Chapter 15

"Go back Jacob; I think they're actually reporting something interesting." Alkie said as her trainer channel surfed on the television, large grey eyes dulled by all the boring pictures. Her hard golden hooves had dug for half-moon holes in the carpet of the room the two of them were staying in, but neither cared. Cobalt Inn would charge them for the damage done, as the lady behind the desk had informed them when Jacob came trotting in on Alkie.

Jacob yawned as he flipped back to the Pokemon News Channel, where a reporter was standing in the middle of a field. Big black letters at the bottom of the screen read: Dark End Path. "The one from Cobalt Strip to Twilight Town." Jacob murmured as the reporter continued to talk.

"…And heavy damage was done during the eclipse just two days ago!" She exclaimed, waving dramatically to a huge black hole in the ground just a couple of meters away. The grass seemed to be glowing slightly, like a neon marker had just run over their blades. And an odd oak tree had lost all its leaves like it was already winter.

"We suspect this is the work of Team Rocket! The masterminds behind this damage should be hoping that we bring Pokemon with us on this trip! But-" Jacob cut her off by switching the channel to a chubby lady singing in a voice that literally broke glass.

"See? Nothing there." Jacob said to Alkie as he turned to her.

Alkie snorted at him, "Try another news channel. And please don't go back to this one." Her ears were laying flat on the sides of her head.

"I won't, I won't!" Jacob grumbled as he flipped ahead five channels, to a male reporter sitting behind his desk. "Does the Ridge Daily News channel work for you?"

"It is fine." Alkie responded dryly as the reporter cleared his throat awkwardly and began to speak.

"And disaster occurred around Darkness Path-" He was saying as Jacob turned on his small rickety chair to give Alkie a kind of look that said 'See?' "-We think it was caused by this creature."

Alkie butted Jacob on the back of his shoulder, causing him to fall out of his chair as a picture of a large, dark snake came into view to the side of the reporter's head. He was roaring, but the sound had been muted so viewers didn't get headaches at one in the afternoon. The snake was flying by flapping tattered wings and undulating his body.

"This creature was seen flying over Twilight Town just a day ago, and is still northbound at this point. We cannot be certain what it is, but experts say it might be one of the creatures of legend, Rayquaza." Another picture showed up on the other side of the reporter's head, one that was a stationary picture of another snakelike dragon creature, but this one was colored in green, red, and golden yellow. Its wings were also different, being more rod-like, when the other dragon's wings were bat-like and torn.

"Look!" Alkie exclaimed, butting Jacob on the shoulder again. He groaned and responded that he was looking. Alkie snorted at him as she tosses her head at the pictures on the screen, "The first one's tail."

Jacob squinted at the tail of the moving dragon creature and gasped, "That's a Pokemon hanging onto it!" He exclaimed, scrambling to the screen to get a closer look.

"An Absol." Alkie supplied for him as his nose touched the screen. "I know him."

"That's nice Alkie. What's he doing on the tail of a large dragon creature, looking like he's hanging on for his life, and doesn't even seem to have the creature's attention?" Jacob responded, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"No Jacob. I KNOW him." Alkie responded stubbornly.

"I believe you! I was just asking why-"

"You do not understand. I know him from my past life." Alkie's voice was calm, but Jacob turned and looked at her with wide eyes, looking like she'd kicked him.

"No, no… you don't have a past life!" Jacob exclaimed with a nervous laugh, "You're kidding. I know you are…"

"Jacob, you must face the fact that I have died once. Is it really that bad? Knowing that I'm a Pokesprite, but still taking up space on this planet? Jacob! It's not bad; I'm perfectly fine with my life. You know that I am completely immortal in this form."

"But Alkie!" Jacob cried, "You are living. Not a Pokesprite, you're living. You drink water, eat, and talk! Sprites can't do that."

"But they can. And they do." Alkie cocked her head back at the television screen, "That's Solorite, if I can remember correctly. We were good friends, we were. Surprising that he's still here though."

"How do you know it's him?" Jacob asked quietly.

"His markings. See the dark blue swirls on his fur? That's him, I know it."

"So… what are you proposing we do?" He continued.

"We go help him. We help him against that dragon too. Want to know his real name? It's Nekroquaza." Alkie responded.

"Why is it so much like Rayquaza? They look almost the same, and they both have almost the same names."

"It's a long story. Come on Jacob, let's go, and I'll tell it all to you later."

"Right." Jacob responded with a sigh as he turned off the television and swung his bulging backpack onto his back with a groan. "I understand why I always let you carry this now."

