Part 2 : City of Dragons

Chapter 6 : The Final Challenge

As they entered Blackthorn, Ash and his friends could see in greater details the ancient temples, palaces and shrines within the city. They walked through the ancient streets, wondering what each of the building had been used as, why it was there. It hardly seemed likely that a single government would have needed so many palaces, that a single king would have needed hundreds of homes in the same city.

Following what seemed to be the main street of the city, the soon reached what was almost certainly the pokemon center. They opened the door, and stepped in.

"Hello...what can I do for you?" The all-too-familiar voice of one of the many Joy asked them from behind the counter.

"Not much. My charizard might be a bit tired, so I guess he could use some healing, but outside that..." Ash answered. "All we need is a place for the night."

"I'll take care of that at once."

"Thank you nurse Joy!" Misty answered. The nurse looked at them and sighed.

"The common mistake, I see. My name's not Joy, I just look like them a lot - because permanently dyeing your hair red was the craze when we were all at the nurse university, and we all decided to keep at it after school. Kind of a way to remember each other. As for the rest, it's mostly our uniforms. I'm Nurse Ann. Now, if you give me your pokemon, I'll go and have them back at full health in a moment." she added

The young woman took their pokemon, and as she headed back, the five of them scattered across the waiting room, looking at all that they could find. There were flyers about the city, and its various attractions, and Ash randomly picked one to read.

Blackthorn : Blackthorn is known as the city of the dragons. It is an ancient city built in a valley in the Silver Mountains, and is famous as one of the few place in the world were dragon pokemon can be found. The gym leaders of Blackthorn have specialized in dragon pokemon for years.

"Dragon type?" he asked in surpsise.

"What?" Gary asked, turning toward him.

"This says the local gym leader trains dragon pokemon." He answered, giving the flyer to his friend.

"Dragon? That's going to be a though fight." Damian told them. "Dragon pokemon have very few weakness." He added.

"I know." Gary nodded.

"So do I." Ash added, though he didn't know THAT much about them. "But I have no idea how to beat them." He added, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. This was not going well.

"Ice types. And dragon types." Gary replied shortly. Apparently, he knew the stuff much more than Ash did. "But I doubt she's using only dragon pokemon. She must be using pseudo dragon, too." He told Ash.

"Pseudo-dragon?" Ash asked in surprise, as he had never heard the term before.

"Pokemon that looks like dragon, and learns dragon type attacks, but aren't dragon types. Charizard, Gyarados, Aerodactyl - those are pseudo dragon." His friend explained, and Ash nodded.

"Seems like most of those are weak to electricity." He noticed.

"Yeah, your pikachu might be able to do you some good in there. Same for your Charizard, he probably know a dragon move or two by now." Gary nodded thoughtfully. "But against true dragon...you really need an ice type." Gary stopped, lost in thought, as he was apparently planning out his own tactic for the gym battle. Ash turned toward Misty.

"Mist? Could I borrow Lapras for tomorrow?" he asked her. "He's part-ice after all."

"Of course Ash dear." She smiled, then took the pokeball and handed it to him. "My pleasure to help." He smiled back at her, feeling the same kind of warmth he always felt when they smiled at each other.

He continued planning his tactic late in the night, still unsure whether he would leave Pidgeot, Kadabra, Eevee or Houndoom back at the pokemon center. Eevee seemed the logical choice, as it had no type advantage, and was still too weak to do much in a fight.

And so, they went to sleep, and on the next morning they headed for the Dragon Gym. A man welcomed them near the door.

"Miss Leonhart heard about you mister Ketchum. She is waiting for you." The man told him as he entered.

"Waiting for me?" Ash answered, surprised. Why would a gym leader be waiting for a trainer like him, and why would she have heard of him in advance?

"Yes...If you will follow me?" the man asked him, before leading him further in the strangely built gym, inside a maze. They finally reached a small stony island in the middle of a pool of lava, which undoubtedly had to be the fighting area, as was clearly indicated by the white lines on it, in the traditional shape of any other fighting area of any other gym. To Ash, it looked extremly similar to Blaine's gym on Cinnabar Island, which was a platform hanging over a pool of lava, in the middle of a volcano. A woman with blue hair was the only human beside them and their guide on the small rocky island. Ash noticed huge, heat-resistant chain holding the island in place above the lava..

"Don't worry about the lava, it's just for show. It's not real lava." The man smiled as he watched their worried look. "We only use it to scare beginning trainers into doing other gyms before this one. But in your case, Ash, since you already have eighteen badges, I think you are ready to face her." As he finished saying that, he left, heading back toward the entrance of the gym.

"So. You are the one I heard so much about." The woman looked at him, a hard look. "I am Claire Leonhart, the champion of Blackthorn. Do you think you have what it takes to beat a dragon master?" she asked, in a challenging tone.

"I do." He answered, trying - without much success - to remain calm. The decoration of the gym had obviously been arranged to impress trainers, and to prevent them from being fully concentrated on the fight.

"Well, then...you know the usual rules. Each of us have four pokemon, and there is no time limit." She told him, drawing a pokeball. "Are you ready?" she asked.

"I am." Was his simple answer.

"Then, let's fight. Charizard! I choose you!"

The great orange dragon appeared, quite larger than Ash's own Charizard. Its tail flame was extremely bright, a sign of its strength and power.

Ash was not eager to risk Misty's Lapras on the field yet, and that was the only pokemon he had which would be able to talke advantage of the Charizard's fire type. On the other hand, pikachu would be perfectly able to take advantage of the pokemon's flying half.

"Pikachu! Go!" he yelled, and watched as his little mouse-like pokemon jumped from his shoulders in the middle of the battlefield to fight the dragon.

"PIKA!" His friend shouted as he did so. Ash watched the situation intently, waiting for Claire to make the first move.

"A pikachu...that will be easy...Charizard! Fire Blast!" She ordered, obviously underestimating her enemy, be it because of size, power, or type.

"Pikachu! Agility, then Thunderbolt!" Ash countered, electing to rely on Pikachu's superior speed to dodge the attack, then to fire back at the opponent.

The great dragon roared, sending forth a wave of fire aimed toward Pikachu, but the little mouse managed to dodge through a sudden bust of speed, barely even getting some of his fur singed in the process. His cheeks sparkled, and a great bolt of thunder flew from his tail, but the Charizard managed to dive under the powerful thunderbolt, avoiding it entirely.

"All right...Your pikachu is stronger than I tought" Claire muttered "Let's see how you handle THIS! Charizard, Earthquake!" she ordered the dragon.

Ash froze in panick. He knew that if the Earthquake attack hit Pikachu, the little mouse would be defeated with ease, as the power of the ground would absorb the electricity of pikachu. He looked around, trying to find a solution. The Charizard started to pound on the ground, causing the Earthquake to begin. Ripple of energy raced on the ground..

"Ash! Tell Pikachu to get on Charizard!" Misty yelled from behind, and he nodded gratefully. Misty was right, of course. Charizard, as a fire type, would need to fly to avoid the effect of his own earthquake, and if Pikachu was to jump on his back, he would have an easy shot at retaliating.

