Part 12 – Unlock the Mystery
The lightening streaked across the desolate sky as the mountain face began to erode from the pelting rain, wind and sand. It had been a horrible few hours as this freak storm wreaked havoc on the mountain range. Our heroes managed to find a small shallow cave to sleep in as the storm continued on. Brock was able to build a small fire using twigs and bits of leaves that had blown up from the forest. It was a pathetic little fire but they were able to heat up their dinner with it anyway. For days the weather had been terrible and unpredictable, due to the rising temperatures and odd winds coming from all directions. What was really terrible about it was that it really hindered their travels. Every time there was a storm or a shower, they had to stop and take shelter. And being in the mountains sides was no different. They had been on the mountains for two days and had hardly made any real progress.
The cave they were in was as dry as one could get and quite small. All three trainers had to sleep side by side in order to fit. Everyone agreed that this mission of finding Ho-oh wasn't as going as smoothly as first planned. Lugia had told Ash that when a legendary pokemon was near the Oracle would glow blue and pin point its location. But the rustle pendent didn't do a blasted thing for two days. It just lay there in his hand, being of absolutely no use. It's hard to say how many times Ash wanted to chuck the damn thing of the side of the mountain. And if he did, it would go really far to. Heck, just a while ago he was so bored he lobbed a rock over the cliff and it went screaming through the air like a zubat out of hell. It was still hard for him to get used to his knew found strength that he possessed. On their way into the cave Ash had taken Misty's hand to guide her. Unfortunately he almost crushed her poor fingers. He now had to be extra careful when doing things delicately. But he sure didn't mind having accelerated healing. The other day Ash had taken a nasty spill down the mountainside and was dragged over rocks and battered to with an inch of his life. But much to the relief of Misty and Brock they saw him climb back up the mountain and he was completely fine. Ash had healed before he even stopped rolling.
But with the storm outside of the cave, they couldn't do anything but sit and stare at the cave walls. It was really boring. Ash spent most of his newly found free time to inspect the mysterious Oracle. He rubbed his fingers all over the weathering letters and peered into the gem in the very center of it. Even in a room with no light it sparkled like it had a fire lit within it. Ash knew that he had little time to find Ho-oh. He should somehow feel the pokemon getting weaker inside him. Now if only he could use that feeling to locate him things would be a lot easier.
He jumped slightly as he felt Misty put her hands gently on his shoulders and began to rub it. Ash dropped the oracle into his lap as he bent his head slowly to get Misty to reach that certain 'spot' on his neck. His muscles were extremely tense and to Misty it was like trying to message a brick. But soon one by one his high-strung muscles began to loosen and Ash became more relaxed. She abruptly stopped and pushed him down to the ground. Ash became a bit nervous as Misty began to remove his coat and shirt.
"uh Misty?"
"What?"
"what are you doing?" He asked in his usual tone of voice.
"I have to do the rest of your back, turn over." But before he did she took a quick glance at Ash's amazing physic. She ran her eyes over his taunt chest and tight abs. It even looked like Ash was developing a six pack but was not fully there. His shoulders were a lot meatier and so were his biceps. She felt her cheeks become flushed and tried not o stare. Luckily Brock was over in the corner snoring and talking in his sleep like he always did.
Ash did was he was told and laid on his stomach so Misty could work out the kinks in his back. He shivered slightly as her fingers ran up and down his spine. She dug her fingers into his fleash and began to knead Ash like he was a huge pile of dough. It became to much for him to bear and to stop him from screaming he bit down on his hat. Then misty began to bring in her elbows to work out a knot in his lower back. By now the tears were rolling down his face and wondered why he deserved this torture. He look over at Pikachu who was trying not to laugh but was failing miserably. It seemed like an hour before Misty was finally finished. And afterward, he felt much worse then when she started. He slowly brought his eyes around to meet hers. "thanks……could you put my skin back on please?"
Misty shot him an evil glare. "Well, that's the last time you get a message from me!"
"thank god." He said under his breath.
Misty had heard that and was about to retaliate when she noticed that Ash had not put his shirt back on. She could feel he cheeks get warm and red instantly. Misty ran her eyes all over his exposed upper body and was beginning to get ancy. "oh my god, he is so hot I;ve never really seen him with his shirt off before. Calm down Misty……what a sexy beast…"
Ash noticed Misty's odd expression and red cheeks. "Are you okay Mist?"
"When was the last time you kissed me?"
Ash narrowed his eyes. "um…..hmmmm…..let me think……I *humph!*"
Without warning Misty launched herself on Ash and gave him the most passionate kiss he had ever received. When the shock wore off he gently grabbed her and kissed her back. It had really been quite awhile since they had done this. Ash longed to have Misty in his arms again because of the incident with Ruth. But it seems all was forgiven now and life could continue. Unfortunately their little passionate moment was ruined when they looked to see Brock staring at them with his squinty eyes. They both went beat red from embarrassment and ran to their sleeping bags and pretended that nothing happened. Brock just chuckled to himself and lay back down. "Crazy love sick kids." He glanced at them one last time to see them laying down in the same sleeping bag. "get a room you two" He mockingly sneered. One of the little joys in his life was to give Ash and Misty a hard time, even though he was always kidding.
After a very odd night in the cave they hoped that the raging storm that was still blowing outside the cave would have ended by morning, then the real search begins.
Ash carefully wrapped his arms around Misty and snuggled up close. "…I love you Misty" He whispered.
She gently kissed him. " I know…."
***
Giovanni entered the codes that opened the large steel door baring entrance to his secret room. As the lights flickered to life they proudly shone on the four large stone tablets that adorned the walls of the Team Rocket headquarters. On these ancient stones lay the writings that foretold the coming of a Chosen One. Giovanni had believed that all these years it had been him. But now do to the new information that had been presented to him, he was now contemplating his existence.
"this….boy….what is his connection with the legendary birds?…." Giovanni stood in the center of the room pondering over this.
"it seems to me that the one who controls the birds, can control the world….this boy must be an excellent trainer and must know a great deal about the legend. Perhaps I will let him gather the legendary pokemon together for me. Yes, that's it."
He moved to rub his hand against the cold stones. "I will stand back like a shadow, watching, waiting…biding my time. Until he has collected all the legendaries, then I will strike at the moment when he least expects it. I will not go quietly into the night."
Giovanni arrogantly fixed his tie as a new wave of confidence fed his already swollen ego. He spun around on his heels and walked towards the exit. He took a quick glance at the ancient stones as he flicked off the lights and disappeared into his office.
"let the game begin…."
***
It was absolutely freezing in their small hollowed cave as one by one the each began to wake up. The temperature had dropped drastically overnight and it left them shivering in their thin sleeping bags. Brock had used up all the possible things to make a fire with and had to use Vulpix to create a small steady flame to heat up a can of soup.
