Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!
Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga
Chapter Forty Three
Suicune's Revealation
New Bark Town, a town not unlike Pallet Town in Kanto. Just like Pallet Town, it was a small town by the coast. Also just like Pallet Town, there was little there, aside from people's houses and a pokemon lab. The day May and Rina would be arriving at that very town, a group of kids were playing with a ball near the town's edge. One of the boys in the group gave the ball a good, hard kick, sending it into the tall grass of route 29.
"Hey! You kicked it that hard on purpose!" A blue haired girl said to the boy.
"Heh..." The boy grinned and rubbed his index finger under his nose. "I can't help it if I'm that strong! Either way, you were supposed to catch it, so now you have to go get it!"
"Showoff!" The girl called back again and then stormed off to retrieve the ball. The red and white pokeball-shaped ball was plain to see, even in the tall grass. She hesitated at the edge of the grass, recalling her mother's words of warning.
"Don't go near the tall grass! Wild pokemon will ambush you if you do!" Remembering what her mother said to her, the girl carefully scanned the nearby grass for any signs of pokemon. The grass swayed in a gentle breeze, but no suspicious movements to suggest the presence of a pokemon.
"I don't see any pokemon, and I'll only be in the grass for a sec, so I'll be fine!" The girl walked through the grass, moving quickly to grab the ball in the hope of getting out before anything could happen to her. Unfortunately for her, rather than avoiding trouble, her quick movements alerted a nearby Rattata to her presence. Seeing the girl holding the large, pokeball-lookalike ball, the pokemon assumed she intended to catch it.
"-YOU WILL NEVER CATCH ME!-" The Rattata hissed and jumped up out of the grass to attack the girl.
"KYAAAA!" The girl shrieked, dropping the ball in a panic as she raised her arms to defend herself. The wind then suddenly picked up around in front of her, sending a strong gust into the Rattata and knocking it off to the side. The Rattata hit the ground hard and was knocked out almost instantly. The girl blinked and looked around disbelief when she realized she was still ok. Seeing the Rattata unconscious, she quickly grabbed the ball and ran back into the town with it.
Once the girl and her friends had moved away from the edge of town, fearing another accident, a blue, four-legged pokemon with a long, purple mane stepped into view. "-You should have known better than to enter the tall grass. Had I not been here, that Rattata could have seriously harmed you.-" The pokemon said quietly, shaking its head. The pokemon watched over the town from its position until it saw two older girls approaching and quickly hid itself.
"So you were originally from Johto, but this is your first time in New Bark Town?" Rina asked May. The two girls had arrived only recently in New Bark Town and were setting out on foot from there in search of Suicune. Pippi, Rina's Pikachu, was back to following her trainer on foot.
"I never left Goldenrod City much at all." May replied with a shrug. "I know my way around the region, but mostly from maps. I know how to get from New Bark Town to Goldenrod anyway."
"What do we do when we get to Goldenrod then?" Rina asked. The two girls came to a stop just as they were leaving the town and officially entering route 29.
"I don't know honestly..." May replied, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm just kinda figuring that Goldenrod is my best chance at finding Suicune." May sighed. "It would be nice if Entei or Raikou could help a bit more..."
"This is my first time in Johto at all, so I guess I can't really say whether you're right about Goldenrod or not."
The pokemon from before watched the two girls from its hiding place, crouched down in a distant patch of grass, eavesdropping on their conversation. "Interesting. Seems these two are looking for me. The one with the winged hair looks familiar as well, and she has caught Entei and Raikou?" The pokemon, Suicune, narrowed its eyes at the two. "She has come sooner than I had expected, I may not be able to escape her for long..."
"-Hey! Rina! Look over there!-" Pippi called out excitedly, pointing to something hiding in the grass while tugging on Rina's pant leg. Though Pippi wasn't pointing at Suicune, it tried to duck down lower to the ground.
"Huh?" Rina followed Pippi's direction and saw the Rattata, recently defeated by Suicune. Rina frowned when she saw it. "Its just a Rattata. Some beginner probably came by and knocked it out for practice and then left it here!"
