Chapter Twelve

The Meeting with Kurt

"Azalea Town at last!" I said with relief as we emerged from Union Cave into the bright sunlight. We walked past the Slowpoke Well and into the town itself. It was small, with only a few houses, as well as the gym and the Pokemon Center. We made a stop at this Pokemon Center to heal our Pokemon.

"Do you think Kurt is at home?" I asked Ash.

"I don't know," Ash replied, "I hope so."

"He is," said a little girl who was seated on a couch nearby. "Grandpa just got back to the house with an armload of Apricorns, so chances are he'll be working all night."

"Thanks!" Gold said with a smile. Then he said to us, "Ok, let's go."

We approached Kurt's house, which was located at the west end of town. I stepped up and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" asked a slightly elderly voice with a hint of raspiness. "I'm very busy in here."

"Kurt, do you remember me?" Gold called. "It's me, Gold! I helped you at Slowpoke Well last year…."

"Oh yes!" the voice said, becoming pleasant, and the lock clicked and the door opened to reveal Kurt the Poke Ball Craftsman and Ilex Forest historian. He was short, maybe about 5 foot 3, and he wore a black robe, across which ran a red sash. He was bald, his eyes seemed to be always shut, and his mouth was set in a gruff line.

"Gold, my friend, it's been so long!" Kurt said, smiling. "Are these friends of yours?"

"Yes," Gold said. "We have urgent business that we need to talk to you about."

"Well, don't stand out in the cold! Come in, come in!" Kurt held the door open for us, and we stepped inside. The house was cozy… it featured a large worktable in the corner, obviously where Apricorns were crafted into Poke Balls; and there were two beds in the other corner, and in between were bookshelves and decorative tables.

"So what can I do for you?" Kurt asked after we had sat down.

We looked at each other, and then Ash said, "We came to talk about Celebi."

Kurt's expression immediately grew serious. "Celebi, you say?"

"Yes. He's going to return, and it's not going to be pleasant."

Kurt sighed and walked to the window. "I knew that this day would come," he said, shaking his head. "I just hoped that it wouldn't be in my lifetime, although that is a bit selfish. Celebi's return has been prophesized about for hundreds of years." He walked away from the window and sat down before us. "What exactly do you know?"

"Well, we know that he's angry at humans for destroying the earth, by way of deforestation, oil drilling, and so on, and so he's going to pay us back."

"We hear that he's creating an army of ten thousand Mewtwos,"I said. "And that he's going to appear in a month somewhere near the mountains."

"What do YOU know about Celebi, Kurt?" Gold asked. "That's why we came."

"The story of Celebi has been passed down through my family in the form of this," Kurt said, walking over to one of the bookshelves and removing a dusty leatherbound volume. "It is the earliest written version of the legend." He opened the book and pointed to the pictures on the pages as he spoke.

"Celebi was born of the forest. When he awoke for the first time, the flowers bloomed and the trees grew tall. For hundreds of years, Celebi flew around the forest, nurturing it, giving it life and strength, and guarding it from those who would do it harm. After he died, his spirit left his body and burst apart into powder, coating everything in the forest. That is how Celebi has been able to keep watch for all these years."

"Kurt, you said that Celebi's return had been prophesized as well?" Gold asked.

"Yes," Kurt said grimly. "See here," He flipped farther ahead. "The text doesn't really say much, but as you can see from the pictures, it shows Celebi perched on a mountain, casting his wrath down upon the earth. And the earth, as you can see, is charred and burnt, indicative of human interference. But that's all this book is able to tell us."

"Is there any way we can stop Celebi?" Ash asked, scratching his head.

Kurt put the book away and sat down. "I do not know if he can be stopped," he said with a sigh. "If he is creating this army of Mewtwos as you say, then I doubt that all the trainers in the world could stand up to him."

"So what can we do?" I asked anxiously.

Kurt shook his head. "I don't know. Celebi's return was always thought to be just a myth. Nobody ever thought it would really happen. Nobody's prepared."

"So are you saying that all we can do is just let the world be destroyed?!" I cried.

Kurt put his hands together and sighed. "I, myself, cannot predict what the outcome of this conflict will be. I only know the stories of Celebi and the forest, I do not know about his powers or weaknesses. I do, however, have an idea." He got up and scribbled something on a piece of paper, and passed it to Gold. "This is the address of the Pokemaniac. He lives across the sea, in Cianwood City. He knows far more about Pokemon then I do. Perhaps he would be able to better help you."

"Thanks, Kurt," Gold said, stuffing the piece of paper in his pocket.

"But you shall do no more traveling today," Kurt said. "It is dark, and you have had a hard journey to get here. Tonight, you shall rest at my home, and I will see you off to Olivine tomorrow morning, so that you may take the ship to Cianwood."

"Thank you, Kurt," Ash said.

And so long into the night we sat by the fire, and Kurt told us magnificent stories about the history of the forest, about the struggles for its survival, about the ancient Pokemon that once dwelled there, and of the people who looked after it from days gone by. Presently, we began to yawn, and we knew it was time we got to bed. Kurt spread out some quilts up in the loft, and it was there that we slept for the night.