A thunderclap echoed through the forest.
"Hey, sounds like it's up ahead!" Ash shouted to his friends. As Brock and Misty tried to catch up with him, Ash darted into a clearing and gasped in amazement. Standing majestically atop a huge rock was…
"Raikou!"
Startled by Ash's appearance, lightning emanated from the Pokémon's massive body and shot in all directions.
"Ash!" Misty watched in horror as one of Raikou's lightning bolts headed straight for Ash. In an instant, Pikachu leapt in front of his trainer and absorbed the lightning bolt into its own body. Recharged by the shock, Pikachu jumped in front of Ash, ready to defend his friend.
"Ash, get out of the…" Brock ducked to avoid being struck by a lightning bolt that Raikou sent flying in his direction. The bolt hit the tree next to him, reducing it to splinters.
Clutching Togepi, Misty darted behind a tree.
Water Pokémon are useless against electric types, she thought helplessly as she watched Ash and Pikachu dodge another lighting blast. I can't send any of my Pokémon out to help them.
"Oh, Togepi, what can I do?"
---
Suicune lay encased in a glowing sphere in the middle of what appeared to be a seventeenth-century salon while the Pokemon's captor stood in the doorway, admiring the newest addition to his collection.
"Ah, Suicune, you truly are beautiful. The paintings don't do you justice."
The man strode across the Aubusson carpet to where the unconscious Pokémon lay imprisoned. He started walking slowly around the sphere, admiring Suicune from all angles. He was so intent on examining his prize that for a moment he didn't notice what appeared to be a woman's shoe lying on the floor just behind the glowing sphere.
"Well, what have we here?"
He peered around the edge of the sphere and discovered that the shoe belonged to an auburn-haired woman lying face down on the rug. Sprawled next to her was a gray-haired man in a lab coat.
"Oh, my. I wasn't expecting guests."
---
Professor Oak slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring at an ornate ceiling painting.
Where in the world am I?
The pain was still incredible. It felt like a million needles were being jabbed into his body repeatedly. He tried to move but discovered that he was still paralyzed from the electric shock. After a minute, the pain started to subside, and he made an attempt to sit up.
Delia? Where's Delia?
He then saw her lying unconscious on the floor about ten feet away from him. He tried to stand up but his legs were still numb from the effects of the giant sphere's ray. Crawling, he dragged himself to where she lay.
Frantically, he shook her shoulder. "Delia, wake up."
Her eyelids fluttered open, then quickly closed again as she winced in pain. "Hurts…"
"I know," he said sympathetically. "It'll go away in a minute or two."
She opened her eyes again. "Where..?"
"I don't know." By now the feeling had returned to his legs, so Professor Oak decided to take a chance and stood up. Beyond the alcove where they lay was an enormous baroque salon whose ceilings and walls were adorned with gilt cherubs and many expensive paintings, sculptures, and tapestries. In the center of the salon's high ceiling was a dazzling chandelier, directly underneath which was Suicune. Professor Oak started towards the trapped Pokémon and immediately fell backwards.
"What the…?" He stretched out his hand and to his amazement discovered that there was an invisible barrier across the arched doorway of the alcove. "It's some kind of a force field," he murmured to himself as he ran his hand along the invisible boundary.
By now Delia had recovered from the aftereffects of the capture ray and sat up. As Professor Oak helped her to her feet, the large gilt-encrusted doors at the opposite end of the salon opened and a tall, elegantly-dressed young man entered the room. Smiling in their direction, he crossed the room to where Delia and Professor Oak were imprisoned.
"Quite impressive, isn't it? It's an accurate reproduction of one of the salons at Versailles, although the paintings and sculptures were my idea. That and your accommodations, although I did try to carry over some of the baroque décor."
"Who are you?" Professor Oak demanded.
"Oh, that's right. We haven't been formally introduced, have we?" The man bowed in their direction. "My name is Jiraldan, although most people refer to me simply as the Collector. I must say that it is a pleasure to have you as guests in my humble abode." He cast an appreciative glance at Delia. "A great pleasure, indeed."
Coming closer to her, Jiraldan inclined his head towards Delia. "And now that I have told you my name, you mustn't keep me in suspense any longer, my dear. I certainly would like to know your name."
"Delia."
"Delia? What a lovely name. Just like the fair maid in Robert Dodsley's poem." He began to quote:
"Beneath the myrtle's secret shade,
When Delia blessed my eyes;
At first I viewed the lovely maid
In silent soft surprise…."
Jiraldan stopped in mid-quote when he noticed Professor Oak scowling at him. "Ah, yes, Professor Oak. I'm quite familiar with you."
"We've never met," Professor Oak said curtly.
"I know, but I've spent so much time reading your scientific essays that I feel as if I've known you for quite a long time. Actually, I owe you a debt of gratitude. After all, it was your work that provided me with the necessary knowledge to obtain my prize. Yours and my brother's."