"a little bit more….a little bit more…" Brock said as he gingerly held the can over Vulpix's mouth.
Ash knelt down beside him. "Is it soup yet?"
"It'll be edible….I think."
Their food situation wasn't doing so good. After this can, and two another's and a few packages of tuna, that was it. They didn't really plan it out to well, not when there's no trace of food on these mountains or forests. Ash had also noticed that there weren't any pokemon to be found here on the cliff sides. There should of least been a few sandshrews living nearby, but there wasn't a damn thing.
After the food ran out the only thing they could do is to go back to civilization and cut off their little excursion. If only the damn oracle would work. Lugia said it was supposed to glow blue when there was a legendary pokemon nearby. Did he mean a radius of a few feet or a few miles?
Exasperated, he pocketed the oracle once more and stared at Misty who was still sleeping against the rock wall. She seemed so peaceful even though she was in horrible surroundings. And then Ash looked over at Brock, he was busy trying to get the can of soup open without burning his fingers. He just sat there on the dirty cave floor and admired the both of them. Brock and Misty had been with him since the very beginning. After the day he had gotten Pikachu Ash thought that he would have to travel by himself for years. Needless to say their company made things a lot easier and especially when he learned he is the known free protector of earth. Ash didn't think that he'll ever get used to it. But it looked like Brock and Misty had adjusted to the idea, mostly because it wasn't them. What they didn't know is that they do have a part it his mission. He had yet to tell them that they were both 'prophets' and we born to guide and protect him. Ash didn't really want to put that pressure on them.
"ASH!"
He spun around and whipped his head between the two of them. "What?! Who said that, what do you want?"
Brock poked him with his spoon. "I've been asking you for the last minute which direction we're going today?"
Ash rubbed his head. "oh sorry, I was thinking……I thought we would head east over the larger groups of mountains."
Brock shrugged. "You have to make everything difficult, why don't we head east? The mountains are much smaller over there."
"Are you scared?"
"Hardly, I'm just saying that Ho-oh might be over there."
Ash glared at him. "he might be in those other mountains to….hell he may be south, he may be north I have no idea were he is!! I am trying to OW!!"
Ash was cut short from a small rock bouncing off his head. He glared at Misty who held her hand outstretched, evidence that she had thrown it. "Shut up, I'm trying to sleep!"
"I think you've slept enough, come on get up." Ash stated.
Misty disappeared under her blanket with Togepi. "But it's so dark and cold out, just give me another five minutes?" Misty pleaded.
Brock began to chuckle. "You starting to sound like Ash."
"What?!" Misty screamed as she jumped out of her sleeping basket. "Wow, I feel refreshed." She said sarcastically.
They were all tried from their journey's all over the mountains. The paths they took were very treacherous and long. Their bodies were very sore from the constant blow from the rocks as they either tripped or stumbled into them or the rocks would be dislodged from the cliff-side and roll down at them. It was very dangerous here and it was obvious why there were no pokemon. But there had to be at least one, there had to be Ho-oh.
As the three young trainers entered the open air the shivered as the cold bite of the morning chilled them to the bone. But they had to press on and continue this wild goose chase, as Misty put it. It took them hours just to get to another mountainside and as they began to scale this behemoth it proved almost impossible due to crumbling foot holds and high winds. Already they were beginning to feel the lactic acid in their muscles as their tired legs carried them over the rocky terrain.
Every once in a while Ash would take out the oracle to see if it was working. He smacked it a few times and shook it but nothing happened. Ash was starting to get fed up as the made their way to the third base of mountain today.
"I don't get it?! How the hell is this thing supposed to work!!" Ash was just about to chuck the damn thing into a rock when Misty stopped him.
"Can I see it?" She asked with an outstretched hand.
Ash sighed and lobbed it over to her. "Have fun."
Misty smiled and took the strange oracle into her hands. She fumbled with it and turn it around in her hands a few times. She greatly admired the gem in the center of the oracle. It was placed directly in the center and was protruding out both sides. Misty raised the oracle to her face and look through the sparkling gem. Everything made it look like a kaleidoscope. She was just about done when she tilted the oracle towards the sun and had just caught something in the corner of her eye. Misty wasn't sure but tired it again. As she brought the oracle towards the sun it began to sparkle but unlike any gem she had seen before. Inside she could see all kinds of colors dancing inside the precious stone.
"whoa….pretty…….hey check this out." Misty said as she held the oracle towards the rising sun.
The two boys crowded around her as they watched the colors inside the gem begin to brighten and swirl. It truly was a beautiful thing to watch, but highly unusual. As the light peaked over the mountains the gem began to glow. Almost unnoticeable at first but soon became visible with more light that shone over the mountains.
"What do ya suppose its doing?" Ash asked. But it seemed no one had an answer.
Misty continued to hold the oracle towards the sun as her eyes became transfixed on the vibrant gem. And in her hands Misty could feel warmth penetrate her fingers and skin. The stone glowed brightly as the sun rose higher into the sky and at a very instant just as it got at the right elevation the gem turned ice blue and began to glow like a neon light.
"Wow…..see that!" he said while pointed erratically at it.
Misty it seemed had solved the mystery of the oracle. All this time it had been stormy and cloudy and the sun had not been out in days. But when Misty held the oracle towards the light it began to heat up. Like an engine it seems it won't work unless properly warmed up. Ash guessed that when it each a certain point the oracle would flare up and finally start working.
"its blue so we must be close…..but how am I supposed to pin point a Legendary pokemon with this?" Ash said as he stumbled around holding the oracle in front of him.
Misty was so proud to have discovered the secret and her ego was inflating a bit. "Well Ash, looks like you'll have to figure that one out, now I can't do it for ya all the time since you are the chosen one." She said very sarcastically.
Ash just ignored her and wandered around aimlessly trying to get a fix on Ho-oh signal. He wasn't picking up anything, or he thought he wasn't anyway. "damn…" he cursed to himself. This wasn't working.
Ash stared back down towards the glowing blue gem in the center. He felt an odd feeling as he looked at it. "what did Lugia say before?….things are always not what they seem….hmmm…..what if?"
He just took a chance but he held it in front of his face and stared back directly into it. Ash could see the mountains through the gem as if it were a window. Then by surprise the image in the gem began to move out over the horizon. He was scared but looked down and saw that he had not moved. But the image inside the stone began to fly out over the mountains as if he were seeing what a pidgy was seeing flying over the mountains. The images were small and hard to make out but the picture did rest on the peak of one mountain. And he knew that was the on Ho-oh was sealed in. Ash peeled his face away from the oracle and rubbed his eyes from the strain of staring at a tiny image for two minutes. All this time Misty and Brock were wondering why he was just standing there with his mouth open.
He explained to them that the oracle pinpointed the exact location by actually showing him the mountain Ho-oh was sealed in. Ash thought that he would have to walk around with it like a GPS or tracking device. But now he knew that the mountain was very close by and was sure that it would lead him to the resting place of the fifth legendary bird.
