Author's note: Hooray! I finally have my own computer! Hopefully now I won't have such infrequent updates. As a special treat to my readers, I'm finishing up this story so that everyone won't go insane with the cliffhanger of doom. Then I'm going to take a little break from actually writing and fix up all the spelling and grammatical errors in all my ficcies. Hey, I'm a perfectionistic Virgo, all right? So, enough of my ramblings… I hope you enjoy the final leg in Buck and Sparky's journey! Be sure to leave a review!
Chapter 11: The Final Hurtle
Sparky and the Pokémon followed Borialis's directions and came to the Moo Moo Ranch. The resident Miltanks were very friendly and pointed them to a lone berry tree just beyond their fence. It wasn't very attractive, and neither was its resident, the old Fearow called Shigeta. But she was friendly. She agreed to lead the questers to the Lord of the Sky, who, as it turned out, had recently moved to what humans called Mt. Silver and Lowgers called the Boulder Mountain. Shigeta's only term was that the six would tell her how their strange group came to be.
Four hours and one bazaar story later, Shigeta pointed out Mt. Silver and soared off, saying that she did not want to intrude on the reunion between the Five Soarers. And what a reunion it was! Landing just long enough to let Sparky and Buck dismount, the five birds rose into the sky, shouting their happiness to any creature who would listen. As usual, Mewtwo and human were ignored for a time.
"So, Namer… what are we going to call the Lord?" asked Buck of the human.
Sparky looked up at the exuberant birds, observing the Ho-oh. She started talking to herself, naming off various traits unique to the final bird: "Dragonoid head… big, big wings… yellow crest… voice like a lion… or dragon… rainbow… roygbiv… Roy… hmmm… fire… yeah. Roy sounds good."
"Roy? What's it mean?"
"I'll explain once those 'lovebirds' come down."
Indeed, none of the Pokémon understood the name Roy. To them, as with all Lowgers, names had to have meaning. That was why they had all been so anxious to get a new one; what kind of name is "Mewtwo?" Or "Moltres," for that matter? Even if a being is one of a kind, it is unsettling to be called by the name of one's species. Buck had meaning; the Mewtwo's teeth were bucked and Sparky had said it was the name of a tough sled dog. And Apollo had been strange at first, but the Namer's explanation solved that. The first Apollo was a sun-god; is not the sun fire? "Roy" was like "Apollo;" the Lowgers were confident that the strange human could clear up the name's meaning. And so she did.
"There's a mnemonic for remembering the colors of the rainbow...."
"'Numonic?'" asked Silverwing.
"Remembery…helpy… thingy. Anyway, it's 'roygbiv.' I took the first part of that,
'Roy,' and it reminded me of a character in a videogame by the same name…"
"'Videogame?'" asked the still-unnamed Ho-oh
"She can explain later. Go on, Sparks." said Buck.
Sparky cleared her throat and went on, "So, anyway, Roy's a character in a fighting game. He's basically the same as one of the other characters, except he uses fire attacks. So I figured, hey, the Lord's a fire type, so why not? Named after part of a rainbow mnemonic and a fire-user."
The Ho-oh coked his head and looked up in thought. "Roy. Roy. Roy Roy Roy Roy Roy." Roy looked at the human, smiled as only birds can, and cawed his approval. A round of approval noises circled the birds.
When they were through, Buck addressed everyone. "So. You guys are together again. The quest is over. Now what?"
"What do you mean?" asked Roy.
Buck let out a sigh that had a bit of a snorting undertone to it. "About two weeks ago, I had a vision from my dead father, Farlu. He said that if I got you guys back together with Sparky's help, I'd be led home by 'the Dragons.' You all know, except for you, Roy, that I've has visions after that. They are what guided us. But none of you know what was in them. Dragons. Dragons were in them. They never did speak their names. But one of 'em reminded me of Aquamentus. Artica, Thundra, Apollo, Sparky… you guys remember him? And now that I think about it, one was like Amaroq, one like Zelos, one like Robert. Don't you think it's odd that all our guides just vanished into air?"
