Ch 14

Jirachi watched in silent anger as Celebi flitted towards the forgotten chess table in Evice's study. The portly man and Nascour had left only moments ago, making their way speedily to where Rui, Wes, and their friends faced off against the Shadow Arcanine. The gold and silver pieces still stood in preparation for the final move, both the gold knight and bishop (Evice and Nascour, respectively) were closing in on the silver king. Celebi stood on the table top, gazing down at the game.

"Why?" Jirachi hissed softly, "Why did you show Evice how to create Shadow Pokémon? Why did you unleash something so cruel to us on the world?" Celebi glanced back at him slowly, then returned her gaze to the pieces on the board. Carefully, she reached out to the set.

"It is written in the stone of life that a Pokémon has its place and the humans have theirs. One is master of the elements, the other, master of their fates." she murmured and picked up the golden figurine of Wesley, "The two shall only ever unite for a greater purpose; to protect and serve in the interests of Nature. To do anything else is to disobey Nature's Law. Punishment equal to the crime will be inflicted upon the criminal."

"What do you think your punishment will be when Nature realizes that you caused the Shadow Pokémon Plan to exist?" Jirachi asked coldly as he floated in the air. Celebi clutched the figurine to her body and turned slowly to face the WishMaker, tears running down her face.

"Jirachi, this is my punishment." she told him, "My punishment is to make a human inflict pain and misery upon Pokémon and human alike, because that is what I did when I broke Nature's most sacred rule and committed a forbidden act."

"Celebi, what did you do?" Jirachi demanded in a harsh tone, brimming with a barely kept fury. Celebi bowed her head and stroked the gold chess piece with the back of her tiny hand as she held it carefully in her arms.

"I killed the Chosen Master of the previous age." she whispered, "I inflicted pain and misery upon humans and Pokémon... because I dared to fall in love with a human."


The Arcanine roared as the effects of the Confuse Ray kicked in. Neptune focused her energy and surrounded herself and her Umbreon sister with the protective Light Screen. Wesley Evice, long dead son of Garik Evice the head of Cipher, dashed into the fray and slid across the floor, raising a leg in a sliding kick that toppled the Fire-type before he scrambled out of the way. Rui called out another set of attacks for her twin Eons as Silver raced past them all to reach Red. The mercenary's Pikachu was standing guard over him, daring the crazed Arcanine blasting Flamethrower at random to try aiming his way.

"Red! Wake up!" Silver cried, shaking the man with all her strength. He groaned softly and sat up, shaking his head clear of fog.

"Silver, what's the situation?" he whispered brokenly, looking up at her with a weary expression. The Johto Champion glared at him.

"Look at you! You nearly died and you're worrying about what's going on around you?! Gah! Fine, Rui and Wes are engaging the target; Evice and Nascour are making their way here and we've destroyed their data backups and the Earth Seal Armor. We also have the new copies of Seth's memory to return to his body." she told him quickly, "Now get moving!"

Wes leaped aside a stray blast of fire with a cry of alarm. That was far too close for his comfort! Between shooting flames around and bashing its head against the wall, the Shadow Arcanine was doing a good job of destroying the room and weakening itself at the same time. Only, how were they to escape Realgam if this monstrosity caused a collapse right on them?

"Saturn! Faint Attack! Lure it in! Neptune! Helping Hand! Power up your sister!" Rui called out as Anca stayed far out of the way and the Hoenn trainers searched their PokéDexes for information on how to deal with such a large and powerful Pokémon. The little redhead closed her eyes briefly, calling out to Seth with her heart for help then returning to reality with new orders and new strategies. Each tactic was faintly reminiscent of Seth's battling techniques. Could the Snagger be whispering a battle plan to Rui from beyond?

The Arcanine shook off its confusion and immediately went into a defensive tactic, madness driving it to preserve its strength for a killing blow. Double Team, continuous after-images of the giant dog filled the room as the trainers and Anca raced to get out of range of its claws and teeth, unsure which image was the true Pokémon. Neptune gathered her energy and transferred it to her sister, a silver glow overlaying the faint gold of the Light Screen surrounding her black body. Saturn swayed and flopped aside, as if suddenly too weak to stand.

