Author's Notes: Thanks for reviewing. Yes, Keleri, the difference in trainer's licenses reflects the game differences. After all, if releasing two versions of the game helps Nintendo's coffers, it does the same for the Pokemon League...trainers may qualify for their first license free, but they have to buy the second, and many do in order to "catch 'em all."
Chapter 14: The Mountain
Pidgeot flew quickly over Johto, the miles rolling away beneath him in a perfect miniature landscape of brown and green and blue. He was headed northwest to the city of Blackthorn, home of the Dragon's Den and the final Johto League gym leader, Clair. In almost no time at all, the city appeared below.
He curbed his furious speed and went into a slow descent, eventually circling down to land lightly outside of Blackthorn's Pokemon Center. He allowed his passengers to dismount, then obediently returned to his Pokeball at his trainer's command.
Katherine marveled at Blackthorn's scenery as she stood outside of the Pokemon Center. She had been to the city only twice before, once when she and her parents had attended the annual Pokemon festival held there, and the second time when she had been asked to deliver a message to a friend of her mother's. The city was built in a valley, nestled between the harsh slopes of the Thorn mountain range. Grim and foreboding peaks surrounded it, thrusting their snowy heads up to the vaulted heavens. The very air seemed to whisper with something ancient and dignified, cold and unfeeling as ice. The town was known for the Dragon's Den, a mysterious place where the rare dragon-types gathered. Few people ventured to the city's north, where treacherous mountain passes and unpredictable weather discouraged all but the most dedicated, or insane, adventurer.
Katherine was under the impression that they wouldn't have to go too far out of the city to reach their destination, however. The Dragon's Well, a roaring mountain stream that fed the underground lake in the Dragon's Den, cut across the Thorn range perhaps a quarter mile north of Blackthorn. If the mountain that they were bound to was just a little bit beyond that, then they should easily be able to reach it by early afternoon.
Jeremy was still holding on to the long strand of golden fur given to him by Katherine's Ninetales. "Here, why don't I hold on to that?" she asked him. He relinquished the token with a shrug. Katherine was unnerved as she took the delicate strand; it was warm in her hand, undaunted by the thin, frigid air around it. Katherine stuffed it into the pocked on the front of her sweatshirt and stepped into the Pokemon Center.
The cheery hustle and bustle within helped to banish the eerie thoughts that seemed to pervade the air outside. It was warm and bright inside the Center, and filled with the usual chatter of trainers and their Pokemon. Many of the trainers were gathered around the TV in the Center's waiting area, watching intently. Katherine peered at the screen without much interest as she passed; it appeared to be a news program explaining some sort of outer space occurrence. Katherine walked over to the Center's vending machines. She needed a lunch for herself and Jeremy. She didn't have to worry about buying something to drink; her canteen was full of water, and she could always get more from the Dragon's Well.
"What would you like?" she asked Jeremy, indicating the machine. He considered for a minute, then pointed out a ham and cheese sandwich and a bag of pretzels. Katherine went for a plain old peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bag of potato chips, then bought an additional pair of bags of trail mix to eat on the way. She fed the machine several bills, and the items fell into the bottom with a few loud thunks. She retrieved them and stuffed them into her pack, then prepared to head back out and hit the trail.
She took an old mountain path winding behind the gym and out into the untamed range beyond. Rough and unkempt, it was rocky and bumpy beyond measure. Even a seasoned adventurer such as Katherine soon found herself out of breath in the thin mountain air, cursing every pothole that she stuck her foot into and every unpleasant detour that they were forced to take. She broke out the trail mix, and she and Jeremy munched on it on the way, supplemented by water from Katherine's canteen.
It was lunchtime when they finally reached the Dragon's Well. It roared in suitably dragonlike fashion, cascading angrily around numerous large rocks and falling in curtains of water down sharp drops. Katherine settled herself on a rock near the river and she and her Pokemon enjoyed an uneventful lunch break. After lunch, Katherine set out for the second part of her journey.
