. I didn't mind getting wet anymore, because it was really exciting. I thought it was a sort of wild Pokemon battle-whatever the lighting Pokemon was, it had intruded on the flying Pokemon's territory and they were trying to drive it off.

"The Pokemon in the center was beginning to get tired. It wasn't calling down lighting as much anymore, and I was starting to be able to see it between strikes. It was a big yellow cat, for all that I could see. It was still hard for me to catch sight of it, because now my view was getting blocked by all of the flying Pokemon. They were covered in metal, with funny wings that rippled instead of flapping. It took a moment before I recognized them: Skarmory, a huge flock of them. They were converging on the Pokemon in the middle, and I was getting excited because I figured that the Skarmory were going to win soon and the electric Pokemon would run away and leave their territory alone. Perhaps after it left I could capture one of the injured Skarmory; I was pretty sure that they were rare and pretty powerful, too.

"But as I watched, I started to get the feeling that something wasn't right. I could hear the yellow Pokemon roaring and yelping from somewhere in the middle of all Skarmory, but it wasn't running away. More and more of the birds kept coming at it, and suddenly I realized that they weren't trying to drive it away-they were trying to kill it! The yellow Pokemon was putting up a good fight, though, and it kept on zapping the birds even though it wasn't strong enough to keep calling down lightning bolts. Finally, it had knocked out so many of them that the ones that were left just gave up and flew away. As soon as they were gone, the big yellow Pokemon collapsed.

"I was very excited and I ran out into the clearing. I wanted to see what the big yellow Pokemon was, and I thought that I might be able to capture it, as it had obviously been weakened by the Skarmory. It was only when I actually made it out into the open that I saw what had truly transpired.

"There were dozens of Skarmory lying on the ground around the clearing, ones that I had thought were knocked out. But they weren't knocked out-they were dead! The electrical shocks put out by the yellow Pokemon had been enough to kill them. Many were horribly disfigured, their metal armor having melted and run or fused together in a grotesque fashion. A few of the corpses even twitched a little as I walked past, I guess because there was still a bit of electricity in their systems."

Marie was no longer smiling as she recounted the tale. She had begun to shiver, and her eyes, though still focused on nothing, looked terror-stricken. Her Combusken, sensing another shift in his trainer's mood, was eyeing her anxiously, clearly distressed by her behavior. Marie continued her tale, her voice now barely above a whisper.

"I wanted to go back, to run to the city as fast as I could and get away from the horrible place. I was cold and I was scared, but something made me keep walking. I guess it was just a sort of morbid fascination or something, but I couldn't make myself run, not without at least seeing what the yellow Pokemon was. I kept walking and stopped just as I reached the center area.

"It actually took me a couple moments to realize that it was Raikou. He looked terrible; there were huge gashes and puncture wounds all across his fur, and the purple thundercloud on his back was oddly singed and blackened, like it had been overloaded. Worst of all was his face; I guess the Skarmory had been trying to get his eyes, because they had really torn his head apart. There was blood everywhere, mixing in with the water in the puddles at my feet. Raikou was still alive, as I could see by the way his chest was rising and falling slightly as I looked at him, blood gushing from his injuries.

"At first I couldn't move or even think for shock. Here was Raikou, one of the most powerful Pokemon in the world and one which I had been told legends about all of my life, lying on the ground and made almost unrecognizable by his wounds. Then all that I could think about was the Skarmory; why had they attacked him? Raikou was known to be a fairly benevolent legendary, less prone to violent rages than Entei, and I couldn't imagine that he would have done anything to provoke the flock. They shouldn't have just attacked him either, because he watches over the land like all of the other legendaries and keeps the elements in balance.

"I guess that while my rational mind was still reeling, my trainer instincts took over. Here was a Pokemon that was clearly hurt and in need of medical treatment. Not only that, but it was a rare Pokemon, a legendary, in fact. Any great trainer would give almost anything to add Raikou to their team. And how else was I supposed to get him to the Pokemon center, if not in a Pokeball? I grabbed an empty one from my belt and tossed it at him. His eyes snapped open as the ball struck him, and he appeared ready to drag himself back to his feet to face me before he was drawn into the ball. I was surprised by how much he struggled despite his condition, but at last the Pokeball fell still and he was mine.

