Chapter 62 – "The Unown Mystery"
Part Three – Kadabra's Destiny
The room turned into an open field, and 4 Pokemon materialized – a Bulbasaur, a Butterfree, a Cyndaquil, and a Totodile. I said, "Flamefox, Firestorm, use your fire spins on the Bulbasaur and Butterfree." I released Jolteon and Vaporeon and said, "Jolteon, take out the Totodile with thunder. Vaporeon, hit the Cyndaquil with water gun!" They all launched their attacks – but did no good. The Bulbasaur launched it's vine whip through the fire, which Flamefox was able to dodge for a while, but they became faster than his agility and he was soon hit. The Butterfree came straight through the fire, untouched, and hit Firestorm with a wing attack, while Cyndaquil launched a flamethrower that actually hurt Vaporeon and Totodile knocked down Jolteon with it's water gun. I shouted, "Everyone, run!" We ran across the field, pursued by the attacking Pokemon. I realized that Cyndaquil and Totodile are not native to Kanto, which made me wonder if the Unown had a Johto connection of some kind. Right now, though, I needed to figure out a way to get out of this alive. Suddenly, I had another headache, even bigger than my last one, and I saw an opening. "You see it, too?" Kadabra asked. I replied, "Yeah! It's just up ahead!" Up ahead were some large boulders! I released Tauros. "Tauros, ram that boulder straight ahead!" I ordered. He looked at me, confused. The 4 enemy Pokemon were closing in, fast. "You're just going to have to trust me, Tauros!" I told him. He nodded, and charged at the boulder as fast as he could. He crashed right through it. Upon closer examination, I could see it was a wooden panel that led to a hidden passageway. "Everyone, inside!" I shouted. We all jumped in, and the comparment slanted downward, like a slide! It seemed to go on for a long time, until we hit bottom! I stood up. "Is everyone okay?" I asked my Pokemon, as I stood up and dusted myself off. They all nodded. We were inside some kind of ancient underground structure, full of hieroglyphs on the walls, resembling the Unown. "Wow!" I exclaimed, "This place is huge!" There was glowing coming from up ahead. We walked down some corridors, and reached a large, open chasm. I couldn't believe my eyes! Swarming around a large, glowing energy field were hundreds, possibly thousands, of Unown, just swirling around and around. They looked like hieroglyphs, each with a large eyeball in the center, exactly like the eye I had seen in one of my psychic visions. We slowly began to approach the Unown swarm, when 6 distinct enegy fields materialized in front of us, each of which turned into a Pokemon – a Venusaur, a Feraligatr, a Typhlosion, a Raticate, a Stantler, and a Nidoking. I released the rest of my Pokemon and they engaged these new Pokemon in battle. Flamefox took on the Raticate, Firestorm took on the Venusaur, Jolteon took on the Feraligatr, Vaporeon took on the Typhlosion, Fearow took on the Stantler, and Tauros took on the Nidoking. My Pokemon were all losing, badly! "There must be a way" I thought to myself. Kadabra said, "There is. Open your thoughts." I felt another headache coming on, but it passed, and I could feel a psychic connection to Kadabra. He said, "I'll help you to see. Look closely." I watched as my Pokemon battled, and I could see an energy stream running from each of the attacking Pokemon to one of the Unown from the swarm. "That's it!" I exclaimed. I asked Kadabra, "Is there a way I can let my Pokemon see this?" He answered, "Yes! The psychic energy in this room is very high. Your Pokemon will have no trouble reading your thoughts. Open your mind to them." I could feel my thoughts going into the minds of my 6 battling Pokemon and I told them, "You're battling illusions. You need to battle the source of the illusions. Attack the Unown who's connected to the illusion Pokemon you're battling!" Flamefox acted first, taking out an Unown with a flamethrower! The illusion Raticate immediately vanished, and the Unown who was creating the illusion fell to the floor. Firestorm did the same to the Unown who was creating the Venusaur, and also took it out. The other Pokemon did the same – Jolteon thundershocked one, Vaporeon used water gun on one, Fearow used drill peck on one, and Tauros used horn attack on one. Each illusion Pokemon vanished as the Unown who was creating it was defeated. "It's working!" I exclaimed. Kadabra said, "Yes, but look." More illusion Pokemon began to materialize – Skarmory, Lickitung, Blastoise, Sneasel. My Pokemon continued to attack each Unown that was creating them. But there were too many. The illusion Pokemon materialized faster and faster, as my Pokemon continued attacking Unown. There was no way my Pokemon could defeat that entire swarm. They were all running out of power, until, one by one, they began to collapse from exhaustion. "Kadabra, my Pokemon can't win. I need to try a different approach, a diplomatic approach! Is there any way I can talk to the Unown?" He said, "Through me. If you connect your mind to mine, I think we can open up a dialogue to the Unown." I said, "It's worth a shot!" I closed my eyes and began to concentrate, and both Kadabra and myself went into a trance. I opened my eyes, and I was surrounded by Unown, swirling around me. They looked very intimidating with those large eyes. "You are strange to us" they said to me. I replied, "The feeling is mutual." They said, "You are uncomfortable with this form." Suddenly they vanished, and Sage Li stood