"And now for the conclusion," Arceus began as he pressed a button, causing a loud blast of trumpets to quickly follow.

"Jack and Nicholas are back on the road, and they stumble upon... A carnival?" the Normal Type hummed. "This might prove to be interesting."

They started walking again, and this time Jack made sure that he didn't fall asleep again. As they approached rather large hill, Jack, and those with similarly superhuman hearing, detected a somewhat strange sound; a fun, bouncing melody, floating on the breeze. As they walked, the music got louder, until they were right on top of the hill; they looked down, and saw a large town a ways away. However, the music was coming from a collection of large, brightly coloured tents, and trailers.

"Naturally, Jack doesn't know what a carnival is, which is a step in the right direction in regards to consistency, and Solomon decides to fill him in."

"It's a large collection of different shows and activities, where people go to be entertained," the Kadabra replied, broadcasting to the rest of the team as well, "there are usually such attractions as a myriad of games, magic shows, performing Pokémon,

Jack: They force Pokémon to perform!? Quickly; we have to liberate them!

and many other things. I've always wanted to see one, but I never got the chance."

"Well then," Jack decided, then said aloud, "We've been traveling for quite a while now, and I feel it's safe to say that we could all use a little rest. How's about we see what the carnival has to offer."

"And so Jack and Nicholas descend into the carnival after discussing a bit about finances, where they immediately spot an area reserved only for Pokémon."

"Doesn't that sound a bit familiar, Arcy?" Arceus made a motion akin to shrugging.

"Alright," Jack telepathed to his team, "I have a plan; there appears to be an area over there specifically reserved for Pokémon, so I suggest that you all go check that out. We'll meet back here at twelve for lunch, and then see what that magic show is all about. Any objections?"

No one had any, so Jack gave Solomon a small wad of money, and the team headed of towards the alleged Pokémon only zone.

"And make sure to travel in groups of at least two," he commanded as they parted, "Anything could happen to a lone Pokémon in a place this busy. And if anything goes wrong, I'll be in constant telepathic contact with you; just yell for help, and I'll be there in a heartbeat."

"Over-protective much?" Lucy thought cynically, specifically allowing Jack to access to her mind, otherwise her Dark-Type attribute would block him out.

Lucy: I mean, you're already making me miss Paul! It's not like he cared for our wellbeing or anything... Now let me go be angsty in peace!

The Pokémon-only zone was not too different from the rest of the carnival; there were variety of different booths, stalls, and tents, each advertising a different thing, but they were all managed by Pokémon. The tents were all big enough to
cope with even the largest of Pokémon, but they were obviously equipped to handle smaller ones as well.

The two teams decided to split up, like Jack had suggested, into groups of at least two; that way, everyone had someone to watch their backs in case of trouble. So, they split up; Sunspot immediately dragged Cap off to who-knows-where; Lucy, Frostbite, and Hunter prowled off together; Aura and Solomon decided to try and find somewhere quiet to read; Scatterbolt and Jason decided to wander and share war stories;

Scatterbolt: We were holed up in Snowpoint and the enemy was closing in. Reinforcements were a two days march away, and we were low on water and ammo. They swarmed our position, picking us off one by one... The horror... The horror...

Jason: Are we still on the same page here?

It didn't take Sunspot long to find the one place in the carnival where he could battle, and he dragged Cap right into it. It was an open-air battlefield, and there was a rather one-sided fight going on; a burly Machoke was beating the living daylights out of a Meditite.

Machoke: Take that Pokémon who's half my height and has mittens for hands! I'm clearly undefeatable!

"IS THERE NO ONE WHO CAN DEFEAT OUR CHAMPION?" The Chatot asked the audience.

Wigglytuff: Oh! Me! Me! Let me try, friendly friend! YOOM-TAH!

Chatot: Anyone besides the Guildmaster?

Sunspot didn't so much as consider the question, "I CAN!"

It wasn't an easy feat to grin with a beak, but Chatot gave it a good try, "WELL THEN, WE HAVE ANOTHER CHALLENGER! What's your name, son?"

"Sunspot."

"SUNSPOT, THE MIGHTY MONFERNO, VS OUR CHAMPION, THE CRUSHER!"

"Don't we have a crusher, Arcy?"

"Wrong crusher, Mew," the Legendary clarified. "Well, the Machoke easily bests Sunspot with a cheap trick, which Cap easily manages to figure out, and the Breloom decides he wants a go at him. The battle goes back and forth for a while, neither side really gaining an advantage with Cap not willing to fall for the Machoke's trick, and it swings in Cap's favor until Crusher manages to reverse things with a well timed counterattack. Cap waits up later, apparently discovers that Pokémon have developed betting rings, and the Machoke gives him some of the winnings as a conciliatory gift for doing so well in the match. Afterwards we pan over to Katana."