"Pikachu, use Agility to jump on Charizard!" he yelled.

Pikachu nodded, then accelerated to a blinding speed, jumping on Charizard as soon as he had taken enough speed, just before the dragon took off. A split second later, the exact spot Pikachu had been standing on exploded in a shower of dirt as the powerful earthquake took effect..

"Get that pikachu off your back!" Claire yelled, obviously knowing that unless her dragon did so very soon, it would be too late.

"Okay, now, use your Thunder attack." Ash ordered."

"PI...KA...CHUUUUUUU!" The little mouse yelled as he called upon his electric power.

Since he was standing right on top of his target, Pikachu had no problems in aiming the powerful bolt of energy. The crackling energy that fell from the sky easily knocked out the Charizard, causing him to slowly fall from the sky as Pikachu jumped off, landing on the broken ground to watch the Charizard crash on the platform. Claire recalled her pokemon, and picked up another pokeball.

"Far stronger than I tought...Well, no matter what, your pikachu won't stand a chance against this...Dragonair! I choose you!".

The strange worm like pokemon, whom Ash had only seen once before, in the Safari Zone, appeared, its shiny horn glittering in the light of the sun that was filtered through the great dome-like window on top. Pristine white wings were on each side of the blue serpentine head.

"Dragonair! Thunder Wave!" She yelled as soon as her pokemon appeared.

Before Ash had the time to give an order of his own, the dragonair released a swarm of tiny bolts from the top its horn. Pikachu tried to dodge them all, but simply could not, and soon he found himself paralyzed an unable to make a single move.

"Pikachu...come back!" he resigned himself to say. "Charizard! I choose you!" he added, sending out his own orange dragon. The great beast appeared, staring at the dragon in front of him. The two of them looked warily at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.

"Right then...Dragonair! Ice Beam!" ordered Claire, who was obviously hoping to freeze Charizard - and also hoping to take advantage of the fact that Charizard was part flying, and therefore was not as resistant to ice attacks as most other fire types.

"Charizard! Use some kind of dragon attack!" Ash ordered, realizing suddenly that he did not know if Charizard even knew such an attack. And even if he did, Ash had no idea what the attack would be named, or what it would do. He noticed from the corner of his eye Misty looking at him in near despair.

"Why don't you use some attack you know Charizard have, like Flamethrower?" she asked him.

"Because I know it wouldn't work against a dragon." He replied. "And so do you."

"Yeah, but still, relying on Charizard to choose which attack to use like that..."

A powerful golden glow seemed to surround Charizard as he stared at the blue beast, a glow that was mirrored by the light in his eyes. He charged at the Dragonair, swinging his fists and trying to bite the beast with his powerful jaws. Each strike he took seemed to cause the golden glow to fade a little, but only a little. The Ice Beam that Dragonair sent out damaged Charizard badly, but his fists soon knocked out his opponent. Claire looked at the results aghast.

"How did your Charizard learn Outrage? It's the most powerful dragon attack." Her eyes seemed filled with amazement.

"I don't know, honestly." He replied. I wasn't even sure he had a dragon type attack until now." He admitted.

"That's a big risk you took then." She pointed out.

"I know." He answered simply.

"Well, no matter. Dragonair, return! Kingdra! I choose you!" she said, recalling her Dragon and sending out yet another pokemon. This time, the pokemon was a deep blue color, and looked somewhat similar to an Horsea, although an a old and senile horsea.

"Kingdra?" Ash asked in surprise, as he had never seen or heard of the pokemon before. He drew his pokedex, and aimed it a the pokemon.

"Kingdra. The recently discovered evolved form of Seadra. Altough it looks senile, it is very powerful. It is a Dragon/Water pokemon." The machine informed him in the usual mechanized voice.

"Kindra! Use your Surf attack!" Claire yelled, her voice filled with determination.

A great roaring wave rose from nowhere, and swept over the fire lizard, like the maw of a great predator swallowing a little insect. Already weak from the ice beam that Dragonair had fired at him, Charizard could not help but faint.

"Well...then...Charizard, return! Kadabra! I choose you!" he called as he sent out his psychic pokemon

"What is it Master? the smooth voice of his pokemon asked as she came out.

"I need your help against that dragon." He answered.

"A dragon? Then I know the perfect move."

A thousand of tiny balls of energy floated out of the crystal spoon, as if Kadabra was focusing her psychic energy through it. They rushed at an astounding speed toward the Kingdra, striking it and causing the dragon to roar in pain.

"Kingdra! Use Thunderbolt!" Claire yelled, obviously out to knock out the psychic pokemon before her pokemon was defeated.

Before the Kingdra had the time to strike however, the repeated assault of the tiny balls of energy proved enough to override his defense, and the strange dragon pokemon fell on the floor, only to be recalled by Claire just before he struck it.

"Then...Dragonair! I choose you! Use your Thunderbolt attack on that Gyarados." she said, sending out another Dragonair. The beast immediatly started gathering electricity, sending the powerful bolt at the target, taking him out with one fell blow that just struck the neck of the pokemon, her weakest point.

"Kadabra! No! Return...Lapras, I choose you!" he said, sending out his last pokemon, knowing it would be a close call, even if he won.

The two pokemons stared at each other, the great blue sea-monster-like pokemon and the small winged dragon. The two trainers kept their eyes locked on the field, waiting to send out their orders at the last possible moment.

"Dragonair! Thunderbolt!" Claire ordered suddenly

"Lapras! Sing!" Ash countered, hoping that the Dragonair would fall asleep before it got a chance to fire its electric attack at Lapras.

Fortunately, Lapras' trick managed to work, and the dragonair drifted off to sleep before it could fire its powerful bolt of crackling energy at Lapras. The little dragon slowly fell on the ground, its eyelids closed. Ash smiled, as it was lucky that Lapras's son, unlike Jigglypuff's, could be focused so as to hit only a specific target instead of everyone in the vicinity.

"Okay, Lapras, now, Ice Beam!" Ash smiled.

"Dragonair! C'mon! You have to wake up!" Claire yelled from her side.

Dragonair did not wake up. The beam of Ice caught it, encasing its body in solid, unyielding ice, freezing it in place. The pokemon was obviously out of the fight, and Claire could do nothing but recall him.

She joined him, walking on the rim of the battle arena, while he recalled Lapras. She took a badge from her pocket, and handed it to Ash.

"You are really good Ash...Here is your Rising badge." She told him, handing him a badge shaped like the head of a dragon pokemon. "I had heard about you, but I wouldn't have thought you'd beat me." She smiled. "Your father always did say I was overconfident. I guess you proved him right, just like he did."

Ash tried to let the comment pass as she made it, as he didn't want to think about his father right now, though with her last comment, he was starting to have some wild suspicions about the identity of his father.

"Oh, well. When are you planning to leave, if I may ask?" she asked him.

"I don't know...we have quite a fair margin now that we are no longer going back to Goldenrod for the league championship." He smiled. "Why?"

"There is something I'd like to show you...It take place about every month, and the next time is three days from now." She told him.

