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 Eight
Two Birds at Tin Tower
Ecruteak City, Johto, was a rather rustic and old fashioned looking town. Many of the buildings and houses were designed much like those of a feudal Japan. It wasn't unusual to see the inhabitants walking around in robes or kimonos either, something usually reserved for special occassions if worn at all in other places.
"And this is why I don't like Johto." May said to Rina. "There's one modern city in the entire region, and that's Goldenrod! You can't even find a decent place to shop in any other city or town in this region unless you're just looking for souvenirs or items for pokemon trainers!"
After their ordeal in Ilex Forest, which lead them to Cianwood, the two girls went straight to Ecruteak. They now stood near the city's pokecenter, having recently paid it the usual mandatory visit.
"I don't know, I think it'd be a nice place to visit." Rina replied, smiling brightly. "I bet they'd have hot springs and festivals and..."
"They only have festivals at certain times of the year, but they're really not as fun as you'd think." May said, interrupting Rina. "There's no games or even food if thats what you're expecting. Just a ghost festival with a lot of old people chanting."
"...Ecruteak doesn't sound very fun at all." Rina muttered.
"Nope, it isn't. I mean, festivals in Hoenn are...well...erm..." May paused for a moment and then breathed a heavy sigh. "Come to think of it, I don't know Hoenn very well at all. I've been to every city in Hoenn at least once but I was never there long, I set out as a trainer almost as soon as I arrived in Hoenn."
"Well it must have been nice to travel all across Hoenn after just getting there, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess that was kinda nice..." May thought back on her travels through Hoenn briefly. "Before I became a trainer I was set on getting a Chikorita and going through Johto, but it probably wouldn't have been nearly as exciting now that I think about it. Especially with no Team Magma or Team Aqua to beat up, or..." May stopped herself and shook her head. "No, I guess 'he' was never really there."
"Is something wrong?" Rina asked May.
"Oh, no!" May replied quickly. "I was just thinking about something, that's all."
"-Hey, isn't there somewhere we're supposed to be going here anyway?-" Pippi asked Rina.
"Oh yeah, weren't we supposed to be going to some tower?" Rina asked May.
"Right, Tin Tower. Thats it over there." May replied, pointing to a tower standing tall at the other side of the city. The tower had the same feudal appearance as every other building in the city. "Ho-Oh's probably waiting at the top of that tower. It's also guarded by a temple. And monks. I hear they don't let anyone get to the tower, and you have to go through the temple to get there."
"So then...how are you going to convince them to let you through?" Rina asked her.
"Oh I'm sure they'll let me pass when they see Suicune, Raikou, and Entei." May replied. "Anyway, let's go."
May, Rina, and Pippi soon arrived in the aformentioned temple near Tin Tower. They went inside expecting to be greeted by monks, but instead they found nothing. The wooden interior of the temple was silent, save for the girls' footsteps as they went inside.
"This is weird..." May said. "Did we catch them on their lunch break?"
"I wouldn't think a monk would have a lunch break..." Rina said in response.
"-What's a monk? Is that another species of human?-" Pippi asked.
"A monk is a highly spiritual person who usually worship a legendary pokemon." Rina explained to Pippi. "In this case, these monks would be worshippers of Ho-Oh, and this temple dedicated to it. The monks would protect Ho-Oh from anyone who'd try to abuse its power. Or maybe just from people they deem unworthy to see Ho-Oh, I'm not sure..."
"-Oh...so they're the opposite of trainers then.-"
"But where are they? They're supposed to be in the temple to keep people from getting to the tower, aren't they?"
"Why worry about it? If they're not here, then we can keep going."
"I guess you're right..." May shrugged slightly. "I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about this for some reason..."
The three of them continued through the temple, passing through a narrow corridor that lead into another room with a door leading outside. They left the temple through that door and found the monks waiting outside, but not quite how the girls expected to find them..."
"Oh...dear...god..." May mumbled in disbelief. There were seven men lying on the ground between them and Tin Tower. Their robes were torn, their bodies covered in small cuts. Though their injuries didn't look fatal at first, none of the monks appeared to be alive.
"Are they all...?" Rina gulped nervously and left the question in the air.
"I...I..." May stuttered, unable to say much else. Rina quickly and roughly grabbed her by the hand.