Keeping track of three children was no mean feat, and Katana knew this full well. Fortunately for her, they were all fairly well behaved; the problems came when they were deciding what to do first. Wendy wanted to investigate the rides, but Marsh had his eye on a black tent marked 'House of Horrors'. Strike was fascinated by everything, but he quickly sided with Marsh that the 'House of Horrors' was the more interesting.

"Uh, Arcy," Mew chimed in. "I think I've seen this somewhere."

"Regardless," the Alpha Pokémon began. "They enter, pay their fee to a less than enthusiastic Chatot, and enter."

Then, they heard the sounds; almost unnoticeable at first, so that they couldn't quite tell when it had started, but then it started getting louder. It was the sound of shallow breathing, rasping and dry,

Wendy: Sorry, that's me. I haven't had anything to drink in a while.

They soon found themselves in a round room, just as dark as the hallway, and ringed with the same kind of strange mirrors. The images in the mirrors started to twist and change; becoming ghostly phantoms that seemed at times to almost jump out at them. They were as black as shadows, and thin as scare-Murkrows, with glowing red eyes, and jagged claws reaching out as if to grab them.

"Don't worry," Katana said, trying reassure herself as much as the children, "They're not real, they c-can't hurt us; there's nothing t-to be afraid of."

Then, as one, the ghostly images turned their misshapen heads toward them, and screamed like banshees. Instantly losing what was left of their nerve, the group turned to run back the way they came, only to find it blocked by specters in black cloaks.

(Black Knight: None shall pass.)

"Well, Katana seems to figure that out, and, much like Arthur, attempts to lop off a few limbs of these specters."

"How perceptive of you," said a creepy telepathic voice.

A split second later, Katana was thrown backward by a powerful Psychic-type attack. She looked around desperately, but couldn't see what had hit her. She wouldn't admit it, but she had always been scared stiff by psychics and telepaths.

Arceus rolled his eyes. "And I'm assuming that's the reason you so faithfully and wholly trust Jack?"

Then, the lights came on, and Katana could see everything. They were indeed in a large black tent, and the army of shades was really just six Haunter. But there were four things in particular that drew Katana's attention like a magnet; a large machine with red R emblazoned on it, a man and a woman wearing uniforms with the same symbol, and a

Meowth standing between them. All three wore metal bands on their heads.

Katana remembered them from when they had tried to kidnap Cap, Jason, and herself; the memory was a very embarrassing one.

"Listen, is that a voice I hear?" said Jessie.

"It's yelling at me loud and clear," replied James.

"On the wind,"

"Past the stars,"

"In your ear."

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace,"

"Dashing all hope, and putting fear in its place."

"A rose by any other name is just as sweet,"

"When everything's worse, our work is complete."

"Jessie,"

"And it's James,"

"Meowth, that's a name."

"Putting the do-gooders in their place,"

"We're Team Rocket,"

"In your face," all three of them finished.

"I'll give the author credit for cleaning up the format. So, Team Rocket reveals that the entire house of horrors is really just an over-glorified racketeering operation, Jack appears out of nowhere to rescue Katana and her wards, because I suppose the 'Pokémon only' zone makes exceptions for humans who believe they're Pokémon, Team Rocket and their cronies are quickly dispatched, and Jack spends a good portion of his remaining day playing with his and Nicholas' Pokémon while said trainer wanders around the carnival, wondering if he's still relevant to the story. Meanwhile, Lucy and some of her new friends run into another cameo character."

The strange Pokemon turned to Lucy, "Thanks for saving me from that poacher; the name's Ivy, but Lucy here already knows that."

Then Lucy realized where she'd seen the small Pokemon before; the Eterna City Gym, while they were staying there, was the home of a Pokemon from Unova. Ivy the Snivy.

"Oh," the Absol exclaimed, "Of course! I knew I knew you from somewhere, but I couldn't remember where."

"So, you do know her?" Hunter asked Lucy.

"Yeah," she replied, "From when we were staying in Eterna City; just after we met Nicholas."

"And you'll probably be wondering what I'm doing here," Ivy observed.

"Well, now that you mention it, I thought you were settled at the gym."

Ivy smiled ruefully, "I was, until I met Jack; he was nice, and mysterious. His powers caught my attention right away, and Gardenia's too, and I really got to like him. I thought about coming with you when you left, but..."

This time it was Hunter who interrupted her, "Hold on; 'Jack's powers'? What powers? I mean, sure your Jack is a pretty good trainer, and an all-around nice guy, but he's only human; right?"

Ivy gave Lucy a look that said, 'They don't know about Jack?'