"I guess we can wait that long." He shrugged. "It's not like we're in a hurry."

Chapter 7 : The Dragon's Gem

"Gloom, return..." the trainer sighed. He was a middle-aged man with a huge beard, only matched by his own size, as he seemed to be twice as large as another man. "Well...looks like you win kid." He added, recalling the fainted gloom as Ash recalled Pidgeot.

A slow grin crept on his face, as he nodded. It was his sixth victory so far today, and his pokemon were all still in very good health, even Eevee, whom he had used once or twice. He decided to let them rest a little bit after all the battling, and went to find Misty, who was close to the pokemon center, also training, as she planned to participate in the upcoming tournament, too. They walked around in the town for a long time, until they finally reached a park where they found a bench, and sat down.

"Ash?" she said quietly.

"Yes, love?"

"Do you know were are Damian and Elayne? I've been looking for them..." she asked him.

"I think they said that they would go skiing...something along the line that it would be a waste to spend two days here without going skiing once..." He answered, remembering the conversation as the young man had left earlier in the morning.

"DAMIAN said that? It's not like him...He don't like skiing...almost the only thing he like to do is reading...I wonder how it is possible to be like that. Though...I guess it makes sense, seeing how things were before he left." She said, and there was a tiny trace of pain in her voice. Although she had been far better off than Damian, her situation had not been good, far from it, rejected by her family, and not very popular at school.

"Yeah, his books didn't laugh at him, taught him a lot, and he had fun reading them. As for skiing...he did not say that. Elayne said that. And Damian would do anything for her...just like I would do anything for you..." he smiled at her, caressing her long red hair.

"I know." She smiled, then kissed him.

Their days of waiting had gone by quickly, and they were only a few hours away from the mysterious event Claire had invited them to come see. They had spent most of their time training, of course, but they had also spent a lot of time together, in the park, or visiting the older parts of the city. Even thought they were not very interested in History, unlike Damian, they still enjoyed visiting the old locations.

The hours separating them from the event dwindled quickly, and soon they were on the way to the local gym to meet Claire. She was waiting for them on the marble steps that led to the old building, between the two dragon-shaped statues that seemed to guard the entrance.

"Ah, There you are." She said as she saw them coming. "I hope you're well rested, because we'll be away for most of the night." She added. She had not told them much about what it was that she wanted to show them. The only thing she had mentioned when Ash had come back to ask her more details was that Misty could come along if she wanted. Damian and Elayne had not seemed really interested in what it was, and Gary had been off in the mountains, preparing himself for his challenge, which he had said he wanted to do alone for once.

"Yeah" Ash replied. "So, what's that thing you want to show us?"

"Something very special...You'll see. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you." She replied mysteriously.

She led them out of the town, and then south in the mountains, following a halfway-hidden path that seemed to led them along a canyon ledge toward another valley, from all that they could see. As the moon slowly rose, they reached a small ledge dominating a little valley below. In the middle of it was a small mountain lake, its pure water sparkling as the rays of the moon faintly touched it. But the lake did not catch their attention, instead, what attracted their eyes was the great stone that stood on the tiny island in the middle of it, a stone shaped like a dragon. The stone, as a matter of fact, seemed to be a crystal, and, under the faint light of the moon, they could make out the purple color it had. From what they could see, it didn't appear that the stone had been carved by the hand of man, but rather, by wind and water over centuries of erosion.

"It's an amethyst, the largest ever...and it is a sacred stone to the locals...you'll see why..." Claire quickly explained.

"The locals?" Ash asked in surprise, wondering why humans would live in such a small valley, especially one that was so hard to access.

"Yes...not humans. Pokemon." She apparently understood the reason why Ash was having difficulties with the idea of locals, and explained.

A light wind rose, coming down from the slopes of the mountains, carrying with it the freezing cold of the eternal snows that draped the mountains in a white cloak.

"It's getting rather chilly isn't it?" Misty told him as the breeze blew her hair around her head.

"Yeah..." Ash answered. The wind definitely made the autumn air, already not that warm, much cooler.

"I'm cold Ash..." She told him.

"I'll get you your sleeping bag...you can wrap yourself in it..." he offered her, though he was having the feeling that this wasn't what she wanted.

"I don't want a sleeping bag." she shook her head, a small smile on her face.

"Well what do you want then?" he asked, beginnign to see where she was going.

"You." she answered.

"Oh." He put his arm on her shoulders and brought her closer. She was shivering.

"Maybe you could get me that sleeping bag, too...now that I think of it..." She admitted, getting as close to him as she could.

"I'll do that." He smiled at her.

"But don't you dare get away from me once I'm in my sleeping bag..."

"I wouldn't dream of it" he assured her.

They waited for the better part of an hour, with Ash and Misty holding each other for warmth in the chilly air of the autumn night. Ash had taken his own sleeping bag out as well, and both of them where now lying down on the ground next to each other, watching the scene below. Ash arm was on Misty's shoulders, and Misty was trying - without much succes - to get closer to him, despite the fact that she was already pressed hard against him. Then, tiny worm-like shapes began to leave the small sparkling lake. They were only tiny shadows at first, but soon the moon was bathing the hollow in strange silver light. In that strange light, they could very well see the small snake-like creatures slithering toward the stone. Ash tried to identify them. At first he could not, but then, one got close enough for Ash to see it clearly.

"Dratini...I don't believe it...there's so many of them..." He whispered in awe.

"And there are some Dragonair too..." Misty noted, pointing at one with her hand, who seemingly stood watch over the dratini.

One of the little Dratini slowly climbed up the statue, moving steadily toward the head to wrap itself around the single horn sticking out of the stone's "forehead", so to speak..

A pure, shining moonbeam struck the enormous amethyst, and a peculiar glow appeared from the stone, filling the atmosphere with a eerie violet light. As the light reached him, Ash felt a peculiar feeling coming over him, as if the light was somehow affecting him.

The purple glow from the stone started to spread, engulfing the dratini that stood on the top of it, the dratini which soon was emitting its own bright light.

And then, the creature that stood on top of the statue was no longer a dratini, but a dragonair, with the pearly white horn

"It's evolving...they're using the stone to evolve somehow..." he whispered in amazement. Of course, there were evolution stones scattered all across the world that could trigger evolution for a few breed of pokemon, but they were few and far between. Besides which, Dragonair did not evolve by stone, and never had.

"Yeah...when we first encountered the phenomenon, all the scientist who were allowed to learn about it were puzzled, too. Those dragonairs were far too weak to have evolved, but they had...we still haven't found what's causing them to evolve in that stone, but at least we know it's due to the stone and the moon. It's one of the league's closest kept secret."

"It's so beautiful...But why did you show us? I mean, if it's such a secret..." Misty told her with a whisper.

"I'd like to have one..." Ash said dreamily at the same time.

"You can't catch those. Not during the ceremony anyway." Claire shook her head. "And, Misty, I decided to show it to the two of you...well, I dunno why. A feeling it will be important one day, maybe." She shrugged.

"What?" Misty asked in surprise, though she still managed to keep her voice low.

"I don't know. It's just a feeling I have..." Claire shrugged uncomfortably.