Alkie snorted at him, "Fine. Lay it on my back." Jacob did as she said with a relieved sigh. Together, they marched out the door and to the reception desk, were Jacob had to pay two hundred Pokedollars extra for a 'Pokemon fee'. As they were hit by the rush of cold wind that came at this altitude, Jacob swung onto Alkie's back and enjoyed her warmth as she settled into cantering, heading north.

"So you wanted to know about the two dragons?" Alkie asked after a while, panting slightly between every couple of words.

"Yes, if it won't tire you out too much." Jacob responded, frowning slightly as his Pokemon jumped over a large rock.

"It will not." Alkie responded, "Long ago, before man was ever born, Pokemon ran free in the clear, lush grasses of earth. It was then that good and evil were first born, in the shells of two Salamence eggs."

She paused, half for dramatic effect and half so she could dodge a lone tree, "One of the eggs was stolen by a Skarmory, who by legend took it back to her nest in the bramble bushes and mistook it for one of her own eggs. So she kept in and let it hatch on its own. The egg hatched, but the Bagon that hatched had a heart of ice, having never been warmed like its brother would have been. So that was the first time evil took a breath of oxygen."

"So the reason we have good and evil is because of a stupid Skarmory?" Jacob exclaimed angrily.

"It is only a legend Jacob. Nothing more. And think of this, if this tale is true, evil would have been born anyway. The egg the Skarmory stole was bound to already be tainted, right?" Alkie responded, but continued before Jacob had time to argue with her, "Well anyway, the evil Bagon grew a tough hide from being scratched in the bramble bushes, as his foster brothers and sisters became as hard as metal."

"Now I'm sure you're wondering about the other Bagon egg. It too was stolen, as Bagon eggs are delicacies for Milotic. The egg would have been eaten by the male Milotic who took it, but he found that it would be a good gift to give his mate, who had just clutched. The second egg was very small, about half the size of the other."

"When the male Milotic offered his female the egg to eat, she got very angry at him, as she thought that it was one of their eggs, it was that small. So neither ate it, because it joined the female Milotic's eggs. The Bagon that hatched was underwater, so he had to learn to swim to get to the surface for a breath of fresh air. That is why, today, the good dragon can swim with ease in water."

"Okay then. But would the good dragon be Rayquaza or Nekroquaza?" Jacob interrupted her.

"I am not done yet Jacob. Ask questions of me only when I am done." Alkie responded, "Both dragons were raised by their foster parents. The pair of Milotic felt bad that they'd accidentally brought a Bagon into the world, so they trained him to use water attacks and swim with ease."

"On the other hand, the bad Bagon was raised by the female Skarmory, who tried to teach him to fly, a dream all Bagon had, and dropped him one too many times onto his head. He grew more and more evil with the passing days, and when he evolved into Shelgon, his body had changed colors. He was now dark purple and black, and evil to the core. There was no saving him now, as his foster mother found out, and abandoned him soon after."

"The good Bagon also had a color change when he evolved, turning green and blue. He had learned from his foster parents to be kind and gentle, to love and be loved. In that sense, he was truly one of the best Pokemon you'd ever want to meet." Alkie paused again as they finally reached the end of the down sloping trail and hit level ground.

"The two brothers finally met one day, as the good Shelgon bid his parents good-bye for the final time, as they had both decided that he was ready to tackle what the world threw at him. So he headed away from his foster parents' lake and eventually crossed paths with his brother. The good Shelgon was friendly, but eventually was forced into a battle as his rotten brother thought he was invading his territory."

"Their battle lasted seven days and seven nights, a week by our terms. That's not how a week was formed though! During the eighth day, evolution occurred on both sides. The dragon of pure darkness, Nekroquaza, took wing first. But his brother was not far behind, Rayquaza evolved and they began battling in the sky, both wanting claim over the air around them."

"Now you're going to ask why they had such a freak evolution. The answer is simple; it's how they were born. Destiny played a role in this all, creating good and evil for the first time made it very easy for more of the same split to occur. A bad Linoone giving birth to a litter of Poochyena. Things like that have occurred in all of our pasts. And do you want to know the worst thing human history has on its record if this legend is true?"

"Yes please Alkie. What is it?" Jacob responded.

"Humans are said to have been formed when Nekroquaza needed servants to combat Rayquaza. So humans are supposedly all evil, yet we all know that is not the case. The masters of good and evil were and still are from the first humans."

"Who are the 'masters' of good and evil then?" Jacob asked, "Even if this is just a legend Alkie, this is really very interesting!"