"I stared at the Pokeball for a few seconds, uncomprehending, then hurried over and picked it up off the bloody grass. I couldn't believe it! I had only just begun training, and already I had captured a legendary Pokemon! I was so happy that I almost forgot about Raikou's wounds. Fortunately, I got a grip on myself pretty quickly and ran to the Pokemon center as fast as I could.

"The head nurse was afraid that Raikou might not make it. He was barely breathing when I released him for her in the center's hospital area; she wanted me there because she said that sometimes injured legendary Pokemon can become very dangerous and might even attack people trying to help them unless their trainer is there to calm them down. He didn't respond at all, though, and the nurse sent me away quickly.

"I couldn't sleep that entire night at the center. The nurse brought me some medicine, too. She was worried that I might get sick after all the time that I had spent out in the rain, watching the battle, and told me not to worry, that she had called Nurse Joy in to work on this case personally. I didn't care about myself, though. All that I cared about was that Raikou would get better and wouldn't die. Even if I had been able to sleep, I'm sure that I would have had terrible nightmares about the battle and about all the dead Skarmory.

"He didn't die-and as soon as he was able, he trashed the center. It was my third day there, and I was eating lunch, feeling a lot better as Nurse Joy had told me that morning Raikou was responding well to treatment and had stabilized. Combusken and Sentret were having lunch with me, and I was telling them all of the stories that I had heard about Raikou, though I'm sure that at least Sentret had heard them all, and probably more, from his family.

"Suddenly, the center erupted in chaos. A nurse came running out of the hospital area screaming, and suddenly all of the electrical devices in the area started to go funny. The TV started blaring away and flipping channels for no reason, the storage computers started spitting Pokeballs all across the floors, and the healing machine began to whine dangerously. Then there was there was this huge power surge and everything just went crazy. All of the computer screens blew out and even the fluorescent lights shattered. At first most of the trainers had just stood around, staring at the hysterical nurse and wondering what was going on, but now most of them started panicking. People were running madly for the doors, but they had jammed shut for some reason and it took a minute to push them open. Pokemon were stampeding after their trainers, some coming close to accidentally trampling the humans in their paths in their panic. A few trainers hung back or actually started running for the back of the center when they heard Raikou's call, however; he started roaring with all of his might, and you could hear further explosions from farther back in the center. I got up and was about to run back with them, when all of a sudden the noise stopped.

"Nurse Joy came walking out from the back area, cool as you please, a Pokeball in her hand. 'Here you are, dear,' she said, or something like that, 'he's a little bit grouchy. Mind you keep an eye on him and make sure he gets plenty of rest.' It was quite a sight; the Pokemon center was pretty well trashed, there was broken glass everywhere and a few dazed trainers just standing around, wondering what had happened, but there was Nurse Joy, not a hair out of place, smiling cheerfully down at me as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She's seen everything, that one.

"So I took Raikou with me and decided to hang around the city for a few days so I could see the sights before I took on Whitney. It wasn't long, though, before Raikou figured out how to let himself out of his Pokeball. He leapt out right in the middle of a busy street and started roaring like mad. He turned around to me, and, and…" Marie sniffled pitifully and broke off for a minute. "He wanted to kill me, too! I could tell from the way that he looked at me. He was charging up for another electric attack, but I returned him before he could unleash it. I ran back to what was left of the Pokemon center, trying to shove past all of the people on the street who had seen him and who were trying to question me.

"Raikou wouldn't stay put; every few minutes he'd burst out of his ball again and I'd have to recall him before he could do anybody any harm. He was getting angrier and angrier, I guess because he could tell that he wasn't in control anymore, that I could always just send him back to his Pokeball if he kept trying to act up.

"I made it back to the Pokemon center and told the nurse about what was going on, and she said to send Raikou here, to Professor Elm, to find out if he knew why Raikou might be acting like this. She booted up one of the few intact transfer machines and sent him over here, and he's been in that pen ever since."

Marie was clearly on the verge of tears but seemed determined to retain her dignity as much as possible as she brought her tale to a conclusion . "I just don't know why he's so mad at me. I saved his life, after all, and now he's acting as though I did something wrong. Why is he acting like this? Legendaries are supposed to protect people."