The ceremony went on for many long hours, over twenty dratini evolving, most of them in completely normal dragonair, but at least two of the dragonair had strange purple eyes that glowed under the moon. There might have been a third, but Ash was not too sure about it. As the sun rose and the dratini and dragonair slithered and flew back to their hiding place within the lake, Ash and his friends left their vantage point, heading back toward Blackthorn..

It was only a few hours later when they reached Blackthorn. As soon as they did, both Ash and Misty thanked Claire for letting them see such a fascinating thing, then hurried back to the pokemon center to get some rest, after spending a night without much sleep.

_______________________________

Entering the gym, Claire could not help but wonder if she had been mistaken to show Ash and Misty the shrine. It was of course that moment that her stupid cell phone choose to fill the air with the loud beeping noise that meant that someone was trying to call her. Idly, she considered not answering, but with a sigh she opened it.

"Claire Leonhart." She nodded, confirming to whomever was calling her that they had the good place.

"Darn. Here I thought this was the seeing-eye arcanine foundation." A voice replied in a dry tone on the other side. Claire groaned as she heard it. Of all people, why did it have to be HIM who would call her at that point?

"What do YOU want?" she asked, trying to avoid making snide comments.

"Oh, only wanted to check one thing with you. Is he in Blackthorn?"

"I have no idea who you are talking about." She replied dryly.

"Yes, you do. So stop it." The voice was not happy at all.

"Oh, HIM you mean." She replied on a light tone. "Yeah, he's here."

"Let him go to the shrine." She didn't expect the order, but there it was.

"WHAT?" she yelled, almost destroying the phone in the process, and startling her assistant in the gym. "Are you out of your mind?" she yelled. "The shrine has been forbidden for the last ten years, and for a reason too."

"Are you sure of that?" The voice replied in fake surprise. "Could you remind me whose idea it was in the first place to close the darn shrine?" the voice added mildly.

"And would you please tell me why that person wants me to open the shrine now?" the answer came from her lips without her even thinking about it.

"Because that person knows that certain others need to go to the shrine. You know, TWILIGHT and stuff." He said, putting a very strong emphasis on the word twilight. To those who did not knew, it would have meant nothing, but for Claire who actually knew what he was referring to, it made very much sense. She gulped.

"Are you sure he is?" She asked.

"Yeah. Let him - and any of his friends who wants to tag along - go there. In fact, make sure at least he go there." He told her in a hard tone. She could easily imagine how angry he must be looking - she had always been good at annoying him.

"All right, I'll do it." She smiled, then paused.. "But you owe me one." She suddenly added.

The only answer from the other end was a sigh, and the sound of a phone being closed.

_________________________

Later that day, Misty and Ash sat on what had more or less become their bench in the park in the few days they had been in Blackthorn, watching the tall mountains that surrounded the city. The bright light of the sun reflected on the eternal snows, once again giving Ash the feeling that he was in a dream as the sparkling white cloak that covered the shoulders of the peak appeared before his eyes..

"It was beautiful wasn't it Mist?" He commented, pulling her closer to him, referring to what they had seen the night before.

"Yeah..." She turned toward him, and shock filled her face as she saw something on his own, something she had obviously not expected to see and that she found quite distressing.

"Ash...is something wrong with you? Are you feeling sick or anything...?" she asked, sounding extremely worried. He looked at her curiously, not knowing what could have worried her so much.

"No...I'm all right...What's the problem Misty?" he answered, thinking back on the strange feeling that he had had the night before, when he had first seen the purple glow. This was the only time he had felt weird, not even wrong, since they had reached Blackthorn.

She did not answer and her eyes told him she was too stunned to utter a word. Instead, she silently took a mirror from her bag and handed it to Ash, her mouth still half-open, staring at him. Since it apparently was his face that had filled her with shock, he looked at it in the small mirror. He took a first look, and immediately saw that there was something different, something changed about himself, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not figure what it was. He looked again, trying harder to find what was changed about himself, but still not finding what it was.

Then he saw, and he felt his own mouth dropping open without a sound, as he watched what he saw in stunned silence . Before, his eyes had always been a dark brown.

Now, they were the exact same color as the eyes of those two Dragonairs - and as Danea, Claire, and a few others he had met for that matter.. A deep, sparkling purple that almost seemed to glow with an inner fire..

Chapter 8 : Shrine of the Dragons

Ash stared at the mirror for a long, very long time, not believing what his eyes were now telling him about themselves. There was no way his eyes could have changed color like that for no reason. He was NOT a pokemon. He did NOT evolve at all, let alone by the glow of a strange stone. A brief smile appeared on his lips at the idea, soon replaced by the worried frown that he could see, only far more worried ,on Misty's face.

"Ash! There you are! I've been looking for you." He heard a familiar voice from further off in the park and turned to face Claire walking toward them quite fast.

"Wha?" He said as he did so. "Oh, hi Claire!" He said, trying to sound as cheerful as he could.

"Something wrong?" She asked him, and though she sounded interested in what he was saying, there was almost an undertone of - could it be amusement? - in her voice.

"Yeah..." he replied as she came closer.

Of course, she immediately saw what was wrong upon reaching them, as she looked at him.

"Oh, that." She shook her head slightly, and to his annoyance Ash almost thought she was about to laugh at him. "It's nothing wrong." She continued shaking her head. "It happens once in a while when humans are exposed to the dragon stone." As she said so, he had to resist the urge to strangle her. There were after effects to witnessing the glow, and she had forgotten to warn them about that. "It varies from person to person. Mine was the ability to understand dragon pokemon, yours...Honestly, I don't know what yours will be. As I said, it changes." He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that the after effects were not going to be anything bad.

"So...you're sure it's not a disease or anything..." Misty asked, obviously still worried.

"No, it's not." Claire sighed, then shook her head. "Don't worry Misty. He's going to be alright." She still seemed to want to laugh at them and their fear, but to be restraining herself.

Misty breathed a sigh of relief. "That's...good." She breathed, putting one arm around his waist and hugging him fiercely.

"Why were you looking for us?" Ash asked her, remembering what she had said upon her arrival.

"Ah, well...a...friend..." She seemed to choke a little on the last word "called, and asked me to make you an offer. I'm not too sure about it myself, but my *friend* insisted so..." she explained, though Ash noticed she wasn't giving much in the way of details.

"What?" Ash asked curiously, wondering what she would dislike so much.

"Well, you see that mountain there?" she said, pointing at what was by far the largest of the mountain in the vicinity, a mountain which was just east of the town.

"Yeah..." he answered, looking at the cloud-shrouded monster.

"Somewhere high up in the mountain, there is a...shrine, or something like that. I saw it once, but apparently not everyone who saw it remember it the same way." She slowly explained. "Anyway...he think you Ash might be interested in the shrine. He also said that if any of your friends wanted to tag along, I was to give them special clearance...." She sighed once the explanation was over.

"You seem to...dislike the idea...Why?" Misty asked, her eyes suspicious. Apparently, she was a bit unhappy with Claire over the matter of the change in color of Ash's eyes, and how she had conveniently forgotten to warn them about it.

