Chapter 10: The Right Help

Danger.

Kevin felt the danger sense go off. Looking around, he saw nothing. However, he knew it was there. It appeared to be pure darkness.

Wait… there, Kevin thought, looking in a direction. Did I just see movement?

Suddenly, a form stepped forward and revealed itself. A Rocket member now stood before Kevin.

"We've got you surrounded, Kevin," the Rocket said. "You can either give in now peacefully… or you can go rough.

Suddenly, the darkness behind him took form to more Rocket members. In fact, it seemed like a wall of Rockets suddenly encircled him.

"I don't know how you got here, but I'm not serving you!" Kevin shouted.

Before Kevin could react, a rope suddenly was thrown from the mass and wrapped around his neck. Reacting to the rope, he reached his thumb underneath it and cut it, freeing itself. Immediately after that, though, another rope, with a rock tied to the end, wrapped around Kevin's foot and pulled him to the ground. A third rope, which turned out to be a net with spikes, caught Kevin from the shoulders down and pinned him to the floor. With that, the mass suddenly descended on him.

"Get away from me!!" Kevin said, struggling. But it was no use. Darkness swirled on him, and suddenly he awoke to find himself within a war suit.

"No," he said in a panic. "No! This can't happen!"

*                                              *                                              *

"NOOOOOOO!!!"

Kevin jumped up from his sleeping position on the floor in the corner of the room and pulled out Diamond Blade. A moment later, he sheathed it and felt himself. No war suit.

Kevin's fright turned to anger. "Stupid nightmare… No wonder I was overpowered so easily," he growled.

"Are you alright?" Shingo asked. He was sitting upright on a bed that resembled more of a padded mat, a pillow, and a blanket. His computer sat beside him, which Kevin could barely see because of the darkness.

"Yeah, I'm all right… Just a bad dream, that's all."

Chikorita, which was out of its Pokéball, bounded away from Shingo's Scizor, which was also out of its Pokéball, toward Kevin. Kevin looked down at his Pokémon. "Chikorita, why are you out of your ball?" he asked. He glanced up to see Blade, the name of the Scizor, and Shingo glance at each other for only a moment.

However, it was enough to tell Kevin something was amiss. "What's going on?" he asked.

Shingo got up from his bed and walked to Kevin. With a speed that surprised Kevin, Shingo reached behind Kevin's neck and pressed the button that triggered his disguise, removing it and revealing the hybrid state.

Then, with that done, he closed his window. "There," Shingo said, "now no one should be able to hear us. The room is padded, so unless someone opens the door, no sound will escape."

"How did you know where to find my disguise to remove it?" Kevin asked. "Did Chikorita tell you?"

"Yes, among with other things," Shingo answered. "She thought you could use some help."

"Help? What would I need help about?" Kevin wondered.

"In dealing with Raikou, Entei, and Suicune."

If Kevin's heart were running water, it would've froze on the spot. His eyes widened. "W-what did you say?" he stammered.

"The three legends you encountered. Also, there seems to be a melody causing you trouble, as well as a curse from the three," Shingo stated. "Seems like you've had quite an encounter with them."

Kevin gripped his head. "This can't be happening!" he nearly shouted.

"Sshhh!" Shingo hissed. "The padding isn't perfect. No one will hear us if we talk normally, but they will hear if you yell. Do you want to go mad?"

"But I will go mad! Someone else learned of their presence because of me!"

It was apparent to Shingo that Kevin was nearly panicking. "Calm down!" he growled. "You won't go mad. You took no part in telling me, it was Chikorita's doing. She acted on her own, even though she knew you might get mad at her for doing so!"

Kevin's hands released his head. "I… I won't? How do you know?" he asked.

{Because… I know how the three legends work,} Chikorita answered. {I knew what they were saying when they said, "If humans learn of you in another manner, nothing will occur to you." Unless you forced me to tell just anyone by threatening me, my telling people of their existence is another story.}

"So you telling Shingo of their existence was an act of your own doing… and I'm not accountable for it?"