"Come on! Whoever did this might still be nearby!" Rina said to her, then dragged her toward the Tin Tower. Pippi moved out ahead of them to protect the girls from any potential threat.
As Rina dragged her past them, May couldn't help but look at the bodies of the fallen monks. Each of them had met the same fate. "Who could have done something like this?" May mumbled under her breath.
"I have a pretty good idea..." Rina replied quietly.
As they came upon a clearing outside the Tin Tower, Rina saw a familiar figure standing before the stairs leading up to the tower's entrance. He was facing away from her, but Rina knew immediately that it was Duke. Standing around him was an army of pokemon, most of which consisted of pokemon that largely resembled owls. One pokemon that stood out was a giant bird pokemon covered in white feathers and wings that resembled hands.
"I knew it'd be one of them..." Rina muttered, narrowing her eyes at him. May looked at the man curiously but had no idea what Rina was talking about.
Rina wasn't the only one who recognized him, as Pippi also remembered Duke. Upon seeing him, Pippi let out a growl and started charging electricity. "-YOU! YOU'LL PAY FOR HURTING RINA!-" Pippi yelled in a rage, then fired a bolt of electricity toward the man. One of the pokemon, a Jolteon, jumped up in front of the bolt and intercepted it without causing any harm to itself.
"Hmm? Did I miss someone?" Duke wondered aloud. When he turned around and saw Rina and May, he crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. "Well this is certainly unexpected. All this time the real Rina has been hiding out in Johto with Hoenn's champion, May."
"The 'real' Rina?" Rina blinked in disbelief and then shook her head, letting the comment slide. "Duke! You've gone too far!" Rina shouted angrily. "I don't care how many pokemon you have with you, this time I'll make sure you're never going to hurt anyone or steal pokemon ever again!"
"Bold words, but you couldn't even beat Mewtwo by yourself last time." Duke replied, sounding unconcerned. "Since your friend there seems like she's already down for the count, you won't last more than five minutes against Lugia and the pokemon I took from those monks."
"May?" Rina blinked and looked over at May. She was still in a state of shock from discovering the bodies of the monks. "May! Snap out of it!"
"-Rina! Let me shock her, that'll work!-" Pippi growled. She didn't want to be held back from finally shocking Duke.
"Don't! That'd just hurt her!"
"Hahahahahaha! May's pokemon are the best shot you have at beating me, and she's not even able to fight!" Duke said to Rina. "You're just lucky I had to waste so many slave collars on those monks!" Duke held up his left arm, showing off a collar launcher similar to the one Aqua once used. There was one collar loaded in it. "I only have one left, and I'm saving that one for something special..."
"MAY! Snap out of it! That guy plans to capture Ho-Oh!" Haruka yelled at May, breaking her lengthy silence.
"But those monks...he just..."
"Damn it! I said..."
Suddenly, the world around May went completely black. Save for an older clone of herself clad in leather armor standing in front of her.
"SNAP OUT OF IT!" The doppleganger yelled, punching May in the stomach. May's eyes bulged and she doubled over in pain.
"Who...? What...?" May gasped for breath and stared at her double in disbelief. "H-how...?"
"Get over yourself! People die all the time! You can't be losing focus just because you saw a few corpses!" The other May said to her. "Heck, I used to kill people myself when I had to. By the time I was your age I was already able to wield a sword!"
"H-Haruka?!" May said in disbelief. She tried to stand up but was still in too much pain. Haruka had a mean right hook.
"We don't have time for this! Any second now, that guy's going to order that army of his to attack. Rina might be strong, but alone she'd easily get overwhelmed! I don't know what that giant bird of his is but even I can tell its related to Ho-Oh somehow!"
"Giant bird?" May blinked and thought back. She could barely recall seeing the bird alongside Duke. It was as big as Kyogre, maybe even bigger, and had a slave collar around its neck just like the others.
"If you're worried about those monks, then don't be. Ho-Oh will be able to help them, you just need to make sure that guy isn't able to get to Ho-Oh first!"
"Ho-Oh can?" May blinked. Though still in pain, she stood up and then nodded to Haruka. "Ok, if you say so...I'll stop this Duke guy from capturing Ho-Oh."
"Good, else I would have had to hit you again."
"Where are we anyway?" May asked, looking around.
"I'll explain when we have time!" Haruka said to her, then snapped her fingers. Haruka disappeared and May felt her vision getting hazy again.
