Three birds of legend cried out into darkness, but they were not heard. Their minds and bodies were constantly wracked with pain and tormented by the control mechanisms.
They had their mouths, but truly, could not scream.
A Mid-Sinnoh Night's Dream - XIII - Mid-Sinnoh, the OVA
There were, as he'd been warned, a full troop of Psyduck crowding the path north. He couldn't count into triple-digits on his fingers, but his guess was definitely up there.
He pulled out the odd potion that Cythia had given him, before aiming it at the closest Psychic-type.
Unlike the usual light spray of a normal healing item, the Secret Potion was like a firehose, drenching every one of the Psyduck in a strange purplish liquid that quickly faded into their skin.
They all stopped having headaches at the same time, looked up at each other in slight confusion, before dispersing and running off to the north.
He spotted Lucas catch one out of the corner of his eye, but shrugged it off easily enough.
The mysterious blonde appeared next to him moments later.
"Oh, good, you used the Secret Potion I gave you."
Barry jumped, making a strange 'hyah' sound in surprise, but everyone else wasn't too shocked. Well, except Lucas, but that was more because he was silent, his mouth moving, but no words coming out.
"So, you're heading to Celestic Town, then?"
Hilbert nodded. "Fantina's still away from the gym."
"That woman, always running off to Kalos or something," she sighed, shaking her head. "Well, would you mind doing me a favor?"
"Nah, whaddya need?"
"Could you deliver this Old Charm to my grandmother? She lives in town."
She held out an ancient-looking carved rock on a string, and he took it.
"She has a rather bossy demeanor, I think you'll be able to recognize her." The blonde turned on her heel. "See you later."
"Yeah, totally."
Hilbert turned back to Lucas. "Dude, what's up with you?"
The boy's jaw seemed to click back into place. "That was Cynthia!"
"Oh, you know her?"
"She's the champion of the Pokemon League!"
Hilbert blinked. "Huh."
You have to admit, he had such a way with words.
"You aren't used to that kind of thing yet?"
Lucas sputtered for a moment. "Yeah, but- That's different, okay!"
"You keep telling yourself that."
Hilbert dusted himself off after being covered in grass and splattered with water on the way through the route. They stopped by the Pokemon Center, but their Pokemon didn't need much help besides a clean-up.
An old woman was leaning against a fence outside, sighing and muttering to herself.
"If I had some Pokemon, I'd teach those kids a lesson…"
"Excuse me?" He couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, some punks near the ruins. Said they were going to blow up the cave."
A stone dropped in his stomach.
"I see. What did they look like?"
"Hm, they had some weird get-ups, for sure. Gray, said something about a team?" She shook her head. "I don't watch the news much."
Hilbert glanced back at Lucas, who was already slipping on his dragon-tamer gloves.
Barry groaned. "Ah, crap. Here we go again."
There was a Team Galactic grunt standing watch outside the cave.
"Move."
"Are you challenging the creators of the new world? We're going to create a perfect world for everyone!"
"How are you going to do that?"
"By blowing up this cave!"
Hilbert openly facepalmed, gesturing for the rest of his team to get back.
"Listen, if I beat you in a Pokemon battle, will you go away?"
"Yeah, right! As if a little brat like you could-"
"Garchomp."
The Dragon-type appeared in a blast of light, imposing over the both of them.
"You can send all of yours out at the same time, by the way. Won't make a difference."
After the grunt was sent scampering off, the old woman from earlier walked over.
"Aren't you quite the trainer?" She said, chuckling.
Hilbert just shrugged.
"Well, as the elder of Celestic Town, I'll have to give you my thanks."
"Yeah, no problem. Do you know where I can find a 'bossy woman'? Cynthia asked me to take something to her."
"...The nerve of that girl, is it the Old Charm?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"I should explain, she's my granddaughter. I'll take that charm."
He quickly handed it over.
"...The Old Charm is a piece of ancient history, do you understand? It was originally made in honor of Arceus, the creator of the world."
"I'm not… Particularly religious, sorry."
"Hm? Oh, that's fine. Nowadays, no one puts stock in myths, only believing in their fancy Legendary Pokemon."
"Aha..." He didn't want to look like too much of a smartass, so Shaymin stayed in their Pokeball.