"Well...going there has been...kind of...forbidden for the last ten years because too many people died going there...it takes a special clearance to get in now..." she explained.

"Sound dangerous..." said Ash, unsure about the whole idea suddenly.

"Oh, it is." The reply was quite clear.

"I don't think...I don't think I'll go." He replied, not willing to risk his life to visit a shrine that he might, according to a gym leader who was far from open with them, find interesting.

"Coward, I see?" Claire said, and with a quick flicker of her wrists, she had her hand on his jacket - and his rising badge in her hand.

"You get it back when you get back from the shrine. Sorry Ash, I have orders." She told him, as she made sure to keep the Rising badge safe.

"Just who are you working for?" Misty asked her. "If you are after killing Ash..." she looked at Claire wonderingly, and Ash knew with a definite certitude that she was thinking about the person who had forced her to become Shadow.

"I'm not after killing him - or getting him killed." She replied with a toss of her head. "I've got orders from the league, and I'm doing what they tell me." She looked at him. "Now what is it going to be? The shrine or the badge?"

Ash shook his head in disgust, glaring at the gym leader. "The shrine."

Misty sighed. "If Ash's going, then I'm going to." She told Claire. "And let me tell you, you're really...." Her eyes were hard as she left it hanging. Ash and her both walked away angrily.

"One last detail." She looked at the two of them. "You'll have to leave your pokemon back here." She walked away.

As they returned to the pokemon center, walking through the town so that they could go prepare for the trek in the mountain that had been forced on them, they met Damian, who ran toward them.

"Where have you been?" he asked, a relieved look on his face.

"We were with Claire, remember? She invited us to go see something?" Misty gently reminded him.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I guess I forgot." He admitted. "What are we doing now? Are we leaving?" he asked.

"No...something else we have to do..." Misty replied evasively.

"Oh, k." He shrugged. "Don't take too much time though." He looked at them. "You wouldn't want to miss that competition...we aren't on a tight schedule or anything, but..." he left it hanging, and Ash nodded. Damian was right, he certainly did not want to take the risk of missing the tournament.

They entered the pokemon center, Damian instead going off to wander the city, probably to look at the ancient ruins or some other harmless and none too useful pastime he often went on. In the meantime, they gathered what they would need for their trip - food, warm clothes, as they, from what Claire had told them, expected to have to go quite high in the mountain, and the various odd items that might come in handy. They went up to sleep early that night, tired from their previous sleepless night, and wanting to get started at dawn the next day on mountain climbing.

The sun had barely started to rise, bringing a gray light over the world, when they woke up the next morning. In a world filled with shadow, they ate a quiet breakfast, trying not to think too much of the day that was ahead of them - maybe even days.

"Shouldn't we tell our pokemon?" Misty asked him as she pushed away her plate, having eaten as much as she could.

"Yeah, I guess we should." He nodded, picking his pokeballs from his belt and releasing his pokemon. They all appeared. Pikachu, who had stayed at the pokemon center for the night before, joined them. Briefly, Ash explained the situation to them, and they all looked at him strangely. Pikachu had a sad look in his eyes, and the look on Kadabra's face seemed to be even stronger...sorrow, perhaps? Ash could only wonder why his pokemon would have such feelings about him visiting a shrine. Charizard seemed curious, and so did Pidgeot. Houndoom nodded simply, his coal-like black eyes hard as stone. Eevee did not seem to understand much what he was saying, if at all.

Recalling his pokemon, Ash handed them over to the nurse whom they had informed of the fact that they would have to go away for a few days earlier.

"I'll take care of them until your friends wake up." She nodded. Elayne and Damian had not yet risen, and Ash was a bit unsure still about the idea of leaving the two of them in charge of his pokemon, but he could see no other choice. Gary had not yet returned from his pokemon-catching trip in the mountain, and at least Elayne was a trainer like him, so she was bound to know how to take care of them. Still, he wished Gary was back, or that there was some other way.

They slowly walked out of the pokemon center, reluctant to approach the new step that loomed ahead of them - both philosophically and literally - the huge mountain that they would have to climb up, for a while at least, in order to reach the shrine.

"You ready?" Misty asked him, worries written all over her face.

"I guess I am." Ash said, feeling very unsure that he truly was. "As ready as I'll ever be." He told her, taking her hand in his.

"Well... " She looked at him. "Then I guess we should get started." She said hesitantly, her voice carrying the fear that she felt, the fear that both of them, or even worst, one of them would not come back.

Climbing the mountain was no easy task, the daunting size of the titan combining with steep slopes, and narrows way trapped between the foot of a cliff and the summit of a treacherous canyon. The fact that they had to try to do their best without the help of their pokemon did not help either, and Ash was struck by memories of his second Orange League gym challenge, where he had been forced to do much the same. Even using the walking sticks they had picked up early in the trek, it was not easy.

They stopped from time to time to rest, eat, or simply watch the stunning scenery - the gray and white of the mountains standing against the light blue of the pure sky, with the tiny Blackthorn barely visible far bellow. Finally, they reached a place that seemed to be the cabin that Claire had told them was near the entrance of the shrine.

Ash pushed the door open, and peered in - only to let out a startled cry at the sight of a familiar figure waiting inside. His long brown hair hanging loose over his shoulders, his woolen cloak wrapped around him, and his swords lying before him as he sat cross-legged on the floor of the cabin, Gary seemed to be lost in thought.

"Gary?" He asked once the surprise had mostly passed away.

"Ash? I'm surprised to see you here." He replied slowly. "You are here to visit, the shrine, I assume?" he asked him. "And you too Misty?"

"Yeah." Ash nodded. "Claire kinda forced my hand in visiting it." He shook his head.

"Ah." Gary looked at Ash thoughtfully. "Personally, I'm here because I had to come back here. I came here -in secret - shortly before the Team Rocket trouble, and I was told to come back once I had done certain things." He smiled.

"You...you went there already?" Ash asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Wasn't that bad...all that happened was that I got to relive my life - but from the point of view of my friends and my family. Not that bad, as I said." He shook his head. "Though I admit that the parts were I got to be you when I was a jerk..." He shook his head slowly. "I'm really sorry about what I did back then Ash." He looked at his friend sadly.

"It's all right Gary." Ash smiled. His friend smiled back.

"Uh...can I make a suggestion?" Misty voice suddenly interrupted them.

"Of course dear." Ash smiled back, looking at her with a warm smile on his face.

"I think we should all get settled here for the night. Then, on tomorrow, we steps in the shrine. She suggested. "We can wait until after we're settled in to discuss, uh?" she pointed out.

"True." Garry nodded.

"Yeah, I guess we could do that." Ash added, starting to unpack his things in a corner of the room.

They talked for the better part of the evening, both of the shrines and of much beside, of the new tournament that they would soon face, and of the many strange events that had taken place recently. Team Rocket had been taken over, and Misty had been kidnapped. Then, there was the mysterious attempt at kidnapping Ash near Lake Rage, which made no sense at all.

