Chapter 8: Hide and Seek
Taking advantage of the Legacy Hunters' retreat, Josh and his fellow Beast Riders were able to catch up on their daily lives, including an impending research paper due in two weeks. The three of them got away from the dangerous task of protecting Johto and back to education, relaxation, and of course, training their other Pokémon. Knowing the conflict was not over, Josh worked on his paper for several hours per day for nearly the whole week.
When the three of them walked into class to discuss their papers that Friday afternoon, there were always someone's eyes on them. Though they wanted to remove their equipment, their beasts pleaded with them to leave it on. Most professors would not admit students into class looking like warriors, but he was already aware of why this would be so. After the discussion ended and class was dismissed, the professor called Josh to his desk, aware of the papers in his hands. "Josh, your suit of armor is...intriguing. I understand the reasons you have for wearing it into class, as well as that of your friends. I never expected some of my pupils to have power over the mythical Pokémon we are studying. Usually, I do not give personal attention, but I am looking forward to reading your research paper. Is that what you have in your hands, Josh?"
"Yes, it is. I am nearly finished with it; I would hand it in today, but I want to check it once more for spelling and mechanics."
"I want to have a look at it. You looked so enthusiastic about it when you first showed me your Raikou. Just the thought of that is fascinating."
"Fine. Tell me what you think of it," Josh said as he put the stack of papers on the edge of the desk. "When do you want me to come back?"
"It probably won't take me this long, but come back in an hour."
"Fine. I am going to edit my paper and likely turn it in to you. See you in an hour," he said as he left for his room. For the next hour, Josh was on the computer in his room, finalizing his research paper. When he printed it out, Aravan knocked on the door. "Come in!" Josh responded. The guest walked in the door and greeted Josh. "Oh, it's you, Aravan. How does it feel to have some time on your hands?"
"It's great. How's that paper coming along? I'm nearly done with my first draft," Aravan said.
"Thirteen pages of finalized research are currently being printed at the printer. The professor wants to see it in about twenty minutes."
"Personally review your paper? You must be unlucky. Is working on your paper all you've done these past four days?"
"On the contrary, I'd like to see exactly what he thinks of my idea...er, how I pieced together the story of the Beast Riders from what I found at the library. I would love to use our experiences, but that's not a valid source. Say, what you been up to in your free time?"
"Besides riding Flygon, I've been mainly training my other Pokémon. Suicune's plenty strong right now. Say, could you do me a favor when you get the time?"
"What?"
"Give my Eevee a little tap with your sword. If Ace's sword is forged with the essence of Fire Stone, perhaps yours is forged with Thunder Stone. Can you do this?"
"Sure. Been out riding Suicune any?"
"A little bit. It's still very fun, and I've been going faster every time I head to that field you showed me. What about you and Raikou?"
"I should get going now. And no, I really haven't had the chance to go out on Raikou like I should be doing. Seen Ace outside of class yet?"
"Yeah. We had a battle Tuesday morning."
"I really have to go now. So could you leave as I grab my paper and lock up?"
"OK," Aravan confirmed as he left the room. Josh grabbed his finalized research paper, his five Pokémon, and a couple of pens as he walked out the door and locked his room up. Surprisingly, he ran into the professor on the way to his room from the library. "Didn't think I'd run into you out here. After I read your paper, I looked at your sources, both online and from this library. You must really have a passion for the legendary Pokémon to write such a fantastic paper. The idea of humans riding the legendary Pokémon to stop a world war is outstanding." Josh then cut him off.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I suggest we continue this discussion in your room. We can still talk on the way there."
"That's not a half bad idea," the professor said as they began walking down the hallway to his room. "In all the years I have taught this class, I have never seen this idea in a paper. Though I would not accept it as a source right now, I have seen the recent news stories about you, Ace, and Aravan. Your idea of there being three Beast Riders that saved mankind from being destroyed by the power of Pokémon seemed a little far-fetched at first, but now that I have seen your resources, as well as you, there is irrefutable evidence for this theory not to be dismissed as a mere fantasy. This could have happened, and there is great reason to believe so. It is being played out right now, with you three."