"Buck?" Sparky gently asked, "Where are you going with this?"
The Mewtwo's ears lowered slightly. He let out another snorting sigh and said, "I wanna see my mama. I miss her. I wanna see that Mew Valley thing she was always talking about. That's where the Mews went, see? They built a safe-haven to hide from the evils of the world. You guys are great and all… but I want to see my own kind. Or the closest beings to it."
Silence. Sparky finally offered what had to be a reference to something: "Sleep on it sleep on it sleep on it sleep on it."
Buck let out one of those weird snorts that often precede laughter. His ears lifted and he said, "You've got a point. Maybe the dawn will bring answers. Or the middle of the night. The Dragons always seemed to come at midnight…"
***
Late that night, Buck had insomnia. He decided to explore the mountain and wear himself out. Or, perhaps, find some answers.
After some time, Buck's nose led him into a cave. He smelled reptiles. Large ones. Sure enough, in the back of the cave were the Dragons. All of them were there; the icy mountain visitor, the one with the lightning bolts all over him, the Pyrosaurus, and the alligator with the cetacean tail. There were three new ones, as well.
One was a large, serpentine creature with one pair of legs near each end of her body. She had friendly eyes in a scaly camel's head and a tuft of fur on the end of her tail. Two unfolded, feathery wings rested on the middle of her back.
Another looked like the spitting image of a Veloceraptor, save for two scarred ear flaps and a sword on his hip. His scales were a strange melding of greens and browns, and he was about as tall as Buck.
The third was vaguely reminiscent of a sauropod, with a long neck and whip-like tail. Under a protruding forehead, she had a long muzzle that ended in two crocodilian nostrils. Black horns grew just above her yellow eyes. She was on all fours, and each leg ended in a five-fingered, humanoid hand with sharp black claws. Her scales were red, and two orange-red wings were folded at her sides. She was the first to speak.
"Welcome, little brother. We are the Chaos Dragons. Come, sit down. We are all cousins to you."
Buck looked towards the cave entrance, and the sauropod spoke again, "Do not worry about your friends. All is well for the time being."
Buck startled, both at the dragon's apparent telepathic powers and at "…for the time being." Hesitantly, he walked up to the group of mythic reptiles and took a seat beside the sauropod. She smiled and lied down on her stomach.
There was an unsettling silence. Buck finally asked, "Who are all of you?"
Once again, the long-necked dragon spoke. "We are the Chaos Dragons." She turned her head to the other dragons and said, "Brothers and sisters, speak your names. It will help clear up our friend's confusion."
The antlered ice-dragon spoke first. "Amaroq."
Then, the lighting-covered reptile. "Zelos."
The Pyrosaurus spoke next. "I am Robert."
Then the dolphin-tailed alligator said, "My name's Aquamentus."
The serpent, in a surprisingly sweet voice, said her name next. "Shigeta."
The raptor's voice was harsher. "Mine is Adun."
And, finally, the sauropod said, "And I am called Aniu."
Buck nodded. "I knew something weird was going on with all our guides. Why, though? Why are you helping us?"
Shigeta answered, "It is a long story, too long to tell here. But there is another who will help you. He is a Mew named Zhalost, and he resides in your Clan's Mew Valley. That is why we are here tonight."
Adun stood up, walked up to Buck, and sat back down in front of the Mewtwo. "I will be the one to tell you how to get to the Valley. Look in my eyes as best you can."
Buck did so, practically sticking his muzzle under the Veloceraptor's. In Buck's mind's eye, he saw a cliff… saw himself walking up to it… saying words…
Adun's eyes flashed and he shook his head. "What was that?" Buck asked.
"You are still very young for a Mew. That was a psychic message from Adun to you. It normally isn't so difficult… but our powers are weak…" Aniu sighed. "You must go now. You and the others still have one hurtle to jump before you find the Valley."
