Chapter 17

Ricky, Rick, and RC

The forest around Cianwood City was massive; in fact, it took up almost 90 percent of the island. Needless to say, when I went for a walk in the forest it was only a matter of minutes before I was completely alone.

Pichu and I stood silent listening, trying to find out if we were truly alone. We had grown accustom to this, and I'm glad that Pichu liked to help me. With his big ears he can here everything in the surroundings, which came in handy.

I had left Ricky at the Pokecenter, and I knew that if I didn't move fast that he would catch up with me. I mean, its not like he wouldn't just find me again. Heck, that kid is everywhere, it should be impossible for a person to track me as well as he has. It's almost like he has a freakin' 'Kyle Satellite Tracking Device'.

"Pi!" Pichu said as he climbed up on my shoulder, giving me the all clear.

"Alright. Thanks little bud." I smiled, patting him on the head as I reached for a pokeball. "Now. Come out Articuno!"

I threw the pokeball, and as soon as the light shot out of the device, a strong cold wind blew through the trees, making the tropical flowers suck their petals back inside their stem. The bird flew high in the sky, above the trees, leaving a thin layer of frost over every leaf and branch she touched. She let out a scream, which echoed over the forest. "BBBBBRRRRRRAAAAAAAAA!"

"My gosh." I shook my head as she landed in front of me. "Do you have to make such an entrance?"

"Well, sorry." She spoke telepathically in a sarcastic voice as snow began to fall around us, collecting on the trees. "I mean, it is not like I only get to come out once every two weeks or so."

"Ahh." I groaned. Man, she's picking up on my smart-alic-ness. That's great.

"It is not my fault that you are the only conversation around here." She mocked. "It is said that being around one makes the individual become more adjacent to the one's personality."

"Please don't listen to my thoughts." I pleaded. "Come on, I said –"

"I know, I know." She cut me off. "Your sorry." I heard her let out a sigh as she sat down the best way a bird could, getting comfy. "Now, why did you bring me out today? Would you like to converse about, the feelings you have toward Shonna again?"

I didn't say anything.

"Then what is it?" Articuno tilted her head looking at me.

"I have a question." I said calmly. "How is it that you can read my thoughts, but you don't know why I called you out? Every time you ask me why, and every time I wonder."

"Brraaa!" Articuno called out as she spoke. "Telepathy, as in language, is much easier for creatures to understand than humanity gives them credit for. Humans simply think to communicate through verbal expressions and tones in one's voice, which is very primitive. Highly evolved creatures, such as your so-called 'pokemon' communicate through much more advanced ways of language. Instead of using their voice, they use their body language, and from there develop different ways to read a person, or 'pokemon'. Telepathy is much like that, it's simply using ones mind instead of their body."

"That's… nice." I said, looking at her oddly. "But you didn't answer my question."

"To put it simply for your understanding, I can read your words before you say them, much like you read a book. Though, unlike a book, I cannot turn the pages to see what has been said or what will be said. Thus, I cannot see your past, future, or your intentions, at least, not clearly."

"Clearly?" I asked. "How so?"

"Nothing." Articuno turned her head. "Nothing, I shall say nothing more about this matter. One should not know anything about their future, especially if it is clouded by doubt. Besides." She paused, looking at me. "Even if I told you what I have seen the future is always changing. Everything you do affects your future, and the choices you make have yet to be decided."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Is there something I should know about? What is all this talk about my future? Does something happen? Does something go wrong? What is going to ha-"

"BBBBRRRAAAAAA!" Articuno let out a loud screech, followed by a light burst of snow that she shot at me, only enough to get me to be quiet. "Please. Stop." She sat back down, looking at me. "Now, tell me what you request of me."

"I would like you to fly me somewhere." I said with a gulp. I know she has never flown me anywhere before, and I am actually quite afraid to ask that of her, but there is no other way I can get to those islands.

For a long time she didn't speak, and when she did I was surprised about her answer. "So, you want me to take you to those islands? The ones I saw when I flew up?"

"Yes. Please." I said.

"Pi! Pichu!" Pichu grinned.

"Hmph." Articuno smiled as she spread her wings. She lowered down to the ground as she motioned for me to get on. "Those islands are home to Lugia. You know that, right?"