"C'mon, you black-hearted bastard! Attack me!" Saturn murmured softly, then saw one of the images snarl in anticipation. She leaped up suddenly and unleashed the combined energy of her own element and her sister's on the Arcanine, the blast knocking it backwards and destroying the dozens of fakes. Rui cheered, then screamed as the Pokémon scrambled up and stampeded for Wes.

"Get away!" Wes yelled, racing aside as fast as he could go, the beast gaining on him quickly, "Someone! Help! It's going to kill me!"

"Wesley! Hang on! Don't leave me again!" Anca cried out, hands clutching the front of her shirt, trying to keep her heart from failing. Pikachu hurled out a blast of electricity, missing as the dog leaped over the blast and ran on. May and Brendan scrabbled for their Poké Balls, searching for the best one to use on the Arcanine. Wesley ducked blasts of fire, darting around tables and equipment as he tried to escape. Gasping for air, he pushed on while the Pokémon chasing him merely cleared away the obstacles with brute strength and fearsome flames. Rui's voice failed her as she watched Wes head for the exiting elevator and the Arcanine halted. It lifted its massive paws, then slammed them down as it opened its mouth to belch out the most powerful fire technique known to Pokémon, Fire Blast.

"Noooo!" Anca wailed as the star-shaped plume rushed to meet its victim.


"You did what?!" Jirachi roared out as best as his tiny body could. Celebi only hugged the chess piece closer to her, "Celebi! That's insanity! What made you think that a human could ever return a Pokémon's love?! There's a reason why Nature says a Pokémon can NEVER love a human like that!"

"Pokémon and humans are far too different, but the emotions are the same. We both can cry, laugh, fear, hurt... why is love forbidden?" Celebi murmured, "I know what the laws say, but I thought that my love could be returned. After all, Wesley was to be the Chosen Master. In time, he would learn to understand me... maybe learn to love me too." She shut her eyes as she remembered the tragic night, tears renewing their paths down her face. "I saw him in the forest that night, and I fell in love with his soul at first glance. Despite knowing that I couldn't act on it, as the laws say, I thought I could be the exception. He was the Chosen Master!"

"I lured him away from the other trainers, to a clearing where I would reveal myself to him and call him away with me. But when I showed myself, entranced him with the vision of a rare Pokémon, that was when the Arcanine struck. Before my very eyes, before I could even act to save him, Wesley was killed. And Nature screamed in pain and outrage." Celebi finished and lifted her gaze to the WishMaker, "So, you see? I distorted nature by loving a human and causing his demise, the death of the Chosen Master and the end of Orre's dream of prosperity and salvation. My punishment is to distort nature further, by forcing Evice to create a new Wesley, to create Seth and Raykyoudon, so Orre's destiny is fulfilled and a Pokémon can truly love a human... as an equal." She looked away. "There lies my true punishment, to see the one I loved love another and be lost to me forever."

"Celebi, Forest Guardian..." Jirachi whispered in a trembling voice, "You have told me the origin of this chaos and as such I will grant your wish. If Rui fails to rescue Seth, if Seth fails to love Rui as an equal, if Raykyoudon fails to restore Orre, I will destroy your existence within the strands of time and space." His eyes met hers, void of any emotion, "And Nature's law will stand true. No Pokémon can ever love a human."


"Wes!" Rui finally screamed, "Seth is a Pokémon! Use his powers! Raykyoudon! Water Pulse!" The others stared at her in disbelief, then turned to see what would happen next.

Wes's head seemed to jerk up, then, as time slowed to a crawl, the young man spun on one heel, bringing his arms up as a soft blue glow surrounded his body. Blue eyes dark and unseeing, he thrust his hands forward, palms facing the incoming attack. A wave of shimmering blue energy pulsed ahead of him, slamming into the Fire Blast and forcing it back to the Arcanine as it writhed and howled in pain and fury.