Once again, the table was quiet. Tobias was less than surprised by the Raikou's behavior after its capture, knowing as he did how little the legendaries cared for humans, but the table's other occupants seemed to consider it an enigma. The big cat was probably just furious that he had been captured and sought to rectify the situation by removing any evidence that the capture had ever taken place, mainly by destroying the one responsible. Marie still seemed convinced that Raikou's behavior was abnormal, however, and he didn't want to aggravate her further by arguing. Indeed, he was beginning to feel guilty that he had shouted at her earlier. Instead, he merely asked Professor Oak, "So, what have you found out from Raikou so far, then?"

Professor Oak sighed and shook his head ruefully. "Nothing, I'm afraid. Raikou refuses to speak with us. He's even attacked Ernello several times."

"Ernello?" Tobias asked, puzzle. He seemed to recall hearing that name before, but couldn't place it.

"He's one of my Natu," Professor Elm said. "Usually he helps with translating Pokemon speech."

Tobias nodded slowly and turned his attention to the drink that the Professors had given him earlier. It was starting to cool, and he took a sip of it experimentally. It had the sweet flavor of a berry blend, but was oddly thick and creamy. The warm drink seemed to have a soothing effect on his frazzle nerves. He frowned down at the mug in his hand, then looked up at Professor Elm questioningly. "What's this?" he asked.

"Oh, that? It's a sort of berry smoothie thing. I don't really have a name for it," the Professor said. "It's a milkshake, more or less, only hot instead of cold."

Not having any idea what a milkshake was, Tobias accepted this statement without comment. He merely sat there, sipping idly at the drink and waiting for something to happen.

No one else at the table seemed inclined to do anything. Marie was being comforted by her Combusken at her end of the table, and Professor Birch was drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair and staring out of the window. Tobias guessed that he was waiting for Jacob to return from tending to Raikou. Professor Oak was apparently ill at ease as well, toying with an odd book. Tobias couldn't recall having seen it before, but he guessed that he had just overlooked it while he was still reeling from his encounter with Raikou.

Small and nondescript, it appeared a drab gray, though closer inspection revealed that it was actually brown and leather-bound beneath an impressive coat of dust. Professor Oak was tracing designs in the thick dust with his finger, revealing the true brown cover in odd squiggly patches of clean surface.

Interest piqued, Tobias asked, "What's that, Professor?"

Professor Oak, who had been engrossed in tracing out his initials on the book's cover, started guiltily. "Oh, this?" he asked nervously. "Well, you remember how Professor Elm mentioned how he thought that he had heard of Waytar before?"

Tobias nodded slowly. Was it possible that the Professor had succeeded in finding some information on his homeland? Perhaps it would give him some indication of how to return!

"I thought that I remembered having heard of it before, too. I spent some time in the library after we talked at breakfast and dug up this old book." He brushed the remaining dust from the tome's cover, obliterating the odd geometrical shapes and random squiggles that had been inscribed on its dusty surface. "It's called Legends of the Pokemon World, and it has a rather extensive collection of tales from the legendary wars. Now, there's no real way to tell if they're true or not," he added hastily. "The book has 'legends' in the title for a reason, but I did find something on Waytar."

"Really?" Tobias asked, excited. "What is it? What'd you find?"

"Well, err, are you sure you want to hear?" Professor Oak asked cautiously.

"Yes, of course," Tobias replied, a bit put out. "Please?"

"All right. Hang on a moment," Professor Oak said reluctantly, opening the small book to a marked page. He cleared his throat and began to read. "The legendary wars were the series of devastating conflicts that arose between humans and Pokemon after the arrival of the legendary beasts. Historians generally recognize them as four distinct wars, the War of No Return, the War of Kanto, the War of Johto, and, finally, the War of Chaos. Generally, however, the conflicts are referred to as a single unit."

Professor Oak muttered something apologetic as he skimmed down the page, skipping past the more general, unimportant information on the causes and participants of the wars, the casualties, and so forth. "Ah hah!" he said at last, jabbing his finger triumphantly at the page before him. "Here we are. 'The humans relied on a large coalition of both Pokemon and human infantry to battle back against the legendary Pokemon and their vast armies of lesser creatures. There are even some accounts which document the use of the last of the human war machines during the conflicts, but such records are largely discredited, as historians agree that the technological marvels had long since been destroyed.