Excitedly he called out Lugia, Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno. All four stood in the morning sun and ruffled their feathers. Ash had never released all of them at the same time and it was really cool to see them all at once.
"Alright guys! We have to get to that mountain!" He shouted at all of them while pointed to the west. And sure enough there was the huge mountain they would have to endure on. It was a massive sized rock with a large peak covered in pure white snow that seemed to disappear under the clouds. This would be no easy feat.
But to make it easier for our young trainers they would fly and cut the travel time in half. Misty climbed onto Articuno while Brock got stuck with riding Zapdos; he just wished he wouldn't get shocked. Ash proudly rested on Lugia, which began to beat its wings and lift off the rocky ground. He whistled to the three other birds and they too, took flight.
The birds formed a square in the air as each one took a corner beside another. Below the rocky mountains of Johto seemed like little hills instead of lumbering giants of rock and sand. But they were all heading towards the grand daddy of them all. It was like Mount Everest stuck right in the middle of Johto. It seemed somewhat poetically correct to have a legendary pokemon in the biggest mountain in the west.
The four birds gently touched down on an outcropping of rock that would suffice as a landing runway. After they made sure that nothing had fallen after the flight especially Pikachu and Togepi they set off trying to find a way into it. It was very cold and their were up about two thousand feet. Ash had recalled all the birds and grabbed onto Pikachu so it wouldn't be blown away, it was quite gusty being so hi up.
"PIKA!" The little pokemon squeaked
"yea I know! We have to find a way into the mountain or we'll freeze up here."
Brock and Ash continued to dumbly walked along and grope the rocky cliff side to possibly find a hidden cave of some sorts. Misty was content at looking at the breathtaking scenery.
As Ash moved his hand over a rock he was able to feel a bit of warmth on the other side. The small portion of the mountain was made from many rocks piled on top of another. It seemed that a long time ago there was a cave in. Ash began to fling rocks aside using his newly discovered strength with ease. And pretty soon he could feel a gust of warm air streaming out of an opening that he created. He yelled for Brock and Misty to come over and help as he worked on getting the hole bigger. After a few minutes of throwing rock around they had made an opening wide and deep enough to stick a person through. Brock took a small flashlight and shined it up the small cave entrance to see if he could locate any other rocks in the way. But it seemed it was clear as Brock volunteered to be the first to enter the sealed off mountain. He squirmed around to get his chest in and almost got stuck because of his backpack. But he had made it through with just some minor scrapes and tears of his clothing.
Misty and Ash could hear a few impressed whistles come from inside as Brock beckoned for them to crawl in as well. Misty was the second to go and was able to crawl through quite easily without getting a scratch since she was so thin. Togepi was the third to enter and happily ran in after its mom. Ash got Pikachu to go before him and with one last look over the horizon he crawled through into the darkened cave.
The floor he crawled on was very sandy and he got a few grains in his mouth as he made his way completely through the opening. He spit it out and saw the Misty and Brock had not gone far from were they entered. The cave was a marvel to behold. He could see very well inside the cave because of the soft yellow light near the top bouncing of crystals embedded in the rocks. The rock formations themselves were very twisted and looked like sculptures from the museums.
Brock ran his hand over the rocks. "hmmmm sedimentary rock, mostly made of sandstone, very smooth with a hint of iron and crystal formations." Ash and Misty stared at their friend who had now seemed to be a rock connoisseur.
The ceiling above them was very high for a cave. The path they walked on was narrow and winding but there could see most that was in front of them due to the odd shape walls. Everything was very dry and dusty and this plagued on Misty's allergies.
"A choo! Scuse me………..a choo!"
Ash shushed her as he carefully walked forward holding a flashlight. It wasn't soon before they hit a fork in the road that lead to two more tunnels. He was about to split up the group when he remembered the Oracle. He withdrew it from his pocket and was surprised to see it still glowing. It moved it from the one tunnel to the next and found that it glowed more brightly when he waved it in front of the right entrance. The three trainers slowly made their way through the now darkening cave as they listened for anything suspicious. They walked along the sandy tunnel until coming to a very large room. The ceiling was just as high but the cave room was very open and clear. The air was very musty and stank of rotten something. Ash went around and dropped a few glowsticks into the sand to brighten up their surroundings.
The cave room was mostly bare but Ash continued to inspect it further. Holding his flashlight up he wander away to the far corner of the room and saw a small little cavern cut into the wall. He walked into the cavern and only saw a large lump of sand in the end of the shallow cave. It was a very large hill of sand and had probably blow into the corner by some means. Ash jumped when he felt Brock touch his shoulder.
"what are you doing?!" He yelled.
"sorry, didn't mean to startle you!" Brock yelled back.
Just then they both heard a strange noise. The first since they entered, they didn't know if it was the wind or possibly something else but it was very close. Brock looked down and saw the large sand pile next to him. "Say that looks comfy." He said while bending down to take a rest. But before his ass could touch it he felt a small tremor beneath the sand.
"what the hell was that?!" Brock exclaimed.
"I don't know….." Ash looked at the oracle and it now glow very brightly. Now suddenly Ash got that very odd feeling deep in the pit of his stomach again. Everything got kinda blurry and he had trouble hearing. It was what he had felt when Zapdos first showed up. Ash knew that he was so close but he had no idea where Ho-oh was. Then his gaze bent down to the sand dune. Ash smacked his dry lips and reached out and touched it. His fingers sank it slowly then stopped when he felt something very hard underneath it. Ash gasped as he blew of the sand with a few strokes of his hand. He had revealed a black marble looking rock underneath all the sand. And as he and Brock got more sand off the black began to shine through and they found that his rock was huge. After a while they had all the sand off and were looking a completely spherical black marble boulder. Although he didn't look spherical because a lot of it was still buried in the sand Brock could tell just from the rest of it. It was easily the size of a car and as tall as Brock.
"wow….do you think this is it?" Ash asked
"…it's a rock…." Brock said pointing out the blatantly obvious. "I thought we were after a pokemon…."
Ash scratched his head and stared at this massive stone in front of him. "Well, Lugia said he was sealed away……maybe Ho-oh's in this rock?"
It seems they were stuck again when they heard Misty call to them. "come here you guys you gotta see this!"
Ash turned around. "no you gotta come and see this!"
They waited and soon enough she shouted back. "mines better!"
"No ours is!"
"Just come and see this!!"
"ALRIGHT!" He grabbed Brock and stormed off in the direction were Misty had called them. They found her nearby hunched over looking at something. Ash bent down next to her and gasped at what he saw. The ancient remains of a human being. The bones were almost all but weathered away into sand but clothing and armor remained behind intact. Lying in the ground were a pair of pants, boots, a shirt, chest armor made of steel, a pair of gloves and a helmet. Around the collection of textiles lay a few broken bits of metal and a spear made of wood and a metal arrowhead.
