Chapter Thirty-Five – Sunset

Riding on the talons of the rejuvenated Moltres, we soared through the ice and the snowflakes out into the fresh air, the heat of the sun. As I looked at the icy mountain below us, I no longer felt cold with fear. I knew that the bird who had carried us here would carry all those frozen pokémon to safety, would carry this world back into its natural balance.

But then I heard a screech, and I saw another great bird flying towards us, her translucent wings blurring the rays of the sun behind him. Then I knew that although we had regained our hope and our strength, the battle was not yet over.

'Coming back here was the last mistake you'll make,' Articuno said as she soared towards us. 'You would have been better off freezing to death slowly!'

She shot an Ice Beam in our direction, but Moltres ducked and dodged the attack.

'Hold on everyone,' she said, and began gliding down the mountain. Every now and then, she would beat her wings, and embers would fall from them. I watched as the small sparks of fire fell to the icy ground below. As they connected with the frozen statues of the fire pokémon, the ice sizzled and began to melt.

Hope burned brightly in my heart. So this was the power of a legendary pokémon.

Moltres continued down Mount Cinder, swerving to each side as Articuno shot constant beams of ice at us. When she reached the base of the mountain, the great fire bird lowered herself to the ground, her talons landing in the soft snow right in front of the police barriers.

'Everyone, climb off,' she said, as the humans at the mountain base began running around, crying out, and snapping photographs. I obediently moved away from her talons, standing in the snow. The others did the same . . . except for Leon.

'I'm not going anywhere!' he snarled. 'I didn't come all this way for nothing! You've got some answering to do!'

'The time is not right for talking,' said Moltres. She shook her foot, and the charmeleon was knocked to the ground. Then Moltres spread her wings and took flight once more, just as Articuno blasted an Ice Beam in her direction. The end of the beam connected with her tail feathers, and froze them solid. Moltres shivered for a moment, then flapped her wings furiously and flew on.

'Look what you did, Leon!' I said. 'If you hadn't stalled her like that, she wouldn't have been hit! If Articuno defeats her again it's gonna be all your fault!'

'See if I care what happens to that stuck-up buzzard!' said Leon, and kicked at the ground with a foot. Then he turned to Connor. 'You! Call her back! She'll listen to a so-called prince!'

'Why do you want to call her back?' Connor asked. 'She's out there fighting to protect the whole world!'

'And that's just like a legendary pokémon, isn't it?' Leon spat. 'All they care about is saving the world. They only leap into action when the whole planet's in danger, so they can show off their special powers and be heroes. That's pathetic! If they were real heroes, they'd be using their powers every day to solve all the little problems the common pokémon face. But no, they think they're too good for that!'

I stared at the charmeleon. I wasn't sure what to make of that. Hearing him insult legendary pokémon got my blood boiling, and I wanted to shout at him about his continued lack of respect. But at the same time, I thought I'd noticed something in his insults that I'd never heard in the charmeleon's words in all the time I'd known him: compassion for the weak.

This whole ordeal was making my head spin. I was going through too many new experiences on too many different levels. Trying to understand the unfathomable power Articuno must wield to freeze a volcano and all the fire-types who lived there. Straining to believe that I had really met – and revived – the legendary fire bird Moltres. Struggling to accept that the fate of the world truly did rest on the outcome of those two creatures' battle.

But in amongst all that, I was having to deal with my perceptions of those around me being warped out of shape. I had felt sorry for Adrian and Rose being trapped by Articuno. Taylor and I had been agreeing about some things instead of instinctively bickering. And now, I was even wondering if there was more to Leon's bitter and nasty attitude.

'What is that stupid bird doing!?' the charmeleon suddenly cried. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked back up the mountain. I saw Moltres hovering beside Team Magma's frozen helicopter, breathing a stream of fire down upon it. 'Leave them there! Let them freeze!'

I narrowed my eyes. Surely I must have imagined the compassion in Leon's words earlier. If this was how he treated the ones who'd been working alongside him all this time, there was no way he had any respect for common pokémon.

But Moltres's actions were out of his control anyway. Within a few seconds, the ice around Team Magma's helicopter had melted away. The machine instantly began plummeting to the ground. Moltres grabbed the helicopter's blades in her talons and started to carry it away. But I could see that the machine's weight was a lot for even a legendary pokémon to bear, and she was slowing down.

'Showing benevolence towards humans will only bring you closer to defeat,' said Articuno, and fired a massive Ice Beam at Moltres. The fire bird turned to dodge the attack, but with the burden of Team Magma's helicopter in her talons, she wasn't quick enough. She screeched as the icicles slammed into her back and spread over her feathers.