Lucy sighed, "They do now. I'll give you the ten second version; Jack was abandoned in the woods as a baby, was found by a family of Lucarios, grew up and developed Pokemon-like powers, went on a journey to find adventure, and is getting more than he bargained for. Any questions?"

Hunter: Will you have to kill us now?

"Anyways, they talk for a while, we cut over to Solomon who's busy talking to Aura about Kalos and the Fairy Type in which he refers to the former as being an island-" Arceus' eyes narrowed in irritation.

"Because most islands are surrounded by mountain ranges on two sides," the Alpha Pokémon then cleared his throat. "And then Solomon begins to reflect on his feelings towards Aura?"

The Alpha Pokémon shook his head. "At this point, a Kadabra having feelings for a Dragonair is normal. Most of the remaining chapter is simply occupied with that, and so we move onto to the fourth part of the carnival."

To say that Jack had fun at the carnival, would be only a half truth; it wasn't that he hated it, it was just that he didn't find much interesting to do. The most fun he'd had all day, had been the water-balloon war with Jason, Scatterbolt, and the children. It had ended far too quickly for his liking.

After that, he'd wandered around for a while, looking for something else to do. He'd been momentarily distracted by a booth where you threw small sandbags at targets to win prizes, but it was far too easy for him; he walked away from the booth with a cute little Lucario plush toy.

Jason: I shall call him... Mini-Me.

On a table right at the entrance, were stacked a large selection of recently published newspapers. On the front pages of at least half a dozen of them, was his face; each one had the same, slightly blurred color picture, that fortunately didn't show much detail. Not enough to identify him, but they clearly enough showed his normally electric blue eyes, glowing a blazing golden color.

Jack hesitantly picked up the latest newspaper, and looked through it; the headline was, 'Mysterious Hero Finally Unhooded!'

Arceus nodded. "And within contains the details of his saving two cities, his work at the gyms, his appearance, testimonials from Gym Leader's he's met, known associates, his phone and social security numbers, and favorite sandwich type. After paying for it, he meets up with a pensive Nicholas, who's probably still wondering if he's going to be used in this chapter, and they decide to get lunch."

Lunch consisted of sausages and Kalosian-fries for the humans, and Pokémon-food for the rest.

The Normal Type sighed.

"You know what Kalos is based off of and yet you still called it an island?"

After lunch, by which time it was around twelve-twenty, they headed over to the tent where the magic show was to be held; it wasn't hard to locate, being that it was by far the biggest, and the most central. At the entrance, Jack bought enough tickets for everyone; including discounted ones for the Pokémon.

"Yes, children, the elderly, veterans and Pokémon who should have no way of earning any regular income all get discounts." Mew crossed her arms.

"How would you even charge admission for Pokémon, Arcy? Would they do it by the number of Pokémon a trainer currently has present, or just the Pokémon out with him? Because what would stop someone from just releasing a Pokémon after they pay for their own admission and get into a theater?" The equine Pokémon hummed.

"Perhaps they would require trainers to hand other their Pokéballs?"

"Didn't Team Rocket already do that?"

"Well, they've already been kicked out of this part of the story, so I don't think we have to worry about that. After the opening acts are finished, the professional magician is about to take the stage."

With difficulty, Jack pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind; he was here to have fun, and the show was just starting. The ringmaster announced that their professional magician would perform next, and the crowd gave their approval. Jack, however, was stock still in his seat; he sensed something powerful, and close. And as the curtain lifted, Jack saw what it was; the realization hit him like a hammer-blow.

(Jerry Seinfeld: Newman!)

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the ringmaster said, "I present to you, the star attraction, Omar the Mage!"

The professional magician, Omar the Mage, stepped onto the stage, and all eyes were glued to him; Jack's were no exception, but the magician had garnered his complete and total attention for another reason. The man, with jet-black hair and electric-blue eyes, and dressed in an embroidered blue and gold cloak, radiated an aura of power the likes of which Jack had never felt before.

And yet, as Jack sat completely stunned, he realized that he'd not only felt it before, but he had felt it constantly ever since he'd learned his first move; Omar the Mage's power felt almost exactly like his own, but it felt... Fuller; more mature. It was as if Jack's power was like looking through a window at the outside, and Omar's was like stepping through the door. They had the same kind of power, but Omar's was fully realized.

"And you're performing parlor tricks why? Whatever the case is, Jack enjoys the show even if he discerns the mage's tricks. Speaking of which; Omar seems to need an assistant."

Then, suddenly, Omar announced in the same stage-voice as the ringmaster, "I shall perform one more trick today; my pièce de résistance. However, I will need a volunteer from the audience; someone who hasn't volunteered yet." After looking nonchalantly around at the sea of raised hands, the Mage's eyes settled on one.