And in the stone next to the body was a lovely sword stuck halfway into the soft rock of the cave walls. Brock walked over to and wiped the blade with his finger, he cursed as he cut himself. "…….its still sharp…." Ash and Misty watched as Brock wrapped his hands around the handle and tried to pull it out. He pulled with all of his might but the damn thing wouldn't budge. Exhausted he gave up and fell to the sandy ground.
Ash walked over and inspected the sword. On the hilt he could see very fine craftsmanship and unique carvings. The blade itself was not straight but it curved back and forth creating a wavy effect. Ash grabbed the handle and began to pull with everything he had. And with a final heave he felt he move in the rock. And then with one fluid motion it slipped from the rock and he fell back crashing onto his side. The sword fell into the sand with a dull thud. Ash crawled over and picked it up. It was surprisingly light. He stood up and waved it around and let the blade catch light from his flashlight.
"cool…." Just then he remembered the large black boulder in the other room. "Oh right! Come on guys I got to show ya this thing!"
He dragged the sword behind him as he led Misty and Brock back to the room with the odd rock. When the walked in they saw Pikachu was standing on looking all over its surface. Ash raised the sword. "look what I found….cool ain't it?"
Pikachu gave a resounding 'pika' and almost slipped of the boulder. Misty laid eyes on it for the first time and gasped. "what the hell is that?"
They looked at their rock connoisseur to give them his opinion. Brock walked up to it and with a hand began to hit and smack and rub the service. He than began to think like he was debating a taste of a certain wine.
"This defiantly isn't natural…..and its not man made……I thought it might be a volcanic black glass…..but it doesn't feel right…."
Ash repeated his words. "not natural? Not manmade? What the hell does that mean?"
After a few seconds at staring at this perplexing rock he reached for the ball containing Lugia to answer some questions. With a bright flash the huge legendary pokemon was just able to fit it's body inside the narrow cave. Lugia looked around him and opened his mouth in shock.
"….I have not been in these caves in a very long time….only now the memories are coming back to me……this is were it all happened."
"What is it Lugia?" Ash asked.
"This is were the Chosen one fell and were Ho-oh was sealed away by the dark power."
"The chosen one died here?" Ash then remembered those remains, which must have been him. "What happened?"
"hundreds of thousands of years ago after a large battle that went on for days, the Chosen one was very wounded and Ho-oh was the one to evacuate him. But the evil followed them. At some point over the Johto region the Chosen one dropped the oracle and was thought to be lost forever. I followed them and tried to back up Ho-oh in its struggle but I was to late. Ho-oh was sent crashing into the mountain and took the Chosen one with him. The evil followed them in and before I could stop it, the evil sealed away Ho-oh and killed the chosen one with his own sword and then drove it into the rock so that no one could use it…."
Ash stared at the sword then at the scattered remains of his past life. "but…I'm holding the sword…."
"The sword is legendary, it was forged in the fire's of hell and created by the gods themselves. The Chosen one was the only person that could wield the power of the sword. Even when lodged in rock, no strength could yank it out without the chosen one. And the sword is the only thing that can break through the seal of Ho-oh. I was unable to save the Chosen one and free Ho-oh. I watched the Chosen one die and was filled with an unbearable sense of failure. But the remaining legendary pokemon were able to seal the evil away just as it did to Ho-oh……And it was right here that I stood and received the first word of the Gods that the Chosen one would return. I took four slabs of stone from this cave and had the legend written by the townspeople of goldenrod…..but the stones have vanished…..I destroyed the cave enterence knowning that the Chosen one would return. Although after so many years I had forgotten were the cave was hidden. I knew that the Chosen one would find Ho-oh and reclaim the sword of light….now Ash! Free Ho-oh!"
Ash turned heroically toward the massive black stone. Then turned back to Lugia. "how?"
All of them almost fell over inside the cave. Misty threw a rock at him. "Use the sword and hit the thing!"
"oh…right stand back!!!"
Ash turned and faced the evil rock and held the sword in front proudly. With a grunt he raised the sword up and over his head. He paused for a moment and charged the rock.
"Ho-oh! Your mine!"
He brought the blade down onto the surface with tremendous force. The blade cut easily into the rock as a bright flash filled the cave. Ash stood there as the onlookers held their breath. Slowly he heard and then saw small cracks begin to spread onto the surface. It sounded like glass breaking as the shards of rock began to fly in all directions. Ash slowly backed off while shielding his face. And with another blinding blast of light that sent him and the others reeling onto their backs.
When Ash could see that the light had dissipated through his eyelids he slowly opened them and blinked around trying to find Misty and the others. Instead he saw the form of a large red bird laying on the ground in a cloud of mist. He slowly sat up, not taking his gaze of this lumbering pokemon as it sucked in air into it's tired lungs. Ash was sure that it had been the first time it had started breathing since the day it was sealed away into this lonely cave. He crawled over to the legendary bird and stroked it head. Ho-oh slowly opened its eyes but closed them due to the light. It must of also been the first time it had used it eyes as well.
Ash felt Lugia's head brush past him and nudge Ho-oh to try and get some response. Lugia shrugged. "He is severely weakened….we must get him to a pokemon center…."
Ash brushed his hand over Ho-oh's large head and soothingly whispered into it's ear. "Welcome back…….its me, your master, I've come back to you……"
After he said it Ho-oh let out a tiny noise at the back of its throat to let Ash know that he heard him. And with a final gaze into its half-open eyes Ash pressed a pokeball against him and watched him get swallowed up by the light. He was so weak that the pokeball didn't even shake around.
He stared up back to Lugia who was smiling. "Excellent, now we must get him healed!"
"You got it!" Ash recalled Lugia for the time being since he wouldn't be able to fit in the cave tunnels. He ran back and gathered up Brock, Misty and Pikachu. Before they ran towards the exit Ash took one last look at the remains of the first Chosen One. In a sense he had been here before, he was looking at his past life and it kinda freaked him out. Ash knelt down and grabbed a handful of sand and felt the particles slip through his fingers.
"I had fallen…..I have risen…….I will fall again…..but not until my duty on this earth has been fulfilled….." Ash threw back the sand and grabbed the sheath that laid nearby for the sword. He secured the blade and tied the sheath to his back. Grabbing his flashlight Ash ran after the others to leave the cave and make it back to civilization.
And as the glowsticks lying in the sand began to die the cave was once again empty all except for the remains of a noble man that gave his life for the safety of the world. But the scattered pieces of clothing and armor told an unknown story of evil that only three people in the world had only now discovered but remain oblivious to the true horror that took place all those years ago. How long until the world awakens to the evil? How long does Ash have? As the last of the light faded from the room and the wind died down, and as the dust settled no longer would humans set foot in this cave, for eternity this cave will remain untouched and no one will discover the true horror…..not until its to late.
