Chapter 14: A Revealing Meeting
Completely devouring the sandwich and drinking a full canteen of water, Kevin nearly made himself sick in the middle of all of them. After recovering from the slight illness of drinking too much at once, he became serious. "All right, so is everyone safe?" he asked.
"Still the same as ever with trying to act serious, Kevin?" Warles asked skeptically.
"Hey, I have to have my dignity," Kevin answered. His gaze suddenly turned to Ash. "So, who are you exactly?"
Ash didn't answer. However, things began to click in Kevin's mind as he studied the man. Hey, wait a minute… Duo-Cevan, does this man seem familiar somehow? he asked.
He does, actually, Duo-Cevan answered. But the one thing that distinguishes him from others is missing…
Kevin began looking around. Everyone was beginning to settle down from their steady shaking, except for Rikki, who was unconscious. Warles seemed serious for once, which Kevin hadn't witnessed in a while, either. Kevin then faced the columns, and noticed a Pikachu resting on top of the columns, who still appeared to be young.
Kevin looked back at the man. "Impossible…" he muttered to himself. "Can that be you, Ash?"
"Quite perceptive," Ash commented. "Of course, had Pikachu left the room before you looked for him, you may not have been able to tell."
"So I noticed," Kevin replied, looking at Ash with a suspicious glance. "What happened to the energetic Ash that I knew?"
Ash didn't answer, but went over and picked up his Pikachu. He then turned to Warles. "Warles, prepare your Pidgeot. We will leave immediately from this island."
"But Ash," Warles reasoned, "All of us are tired from Kevin's recovery. Shouldn't we rest first?"
"I, for once, will agree to Warles," Kevin voiced. "I just got back."
"Indeed, you did," Ash said, nodding. "Very well. You may all rest for the time being. In two hours, however, you will feel a chill, and at that time, you must come outside." Ash then turned and left the room.
Kevin glanced over to Warles. "You two work together now?" he asked.
Warles nodded. "You will learn everything once we reach Hidden Valley," he explained before going to sleep on the floor.
"Hidden Valley??" Kevin wondered. However, he and the others were not set in their minds to think. They, too, followed Warles's example.
"All right, I am going to get my hands on—" Laguna suddenly shouted, bursting in the room, but stopped once he saw everyone. Kevin, in his sleep, suddenly shook, and let a cloud of Spore into the air, knocking Laguna to sleep, as well.
* * *
Ash wasn't kidding when he mentioned the chill. After the two hours, everyone awoke to the sudden drop in temperature. Kevin looked outside the single window and was surprised to see a sudden snowstorm in the area. Whoa, Kevin thought. This island has become unsuitable.
However, the sudden storm ended a few minutes later. Everyone looked at each other, except for Warles. "What was that?" they wondered.
"Ash," Warles explained. "It's time. That was no ordinary blizzard." He looked at the window. "A chill like that could never penetrate windows such as this."
"I'll take your word for it, Warles," Kevin remarked. He quickly used the fire Essence to keep himself and the others warm. "Let's go outside then."
Stepping out the main doors, a shower of glitter fell from the sky. Looking up, Kevin witnessed Ash flying down to meet them on the back of a large Articuno. It was the biggest one he had ever seen.
"Whoa," Kevin muttered to himself.
"Articuno and Warles's Pidgeot can carry two additional passengers each," Ash said. "The fifth one will have to ride with—"
Laguna did a full turn away from them. "I will not be giving any more lifts until Kevin tells me of my origin!" he interrupted.
"No matter, he won't have to give a ride," Mirmik replied. "I can just morph myself into Pidgeot, Kevin, Laguna, or Articuno."
{I would prefer that you did not transform into me,} Articuno said to Mirmik fiercely.
"Ouch," Kevin remarked, grinning. "Now that's what I call a cold shoulder."
"It seems your experience in between dimensions hasn't taken your humor from you," Warles said, laughing.
"Oh, but it's taken something from me, for sure," Kevin replied, holding his forehead. "Every time I passed by a portal, I always had some sort of vision of me stranded there forever. I've seen it so many times it feels like I've been torn apart."