"Lugia?" I asked climbing on to her back as Pichu put on his little aviator goggles. "What's a Lugia?" But before she answered we took off, flying up into the sky. We flew high up into the clouds, over the small snow burst that had started.

When we were high in the sky I heard her speak. "I miss this." She spoke. "Oh how much I missed this."

"Is it not like this at the lab?" I asked, looking down at her from her back.

"Of course its not!" Articuno scolded. "No human-made hologram could ever replace the world outside of confinement."

"I promise," I said putting my hand on her head. "I promise that as soon as I know its safe for you to go I will release you."

"I know." She said as she flew above the clouds. "Lugia is a 'legendary bird pokemon' like me." She told me, continuing from the last time. "As I am the superior ice species of 'pokemon', Lugia is the superior species of psychic 'pokemon'."

"So the reason you all are called 'legendary' is because of your power?" I asked.

"Somewhat." Articuno glanced at me as she spoke. "A long time ago the 'legendary' pokemon were just as common as any other. One day man kind discovered that some pokmeon have much greater power than the others. Soon after they found ways to force pokemon to evolve, and soon came the industries devoted to that kind of science." She turned her head back around, turning her body as she brushed her wing into a cloud, causing ripples of the fog to stream behind us. "Humanity began taking the 'legendary' pokmeon out of their habitats. Selling them, pawning them, experimenting on them, as well as trying to force them to evolve. Before long humanity had wiped the world clean of nearly every 'legendary' pokemon. The ones that were left were forced to seek shelter in places that were untouched by human hands, places where humans would, and could, never go."

"That is awful." I said as we flew over Cianwood City, making snow fall on the tropical island. "I am so sorry…"

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Damn!" Ricky said, running out of the pokecenter as he buttoned up his black and red shirt. "That guy left me again." He turned around, looking all over the beach. "He's not in sight anywhere!" He then turned to the islands that were far off in the distance. "Well, I did say that I wanted to go there, but-"

Ricky stopped talking when he felt a strong cold breeze blow by him. It was almost as if he had stepped into a freezer, no, worse, like he had stepped into a factory deep freezer. He closed his eyes as he shivered, and opened them to find snow falling from the sky. "What in the world?" He asked, catching a snowflake in his hand. He looked up in the sky and saw something pretty far up that was sparkling. It was almost as if the snow was resonating from it.

Ricky watched as the plane shaped thing began to bend its wings and flap. His eyes shot open as he realized what it was. "Its… Its…" His mouth was agape as he watched it fly to the Whirl Islands. "No." He said, looking at it. "That wasn't Lugia. It was snow, I know it was snow, it had to be." He felt his throat tighten as he took a gulp. "Articuno? Here? There? Where I'm going to be?" His gaped face quickly turned to hate as he reached for Swampert's pokeball. "I don't know how that thing got here, but it's going to pay."

***_-Scene Change-_***

The winds started to pick up as we flew over the canyons that separated the islands. They were vigorous and rough, but for Articuno it seemed as if it were nothing more than a slight breeze.

We had already been flying around for about an hour or so when we touched down on the second of the four islands, landing right beside a cave entrance. These islands were rocky. No plants, trees, or anything green on them. There were a few colonies of crabby running around, and some fish pokemon in the water, but besides that the island was dead.

"I don't understand." Articuno said as we climbed off of her.

"Pi?" Pichu asked as we turned to face her.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Lugia…" She said. "Lugia isn't here. I don't feel his presence anywhere."

"Well, maybe he moved on." I said, looking around at the barren rocks. "This place is very deprived of life."

"That only shows how long he has gone." She said, looking around at some fallen tree trunks that had all but been washed apart by the waves. "We 'legendary' pokemon have developed our powers to change the environment around us. As where I turn everything into ice, Lugia can use his psychic abilities to enhance the growth of living creatures and plants."

I looked around, seeing several rocks that looked like some form of trees and some small looking roots that jetted out of the rocks. "So he can help bring life to a desolate place?" I asked. "How long do you think Lugia has been gone?"

"If I were to estimate, five years or so."

"Five years?" I asked, shocked. "I grew up in a forest, I know for a fact that it takes more than five years for the plant life to completely die off. A tree trunk alone could take ten years or so, given the size."

