"That's more like it. Now…" he looked out the door, "to find that voice that needs my help…"
Haruki heard a knock at the door and Rin burst in, out of breath. "H-Haruki…! C…Come quick…!"
Surprised, he replied, "What's wrong, Rin?" Haruki rushed over to the pokémon. Rin grabbed his arm and shook him.
"T…There's a pokémon…needs our help…!" He began pulling him towards the door frantically.
"Hey, what's the rush?!" Haruki asked in protest as he was pulled, closing the door behind him as he left the base. Why was Rin rushing him? All he wanted to do was find out who the voice belonged to…and why they needed his help. "Where are we going…?"
Rin pointed towards the forest, "Something fell from the sky…a pokémon could be hurt! We have to help…!"
"So, you don't know for sure if a pokémon needs help…?!" Haruki shouted as he tried to pull out of Rin's grip. As far as he was concerned, if Rin didn't know for sure if a pokémon was in trouble, he wasn't going to go.
"Haruki! There's no time! We have to go…! The other teams could already be on their way!" Suddenly, a Jumpluff floated above the trees of the forest, waving its arms wildly.
"Help! Help!" It shouted as it spotted Haruki and Rin. Floating over in their direction, the slight breeze died and it landed in front of them. "Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid I would never stop floating…!"
"Uh…I thought Jumpluff loved to float in the wind…" Haruki said skeptically.
"Not when they see a pokémon in trouble!" It replied heatedly.
"Ha! I told you!" Rin said smugly. Haruki rolled his eyes and sighed.
"So…which pokémon needs our help? A Caterpie? Pikachu?"
Jumpluff shrugged. "That's just it…I don't know!"
"Were you flying too high to tell?" asked Rin.
"No, I was flying low enough…but…I've never seen a pokémon like that before…"
Rin and Haruki looked at each other. Haruki then looked at the Jumpluff and asked, "Can you describe what it looked like…?"
Jumpluff nodded, "Yes." It picked up a small branch nearby and began to draw in the dirt. "It had a long tail, like this, and had pointed ears, like this...oh, and this is what I thought was strange…" It then drew a line from the back of the head to the middle of the upper back. "It also appeared to be purple colored, if that's any help."
"What the…?" began Rin as he pulled out his pokémon species book from his pack, flipping through the pages.
"What the heck is that?! Are you sure that's right?" asked Haruki, looking closely at the crude drawing. "I've memorized a lot of pokémon species and types, but I've never seen anything like that…!" He tilted his head, trying to get a better angle.
"There's nothing in here even close to that!" announced Rin, stowing away the book back into his pack.
"I just drew you what I saw!" Jumpluff replied, irritated.
"Then, where is it? We'll find it and have a look for ourselves…" said Haruki. At that moment, the breeze picked back up, carrying Jumpluff high beyond Haruki and Rin's reach. It turned and pointed towards the forest, "Deep in the forest, in the clearing…!" Jumpluff's voice grew fainter as it drifted upwards, away from them.
Haruki sat down on the ground and crossed his arms, rolling his eyes, "What a nut ball! Does that Jumpluff really know what it saw…?"
"Well, Jumpluff drift on the breeze. They're usually the first ones to notify anyone if there's a pokémon in trouble, because they can see what's happening below them…"
"Then, how do you explain this…?" Haruki pointed to the drawing in the dirt.
Rin examined the drawing, his face literally an inch from the dirt, "It appears to have the characteristics of Mew…but with drastic alterations." He pointed to the shoulders, "The shoulders seem to be more Abra-like, and that thing…" he pointed to the curved line between the head and shoulders, "I have no idea. Basically, it looks like a warped version of at least three pokémon put together!" Rin sat back, sighing heavily.
Haruki stared up at the sky, thinking again of the voice he had heard in his dreams, and then he heard it again. "Help me…!"
"Hey, did you hear that?" asked Haruki, turning to Rin quickly.
"Hear what?" Rin replied, looking confused.
"Come on!" Haruki stood up and began running into the forest.
"Wait, Haruki!" Rin yelled, stumbling to his feet and chasing after him. He chased Haruki deep into the forest, the sky above becoming less visible as they ran farther and farther.
"Help me…!" The voice was growing louder inside of Haruki's head.