"You; the boy in the back row, next to the Lucario."

Jack glanced at Jason sitting next to him, then he stared for a second at his raised arm; he swiftly withdrew it, but it was no use. Everyone near him, including his team, and Nicholas and his, were telling him to get going.

"Come on," Omar called out, a hint of a challenge in his voice, "Don't be shy."

"You heard him," Jason said, giving Jack a friendly shove, "Get going; it'll be fun."

Steeling his nerves, Jack got up and walked down to the stage. As he vaulted onto the raised wooden platform, he received a hearty round of applause. Then, he was face to face with the Mage; up close, Jack realized with a shock that they actually looked quite alike. They had the same cat-like slant to their blue eyes, the same thin cheek-bones, and both their ears slanted slightly upwards at the tips. They even both stood on the balls of their feet, as if expecting a fight at any moment. The only difference was the color of their hair.

"So they're both secretly elves?" The Legendary only sighed at the Psychic Type's comment, while she just carried on. "Huh. That'd explain a lot, actually."

From somewhere in the audience, a man shouted jokingly, "Hey, no fair choosing your own son."

"I assure you," the Mage said, laughing, "He is certainly not my son; he does look like a magician though, I'll be interested to see what he can do. Well then, would you like to tell the good audience your name?"

Jack considered lying, but for some reason he felt like he needed to prove himself to this man; his cover was going to be blown sooner or later anyway, why not here and now.

"Jack," he said loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Jack Storm!"

Instantly, there was a loud rumble from the audience; anyone who didn't know who Jack Storm was, was soon informed.

Jack set his jaw in defiance to the negative remarks he knew would be spoken,

(Jerry Seinfeld: I am not an animal!)

but was surprised once again when he heard a few people begin to clap; it soon spread, until the entire audience was applauding him with great gusto. As the last of his fears began to finally unravel, he turned back to Omar, who had a knowing smile on his face.

"Well then," The Mage said, once the applause had died down, "It seems that we have a true master of magic in our midst; it looks like you'll all get your money's worth after all. If we'd known in advance, we would've charged more for admission."

This elicited a round of laughter from the audience, which was soon silenced by Omar.

"For my last trick," he continued, "I shall have to ask you to step into this box."

"And from there, the final trick and an encore is performed, and Omar asks Jack to come backstage with him, where Jack hopes he can finally get some answers."

"You're a lot more powerful than I am," Jack said, "Speaking of which, I always thought I was the only one like me; does this mean there are more?"

Omar carefully considered it before answering, "For one thing, I'm not like you at all; not really. I just look like you. And even if I have more experience, and more power at my direct command, my abilities have grown all they're going to; I'll
never get much more powerful than I am now, but you will. When your powers are fully mature, you'll be able to thoroughly outclass me. And as for there being others, I haven't heard of any."

Jack's brain filed this information away in the 'think about it later' category; alongside the rest of the magic show. He was about to ask another question, but he heard people coming to clean up the stage.

Jack vaguely remembered meeting up with his friends, and pitching camp for the night, well out of earshot of the carnival. He went about these actions pretty much on autopilot, but he managed not to look to robotic; it was only after the campfire was lit, and dinner eaten, that Jack finally finished processing the events of the magic show. At that point, he had completely forgotten about what Nicholas had said earlier, but he soon remembered.

"Jack, we need to talk," the trainer said.

Jack snapped out of his contemplation, "What about?"

Nicholas handed him a sheaf of papers, but it took him a second to realize what they were; when he did figure it out, his heart sank like a stone. He let out a pained groan as he let the papers drop to the ground.

It was a copy of the Daily Scribe.

Arceus rolled his eyes.

"Well, apparently Nicholas got offended at Jack for not telling him about his powers, because both the most logical and emotionally-sound action anyone would take on learning their friend is the equivalent of a superhero is to get upset at not being filled in instead of being grateful for his heroics or terrified that he might take their head off if they say the wrong word, and then challenge them to a Pokémon battle to see if they really are that strong. Ever-so-expectedly, Nicholas is defeated after putting up a bit more of a fight than Jack anticipated, and decides to go on his own way to train some more. Oh, and Ivy ends up joining Jack."

"Afterwards, this story takes a turn for the horror when Jack and friends stumble onto an abandoned building."

The darkness inside the building was no problem for Jack, Jason, or Lucy; Lucy could see in the dark as well as any Dark-type could, and Jack and Jason could sense their surroundings thanks to their Aura-Vision. Still, the further in they went, the more uneasy the three of them got; it was as if invisible eyes were watching them.