She followed the winding Dragon's Well as it roared down through the mountains towards the Dragon's Den, heedless of terrain. Katherine slid down steep slopes, crashed through prickly underbrush, and squelched through mud in pursuit of her goal. As she walked further downriver, she began to seriously doubt her Ninetales' words. After all, though the Dragon's Well took a very roundabout route to the Dragon's Den, it seemed impossible to her that the Pokemon could have effectively hidden a whole colony of themselves from humans on the edge of civilization. Vulpix and Nintales were much sought-after by trainers, as they were rare in most areas.
As she rounded a bend in the river, however, she thought she saw the mountain that Ninetales had described. It was shorter and less jagged than those around it, and its peak was not a wicked point as most of the mountains in the Fang range. "Think that's where we're headed?" she asked Jeremy.
"Definitely," he replied. He was staring at the mountain eagerly, leaning forward on Katherine's shoulder.
Katherine continued forward, finding the going much easier here, where the level of inclination leveled off considerably. The area was almost a small valley ringing the ancient volcano. Low scrub bushes clung to the rocky soil here, creating a prickly barrier that Katherine had to push through, but she preferred it to sliding down steep slopes any day. "Funny," she remarked to no one in particular, "I thought that we'd be seeing some sort of guards by now. You know, patrolling or something. There's not really anything around here that they could hide, you know. This scrub stuff isn't sufficient cover if you're a Pokemon that's going to shine whenever the sun hits you." Jeremy made no reply, merely watching the area warily, his large ears alert and quivering.
Despite her experience as a traveler and adventurer, Katherine was unable to detect the eyes that watched her with considerable amusement from the "insufficient" cover of the scrub brush. The pair of eyes looked to one another. Some signal passed between them, and the second set inexplicably vanished like candle snuffed out by a sudden gust of wind.
"This doesn't make any sense," Katherine thought aloud. "The river branches off and continues on either side of the mountain. It's a volcano surrounded by water! Why would a bunch of fire Pokemon live in a place surrounded by water? How would they get in and out?" Jeremy gave her an exasperated look that she fortunately didn't notice, then returned to his watch, even more unsettled than before.
Suddenly, Pokemon appeared all around them, as though they had been magically transported from some other realm stand in the field. Three forbidding Ninetales stood in a ring around them, glaring coolly at the pair with ruby eyes. Four Vulpix, barely tall enough to see over the concealing bushes but somehow managing to look intimidating, filled in the gaps between their evolved forms, creating a ring around the unlucky travelers.
Katherine was struck dumb, completely taken off guard. Jeremy hissed something beneath his breath that Katherine assumed was a very violent Pokemon curse. The fox Pokemon did not appear at all amused to see a human and her Pokemon intruding upon their territory with the apparent intention of exploring. Katherine's hand instinctively strayed to the Pokeballs on her belt, though her rational mind knew that she would be roasted long before she could call on the aid of one of her Pokemon. "Quick," snarled Jeremy, "give me the token!"
Katherine grabbed it out of her sweatshirt pocket, and Jeremy snatched it impatiently. Holding it up so that it glittered in the sunlight, he began some sort of speech in Pokemon, chattering and hissing loudly. The Ninetales' expression did not change, though some of the Vulpix appeared to be at a loss for what to do and surreptitiously glanced at their superiors for a guide as to how to react.
Jeremy came to the end of his monologue, then waited for the guards' reply. None came. The Pokemon continued to watch Jeremy coldly. One of the Ninetales coughed, and Katherine was alarmed to see a small tongue of flame flicker out of its mouth. Jeremy began to talk again, much faster than before, waving the glittering strand of fur around for emphasis. Katherine thought he sounded entirely too much like a convicted criminal begging for his life before being put to death.