"While you're here, you ought to explore the ruins." She gestured to the entrance with a suddenly-appearing pipe.
Their footsteps echoed from the earthen floor, as they walked through the cave. Inscriptions were carved on the walls in languages of old that he couldn't even begin to comprehend. There was a cave painting, on the far wall. Three chalk-white-tailed figures surrounding a strange red gem.
"Right, what's all this then?" Hilbert said, in a Galarian accent.
Dawn slapped the back of his head.
"Yeah, yeah, respect and stuff…"
"The cave painting's meaning; It seems to be this… Long ago, there were Pokemon powerful enough to be considered deities in their own right. But these three Pokemon were equally powerful, not one stronger than another, ensuring balance- Not just between them, but for the world. It's a legend still told in Celestic Town today."
A distant voice called from the entrance of the cave. "I would like to hear more about that legend, if you will."
They all turned, looking at the man that was shrouded in the outside's light.
"Just who might you be?"
The man stepped forward, revealing his blue hair and grey track-business suit hybrid.
"Hey! You're the asshole with the Articuno!" Hilbert yelled.
Dawn slapped the back of his head without thinking. "Don't swear around an elder."
"Come on, Dawn! He froze me for like, two hours! You were there!"
The man ignored him, still approaching the older woman. "I am Cyrus. I want to create a new world, free of pointless squabbles." He glanced at Hilbert, eyes narrowing for only a moment. "As well as impertinent children."
"I'm not imp- Lucas, what does that mean?"
"He's calling you rude."
"Oh. Then hell yeah, I'm impertinent!"
Cyrus shook his head, with a practiced look of disinterest. "You can clearly see the truth of the world in this child. I am seeking the power to create the new, ideal world. Thus, I will ask you to answer my questions."
The woman puffed on her pipe, eyes closed, but nodding regardless.
"This world, today, can't change because the three Pokemon keep it in balance. Is that what you're saying?"
A puff of smoke temporarily shielded her face. "I wouldn't know. But as far as I can tell, the world is in balance. I am perfectly satisfied with the way the world is. I'm not interested in your questions."
"Hm. Plead ignorance, will you? What a pointless attitude. You fail to comprehend that the world is incomplete. I will change the world."
The man pointed over her shoulder, still a few meters away. "The first step will be to destroy this primitive cave painting of yours-"
"Abra-"
"Got it." The woman disappeared, as well as everyone else in the cavern, blinking away as fast as Abra could Teleport them out.
Hilbert cracked his knuckles. "I think we have some unfinished business to attend to. You're not destroying anything today."
"Ignorant child. If you choose to stand in my way, then very well. The first step will be to destroy you."
Lucas was the first one to recover after being thrown out of the cave, dusting off his pants and helping the rest of them up.
"I have a bad feeling this is going to be a battleground in a few minutes. Miss, please get people away from the town." He turned to Barry, as the old woman started hollering for an evacuation. "Call Looker. Just in case."
Three Legendary birds appeared in front of Cyrus, crackling with dark energy, their pupils fully dilated, and already crying in rage.
Hilbert barely flinched, expecting he would have the other two. Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno. All much larger than he expected them to be. Taller than Golurk actually, which he realized as his team appeared behind him in a familiar flash of light.
"You know, I said you wouldn't destroy anything, but…" He pointed at the birds, smirking. "Those sure look vulnerable to a Rock Slide!"
"Shadow Moltres, Blast Burn. Do not hit Shadow Articuno."
The Fire-type cried, whether in rage or agreement, and a bluish-white ball appeared in front of its mouth.
"Wait, Blast Burn?" His eyes widened.
For those not in the know (Which was very difficult, considering that it was near-universal knowledge), Blast Burn is the equivalent of dropping a few thousand Electrode in one area, all at once, and having them use Explosion.
"Shield! SHIELD SHIELD SHIELD SHIELD SHIELD-"
A wall of rocks shot up and down, stalactites and stalagmites becoming mere byproducts of the rapidly forming shield.
He still felt the boiling heat splinter across his skin as the wall was turned into magma, with a roar to shatter the eardrums of the heavens.
"Rock Slide before it can recover!" He shouted, though he couldn't hear it, throwing off his singed hat. He'd been holding onto it, but he probably wasn't going to replace it.