before me. "Is this better?" he asked. "Sage Li? What are you doing in here?" I asked. Kadabra said to me, "It isn't him. The Unown are taking on a form you are more comfortable with." I asked him, "Why are you doing this?" He replied, "This place is a 'power point', a vortex on earth where psychic power is stronger than at most places. Since we are psychic by nature, we were drawn here. We thrived here for thousands of years, undisturbed. But then, a mansion was built atop our dwelling place. This place is not for humans. The human who built the mansion was a powerful psychic and in his greed, he wanted to make himself the most powerful psychic in the world by living on top of this power point, which he was also drawn to by his psychic nature. Eventually, we drove him out, but not before he suffered a complete psychic burnout. Since then, we've tried to keep other humans away from here by scaring them off. We even concealed this place in heavy vines. But you insisted on cutting through. Why?" I replied, "I guess I also felt drawn here, too." He said, "We figured as much. That's why we decided to test you." I asked, "Test me?" He said, "Yes – to see if you had a strong enough will to find us. We played upon your fears to see if you could see through them. You did very well. But if we are to let you go, we need some assurance that no other humans will ever again disturb us. We are strong, but not strong enough to close the doorway to this vortex. We can only disguise it. True human psychics will still be drawn here." I said, "I can't guarantee that." Kadabra replied, "But I can." I asked him, "What do you mean?" He said, "Joe, I understand everything now. I felt drawn to you for a reason. I somehow knew that you would lead me to my true purpose. This place has increased my psychic ability beyond my wildest expectations. With my help, the Unown can permanently seal off this vortex from the outside world." I said to him, "No, you can't stay here. I need you." He said, "The Unown need me more. Besides, I feel like I belong here. At last, I feel at home." I said, "I think I understand. I'll miss you a great deal, Kadabra." He answered, "And I will miss you. However, you need to remember – this place has amplified my psychic ability. If you ever need me, just call out to me and I'll hear you, and be by your side to help." I said, "Thank you, Kadabra." With that, Sage Li turned back into the Unown, and my Pokemon were all standing, perfectly fine. A crystal staircase appeared and I was told, "Now go. You have little time to get out." My Pokemon and I ran up the stairs as the chasm began to cave in. We reached the top, the stairs gradually falling away behind us as we ran! I recognized the room ahead – it was the room we had entered in the first place! The crystalline structure melted open where the door was, and my Pokemon and I jumped out! It was night now. "Look!" I heard a voice yell. It was Bill. He was there with May, Simon, and Professor Hale. I shouted to them, "Run!" We all ran as the structure behind us imploded! When we looked again, it was all just forest floor. Professor Hale asked, "Would someone please explain what just happened here?" I told them everything that happened, up to an including what the Unown had told me. I didn't, however, tell them about my own limited psychic ability. Professor Hale said, "That's absolutely astounding! You're the only known human being who has ever been in contact with the Unown! What was it like?" I replied, "Very intense!" He said, "You mentioned that some of the illusion Pokemon were Johto native." I said, "Yes, but they could easily have just gotten those from my mind." He said, "Or, maybe they have Johto counterparts. Regardless, I'll move my Unown research to Johto. How about that – the one lead I dismissed could have been my big breakthrough. Oh well, better luck next time, I guess." May asked me, "So is Kadabra really gone?" I answered, "It was necessary for him to stay behind, in order to help the Unown permanently seal off the psychic energy vortex, so that no one else will have to go through what I or the previous mansion owner went through. But somehow, I just have a strong feeling that our paths will cross again." May walked over to where the mansion used to be and said, "Goodbye, Kadabra. I'll miss you." Just then, a bouquet of flowers appeared in her hands! May laughed and said, "Thanks, Kadabra!" As she stood there, I heard Kadabra's voice in my head, saying, "Take good care of her, Joe. Watch out for her." I replied to him, "I will."
From that day forward, the "forest haunted by a mysterious, unknown presence" was some of the most beautiful woodland in Kanto. The mysterious haze was gone, and the woods were much less creepy to walk through. May, Simon, and I stayed at Bill's house another day. It felt strange not having Kadabra around anymore. Not that he was ever around much, anyway, but I always felt comforted that he was around somewhere, watching us. I was still convinced that I'd see him again someday. Anyway, Simon headed off again, but thanked us for the adventure. Meanwhile, I decided that the best way to head would be to cut through Cerulean City once more and follow Route 9 to a shortcut I'd heard of called the Rock Tunnel. Bill and Professor Hale wished us well, as we headed off, on the backs of our riding Pokemon. After all I'd been through with the Unown, I was hoping for a little break from adventure – but little did I know that more adventure was coming our way.