'Moltres!' I cried.

The bird flapped her flaming wings fiercely, descending slowly. Articuno raised her wings and narrowed her eyes, and they began to glow. That same fierce red glow that had pierced my own mind just before I'd been overwhelmed by the absolute zero of her icy attack.

'Moltres, look out!' I shouted, running towards the fire bird. 'She's going to use Sheer Cold! You have to escape while you can! You have to . . . to . . .'

I knew what she had to do to escape. She had to drop the helicopter that was weighing her down, and steer clear with renewed freedom of movement.

But could I really tell her to do that? She was still probably a hundred metres above ground. If she dropped the helicopter from that height, the people inside would surely not survive the fall.

Adrian, Rose and their pokémon had caused me nothing but trouble since the day I'd met them. They had hurt me, tormented me, tried to catch me and threatened to conduct experiments on me if they succeeded. They had made my life a constant nightmare during both sleep and wake.

But that didn't mean they deserved to die.

I drew in a sharp breath. Moltres could save herself and let Team Magma perish. Or she could save Team Magma and leave herself in the direct line of Articuno's attack. Which was the more honourable decision: to sacrifice four living creatures to save the world, or to sacrifice herself to save four living creatures?

There was no answer to that question.

Moltres continued to lower the helicopter to the ground. Just as she had almost set it down safely, a flurry of white swept from Articuno's wings towards the legendary fire pokémon.

'Moltres!' I sprinted onwards, but I knew there was nothing I could do. Even if I could somehow reach Moltres, I had no way of stopping Articuno's attack.

And so I could only stare in horror as the frosty winds swept around the fire bird, and then began to solidify around her, encasing her in ice.

There was a loud crash as the helicopter fell to the snow and rolled down a few metres, then came to a stop.

And then Moltres herself dropped to the snow, shivering, the colour drained from her plumage, the flames on her feathers extinguished. Several icicles covered her body, not totally imprisoning her like the giant frozen diamond she had been trapped in earlier, but nonetheless enough to render her powerless. She struggled to get to her feet, but only flailed and collapsed.

In a few more seconds, I was only a few metres away from Moltres. I could now see clearly the frost on the bird's dull feathers, her heavy eyes, her open beak gasping for air.

Now we were even worse off than we had been when we were trapped in the volcano. At least then, we had been able to get Moltres into the magma. This time, there was no way we could heal her. There was no way a bunch of small, low-level pokémon like us could carry a legendary bird back up the mountain to the magma.

But that couldn't mean it was over already. It couldn't. There had to be something more we could do.

Tears in my eyes, I threw my head forward and breathed a Flamethrower at Moltres. Come on Moltres, please, get up. I know we can't get you to the magma to heal you, but can't our fire help you . . . somehow? Please, Moltres.

I saw another Flamethrower appear next to me. I didn't have to turn my head to know who it was. I recognised the flames as Taylor's.

'You should have stayed in the beautiful igloo I made for you,' Articuno's chilly voice made me shiver. 'There's nothing you can do to help her. You'll both suffer the same fate she did.'

I could hear crinkling sound of ice forming above me, but I ignored it. I had to stay focussed on Moltres. I knew I was about to be hit by an attack from the legendary ice bird. I knew the horrible coldness it would bring. But what happened to me didn't matter. Moltres was the only one who could do anything to stop Articuno, and if we had to suffer to save her, then sobeit.

In a split second, the air around me went cold, and a beam of ice slammed into my back, knocking me to the ground. As I fell onto the snow, I felt its coldness seep into me, dousing the flames in my body. I shivered. It was so cold that I couldn't even feel my paws anymore. All I could feel was the frost around me.

'You two . . .' I heard a soft, crackling voice, and I rolled my eyes up to see tiny flames simmering on Moltres's wings. 'You must be Kit and Taylor . . . I should have realised earlier . . .'

I opened my eyes wide. Moltres knew our names? I tried to push myself to my feet, but when I felt snow between my fingers, I looked down quickly. My fingers. I was a human again. I glanced beside me to see that Taylor, too, had returned to his human form. I swallowed, and looked back at where Moltres lay.

'All this time, I thought you were relying on me . . . but I should have been relying on you,' said Moltres.

'What do you mean?' I gasped, leaping to my feet. 'You're a legendary pokémon! How could we possibly do anything you can't!?'

'Because you were chosen by Ho-Oh.'

I gulped. I had known all along that Ho-Oh had had something to do with all of the strange events that had been going on in my life recently. But to think that we were actually chosen by her? What could Ho-Oh possibly see in me and Taylor to choose us? How could she really believe that we could do anything against Articuno when even Moltres couldn't?