They walked down a long hallway, broken up by doors that led into other rooms; they went into every room they came to, but most of them were empty except for dusty metal chairs and desks. The chairs obviously had not been used for quite some time and were missing their seats, and the desks were all full of dust. In fact, the whole building was covered in piles of dust.

Then, Jack realized something that set every nerve in his body on edge; it wasn't dust, the whole building was covered in piles of ashes! The ashes under the metal chair frames, was their missing seats; the ashes on and in the metal desks, was what was left of the papers and documents they once held. Suddenly, the burnt and blackened patches on the hillside made sense; the entire building had been set on fire.

Standing there, in what must have once been an office, Jack could almost feel the heat of the flames as they swept through the building; he could almost hear the screams of the poor people who must have worked there. He stood in that office, watching the flames curl around the door frame; smoke filling the room. Then, through the smoke, he saw something floating; he saw two eyes like headlights, then everything went black. He screamed.

"GYAHH!" Mew shouted as she flung herself onto Arceus' face, much to the Legendary's chagrin. "Save me, Arcy!"

"Get off me!" the equine Pokémon grunted through Mew's bear hug as he thrashed about.

"Jack!"

Jack opened his eyes, and realized that he was on the floor; Jason and Lucy were standing over him with worried expressions, and Jason was shaking him back and forth. He sat up, and immediately put a hand to his head; he had a splitting migraine.

"Thank goodness you're alright," Lucy said, showing her relief by licking his face.

"Y-yeah," Jack said, wiping the saliva off his cheek, "I'm okay; I guess.

"What happened?" Jason demanded, "You screamed, then you just collapsed!"

Jack looked at the Lucario, then at the room around them, and he shivered in fear.

"I... I d-dont know," he said, shaking, "I saw a f-fire; this whole p-place was b-burning."

Jason nodded, "That would explain all this dust, and the lack of anything flammable."

"We have to get out of here," Jack said, getting to his feet.

"But Jack," Lucy said, "We found something that wasn't burnt; a paper..."

"Leave it!" Jack said sharply, "We have to get away from this place! Something is here."

"What?" Jason asked, "You said yourself, there are no living things in this place; if there was, we could sense it."

Jack looked him dead in the eye, and said without a hint of a smile, "I don't think it is alive."

"And neither will you be if you don't get off my face!" Arceus shouted out, thrashing about until Mew finally flew off his face. The Alpha Pokémon glared at the Psychic type, who smiled sheepishly.

"Heh... Sorry, Arcy. I guess I got carried away..." the Legendary continued staring down at her.

"And?" Mew sighed.

"And I'm sorry too, Glory for Sleep," Arceus nodded and turned back to the computer, while Mew tapped her paws together.

"You... You really wouldn't hurt me, Arcy? Right?" the Normal Type chuckled.

"Of course not. But, hypothetically speaking, I could kill you and revive you for the fun of it." Mew laughed.

"Yeah, that does sound like fu- WHAT!?" Arceus ignored the Pokémon's wide-eyed stare.

"Of course, you wouldn't remember it if I did. Hypothetically speaking." the New Species Pokémon only gained a very shaky smile at the massive Normal Type's nonchalant comment, while he returned to the task at hand.

"So, Jack deduces that it was only a vision previously, and then by reading the paper they found discovers the place was a laboratory."

"We need to get out of here," Jack repeated, in a tone that left no room for question, "Now."

Lucy and Jason knew better than to argue with Jack when he used that tone lf voice, so they quietly lined up and headed for the exit. They only made it halfway across the room.

Jack's Aura-vision picked it up just in time, and he pushed Lucy out of the way a split second before a blast the electricity blackened the floor where she'd been standing. Jack turned around just in time for a triple blast of fire, ice, and electricity to hit him square in the chest.

Jack was flung backwards by the blast, but he performed a quick backflip and landed on his feet; he then immediately had to leap to one side, to avoid another blast of electricity. Keeping low to the ground, he looked quickly around the room; it didn't take him long to spot his assailant. It looked vaguely bird-like in shape, but it looked like no bird Jack had ever seen.

As it was, Jack couldn't get a clear view of the attacker; it was flying around the enclosed space of the room like a streak of light, firing blasts of electricity at Lucy, Jason, and himself at random intervals. So, instead of trying to see it, he opened his mind and tried to read it.

He gave up after only a few seconds; whatever this thing was, he couldn't detect any trace of its mind. He wasn't just being block, it was like there was nothing there to sense. Same with Aura-vision; he could see the thing's physical outline, but because it was a black hole in the ambient Aura floating around in the air.

Whatever this thing was, it had no mind, no Aura, and it used electrical attacks; Jack dodged to the right to avoid another blast, then he took a shot of his own. A cyclone of leaves and grass flew in from the open doorway, and scored a direct hit on the... whatever it was.