"I shall put it to you simply." Articuno glanced at me. "Lugia can use his psychic ability to enhance life. He can change a dead object into a live one by using the objects own makeup." She then turned her head and pointed to a rock that was shaped like a tree. "For instance, that tree came from a rock, and so since he left, taking his powers with him-"

"Then they returned to nothing more than rocks, what they started as." I said, finishing the sentence.

"Correct." For a while we were silent, looking around at the desolate place, then Articuno turned around, facing the cave.

"What's wrong?" I asked as Pichu climbed up on my shoulder, hiding behind my head.

"Someone is here." She said, looking into the cave.

"What? Like Lugia?" I asked. "I thought you said he left?"

"No, its not Lugia. It's… something else."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Swampert hit the sandy beach on one of the islands, as Ricky hopped off and recalled him. "I swear I saw that bird land somewhere around here." He spat as he began to walk around the massive rock island. The wind began to whip and the sand on the beach began to twirl into a miniature tornado. "If Articuno was here, then there would be snow." He looked up to the sky and sparkling white little dots being pushed around by the strong winds, high above him. "It is here." Ricky said, looking ahead to see a cave.

He struggled to walk against the cold blistering wind as he fell into the dark cave, hitting his head hard on the rocky floor. "Ah, crap!" Ricky said, grabbing his head as he felt a warm stream of liquid catch on his hand. He pulled his hand in front of his face and saw that it was red, as red as his hair. "Blood."

"Hes'a here! Hes'a here!" A raspy voice echoed through the cave.

Ricky picked himself up as he looked down the darkening caverns. "Who's there?"

"Iiiiiiiiittttttttttt'ssssssss-" The voice called out as Ricky heard footsteps running at him. He tripped, falling backwards as a face of this old man with few teeth appeared in front of his face. "it's MMMEEEEEEE!" The man grinned as let out a long raspy and insane laugh. "HAHAHAHA! MUAHAHAHA HAAHA HEHEHE HAHA HEEH!" He then paused and looked back at Ricky. "Oh, Rick, its you! Its you!"

"No." Ricky said, standing, and then looking at the man. He was nearly naked, with only a little bit of torn clothes coving his crotch. He also stunk to high heaven. "I'm Ricky. Rick was my father."

"Ooooohhh!" The man laughed again. "HAHAH! HEHE! Son of Rick, son of Rick!" He sung. "Son of Rick, oh, son of Rick! You never more the son of Rick!" He stopped his dancing and singing and then shushed. "SHHHH!" He spoke in a low voice. "I must take you to master. I must take you to master!" It then echoed to a scream. "I must take you to master! I MUST TAKE YOU TO MASTER!" He screamed as he skipped in a hunchbacked way into the darkness. "Follow me! Follow me! We must go to Master! We must go to Master! All will be told! All will be told when get to Master! Follow! Follow! Follow! FOLLOW!"

Ricky ran after the man. At the time he didn't know why, but if he knew of his father, Ricky wanted to know why and how. He followed down the dark hallways, listening to him rant and rave the entire time. Though it was dark there was still light. From what Ricky could tell there were crystals everywhere that reflected the light from outside all the way through the cave. Though it was dim, light was still there, so seeing wasn't impossible.

Ricky ran down the dim caverns, faster and faster, and then.

"STOP!" The man screamed, shoving his face in front of Ricky, scaring him and making me trip on his own feet. The man waited till Ricky stood, and then spoke again. "Around the next corner is Master." He spoke in a whisper. "Master said you would come, Master spoke of it. Master said you came looking for the other. Master knows, Master knows. Master knows all." He looked around the corner, then back to Ricky. "Would you like to see, Son of Rick? Would Son of Rick like to see? RC would like to see? No?"

"Who is RC?" Ricky asked.

"Your name is my name and my name is your name, RC. We are RC. We both are RC. RC we are, RC we are." He nodded, then turned to walk around the corner, Ricky following. They walked into this open room of the cave that had a hole in the top of the roof. Light was shining down and a cool breeze swept through this room. "Behold the Master." RC said as he kneeled beside a pokeball that was sitting on a rock in the middle of the room.