"Try not to think about it, then," Naria said. "Some of my colleagues in the Company I came from had nightmares of going to certain worlds." She motioned her hand to Arang. "Why, someone I actually knew thought the creature Arang was made from was a teddy bear and nearly got himself killed. The guy who assisted him witnessed the whole thing and never wanted to go back through that portal!"
"Well, Ursaring are pretty vicious Pokémon, especially during mating season," Kevin stated. "I don't blame the guy watching his buddy nearly getting mauled."
"Excuse me," Warles interrupted, "But are we going now?"
"Agreed," Kevin said, grateful for the distraction. "Arang and Cerberus, you go with Warles. Rikki and Blade, you go with Ash." He looked at Rikki. "Try to suppress your electricity you've recovered." He then looked over to Mirmik. "Sorry, but you're not going as me, so you'll have to go as a Pidgeot until I get used to Laguna and Articuno. You'll have to carry Naria for us."
"Fine," Mirmik sighed, hanging his head.
Kevin then turned to Laguna. "And you… I appreciate you cooperating in trying to rescue me, but could you come with all of us to Hidden Valley?" he asked.
"Fine."
"Then it is settled," Ash nodded. Waiting for everyone to get ready for the flight, they then took off, Ash in the lead.
* * *
I have waited fifteen years for this… Lugia snarled. Fifteen years, and now we wait longer! Is this some test the Chosen One has put upon us?!?
Perhaps, Mewtwo answered. Currently, you seem the most impatient.
And what of Articuno? Lugia argued. He flew off without a word! He was one of the ones I thought would follow Ash for—
He still does, Celebi interrupted. Articuno is now returning… with Ash and the last members in trail.
"Members?" Suicune asked, approaching Celebi. "Are you saying that there is more of the last member than what you have been saying?"
Both yes and no, Celebi answered. Yes, there is more than one of the last member… No, the rest are followers.
At that point, Articuno once again entered Hidden Valley. He had dropped off Ash and the rest outside, so they could enter in through the main entrance, not from above.
"Ahh, so I see you managed to keep yourself from flying off when I left," Ash remarked to Lugia as he entered. "You are patient, after all."
Indeed, Lugia growled. And what of this last member? Is he too afraid to come through?
"I had actually told him to wait at the entrance," Ash explained. "He knows not who I speak to." He then turned and yelled through the entrance. "You are permitted to enter now!"
Kevin swallowed hard. Man, I never thought I would actually be here, he said to Duo-Cevan. Always trying to find our way to this place…
And yet we were still far off, until Ash showed, Duo-Cevan finished. Look, we better get in there now. Ash just called us in.
You're right… Kevin swallowed again. Great… just like a champion to choke at the last second…
Swallowing his pride, he stepped into Hidden Valley. He took only a few steps into the open area and had to fight off the urge to take off screaming. Not only Lugia and all other manner of Legends were in this area, they were huge, never seeing their size before save for Lugia. In addition to that, none of them seemed too happy to see him.
"What? The Scyther-Human?" the Greater Raikou bellowed. "Here? What manner of trickery is this?!?"
It was bad enough that he had come to me in my own home, Lugia snarled loudly, nearly causing Kevin to buckle from the tremendous voice. Now he must be a part of this meeting??
{And where are these other 'members?'} Moltres screeched, flying down to Kevin's level and attempting to intimidate him. {Was he not the only one?}
"Oh, he was the only one I made," Warles suddenly said, catching everyone's attention. "The others, however, were made by scientists from other worlds."
"Warles?!?" Kevin exclaimed, staring at him. He had come in moments after Kevin, without his knowing. "What are you doing?"
Warles raised his hands in the air, almost as if he were holding something. He began speaking. "Today is the day that both hybrids and Legends—"
It is not your task to say it, observer, Celebi suddenly said, appearing between Kevin and Warles. It is the task of the Chosen One. You are not to say anything before his appointed time. For now, you are to escort the others when their time comes.
