Chapter 11

"You've obviously never heard of legendary Team Cipher Peon Skrub!" the evil trainer introduced. "Pokemon fight against pokemon. Humans can't hope to keep up with them, let alone Shadows. Back out or I'll kill you, girl!"

"You can try," I hissed. For the first time, Skrub didn't seem to be so sure of his strategy. He shifted weight to one foot and rested his arm on the opposite side.

"Well, it'd be interesting to see how well you fare against her."

"You can't be serious," Wes whispered. "Rui-"

"Rui Yurika!" Grandpa boomed. "You get back here and out of the way this instant! Wes is perfectly capable of handling himself!" I refused to reply and held the sword out to my side to try and engage battle. Skrub saw that both of us were prepared to fight but he couldn't help but wait to see how my Eagun reacted to me battling. You could nearly hear him whistling like a teapot as his face flashed strawberry red behind me. "Don't you ignore me! I am your grandfather! Drop the sword and come here, young lady!"

"MAKE ME!" I shouted swiveling towards him. My knuckles turned white from the stress I put on the handle of the blade. My face was tight with rage. Wes blinked and backed away. I had somehow managed to scare him. Grandpa's face changed from furious to surprised. "I traveled all the way here by myself! If I can't take on a single pokemon by now, I'm a failure as a human!" I turned back to Skrub. "Don't slip up or I might just chop you in half."

He grinned. "I like your fire, Yurika." He spread his arms. "Hitmontop, quick attack." So what if his pokemon was fast? All I had to do was predict where she was bound to hit and hold up my blade. The fighting type thought I was so weak that he charged at me from the front.

Big mistake. It took half a second to hold up my blade and stop her from so much as touching me. Her leg made contact with the sharp edge of my blade again. She screamed and jumped backwards just to fall on the ground and press her stubby hands against the wound I had dealt. Her throat was suddenly hoarse from screeching.

Skrub paused. "Don't be an idiot, Hitmontop. Hit her. Knock her out. Kill her! Just don't lose to a human, for the love of Arceus!" It took a moment of recovery and a few deep breaths, but soon enough, she was on her feet again. Her red eyes were twitching from the sharp pain that still stung her legs. She wasn't going to use those anymore. It was either the point on her head or her hands that were next.

She whipped her arms around and flipped upside down. Back to a dreidel, I thought. It was going to be harder to predict her movements now. I held the blade up in front of me. Just as soon as she darted off, leaving a trail of upturned soil behind her, I spun in the circle, blade out in front of me.

Lucky hit. My blade hit her waist right before she head butt me backwards. Thank god I had moved slightly or else I might've just gotten the point of her head through my chest. When I landed on my back I rolled over my shoulder and stabbed my blade into the ground to support me. I considered pulling it up to defend me from another attack, but it was unnecessary.

Hitmontop had fainted.

Just as quickly as Skrub had come to realize his defeat Wes had captured her. The silver power ranger was frozen in shock. It was like he had couldn't believe what he had seen.

"But… Celebi… I was supposed to capture her." He put a hand on his forehead. "Hitmontop… she was supposed to… she shouldn't have been beaten! All that research, all those hours spent training… how could she have lo-"

"Leave!" I shouted in a terrifying screech. "Get out before I make you!" He snapped to, stepped back, looked left and right, then darted back through the tunnel. You could hear him yelling at any other peons to run for their lives. A few footsteps sounded before they quickly disappeared.

Using my sword as a cane, I heaved myself to my feet. I took one moment to pause and feel for any sign that my wound had opened. Now I was sure that purple syrup Fateen had applied had made me invincible. I tugged the skarmory feather out of the dirt and whipped towards the two boys.

Grandpa had dropped to his knees, both hands on the side of his head. Wes looked just as surprised. When I met his gaze, he slowly slipped his goggles back into his hair. His golden eyes were unblinking.