Buck lowered an ear in confusion. A sharp yelp came from outside; it was Sparky. The Mewtwo jumped to his feet and ran, leaving the dragons to themselves. They all looked at Aniu; she nodded. As if being blown away by the wind, the Chaos Dragons vanished.
***
Sparky had evidently misstepped and was hanging off a cliff. Buck sat with his back to the human and lowered his tail to her. Buck felt her grab on, and he started to pull her up, walking on all fours. He suddenly felt something in the rocks below him give; a second later, they crumbled, leaving both Buck and Sparky dangling from the cliff. The latter screamed.
"It's all right, Sparks…we'll be fine."
Sparky whimpered and adjusted her grip on Buck's tail. As the Mewtwo began to pull himself up, he heard a crash of falling rocks. A bunch of loose rocks above the pair had broken free. Buck tilted his head and faced down, eyes closed. He heard what sounded like a yelp above the din and felt Sparky's grasp start to slip. Buck wrapped his tail around one of her arms and felt the other hand slide off.
*Something's wrong…* Buck thought. As soon as the rock slide ended, he pulled himself and his human up.
"Oh no…"
Sparky was unconscious and bleeding badly from a heavy blow to her skull. Buck sat down for a long time, watching the badly injured human. As the sun came up over the horizon, Buck carefully lifted her and walked back to where the birds were sleeping. Roy was already awake, and he woke the others when he saw Buck and their Trainer. The Mewtwo quietly laid Sparky down with her head on her backpack. For some time, the birds simply stared in shock. Artica finally ventured the question, "What happened?"
Buck snort-sighed and explained the night's events, keeping one hand in front of Sparky's mouth to monitor her breathing. When he was done, everyone remained silent, watching the wounded human… listening to her fading breath…
Two hours later, the Namer was dead.
For a time, none of the six Pokémon did or said anything. It was Buck who solemnly picked Sparky's body up, lifted the backpack by its handhold with his tail, and slowly began walking. He stopped for a second and tilted his head so the birds were in his field of vision, speaking a single word.
"C'mon."
One by one, the birds followed.
Chapter 11: The Final Hurtle
Sparky and the Pokémon followed Borialis's directions and came to the Moo Moo Ranch. The resident Miltanks were very friendly and pointed them to a lone berry tree just beyond their fence. It wasn't very attractive, and neither was its resident, the old Fearow called Shigeta. But she was friendly. She agreed to lead the questers to the Lord of the Sky, who, as it turned out, had recently moved to what humans called Mt. Silver and Lowgers called the Boulder Mountain. Shigeta's only term was that the six would tell her how their strange group came to be.
Four hours and one bazaar story later, Shigeta pointed out Mt. Silver and soared off, saying that she did not want to intrude on the reunion between the Five Soarers. And what a reunion it was! Landing just long enough to let Sparky and Buck dismount, the five birds rose into the sky, shouting their happiness to any creature who would listen. As usual, Mewtwo and human were ignored for a time.
"So, Namer… what are we going to call the Lord?" asked Buck of the human.
Sparky looked up at the exuberant birds, observing the Ho-oh. She started talking to herself, naming off various traits unique to the final bird: "Dragonoid head… big, big wings… yellow crest… voice like a lion… or dragon… rainbow… roygbiv… Roy… hmmm… fire… yeah. Roy sounds good."
"Roy? What's it mean?"
"I'll explain once those 'lovebirds' come down."
Indeed, none of the Pokémon understood the name Roy. To them, as with all Lowgers, names had to have meaning. That was why they had all been so anxious to get a new one; what kind of name is "Mewtwo?" Or "Moltres," for that matter? Even if a being is one of a kind, it is unsettling to be called by the name of one's species. Buck had meaning; the Mewtwo's teeth were bucked and Sparky had said it was the name of a tough sled dog. And Apollo had been strange at first, but the Namer's explanation solved that. The first Apollo was a sun-god; is not the sun fire? "Roy" was like "Apollo;" the Lowgers were confident that the strange human could clear up the name's meaning. And so she did.