Before it could recover, Jack, Jason, and Lucy raced for the door of the laboratory; they had almost made it, when a wall of fire erupted in front of them, blocking their escape.

Jack turned, and let out an involuntary gasp as he saw two headlight-like eyes staring back at him through the smoke; there was no doubt, this thing had set the laboratory on fire the first time, and now history was about to repeat itself. But not if Jack had anything to say about it.

"One would assume something would have to happen first before it can be repeated. Or perhaps Jack's powers are acting up again."

Without thinking, Jack grabbed hold of Lucy and Jason, and took a step forward; he didn't know how he did it, but he did. He caught a glimpse of a night sky full of stars, then he and his two passengers were on the hill just outside of the laboratory. Lucy and Jason looked at him in shock, but Jack knew they only had a few moments before that thing came after them.

"We'll figure it out later," he said, "For now, let's take that thing down."

Jack noticed that the rest of his team was nowhere to be seen; he hoped nothing had happened to them, but he supposed that Solomon would've called telepathically him if anything had happened.

They waited for a full twenty seconds, then a scrambled, computerized voice came from the open doorway of the lab.

"Downl-l-l-load complet-t-te; t-t-target lock-ck-cked. D-d-d-destroy!"

Arceus blinked. "Are they being attacked by Porky Pig?"

Even looking at it in broad daylight, Jack had no idea what the thing was; it had a round blue and red body, blue oval shaped wings and tail, and a red head with a blue bill. But neither its wings, tail, or even its head, were actually attached to its body.

In a flash of inspiration, Jack pulled out his Pokédex; he'd learned how to use it a while ago. He pointed the camera at the thing, and waited for its response. It came almost immediately.

Match found: Porygon-Z.

Species: Virtual.

Description: Its programming was modified to enable work in alien dimensions. It did not work as planned.

More information.

Out of curiosity, and hoping to find a weakness, Jack pressed the 'more information' button; he was not disappointed.

Not only did his Pokédex scan Porygon-Z's type, but also its stats, moves, and even its pre-evolutions. But by far the most important thing Jack learned, was why he couldn't sense Porygon-Z's mind or Aura.

"It's a machine!" he said incredulously.

Jack shook his head to clear it; fight now, be astounded later, he told himself. Putting away his Pokédex, he quickly telepathed orders to Lucy and Jason.

"It's a Normal-type, so Jason, hit it with Aura Sphere; Lucy, look for weak points, like in between its body and head, and hit them with everything you've got. It knows Hyper Beam, Zap Cannon, and something called Tri-Attack; it can also use Lock-On, so watch out."

"And what will you be doing, o fearless leader?" Jason telepathed back sarcastically.

"I'll be the distraction," Jack said with a grin.

"Oh."

"Well," Arceus began, while Mew fanned him with a palm branch. "After a long and drawn out battle, they defeat Porygon-Z, who promptly self destructs, and Jack is saved by a Porygon 2 and the other Porygon who Porygon-Z was inexplicably holding captive after having murdered all the scientists, burned down the laboratory, and patrolled it for an undisclosed amount of time. Afterwards, the Porygon 2 decides to come along with Jack, who promptly names him Thomas. Before they leave, the Porygon decide to give Jack a Macg- portable PC so he can justi- carry all his Pokémon with him, and Thomas displays a dry sense of humor in the process."

The Alpha Pokémon made a motion akin to shrugging. "Well, I have a sense of humor, so I don't see why a Porygon can't have one. Anyways, they later decide to head to Pastoria for Jack's fourth gym badge."

Jack did finally go to sleep; but he didn't get much rest. The dreams were worse than usual that night.

he was back underwater; that part of the dream was the same. But this time, something was with him; he couldn't see it clearly, but there was something about it that radiated pure evil. It was an ominous, malevolent presence; simply knowing it was there sent shivers down his spine, and tied a tight knot of fear in his stomach.

Then, as if in answer to his fear, as if it knew he was afraid of it, the 'thing' lunged for him; it latched onto his skin, and stuck there. He couldn't move a muscle to fight it, or even shy away from it; he couldn't even turn his head to look at it.

Then, came the pain; a pain like he'd never felt before, and prayed that he'd never feel again. It felt like lightning lancing through every nerve in his body; like his blood had been turned to fire in his veins; like he was being torn apart, cell by cell.

Then, as quickly as it appeared, the pain stopped; the 'thing' relinquished it's grip, and retreated into the murk; to bide its time until he'd recovered enough for it to torture again. In the numbness that came afterwards, Jack heard a voice; a childlike voice, devoid of hope or comfort.