"Here, they're inside Relic Forest!" The boy that had burst into my grandparents house to inform him of the intruders was back, and he had brought several other ace trainers, including my Grandma. The first thing they saw when they entered was my grandfather on his knees, Pikachu fainted on the ground. Then they saw the wounded Umbreon and Espeon as they limped back to Wes so they could return back to their pokeballs. Then they saw me, a pokemonless girl covered in bandages and dry blood holding the blade that had successfully down a fearless hitmontop.

"Did Rui…?" Grandma asked. "Did you chase them off, Rui?" I threw my sword out to the side, clearing any blood from it and returning it to its' sheath.

"Yes," I answered. "I defeated a Shadow Pokemon. Wes caught it." To support my words, I held up the Snag Ball that had dropped at my feet. They couldn't see it, but thin trickles of the Haze seeped through the cracks of it. It was hard even for me to see. How could such a powerful pokemon has such a faint Haze to it?

A shadow slowly started falling over the forest. All of us went quiet as it masked us in shade. The branches of the trees began to rustle. Pokemon in the bushes darted deeper into the woods where light was approaching. As it hit the leaves, the grass, and the bark of trees, what looked like dew started to shine. It was brilliant, almost blinding. It only became clear when the light enveloped us as well.

The forest had turned silver. Everything from the plant life to the stones and water was suddenly painted like chrome. The grass I was stood on had turned into a slab of platinum. Directly in front of me, gleaming the brightest out of the entire forest, was a statue that resembled a pile of uneven wheels. It was pulsing golden light, beckoning to me. I felt a warm breeze surrounding on the hand that held Hitmontop's ball, gently nudging me towards it.

I approached the strange statue. It pulsed faster. Instinct kicked in. Now my arm was raising the Snag Ball up to the shining monument. The warm breeze started lifting my clothes like I was standing on an air vent. It filled me with sudden strength, like I was waking from a restful slumber. That strength funneled from my chest and out my arm, where it entered the pokeball in a faucet of power. The Snag Ball was enveloped in a golden blaze.

A bright light flashed, and the Hitmontop had escaped from the ball. It dusted in my hand only to be carried away by the cold wind. As I watched, the pokemon's wounds healed, her tight stance relaxed, and the red in her eyes returned to blue. The light faded. The stone structure was still there but it had turned to mossy stone. The forest was back to green and brown but the power that had fallen over it still mingled in the air. Hitmontop however, was completely changed. She looked up from her feet and smiled at me.

"Montop," she whispered gratefully. I smiled back.

"You're welcome." Her face portrayed the look of a cured child. Without a single look back, she started off into the forest with her legs pumping as fast as she could make them. The forest trembled as she trotted through it, leaving us behind.

"She… she's...!" The sweaty teenager put his hands on the side of his head. Eagun was too shocked to speak. Grandma approached Wes and nudged him softly.

"Your belt, Wes. She's going to need it." He did as she said but said nothing. When I received all the Shadow Pokemon he had caught so far the forest automatically turned silver again. Instead of taking the pokemon one by one, I held the belt up to the monument and watched as every pokemon that had once been Shadow break free of their prison. The balls dusted and disappeared in the breeze as the light consumed each poor pokemon, breaking the seal that had been placed on them. One second there was a small army of Shadow before me, the next they were whispering their thanks to me and taking off after Hitmontop.

I dropped the belt at my feet. It had once been firm but now it was no stronger than a shoelace. Whatever power this monument had, it was powerful. There was something about… something alive. There was someone else there.

"You can show yourself," I called. "They're gone." I didn't see her approach nor did I expect her to actually do what I said, but she wanted to get a better look at me. She wanted to see for herself who had purified those Shadow Pokemon.

Celebi was hovering in front of my face, blinking curiously.

"Sweet Arceus!" Eagun gasped. "Celebi, is that really you?!" She blatantly ignored him to reach forward with her tiny hand to touch my nose. It tickled. I didn't fight her off, though. It wasn't exactly the right thing to do when the Time Travel Pokemon appeared before you.

Satisfied, she took back her hand. The antennae on her forehead twitched. She was still trying to figure out what I was. How she did it I don't know. But as she continued, it became clear that I was somehow passing what she needed to confirm.