"There's a mnemonic for remembering the colors of the rainbow...."
"'Numonic?'" asked Silverwing.
"Remembery…helpy… thingy. Anyway, it's 'roygbiv.' I took the first part of that,
'Roy,' and it reminded me of a character in a videogame by the same name…"
"'Videogame?'" asked the still-unnamed Ho-oh
"She can explain later. Go on, Sparks." said Buck.
Sparky cleared her throat and went on, "So, anyway, Roy's a character in a fighting game. He's basically the same as one of the other characters, except he uses fire attacks. So I figured, hey, the Lord's a fire type, so why not? Named after part of a rainbow mnemonic and a fire-user."
The Ho-oh coked his head and looked up in thought. "Roy. Roy. Roy Roy Roy Roy Roy." Roy looked at the human, smiled as only birds can, and cawed his approval. A round of approval noises circled the birds.
When they were through, Buck addressed everyone. "So. You guys are together again. The quest is over. Now what?"
"What do you mean?" asked Roy.
Buck let out a sigh that had a bit of a snorting undertone to it. "About two weeks ago, I had a vision from my dead father, Farlu. He said that if I got you guys back together with Sparky's help, I'd be led home by 'the Dragons.' You all know, except for you, Roy, that I've has visions after that. They are what guided us. But none of you know what was in them. Dragons. Dragons were in them. They never did speak their names. But one of 'em reminded me of Aquamentus. Artica, Thundra, Apollo, Sparky… you guys remember him? And now that I think about it, one was like Amaroq, one like Zelos, one like Robert. Don't you think it's odd that all our guides just vanished into air?"
"Buck?" Sparky gently asked, "Where are you going with this?"
The Mewtwo's ears lowered slightly. He let out another snorting sigh and said, "I wanna see my mama. I miss her. I wanna see that Mew Valley thing she was always talking about. That's where the Mews went, see? They built a safe-haven to hide from the evils of the world. You guys are great and all… but I want to see my own kind. Or the closest beings to it."
Silence. Sparky finally offered what had to be a reference to something: "Sleep on it sleep on it sleep on it sleep on it."
Buck let out one of those weird snorts that often precede laughter. His ears lifted and he said, "You've got a point. Maybe the dawn will bring answers. Or the middle of the night. The Dragons always seemed to come at midnight…"
***
Late that night, Buck had insomnia. He decided to explore the mountain and wear himself out. Or, perhaps, find some answers.
After some time, Buck's nose led him into a cave. He smelled reptiles. Large ones. Sure enough, in the back of the cave were the Dragons. All of them were there; the icy mountain visitor, the one with the lightning bolts all over him, the Pyrosaurus, and the alligator with the cetacean tail. There were three new ones, as well.
One was a large, serpentine creature with one pair of legs near each end of her body. She had friendly eyes in a scaly camel's head and a tuft of fur on the end of her tail. Two unfolded, feathery wings rested on the middle of her back.
Another looked like the spitting image of a Veloceraptor, save for two scarred ear flaps and a sword on his hip. His scales were a strange melding of greens and browns, and he was about as tall as Buck.
The third was vaguely reminiscent of a sauropod, with a long neck and whip-like tail. Under a protruding forehead, she had a long muzzle that ended in two crocodilian nostrils. Black horns grew just above her yellow eyes. She was on all fours, and each leg ended in a five-fingered, humanoid hand with sharp black claws. Her scales were red, and two orange-red wings were folded at her sides. She was the first to speak.
"Welcome, little brother. We are the Chaos Dragons. Come, sit down. We are all cousins to you."
Buck looked towards the cave entrance, and the sauropod spoke again, "Do not worry about your friends. All is well for the time being."