"Your brother's?" Professor Oak was confused.
"Yes. One of your colleagues, Professor Spencer Hale, is my younger brother."
"Spencer is your brother?" Delia gasped in disbelief.
"Yes, although we haven't spoken in years. We have vastly differing views on Pokémon. Spencer prefers to waste his time studying legendary Pokémon in the wild, while I prefer to study legendary Pokémon in the comfort of my own home."
"Pokémon are living creatures! They're not meant to be objects on display for your amusement! They desire and deserve their freedom just as much as we do," Professor Oak said hotly.
"I'm afraid I can't accommodate either one of you as far as that, Professor," Jiraldan said. "But don't worry. You shall soon have company."
"What do you mean?" Delia asked.
"If all goes as planned, Suicune will soon be joined by the legendary dog of lightning…"
"Raikou."
"Very good, Professor," said Jiraldan with amusement. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for the latest addition to my collection."
---
As the elaborate doors opened once again, Delia and Professor Oak scrambled to their feet.
"Do I look all right?" Delia whispered as she straightened her clothes and fluffed her hair.
"Yes, you look fine, but why…"
Delia shushed him as Jiraldan approached.
"Well, hello again. I trust the accommodations are to your liking."
"You know," Delia said, smiling broadly in his direction and batting her eyes, "I was just telling the Professor that that is such a beautiful painting over there." She pointed to a painting on a wall on the opposite side of the room.
"It's Buttacci's The Garden of Delights," said Jiraldan, pleased that Delia had taken an interest in his collection.
"It's a shame that I can't get a closer look at it. It's absolutely lovely," said Delia admiringly.
"Well, I think I can arrange that." Jiraldan pressed several buttons on a panel next to the alcove wall and with a flash of light, the force field fell. "This way, my dear." Delia stepped into the salon. "Sorry, Professor. Three's a crowd, you know," continued Jiraldan as he reprogrammed the force field.
Like all collectors, Jiraldan was enormously proud of his collection and took great pride in showing it off to guests, particularly attractive ones like Delia. He showed her every object in the huge room, taking time to explain the history and significance of each one while Delia "oohed" and "aahed" admiringly. After he had finished with his discussion on the importance of the final painting in the room, he turned to Delia.
"Well, what do you think?"
"It's all so impressive. It's just like a museum."
"I'm pleased that you enjoyed our little tour. But now, I'm afraid that it's time for you to return to your friend. Perhaps we can persuade him to join us next time." Delia watched over his shoulder as Jiraldan entered the code to release the force field. To her surprise, he picked up her hand and lightly kissed it as he led her back into her cell. "Until next time, my dear."
As soon as Jiraldan had left the room, Delia turned to Professor Oak.
"Okay, the code that releases the force field is 1638. To put it back up is 1715. The next time he lets me out, I'll find some way to…" She stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed that Professor Oak was glaring at her.
"What's wrong?" she asked, puzzled.
"While I'll admit that what you just did was a very clever and brave thing to do, it was also quite dangerous. How did you know that he wouldn't have tried to hurt you?" After witnessing her kidnapping at the hands of Entei a few months ago, Professor Oak had developed a strong protective instinct towards Delia.
She smiled reassuringly at him. "Well, don't worry. He didn't. Besides, he's far too interested in showing off his collection."
"That's not all he's interested in," Professor Oak continued with an obvious tinge of jealousy in his voice.
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a high-pitched whine not unlike the same sound they had heard when the golden sphere had snapped up Suicune. The pair watched in amazement as a panel in the ornate ceiling slid open and a huge golden sphere floated downward to rest next to Suicune. The gold ball opened to reveal a large gold Pokémon not unlike a tiger with gold and white streamers emanating from its head.
"It's Raikou," Professor Oak whispered in awe.
There was a dull thud as something fell out of the ball behind Raikou. Professor Oak and Delia couldn't see what the object was since they were on the opposite side of the room. As the gold ball floated back upward, the pedestal upon which Raikou lay started glowing, suspending the unconscious Pokémon in a sphere of glowing light.
"Oh, Raikou. You simply are extraordinary. Such magnificence!" Jiraldan had returned to admire his latest prize. As he made his way towards Raikou, he saw what appeared to be several legs behind the glowing sphere.
Not again, he thought as he discovered that the pile of legs belonged to three unconscious teenagers – two dark-haired boys lying face down and a red-haired girl lying face-up. I really do need to speak to my engineers about designing these capture spheres to collect only Pokémon, not humans.
Hmm, she looks familiar, he thought as he studied the red-haired girl's face. Now where have I seen her before?
With his foot, he flipped over the smaller of the two boys that was lying next to the girl.
Now he remembered.