Been a while, SORRY! NaNoWriMo, school…etc etc etc. I'm sorry! I split this chapter into three parts because it was going to be far too long-winded if I wrote the original length.

ENJOY!

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Chapter 6: Shadows of the Past

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Mew looked out from atop the Washington Monument, it was the highest point in D.C., and you could see the whole city from the observation point. Mew was floating right above its tip, a guardian of the nation's capitol.

The legend was watching for a sign, a sign that Celebi's attack would soon be upon them. It had been realized at his last meeting with Raikou, Entei, and Jirachi that the forthcoming attack was inevitable, and they had to be ready at all times.

This was a problem, however. All of their allies were sucked into The Void in Chicago, so they were again alone in their fight. It was more than likely that Celebi would send in an army with the intention of taking out the capitol and therefore demoralizing America. Without any help from the National Guard, this battle was going to be rough.

This is the reason why Jirachi, Matt and Parker set out to recruit as many Pokemon to join them as possible. Jirachi could sense where they resided, and it was up to the boys and their Pokemon to convince them to join their ranks.

Mew had brought up the topic to Jirachi of possibly getting more teenagers into the fight by giving them Pokemon. Jirachi was against the idea of doing so right away, saying that the six they had now were a lot to handle. Even though it would be up to them to save the world from whatever forces attempt to disrupt it, the legends that joined them on their journey had to keep an eye on them.

Mew sighed, if only Pokemon had the willpower humans do. If that was so, we wouldn't be ruining these six lives.

Mew wondered if an eternal war will spark between humans and Pokemon. Some humans would see Pokemon as a virus, like HIV, since it was discovered, humanity had been fighting it. Some people think this "war" on HIV will happen for the rest of the Earth's existence.

What if this war never ended?

Mew thought for a moment and then nodded his head.

This battle will be the decisive battle. The fate of Pokemon and Humans will be decided here. We must win this battle.

Mew looked up towards the sky. It was blue.

Anything but black…please.

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"Got one!" Parker's voice echoed through Matt's ear, "I got a Shieldon on our side!"

"Shieldon?" Matt said into his earpiece, "Where did you find that?"

"There was one just walking around the city. It was quite unsual." Parker said.

Pokemon aren't used to the world they've returned to. Raikou told Matt, It's not surprising he found one where he did.

"They must be confused." Matt said, sighing, "I feel bad for them."

Matt and Entei were sprinting down a plain; apparently Jirachi spotted a colony of Furret that resided out there. The flat, green landscape seemed to stretch on forever. Matt told Parker about the Pokemon, who was quite jealous. Furret was one of Parker's favorite Pokemon.

Matt saw some black spots appear in the ground, "Entei!" He yelled, "I see holes! Lots of them! The Furret must be here!"

A baboon could see that, Matt. Entei said. He stopped abruptly, throwing Matt off of the beast and into the ground in front of him.

"Shit!" Matt yelled, "What was that for?" He groaned as he sat up, holding his sore neck.

Look!

Matt looked in front of him, a small group of baby Furret were playing in front of him. The little pokemon were tumbling over each other in good-natured fun. Matt smiled, "Aww."

Their parents are close. I'll go speak to them. Watch the babies.

As Entei turned away, the sky turned and inky black. A chill was sent down Matt's spine. Was this because of Celebi? The sky reminded him of The Void. It was a never ending blackness that looked like it would suck you in if you stared at it for too long. Matt looked away.

Matt's attention was now completely focused on the baby pokemon. As he gazed on at the innocent fluff balls he couldn't help but remember what Pokemon used to be, a game. They were something you collected and played with friends with, not fought wars with.

That wasn't completely true. He had fought a makeshift war with Pokemon; but it was all in good fun and wasn't real. He and a group of 10 middle school kids broke up into teams of 2 and had daily battles for certain sections of the small Illinois town of Wayne they lived in. These battles took place in both handheld and card form. He and Parker ended up winning the war, annexing all fifteen sections of Wayne into their empire. They were the best.

Of course, it was harder to enjoy Pokemon in high school. Kids get ridiculed all the time for the mere mention of the name, and Matt and Parker didn't feel the need to be subjected to it. They played in secrecy up until the day that they found their bags with their pokemon inside.

Matt!

Matt looked up, his memories suddenly shattered by Entei's resounding voice. Entei had at least fifty-maybe even more-furret behind him. He looked proud of himself.

They're tiny, but anything is possible in large numbers.

"I hear that." Said Matt, getting back on Entei's back as they watched the colony of Furret pick up its children.

Entei barked an order to the pokemon and they fled to D.C. without question, leaving their homes - and possibly their lives - behind.

"Entei?"

Yes?

"You could see the world when you were asleep, right?"

I was aware of events in my area and in others due to all of the other sleeping legends, yes. Why do you ask?

"I was wondering if Pokemon were ever as innocent as they were when I was a little kid. Was there always war between you all?"

No. Entei said, In fact, we were once at peace with each other. There was balance for about five hundred years. No "faction" of Pokemon had risen against Mew, not after what Mew had done in the Heavenly Removal.

"What?" Matt asked, suddenly confused and interested, "The Heavenly Removal? What was that?"

Mew wasn't always our king. There was another Pokemon that ruled over us eternally…until Mew showed up.

"What did he do?"

Mew overthrew Arceus.

Matt looked up as the color returned to the sky at the instant Entei said Arceus.

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"Watch it!"