"I'm so alone; so afraid."

"Where am I? Who am I?"

"Help me. Please, help me."

"HELP ME!"

Jack had that dream again the next night, and the night after that, and the night after that; each time, it was worse than the last. Jack tried to stay awake, but he was already exhausted from the dreams; staying awake all night was simply not within his power.

"Oh, now you say he can't do something..." Arceus muttered, while Mew pursed her lips but kept fanning.

They reached Pastoria late on the fourth day since they left the lab, and Jack decided that they might as well get a room in the Pastoria Pokémon Center. Since his trainer clothes were burned beyond recognition in his battle with Porygon-Z, he had no choice but to enter the city in his robes; anticipating trouble, of some sort or another, his team agreed to wait inside the Pack until they were inside the Center. It might have been easier if they'd stayed out.

"Mr. Storm, if I could have a minute of your time..."

"Mr Storm, would you like to comment on the Lagendary Bird attacks?"

"Mr. Storm, could we please get an interview?"

"Mr. Storm, are you here to take up the public challenge issued by Pastoria City Gym Leader, Crasher Wake?

"Mr. Storm, could you please tell our viewers a little more about yourself?"

Jack tried to answer as many of the questions posed to him as possible, but there were simply too many, and he was just too tired to keep up; and more reporters just kept on coming. It seemed like there was a representative from every newspaper, magazine, talk show, and radio station in Sinnoh. This was, of course, not true; some of them hadn't made it to Pastoria yet.

The Alpha Pokémon snorted, while Mew handed him a cup of tea.

"Well, Jack outmaneuvers the media, he later runs into Crasher Wake and Paul, challenges the former and nearly kills the latter while Lucy forgives him at last, and heads onto what has to be the best battle in the story. After winning his battle with Wake, feels a familiar presence.

"Okay," Jack said. "You all know about my 'dreams', right; how there's always that voice, asking me for help? Well, I just heard that same voice, saying the same thing. Something's happening."

At that precise moment, a loud explosion echoed across the city; Jack flung out a mental probe, and suddenly, everything clicked into place.

"This way!" Jack commanded, taking off full-tilt towards the edge of the Great Marsh. "Solomon and Aura are in trouble!"

Jack didn't even check to see if the team followed him; he just ran full tilt toward the edge of the Great Marsh. Then he rounded a corner, and saw everything. The three Legendary Birds; Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos. And on the ground beneath them, were Aura and Solomon; unconscious.

"Afterwards, another long battle ensues, ending with Jack using the Mind Plate to overpower the Bird Trio, who are revealed to be under the mental control of someone else, and release them from his control. Jack explains everything to the birds, they decide to head back to Kanto-" Arceus' eyes narrowed.

"Because, well equipped with the knowledge that there is an unnamed villain out there with the capability of completely dominating your mind and turning you into a mindless slave, you would happily return to your homes where he presumably found you to begin with," the Pokémon cleared his throat. "While Jack, now aware that someone out there has it in for him, decides to call off his journey and heads back to his home with his new friends. The end."

"So what's my judgement on this story?" Arceus asked rhetorically, causing Mew to lower the palm branch she was fanning him with. "Well, admittedly, I did not hold that high opinion of it to begin with. At first glance, there's no real conflict, no reason for the plot, and Jack's a bit of a Gary Stu, amongst other issues. However, I took a closer examination of the story, and found that my original expectations of it perhaps created an unfair evaluation. Originally, I had expected this to be something of a great adventure, but now, looking through it again, I realize that it is less of an epic and more of a collection of misadventures. In that vein, it could be said to be similar to Don Quixote or Tom Sawyer: the story is less about the adventure and more about the character."

"This does end up showing in the story; the conflict is not Jack vs the unnamed villain, Jack vs the Legendary Birds or Jack vs J, but rather Jack vs himself as the adventure continues. For all of Jack's superhero qualities, he still struggles with many things; anger, guilt, insecurity, and loneliness, to name a few. His journey is simply about finding his place in the world, and since there's actually no given reason for it besides his desire to see the world, it can be assumed that is it. Now, that doesn't mean this story still doesn't have its fair share of problems." the Alpha Pokémon nodded.

"For starters; while it does have pretty good characterization, Jack, believable or not, is still a likeable guy, and many of his Pokémon such as Lucy, Ivy, Solomon and Thomas are also enjoyable characters, but it also suffers from a lack of priorities."

Mew blinked. "Huh?"