May snickered. "Well you're the pokemon whisperer here, so why don't you wait for it to get up and ask it what happened?" She suggested jokingly.
"Maybe I will!" Rina shot back, surprising May with her sudden hostility.
Hearing the conversation between them, Suicune quickly stood up. "-Did I hear you right? Can you really understand what we pokemon say?-" Suicune asked Rina. May, Rina, and Pippi turned and looked upon Suicune in shock.
"May, is that..."
"I think so..."
"That would be Suicune. Certainly made this easy for you." Haruka informed May.
Suicune looked at Rina expectantly. "-Well?-" May and Rina blinked, and May looked over at Rina when she realized Suicune was addressing her.
"Umm...yeah, I can..." Rina blinked again. "Are you Suicune?"
Suicune nodded. "-That is correct. I overheard the two of you talking. Your friend there...-" Suicune gestured toward May with its snout. "-She came all the way to Johto to find me, correct?-" Rina nodded to Suicune and then began to translate for May.
"-I can't believe we found Suicune that easily...-" Pippi mumbled in disbelief while Rina translated. She then reached back and scratched behind her ear. "-I guess this means we don't have to run all over Johto afterall?-"
When Rina finished translating, May nearly snapped. "You bet I came to Johto looking for you!" May growled, shaking her fist at Suicune. "First I had to chase Raikou all over Hoenn, and then searched across Kanto for Entei! Why couldn't you all stick to one region and STOP RUNNING AWAY?!"
"May! Calm down, you should be thankful you found Suicune this early!" Rina said to her. May did seem to calm down a bit, but only slightly.
After hearing May's response, Suicune chuckled. "-I see. Part of your trials, of course.-" Suicune began. "-However, should you grant me one request, then I will battle you without forcing you to chase me.-" Again, Rina translated for May.
"Well, if Suicune's going to make it easier on me then thats definitely fine by me." May replied, grinning slightly. "Ok then, what's this 'request'?" Suicune paused briefly before replying, casting a longing look toward the town before looking back to May and Rina.
"-I do not wish to battle near this town.-" Suicune replied. "-It is a...long story. Perhaps I will explain should you manage to catch me.-" Suicune paused and shook its head. "-No, I suppose I will have no choice but to explain should that happen. Regardless, we will have our battle outside of...I believe you humans call it 'Union Cave'. Do you accept?-"
Rina translated for May. May took a moment to considerate and then nodded. "Union Cave isn't far from here, just west of Cherrygrove City. If thats it, then fine!" May pointed a finger at Suicune. "Suicune! I, May Maple, accept your challenge!"
Suicune grinned lightly and nodded. "-Then I will see you there.-" Suicune then took off running, heading west from their current position.
"Now I'm really curious about why Suicune didn't want to battle here..." May said, looking off toward New Bark Town.
"Well Suicune said it'd tell you why if you caught it." Rina said to her.
"True." May replied with a nod. "Ok, let's get going then. If Suicune isn't going to run then I can change my team before I battle it." May set off toward Cherrygrove, and Rina and Pippi followed behind her.
"I've only seen three of May's pokemon so far..." Rina said to Pippi while they were walking, recalling May's Flygon, Cradily, and Kyogre that she saw briefly just last night. "I never saw pokemon like those before though. I wonder what other pokemon May's caught in Hoenn?"
"-I want to see her electric pokemon!-" Pippi said excitedly. "-I've never met an electric pokemon from another region before!-"
"What makes her think May has electric pokemon?" Rina wondered.
May, Rina, and Pippi crossed route 29 completely on foot. The distance between Cherrygrove and New Bark Town was relatively short anyway, so it only took them a little under an hour. Once they were in Cherrygrove City, they headed into the local pokecenter so May could use the pc there. Fortunately for her, the connection she helped establish in the Sevii Islands also served to connect Johto to Hoenn.
"You know, I never thought of it until now, but I could make an entire team of electric and grass pokemon." May said to herself. She pondered over what pokemon she should take with her while looking over the display screen, which showed animated images representing each pokemon she had stored. There were twenty-two pokemon in total for her to choose from, counting the six she had with her, which included four grass-type pokemon and three electric-type pokemon.