To be continued.
The lightening streaked across the desolate sky as the mountain face began to erode from the pelting rain, wind and sand. It had been a horrible few hours as this freak storm wreaked havoc on the mountain range. Our heroes managed to find a small shallow cave to sleep in as the storm continued on. Brock was able to build a small fire using twigs and bits of leaves that had blown up from the forest. It was a pathetic little fire but they were able to heat up their dinner with it anyway. For days the weather had been terrible and unpredictable, due to the rising temperatures and odd winds coming from all directions. What was really terrible about it was that it really hindered their travels. Every time there was a storm or a shower, they had to stop and take shelter. And being in the mountains sides was no different. They had been on the mountains for two days and had hardly made any real progress.
The cave they were in was as dry as one could get and quite small. All three trainers had to sleep side by side in order to fit. Everyone agreed that this mission of finding Ho-oh wasn't as going as smoothly as first planned. Lugia had told Ash that when a legendary pokemon was near the Oracle would glow blue and pin point its location. But the rustle pendent didn't do a blasted thing for two days. It just lay there in his hand, being of absolutely no use. It's hard to say how many times Ash wanted to chuck the damn thing of the side of the mountain. And if he did, it would go really far to. Heck, just a while ago he was so bored he lobbed a rock over the cliff and it went screaming through the air like a zubat out of hell. It was still hard for him to get used to his knew found strength that he possessed. On their way into the cave Ash had taken Misty's hand to guide her. Unfortunately he almost crushed her poor fingers. He now had to be extra careful when doing things delicately. But he sure didn't mind having accelerated healing. The other day Ash had taken a nasty spill down the mountainside and was dragged over rocks and battered to with an inch of his life. But much to the relief of Misty and Brock they saw him climb back up the mountain and he was completely fine. Ash had healed before he even stopped rolling.
But with the storm outside of the cave, they couldn't do anything but sit and stare at the cave walls. It was really boring. Ash spent most of his newly found free time to inspect the mysterious Oracle. He rubbed his fingers all over the weathering letters and peered into the gem in the very center of it. Even in a room with no light it sparkled like it had a fire lit within it. Ash knew that he had little time to find Ho-oh. He should somehow feel the pokemon getting weaker inside him. Now if only he could use that feeling to locate him things would be a lot easier.
He jumped slightly as he felt Misty put her hands gently on his shoulders and began to rub it. Ash dropped the oracle into his lap as he bent his head slowly to get Misty to reach that certain 'spot' on his neck. His muscles were extremely tense and to Misty it was like trying to message a brick. But soon one by one his high-strung muscles began to loosen and Ash became more relaxed. She abruptly stopped and pushed him down to the ground. Ash became a bit nervous as Misty began to remove his coat and shirt.
"uh Misty?"
"What?"
"what are you doing?" He asked in his usual tone of voice.
"I have to do the rest of your back, turn over." But before he did she took a quick glance at Ash's amazing physic. She ran her eyes over his taunt chest and tight abs. It even looked like Ash was developing a six pack but was not fully there. His shoulders were a lot meatier and so were his biceps. She felt her cheeks become flushed and tried not o stare. Luckily Brock was over in the corner snoring and talking in his sleep like he always did.
Ash did was he was told and laid on his stomach so Misty could work out the kinks in his back. He shivered slightly as her fingers ran up and down his spine. She dug her fingers into his fleash and began to knead Ash like he was a huge pile of dough. It became to much for him to bear and to stop him from screaming he bit down on his hat. Then misty began to bring in her elbows to work out a knot in his lower back. By now the tears were rolling down his face and wondered why he deserved this torture. He look over at Pikachu who was trying not to laugh but was failing miserably. It seemed like an hour before Misty was finally finished. And afterward, he felt much worse then when she started. He slowly brought his eyes around to meet hers. "thanks……could you put my skin back on please?"
Misty shot him an evil glare. "Well, that's the last time you get a message from me!"
"thank god." He said under his breath.
Misty had heard that and was about to retaliate when she noticed that Ash had not put his shirt back on. She could feel he cheeks get warm and red instantly. Misty ran her eyes all over his exposed upper body and was beginning to get ancy. "oh my god, he is so hot I;ve never really seen him with his shirt off before. Calm down Misty……what a sexy beast…"
Ash noticed Misty's odd expression and red cheeks. "Are you okay Mist?"
"When was the last time you kissed me?"
Ash narrowed his eyes. "um…..hmmmm…..let me think……I *humph!*"
Without warning Misty launched herself on Ash and gave him the most passionate kiss he had ever received. When the shock wore off he gently grabbed her and kissed her back. It had really been quite awhile since they had done this. Ash longed to have Misty in his arms again because of the incident with Ruth. But it seems all was forgiven now and life could continue. Unfortunately their little passionate moment was ruined when they looked to see Brock staring at them with his squinty eyes. They both went beat red from embarrassment and ran to their sleeping bags and pretended that nothing happened. Brock just chuckled to himself and lay back down. "Crazy love sick kids." He glanced at them one last time to see them laying down in the same sleeping bag. "get a room you two" He mockingly sneered. One of the little joys in his life was to give Ash and Misty a hard time, even though he was always kidding.
After a very odd night in the cave they hoped that the raging storm that was still blowing outside the cave would have ended by morning, then the real search begins.
Ash carefully wrapped his arms around Misty and snuggled up close. "…I love you Misty" He whispered.
She gently kissed him. " I know…."
***
Giovanni entered the codes that opened the large steel door baring entrance to his secret room. As the lights flickered to life they proudly shone on the four large stone tablets that adorned the walls of the Team Rocket headquarters. On these ancient stones lay the writings that foretold the coming of a Chosen One. Giovanni had believed that all these years it had been him. But now do to the new information that had been presented to him, he was now contemplating his existence.
"this….boy….what is his connection with the legendary birds?…." Giovanni stood in the center of the room pondering over this.
"it seems to me that the one who controls the birds, can control the world….this boy must be an excellent trainer and must know a great deal about the legend. Perhaps I will let him gather the legendary pokemon together for me. Yes, that's it."
He moved to rub his hand against the cold stones. "I will stand back like a shadow, watching, waiting…biding my time. Until he has collected all the legendaries, then I will strike at the moment when he least expects it. I will not go quietly into the night."
Giovanni arrogantly fixed his tie as a new wave of confidence fed his already swollen ego. He spun around on his heels and walked towards the exit. He took a quick glance at the ancient stones as he flicked off the lights and disappeared into his office.
"let the game begin…."
***
It was absolutely freezing in their small hollowed cave as one by one the each began to wake up. The temperature had dropped drastically overnight and it left them shivering in their thin sleeping bags. Brock had used up all the possible things to make a fire with and had to use Vulpix to create a small steady flame to heat up a can of soup.
"a little bit more….a little bit more…" Brock said as he gingerly held the can over Vulpix's mouth.