"Yes," the equine Pokémon continued. "For example; take a look at the character tags; OC and Lucario, the latter of which is clearly Jason. However, despite being arguably one of the most important characters in the group dynamic; Jack's adoptive brother and the 'manager' of their team, his development and character pales in comparison to many of the other teammates, and, for all intents and purposes, disappears as noteworthy after Lucy and Jack's conversations. Likewise, the story suffers from multiple continuity issues, even if it can endure them a bit more due to its nature than a normal story could. While most of the major ones have already been addressed, on a more nuanced level they would also include the fickleness of Jack's powers, the fact that non-Sinnoh Pokémon are present in Sinnoh, and the fact that the Pokémon act more like humans than actual Pokémon."

"The biggest issue with this story, though, is not continuity or consistency, but rather Jack himself. Despite arguably being the biggest asset to this almost superhero-like tale, he's also its biggest flaw; there's no reason given for him as a character. Why can he use Pokémon moves? Why can his Pokémon learn more moves than normal? Why can his Pokémon inexplicably evolve? Why does he have those dreams? Why is there someone out to get him? And so on and so forth. The only explanation, allusion or theory ever put forward as to the why is simply; because he's Jack Storm," Arceus looked downwards.

"But that's circular logic; it still doesn't answer why he's Jack Storm. Now, that doesn't mean it has to be answered in Book 1, if anything keeping some mystery would draw people to read the Book 2, which will hopefully address this, but the real problem is that no one tries to answer it. Not the author, not the characters themselves, nothing. Nothing is put forwards or theorized as to the why. Jack certainly wants to know, he even has Solomon try to pick his brain to find out about his origins, but the underlying fact remains that it is not addressed in Book 1," Arceus chuckled.

"Still, for all its flaws, Rising Storm: Book 1 is an enjoyable story. It has solid character; I can't think of anyone I actually didn't like and there's plenty of development to go around, good grammar, and a decent, if not slightly misleading, plot. The battles, even though they occasional go to eleven, are certainly some of the story's highlights. And, when it does want to anchor itself down to a particular continuity, it does manages to handle that pretty well. Yes; for a first story, warts and all, it's a not half-bad read," the Normal Type let out a heavy sigh.

"So yes; that's my Judgement on Rising Storm: Book 1."

The End

Special Thanks:

Matthais Unidostres

Jack Storm 448

Credits:

Rush - Tom Sawyer

UHF

Dexter's Laboratory

Rising Storm: Book 1

Godzilla

Ace Attorney

Batman

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Looney Tunes

Kirby: Right Back At Ya!

Monty Python: Flying Lessons

Seinfeld: The Pothole

Zorua Reviews

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Kyurem the Critic

Seinfeld: The Marine Biologist

Seinfeld: The Frogger

Finding Nemo

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Pokémon Conquest

Star Wars

Star Trek

Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Monty Python: The Funniest Joke In The World

Zoolander

Apocalypse Now

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

Austin Powers

Seinfeld: The Pick

Nine in the Afternoon by Glory for Sleep

This Is Spinal Tap

"HOLD IT!"

The author, clad in full suit of armor made out of notepads, and holding an oversized pencil and eraser like a spear and a shield, charged through the ridiculously long credits like it was a football banner.

"Arceus!" he shouted, pointing the graphite tip of his makeshift weapon at the Pokémon. "It's time to finish this!"

"Agreed," the Alpha Pokémon replied, having moved across the room to face him. The Author charged forwards, jumping up in the air and pointing his pencil at the Legendary's head, while Arceus charged up a judgement. Time seemed to freeze for a moment as the two combatants drew closer, before it actually did, leaving them both suspended as everything faded into a golden Technicolor still.

Insert action-packed fight scene the author was too lazy to write out due to chapter length and the fact he likes to save those for other stories here.

"Ugh..." the Author groaned out as he slumped back against a cracked marble column, letting the writing utensil roll out of his hands. Arceus' hadn't fared much better; the Normal Type slumped against the floor, breathing heavy and having a moustache, monocle and eyebrows scribbled onto his face.

"Arceus, let's bury the hatchet," the equine Pokémon nodded in silent agreement, and the author slumped over to the Legendary. "I'll stay in the author notes from now on, and you won't drag me through any more Monty Python sketches. Deal?"

"Yes..." Arceus groaned out, hesitantly lifting one of his hooves so the Author could shake it. After doing so, the Author slinked out of the Hall of Origin, while Mew casually floated in.

"Well, that happened," the Psychic Type remarked before blinking and putting a paw to her chin. "Wait a minute..."

Her eyes went wide. "Didn't you say that you couldn't erase people's memories at the beginning of the season!?"

"Yes," Arceus replied. Somehow, Mew was certain he would be smiling if he was capable of it. "Yes I did."

The implication was not lost on her, and the New Species Pokémon pouted and crossed her arms.

"Well played, Arcy," she muttered bitterly as she floated away. "Well played..."