Chapter 2: Haon
Where we last left our heroes on Azula…
"So, what do we do?" Iris asked openly. No one seemed to be able to provide the answer until one of the mermaids spoke up.
"Why don't you ask Haon?" the blonde mermaid spoke up.
"Haon?" Thomas asked.
"Who's that?" Ash questioned.
"Haon is a being of light, and a very wise one, too," the red haired mermaid explained. "Haon will give you the guidance you need, no doubt!"
When she winked, Ben's, Ash's, and Cilan's hearts melted. Alvin's jaw dropped and his tongue rolled out. Theodore didn't look, as he was still a little dizzy from the dramatic drive into the pond. Chris was checking out the Ranger Bird 1 to see how it did in the portal. Thomas and Simon, along with the girls, looked at Alvin, Ash, Ben, and Cilan with disgust. Thomas finally said, "Once again, you guys are way too easy to charm."
"He has more than a point. You should realize that," Simon added.
"Yeah, yeah, I love you, too. I'm busy," Alvin waved them off, distracted by the mermaids.
"Tom, remember all of those older women I claimed to be in love with?" Ben asked, drool dripping from his lip.
"Yep. One of them was extended family of mine," Thomas replied.
"I've moved on. Mermaids," Ben knelt down by the water, "is there a chance that one of you will marry me?"
"This is why my crush on him faded," Summer muttered to Hannah. "I fell out of love, and by the time I knew it, I had already landed on my rear end."
"Your name is the last ingredient for our recipe of love!" Cilan exclaimed to one of the mermaids.
"As the Warrior of Mesprit, you have my word that you morons are not in love," Dawn assured.
"I am, but with this plane," Chris said from where he was, which was next to the Ranger Bird 1.
"Where can we find this Haon?" Misty asked the mermaids.
"Oh, she doesn't hang around too far from here," the dark haired mermaid informed them.
"Thanks!" Iris thanked her as she grabbed Cilan by the throat and dragged him away.
"Alvin? Alvin? Alvin!" Simon repeated his brother's name and eventually slapped in across the face.
"Ow! What was that for, Simon?" Alvin demanded. "I was having the best time of my life!"
"You got charmed by the mermaids," Simon explained, "and I've never seen you have a good time standing still before."
"It's a blessing and a curse. It can happen without warning," the blonde mermaid explained.
"I'll take these," Misty grabbed Ash and Ben by their shirt collars. Pikachu, Pichu, and Azurill helped drag them away.
After using the magic keys to transport the TSC away, the team departed from the mermaid pool. Alvin was walking next to Brittany, who hadn't said a word to him since they left the mermaids. He asked, "What's wrong, Britt?"
"Alvin, do have any idea how much you hurt my feelings back there?" Brittany asked. "Simon was able to stay strong because he loves Jeanette! Why couldn't you do the same for me?"
"I don't know, Brittany, and I'm sorry. I couldn't help it for some reason. But if it means anything to you, I tried to resist," Alvin insisted. He never meant to hurt his girlfriend. He never meant to fall for those mermaids.
"Pichu…" Pichu sighed. Translation: Teenagers…
Brittany didn't attempt to look Alvin in the eye. She crossed her arms, partially because she was hurt and angry, and partially because she was cold. Night was falling. Ben had asked, "Is this night or are we on the dark side of Azula?"
"They could be one in the same," Summer pointed out. "Brittany, is Azula giving you any clues?"
"Yeah. Let's take the next right," Brittany advised. She was soon shivering. So what Alvin did was he took of his favorite sweatshirt, revealing a red undershirt. He wrapped his sweatshirt around her. She glanced at him and smiled. "Thanks."
"You're welcome, Brittany!" Alvin smiled. He was now cold, but he didn't mind because he had finally gotten Brittany to realize he was sorry for being charmed by the mermaids.
Suddenly, there was rustling in the bushes. Iris asked, "What was that?" Simon held Jeanette close to him with one arm. With his free paw, he pulled out his chipmunk sized sword, which glowed in a blue light. Thomas pulled out his human sized (he was human) sword, and it gave off a yellow light. Alvin looked over to Brittany, and her ice blue eyes seemed to glow.
After going through some bushes, the team found a woman who would appear human…if her whole body wasn't glowing like a neon light. She had long, violet hair, and wore a thin head band with a ruby at the center of it, right on her forehead. She wore a flowing lime green dress and had luminescent pink eyes. Her smile was sunny. Theodore had to squint at the humanoid woman's light. As did Eleanor, Dawn, and Cilan. Thomas' glasses, Simon's glasses, Jeanette's glasses, and Chris' glasses all had a special function in the lenses that turned them into sunglasses. That function activated immediately. The woman greeted, "Hello, children. I am Haon. It is a pleasure to meet you all, especially four of the seven Space-Time Warriors."
"You know the legend?" Hannah asked.
"'Long ago, the mythical elements were in a perfect, harmonic balance. One day, the rulers of the element of darkness wanted more. They wanted the Multi-Verse in their image. So the Alpha Pokémon, Arceus, the three dragons of matter, Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina, as well as the entities of spirit, Mesprit, Azelf, and Uxie, choose a human for each one of them to help them keep the light and darkness in balance. This kept going for countless and endless generations'," Haon recited from memory. Ash, Hannah, Dawn, and Thomas looked more shocked than anyone.
"I thought there were no Pokémon on Azula," Eleanor pointed out.