The crowd behind me were trying not to move. Every time one of them took a breath that inflated their chest, she would glance over. Celebi a timid pokemon. I doubt she would've stuck around at all if any of them had taken a single step forward. Beluh watched us with a knowing smile while her husband and Wes were frozen stiff from the surprise.

"You're very bright." Celebi's voice was childish. She sounded more playful than surprised. "And by bright, I don't mean smart. Though I'm sure that's true, too." She hovered a bit closer. "Are you who I think you are?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by that," I replied. "I'm Rui."

"I know that," she said, pouting. "I want to know if you're the trainer of a certain pokemon, a dratini." My heart skipped a beat.

"Serenity?" I whispered. Celebi smiled.

"Yep. That's the one." She hovered backwards. "I figured as much. You came here searching for her, right? Well, you came to the right place. She's in Orre."

"Where is she?" I asked. "Why did she run away?" Celebi's face dropped.

"Rui, she didn't run away. Team Cipher has her." My heart dropped into my stomach. An aching pain seeped into my chest. "She's being controlled by Nascour. I don't have enough power to purify her, but you can."

"She's a Shadow Pokemon?" I asked. She nodded.

"They're using her to get Ho-oh." Her face turned worried. "I'm afraid even I can't reach her in the state she's fallen into. But even though I can't, you can. She'll listen to those who keep her captive, but she's bound to listen to you even more." She looked down at the sword I had in my hand. Tenderly, she reached out and took it from me. "I can't let you tear up pokemon with this, so I'm going to embed your light in the blade."

The feather glowed in her touch. The bloody blade I came to know was suddenly golden. It was even sharper now, but as Celebi ran her finger down the edge, it left behind no scar. Just a shimmering trail of light that flaked off and disappeared into the air like a firefly. "Whatever Shadow Pokemon you come across will be purified after a single cut. If you are to drop the blade, it will return to normal." She smiled softly. "Only the Light can wield such a brilliant blade."

"The Light," I repeated.

"Right." She placed the sword back in my hands. "But just as there is a Light, there must also be a Shadow. I leave it up to you to defeat him in battle." She put a warm hand on my forehead. "Can you do that, Rui?"

"Yes. But I thought Ho-oh was the Light Pokemon."

"According to the mayor, yes." She smiled. "I'm somewhat of a runner-up."

"Where is she?" I asked.

"She is where she is needed," the pokemon answered simply. "Play your cards right and you might just run across her." She turned her back on me. "Team Cipher is at Mt. Battle. I'll make sure you guys can get in without too much trouble. I trust you know what to do."

"I do."

"Good." She giggled. "Stay bright, Rui." The forest flashed again. She was gone, along with the platinum woods and the stone statue. I was back to standing on grass, golden blade in hand.

"It's just as I thought," Grandma said. She stepped to me using her cane as a support. She couldn't have looked more proud. "You were right to run away, Rui. It was your destiny to have come here. Come, follow me. The rest of you are to stay here. Rui and I are to speak alone." No one spoke as she lead me back through the tunnel. Wes watched us go with guarded eyes.

"You had no idea?" Eagun asked. "Wes, you can't tell me you had absolutely no clue that Rui was the Light, right?"

"I had no idea," he replied. "When I met her, she was just a lost soul. I didn't want to involve her any of this because she looked so fragile and innocent. But she followed me everywhere and wouldn't leave. When she started getting hurt, I had no choice but to stay by her side and guard her. She could see the Haze, but I thought she was just like the scientist who could see it as well."

"Well that scientist is probably dead." Eagun got to his feet. "Only those with extreme passion in their hearts can hope to see something so evil and dark. Team Snagem probably thought they had eliminated the Light until Rui came along. It is no mystery why they tried to take her, they were trying to get rid of all their foes."

"Why did Celebi ask about a dratini?" Wes asked. "Was there something special about it?" Eagun sighed.

"I suppose it is time that you came to know the truth about young Rui." He clapped a hand on Wes' back. "You think you can handle a long story session?"

"Of course."

Rui Is Evolving!

Rui Has Turned Into The Light!

Saving Game…

Game Saved!