Warles looked at Celebi, and then gave a slight bow. "As you wish, O watcher of time," he replied. He stepped back and stood at waiting beside the entrance, leaving Kevin all the more confused.
Ash cleared his throat, audible in the silent area. "Greater Legends of the meeting!" he shouted. For once, his voice was cleared of all icy tones. "You have gathered from far and wide to arrive at this Gathering. For fifteen years have we waited for this, yet one member, who was not ready to be called as he is now, attempted to find us… only for us to find him and his Lesser. Behold, Greater Legends! The final Greater Legend has now arrived." He motioned a hand toward Kevin. "Greet him as you would another Legend."
{WHAT?!?!?} Ho-oh bellowed. His shout echoed throughout the entire Hidden Valley.
Kevin was just as surprised. He looked at Ash for a full minute before he could speak. "Ash?" he said. "Umm… I think you've got it all wrong. I… I mean… I, a human, can't be a Greater! I've been praised, kidnapped, a hero, a destroyer, a wanderer, and an isolated person all my life. I had no actual care for an individual except for Lance!"
"Ahh, but you do have things no other human has," Ash explained. "You have been turned into a hybrid, capable of performing any known ability save for those that are restricted to some. You've stopped an entire army of Gyrados and saved even I, which I refuse to forget. As some explain to me, you've also stopped a Psychic, who was bent on destroying even if it meant the innocent. A band of the Lessers of the Three joined your side because of what they put upon you. And if that isn't enough, you have been given the Essences, which alone would plainly mark you as any Legend that has ever existed!" Ash then grinned. "And if you don't think you've cared for anyone else, think of the single woman who nearly trapped you between worlds."
"Huh?" Kevin nearly jumped back from the last sentence. He began thinking. Did I actually care for Jelza more than I thought?
Indeed, Celebi said, adding on to Ash, He is a Legend now in the eyes of both humans and Pokémon. The grant of the Essences sealed his fate among us.
"But why did our Lesser grant him the Essences?" Entei asked. "Who informed them to do so?"
"I think I know the answer to that one," Kevin said. "It was most likely the one that wanted me to completely demolish the Company that turned one of his Lesser to a hybrid." He turned toward the door and faced Warles. "Do you think we can let Laguna in now?"
"I'll let them all in, and you can pull forward the one you mean to show," Warles said, nodding. He went out into the entry area, and a moment later the others filed in slowly, save for Naria. She was not allowed.
All the legends gazed in wonder. Kevin stepped behind a rather stunned Laguna and pushed him forward to stand beside Ash. "So Lugia… Was it you who told the Three that guard me to grant the Essences to my possession?" Kevin asked. "Was it because of this hybrid that you ordered me to destroy the Company, and in my stead Jelza sacrificed herself?"
Lugia nodded. Yes, he confirmed. I ordered them to do so. Vengeance had to be taken upon those with a higher technology and turned this Lesser into a hybrid. he turned and faced Celebi. Why did you not tell me that it would mark him a Legend?
Why did I not tell you that it was Kevin who should be the last member? Celebi replied. Those specific to a position should only know those mysteries in time. And it would have been granted to him either before or after the gathering, with or without your consent. Celebi glanced over to Kevin. It is only reasonable now that a creature with as much of a unique structure as yours should be a Legend.
"Hey, cool!" Blade suddenly shouted. "Does this mean that I'm a Legend, too?"
"To an extent, yes," Suicune answered. "However, you and the rest that came to this world are now bound to Kevin's command."
"Not I," Laguna said spitefully. "I will rejoin those who I belong with."
Despite what you think, Lugia shot back, you will not find a place more suitable for you or the others among your kind than with Kevin. I will regard you as a Lesser, but I will not accept you as my own kind.
Laguna stood stunned for a moment, then hung his head. Ouch, Kevin thought. He walked up beside the crushed Laguna and put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll still be important to Lugia, no matter what he says."
Regardless, he is now your responsibility, Kevin, Lugia declared. Now that we must recognize you for who you are, that is…
Well, now that we have all recognized Kevin for who he is, shall we begin? Celebi said.