When they woke up the next morning, after a night of good sleep, they were ready to face whatever was ahead, and they stepped confidently within the shrine. As they walked inside the strange stone building with huge pillars that had their base and top carved to look like dratini and dragonair, a strange white mist rose from the crystal-like ground. Soon, the light mist had become a full sized fog, and they had all lost trace of each other.

Chapter 9 : Ancestral Memories

Looking around in dismay, Ash tried to find Misty, but could not, as the thick white fog prevented him from seeing much that was not directly beside him. Gary was nowhere to be seen either, but Ash was far less worried about his friend than about his girlfriend. He kept on walking forward, calling out her name repeatedly in the hope that she would somehow hear him, and try to make her way toward him by the sound of his voice.

As suddenly as it had risen from the ground, the strange fog lifted, leaving him able to see the world around him again. Even so, Misty was still nowhere to be found, and neither was Gary, despite his best effort at trying to find them. All there was that he could see was the crystal floor, which somehow seemed to be on the top of a fire or some other source of light as it shone, and the great crystal columns rising from the ground to support the roof, which Ash could barely see, but which seemed to be much the same as the floor.

He took a step forward, and the world seemed to blur around him, everything vanishing from sight in strange waves of distorted colors.

____________________________

As the world became visible again, Ash found himself in a completely different location. It was, unless he missed his guess, a house somewhere in Blackthorn. From what he could see through the windows, there were mountains everywhere, the same mountains he had seen for the last few days, their snow capped peaks shining as they challenged the sky.

A young man, only a few years older than Ash himself, wearing a long cloak stood by the doorway that lead out of the room, his hand on the handle. Two slightly younger women Ash knew well sat on chairs by the old wooden table. One, her silver hair hanging loosely all around her head, had a look of pain on her face as she held a small crying baby in her arms. The other woman also held a baby, and Ash gasped as he realized who the baby had to be - himself.

What...what the hell is that? he wondered, looking at his mother, his aunt and the cloaked man, who seemed somehow familiar.

"Are you sure about it?" His mother asked softly, tears in her voice.

"Yeah...you said yourself you didn't want Ash to grow up in the spotlight..." the man shook his head.

"He'll hardly be able to avoid it anyway, with his last name the same as yours." Danea countered, holding the small form of Tanya close to her.

"That's why I'll make sure to have mine changed." The man countered. "It's not like many people know my last name yet." He shook his head. "It's the best I can do...to do what I have to and let you two have some peace." His eyes were sad as he said so.

"I know..." his mother nodded slowly. "Still...try to come back to see me sometime..." she carefully handled the baby she held - Ash himself - to Danea, and walked up to the man, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"Take care Lance. I'm nothing without you." She whispered softly, and Ash gasped again as the name flew out of her lips. Lance - there was only one Lance who looked anything like that - Lance Blackthorn, the leader of the elite four. Ash had always wondered why he had such a name, now he knew. It was not the real name, it was a name changed in a matter of moment to ensure the anonymity of a young kid so that he could grow up in peace.

Himself.

The world blurred around him again, and the vision faded.

_______________________

Taking one more step, Ash found himself surrounded by the forest of crystal column again. There was now a slight pulsing light within each of the column, as if the flames under the floor were now slowly spreading inside the great pillars of diamond.

As he took yet another step, the crystal forest vanished again.

_________________________

This time, the cyrstal forest became a real one, great trees lancing out toward the night sky above as Ash looked around, trying to find why he was seeing this new vision, what revelations awaited.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you" a voice snarled, Lance's. Ash turned to see a clearing slightly behind him. In the clearing, Lance was there, a gun in his hand aimed at a man's heart. The man looked like Giovanni for the most part, though there was something more sinister about him.

"Kill me. And you kill the father of your niece." The man answered. Ash felt as if had been struck in the face again by that declaration. The man, whom Lance was about to kill, was Tanya's father?

"One more reason to kill you. You RAPED my sister." Lance shot back, anger flaring in his eyes. "With the help of that traitor of a son..." Lance's anger seemed to be without end, and deep inside, Ash could do nothing but understand why Lance felt that way about it. Had he not been frozen in place by the strange spell that allowed him to see and hear, he would have attacked the man, putting all his strength in a savage strike.

"Giovanni? A traitor? To me, perhaps." The voice of the man was calm and at the same time condescending. "He didn't know a thing about what I had planned. And thanks to you, he paid the price of betraying me." The man smirked. "And back to the point, you could never even harm me, Ketchum." He said mockingly, and the last few doubts Ash had had about the earlier vision vanished - Lance, the leader of the Elite Four and the Kanto chief of state, was indeed his father. His mind reeled as he realised that no matter how much he did, there was almost no way for him to ever equal his father.

He looked again at the scene, and froze in panic as he saw that the man had kicked Lance's gun out of his hand. He had also drawn a gun of his own, and now the situation was dramatically reversed. Ash wanted to help desperately, fighting against the unseen bonds that prevented him from doing anything but see, hear and feel the events.

"At last. Lance Ketchum, at the end of my gun. Just where I can kill him." There was a deep satisfaction in the voice of the man. "You don't know how long I waited for this moment...I'll kill you...but first I'll make you suffer...like your sister suffered..."

Ash watched in utter despair as Lance closed his eyes, waiting for the pain, and for the bullet to tear him apart. There was the sound of a bullet being fired, but Ash was sure that it had not come from the man's gun. The man slowly toppled to the ground, falling, a darker spot barely visible on the back of his suit. Ash turned his eyes slowly, and saw. At the edge of the clearing, a much younger looking Giovanni stood, a smoking gun in his hand.

"For Danea." he whispered, and Ash felt unspoken pain in the voice.

The vision blurred and vanished as the wind of time carried away the memory.

_________________

As the forest of crystal appeared again, Ash barely noticed the fact that the light of the column had become slightly brighter, as his eyes rested on a figure standing further ahead, though there was no way for him to tell if it was Gary, Misty, or someone else, perhaps someone lost forever in the crystal column, one of those whom Claire had said never had returned.

He tried to run toward the figure, but before he could do so, yet another vision swallowed him.

__________________

There were nine of them, gathered, and in front of them, a male figure clothed in black. A figure clothed in black, with great black feathered wings, with their tips looking almost as if they had been soaked in blood, their crimson color making for a surprisingly beautiful look. Long black hair covered his shoulders, and he held a long, slightly curved sword in each of his two hands.

Aside from the fact that they all wore long cloaks and a metallic circlet over their head, there was no way to claim that the nine standing against him were similar looking - nine, and two others really. Looking past the group of warriors he could see immediately, there were two more. One held a set of sword he knew well, her body clad in what almost seemed to be a bathrobe, with a strangely shaped belt holding it together at her waist. Long raven-black hair flew in the wind as she started desperately at the nine warriors and their mysterious opponent. Yet again, Ash found his eyes drawn to the two blades she was holding, the two that now belonged to Gary. The other seemed to be a musician of some sort, perhaps a bard, as he held a golden harp close to him.

The dark angel's two swords seemed to repulse the light of the sun.