They chatted for several more minutes before reaching the professor's room. "I hate to bug you about this, but what do you think of my paper as a whole?"
"I don't see any reason to give you any less than an 'A' for this paper. In fact, you could become famous for this idea, Josh, if you hand it to the right people."
"If anyone else was listening to this conversation, I don't think I could get the press off my back for weeks. Ace, Aravan and I might not be in class for the next couple of days. Though as you know full well, the Legacy Hunters have been chased out of Johto...there is something Maxie said that makes me feel a bit uneasy. She mentioned summoning the 'Guardian of the sea,' which I imagine is some legendary Pokémon. The syndicate, ever since it started seven hundred years ago, has been after nothing but legendary Pokémon. That's the reason why they attacked Ecruteak, and that's the reason why I haven't been in class. Anyway, would you have any idea who this 'Guardian of the sea' is?"
"Let me think about it for a minute," the professor responded as he turned toward his computer. He opened up several data files before finding the one that would help. "The legend of the two towers speaks of two legendary birds. When the Brass Tower burned down, the bird fled the city, never to be seen again. It was said to have fled in the direction of...the ocean."
"The ocean!" Josh responded, catching on to what Maxie was referring to that afternoon.
"I have studied legends of mythical Pokémon from all around the world, and I have found only two Pokémon that fit the condition of being a 'Guardian of the sea.' The one more commonly referenced by such a title would be Kyogre, but that Pokémon was said only to reside in the Hoenn region. Few people outside of that region even know about the existence of the Pokémon. The only other Pokémon that could be described by such a title--" He cut off his statement after realizing what it meant was to happen if the Beast Riders did not interfere. "Josh, I have just discovered some terrible news."
"Did you figure out what Pokémon Maxie was talking about?" he responded. Josh and the professor were clearly disturbed by the thought.
"It is the legendary Pokémon of Johto that is said to dwell at the bottom of the sea. The legendary bird, Lugia."
"Lugia! Say it ain't so!" Josh yelled upon realizing what the enemy was up to.
"Ever since the day of the tragedy that befell the Brass Tower, Lugia has held a grudge against Ho-oh. The bird has also had a grudge against Raikou, Entei, and Suicune--the same Pokémon you and your friends control. If the Legacy Hunters manage to snare Lugia and get it under their control...that would actually be better than if it were released into the open. If released and wild, it would use its powers to obliterate the entire Johto region, starting with this very city. Its rage would unlock a power unfathomable by the entire human race. Even the strongest of ordinary Pokémon cannot break through Lugia's nearly impregnable defenses."
"So how do you beat the damn thing!"
"I don't know if you can. Though the power of the legendary beasts is a force to be reckoned with, it is miniscule next to that of Lugia. Only Ho-oh has enough power to clash with Lugia. I suggest you, Ace, and Aravan go to the Tin Tower and plead for Ho-oh's help."
"Thanks. And I will tell them. But not until late tonight. I want to be fresh, in case we encounter any resistance." With that, Josh left the room and the building. He knew that he had to train his other Pokémon as much as he could before the big day tomorrow. When he was riding Raikou to the large field behind the campus, he got a glance of Aravan out of his right eye, and instinctively slowed the Legend of Thunder to a stop. "Aravan, what's up?" Josh asked from atop his mount.
"Actually, I was letting my Pokémon battle each other, waiting for you," he replied. "Now that you're here..." He turned toward his Pokémon and hollered, "Eevee! Come over here!" The squirrel Pokémon came to Aravan's side as Josh drew his sword. "So you remembered too. Anyway, let's get this done with. Eevee, stand still for a few seconds."
Josh touched Eevee with the wide end of his sword. A few electric sparks came out of the blade. Eevee jumped back from the electricity. It then started glowing brightly. "I thought as much. You will now have a Jolteon." Upon finishing its evolution, Aravan's Pokémon got slightly larger. Its fur also changed from brown to yellow, with spines covering its entire back. These spines were electrically sensitive, capable of blasting out 10,000-volt lightning bolts after accumulating enough negative ions in the atmosphere.