Ash knelt down beside him. "Is it soup yet?"
"It'll be edible….I think."
Their food situation wasn't doing so good. After this can, and two another's and a few packages of tuna, that was it. They didn't really plan it out to well, not when there's no trace of food on these mountains or forests. Ash had also noticed that there weren't any pokemon to be found here on the cliff sides. There should of least been a few sandshrews living nearby, but there wasn't a damn thing.
After the food ran out the only thing they could do is to go back to civilization and cut off their little excursion. If only the damn oracle would work. Lugia said it was supposed to glow blue when there was a legendary pokemon nearby. Did he mean a radius of a few feet or a few miles?
Exasperated, he pocketed the oracle once more and stared at Misty who was still sleeping against the rock wall. She seemed so peaceful even though she was in horrible surroundings. And then Ash looked over at Brock, he was busy trying to get the can of soup open without burning his fingers. He just sat there on the dirty cave floor and admired the both of them. Brock and Misty had been with him since the very beginning. After the day he had gotten Pikachu Ash thought that he would have to travel by himself for years. Needless to say their company made things a lot easier and especially when he learned he is the known free protector of earth. Ash didn't think that he'll ever get used to it. But it looked like Brock and Misty had adjusted to the idea, mostly because it wasn't them. What they didn't know is that they do have a part it his mission. He had yet to tell them that they were both 'prophets' and we born to guide and protect him. Ash didn't really want to put that pressure on them.
"ASH!"
He spun around and whipped his head between the two of them. "What?! Who said that, what do you want?"
Brock poked him with his spoon. "I've been asking you for the last minute which direction we're going today?"
Ash rubbed his head. "oh sorry, I was thinking……I thought we would head east over the larger groups of mountains."
Brock shrugged. "You have to make everything difficult, why don't we head east? The mountains are much smaller over there."
"Are you scared?"
"Hardly, I'm just saying that Ho-oh might be over there."
Ash glared at him. "he might be in those other mountains to….hell he may be south, he may be north I have no idea were he is!! I am trying to OW!!"
Ash was cut short from a small rock bouncing off his head. He glared at Misty who held her hand outstretched, evidence that she had thrown it. "Shut up, I'm trying to sleep!"
"I think you've slept enough, come on get up." Ash stated.
Misty disappeared under her blanket with Togepi. "But it's so dark and cold out, just give me another five minutes?" Misty pleaded.
Brock began to chuckle. "You starting to sound like Ash."
"What?!" Misty screamed as she jumped out of her sleeping basket. "Wow, I feel refreshed." She said sarcastically.
They were all tried from their journey's all over the mountains. The paths they took were very treacherous and long. Their bodies were very sore from the constant blow from the rocks as they either tripped or stumbled into them or the rocks would be dislodged from the cliff-side and roll down at them. It was very dangerous here and it was obvious why there were no pokemon. But there had to be at least one, there had to be Ho-oh.
As the three young trainers entered the open air the shivered as the cold bite of the morning chilled them to the bone. But they had to press on and continue this wild goose chase, as Misty put it. It took them hours just to get to another mountainside and as they began to scale this behemoth it proved almost impossible due to crumbling foot holds and high winds. Already they were beginning to feel the lactic acid in their muscles as their tired legs carried them over the rocky terrain.
Every once in a while Ash would take out the oracle to see if it was working. He smacked it a few times and shook it but nothing happened. Ash was starting to get fed up as the made their way to the third base of mountain today.
"I don't get it?! How the hell is this thing supposed to work!!" Ash was just about to chuck the damn thing into a rock when Misty stopped him.
"Can I see it?" She asked with an outstretched hand.
Ash sighed and lobbed it over to her. "Have fun."
Misty smiled and took the strange oracle into her hands. She fumbled with it and turn it around in her hands a few times. She greatly admired the gem in the center of the oracle. It was placed directly in the center and was protruding out both sides. Misty raised the oracle to her face and look through the sparkling gem. Everything made it look like a kaleidoscope. She was just about done when she tilted the oracle towards the sun and had just caught something in the corner of her eye. Misty wasn't sure but tired it again. As she brought the oracle towards the sun it began to sparkle but unlike any gem she had seen before. Inside she could see all kinds of colors dancing inside the precious stone.
"whoa….pretty…….hey check this out." Misty said as she held the oracle towards the rising sun.
The two boys crowded around her as they watched the colors inside the gem begin to brighten and swirl. It truly was a beautiful thing to watch, but highly unusual. As the light peaked over the mountains the gem began to glow. Almost unnoticeable at first but soon became visible with more light that shone over the mountains.
"What do ya suppose its doing?" Ash asked. But it seemed no one had an answer.
Misty continued to hold the oracle towards the sun as her eyes became transfixed on the vibrant gem. And in her hands Misty could feel warmth penetrate her fingers and skin. The stone glowed brightly as the sun rose higher into the sky and at a very instant just as it got at the right elevation the gem turned ice blue and began to glow like a neon light.
"Wow…..see that!" he said while pointed erratically at it.
Misty it seemed had solved the mystery of the oracle. All this time it had been stormy and cloudy and the sun had not been out in days. But when Misty held the oracle towards the light it began to heat up. Like an engine it seems it won't work unless properly warmed up. Ash guessed that when it each a certain point the oracle would flare up and finally start working.
"its blue so we must be close…..but how am I supposed to pin point a Legendary pokemon with this?" Ash said as he stumbled around holding the oracle in front of him.
Misty was so proud to have discovered the secret and her ego was inflating a bit. "Well Ash, looks like you'll have to figure that one out, now I can't do it for ya all the time since you are the chosen one." She said very sarcastically.
Ash just ignored her and wandered around aimlessly trying to get a fix on Ho-oh signal. He wasn't picking up anything, or he thought he wasn't anyway. "damn…" he cursed to himself. This wasn't working.
Ash stared back down towards the glowing blue gem in the center. He felt an odd feeling as he looked at it. "what did Lugia say before?….things are always not what they seem….hmmm…..what if?"
He just took a chance but he held it in front of his face and stared back directly into it. Ash could see the mountains through the gem as if it were a window. Then by surprise the image in the gem began to move out over the horizon. He was scared but looked down and saw that he had not moved. But the image inside the stone began to fly out over the mountains as if he were seeing what a pidgy was seeing flying over the mountains. The images were small and hard to make out but the picture did rest on the peak of one mountain. And he knew that was the on Ho-oh was sealed in. Ash peeled his face away from the oracle and rubbed his eyes from the strain of staring at a tiny image for two minutes. All this time Misty and Brock were wondering why he was just standing there with his mouth open.
He explained to them that the oracle pinpointed the exact location by actually showing him the mountain Ho-oh was sealed in. Ash thought that he would have to walk around with it like a GPS or tracking device. But now he knew that the mountain was very close by and was sure that it would lead him to the resting place of the fifth legendary bird.