Overhearing her, Rina crept closer to sneak a peek at May's screen of pokemon and found herself in disbelief at the number of pokemon she had. "Wow! That's a lot of pokemon! Are you really raising them all or did you just catch them for a pokedex?"
"Both, actually." May replied, smiling lightly. "I wanted to catch a lot of pokemon to help Professor Birch with his pokedex, but I didn't want to catch them just for that."
"Must be pretty hard to raise all of them..."
May nodded. "It is, I have to set aside time to train everyday just to keep their strength up!" May took a quick look over her selection and then pressed a few buttons. "Think I'll withdraw two grass pokemon and two electric pokemon, just incase one type is better than another against Suicune. I'll keep Raikou too, just to be on the safe side." May thought for a moment and then pressed a few more buttons.
"I'll switch Flygon for Salamence too I think. Flygon's probably tired from the flight over here." With her selections made, May then proceded to place one pokeball on the transfer pad after another. One by one, all but one of her pokemon were exchanged for one of the ones she had selected.
"If you had all those pokemon with you against Kyogre, it would have been a much easier fight for you." Haruka said to May. "Why is it you're limited to six pokemon? I don't think you ever explained that..."
"Pokemon league regulations." May replied. "The only way you could even have more than six pokemon with you was if you didn't keep them in pokeballs or if the pokeballs were hacked. Even the Elite Four or the gym leaders aren't allowed to have more than six pokemon."
"Interesting, but doesn't that simply leave you vulnerable against those who don't follow the rules?"
"I guess it does, but there's nothing we can do about that."
"To have so many pokemon and still be able to raise them all, she must be pretty dedicated." Rina thought, blinking in disbelief. Both her and Pippi waited anxiously, curious to see May's pokemon. Once all the switches were made, the three of them left the pokecenter and stopped just outside.
"Ok, the fastest way to Union Cave from here is to cross the water." May said, pointing to the beach front to the west. "Which was why I brought Salamence." May turned to Rina and grinned. "She can probably fly both of us across if you think your 'Knight' would be too tired, Rina."
Rina nodded. "Ok." May then took a pokeball in her hand, one that Rina remembered seeing before and gasped when she realized what it was. "May! Isn't that a Masterball?!"
"That's right! It was an emergency, sort of, so I caught my Salamence with it." May replied, then reached into her fanny pack and pulled out another Masterball. "I still have this one too if I ever need it."
"Wh-WHAT?!" Rina cried out in disbelief. "Do those things just grow on trees in Hoenn or what?!" She asked, flailing her arms wildly.
"-What's so great about those things again?-" Pippi asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Of course not!" May replied. "I found the first one when I raided a criminal hideout, and the second was a prize for winning a tournament." May reached back and put the Masterball away. "It can catch any pokemon without fail, so I plan to keep it just incase of an emergency where I need to catch a pokemon on the first try."
"In my day, there was no such thing as a guaranteed capture. If you wanted to catch a pokemon, you had to beat it to within an inch of its life or hope it'd come willingly." Haruka said to May.
"I guess thats a good idea. I think I'll save mine too then." Rina thought.
"Anyway!" May turned away from Rina and held out the Masterball in front of her. "Salamence, come on out now!" The Masterball opened up, releasing a dragon pokemon that looked almost like something straight out of a medieval fairy tale. The dragon pokemon roared and looked around. She seemed a bit put off when she realized she wouldn't be fighting anything.
"-No opponent, no food...let me guess, I'm going to fly you and your friend somewhere?-" Salamence looked between May and Rina and then snorted. "-Being caught is embarassing enough, but now I have people riding me too? Dragons are supposed to be powerful, fierce! Not just pokemon for some trainer to boss around!-"
"I wonder what kind of conditions May caught that pokemon under..." Rina thought.
"Ok, Salamence, I need you to fly me and Rina across the water to a cave on the other side." May said to Salamence. Salamence rolled her eyes.
"-Figures.-" Salamence turned to face the water. "-Get on then and let's just get this over with.-"
"-She seems grouchy...-" Pippi whispered to Rina. Rina nodded in agreement.