"Thank you, Josh," Aravan said. He then noticed a look of concern on Josh's face. "Something's not right, is it, Josh?"
"Yeah. The professor and I had a long discussion about this 'Guardian of the sea' that Maxie was referring to several days ago. What we could potentially be up against is what disturbs me. We could be up against Lugia."
"Huh!" Josh now had Aravan's complete attention. "But how?"
"That's the 'Guardian of the sea!' The one the Legacy Hunters are trying to summon!"
"Aw, hell no! What can we do!"
"There's only one thing we can do, Aravan. And that's stop the Legacy Hunters before they awaken Lugia. I need to train my other Pokémon. We will go to the Tin Tower at nine A.M. sharp. Be there or be square. Also, tell Ace about it. We need him there, too." Josh then took off for the open field north of the campus. For the remaining daylight hours, he trained himself for Raikou's speed while letting his other five Pokémon battle with each other to strengthen them. Again, Josh used the approach of accelerating until he had enough. To be safe, Josh slipped down the transparent visor on his helmet before taking off.
With wind in his eyes not a concern, Josh had nothing more to worry about. The field seemed shorter than before, even before they had started exceeding their previous record of 130 miles per hour. "This visor is helping tremendously. Raikou, let's speed up!" After another lap, Raikou was running so fast that it felt like the ground beneath them was shaking. It had previously taken Josh and Raikou about fifteen minutes to cross the field; now, it took less than that amount of time to make a full lap. The beast was racing across the field at an awesome 180 miles per hour for two more laps. Still unphased by the speed of the tiger, Josh started to get excited. "I think one more lap should do it," he thought to himself. When they made the wide left turn to reverse direction and start the final lap, Josh braced himself for the worst. "OK Raikou, this is it. Full throttle!" the rider yelled.
"Josh, I am astounded that you have mastered riding on my back so quickly. All right. Hold on tight, Josh! Here we go!"
The Legend of Thunder discharged a large static bolt from its tail, and blazed forward at its highest land speed, a bone-jarring 220 miles per hour. The rider's teeth chattered for a few seconds before he relaxed and uttered a loud "YAHOO!" At last, Josh had become a master of the Beast of Thunder, Raikou. The scenery around him was merely a blur. As they passed the south turn, they rushed by Aravan, but he was so blurred from Josh's vantage point that he didn't even notice him. "Damn! That's fast!" Aravan said to himself. After passing Aravan, Raikou and Josh turned into the middle of the field and slowed down carefully. It took the beast nearly two minutes to stop next to Aravan while keeping Josh comfortable. When the rider jumped off, he was dizzy for a few seconds before noticing Aravan.
"Geez, Josh! I'm surprised you survived that! I knew that Raikou was fast, but I didn't know...Damn, it's fast! I actually measured your speed that last time around. It still doesn't add up how you could survive something that fast."
"So, how fast is Raikou, then? It was running full speed ahead on that last lap."
"An average speed of two hundred sixteen point seven four miles per hour."
"Whoa." Josh didn't know what else to say; he thought Raikou wasn't running faster than one hundred fifty. He then turned his attention to his other Pokémon. "Let's call it a day!" Josh's Pokémon stopped battling with each other, then turned to Josh. When he went to recall all of his Pokémon, Pidgeotto started glowing, ready to evolve. "I have been waiting for this moment for so long!" Josh exclaimed. He knew what was going on. After evolution, Josh's bird Pokémon had more than doubled in size. It had evolved into Pidgeot, a large eagle slightly bigger than Josh. The eagle was so strong that it could let Josh climb between its wings and fly him into the skies.
"What a big day for you, Josh," Aravan noted. "Congratulations." Josh ran up to Pidgeot and hugged the huge eagle. There was certainly a sense of friendship between the two of them. It could sense Josh's desire from the moment it had evolved into Pidgeotto so long ago. Trying to fulfill that desire, the bird turned around and stretched out its wings. The trainer walked to the bird's left side, lifted his right leg over the bird's body, and sat atop his newly-evolved bird. It looked back at him, then started flapping its wings and took off, leaving Aravan behind.