"'The human's most lauded general was Mayan Waytar, a wise and resourceful man. He controlled the largest contingent of human and Pokemon soldiers and commanded the battles in what is now known as the Johto region. With his help, the coalition was able to drive away the legendaries that had laid claim to the land in the area and repulsed numerous attacks by the wrathful Pokemon.'"

Tobias felt himself swelling with pride despite himself. Waytar survived in the legends of even this forsaken land, it appeared, and in all of his glory. Surely, then, it must mention the Waytaran region somewhere in the tale as well?

Professor Oak continued, "But it soon became clear that Waytar was playing a cunning game with the humans' forces. His constant heckling of the powerful creatures was in fact a mere diversion to draw their attention away from his own schemes. As he commanded the coalition forces on the battleground, he also commanded a team of handpicked humans and Pokemon who sought to establish a new region beyond the conflict areas of Johto, Kanto, and Hoenn.

"It is now believed that Waytar had no quarrel with the legendary Pokemon; indeed, he welcomed their arrival as the cleansing fire that would purge the human race of weakness and impurity. While the world suffered, he would establish his own land, a very exclusive region open only to those few he deemed pure. His true motives can never be known, of course, due to the actions which he took towards the end of the War of Johto.

"Waytar's perfect region was nearing completion, and he deemed it time to retreat there himself to nurture the cream of humanity. He did so, taking his last few disciples with him and abandoning his huge army to the fury of the legendaries. The humans, scrambling to recover from the sudden loss of their cherished commander, were hit by a surprise offensive by the legendary Pokemon. The Pokemon's determined drive forced the humans farther and farther back, and the coalition suffered defeat after defeat as they retreated in disgrace.

"It appeared to many that the legendary wars might indeed be at an end, with the legendaries the victor, but the great beasts, learning of Waytar's 'perfect region,' set out to destroy the insolent human who had caused them so much trouble. Abandoning their campaign on Johto, the last bastion of humanity, they set out to destroy this new region. Though it has never been confirmed, it is widely agreed that they probably succeeded in this aim."

Professor Oak looked up at Tobias nervously, closing the book in his hands with a sharp snap, causing a puff of dust to billow outwards from the ancient tome. "That's about the whole of it."

Tobias was once again set reeling. He wasn't alone in his feelings of confusion and surprise, however. It appeared that Professor Oak had not informed his colleagues of his discovery either, and they were all regarding him with disbelief. Professor Oak set the book on the table before him, and Professor Birch snatched it away almost before he had put it down. Flipping quickly through the pages, he frowned as he perused the section for himself, Professor Elm leaning in to read over his shoulder.

Tobias nearly groaned with frustration. The situation seemed to have taken another turn for the worse, or at least for the more confusing. It was impossible that Mayan Waytar was anything like what the book made him out to be, a scheming turncoat that had abandoned his people at their time of greatest need. After all, he was the man who had saved the human race by establishing Waytar and erecting the shield, its eternal protector. He was the hero at the center of Waytaran culture, the pinnacle of humanity towards which its residents aspired.

Then again, it was utterly impossible that Tobias be sitting here in the middle of the Professor's dining room in the middle of a land that didn't exist, surrounded by people who had been wiped out during the legendary wars, still digesting a tale of the capture of one of the creatures responsible for their demise, who couldn't possibly be in a pen outside in the yard.

For one wild moment, Tobias felt a sudden deviation from his muddled train of thought. What if he had really drowned after being thrown from the Sea Pidgeot? What if he was dead, and this was the afterlife or…or…something, and nobody here had ever heard of Waytar because it didn't exist here, and the legendary wars had actually been won by the humans, as Professor Oak's history book seemed to imply? He shook his head to try to drive off that ridiculous thought, and settled back on the problem at hand.

On one side stood nearly all of his eleven years, during which it had been repeatedly drummed into his head that Waytar was all that was left, that its savior had been a great among men. On the other, the strange revelations of the past few days that begged to differ. Who was he to believe?