"Apparently so," Shingo answered for Chikorita, guessing what she said. "You haven't gone mad yet. However, you were lucky that I didn't look at the information you already had on your Pokédex. That you would've been punished for. That is, assuming you put information of the legends on your Pokédex."

"I'm certainly glad of it, too… that thought never occurred to me," Kevin said, breathing whatever panicked state he had left away from him.

"By the way, she mentioned you were looking for someone named Ash… is that true?"

"I am," Kevin acknowledged. "You know of him?"

"He was the one who got me back into battling," Shingo answered. "I used to use my computer to determine whether I would win a battle against someone else. My computer said that he would lose to me, but he pulled some fierce moves with a Heracross against Blade and convinced me that probability wasn't everything."

"Heracross?" Kevin quickly looked it up. "Hmm… bug and fighting? Huh… that's an odd combination."

"If anything, he's probably past Azalea town now," Shingo said while Kevin worked on his Pokédex. "You could probably reach him through the western route past Violet City… that is, if it were open. Last I heard of it, it was blocked by some freakish hurricane sitting in the middle of it. Not even you could fight your way through it."

"Maybe," Kevin said, closing the Pokédex, "But I'm only down this way because I'm trying to earn badges."

"Trying for a new title?" Shingo wondered.

"No… I need at least eight badges to get into Indigo Plateau. I have to meet with Lance for a reason… and I don't want to break in. But back to the three…" Kevin looked down at Chikorita. "Why did you entrust him with that knowledge, Chikorita?"

{Sometimes, you can just feel who can be trusted or not,} Chikorita commented. {Besides, while the melody I hear is pleasing, something about it causes you pain.}

"And how can you tell that it causes me pain?" Kevin asked curiously.

{Well, it's difficult to explain.}

Kevin sighed. "Never mind that," he growled. He turned to Shingo. "Can you provide any assistance?"

"Sure," Shingo said, "That's Pokégear on your wrist, correct?"

"Yeah," Kevin answered, looking down on it. "Why? You want my number?"

"Well, here…" Shingo pulled out something from under his bed. "I actually made this so if Ash needed some information about someone, I could send it to him through my computer by phoning him… but he didn't have Pokégear, so you will have to do." He handed it to Kevin.

Kevin looked at the device. "What exactly is it?" he asked.

"It's a card," Shingo explained. "Your Pokégear can hold several different kinds. I'm guessing that by standards your Pokégear has the time and a phone. You can, of course, add others, when you get them. There's a radio card you can get from the Goldenrod Radio Tower, but you can only hear Johto broadcasts. I understand that you can also get an attachment to hear those from Kanto, but where you can get one I have no clue."

Kevin quickly found the slot to insert the card into and placed it in position. Immediately after he did that, his Pokégear began vibrating. Kevin flipped it open. "Hello?" he answered.

"Kevin! Are you hearing me? I've been trying to…" a voice began, then cut out.

"Hello? Hello?!?" Kevin repeated. He shook his Pokégear on his wrist. "What's happening?" he wondered. "Why did it cut out?"

"Hmm… A power shortage, perhaps?" Shingo suggested. "Or, if you want to go that far, someone may be jamming their signal to you. Anyway, if you need information about a city or a landmark, contact me. My number will appear in your phone list because of that card, but only if it is in there. Also, I can get information about the legends if you want it."

"You can get information on the three?" Kevin said in a questioning tone. "How can you manage that?"

"Well, it's mostly just myth. It's not an open source, though," Shingo answered. he looked at Kevin's Chikorita. "Chikorita probably could tell you more facts about them than I could. You should ask her instead of me on that subject."

"Right." Kevin quickly brought up another subject. "Anything I should know of in Azalea City?"

"There's a man by the name of Kurt," Shingo answered. "He's known for making customized Pokéballs. There are several balls, made for different situations."

"Really?" Kevin answered in awe. "The only Pokéball constructors I knew of made the ones that are used nowadays. Well, less often now. Some Pokémon back in my time were so hard to catch, you had to get the newer versions of Pokéballs such as Ultra ball and Great ball."

"So you have Pokémon held in Ultra Balls and Great Balls? Let me see!" Shingo said eagerly.