Excitedly he called out Lugia, Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno. All four stood in the morning sun and ruffled their feathers. Ash had never released all of them at the same time and it was really cool to see them all at once.
"Alright guys! We have to get to that mountain!" He shouted at all of them while pointed to the west. And sure enough there was the huge mountain they would have to endure on. It was a massive sized rock with a large peak covered in pure white snow that seemed to disappear under the clouds. This would be no easy feat.
But to make it easier for our young trainers they would fly and cut the travel time in half. Misty climbed onto Articuno while Brock got stuck with riding Zapdos; he just wished he wouldn't get shocked. Ash proudly rested on Lugia, which began to beat its wings and lift off the rocky ground. He whistled to the three other birds and they too, took flight.
The birds formed a square in the air as each one took a corner beside another. Below the rocky mountains of Johto seemed like little hills instead of lumbering giants of rock and sand. But they were all heading towards the grand daddy of them all. It was like Mount Everest stuck right in the middle of Johto. It seemed somewhat poetically correct to have a legendary pokemon in the biggest mountain in the west.
The four birds gently touched down on an outcropping of rock that would suffice as a landing runway. After they made sure that nothing had fallen after the flight especially Pikachu and Togepi they set off trying to find a way into it. It was very cold and their were up about two thousand feet. Ash had recalled all the birds and grabbed onto Pikachu so it wouldn't be blown away, it was quite gusty being so hi up.
"PIKA!" The little pokemon squeaked
"yea I know! We have to find a way into the mountain or we'll freeze up here."
Brock and Ash continued to dumbly walked along and grope the rocky cliff side to possibly find a hidden cave of some sorts. Misty was content at looking at the breathtaking scenery.
As Ash moved his hand over a rock he was able to feel a bit of warmth on the other side. The small portion of the mountain was made from many rocks piled on top of another. It seemed that a long time ago there was a cave in. Ash began to fling rocks aside using his newly discovered strength with ease. And pretty soon he could feel a gust of warm air streaming out of an opening that he created. He yelled for Brock and Misty to come over and help as he worked on getting the hole bigger. After a few minutes of throwing rock around they had made an opening wide and deep enough to stick a person through. Brock took a small flashlight and shined it up the small cave entrance to see if he could locate any other rocks in the way. But it seemed it was clear as Brock volunteered to be the first to enter the sealed off mountain. He squirmed around to get his chest in and almost got stuck because of his backpack. But he had made it through with just some minor scrapes and tears of his clothing.
Misty and Ash could hear a few impressed whistles come from inside as Brock beckoned for them to crawl in as well. Misty was the second to go and was able to crawl through quite easily without getting a scratch since she was so thin. Togepi was the third to enter and happily ran in after its mom. Ash got Pikachu to go before him and with one last look over the horizon he crawled through into the darkened cave.
The floor he crawled on was very sandy and he got a few grains in his mouth as he made his way completely through the opening. He spit it out and saw the Misty and Brock had not gone far from were they entered. The cave was a marvel to behold. He could see very well inside the cave because of the soft yellow light near the top bouncing of crystals embedded in the rocks. The rock formations themselves were very twisted and looked like sculptures from the museums.
Brock ran his hand over the rocks. "hmmmm sedimentary rock, mostly made of sandstone, very smooth with a hint of iron and crystal formations." Ash and Misty stared at their friend who had now seemed to be a rock connoisseur.
The ceiling above them was very high for a cave. The path they walked on was narrow and winding but there could see most that was in front of them due to the odd shape walls. Everything was very dry and dusty and this plagued on Misty's allergies.
"A choo! Scuse me………..a choo!"
Ash shushed her as he carefully walked forward holding a flashlight. It wasn't soon before they hit a fork in the road that lead to two more tunnels. He was about to split up the group when he remembered the Oracle. He withdrew it from his pocket and was surprised to see it still glowing. It moved it from the one tunnel to the next and found that it glowed more brightly when he waved it in front of the right entrance. The three trainers slowly made their way through the now darkening cave as they listened for anything suspicious. They walked along the sandy tunnel until coming to a very large room. The ceiling was just as high but the cave room was very open and clear. The air was very musty and stank of rotten something. Ash went around and dropped a few glowsticks into the sand to brighten up their surroundings.
The cave room was mostly bare but Ash continued to inspect it further. Holding his flashlight up he wander away to the far corner of the room and saw a small little cavern cut into the wall. He walked into the cavern and only saw a large lump of sand in the end of the shallow cave. It was a very large hill of sand and had probably blow into the corner by some means. Ash jumped when he felt Brock touch his shoulder.
"what are you doing?!" He yelled.
"sorry, didn't mean to startle you!" Brock yelled back.
Just then they both heard a strange noise. The first since they entered, they didn't know if it was the wind or possibly something else but it was very close. Brock looked down and saw the large sand pile next to him. "Say that looks comfy." He said while bending down to take a rest. But before his ass could touch it he felt a small tremor beneath the sand.
"what the hell was that?!" Brock exclaimed.
"I don't know….." Ash looked at the oracle and it now glow very brightly. Now suddenly Ash got that very odd feeling deep in the pit of his stomach again. Everything got kinda blurry and he had trouble hearing. It was what he had felt when Zapdos first showed up. Ash knew that he was so close but he had no idea where Ho-oh was. Then his gaze bent down to the sand dune. Ash smacked his dry lips and reached out and touched it. His fingers sank it slowly then stopped when he felt something very hard underneath it. Ash gasped as he blew of the sand with a few strokes of his hand. He had revealed a black marble looking rock underneath all the sand. And as he and Brock got more sand off the black began to shine through and they found that his rock was huge. After a while they had all the sand off and were looking a completely spherical black marble boulder. Although he didn't look spherical because a lot of it was still buried in the sand Brock could tell just from the rest of it. It was easily the size of a car and as tall as Brock.
"wow….do you think this is it?" Ash asked
"…it's a rock…." Brock said pointing out the blatantly obvious. "I thought we were after a pokemon…."
Ash scratched his head and stared at this massive stone in front of him. "Well, Lugia said he was sealed away……maybe Ho-oh's in this rock?"
It seems they were stuck again when they heard Misty call to them. "come here you guys you gotta see this!"
Ash turned around. "no you gotta come and see this!"
They waited and soon enough she shouted back. "mines better!"
"No ours is!"
"Just come and see this!!"
"ALRIGHT!" He grabbed Brock and stormed off in the direction were Misty had called them. They found her nearby hunched over looking at something. Ash bent down next to her and gasped at what he saw. The ancient remains of a human being. The bones were almost all but weathered away into sand but clothing and armor remained behind intact. Lying in the ground were a pair of pants, boots, a shirt, chest armor made of steel, a pair of gloves and a helmet. Around the collection of textiles lay a few broken bits of metal and a spear made of wood and a metal arrowhead.