Ricky looked at it wide eyed as the man kneeled and bowed down beside it, chanting the whole time. "Is that a…" Ricky spoke to himself as he walked closer. "It is! That's a master-ball!"

"Yes! Yes!" RC chanted. "RC gave it to me, RC did! RC gave it to RC before I came to island!"

"Who gave it to you?" Ricky asked, not quite understanding the old man.

"Rick! Father of Ricky! Father of Ricky! RC! RC!" The old man yelled as he jumped up and down like a monkey. "Son of Rick, Son of Rick, oh Son of Rick! RC! RC! Same name, on RC!"

"Hmph." Ricky smiled. "So you worked for my father, huh?"

"Work I do! Work I do! RC works for Rick! RC works for Rick! RC works for RC!" The man then stopped jumping and looked at the master ball. "Master? Sure are you, Master?" RC then turned to look at Ricky. "Master says you will take him. Master says you will take him."

"That I will." Ricky said, stepping closer to the master ball. "Since you work for my father then you will give me that ball. I will make sure my father gets it."

"Master don't want you to take him." RC said as he picked up a Krabby that was walking along beside his foot. He opened his mouth, biting down hard on the Krabby's head with one of his teeth. He tore through the shell, cracking it open and eating the innards in one crunch. "Master don't want to go. Master don't want to go." He said louder and louder. "Master don't want to go! MASTER DON'T WANT TO GO!" RC took one of the claws of the Krabby and ran at Ricky.

"Pft." Ricky spat, side stepping the old man as he ran into the cave wall, knocking himself out. Ricky then walked over to the master ball sitting on the rock. He picked it up, and inspected it. The latch had been rusted shut, but it was still a master ball, never the less. "You must have been one of the stooges my father sent out year ago when he first started trying to find the birds." Ricky said. He kicked the left over Krabby to RC, who was still knocked out. "If you hadn't got lost my father still might be alive." Ricky then placed the master ball on his belt, grabbing another pokeball off as he heard the sound of a bird cry out. "That's it." He said, bringing out Dodrio. "It's that Articuno."

***_-Scene Change-_***

"What's wrong?" I asked as Pichu climbed up on my shoulder, hiding behind my head.

"Someone is here." Articuno said, looking into the cave.

"What? Like Lugia?" I asked. "I thought you said he left?"

"No, its not Lugia. It's… something else."

"What is it?" I questioned again.

"I don't know!" She screamed at me. "Get me back in my pokeball, now!"

"Alright." I said, trying to remember what pokeball was hers.

"Hurry!" She screamed. "They are close! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

"I'm trying!" I screamed back, finally finding hers. "Here!" I said, holding up her pokeball as a red light shot out at her. The light hit her, and sucked her back inside, but when she was gone I saw something behind where she was. I saw, someone, behind her in the cave. There stood Ricky, looking back at me with a surprised look on his face. He was riding on the back of Dodrio, which didn't seemed fazed at all, but Ricky was stunned.

"Well um…" I said, rubbing my head. "Hehe… Nice day for a swim, isn't it Ricky?" I asked, trying to play it off like nothing happened.

"Pi, Pi, Pi…" Pichu said with a smile has he rubbed his head as well, trying to play it cool too.

"Wha-" Ricky started to ask, but couldn't get it out. "Wha- What? Was th- that…"

"Well I've got a lotta places to go and gyms to beat so I guess I better be getting out of here!" I said as I started to run down the beach.

"WAIT!" Ricky called out.

"Ahhh…" I sighed as I stopped.

"Pi?" Pichu looked at me and then pointed ahead. "Pi! Pichu!"

"I know we can get away." I said. "But regardless where I go I know he's just going to find me. And the last thing I need him to do is tell everyone that I have an Articuno."

"Pi…" Pichu lowered his head in defeat as I turned around, facing Ricky as he rode up to us on Dodrio.

"Where did you get that thing?" Ricky asked in a way that I had never heard him speak. It was almost as if he was filled with anger and fear all at the same time.