"Sorry, but after I acquired my position as a champion, I switched them from their upgraded balls to the traditional kinds. I could show the balls themselves to you if you like," Kevin offered.

"Thanks, but I wanted to see Pokémon come out of those balls. I hear they release the Pokémon within differently than classic Pokéballs," Shingo said in disappointment.

"They're probably no different than the custom balls that Kurt makes. They work just like any other when letting Pokémon in and out; they only work differently when catching," Kevin explained. "It makes it tougher for the Pokémon to get out."

"How do you know that?" Shingo asked.

"I didn't, but my other mind did," Kevin replied.

Thanks for the credit, Duo-Cevan said.

*                                              *                                              *

The next morning, Kevin walked out to the courtyard without his disguise on with Muramasa and Shingo. The other students that came out wanted to know who Kevin was, but immediately had a change of mind as Muramasa briefly explained that he was a human in disguise and that he only stayed for the night.

Kevin looked at Muramasa. "Wow… impressive how you managed to get over 20 students to ignore me and continue with morning exercises."

"Oh, it's probably no different how you managed to control 4 of the worlds most strongest trainers, as well as manage the whole Indigo Plateau area," Muramasa said. "Besides, there's a punishment to what should be done first thing in the morning."

"And I'm no exception," Shingo said while he tossed sticks with white marks into the air as hard as he could. His Scizor would slash the sticks and attempt to break them as close as possible.

Kevin picked up a stick from the pile, concentrated, and threw it up into the air. Waiting until the last second before it hit the ground, he jabbed toward it with his hand and it fell in two. However, he didn't hit the white mark as the melody suddenly invaded his concentration.

"Aaugh!" Kevin suddenly shouted. He gripped his head.

Muramasa looked at Kevin. "Are you all right?" he asked.

It took a full minute for Kevin to fight back the melody. "I… I'm okay," he finally said. "I've been better, but I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"Oh, uh…" Kevin quickly thought up something. "I… play music in my head with Psychic abilities. It's to keep… my rhythm. However, I made it too loud, and so it took me a while to recover from it."

"How perceptive are you, exactly?" Muramasa wondered.

"I have much more perception than any can understand, so you could probably guess how loud it got if I missed the white line."

"I can imagine," Muramasa replied. He noticed Shingo looking at Kevin strangely. "What's wrong, Shingo?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh…" Shingo seemed to snap out of a trance. "Sorry, I was deep in thought." He shook his head. "Perhaps we can battle, Kevin, you versus my Scizor?"

"Me?" Kevin said in surprise. Kevin stepped back slightly as a reaction, but stepped forward again. "Are you sure you want to do that? Cevan alone as a Scyther is strong enough, and I'm a lot tougher."

"Oh, I think I'm ready… bring it on!"

*                                              *                                              *

The Psychic rested on the chair within his study. Patrael had already left to get in position. Their plan was nearly on hand and his Pokémon Swieten was already moving along with the Rogue leader.

Swieten, where are you now? the Psychic asked his Murkrow through Psychic.

We are now out of your vicinity, Master, Swieten said back. According to Patrael, we should be arriving at his headquarters in at least a day.

Excellent. You're making good progress, the Psychic replied.

You do realize just how dangerous this is, correct?

I am aware of what could happen, the Psychic answered. We are connected through the mind, after all.

Yes, which means that if I were to perish, you would, as well, Swieten stated. It's not the other way around, however.

I know, I know, the psychic said wearily. After all, it is I who is connecting to you, not you connecting to me. Now, if Patrael does encounter danger, stay away from the fight. If you encounter danger, either attempt to stun them and run or deal a light wound and run. If that danger is Kevin, fly back here when you run.

Won't he just follow me?

Not unless you give him cause to be distracted, the Psychic responded. With that, he stopped communicating to Swieten. Looking out the study window, he saw the morning sun, and with it a cloud.

If the weather could tell Kevin things, he would have already learned that the threat is closer than he could guess, the Psychic thought. It seems so distant at first, but it will be on top of Johto sooner than he can reach his friends! And if he gets captured…

The Psychic sat back in his chair and kicked his legs onto the table he sat in front of. Soon, Kevin… Soon you will know my true fury.