The Ninetales that had coughed, whom Katherine now assumed was the leader, cut Jeremy off with a sharp bark, "Tales!" Jeremy fell silent and froze immediately, caught in mid-wave. The Ninetales then turned to one of the other of its kind. "Alestalesnine. TalesNialestalestales," it snarled, and the addressed Ninetales gave a respectful nod and began to cut a path through the scrub brush towards Katherine and Jeremy. It halted directly in front of Katherine, who was too scared to move.
"Niine. Tales tales niiine," he commanded. Jeremy hesitated, but a small flicker of flame in the Ninetales' eye caused him to obligingly hold the long strand of fur out to the guard. The Ninetales leaned in close to inspect the token, so close that his breath caused the strand to sway back and forth. He inspected it from all angles and sniffed it critically. He then turned back to the leader and proceeded to give his report. "Taales. Nine nine taaales."
Whatever he had said, it caused Jeremy to visibly relax but seemed to displease the leader. His snout contorted into a displeased scowl, and he remained stonily silent for a moment. He then gave the curt command, "Tales. Tales tales tales nine nine tales." He wheeled around in a huff, took a step forward, and vanished. The two other Ninetales followed his lead, and the four Vulpix moved in to form a tighter circle around Katherine, peering up at her with undisguised interest. "What's going on?" Katherine asked Jeremy.
"Good news," he said, relief evident in his tone. "The leader says that it appears that we have been given permission to enter. He will allow us to enter the mountain, but warns us that the elders will be most displeased and may refuse to see us. He has ordered the four Vulpix to escort us."
The Vulpix were indeed trying to herd Katherine forward. Katherine, not sure of what to expect, stepped forward with caution. She suddenly found herself standing at the edge of a wide tunnel bored through the rocky ground. The Vulpix urged her in. Katherine found her questions to suddenly be answered; the Ninetales entered and left the mountain through tunnels. If they had this one then they probably had others as well, and they no doubt crossed under the riverbed. This was how the Ninetales had appeared so quickly; they had emerged from the tunnels from which they had been watching the pair's approach.
Katherine was fascinated to find that the tunnels were lit not by any artificial means of illumintion but by shafts dug upwards that brought sunlight in to brighten the tunnel. Jeremy explained that the sun was the source of much of a fire Pokemon's power and they could not bear to be without its presence for any great length of time.
The Vulpix continued to press Katherine down through the tunnel, chattering amongst themselves almost inaudibly. They passed beneath the river, a dark section where no shafts admitted sunlight and where the walls oozed dampness. It didn't seem to bother the Vulpix in the least. The tunnel began to slope upward, and soon Katherine had the impression that they were in the mountain itself.
The halls here narrowed considerably to be more Ninetales-sized. Katherine soon found herself stooped as she proceeded. Small windows cut into the side of the mountain provided light once again. Katherine asked about the difference in tunnel sizes, and as this didn't seem to be an objectionable to the guards, one replied. "Vulll. Pixvullix." she purred.
Jeremy was happy to translate. "She says that the tunnels outside were old Onix burrows and were how Vulpix and Ninetales first gained access to the mountain. These new passages were carved out for the express purpose of housing Vulpix and Ninetales."
Soon they came to a crossing, where several halls branched off from one another. Some led deeper into the heart of the mountain, some angled upwards, and some continued on around its outer shell. The Vulpix herded them deeper into the mountain.
Here, windows no longer carried sunlight into the winding corridors. They were lit instead by a veritable army of will-o'-the-wisps. The pale balls of flame drifted across the roof of the halls, casting a ghostly pallor upon those beneath. They swirled and eddied as though blown by an otherworldly wind or stirred by the current of an alien ocean. Occasionally, one of the lights would inexplicably go out, only to be replaced by others that faded in from thin air.
Katherine felt strangely calm and comforted in their presence, but sorrowful and regretful as well. If the Vulpix noticed anything, however, they showed no sign. Jeremy was watching the will-o'-the-wisps with undisguised amazement, craning his head back so that he nearly overbalanced and toppled off of Katherine's shoulder. As no explanation seemed forthcoming, Katherine decided to ask about the strange phenomenon. "Where do all these will-o'-the-wisps come from?" she asked the guard nearest her.
