2. Knowledge

Panic suddenly filled me as the thunderstorm raged across the entire sky. The black dragon began forming a massive ball of electricity, while the white one created one of scorching fire. If the two great powers met the destruction to the land below would be horrible, I knew it.

Something told me I didn't have time to tap into my connections with them. Instead I thrust myself between them at the same moment they unleashed their fury. Excruciating pain filled every inch of me and I was falling, falling, falling…

xxxxx

I shot straight up, hyperventilating and covered in sweat. A soft blue light immediately enveloped me as Reuniclus used Recover on me. My breathing returned to normal and the lingering terror melted away. I sighed in relief as I collapsed back onto the bed. Reuniclus must have found me outside sometime during the night. It usually did since it knew I liked to go outside whenever I had a nightmare.

This was the nightmare I was used to: the two dragons, the pain, falling. It had started as just tiny flashes. A flash of a thunderstorm, a dragon's roar, the sensation of falling. Then it started coming together, piece by piece. When I endured the full nightmare for the first time, I thought it might go away.

But it didn't. And gradually I realized the meaning of it, that it was no ordinary nightmare.

When it's true meaning finally came to me, that was when I left.

Now I had to keep one eye open for Ash while we were both here in Monaltia. He and the others would probably leave after the festival, so that just meant I had to survive only a few days of looking around corners and over my shoulder.

I quickly dressed and ate the berries that the innkeeper had provided for breakfast. The city was already buzzing with noise as the day's festivities began. Vendors reopened their stalls, calling out deals and thrusting their goods into people's faces. I stopped at one stall where a middle-aged woman was selling beautifully woven scarves and picked out one with the festival's traditional colors of white, blue, and pink. I deftly tied it over my hair like a headband, the ends trailing down and tangling with my light blonde locks.

Reuniclus emitted a bubble of a compliment.

I smiled, glad that my best friend had forgiven me for my behavior the day before. "Thank you."

The Multiplying Pokémon added a teasing gargle.

My smile disappeared. "I don't care if Ash would like it. We are not going to contact them."

I marched off toward my first destination: the Monaltia Archives. If I was going to find anything close to what I wanted, it would be there. The Archives were more than a library. It was like a museum all about Concordia. Surely I would find some answers there.

Plus, a library was probably one of the last places where I would encounter Ash.

The Archives were one of most magnificent buildings in the city. A staircase led to a columned portico with a stained glass piece featuring Concordia in all of its colorful glory with its white body and blue and pink stripes. Inside, murals of similar depictions covered the walls and even part of the ceiling. In between towering shelves were glass cases displaying ancient manuscripts and other artifacts showcasing Concordia.

Something inside me recoiled at the sight of so many volumes, but I didn't let the shelves daunt me for long. I put on a determined face and said, "Well, the sooner we get started, the sooner we'll find something."

A few hours later, I was slumped in a chair staring hopelessly at the lore book I had just finished reading. I had examined at least two dozen manuscripts and couldn't find a single thing that helped me. All they would ever say was "Concordia then mysteriously disappeared to whence it came," and then pick up at "But Concordia would appear whenever its powers were truly needed most." Nothing about where it went or what it did in between.

"There has to be some sort of records for sightings," I muttered. I looked over at Reuniclus, who floated dejectedly a few inches over one of the many stacks of books on the table I had claimed. We were both tired of looking at old letters and pictures.

"One more round, okay? Try finding a list of sightings."

Reuniclus sighed and floated off to the other side of the library to search the shelves there while I headed back to the librarian's desk to ask about such a list.

xxxxx

Reuniclus wasn't just tired of books. It was tired of Celia saying that it was better for her to go it alone, to deny herself friends and more. She still loved Ash; Reuniclus could sense it, even if she would never admit she still possessed such feelings.

As the Psychic Pokémon passed by the windows at the front of the Archives, though, something caught its eye. A Pikachu and a Piplup were chasing each other around a small garden in the plaza. Their Trainers, one a boy with black hair wearing a cap, and the other a girl with blue-black hair under a bandanna, were chatting with their other companion, a tall dark-skinned young man with spiky brown hair.

Reuniclus glanced back toward the table where Celia was conducting her research. She had told it not to contact them. But Reuniclus knew this would help her, even if she didn't know it.

Reuniclus turned back to the window and focused on the Pikachu that had just climbed onto its Trainer's shoulder. Checking that Celia wasn't around, the Pokémon sent out a signal.

xxxxx

"Pika?"

Ash Ketchum looked over at the Pokémon perched on his shoulder. One ear was tilted in the way that meant it had heard something. "What is it, Pikachu?"

"Pi." Pikachu leapt down and stepped toward a large official-looking building, its ears angling back and forth.

"Hey, Brock? What's that place?" Ash asked the Gym Leader.

Brock studied the map in his hands. "Monaltia Archives."

"That stained glass is so pretty," Dawn commented, pointing at the circular inset on the portico.

"That's Concordia, the Pokémon honored by the Festival of Peace," Brock read from his guide book.

"Pika!" At that moment, Pikachu took off running. It sprinted across the square and up to the Archives.

"Pikachu, wait up!" Ash yelled as he followed the yellow Pokémon.

"Ash!" Dawn called out. She and Brock looked at each other before they hurried after their friend.

Ash stopped when he entered the Archives, jaw dropping at the exquisite paintings and the size of the place. But a call from Pikachu drew his attention back to his Pokémon, who was waving at him from a table where a green Pokémon that looked like several blobs clumped together floated above Pikachu's head.

"Reuniclus?" As Ash drew closer to them a girl emerged from the shelves and stopped at the table. A scarf was tied around her light blonde hair and her blue eyes were angled down at the book she was holding. Ash's eyes were immediately drawn to the necklace that hung from a leather cord, a circular crystal with swirls carved into it.

It couldn't be. Could it? All at once the emotions that Ash had locked away came flooding back.

"Celia?"

AN: Yay new chapter! I just want to say thank you to everyone who has already favorited and followed this story! I'm super excited to see that people are interested in reading this. This chapter's a little shorter - they all vary in length. Again, don't forget to follow, comment, etc. See you next Friday!