May climbed into Salamence's back first, followed by a hesitant Rina and Pippi. Salamence then took off across the water, crossing it in a matter of minutes. My kept Salamence flying though, moving a bit further south to the Union Cave entrance. Just outside, they could see Suicune waiting. Salamence landed near Suicune and everyone hopped off.
"-You finally arrive. Shall we begin?-" Suicune said to them, tensing its body and looking ready to pounce. May didn't need a translation to understand what Suicune was thinking.
"Salamence might not be the best pokemon to fight Suicune with, but she's already out and it might be good to see what I'm dealing with first." May thought. "Salamence, you'll fight first!" She then informed Salamence. Salamence nodded and walked out in front of May, positioning herself for the fight.
"-This is a bit better at least.-" Salamence grumbled.
"Well you two aren't wasting any time." Rina commented.
"Salamence, attack Suicune with Dragon Claw!" Salamence raised her roght foreleg back and flexed her claws. The claws extended, turning orange and doubling in length. Salamence then jumped and gave a flap of her wings to charge toward Suicune and slash it across the face. Suicune staggered back, shaking its head, but quickly regained its balance and then closed its eyes. To everyone else, Suicune didn't appear to be doing anything at all. Suicune was using Calm Mind, meditating to increase its special attack power and defense.
"Is Suicune powering up with something?" May wondered. "The only technique I can think of that Suicune might be using is Calm Mind. Let's use physical attacks then!"
"Salamence, stay on it! Attack with Headbutt!" Salamence moved toward Suicune again while lowering her head. She then lifted her neck once her head was positioned under Suicune's, hitting Suicune in the lower jaw with a Headbutt attack. Suicune growled and staggered back, moving closer to the cave entrance behind it. Again, however, Suicune shook off the attack and meditated.
"May's putting up a strong offensive, but Suicune just keeps meditating! I wonder if Suicune has something planned?" Rina wondered.
"Keep attacking with Headbutt!" May called out.
"-What? Just headbutt it?-" Salamence growled. "-Fine, whatever, you're the 'trainer' here.-" Salamence rushed Suicune to attack again, this time flapping her wings and flying a foot off the ground. Salamence made the attack from above this time, smacking the top of Suicune's head with her forehead. Suicune's head was forced down by the impact, nearly hitting the ground.
When Suicune tried to lift its head again, it felt a sharp pain. It left Suicune distracted long enough for Salamence to attack again. Dropping back down to the ground, Salamence moved her head under Suicune and brought it up in another Headbutt attack. Suicune's head snapped back, causing it to stagger back again. Suicune was able to recover quickly this time, though, and took a moment to meditate again. Suicune was starting to look a bit exhausted, but still had plenty of fight left in it.
"Umm...May...is that really all you're going to do?" Rina asked May.
"Hey! Its the best option Salamence has right now!" May shot back. "Salamence's best attack is Dragon Claw, but Suicune has been increasing its defense against that. I think. Anyway..." May turned her attention back to the battle. "Alright then, we'll try a different approach! Salamence, attack with Fly!" Salamence nodded and flapped her wings, flying straight up into the air. Seeing its opponent wasn't attacking immediately, Suicune continued to use Calm Mind.
"Wouldn't that have been a better choice from the start?" Rina suggested.
May winced. "Err...well...maybe..."
"-Isn't she supposed to be a champion or something?-" Pippi asked.
"She apparently is." Rina whispered back. "I don't think she thinks ahead too much though..."
"-Kinda like Ashley?-" Pippi asked. Rina nodded in agreement.
Salamence rapidly approached a high altitude and then pulled a u-turn in the air to dive straight down again. Salamence shot down through the air near Suicune, rather than over it, and then pulled out of the dive to strike Suicune across its backside. Putting all of its momentum into the attack struck a heavy blow against Suicune, knocking it over in the process.
Suicune quickly got back up after being knocked over, looking quite exhausted but finally going on the attack. As Suicune stood up, it turned its head to face Salamence. From the crystal-shaped crest on the top of its head, Suicune fired a multicolored beam at Salamence. Salamence, still flying, was facing away from Suicune at the time and didn't see the beam coming. The attack struck Salamence from behind and brought her crashing into the ground, knocking her out immediately.