He looked up to the ceiling, then shook his head and replied "Pixx. Vulvul pix vulpix."
"He doesn't know," Jeremy said without taking his eyes off the glowing flames. "They came with the place. It's one of the reasons that the Ninetales consider this to be a sacred mountain."
Katherine was still marveling at the spectacle when they apparently reached their destination. The Vulpix in front of her stopped abruptly, causing Katherine to nearly tread on her fine tails before reacting. "Pixvul," the guard snapped irritably, nodding towards the wall. Katherine looked as indicated to find a low entrance carved into the wall, leading into a small, empty cavern.
She had to stoop to cross the threshold, and was still unable to stand upright on the other side. Nor was she willing to extend her head all of the way up, as a few will-o'-the-wisps circled lazily near the ceiling and she didn't want to collide with one of them. The room had no door, but two of the Vulpix settled themselves down by the room's sole entrance, apparently intending to prevent the prisoners from escaping. The other two must have been dismissed, as they continued down the hall, soon disappearing from view.
Katherine sighed and settled herself down against the room's back wall, leaning against it and looking up. For a while she occupied herself with watching the will-o'-the-wisps, wondering if she would be able to discern some pattern in their paths. They seemed to be moving at random, however, and she soon grew bored of this pursuit.
After what seemed an eternity, a regal-looking Ninetales came down the hallway, his long tails swaying proudly behind him. The Vulpix guards rose to attention respectfully as he approached. "Talestalesnine. Niine," he ordered, and they nodded and moved off down the hall in direction that Katherine had been brought in from. Turning to the pair in the room, he addressed them. "Niine. Tales. Talesnine talestales."
"He says to come with him," Jeremy explained, and Katherine scrambled to her feet, careful not to extend to her full height, still mindful of the strange flame circling just above her head. The Ninetales nodded appreciatively and turned around, starting off down hall. Katherine followed. "The council has agreed to hear our story," Jeremy explained as they were led through the winding corridors, now headed upward. "It has been a very, very long time since any human has set foot in these halls, and they wish to know what dire circumstances should bring us to their home."
At last, their long climb was over, and Katherin finally left the tunnels. She stretched to her full height with relief, stretching the cramps from her back and neck and breathing fresh air once more. She then peered around with interest at the place into which they had emerged. It appeared to be the caldera of the long-dead volcano, walls of rock forming a protective barrier against the wind and prying eyes. Most of the area was taken up by a small pond formed by collected rainwater. The edges of the lake were barren, few plants able to survive in the cold heights of the mountain.
Their Ninetales escort nodded across the water, then turned and disappeared into the tunnel once more. Katherine followed his gaze and saw a pair of Ninetalesl returning her stare coolly. Katherine hurried around the water, coming to stand before the pair, whom she assumed were the council.
Ninetales could live for close to one thousand years, but specimens as old as this couple were few and far between. Their hair had gone from the golden color of youth to the spun silver of old age, causing Katherine to think for one irrational moment that they might be alternate color individuals, the "shiny" creatures that so many trainers sought after. She was proven wrong by the tips of the Ninetale's tails, which retained their fiery hue despite their age. The pair, a male and a female whom Katherine assumed were mates, looked up to her with clouded red eyes. Though their vision seemed to be fading, they focused their gaze on Jeremy almost immediately. He leapt down from Katherine's shoulder, the long strand of fur that he held clutched in his forepaw glistening in the sunlight. He set it down in front of him, and the female Ninetales seemed at first to take interest in it, but then dismissed it and fixed her gaze back on Jeremy.
"Taaales. Ninetalesss. Talesnine?" she asked softly.
Jeremy began to speak in Pokemon, and Katherine assumed that he was probably recounting his whole story over again. The triad of Pokemon were soon engaged in conversation and Katherine, figuring that she had a bit of time before she would be needed to speak again, stepped away to have a look at the miniature lake.