"So. My sister's champions have assembled?" he asked the nine warriors. One of them, with a golden circlet resting on the top of his head and a long blue cloak with the shapes of golden dragons on it answered.

"We are ready."

With that, the nine warriors drew their weapons - bow, blade, spear and mace - and charged at the dark angel, throwing themselves at the being Ash could only guess was the lord of night Giovanni had told them about what seemed eons ago.

As the sword of the blue cloaked warrior clashed with one of the blade of the dark angel, the vision vanished.

_________________________

Ash stood still for a moment, his mind still reeling from what he had just seen - a mythical fight that, according to legend, had taken place about a thousand year ago. A thing that had, as far as he was concerned, never happened. Something that was just a dream, the result of someon's deranged imagination running a bit too wild. And yet he had seen it, along with all those other vision filled with truth. Opening his eyes to the light-filled crystal columns, he again caught sight of the figure ahead of him. This time, there was no doubt that it was Misty, but no doubt either that she was crying.

Ash desperately tried to avoid falling in new visions as he fought to reach her, but was taken by another as he tried to move.

__________________________

A mighty storm raged around the small ship, waves trying to break it apart, as the young raven-haired boy kept his hand tightly wrapped around the mast, so as not to be taken away by the wind or by the falling water that swept the boat each time the sailors were not quick enough to avoid the roaring waves.

The boy seemed to be crying in fright, clutching a sword in his hand that seemed oddly familiar to Ash, as if had seen it before, yet he knew it wasn't either of Gary's. A girl came, and put her arms protectively around the shoulders of the boy. He turned to look at her, fear on his face.

"Tomoyo?" he asked, frightened.

"We'll be alright Akira-chan." The girl told him, holding him tightly. "We'll be alright."

Another wave crashed over the ship, and the vision vanished.

___________________________

Misty was now only a shadow as the glaring light of the crystal columns became too strong, a barely visible shadow. He tried again to run toward her, knowing that it was more than probably a futile gesture, yet compelled to by the sound of sobbing he heard from her direction. Whatever she was seeing, if anything, had to be tearing her apart.

The light of the column seemeed to flood him as yet another vision appeared.

_____________________________

Again, he found himself in a great forest, but this time, in the middle of the day, the light of the sun even so barely appearing, held at bay by the leaves of the great trees that surrounded him. There was a path in the middle of the forest, on it, a young woman rode a strange beast that looked like a Rapidash, except that the mane was not burning, and that it had no horn. The woman herself had long black hair, and a sword in a scabbard hanging from her belt.

As she raced on the road that ran in the middle of the forest, there was a tiny roar of flame in front of her. Her...creature...stopped in surprise, and the young woman jumped off it, going toward the source of the flame. Ash saw it quite soon - a wounded baby charmander in the forest. The woman seemed about to draw her sword, and Ash felt like screaming...

Then, she seemed to renounce drawing the sword, and instead picked up the charmander, who looked at her curiously, yet fearfully at the same time. She gently stroked the creature head, and Ash could see the mixed emotions in her eyes as well. On one side, this was a creature the kind of which she was sworn to kill, on the other, it seemed so helpless...the emotions of the young woman seemed to play themselves in Ash's mind, as if he could feel everything she felt.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you are safe." She whispered to the charmander, holding it tightly. "I think you could be much better as a living ally than as a dead enemy..." she added.

As the world vanished from around him, Ash realized in stunned amazement that the woman had to be the first pokemon trainer ever, or something to that effect.

_________________________

There was only light as he stepped out of the dream one last time, light and a strange object lying on the floor. He bent to pick it up, wondering what it was, and as soon as his hand touched it, he fainted, the world fading completely from around him, this time not to be replaced by visions.

Chapter 10 : What Might Have Been

Looking desperately through the fog, Misty tried to see where Ash was, feeling suddenly very cold and alone. There was no one else with her, and she had to face something unknown, something that might be dangerous. She tried to steel herself, but for once in her life, she simply could not summon the strenght to face it.

"Ash...Ash? Where are you?" she shouted, looking around, desperately trying to find him"Ash...please, it's not funny." She added pleadingly, but no answer came. As the fog lifted, she still could not see Ash, but only a forest of crystal column, an ominous sight somehow. A place she was reluctent to enter.

She took a step forward, and the column faded from view, replaced by something she knew all too well.

__________________

The streets of Olivine were damp, as more water fell from the sky in a fierce thunderstorm. It was the single moment were Shadow and Danea had battled, and she could see the orbs of darkness and the arrows of light facing each other again in a dreadful showdown.

Again, as had happened the last time, Ash rose, shouting something to Danea. Again, Shadow turned to throw an orb of darkness at the young man. Misty watched in horror as she lived again that fateful moment. Only, this time, Richie knocked Ash to the ground a second later.

The chunk of brick fell on Ash, crushing his skull, and Misty screamed in horror, a scream that none of the others there, Shadow or Danea, Richie or Gary, could hear..

___________________

Hot wet tears fell from her eyes as the vision faded away, as she realized again how close they had come to loosing each other in that fateful moment.

Without Ash, there was no way she could go on. A thousand time she had asked herself what would have happened if things had turned out otherwise at a moment or another in her life. With a sinking feeling, she realized that the crystal column meant to show her what would have happened.

What might have been - the dark side of it. How things would have turned worse, had her past been different. She looked around, wondering where Ash was, and reluctantly took a step forward, hoping that there would be no new visions. Unfortunately, as she took a step forward, swirling mists envelopped her, and the world vanished, replaced by images of, she supposed , what might have been.

___________________

The blue haired young man looked at her - the girl she supposed was her - curiously, and a bit fearfully as well. She wore a Team Rocket uniform, strangely. As she looked again, she realized with a start that the man talking to her was James. They were sitting in a ditch by the roadside, in some desolate, empty country side.

.

"Are you sure you want to go that far to get him?" he asked her, his voice shaking. "He might not survive."

"So?" She shrugged. "That pokemon is unique. Team Rocket need the money. I don't care if my father has a "no casualty" order out. I'll do what it takes." She replied bluntly. Looking at herself - or rather, at this darker side of her, Misty saw that she was holding a gun in her hand.

"He's there." James reported, and, looking where he was looking, Misty gasped. Ash was there, walking on the road.

"You got the stun gun ready James?" her dark mirror image asked him. He nodded, and the real Misty watched in horror as they leveled one weapon at Ash, the other at Pikachu.

She did not even have the time to scream in horror, as the world vanished from around her.

__________________________

Hot tears ran down from her cheek, as she looked around ,trapped. She did not wish to stay trapped her forever, but going out of the columns meant facing more visions, perhaps darker visions. Maybe, if she had not met Ash, things would have been better for him.

She mustered her courage, and walked forward, facing darker visions with each step, visions of what would have been had they not met. How she would have died, how he would have died a thousand time. How they simply could not go go on without each other.

He kept dying, and each time he died alone, each time he died because he was alone, because there was no one to help him, to support him. To simply be with him. And each time he died, she felt as if a piece of her was thorn away from her spirit, as if she was dying with him. With the end of each vision, the room seemed to fill with light, light brighter than any she had ever faced, as if she was walking inside the sun itself.