"I'm on my way!" He called ahead of him, not knowing if the unknown pokémon could hear him.
"Over…here…!"
They were drawing nearer to the clearing Jumpluff had mentioned. The trees were growing thinner and as soon as he had finally reached the clearing Haruki stopped abruptly. He had almost fallen into a deep crater where the clearing once had been. "Woah!" Haruki took a step back and let out a sigh of relief. "Whew, that was close…" He gasped as he looked into the crater…there was something down there. As Haruki leaned a little over the edge to get a better look, Rin, who had no hint of the upcoming crater, ran into the back of Haruki as he tried to stop. Haruki and Rin were sent tumbling into the mouth of the crater, rolling down the side. "Ahhh!"
"Ahhh!"
They finally came to a stop at the bottom, Haruki landing on his stomach and Rin landing on Haruki. "Hey…Rin…?!"
"Y-Yeah…?" asked Rin dizzily.
"GET OFF OF ME!!!" Haruki shouted. Rin rolled off of Haruki quickly, embarrassed.
"Sorry…" He looked over at the center of the crater. "What the-?"
"Help…me…please…over there…" Haruki looked over to where Rin was looking, and he saw something curled up in the dirt. He now knew who the voice belonged to or at least, what it belonged to. As he approached, Haruki realized that Jumpluff's drawing was actually correct. Whatever it was, it did have a long tail, and as Haruki drew closer to it, he could see the other features that had been described to him earlier.
"H-Hello…?" He asked shakily. "A-Are you…was it you who…needs help…?" Haruki had never seen a pokémon like this. From the looks of it, it was slightly smaller than he was…was the pokémon a baby?
The pokémon opened its eyes and looked up at Haruki. They were a deep violet color and suddenly began to glisten with tears. "Help…me…" A tear rolled down its cheek slowly as it sat up. It raised a three fingered hand towards Haruki, and Haruki felt himself being lifted into the air slowly.
"Haruki!" Rin shouted, standing under him.
"I…need…" the pokémon whispered, but its lips didn't move. Haruki realized suddenly why as he was pulled closer to it…it was psychic, "help…" He was slowly brought back down to the earth and now he stood next to the small pokémon.
"I get that," Haruki said as he extended his hand to it. "Tell me…why do you need help?"
The pokémon looked from Haruki's face to his hand and then back. It blinked and said only one word. "Past…"
"Did it just say past…?" asked Rin, hurrying over.
"Yeah." replied Haruki.
"Must…get…to…past…" The pokémon's last word was barely a whisper as it fell back onto the dirt, unconscious.
Rin began to panic as he rummaged in his pack for his Berry Pouch. "Whatever it is…it needs medical attention, and now!"
Haruki scooped the little pokémon up into his arms, but then decided that it would be better if he carried it on his back. "Come on, we'll take it back to the base until we can figure out what to do…" He set the pokémon down and then hoisted, with Rin's help, it onto his back.
Rin nodded. "Right." They began to walk up the side of the crater. After a while of sliding back down on the dirt, they found some foot holds and rocks and finally made it out. They were now walking down the path into the forest.
"What pokémon do you think it is, Haruki…?" whispered Rin, looking at the strange pokémon.
"Beats me," puffed Haruki, adjusting its body slightly, holding onto its thin arms. "We'll ask it when it wakes up…" The trio was now in the middle of the forest. Haruki's legs were beginning to give out…he needed to rest. "Hey, let's take a break…" He set the unconscious pokémon against a tree, sitting next to it and closing his eyes.
Rin set down his pack and rummaged in it again, pulling out the Pouch he had been searching for earlier. "Here…" he handed Haruki a round blue berry.
"Thanks," said Haruki, popping the berry into his mouth. As soon as he swallowed the berry, he began to feel his fatigue slip away.
"Do you think we can get it back to the base now?" Rin asked as he too popped a berry into his mouth.
"What do you mean 'we'?" asked Haruki, rubbing one of his shoulders. "I'm the one doing the carrying…!"
"Well, do you want me to carry it for a while?" he asked, gesturing to the pokémon.