"Should have expected something like that I guess, but at least we weakened Suicune quite a bit." May said, holding out the Masterball and recalling Salamence. She then put the Masterball back on her belt and took a regular pokeball in her hand.
"Ok, lets keep on the attack! Plusle, go!" She called out, releasing a pokemon that looked similar to a Pichu. The pokemon, Plusle, had a tail that seemed to end in the shape of a red plus sign and had red tipped ears and hands. Even the red circles on its cheeks had plus signs in the middle.
"-WOW! She looks a lot like me! She's even an electric type!-" Pippi cried out excitedly when she saw Plusle. Plusle, hearing Pippi, looked back at her. Plusle smiled widelty and waved her hands at Pippi.
"-HIYA! Sorry, can't talk now! Battle time!-" Plusle said to Pippi, then turned back to face Suicune.
"I think I remember reading once that pretty much every region is known for the discovery of a pokemon species thats similar or related to the Pikachu species." Rina commented.
"I am not likely to win at this point, I wasted too much of my strength against her Salamence." Suicune thought. "Even so, I won't give up!"
"Plusle, call down a Thunder attack!" Plusle nodded and then pointed a finger at Suicune. Electricity gathered in the air and then fired straight down toward Suicune, but the water pokemon moved off to the side to evade it. Though Suicune managed to evade it completely, Suicune still felt a burning sensation from the near miss. The effect it had on Suicune, however, was incredibly minimal.
"We missed?!" May cried out in disbelief. Suicune then struck back, opening its mouth and firing a stream of water. The stream started out narrow, but spread out and widened into a stream larger than Plusle's body. Plusle was swept up and thrown back by the high pressure of the water, pushing her into a nearby rock formation that sealed off that particular area from the sea. Plusle was knocked out almost instantly.
"Urk! Bad follow up!" May held out Plusle's pokeball and recalled her, then got ready to send out another pokemon.
"You know, isn't this the same mistake everyone keeps making against Melany? Letting pokemon power up?" Haruka said to May. "I'm sure you could have thought of a better approach than just attacking with that dragon. I can assure you, Suicune is no pushover."
"Well neither am I! I still have a few tricks up my sleeve! I didn't become champion just because I was lucky, afterall!" May shot back, then called out her next pokemon. "Ludicolo, you can do this! Go!" The pokeball in May's hand opened up, releasing her next pokemon. The pokemon that materialized was already dancing and looked like a pineapple with a duck's bill and a sombrero on its head.
"Wh-what is that thing?!" Rina stammered in disbelief.
"Ludicolo, a water and grass type pokemon." May explained with a grin. "It has no weaknesses to any of Suicune's attacks and..."
As May spoke, a strong gust of wind suddenly struck Ludicolo. Suicune, a pokemon of the north wind, conjured a Gust attack to strike it. Ludicolo cried out in a shrill, surprised voice and fell over onto its back. Even with Suicune's increased power, however, Ludicolo was just barely able to endure the normally weak attack. Ludicolo got up as quickly as it could in its weakened state, looking determined and ready to fight back.
"Ok, I wasn't expecting that at all..." May mumbled, blinking in disbelief. She quickly shook her head and returned her thoughts to the task at hand. "Ludicolo, attack Suicune with Mega Drain!" Ludicolo held out its hands toward Suicune, drawing out a small amount of energy from it. Suicune barely seemed to feel it, despite the type disadvantage, and struck back with a rainbow beam from its crest. The beam, an ice attack called Aurora Beam, struck Ludicolo head on and knocked it flat out.
"This...this just isn't my day." May mumbled, recalling Ludicolo. Yet another pokemon of her's had been taken out and barely laid a scratch on Suicune.
"Maybe if you weren't showing off for your new friend, you wouldn't be having this problem." Haruka said to her.
"I-I'm not showing off!" May replied, slamming her foot against the ground and clenching her fists.
"Are you ok May?" Rina asked her. May blinked, realizing what she was doing. She quickly straightened out and grinned sheepishly as she turned to face Rina.
"I'm fine, really! I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve! I'll catch Suicune yet!" May assured her.