She leaned out and gazed into the water with interest, then drew back in alarm. While she assumed that the pond would be fairly shallow, she saw instead unfathomable depths stretched out before her, deeper even than the night sky. Though it unsettled her, she seemed instinctively drawn to it, and soon found herself gazing into its depths again. A ripple passed across the water, and suddenly it seemed to her that she saw it to be full of flames, burning a pure and steady whitish color. Fascinated, Katherine continued to watch as the flames transformed themselves into flowers, spiky petals a fiery red. They swayed in the wind, dancing as if they were still flames. But then there came on the breeze a tongue of flame. Not like the flames before, this was a greedy, horrible conflagration. It reached out to the flowers with hungry claws, charring them black wherever it touched the fine petals. The fire consumed the surreal flowerbed, eating closer and closer to its heart until finally there was just a single plant left. It wilted in the terrible heat, the flames around it looming higher and higher, its petals curling in upon themselves.
Katherine drew back uncertainly and glanced around as if to assure herself that all about her was normal. The pair of Ninetales were listening, rapt, to Jeremy's story. The sun shone cheerily in the sky, casting reassurance down in its heat and light. Katherine walked back to the three Pokemon, who seemed to be coming to the conclusion of their discussion.
Jeremy had stopped talking. The two Ninetales were discussing something between themselves, heads close together. They looked up as Katherine approached. "Everything going along all right here?" she asked Jeremy.
"Yes," Jeremy replied with a grin. "You haven't been properly introduced, though, have you? This is Ailrianor." The male Ninetales gave a small bow of sorts and Katherine, uncertain of what to do, returned it. "And this is his mate, Lokynou," Jeremy continued. The female bowed, and Katherine returned the gesture. "And this, of course, is Katherine," Jeremy told the Ninetales, in English so that Katherine understood. The Ninetales nodded. "Ailrianor and Lokynou want to help me," Jeremy told Katherine, smiling broadly. "They are not sure how exactly to do that yet, but they're working on it. For now, they're letting us stay with them in their mountain. They'll feed us and everything."
"Taales. Talesninetales taaales," the male Ninetales interrupted, his eyes on Katherine.
"Oh," Jeremy replied. "Uh, Ailrianor wants to know if there is something that you wish to ask them now.
Katherine immediately relplied, "What are all of the will-o'-the-wisps here for? And what's with this funky pool?"
The Ninetales looked at each other as though at a loss for words, then some sort of signal passed between them and Lokynou nodded slightly. Turning to Katherine, she explained, "Aaales, nine. Niiine tales. Taletalesninetales. Talesninetales. Tales."
"The pool that you refer to is a mysterious one. Supposedly, it reflects scenes that represent something vitally important to the one who gazes into it. Not that it's at all straightforward about what it means, of course. As for the will-o'-the-wisps, well, that's a matter better discussed over a meal. Lokynou says that you are welcome to dine with them this night."
Katherine looked up in surprise to realize that the day was indeed waning. Shadows were beginning to creep across the ground, the sunlight taking on the golden quality of late afternoon. "That would be wonderful," Katherine replied graciously.
Ailrianor nodded, satisfied, and then indicated that Jeremy and Katherine should follow him back into the mountain. They began to walk around the lake. As she passed the still waters, however, Katherine couldn't resist looking into its depths once more. The burning field and the lone flower were still there, but now Katherine fancied that she saw eyes in the fire, staring back at her as though they were the ones looking into the pool and she the image reflected in it. She drew her gaze away, but as she did so she was gripped by a moment of pure terror, ice suffusing her veins, the beating of her heat drowning out all other sounds.
She backed away from the pool. "Are you okay, Katherine?" Jeremy asked with concern. He and the Ninetales had stopped some distance away, looking back at her. The moment passed, and once Katherine had regained control of her labored breathing she was quick to respond.
"Yes I'm fine," she replied, even having the fortitude to effect a weak chuckle, though it came out as more of a squeak, "Just someone walking across my grave, I guess.