"I know. That's part of the reason why I memorized all of the legend." Alkie responded, "The master of darkness and evil was born into a male human named Siron. He was and is a Pokemorph, that is, having a Pokemon attached as a part of him that he can turn into at any time. What the Pokemon was is a mystery to all of us, even though it does look to be a shaggy black creature that can stand upright. He took up the name 'Dominus' after taking control of all the darklings of the past."

"The master of good and light was a female human, named Mystic. She was also a Pokemorph, but loosely attached to a creature that she really had no control over, the same one that you saw in her weakest form, Sundav. She is the bird of goodness, and also one of the more famed legendaries, even though I am not going to tell you which one."

"Why not?" Jacob wined, having been taking in all the information she'd been giving him and enjoying the story at the same time.

"Because, just because. Mystic was not born a Pokemorph like her brother Siron, or Dominus, but was made one when a full-fledged legendary fused into her body. She became a half-immortal as Dominus was born one, and they began to battle with each other as they grew up. The first form of the Pokeball, coming from rounded nuts, was first used by Mystic, as she captured one of the more dark creatures to use, Solorite."

"This is the part that I know for myself is true. I was one of the Ponyta that were captured to fight for the title of Alkernos, the desert god or goddess. I myself was a good friend of Mystic's, she was about thirty then and in very good shape. I would say that you'd probably find that she was beautiful. After I had finally won my last battle, Dominus flew in on Nekroquaza, laughing like the maniac he is. Nekroquaza had eventually been enslaved by the darkness lord, and was taking orders from him."

"Rayquaza had eventually gone to rest, after being beaten for the final time. He respected Mystic, but was not enslaved by her, and took orders from her. But Solorite was there as well, and he fell into a protective pose in front of Mystic. Today, his fight with Nekroquaza is a legend in itself to Absol, who are probably the only good dark types other then Umbreon, who are okay."

"Dominus didn't want a desert goddess on the side of good, as I would have been, so he ordered Nekroquaza to destroy us both. In the end, an orange beam of light took both my life… and Mystic's."

Jacob was stunned for a long moment. The story was so believable to him, and Alkie had been talking about her past life! He mouthed soundlessly for a while, not even noticing the scenery change around them, and the battlefield had been long past. "S-so you are a Pokesprite." He finally croaked out, "Not really here, just you are."

"I am a Pokesprite, yes, but I am solid as you are. My life is now immortal, and I'm okay with that. But Jacob, I doubt that I would live after your passing." Alkie responded.

"Wow." Jacob stated, "But what happened to Sundav then?"

"Sundav was reduced to her weakest and first form, one that nobody really recognizes as a Pokemon. The bird make of golden light, only to become her second form soon. A light bird with glowing feathers of all colors."

"Has she already reached her second form?"

"I do not doubt she hasn't. My guess is that she's following that trio we met; Sara, Drake, and Elvina. They seemed to be good people…"

"But-"

"I do not know what Sundav is thinking. That is Sundav's private place, her mind. She is very wise, even though she did not look it."

"Your words, dear friend, give me too much credit." Came the musical melody that was Sundav's voice. Jacob nearly fell off Alkie's back as he saw that a vibrant feathered Sundav come to rest on his Pokemon's long neck.

"I only tell the truth!" Alkie responded.

"You do tell the truth, the whole truth. I myself wouldn't have started with the Bagon eggs." Sundav replied, "You should know that I cannot speak as freely as I want, with Dominus's power hindering me. My second form frees my tongue up some. So I shall ask you to tell what I cannot to Lady Sara."

"You have not called any human 'Lady' except Mystic. Is there something special about this Sara girl?" Alkie asked curiously, coming to a halt next to a lake full of crystal clear water and letting Jacob jump off her back. He had decided it would be best not to bother them, since it seemed that Sundav and Alkie were good friends, but he would be listening anyway.

"Special! My goodness Alkie, I would have thought you of all Pokemon could see the resemblance! She's very, very faintly related to Mystic." Sundav began to cough a bit, like she was choking down a very big meal.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because, my dear friend, she has the Touch." Sundav replied, still coughing.

"The Touch! That gift was supposed to be extinct!"

Sundav shook her glowing head, "Not anymore. Her mother has the same gift, but we shall not tell anyone about that, since we might lose Sara the way she's going. Nekroquaza has her in that dreadful orb."

Jacob just sat down next to the lake, watching and listening as Sundav and Alkie continued to talk. It was decided that Sundav would travel and guide them to Sara, and from there they'd save her from Dominus, who by the light bird's report, was calling Nekroquaza far north to him.