Chapter 3: Prophecy
Once again, Josh's piecing together of information had delivered a shocking reality to his friends. After several days of explanations, he had come to the conclusion that the three of them were destined to become the Beast Riders of this generation. The legendary warriors that saved the world in the past... and now, three young scholars have been chosen to save the world from the Legacy Hunters who have terrorized human and Pokémon alike for centuries.
"This changes everything about my life," Aravan said. "I just wanted to become a trainer of water and ice Pokémon, and I'm destined to put my life at stake? What luck I must have..."
"I've been waiting for an opportunity like this since I was a child. I'd seen Entei dozens of times in my life, but only in books. Now with all this happening, I might be able to see a real one!" Ace delightfully announced.
"Me too. I am excited to see a real Raikou in person, but I am more concerned about putting my life in jeopardy. This is war, people. It is dangerous stuff!" Josh remarked. "But we have no choice. We are the ones chosen to protect the legendary Pokémon of this town. Our destination is the Burned Tower, located north of here."
"If those idiots are planning an attack on Johto now, then we should go to the Burned Tower immediately!" Ace replied.
It's already late in the afternoon, and furthermore, no one is going to believe us. Not just anyone can get into that tower. You know that Raikou, Entei, and Suicune sleep there. There are sages guarding that tower, or what's left of it, all the time. They won't let you in without a good reason."
Aravan interrupted the discussion, anxious to put his suggestion up for discussion. "Ace, Josh, I can see both of your points. It is late in the day, and it will be close to sundown by the time we get there. But I am also concerned about missing class tomorrow."
"Oh yeah! I completely forgot about class! I hate to miss the lecture tomorrow, but we have little choice. Let's rest up and go to bed early, so we can be refreshed and get a head start on things tomorrow," Josh added.
Reluctantly, Ace and Aravan agreed to Josh's idea. They recalled all of their Pokémon, except for Ace's Ponyta. He then mounted his Pokémon and dashed off for the gym, leaving Josh and Aravan completely in the dust.
"If it's this bad now, Josh," Aravan started as he began walking back to his room, "imagine what it will be like if he gets Entei!" Both of them burst into laughter at Aravan's joke.
"You know what, Aravan, I don't even want to think about it."
After a walk that seemed to take forever, Aravan and Josh made it back to their rooms, ready to work on their research papers before they went off to bed at an unusually early eight o'clock at night. Ace spent most of the early evening in the gym, practicing his shooting, trapping, and juggling skills for soccer. He, likewise, came back at about eight to get a good night's sleep before the big task ahead of him tomorrow.
Five hours later, the Legacy Hunters' first wave of troops set to invade Olivine Port were about to arrive. The group of thugs were having a radio conversation highlighting attack maneuvers for the invasion. Heading the invasion plans was Archie, leader of Team Aqua.
"OK guys, here's the plan," he announced over the radio. "Our first target is the port itself. We should divide our forces between the lighthouse and the port entrance. That way, we will have a secure hold on the entire city. And another thing, let's stay away from the Gym. We don't want to attract Jasmine's attention."
"Roger that," most of the comrades reliped.
"Once we control the city--wait, I've got a better idea. Let's take the lighthouse, then take Jasmine as our prisoner. That way, we can run the whole city however we want without any meaningful threats. It will be like taking candy from a baby!"
"Roger that," they replied again.
"When you have the city under control, notify me. I will relay the message to Master Travis. Over and out," the leader commanded as the radio connection closed.
About twenty minutes later, the evil gang reached Olivine Port--without so much as being noticed by the police, despite Olivine Lighthouse running at full power. Upon hitting land, Archie recalled all of his Lapras. The entire battalion of trainers then released all of their other Pokémon and commanded them to lay siege to the port. Physically strong Pokémon damaged the infrastructure of many of the buildings in the area, while other Pokémon shot streams of fire, ice, electricity, and many other elements at nearby buildings.
By the time the Early Warning Siren was sounded and the police were alerted to the attack, most of the structures at the port had already taken collateral damage. The buildings that hadn't fallen to the ground from physical abuse were ablaze from not only the flames and electrical attacks, but also explosions sparked from the disturbance of volatile substances such as gasoline.
The fire department was also alerted to the attack. They brought several water Pokémon with them to put out the fires, but there was simply too much damage for them to reverse. When the invaders saw the effort to douse the flames, a few of the units stopped attacking the port and shifted their attention to people and Pokémon working for the fire department. Shots of flame and crackling electricity were fired at the rebels, causing their effort to dwindle massively. About three-fourths of the crew fighting the blaze were wounded in the attack, and two of them were killed, both by electric shock.
By the time the press had arrived at Olivine City, the Legacy Hunters had stormed the lighthouse and put the Ampharos serving as the power source out of commission. The story was being broadcast all over the country.
"It is about two AM, and I am standing far north of Olivine City. As you can clearly see, the entire southern half of the city is completely ablaze, and the beacon of Olivine Lighthouse has shut down. As speculators suggested, a criminal syndicate recently identified as the Legacy Hunters is behind this unsolicited attack on the only port in Johto. The entire region is on high alert, and the national government has declared Olivine City an official 'disaster area.'
The entire civilian population is presently being evacuated by the local police. The city is officially in a state of emergency, and has requested additional police units from surrounding areas as current units are overwhelmed by the power of this mysterious gang of attackers led by one of Hoenn's Most Wanted: Archie, the leader of Team Aqua. It is unknown at this moment why he is allied with the Legacy Hunters, nor is it known where they plan to strike next. North of Olivine City, I am Jamie Madison, reporting for Channel 10 News."