"Those seven Pokémon are famous throughout the Multi-Verse for their intense involvement with the creation of matter and spirit," Haon explained. "Now, you all wanted to ask me something?"
"Oh, yeah! What should we do about the invasion?" Hannah asked.
"Hmm…normally, I don't like fighting, but I think you may have to fight back…there are only 16 of you? I was hoping you'd have more of an army," Haon advised.
"We're all we have," Ash admitted sorrowfully.
"A war within a war," Thomas mumbled, thinking about the situation. They were already in a war against the shadows, and now they had to stand on the front lines and defend a planet they haven't even been on for half a day.
"Combusken," Hannah's Combusken requested. Translation: I need a gun.
"No! For the last time, you may not have gun!" Hannah told her Partner Pokémon. "You can spit fire, for Pete's sake!"
"Sewaddle," Sewaddle sighed. Translation: Oh, boy.
The air was suddenly very cold. Everyone but Haon was shivering. Simon and Jeanette decided to stay warm by cuddling with each other, because their fur clearly wasn't enough. Theodore and Eleanor climbed into Iris' enormous mass of hair. Thomas pressed the button on a Poké Ball. The Poké Ball enlarged, and he threw it in the air. "Pansear, come on out!"
Out came his Fire-type Pokémon, Pansear. Haon looked in amazement. It was the first time she's ever seen a Pokémon. Everyone gathered sticks and leaves for firewood, and together, Combusken and Pansear used Flamethrower and set the wood ablaze. Simon and Jeanette were the first to sit by the fire, the dim glow of the embers reflecting off of the lenses of their glasses. Everyone gathered around the fire, thankful for the warmth it gave off. Hannah looked to Combusken and Pansear and said, "Great job, you two."
"Pansear, Pan," Pansear thanked her. Translation: Thank you.
"Here," Brittany said and placed Alvin's sweatshirt on his lap. "It doesn't look like I need this anymore."
"Keep it just in case," Alvin gave his sweatshirt back to her. "I wonder if Dave is wondering how our journey is going. Sometimes I think the only reason he approved is because Thomas, Hannah, and Chris saved Theodore and Eleanor."
"I think he's just letting a wild horse run free," Brittany smiled and placed her paw on top of his. He smiled back at her.
"We should probably put some sort of safety bubble in case the Shadow Master's ninjas and ninja rats show up," Cilan recommended.
"Yes, I have noticed that he has large armies all over Azula. Since he's working together with the King of Darkness, we are in for a tough fight," Haon agreed.
Jeanette saw tears fall from Brittany's eyes and asked, "What's wrong, Brittany."
"Azula…she's crying. She's in pain," Brittany whimpered as tears continued to fall. "I can feel her pain!" Alvin held her paw with one of his, and with the other, brushed her bangs away from her eye.
"Don't worry, Brittany," Jeanette tried to reassure as she and Simon crawled over to her sister and his brother.
"What exactly has the Shadow Master been doing while he was here?" Dawn asked as he held Pachirisu and Piplup.
"The dark side of Azula is growing stronger. The shadow creatures have become more ferocious. Countless creatures of light have been murdered. The balance has been shifted to a very unstable point," Haon answered. Her glowing body flickered rapidly for a few seconds. She seemed afraid to say the words she spoke. She looked to Brittany and said, "Brittany—that is your name, yes?—I've never seen anyone, not even one of the native creatures, that has a connection to Azula as deep as yours."
"I guess she just needed someone to talk to," Brittany shrugged.
"There's something special about all six of you little furry creatures," Haon claimed, "but I can't wrap my head around it."
"Um, we're not things, we're chipmunks, and we figured we were special when we started talking," Alvin stated.
"Something very, very special in each of you, um, chipmunks. And you humans," Haon turned to her new human acquaintances. She looked at Dawn and added, "And whatever she happens to be."
"Should I be offended?" Dawn asked.
"You have the Poké Virus again, and she just met you. It's an easy mistake," Thomas muttered to her. "I wonder if it's contagious. Then again, it isn't actually a disease, but a DNA infusion."
"Can Ellie and I sleep in here tonight, Iris?" Theodore popped out of the human girl's hair and asked her.
"Sure, Theo," Iris approved. "Can you please kiss Axew good night for me?"
"Okay! Axew's already asleep."
"I know, but I don't want to bother Axew, so can you please do it?"
"Yep!" Theodore nodded.
Then, there was a roaring sound as the silhouette of a dragon flew above the trees. A collective gasp came from the team. An eerie gust blew through and extinguished the fire. Alvin said to Brittany, "See? Now you need the sweatshirt. Here," he put the sweatshirt on over her head and pulled down so her head could pop out, "put it on. You'll be warmer."
"We can always relight the fire, Alvin," Simon pointed out.
"Uh, Simon?" Brittany pointed to the firewood. It was disappearing. "No we can't."
"This is the work of the King of Darkness," Haon muttered in a frustrated manner. She clenched her glowing fist.
"What happened?" Chris asked.
"The King of Darkness destroyed our firewood," Haon growled. Her light was shining brightly with anger.
Simon and Jeanette held each other tightly as they shivered. Alvin gave Brittany the 'I-told-you-so' look. Ash had an idea. He took out a Poké Ball and said, "Leavanny, I choose you!" Out came his Bug- and Grass-type Pokémon. Ash had Leavanny make several leaf beds, and it was done with in minutes. There weren't enough good leaves in the clearing to use and still cover them from sight, so some of them had to share a leaf bed. Ash said, "Thanks, Leavanny!" and called it back into its Poké Ball.