'Tell us, Moltres,' said Taylor. 'What do we have to do? How can we help you?'

'I . . . don't think I can be of any more use,' said Moltres. 'But there is still hope. You need . . . to find . . . Entei.'

'That's enough out of you,' said Articuno. 'Time to send you back where you won't get in the way.'

Suddenly, a cold wind blew over Moltres, and she began rising into the air. But she was not taking flight of her own accord. Rather, she was being pulled, limp, as if being drawn towards Articuno like a magnet.

'How do we find Entei?' I called desperately.

'The . . . Sun . . . Stone . . .'

'The Sun Stone? What's that? Where do we find it? You have to tell us, Moltres!'

'Get out of the way, you stupid kids!'

Somebody knocked into me, and I stumbled back a few steps. When I regained my balance, I saw Adrian and Rose standing in front of us, Poochyena and Numel at their feet.

'What are you doing?' Taylor demanded. 'You shouldn't be getting involved in this!'

'We're already far more involved in this than you seem to get,' said Rose. Then she reaised her voice. 'Numel! Use Ember!'

Her pokémon gulped. 'But . . . I . . .'

'Poochyena!' said Adrian. 'Before it gets too high! Jump on it and use Bite!'

Poochyena turned around to look at her trainer. 'Are . . . you sure about this, Adrian? Moltres just saved our lives . . .' She looked down at the snow.

'What are you doing, Poochyena!? Attack!'

'You do not have evil hearts . . .' said Moltres. I thought I saw a weak smile on her beak. But then her eyes closed, and one last ember fell from her wings before her fire died out.

I bit my lip, watching as the ember floated down through the cold air. What could we possibly do without Moltres? She had told us we could do more than she could, but how? We didn't even know where to begin looking for Entei.

The ember continued to drift down, till it landed, not on the snow, but on the snout of Numel. The dopey pokémon blinked, then sneezed.

'What was that?' he asked. 'I feel kind of . . .'

Suddenly he opened his eyes wide, and stood up firmly.

'What's wrong, Numel?' Rose asked. 'What did that bird do to you!?'

Numel snorted smoke through his nostrils, scraped the ground with his hooves, and sparks began spurting from the hump on his back.

'Rose, I think he's . . .' Adrian's voice sounded fearful.

Then Numel's body began to glow, emitting a light so bright I could barely make out his features. But I could still see his silhouette as it began to morph out of shape: growing larger, his hump slitting into two . . .

And then the light began to fade, and the figure I saw before me was no longer Numel, but a larger, red creature, with two volcano-shaped humps on his back. He let out a roar, and fire began spilling from his humps.

'You . . . you . . . evolved!' Rose cried. 'Yes! Finally! You might actually be able to do something useful now! Come on Num—Camerupt! Stop that bird before it gets away!'

'H—hang on Rose,' said Adrian. 'You shouldn't get so excited. Sometimes when pokémon evolve, they—'

Camerupt roared again, and began charging straight ahead, flames erupting from the humps on his back and sizzling onto the snow as he ran.

'No, you idiot!' Rose shouted. 'Don't just run off! It's in the air, not on the snow! Come back here and get Moltres!'

'Poochyena, please!' said Adrian. 'It's up to you! You're the only one left to help!'

'But . . . she saved us, Adrian . . . and she made Numel evolve . . .' said Poochyena quietly. 'I just . . .'

Adrian heaved a sigh. 'All right. I was hoping it wouldn't come down to this, but I guess it has. If we can't battle it, this is our only option.'

He reached into his pocket and took out a tiny sphere. He pushed a button on it, and it grew to its larger size, enough to fill his hand. It was a ball, white on the bottom and purple on the top, with two pink circles and a small white letter "M" written on it.

'Are you crazy!?' Rose demanded. 'We've gotta save that for Ho-Oh!'

'Sorry Rose,' said Adrian. 'I have to do this. There's no other way to get Moltres.'

'Then forget about Moltres! A Moltres in the hand is not worth a Ho-Oh in the bush, all right! You can't use that on this pokémon! We'll be fired!'

'I don't care if I'm fired. I'm only here for Moltres.'

'What!?'

Adrian didn't say another word. Instead, he leant back, swung his arm, and then lurched forward, throwing the small purple-and-white ball at where Moltres was being steadily pulled into the sky.

Did he really expect to catch a legendary pokémon in a pokéball? She may have been weak, but surely it couldn't really be as easy as that?

