The mountain trembled in Miguel's grip, a rumbling verging on an earthquake emanated from the barren peak. Digging a heel into a foot-hole, Miguel twisted, lifting Taki from her precarious position. The girl, pale as a ghost, snatched at and held the boulder next to Miguel.

Taki wiped tears from her eyes with her shoulder sleeve and attempted to regain her composure.

"Thank you," she said, gratefully.

Again, the mountain shook. Pebbles dislodged and formed a near landslide of tumbling stone.

"Incoming!" yelled Miguel. "Lean into that boulder!"

Taki held onto the boulder with all her might. Totodile jumped onto the girl's back while Miguel crawled to the boulder. The vast stone shielded the trio from a majority of falling rocks, with only a few actually striking them.

The man looked to the ray of light.

'I hope he's ok,' he thought.

The crystal's glow grew brighter in Louis' grip. Suddenly, an indescribable fusion of energy, a rainbow of flux, burst from the jagged artifact. Then, the mountain, the world and all its inhabitants faded from Louis' view, replaced by a blinding, bright-white void.

There was no ground here, and yet his feet met a surface that supported his weight, there was no oxygen, and yet he could breathe.

A tone, low at first, built itself to a voice. A voice that spoke.

"You've done well, child,"

The boy craned his neck to lock eyes with the creature.

The white room began to fade back to the mountain. A large, bird-like entity stood before Louis.

It extended its wings and stared toward the darkness encapsulating the world.

"I'll handle it from here," it said.

Realisation dawned on the boy. He had seen the creature's feathers before, the Chief had placed one in his tea. Louis, near-speechless, attempted to speak the creature's name.

"You're…" he paused.

Below, Taki peered past the boulder to the sight above.

"...Ho-Oh?" she exclaimed.

The word shook Miguel and he too stared above.

"No way, he did it!" shouted Miguel, as his heart swelled with pride.

Seconds later, the feathered entity leapt from its peak and plummeted. It fell, wings close to its body, past Miguel, Totodile and Taki. A powerful wake of air nearly brushing them off the cliff-face as it descended.

As it approached the ground, Ho-Oh's wings flicked and unfurled, catching the wind.

It's velocity and aerodynamics thrusted it back into the sky and the legendary Pokémon began to soar. It passed the group again, this time on its ascent.

As Ho-Oh flew past the peak, it tucked its wings once more before extending them out to full-span. At this, a shockwave burst forth, annihilating the darkened clouds surrounding the area.

Sunlight, a beautiful golden beam, found its way to the earth, bathing the location in golden hues.

Chief Tanaka gazed at the sunlit mountain in the far distance, as a smile formed on his aged and weathered face.

"They've done it," he said to himself.

Ho-Oh soared through the sky with incalculable speed. A vast rainbow formed in its passing, a wake of hope destroying the darkness it touched as it spread throughout the world's sky.

The Ho-Oh continued, and soon its flight crossed the entire landmass, with it, the sun returned to the fields, town, and creatures below.

For the first time in days, a real sense of ease found the boy, and for a while, he stared at the sight before him.

But then, something touched his head. Startled, Louis flailed an arm upward, attempting to dislodge this new unknown. His hand brushed something, something soft and light, which then fluttered to the rocky floor. A plume of white and orange stared back up at him.

"A...a feather?" said Louis.

Some distance away, an unaware fisherman looked to the dissipating clouds.

"I told you the storm would pass," he said to his Meowth, who looked at him in a quizzical manner.

"Let's bait up!"

The Pokémon shrugged and helped the man fix his hook before the man spoke again.

"Today is going to be fantastic!"

WHOA! Ho-Oh?! Incredible!

*clears throat* Sorry. Thanks for reading. Is there something you enjoyed? Can you guess what happens next? Or...what do you hope to see in future chapters? If so, go ahead and leave a review explaining any of these reasons. (Please don't leave hurtful reviews)

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