Shaymin shot a quick Heal Pulse at him and Lucario, who hadn't taken the heat very well.
Tyranitrar roared in conjunction with Golurk raising his arms, and rocks rose from the magma in a torrent, shooting towards the fiery storm bird.
"Freeze them."
With another cry, this time from Articuno, a blast of Sheer Cold freezing the liquid stone solid. Ice creeped in around them, flowing over the walls of the cave. They were forced into a circle.
"Zap Cannon."
A spear of electricity shot forward in a brilliant flash of searing light, but was to no effect, as Garchomp flew in front of the bolt, letting in ground into him.
"Alright, we've taken enough hits! Let's get them outside!"
A wave of rocks shot forward, into the three Legendary birds.
The remainder of Team Black was scattered at the edge of the clearing, hearing the blasts coming from inside the cave, but wanting to stand clear in case-
The side of the mountain exploded outwards, sending up a plume of dust and pebbles.
In case of that, yeah.
Luckily, all of them had at least one Pokemon that knew Protect, so they were shielded from the rocky rain.
Three birds spiraled into the sky, quickly recovering from the blast, splitting off separately. To the east and west, storm clouds were brewing, while the center of the town was brought down by harsh sunlight.
Lucas nodded to himself, tugging on his gloves before shouting, "I'll take Articuno! Barry, you take Moltres! Hilbert's probably going after Zapdos!"
Lucas's assumption was correct. While his Pokemon team split off, Tyranitar headed off to deal with Moltres, and Abra and Lucario hoping to beat down Articuno, the rest of his team went to deal with the Legendary Electric-type.
Cries of Thunder were called down, but Garchomp protected them from the air, flying between them, acting as a sort of lightning rod.
The air itself crackled like television static, electricity sparking across his skin leaving him with goosebumps.
"Garchomp! Fly upwards, and hit them with all ya got!"
The Dragon-type roared, flying into the Electric-type, hitting it with a blitz of Dragon Claws.
Barry shielded his eyes as he looked up at Moltres, Prinplup doing the same while copying his pose. Pikachu was holding a hand radio of all things, talking into the radio, saying things Hilbert would have translated as 'calling da boyz'. Staravia was on stand-by, Phantump was floating around worriedly, and his Luxray (Who'd evolved nearly immediately after they beat Wake) was pacing around them.
"Any chance I can throw you at that firebird really hard?" He asked Prinplup, who gave a quick shake of their head. "Man… Why don't I ever get the cool fight sequences?"
It was now snowing to the east of Celestic Town, Articuno's presence bringing about a sudden cold front.
Lucas was soaring upwards on Staraptor's back, already holding a Fire Lance and Hilbert's Abra riding on his shoulders.
They narrowly avoided a Blizzard, Staraptor veering left to avoid getting weighed down by frost. Lucas barely maintained his grip as they attempted to get above the Ice-type Legendary.
"...Arcanine, Fire Spin!"
A spiral of flames shot past him, grazing Articuno's wing, causing it to cry in anger and pain.
He looked down, easily making out Marley against the orange of Arcanine's fur and the white of the fallen snow. She made what looked like a thumbs-up, before her Fire-type dodge an Ice Beam.
Cyrus was standing at the top of a nearby cliff, his Crobat easily rescuing him from the first blast and carrying him to a safe distance, before collapsing. They weren't really meant to carry people. He stayed at range, not wanting to risk getting caught in the cross-fire. Recall had a certain range, however, so he had to stick around.
Hilbert hopped onto Golurk's back, grabbing into a quickly-forming handle. His body was weird like that, almost gelatinous at times. Shaymin tightly perched on his shoulder, claws digging into his jacket.
They quickly rose, and began circling Zapdos in tandem with Garchomp.
The Electric-type looked between them before releasing a cry of anger, and blasting off further into the atmosphere.
Hilbert charged his aura shield further, layering it around his head, before shooting skyward with Golurk and Garchomp.
"Uh… Bubblebeam!"
Prinplup shot a fast-moving stream of bubbles, which splashed off of the heat emanating from Moltres.
"Damn it!"
Lucas thrust his blazing sword downwards as he fell towards Articuno. The icy wind whipped at his face while he plunged through the air.
Articuno screeched as he slashed its wing, and swept him away in a gale-force wind.
He fell back through the air as Staraptor was his by a Blizzard.