"-Really? Because I'm starting to have my doubts..." Pippi said to Rina. Rina nodded to her in agreement.
"I wish I knew what Pippi was saying to her sometimes. Anyway..." May took another pokeball from her belt. "Manetric, your turn now! Go!" She called out, releasing another electric pokemon to battle Suicune. This time, the pokemon that appeared almost seemed to resemble a poodle with the way the yellow, static-charged fur was covering its blue body. Manetric looked determined, ready for battle, not knowing it would only get a single attack in before Suicune would knock it out.
"Manetric, hit Suicune hard! Thunderbolt!" Manetric nodded and quickly began to attack, discharging electricity across its body. The electricity gathered at the front of Manetric's body and then shot out in a lightning bolt, striking Suicune. Suicune growled as the electricity passed through it and nearly collapsed. Suicune was already pretty weak and Manetric's Thunderbolt had managed to strike a pretty decent hit despite Suicune's buffed defense.
"-Not bad...have you been holding back, I wonder?-" Suicune said to May, though she didn't understand and Rina didn't plan to translate. "-It makes no difference now, I'm afraid.-" Suicune straightened up and opened its mouth, firing a powerful Hydro Pump attack at Manetric. Manetric yelped as the water struck it, throwing it back hard as it had done with Plusle earlier and knocking it out instantly. May, having expected this, recalled Manetric with a slight grin.
"...Ok, I'll admit it. I might have been showing off just a bit." May thought, speaking to Haruka.
"So you're finally ready to use that pokemon you've been holding back then? The one you knew all along could beat Suicune?" Haruka asked her. May nodded, drawing a pokeball in her hand.
"Ok, I hope you're ready, Suicune! The kid's gloves are coming off now!" May called out to Suicune, extending her hand and holding out her pokeball. "Roselia, your turn now! Let's go!" May released Roselia from its pokeball, sending out a tiny grass pokemon with flowers for its hands. The tiny grass pokemon, roughly a foot tall, bowed to Suicune.
"That...that's supposed to beat Suicune now?!" Rina blinked and shook her head. "I don't see how..."
"-I concur. I already defeated one grass pokemon of your's and this one certainly doesn't appear to be any stronger.-" Suicune said.
"Hehehe...you shouldn't judge a pokemon by its size, you know!" May said to Rina, wagging her finger at her. "Just watch!" May pointed her finger toward Suicune. "Roselia, Grasswhistle!" Roselia nodded and brought its flower-tipped hands to its lips, then began to whistle. A soothin tune filled the air and soon reached Suicune's ears. As Suicune listened, it felt itself growing tired, its eyelids growing heavy. Suicune collapsed to the ground, falling into a deep sleep.
"I guess I should have known better." Rina said, blinking in disbelief. "But after seeing how easily the rest of your pokemon went down..."
"Err...honestly, I just wanted to show them to you..." May admitted, looking off to the side. "A-anyway!" She quickly reached into her fanny pack and took out an empty Ultra Ball. "Time to catch it now!" May threw the pokeball at Suicune and watched as it bounced off Suicune's back and then opened up, firing a red beam at Suicune and then pulling it inside. The ball began to shake on the ground, but soon burst into pieces and released the sleeping Suicune.
"Ok, let's try again..." May reached into her fannypack to retrieve another Ultra Ball and threw it at Suicune again. The ball struck Suicune and pulled it inside, then fell to the ground and began to shake as Suicune tried to break free while it slept. The ball shook once, twice, three times, and then finally locked shut with Suicune in side. Suicune was caught, and the Ultra Ball disappeared as it was sent off to storage.
"Finally! That's the last one!" May exclaimed, making a 'V' with her fingers. "Great job, Roselia! Knew you could do it!"
"-But all I did was put it to sleep...-" Roselia replied in a confused tone. She then gave a shrug, just before May recalled her.
"So...wait...you could have just done that the whole time?" Rina asked May. May nodded.
"Yep! Put it to sleep, poison it, and use Leech Seed on it. Then it wouldn't have mattered how much Suicune powered up since it didn't have any techniques to heal." May replied. "Anyway, now that that's over with, let's keep going. I'm pretty sure Azalea Town isn't too far past Union Cave."