Meanwhile, Josh, Ace, and Aravan were fast asleep in their dorms, totally unaware of the tragic events taking place to the southwest. But they were far from restless. Again, all of them were having strange, clear, and seemingly prophetic dreams. They were all taking place where the ones last night left off: right after the legendary Beasts appeared and turned the battles around.
"Am I just seeing things, or is that really Suicune in front of me?" Aravan questioned himself as he found himself staring into the face of his favorite legendary Pokémon. Suicune simply sat down on its hind legs, right next to where Aravan was standing. It looked mysteriously interested in the fairly young trainer. In this position, the Beast of Water looked unusually tame.
"Well?" Aravan asked Suicune, trying to get a response out of the large, slender creature. It made another friendly gesture toward Aravan, this time walking even closer to him. It then turned 90 degrees before sitting down again.
"You want me to ride on your back or something?" a puzzled Aravan struggled to ask.
Suicune nodded its head in approval, and the crystal on its head began glowing. Aravan quickly ascended Suicune, bracing himself for what would come. The beast slowly walked out of the arena as the glow of its crystal dimmed. Upon exiting the arena, it started picking up a little bit of speed, but this was nothing Aravan couldn't handle. When it reached a large, open field, Suicune generated a strong gust of wind behind itself, and suddenly leaped up into the air, picking up incredible speed.
"AAAAHHHHHHH! Suicune, not so faaaaaaast!" Aravan yelled, frightened as he struggled to stay atop the speeding water-type. When the beast landed from its high jump, Aravan let out a sigh of relief, even though Suicune was still running at well over ninety miles per hour.
"Suicune, no more jumping like that, alright?" Aravan requested, barely able to talk with it running as fast as it was. Though his heart was still pounding from that dramatic leap into the air, Aravan appeared to be enjoying the freedom of riding Suicune. The beast then made a slow U-turn, heading in the direction of Ecruteak City's burned tower. It accelerated a little more upon exiting the turn. Aravan could do nothing but let out a joyful "Woo!" as the two rapidly approached the tower.
After a few more fun minutes of riding Suicune, Aravan had the beast gradually slow down as they approached the Burned Tower. Upon entering the sacred sanctuary located in the tower basement, he found Josh there, atop Raikou, the Legend of Thunder. But Ace and Entei were nowhere to be found. Suicune signaled to Aravan to jump off its back, which he promptly did. Everything else then blacked out as Suicune spoke directly to Aravan: "You are the destined Rider of Suicune, the one who will carry on the legend of the Beast Riders. You must come meet me at the ruins of the Brass Tower, located at the northwest end of Ecruteak City. The fate of the legendary Pokémon of Johto is in your hands..."
At that, everything simply froze. It was time for Aravan to get up.
"What a weird dream. Yet...now I am sure of it. No doubt about it, I was chosen to wield the power of Suicune. I have to tell the others," Aravan said to himself as he prepared to meet his friends at such an early hour in the morning. It was just after sunrise. Upon exiting the building fifteen minutes later, he was taken by surprise to see his friends outside, waiting for him.
"Where were you, you lazy bum?" Ace sarcastically asked Aravan. "Just joking. Did you have another crazy dream last night, too?"
"Yeah. I was dreaming about Suicune. It was in the same arena that my last dream was in. Except this time, it was a little different. I was riding on Suicune's back, just as before. But instead of running around the town, it took me to an open field. I then felt a huge gust of wind behind me, and Suicune jumped up into the air really high. It absolutely scared the hell out of me. Until it landed back on the ground, I was struggling to hang on to the beast. Then it ran straight off into the field for a few minutes at like, a hundred miles an hour. I rode the speeding Suicune around for a while longer, then it turned around for the Burned Tower. I can only remember one thing after that. Suicune spoke to me, telling me to go to the Burned Tower's sacred chamber."
"I had a similar dream about Raikou, but there's no time to explain. Let's beat feet, to my car!" Josh said as the three ran toward the parking lot. It was a fairly short drive to the ruins of the Brass Tower. The three of them immediately got out and hustled for the Burned Tower entrance, when a sage stopped them.
"What business do you have here?" the old man asked.
"We were called here in a dream. We are to meet with the legendary Pokémon: Raikou, Entei, and Suicune," Aravan answered.
"But I cannot let just anyone in. I'm doing this for your own safety."
"You have to let us in, or those poor Pokémon will be at great risk!" Josh hollered. "If we don't do something, the security of the entire continent could be in jeopardy!"
The sage noticed something special about these three visitors. "I sense an aura around you...an aura that suggests you will handle yourselves responsibly down there. I sense you have indeed been brought here by fate. Fine. You may pass."
The wise man opened the way into the tower as Josh, Aravan, and Ace hustled to the tower basement. Upon arrival, all three of them witnessed the legendary Pokémon said to be the fastest of all Pokémon on land. This caused them to stop immediately.
"Wow," said Ace. "I was pretty sure they were real, but I didn't think I'd ever be an eyewitness. Those Pokémon are huge!"
Noticing Ace's comment, Entei stepped forward, welcoming Ace to the sacred chamber.
"I did not expect the warriors to who we submit to be so young. But indeed, you are the ones destined to save the world with our powers. Welcome."
Josh, throwing all caution to the wind, ran up to Raikou, thinking about nothing but riding on its back swiftly. But when he approached the sacred altar, the saber-tooth tiger's thundercloud started glowing white, filled with electricity. This caused him to stop. "Now don't think you will be acquiring our powers so easily! First, you must each prove yourselves worthy by defeating us in battle, one at a time. If you pass, our powers will be yours to wield."
"And what if one of us fails?"
"Nothing happens. You just do not receive our powers. Also, there is no limit on the number of times you can try. All you have to do is succeed once. Josh, fated Raikou Rider, do you wish to have the honor of proving yourself worthy first?"
"Bring it!"
"Then...it begins!"