Parker ducked as a large telephone wire swung over his head, spewing thousands of volts of electricity out of its edge. Raikou jumped and absorbed the energy right after it cleared Parker.

"Damn Kecleon…" Parker muttered, looking towards Raikou who was now sparking due to being overcharged.

I need to use discharge. We need to find these Kecleon!

Kecleon had been slashing telephone wires all around Washington, D.C. in order to cut all land line communication within the city. Satellite communication was still active, but Raikou was certain that Celebi had a plan to cut that as well.

"What next?" Asked Parker, "All Pokemon in the city have been recruited, and the world's most fearsome army is about to attack with us being the only line of defense."

We do the only thing we can do; prepare for the worst.

"Why so pessimistic?"

It's being realistic. Without the army's help we don't have much of a chance alone.

Parker sighed and slumped to the ground, his head facing the sky, which was turning black.

"Black again…" Parker groaned, "how does that happen?"

It's a sign of Armageddon. Raikou said with an indifferent tone.

"WHAT?" Parker yelled, now springing up to his feet, "Are you saying that the end is nigh or something like that?"

Not at all. It's a sign of Arceus' anger, which is a sign of Armageddon.

"Arceus' anger?" Parker asked, "Why are you telling me this? Are you trying to confuse me?"

Raikou sighed, I answered your questions. If you want a story then I can give it to you.

"I'll go get some milk and cookies first."

No need to be a smart ass now.

"Whoa!" Parker said, "You swore!"

It got your attention didn't it? Alright. It's time to continue. The sky's turning black is a sign of Arceus' anger, like I already said. It's the first sign of Armageddon, meaning Arceus' return to Earth and reclaiming of its lands for himself.

"I don't think that's the whole story. I'm still extremely confused."

If you stopped interrupting I would be able to tell you! First let me tell you all four signs of Armageddon. First, the sky turns black. Second, the oceans turn red. Third, the land erupts into flames. The final sign is a large beam of light from the skies, and from that light Arceus emerges, ready to take back all that is his.

"Okay…but why is Arceus mad?"

I'm sure Matt has the same question. I'll tell Entei to explain it to him.

"Okay…" Parker said, waiting while Raikou sent a message to Entei.

Alright. Entei knows. I'll start at the beginning. When Pokemon were created, we were created with balance in mind. Meaning that for each strength a Pokemon has, there is a weakness also. This is why we have types. Some types are stronger against others, and some are weaker. Arceus is the one who created us to be like this. He's the equivalent to the human God…but instead it's for us Pokemon.

"So Arceus does exist?"

Very much so. He lived among us for about five hundred years. We all lived in peace and harmony. Nothing was able to split the Pokemon. That was until Arceus became paranoid when Mew was born.

"But didn't Arceus create Mew?"

No. A legendary pokemon is created by a mutation in another pokemon's birth. Sometimes this makes us stronger, and sometimes it makes us weaker. Entei, Suicune, and I are all offspring of a Houndoom gone wrong.

"So legends have birth defects?"

In a sense, yes. But these "defects" make us stronger. When Mew was born from a Clefairy, Arceus didn't know what to think. Mew looked extremely frail, and it was a miracle that he even survived infancy. Arceus wasn't paranoid then, it was a few years after that when they figured out that he could learn any ability that every Pokemon has. Arceus began to fear him then.

"Was Arceus a good leader?"

He was magnificent until he became paranoid. Mew wouldn't have done anything if Arceus hadn't begun to become a tyrant rather than a king. He started to restrict something that was the center of our society…battling.

Battles were huge before Mew sealed us away. We would make teams of Pokemon…it was like a human sport. Everyone would be part of a team. Everyone battled. These teams would set up strategies and work together to beat other teams…it was great fun. When Arceus started to limit those to stop Mew from learning too many moves, things started to get sticky. It's on our blood to battle, without battle we Pokemon have too much energy stored up inside us. We need to release it somehow, and there is no way as fun or tiring as battle.

Mew started to hold underground battle tournaments. Arceus saw all, but so did Mew. When Arceus intervened, he used his powers to break up our battles. Mew saw Arceus use this power and honed it, he copied Arceus.

"So he learned how to use the same abilities as Arceus…so what happened next?"

Mew was scared. He was afraid that if we didn't get rid of Arceus our battles would be gone forever. He organized a force to stop him at that point and use one move that Mew himself created on the god…

"And this move was?"

Judgement.

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"But…" Matt said, "I thought Judgement was a move only Arceus knew? How did Mew create it?"

You're correct. Arceus is the only one who knows Judgement naturally. However, Mew had learned all of Arceus' moves when he broke up our battles. Because of this Mew was able to analyze his own moveset and predict the nature of Arceus' next move…and essentially learnt it before the great god of Pokemon did.

"So why doesn't Mew use it now?"

It almost killed him. Judgement requires an enormous amount of energy, which is why Arceus uses natural plates to power it up. The energy needs to come from the planet. Mew didn't realize this, and instead took up all of the energy from himself. When he used it on Arceus on the fated day his power level dropped back to one.

"So what exactly did Judgement do?"

It killed Arceus. But since he's a god, he was reborn in the heavens. Pokemon have been prophesying his return for years now.

Matt took in all of the information. If this was true, how powerful was Mew? What were his true motives? Matt began to doubt the legend's supposedly pure intentions.

If you're worried about Mew, I would stop. Entei said, he's our ally, trust me.

"Alright." Matt said, "So what's next?"

We're going to destroy all that threaten your country's capital. Let's go.

Matt smiled, the sky reverted to its original color.