"No…" His hand reached out as he plummeted through the air, towards his fainted Flying-type.
Before his back could meet the frozen earth below, he was snatched out of the air by an orange and black blur.
"...Be careful…" Marley said, as she pulled him onto the Arcanine, and he recalled Staraptor to their Pokeball.
"Right," Lucas said, nodding. He looked back up at the Ice-type Legendary. "Looks like I'm going to need a new plan."
Hilbert carefully got to his feet, holding onto Golurk's back with nothing but his aura. He tried his best to not look down, as he was twice as high up as the clouds.
"Golurk, how high can you make a Stone Edge reach?"
The machine-like golem hummed. "Not high enough."
"Damn. Well, if we can't make the ground come to it…" He smirked, getting ready to jump, "We'll have to take it to the ground!"
Golurk blasted forward, a jet of light shooting out of its roman skirt. As his rocky arms reached around Zapdos, Hilbert jumped straight up, dodging the Legendary's retaliatory Hyper Beam.
Garchomp swooped below him, letting Hilbert quickly get his grip.
Golurk was taking Hyper Beams and Thunders like the absolute unit he was- Who would've thought a Tackle attack could be so useful? They were rapidly descending through the sky, and his vision was briefly blocked by gray storm clouds.
It cleared up seconds later, only to quickly be blocked again by a massive plume of dust being scattered to the wind by Golrurk's impact.
They swooped down, next to the wide crater. Wind cleared the smog away, revealing a dazed Zapdos and a recovering Golurk.
The golem quickly took his 'saiyan' stance, as they say, and let loose an Earthquake that cracked the earth left untouched by their impact..
Zapdos, now grounded and confused, was unable to avoid the hit, even as a Flying-type. Letting out one last anguished and piercing screech, the Legendary fell unconscious.
"Man! Hey! Moltres! Get down here so I can beat you down!"
Prinplup shook his head as the other Pokemon grew more anxious.
The Fire-type cried, fire falling from the sky.
"It seems to really like the warmth…" Barry looked up, shielding his eyes from the severe sunlight. "You think it's like Charmander? You know, with the tail thing?"
Prinplup blinked. If it could, it would ask where he learned about Charmander. Nevertheless, he nodded.
"Alright, now we're getting somewhere! Rain Dance!"
Lucas and Marley looked up at Articuno, the bird still trying to spread its omen of weather far across Sinnoh.
"...Fire Blast!"
A five-pointed blaze shot from a single deep breath of Arcanine, clipping the Ice-type's wing.
Lucario kept jumping high into the air, her fists blazing, but never reached high enough to make contact.
Abra stopped sleeping for a minute and raised its hand to his mouth. "What if I…"
Him, Lucas, Infernape and Lucario disappeared in a blink of an eye.
Lucas could now tell that they were above Articuno again, and falling fast.
Hilbert watched Zapdos dissolve into the red light of a returning Pokemon, and swirl off to the mountain side.
He looked over at Golurk and Garchomp, before resettling Shaymin on his shoulder.
"Garchomp, you have it worse against Articuno, go help with Moltres. Golurk, sorry bud, but help out Lucas."
The two nodded, before flying off in a plume of dust.
Hilbert shielded his eyes before looking towards the mountain.
"I'm lucky aura makes me run faster, heh."
Luckily for Barry, Moltres was quickly hit by a flying Tackle and taken to the ground by Golurk.
"I knew that he'd finish first, that's not fair!" He cried jokingly, still running towards the small crater that'd just been created.
Dawn and Cheryl just looked at each other, before continuing to help the elderly away from the battle.
Articuno was hit with the combined force of three Fire Punches, and then an enraged Dragon-type using Giga Impact.
Lucas blinked, thoughtlessly latching onto Garchomp and returning his falling Pokemon. Lucario and Abra wordlessly teleported back to the ground.
They landed separately, Articuno skidding through the forest and knocking down trees, while Garchomp swooped down and nearly collapsed, needing to recharge.
"Infernape! Blast Burn!"
The Fire-type gathered an orb of burning white-hot energy, before it quietly popped and sputtered out. It looked back at him, with a dull glare.
"Ah, should've figured that wouldn't work. Well, just use Flare Blitz then."