"Hey, this would be a good opportunity..." Aravan mumbled as he walked over to Raikou. The beast didn't move. "Say, could you give me a lift back?"
"Ah, Josh, you never cease to amaze me... Very well." Raikou sat down on its hind legs. Aravan climbed atop Josh's beast; it was different than riding Suicune. "Not so fast this time, OK?"
Listening to Aravan's comment, Raikou ran off after Josh and Pidgeot more slowly than it did when Josh was atop it. The saber-tooth tiger simply jumped into the air to gain speed. Upon landing from the jump, Raikou steadied its speed, allowing Aravan to get a feel for Josh's legendary Pokémon. By the time they arrived at the building, it was already dark. Suicune had followed Raikou back to the base, arriving as Josh jumped off Pidgeot and recalled it. The two of them each went to his own room. Aravan worked on his paper while Josh played a few games. By the time Aravan went to bed, he reminded himself of Ace. "Shoot! I forgot to tell Ace about Josh! But there's nothing I can do now."
The next morning, Aravan got up early to tell Ace of the news. "Ace, Josh got a lead on the Legacy Hunters' plans! We need to go to the Tin Tower!" This time, Ace was already wide awake and ready to go. "Is Josh already outside?" Ace asked.
"I don't know, but we can find out." Both of them rushed outside, only to find that Josh was not there. However, they didn't have to wait very long. Josh was on his way out, locking up his room as Ace and Aravan met outside. By the time he made it outside, Ace and Aravan were already astride their beasts, arms crossed. "You're late!" Ace announced. "Demerit! ...Just joking, Josh. You weren't that late."
"We need to go to Tin Tower. It's the only way to stop the Legacy Hunters!" Without further explanation, the three of them took off for Tin Tower, far to the east. Again going along the city edge to minimize the chance of injuring bystanders, the three of them rode next to each other for the first part of the road. After a while, Josh got impatient, threw his visor down, and pushed Raikou to maximum speed. Ace was both shocked and amazed. "Damn it, Josh! Wait for me!" Entei and Suicune picked up the pace to try to avoid losing sight of the yellow beast, but to no avail. It was just too fast.
When Josh arrived at the tower alone and Raikou stopped, he looked back. "Oops, looks like we went a little too fast..."
"Well, it shouldn't be too long of a wait. Besides, you appear to be enjoying the speed."
Josh sat there on Raikou for several minutes before the others arrived. "OK, so what are we doing here?" Ace asked.
"We are here to ask Ho-oh for help. I am sure it is aware of the current crisis. We just need to ascend to the roof of the tower, where the bird roosts."
The three of them entered the tower, still atop their beasts. Being careful not to slip, they ran up the large stairs at a slow pace. It seemed to take forever to find their way to the top. After their beasts climbed what seemed like thousands of stairs, Ace, Aravan, Josh, and their Pokémon met the legendary bird of rainbow colors. Apparently, it was expecting them.
"I am aware of the current crisis, and am aware that my cousin could be causing some trouble. I have been searching for the Legacy Hunters' base of operations, and it is Birth Island, an island far south of here. It is shrouded in a dense fog." All three riders jumped off their Pokémon.
"But how are we supposed to get there? And how can we tell if we actually make it?" Aravan asked.
"I don't like doing this, but there is little alternative. You three will have to ride on my back, and I'll fly you there."
"But what about Suicune? And Entei and Raikou?"
"Yes. I cannot lift them all into the air; they are too heavy. But I do have a solution." The rainbow bird screeched, then generated a solid rainbow in the exact direction of the distant island. "That rainbow is solid. Try stepping on it." Aravan stomped his foot on the rainbow; the foot stopped at the surface, and he felt a force push back on the foot, as if the rainbow were solid ground. "Yep, it's solid alright." The huge bird lowered its neck, letting Ace, Aravan, and Josh climb atop the rainbow bird Pokémon. Raikou, Entei, and Suicune ran across the rainbow as the Beast Riders watched from overhead.