"Snag it now, Rui!" Red bellowed and the redhead grabbed for an Ultra Ball in her pocket. She held it tightly in her snagging arm, mumbled a quick prayer for it to work, then spun on one foot in a feminine variation of Seth's Snagger spin.

"Snag Ball! Go!" she cried and hurled it after the Arcanine as the doors behind her slid open.

"What are you doing?!" Evice raged as the device opened and a hand-like net of energy grabbed the Pokémon and drew it in. Nascour's mouth dropped open in shock as the ball shook furiously, then stilled in perfect capture, the image of an 'M' flashing on it briefly, then fading.

"I did it! I snagged the Shadow Arcanine!" Rui cried in joy, running up to scoop up the ball. The ground shook suddenly and the friends looked at each other. "Um, what was that?" Rui asked in confusion. Evice grabbed a second Poké Ball from Nascour's belt and threw it into the room.

"You will not leave here alive! I will have my son and my revenge!" he roared out, the scream of a Shadow Steelix echoing his fury as it filled the room with its massive bulk. Wes dropped to his knees and held himself tightly, gasping for air as sweat drenched his hair and body.

"I can't... What was that?" he gasped. The other trainers hurried to his side, backing towards the exit as the intercom came to life once more.

"Master Evice! The guests at the party are evacuating the premises! Please clear the building! The sub basement floors are about to collapse from severe structural damage!" Rezrik's voice called out in a panic, "Repeat! All guests and staff are to evacuate the sub basement floors of the Realgam Tower! Heavy-!" The transmission was lost in static as the ground rumbled below the battlers' feet once more. Neptune and Saturn stepped forward, growling at the Steelix that threatened them. Rui stared up at it in horror.

"Another one!" she whispered.

"Give us commands!" Saturn demanded hoarsely.

"Hurry! Before it kills us all!" Neptune added harshly. Red translated the words as Wes staggered to his feet. Rui shook her head slowly.

"I can't! Seth wouldn't allow his Pokémon to battle in a tired state, so neither will I! Neptune! Saturn! Fall back!" she exclaimed and called the twins back into their Poké Balls.

"My Typhlosion is too exhausted from battling Arcanine's blaze! It can't beat this!" Silver cried, "My team isn't prepped for a Shadow Steelix!"

"I can't use Blaziken! He's too tired! My other Pokémon will weaken this room further!" May added fearfully. Wes straightened and glared first at his father, then at the Pokémon.

"Rui! What else can Seth do as a Pokémon?!" he called out, "What other attacks does he have?!" Rui whirled around in shock as, despite the cries of horror from the others, Wes dashed forward, running right at the Steelix in a determined charge attack.

"Earthquake!" the redhead managed to cry. Wesley leaped up, flipped forward, then held his legs together as he slammed his feet into the floor, sending cracks and a massive shockwave rippling into the earth. Ground torn asunder as the Steelix flailed under the assault, the room began to shake violently, the ceiling falling as Evice and Nascour struggled to stay upright.

"Snag Ball! Again!" Rui yelled, hurling out a new ball to capture the Steelix. The group raced for the elevator as Wes grabbed the newly snagged Pokémon and Rui's hand, running after the other trainers.

"We have to escape ourselves, sir!" Nascour yelled and pulled on Evice's sleeve, "If we run back down this hall, we'll reach the emergency exit! That room is going to cave in!"

"I will not lose my son again!" Evice shrieked and plunged into the collapsing storeroom, disappearing from view. Nascour watched in horror, then fled from the rapidly deteriorating sector.


"It is nearly done." Jirachi whispered. Celebi nodded, body glowing with power as she made a quick rescue job.

"The final sacrifices." she murmured, "Let's go." The two of them disappeared in bursts of light, leaving the gold and silver chess game to be buried in rubble as the sub basement floors collapsed and crushed the pieces.