Buck startled, both at the dragon's apparent telepathic powers and at "…for the time being." Hesitantly, he walked up to the group of mythic reptiles and took a seat beside the sauropod. She smiled and lied down on her stomach.
There was an unsettling silence. Buck finally asked, "Who are all of you?"
Once again, the long-necked dragon spoke. "We are the Chaos Dragons." She turned her head to the other dragons and said, "Brothers and sisters, speak your names. It will help clear up our friend's confusion."
The antlered ice-dragon spoke first. "Amaroq."
Then, the lighting-covered reptile. "Zelos."
The Pyrosaurus spoke next. "I am Robert."
Then the dolphin-tailed alligator said, "My name's Aquamentus."
The serpent, in a surprisingly sweet voice, said her name next. "Shigeta."
The raptor's voice was harsher. "Mine is Adun."
And, finally, the sauropod said, "And I am called Aniu."
Buck nodded. "I knew something weird was going on with all our guides. Why, though? Why are you helping us?"
Shigeta answered, "It is a long story, too long to tell here. But there is another who will help you. He is a Mew named Zhalost, and he resides in your Clan's Mew Valley. That is why we are here tonight."
Adun stood up, walked up to Buck, and sat back down in front of the Mewtwo. "I will be the one to tell you how to get to the Valley. Look in my eyes as best you can."
Buck did so, practically sticking his muzzle under the Veloceraptor's. In Buck's mind's eye, he saw a cliff… saw himself walking up to it… saying words…
Adun's eyes flashed and he shook his head. "What was that?" Buck asked.
"You are still very young for a Mew. That was a psychic message from Adun to you. It normally isn't so difficult… but our powers are weak…" Aniu sighed. "You must go now. You and the others still have one hurtle to jump before you find the Valley."
Buck lowered an ear in confusion. A sharp yelp came from outside; it was Sparky. The Mewtwo jumped to his feet and ran, leaving the dragons to themselves. They all looked at Aniu; she nodded. As if being blown away by the wind, the Chaos Dragons vanished.
***
Sparky had evidently misstepped and was hanging off a cliff. Buck sat with his back to the human and lowered his tail to her. Buck felt her grab on, and he started to pull her up, walking on all fours. He suddenly felt something in the rocks below him give; a second later, they crumbled, leaving both Buck and Sparky dangling from the cliff. The latter screamed.
"It's all right, Sparks…we'll be fine."
Sparky whimpered and adjusted her grip on Buck's tail. As the Mewtwo began to pull himself up, he heard a crash of falling rocks. A bunch of loose rocks above the pair had broken free. Buck tilted his head and faced down, eyes closed. He heard what sounded like a yelp above the din and felt Sparky's grasp start to slip. Buck wrapped his tail around one of her arms and felt the other hand slide off.
*Something's wrong…* Buck thought. As soon as the rock slide ended, he pulled himself and his human up.
"Oh no…"
Sparky was unconscious and bleeding badly from a heavy blow to her skull. Buck sat down for a long time, watching the badly injured human. As the sun came up over the horizon, Buck carefully lifted her and walked back to where the birds were sleeping. Roy was already awake, and he woke the others when he saw Buck and their Trainer. The Mewtwo quietly laid Sparky down with her head on her backpack. For some time, the birds simply stared in shock. Artica finally ventured the question, "What happened?"
Buck snort-sighed and explained the night's events, keeping one hand in front of Sparky's mouth to monitor her breathing. When he was done, everyone remained silent, watching the wounded human… listening to her fading breath…
Two hours later, the Namer was dead.
For a time, none of the six Pokémon did or said anything. It was Buck who solemnly picked Sparky's body up, lifted the backpack by its handhold with his tail, and slowly began walking. He stopped for a second and tilted his head so the birds were in his field of vision, speaking a single word.
"C'mon."
One by one, the birds followed.