It looked for a moment that Moltres was too high for the ball to reach her, but then it connected with the tip of her tail feathers. The ball opened, and emitted a glowing red energy, which spread instantly over the legendary bird. I gaped as Moltres's physical form began to fade to red, and was sucked into the ball. The purple lid snapped shut, and the ball fell to the ground. It all happened so fast that I could barely believe what I was seeing.

Adrian ran to where the ball had landed. I had seen a few documentaries about trainers on TV, and whenever it showed them catching a pokémon, the ball always shook when it shut, as if the creature trapped inside was struggling to break free. But this ball lay deathly still in the snow. Did Moltres have no strength left to fight, or was this ball's energy simply too overwhelming? Either way, it just didn't seem right that a legendary pokémon could be captured so easily.

Adrian picked up the pokéball, and when he turned around, I saw a smile on his face that made me quiver. It was not an evil smile, the kind you expected to see on a criminal's face when his master plan was succeeding. It was a genuinely proud, satisfied, and almost childlike smile. And that seemed even worse, because it made me realise that despite what Rose had said, Team Magma really had no idea what they were getting involved in. He hadn't just captured a legendary pokémon like so many trainers had dreamed of. He had taken one of the few lights of hope that remained in this world. He had brought Articuno and Lugia's victory one step closer.

'I did it, Leon!' Adrian ran past me to where Leon was standing a few metres back. 'I got Moltr—'

'What do I care!?' Leon demanded, and slashed at the pokéball, knocking it out of the man's hand.

Even behind his dark visor, I could see Adrian's expression fall. 'But . . . that's what you wanted . . . isn't it?'

'Not if that's what Moltres is really like, a pathetic weakling who . . .'

The charmeleon trailed off and looked around him. In a second, I found my own eyes darting around as well. Because all around us, light was beginning to fade. The mountain had already lost most of its colour and warmth from the snow and frost. But now the light itself was fading away, as if sunset was coming in all too quickly.

Sunset? I looked up to the sky, hoping to see the pinks and oranges that painted the sky at sunset. But instead, all I saw were black clouds. I had seen those clouds before. That day, at school, when the world around me had been cold, but I had been overcome by the fire burning inside me. The day I had become a vulpix.

But I had also seen them before, hadn't I? Sometime long ago, in a distant memory. But was it in the human memories of my childhood, or in the vulpix memories I had recently discovered? I couldn't even tell anymore. All I knew was that each time I had seen those clouds, only disaster had followed.

I looked at the sun itself, and I saw a dark sphere sliding up over the glowing orb, blocking out its light. When it reached about halfway, it stopped.

I turned away from the sky and darted my eyes around again. The whole area was coated in a soft twilight, not quite pitch black, but dark enough to be unnatural at this hour. And everybody was still. Team Magma, my friends, the fire pokémon who Moltres had thawed from their frozen prisons, the humans at the base of the mountain. Even Camerupt had stopped his rampage to stare up at the sun . . . or what was left of it.

'Where is it?' I heard Taylor's voice demand. He was running over to where Adrian and Leon were gaping lifelessly at the sky.

'Wh . . . what?' Adrian asked.

'Where's the master ball? Where's Moltres?'

Adrian and Leon suddenly snapped to life, spinning around and looking in every direction. Then Adrian got down on his hands and knees and began shovelling through the snow.

'Leon, where did it land when you knocked it?' he asked hurriedly, crawling around and sweeping the snow away as quickly as he could.

'It was just there a second ago!' said Leon. 'How could you be so stupid to lose it in that short time!?'

'Look what you've done!' Rose shouted. 'You waste our only master ball, and then you lose it!? How could you be so stupid!? I swear, if I get fired over this—'

'Who cares about your job!?' Taylor yelled. 'Moltres is gone! Don't you know what you've done!? The sun being blocked out like that isn't just a coincidence! It means Lugia's halfway there! If we lose Entei as well, it's all over!'

'It can't have gone too far!' said Adrian, still crawling around desperately. 'It must be here somewhere! It must be!'

'I think I know where it is,' I said.

Everyone turned to me.

'Then enlighten us,' said Rose, putting her hands on her hips.

'Well, I don't know where it is,' I said. 'But I think I know who has it. Or has no one else noticed that Articuno's missing too?'

They all looked up to the sky. I heaved a sigh. So much for being chosen by Ho-Oh. We had come to Mount Cinder to try to find Moltres in hope that she could help us put a stop to this chaos. But all we had done was help the enemy. Previously, Articuno had only been able to trap Moltres in a prison of ice. It was an effective cage, but as we'd shown, it could be broken by a few concentrated fire attacks.

But now, thanks to Team Magma, and thanks to us being unable to do anything about it, Moltres was trapped in the one prison that was perfect for keeping a pokémon, legendary or not: a pokéball.