And then, she took a step, and no vision came to face her, not that she would have seen them as her vision was blurred from so many tears, the tears she had wept as she had fought to make her way forward in the crystal columns.

As her eyes finally dryed out, having no more tears to shed, she looked around, only to see, right in front of her, the sinuous body of an amethyst-eyed dragonair..

"Why are you weeping? " the voice of the dragon was filled with sympathy as she looked at her with big, calm eyes. With a start, Misty realized that dragonair did not talk, and a second later that the voice was actually within her mind.

"Because..." she could find no way to express it, to tell the creature what she had seen.

"The alternate realities." The dragon nodded. "The terrible sight of what might have been, how things you wished for so long would have harmed those now closest to you. It is the most terrible test of those that the columns may unleash, but it is also the one that temper the strongest souls."

Misty nodded weakly, though as it was she certainly did not feel like she had a strong soul.

"Just...just who...what...are you?" she asked finally, looking at the creature in wonder.

"I am known as Syldra" the little dragon nodded. "As to what I am, I am a dragonair, obviously, though I am also the one they call the Oracle of Waves, and as such the one who is to follow as one of your companions, Lady of Mists. Now, I need you to follow me."

No longer trying to understand what was happening, Misty followed the dragon down one of the flight of stairs, wondering where it was that she was leading her. After what seemed like hours of walking down, they finally reached a great iron door. There was no doorknob, but all it seemed to need was a simple push from Misty's hand to open. She slowly stepped in the room, the dragon waiting at the door, her purple eyes shining with ancient purpose. As she walked in the room, Misty could see a dark shape lying on the floor. She walked toward it and picked it up. It was a beautiful scabbard, red, gold and black, with a sword resting in it. The handle of the sword seemed made of gold, with turquoise gemstones and nacre. Misty stared at the hilt for a long time, before slowly drawing the sword, wondering for a brief moment how it was possible for a metallic blade to have survived as long as it must have been there without rusting at all.

Yet, somehow, it had survived it, and there were no traces of rust on the blade as she looked at it, her eyes looking back at her as they reflected on the gleaming blade. She slashed at empty air, wondering how it was that such a good sword - even without much knowledge of weapon she could feel that the curved blade she held was of extremely good quality - could have found its way to the shrine in the first place.

As she held the sword still, she felt as if a weight was slowly settling down on her shoulders, and she fell to the ground, her eyes heavy. Behind her, Syldra's eyes were filled with a mysterious purple glow.

________________________________

As the fog lifted around him, Gary only smiled. He had been there before, and he knew he had already passed the test the other two would be put through. It had not been easy, but he had made it through. Now, he was coming to finish what he had begun on that day, over a year before.

"You have returned." the voice welcomed him calmly. Gary did not answer, there was no answer to give, as the truth was already known to both of them.

"It is good that you have. Follow me." The voice added, and a strange pokemon appeared. Without reluctance, Gary followed him.

"You have requested our help in coming to term with the spirit that haunts you." The voice spoke right through his mind, and again Gary did not answer. They arrived in a small circular room.

"To come to term with the spirit which haunts you, you must accept the burden she carried. Only then will the two of you be able to work a one."

Gary hesitated. He had no idea what the burden was, had no idea what accepting it might mean for him.

"Since the dawn of time there has been nine oracles, the guardians of destiny." The voice explained. "The oracle of Heavens, the oracle of Waves, the oracle of Light, the oracle of Rage, the oracle of Nature, the oracle of Spirit, the oracle of Night, the oracle of Crystal, and the oracle of Change. Eight pokemon and the last one a human." The voice continued. "That burden is not always obvious, it must be accepted by the one who is to bear it." It explained again, adding to what it had already said. "Tomoyo Ookido, your ancestor and the spirit which haunts you was the Oracle of Change, a thousand years ago. Will you now take the burden?"

Gary hesitated, an ominous feeling creeping through his bones. He knew that accepting the burden would not go without a price, that there was something about it that should have scared him completely. Yet, he was not scared.

"I'll do it. I don't know if I'll live to do it, but I'll try." He answered, nodding.

"Then, it is time for you to come face to face with the spirit that has haunted you for a long time." the voice spoke to him again, as he felt pain flashing in his hands, looking upon them to see a tiny wheel-like mark burned in the flesh of each hand.

The world blurred. When he looked around himself again, he found that he was in what seemed to be an empty room. There was no source of light that he could see, but yet, there was no darkness, as if the walls themselves were the light, though it was a pale, weak light. A woman stood in front of him, a woman who seemed to be perhaps in her early twenties. She wore a long blue silken kimono, the traditional clothe of the people of Hosho. Her dark black hair were tied behind her head, and her eyes were hard, the eyes of a warrior.

"So you are the one I live in." She looked at him curiously, bowing slightly. Not knowing why, Gary returned the bow.

"I suppose I am." He answered carefully.

"The ultimate great-grandson of my brother." She continued. "My descendant. It is good to meet you at last."

"That's true." Gary nodded. "Though I don't understand why you haunt me." He admitted.

"Haunt you? That's not the exact term. I do not haunt you, I guide you. And...to be honest, I hoped to be reborn with your sister, so that I would be able to be with Ash." She admitted, sighing. Gary did not react, even though this explained - as he had started to suspect already - the way he felt drawn to Ash against his will, as if a part of his mind yearned to be with the young man, while the part that - as he realized now - was truly him yearned to be with Duplica. Or rather, had yearned to be with Duplica, as he obviously could no longer be with her. He sighed.

"Why? Why would you want to be with Ash?"

"Because of Akira. He was Ash's ancestor - and the man I was in love with." She shook her head sadly.

"And now...now, Ash is a lot like Akira, so you hoped to be able to be with him." Gary nodded, piecing together what he had heard her saying those time she took over his body and what she had just told him.

"Yes." She nodded slowly. "I knew he would be like Akira, because his family...his family has certain peculiarity that ensure that every thousand year, one of them is born who is the same in spirit as the first of them." She explained. Gary nodded again, looking at the strange mark of a turning wheel that had mysteriously appeared in his hands. The mark of the Oracle of Change, he supposed, as he noticed that the same mark appeared in the hands of Tomoyo.

"But now, you can't be with him." Gary looked at her, feeling waves of sympathy overwhelming him.

"Obviously." She answered shortly, and Gary could feel that she was fighting to avoid weeping. "It is not really a change. I loved him, he didn't love me back then. Now he couldn't even begin to love me." She shook her head sadly, and wet tears appeared in the corner of her eyes.

Without a word, Gary rose to hold her in a comforting hug. She let her head rests on his shoulder as she wept.

He had no idea how long they stood like that, before the world blurred again and he found himself sitting in the log cabin near the shrine. Inside him, the spirit of Tomoyo seemed to be resting, no longer haunting him. Ash and Misty were nowhere to be seen, as he slowly walked outside to look at the world shrouded in the shadow of midnight. Picking up his belonging, he went to take a walk, hoping to reach a place he had seen twice already before dawn, so that he could see the sunrise, which was spectacular from that one place.