"She really is just a child..." Rina thought with a sigh.
After catching Suicune, May, Rina, and Pippi continued on their way across Johto on foot. They passed through the Union Cave with little trouble to eventually arrive in Azalea Town. As expected, they went straight to the pokecenter. May healed her pokemon and then made several changes to her team, including withdrawing Suicune. With Suicune in her team, they went into Ilex Forest to talk to Suicune in private.
"Ok, Suicune, come on out now!" May called out, releasing Suicune from its pokeball. Suicune was fully healed when it appeared, thanks to a trip through the storage system.
"-Hmm. Looks like you caught me afterall. I believe congratulations are in order.-" Suicune said, nodding to May. "-I believe I owe you some answers now...-" Rina explained to May. May nodded in response and turned to Suicune to ask it a few questions.
"Ok! First off, where do I go from here? Where's Ho-Oh hiding?" May asked.
"-Ho-Oh is waiting for you at the top of the tower near...I believe you call it Ecruteak.-" Suicune replied. "-When you get there, Ho-Oh will explain the rest.-"
"I'm starting to wonder about all of this too, first Ashley's connection to the legendary birds, and now May and Ho-Oh?" Rina hmm'd thoughtfully. "It can't be just a coincidence that this is coming up now." Rina turned to May and translated for her, repeating what Suicune had explained.
"Ecruteak? That's pretty close to Goldenrod actually..." May nodded slightly. "Ok then...now how about explaining the reason you didn't want to battle near New Bark Town?"
"-Ah...that...-" Suicune chuckled lightly. "-This might require a bit more explanation. You see, I have a daughter there...-"
"Suicune says it has a daughter in New Bark Town..." Rina said to May, and then looked curiously at Suicune. "I didn't think pokemon like you could have babies."
"That would explain it though, Suicune was probably worried that its child would get caught up in the battle somehow." May said, nodding thoughtfully, then looked at Rina. "Though, now that you mention it, I didn't think legendary pokemon could breed either..."
"-I don't get it, what's so odd about Suicune having a baby?-" Pippi asked them.
"-I'm afraid its not quite that simple.-" Suicune said, shaking its head. "-You see...she's a human girl.-"
The group fell silent after Suicune made its revealation. A look of shock slowly spread across Rina's face and Pippi's jaw dropped in utter disbelief. Left out of the loop, May looked between the two in confusion and then clenched her fists tightly as she turned to Rina.
"HEY! Don't leave me out of the loop!" May yelled at her. "What did Suicune say that was so shocking?!"
"S-s-s-s-Suicune's child is...is..." Rina swallowed hard and turned to face May. "A human...a human girl..."
"Wh.....WHAT?!" May yelled in disbelief and fell back. "BUT THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
"-Nothing is impossible when you have the right connections.-" Suicune said quietly. "-Perhaps I should explain how this came to be?-"
"Y-yeah...you should..." Rina replied, still stuttering. Pippi nodded in agreement with her and finally closed her mouth.
"-It all started seven years ago.-" Suicune began. "-I was watching over a well when a lonely woman came by. She tossed a coin into the well and made a wish. A simple wish, she wished for a daughter. While she made her wish, she explained why it could not be. I would rather not go into detail, but suffice to say I was rather moved by her plight.-" Suicune paused in its explanation, giving Rina a chance to quickly explain what it had said so far before it continued.
"-After she had made her wish, I went straight to Ho-Oh and explained my feelings on the matter. Ho-Oh was, to my surprise, willing to help, but on one condition. I would be the one to...deliver the child to her, so to speak.-" Suicune paused for a moment. "-I hope you will understand if I say I am most definitely not going into detail on that endeavour.-"
"Err...that's fine! Really! Don't need to know!" Rina replied nervously. May seemed to get the idea as well, as she didn't bother asking.
"-Of course. I will say this, however. I first had to become human.-" Suicune continued to explain. "-To do this, and to gift the woman with a child, the help of a specific pokemon was required. A pokemon which, under the right circumstances, had unlimited power. It could do anything and everything, so long as it was requested in the form of a wish.-"
"So you got help from a pokemon that could grant wishes?" Rina asked, a question which also served to explain what Suicune had said to May. "So then...you must have passed on her wish to this pokemon, and then you were turned into a human to carry it out?"