Infernape cracked its knuckles, before charging into the Articuno in a blast of fire.
Hilbert ran up the mountain, jumping from boulder to boulder in massive strides, like he was floating on air. Over his shoulder, he saw two more jets of light retreat past him, confirming his goal.
"Hey, Cyrus!" He shouted, as he flew over the crest of the plateau, his gaze honing in on the leader of Team Galactic. "I'm gonna kick your ass, got it?"
"Tsk, child. Crobat, Poison Jab."
The Poison-type flew out of nowhere, slashing him with its wing. It made contact, but his aura shield kept him from getting poisoned.
He pulled himself off the ground quickly, kicking out at the bat-like Pokemon, while Shaymin used Psychic.
...There wasn't much it could do to avoid fainting at that point.
Hilbert turned, seeing Cyrus recover it before reaching for a different Pokeball.
He ran forward, only managing to snag part of the leader's belt before his Pokemon used Teleport and the rest of him disappeared.
It looked like he kept the three black Pokeballs in a separate section.
Guess which Pokemon were inside them?
By the time he scaled back down the mountain, the storm clouds had faded to a dull gray, and the villagers of Celestic Town were returning to their homes.
The entrance to the ruins had been caved in, much of the grass burnt, and many, many trees knocked over, but overall? It was a win.
The rest of his team, including the elder, were talking to Looker. Lucas was the first to notice his arrival.
Hilbert held up the belt containing the three Shadow Pokemon, to an almost comical reaction from Lucas.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"
Looker turned, and saw the three Pokeballs.
"Those wouldn't happen to contain Legendary Pokemon, would they?"
Hilbert grinned, returning his Pokemon to their balls to let them get some rest. "As it turns out…"
Looker handed him a cup of coffee, despite it being late into the evening. Shaymin appeared just so it could take the cup.
"He called them Shadow Pokemon, you say?" Looker asked, rubbing his chin. "I haven't heard of that case in a while."
"Hm?"
"Across the world in Orre, there was a series of incidents involving Pokemon that had gone mad, attacking their trainers, even. A couple of kids solved that one too, though I hear the people behind it are attempting to recover…"
"Is letting kids fix your problems a theme with you?"
"Don't go there, we had nothing to do with that- Wait, that doesn't make it better."
"Sounds like it."
"Back on topic. There's a Pokemon lab there that has the ability to fix Shadow Pokemon, or so I'm told."
"Great." He handed the belt of Pokeballs to Looker. "You deal with that. Technically speaking, I stole these, and I don't wanna deal with that. If you deal with it, you can say they were confiscated."
"That reminds me, actually," Looker reached into his back pocket and pulled out a stack of badges. Not the gym kind, but the kind you hang on a lanyard. "My superiors have passed the motion to deputize Team Black."
What.
"What."
Well put, Hilby.
"So, it's your problem, not mine. Don't get into too much trouble, or you're off the force."
"...How long have you wanted to say that line?"
Looker shrugged and walked off to speak to the other officers.
Hilbert looked at the belt of Pokeballs and back at his teammates.
"...Road trip?"
"ROAD TRIP!" Barry yelled.
Hilbert shook hands with the elder. "I'm sorry about all the trouble, ma'am."
"Ah, don't be. A little excitement couldn't hurt these old codgers."
"...Aren't you one of those old-"
"What was that?"
"Nothing, I'm glad I could help."
"Hah! I can see why little Cynthia likes you." She slapped him on the back, eyes crinkling as she laughed. "If you're in the area, I'd be happy to have your little troop over for tea."
AN:
Thoughts on the Pokemon World Tour? That's what I'll call the arc if it happens. It'll last maybe a month in-universe. He'll travel through a few different regions, stopping in Orre for the purification, but only briefly. I don't have it mapped out yet, but there's cool stuff that can happen. Only a few chapters.
Oh, also, the level thing. In this universe, the level for each gym goes up by ten, equivalently. So, everyone's team is around level 50 because that's the gym level. Most Legendaries are, well, Legendaries, so, their levels can't really be comprehended.
I mean, in the anime, would you really believe all of those Pokemon are under level 50? Top-level doesn't mean half-way to max level. Not incredibly important, it's a scale thing.
I'm thinking of having the gym battles change intensity, since it's the second half of the challenge, but I'm not sure which format yet.