And in the stone next to the body was a lovely sword stuck halfway into the soft rock of the cave walls. Brock walked over to and wiped the blade with his finger, he cursed as he cut himself. "…….its still sharp…." Ash and Misty watched as Brock wrapped his hands around the handle and tried to pull it out. He pulled with all of his might but the damn thing wouldn't budge. Exhausted he gave up and fell to the sandy ground.
Ash walked over and inspected the sword. On the hilt he could see very fine craftsmanship and unique carvings. The blade itself was not straight but it curved back and forth creating a wavy effect. Ash grabbed the handle and began to pull with everything he had. And with a final heave he felt he move in the rock. And then with one fluid motion it slipped from the rock and he fell back crashing onto his side. The sword fell into the sand with a dull thud. Ash crawled over and picked it up. It was surprisingly light. He stood up and waved it around and let the blade catch light from his flashlight.
"cool…." Just then he remembered the large black boulder in the other room. "Oh right! Come on guys I got to show ya this thing!"
He dragged the sword behind him as he led Misty and Brock back to the room with the odd rock. When the walked in they saw Pikachu was standing on looking all over its surface. Ash raised the sword. "look what I found….cool ain't it?"
Pikachu gave a resounding 'pika' and almost slipped of the boulder. Misty laid eyes on it for the first time and gasped. "what the hell is that?"
They looked at their rock connoisseur to give them his opinion. Brock walked up to it and with a hand began to hit and smack and rub the service. He than began to think like he was debating a taste of a certain wine.
"This defiantly isn't natural…..and its not man made……I thought it might be a volcanic black glass…..but it doesn't feel right…."
Ash repeated his words. "not natural? Not manmade? What the hell does that mean?"
After a few seconds at staring at this perplexing rock he reached for the ball containing Lugia to answer some questions. With a bright flash the huge legendary pokemon was just able to fit it's body inside the narrow cave. Lugia looked around him and opened his mouth in shock.
"….I have not been in these caves in a very long time….only now the memories are coming back to me……this is were it all happened."
"What is it Lugia?" Ash asked.
"This is were the Chosen one fell and were Ho-oh was sealed away by the dark power."
"The chosen one died here?" Ash then remembered those remains, which must have been him. "What happened?"
"hundreds of thousands of years ago after a large battle that went on for days, the Chosen one was very wounded and Ho-oh was the one to evacuate him. But the evil followed them. At some point over the Johto region the Chosen one dropped the oracle and was thought to be lost forever. I followed them and tried to back up Ho-oh in its struggle but I was to late. Ho-oh was sent crashing into the mountain and took the Chosen one with him. The evil followed them in and before I could stop it, the evil sealed away Ho-oh and killed the chosen one with his own sword and then drove it into the rock so that no one could use it…."
Ash stared at the sword then at the scattered remains of his past life. "but…I'm holding the sword…."
"The sword is legendary, it was forged in the fire's of hell and created by the gods themselves. The Chosen one was the only person that could wield the power of the sword. Even when lodged in rock, no strength could yank it out without the chosen one. And the sword is the only thing that can break through the seal of Ho-oh. I was unable to save the Chosen one and free Ho-oh. I watched the Chosen one die and was filled with an unbearable sense of failure. But the remaining legendary pokemon were able to seal the evil away just as it did to Ho-oh……And it was right here that I stood and received the first word of the Gods that the Chosen one would return. I took four slabs of stone from this cave and had the legend written by the townspeople of goldenrod…..but the stones have vanished…..I destroyed the cave enterence knowning that the Chosen one would return. Although after so many years I had forgotten were the cave was hidden. I knew that the Chosen one would find Ho-oh and reclaim the sword of light….now Ash! Free Ho-oh!"
Ash turned heroically toward the massive black stone. Then turned back to Lugia. "how?"
All of them almost fell over inside the cave. Misty threw a rock at him. "Use the sword and hit the thing!"
"oh…right stand back!!!"
Ash turned and faced the evil rock and held the sword in front proudly. With a grunt he raised the sword up and over his head. He paused for a moment and charged the rock.
"Ho-oh! Your mine!"
He brought the blade down onto the surface with tremendous force. The blade cut easily into the rock as a bright flash filled the cave. Ash stood there as the onlookers held their breath. Slowly he heard and then saw small cracks begin to spread onto the surface. It sounded like glass breaking as the shards of rock began to fly in all directions. Ash slowly backed off while shielding his face. And with another blinding blast of light that sent him and the others reeling onto their backs.
When Ash could see that the light had dissipated through his eyelids he slowly opened them and blinked around trying to find Misty and the others. Instead he saw the form of a large red bird laying on the ground in a cloud of mist. He slowly sat up, not taking his gaze of this lumbering pokemon as it sucked in air into it's tired lungs. Ash was sure that it had been the first time it had started breathing since the day it was sealed away into this lonely cave. He crawled over to the legendary bird and stroked it head. Ho-oh slowly opened its eyes but closed them due to the light. It must of also been the first time it had used it eyes as well.
Ash felt Lugia's head brush past him and nudge Ho-oh to try and get some response. Lugia shrugged. "He is severely weakened….we must get him to a pokemon center…."
Ash brushed his hand over Ho-oh's large head and soothingly whispered into it's ear. "Welcome back…….its me, your master, I've come back to you……"
After he said it Ho-oh let out a tiny noise at the back of its throat to let Ash know that he heard him. And with a final gaze into its half-open eyes Ash pressed a pokeball against him and watched him get swallowed up by the light. He was so weak that the pokeball didn't even shake around.
He stared up back to Lugia who was smiling. "Excellent, now we must get him healed!"
"You got it!" Ash recalled Lugia for the time being since he wouldn't be able to fit in the cave tunnels. He ran back and gathered up Brock, Misty and Pikachu. Before they ran towards the exit Ash took one last look at the remains of the first Chosen One. In a sense he had been here before, he was looking at his past life and it kinda freaked him out. Ash knelt down and grabbed a handful of sand and felt the particles slip through his fingers.
"I had fallen…..I have risen…….I will fall again…..but not until my duty on this earth has been fulfilled….." Ash threw back the sand and grabbed the sheath that laid nearby for the sword. He secured the blade and tied the sheath to his back. Grabbing his flashlight Ash ran after the others to leave the cave and make it back to civilization.
And as the glowsticks lying in the sand began to die the cave was once again empty all except for the remains of a noble man that gave his life for the safety of the world. But the scattered pieces of clothing and armor told an unknown story of evil that only three people in the world had only now discovered but remain oblivious to the true horror that took place all those years ago. How long until the world awakens to the evil? How long does Ash have? As the last of the light faded from the room and the wind died down, and as the dust settled no longer would humans set foot in this cave, for eternity this cave will remain untouched and no one will discover the true horror…..not until its to late.
To be continued.