"This just gets weirder and weirder..." May commented sourly.
"-Yes. This pokemon also only awakens once every millenium, and would be awakening only this coming year. The request therefore had to go through a time travelling pokemon, who made the wish in the past when it was previously awakened."
Rina explained the situation with the wish granting pokemon to May, then asked Suicune another question. "That sounds kinda complicated for just one wish, why did you go through all of that trouble anyway?"
"-Ho-Oh and I both felt that the resulting child would be a strong step in bridging the gap between human and pokemon. In fact, like you Rina, she may even have a limited understanding of what pokemon are saying.-"
"Hey, I understand pokemon perfectly fine!" Rina shot back, as if she had been insulted.
"-So...are you saying its a good idea for humans and pokemon to have babies together?-" Pippi asked Suicune. An awkward silence fell over the group until Pippi finally got the message. "-Umm...nevermind then...-" She mumbled.
"-In any case...to be honest, I fear for this child's future.-" Suicune said. "-As I am sure you have noticed, there has been a sudden appearance of humans who wish to abuse the power of pokemon, and specifically the power of what you call legendary pokemon. -"
"Like the Grand Hunters..." Rina nodded and then explained to May.
"Now that you mention it...there was also Team Aqua and Team Magma back in Hoenn." May said, blinking as she turned to Suicune. "I don't like where this is going..."
"You've figured it out too then?" Rina asked May. May nodded slightly.
"-Figured out what? What are you two talking about?-" Pippi asked.
"-I believe what they are thinking is that there is no coincidence between their connections to the legendary pokemon and the appearance of those who wish to abuse their power.-" Suicune explained. "-In other words, they themselves will find themselves caught up trying to protect these powerful pokemon.-"
"Well I guess this is as good a time as any to go to Ecruteak then..." May said.
Meanwhile, in Hoenn...
"You're not looking up more of those nude images are you?" Odari asked Melany, who was at home sitting in front of her computer.
"I told you already, that was an accident!" Melany shot back. She typed the words 'champion trainer May' into the search engine she had up on her screen and hit go. In less than a second, thousands of matches were returned. "I'm looking for any news on May's progress, and I'm making sure I get the results I want this time. There might be a lot of May's in the world, but only one is a regional champion."
"If you say so. I don't understand any of this." Odari replied.
Melany scrolled down the results screen until she found what looked like a promising link. Clicking it, she found what looked like a recent news article from Kanto and quickly read it over. "Hey! Here's something interesting! It says..."
"You know I'm technically reading it at the same time as you don't you?" Odari asked, cutting in. "'Green serpent-like dragon' certainly sounds like Rayquaza, which means May ran into it and it was after that girl Rina."
"Right. And now Rina's gone 'somewhere'." Melany added. "I'm sure it was that guy that took Rayquaza too. Which means there's some connection between him and that girl."
"So you're planning to lay a trap, using that girl as 'bait'?" Odari asked her.
"More or less. I'll spread a rumor over the internet that she's coming here, and make sure the rumor gets out. That way, if they're looking for her, they'll come here." Melany replied. "The trap will be set without any actual bait, and I'll fight them on my terms to free Rayquaza and get back at that guy." Melany recalled the shady figure she fought at the Spear Pillar.
"Powerful or not, I have a plan that he won't be able to overcome!"
Author's Notes: Suicune being a father probably came out of nowhere but I've been planning this for a while. It'll probably be fairly easy to guess who, exactly, is Suicune's daughter. You can probably also guess that the upcoming awakening of a certain wish granting pokemon will be an important event as well. There's two important characters right now who have major plans revolving around Jirachi.
Next chapter is back to Hoenn, as you probably also guessed. I made this chapter easy to figure out, huh? At least, toward the end. Ashley will be making an appearance next chapter, and Melany will be enacting that plan of her's. That might not be until the chapter after, though. Depending on how long Ashley's part goes on for since its important that that part comes first.