Haruki waved the question away with a hand, "Naw, let's just go while I have the energy." He stood back up and lifted the pokémon back onto his back, walking down the trail with Rin close behind. As he walked, Haruki thought about the last thing the strange pokémon had said before becoming unconscious. What did it mean, 'Must get to past...'? Past what? Was past a place…or a time? "Hey, Rin?"
"Yes, Haruki?" replied Rin, running up to walk beside Haruki.
"Is there anyplace around here named Past?"
Rin thought for a moment. "No, I think so…why?"
"Then…it must be…" he said quietly, not really talking to Rin, but more to himself. Before he knew it, they were out of the forest. Haruki kept walking, lost in his thoughts, not aware that he was in front of the base door…and he ran smack into it. "Ow!" He shook his head and opened the door as Rin stifled a laugh; Haruki walked inside and Rin shut the door behind them once he entered too. Haruki set the pokémon on his cushion and watched it for a moment before turning to Rin. "Hey, do you have a berry that can wake a pokémon up?"
"Oh, yeah." Rin pulled out his Pouch and picked out a blue berry shaped like an acorn. "You'll need to crush it first though…it's very hard." He handed the berry to Haruki. Haruki looked around and saw a small stone table with a couple of rocks on top of it. He walked over to it and set the berry on the table, picking up a rock. Then, he began to pound the berry in a barrage of attacks with the rock, but the thick tough skin still held. After many minutes of pounding, Haruki saw a crack in the skin. He continued until the skin finally gave way and the berry split in half, exposing the soft pulp beneath. Haruki peeled off the skin and carried the now soft berry over to the sleeping pokémon.
"Can you help me feed the berry to it, Rin?" he asked, kneeling beside the pokémon.
"Sure," replied Rin, hurrying over. "What do you need me to do?"
"Hold its mouth open," said Haruki, "so I feed him the berry." Rin nodded in acknowledgement and set beside the pokémon. He placed his hands on the little pokémon's face and slowly pushed down on its jaw, opening the small mouth. Haruki then quickly put the pieces into its mouth and pushed up on its jaw, and he began to move it around; this, he assumed, would at least break up the berry more so that the pokémon wouldn't choke on it. He tilted the little pokémon's head and he heard a small gulp as the pokémon swallowed the berry. After a moment, the pokémon opened its eyes slowly and looked up at Haruki and Rin. "Hey, there, little guy."
"Hi." Said Rin. "You sure gave us a scare back in the forest…you okay?"
The pokémon nodded, looking around the base with its large purple eyes, "Where…am I?"
"This is our base," replied Rin. "We couldn't leave you in that crater, so Haruki suggested that we bring you here." The pokémon looked from Rin to Haruki.
"W…When…am I?"
Haruki and Rin looked at each other. "What do you mean?" asked Haruki, perplexed.
"Is this…the future?" it asked quietly, continuing to gaze at Haruki.
"The future…?" repeated Rin.
Haruki nodded, meeting its gaze. "Yeah…are you from the past?"
The pokémon nodded. "I…think so."
"No way!" gasped Rin. "A-Are you from the ancient past or something?!"
It shook its head. "No. I don't know…exactly."
Haruki shrugged, "I don't think so. He doesn't look ancient to me. Anyways, how did you get here…to this time?"
"A green pokémon…came to me in my dream…" It pointed to its back. "It had…things on its back…that made it fly…" It then held out its arm at its shoulder height. "…and it was this big." The pokémon covered its eyes. "It had big black marks here…" Haruki tried to think hard about the pokémon described to him, and he jumped when Rin shouted,
"Celebi!"
"Celebi?" replied the pokémon, tilting its head.
"Of course!" said Haruki, clapping his hands together. "Celebi can travel through time! That explains a lot!"
"Yeah," said Rin, suddenly looking solemn, "but that doesn't explain why Celebi brought it through to this time…"
"Oh…" sighed Haruki. He looked at the pokémon again, surprised to see it still staring at him. "What kind of pokémon are you anyway?" Haruki knew that it sounded like a rude thing to say, but he just had to know.
"Mmm?" replied the pokémon, again, tilting its head.
"What pokémon are you? I've never seen anything like you, and you're not listed in any of the pokémon books…" The pokémon straightened its head and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. Haruki thought that the little pokémon didn't hear him.
"Hey, I said-"
"Mew…two…" It said quietly.