"Here's the story, Ricky." I said scratching my head. "It was back in Kanto. I was taking a shortcut to Cinnabar when I came across the Sea Foam Islands. It was no big deal because I use to go there when I was a kid on vacation, but this time it was different. This time, I saw Team Rocket there." Ricky's eyes shot open and his jaw dropped. It was almost like he knew the story already. Strange. "Anyway," I continued. "Me and this girl that was there training snuck in and took some uniforms from the grunts. We watched as this man in a white mask tortured Articuno. I couldn't stand there and watch, so I took action." I watched as Ricky gritted his teeth, but I kept going on. What's his problem? "Me and that man got into a really heated battle. He ended up using three pokemon on me."

"And what were they?" Ricky asked. I could see him getting madder and madder by the second, but I didn't know why,

"He used a Moltres, Zapdos, and a Blasiken." I said calmly. "After the battle the mountain caved in. I captured Articuno and raced out on my bike, while Arcanine took the girl out ahead of me. We were the only ones to make it out."

Ricky hopped off his Dodrio and then grabbed me by the shirt collar. "You little piece of…" He then stopped. He took a deep breath as he let go. "Sorry Kyle." He said, recalling his Dodrio. He then reached for another pokeball, releasing Swampert into the water as he climbed on his back. "I'll catch up to you later. I need some time to myself."

"Ricky." I said. "No one can know about Articuno. Got it?"

"Yeah… whatever." He kicked off, riding Swampert at full speed, quickly being out of sight.

"Well." I said, reaching for Articuno's pokeball. "I don't know what his deal is, but I guess that went okay." I released her, watching as her eyes opened. "Everything's cool now." I said with a smile.

"No it's not." Articuno spoke. "Your future has just changed."

"I thought you said it's always in flux and you can never tell what will happen." I said with a chuckle.

"I'm serious." She spoke sternly. "Kyle, you must be careful of that child."

"Who? Ricky?" I laughed. "That kid is nothing but hot air."

"Heed my warning." She spoke. "Please…"

***_-Scene Change-_***

It took several hours and was already dark when we had reached Goldenrod on Articuno. We landed on the outskirts of town, beside the Ilex forest; somewhere no one would be able to see us. I recalled her as me and Pichu headed for the Pokecenter. It was only about a thirty-minute walk, so it wasn't that bad. When we got in I checked out a room, and went straight for bed.

"I'll check on the bike tomorrow." I said to Pichu as we hit the bed. I took out a pill, swallowing it and then laid back down. "Hopefully they will have the parts for it, if not, I don't know what we are going to do."

"Pi." Pichu said as he closed his eyes.

"Hm." I smiled. "Good night to you too, buddy."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Conner stumbled into the Pokecenter. It was late, almost 3am, and everything else in Olivine was already closed, with the exception of the bar that is, which he took advantage of. He had whiskey on his breath as he slid behind the counter, grabbing a key and walking down the hall. He went into his room, throwing his stuff on the bed as he brought out his computer. He then opened the videophone program and began dialing a number. It rang, and rang, and rang. Conner was quite annoyed when Richard finally picked up.

"Conner, sir?" Richard asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"What took you so long?" Conner barked.

"It's 3am, sir." Richard said under a yawn.

"Don't give me that crap!" Conner barked. "Now listen, I have a new assignment."

"What is it?"

"I will be transferring some pokemon to you labeled as NECS." Conner explained. "Instead of them going to the Mew Three Project I would like you to put them in the Neural Entopic Control System."

"You mean the brain washing project?" Richard asked.

"Yes, to put so a moron would understand it, I suppose you could call it that." Conner barked. "Why? Is there a problem with the Neural Entopic Control System?"

"No sir, its just…" Richard said is a hesitant way. "Its just that we are still working out some bugs."

"Is it operational?" Conner asked.

"Yes sir, but-"

"Then I want you to follow my orders and shut your face!" Conner barked. "I will also be transferring an item to you that I have recently picked up. When you get it I want you to break down the chemical makeup of the item and fuse it with the bio-fluids that Mew Three is forming in. Did I make myself clear, Richard?"

"Yes sir." Richard yawned. "Will that be all?"

"No." Conner said. "There is one last thing. Get cell number 057 ready for a guest. I will be delivering one to you shortly." Conner then shut the lid to his computer, cutting the conversation. He fell back in his bed as he looked up to the ceiling. "That stupid kid is going to pay for what he did." He then took off his white mask and threw it to the floor, spitting on it. "He is going to die!"