"So Hoenn's new champion faints under pressure. Pathetic." Duke snickered. "And here I was looking forward to pounding a regional champion's pokemon into the ground."
"MAY! You have to get up, please!" Rina pleaded, kneeling on the ground next to May.
"-Rina, forget about her! We have to do something about Duke!-" Pippi said.
Suddenly, May began to stir. "Ow...what?" May muttered groggily, slowly opening her eyes. She then winced, feeling the pain in her chest again from when Haruka punched her.
"May! Are you ok!?" Rina asked her in a concerned tone. "If you're not up to battling this guy then just say so and let me take over!"
"No! I'm fine!" May replied, quickly sitting up while clutching her stomach. "Ow...what did you do to me?"
"I put you to sleep, more or less." Haruka said to her. "Or rather, in a sleep-like state wherein I could speak and interact with you directly. As I'm sure you know, my punches feel quite real in that state."
"Whatever..." May muttered, finally standing up and glaring at Duke.
"What's this? First you faint, now you're trying to act tough? Don't waste your time." Duke smirked and gestured toward the giant bird standing nearby. "With this pokemon under my control, you don't stand a chance."
"Oh yeah?!" Rina shot back as she stood up. "Well May has a powerful legendary pokemon under her control too, right May?"
"Err...actually I didn't take that one with me..." May replied sheepishly. "But still, I don't need it!" May took three pokeballs from her belt, one in one hand and two in the other, and held them out. "Not as long as I have these three! Raikou, Entei, Suicune, go!" The pokeballs opened up and, one by one, the three servants of Ho-Oh emerged onto the field.
"-So the three of us are united again at last.-" Suicune said to the other two.
"-One trainer has caught all three of us, just as Ho-Oh said she would.-" Entei said, nodding in response.
"-Wasn't exactly easy to avoid getting caught by someone else in the process.-" Raikou growled. "-Let's just get this over with so she can do what she came here to do!-" Suicune and Entei nodded in agreement.
"It's better than nothing I guess." Rina said with a sigh. "Well that's ok, because I have powerful pokemon of my own!" Rina called out, grabbing two pokeballs from her belt. "Mew! Miss Esp! Come on out!" She held out the two pokeballs, releasing her pokemon. Mew appeared floating in the air alongside Miss Esp.
"A shame I wasted those slave collars, this would have been the perfect opportunity to grab your legendary pokemon from under your nose and turn them against you." Duke shrugged. "I suppose I'll just have to take them from your cold, dead bodies instead." Duke pointed toward the two. "Noctowls, Machokes! Hit them all with your best attacks! Jolteon, target Suicune! Flareon, target Raikou! Vaporeon, target Entei!" With the exception of Lugia, each of Duke's enslaved pokemon charged toward Rina, May, and their pokemon.
"Mew, Miss Esp, attack the two Machoke's with Psychic! Pippi, aim a Thunderbolt at the Noctowls!"
"Raikou, you attack the Noctowls too! Suicune and Entei, stall them with a Roar!"
Suicune and Entei let out a menacing Roar, causing the enslaved pokemon to briefly stop in their tracks. The two Machoke's soon found themselves in the grip of a psychic attack and were quickly knocked out by Mew and Miss Esp. Pippi fired a Thunderbolt attack into the Noctowl flying hovering off the ground, dropping one of them in a single blast. Raikou followed suit, striking two Noctowl's that happened to be close together.
After a round of fire from May and Rina's pokemon, Duke's pokemon finally moved to attack. The Jolteon gathered electricity across its body and fired a bolt at Suicune, landing a light hit on the water pokemon. Flareon fired a Flamethrower attack at Raikou, and Vaporeon attacked Entei with Water Pulse. Raikou emerged from the flames with only very minor burns and Entei easily shook off the Water Pulse attack it took to the face.
The remaining four Noctowl, meanwhile, moved closer to May and Rina's pokemon than the three Eevee evolutions. They each chose a different pokemon to attack and dove in. A Noctowl flew straight into Mew, Miss Esp, Pippi, and Raikou in a Take Down attack. Raikou shook off the impact and then fired back at its attacker with a Thunderbolt, knocking the Noctowl out of the air and fainting it in one attack. Pippi took a harder hit and was knocked off her feet, but she quickly got back up and did the same. Pippi fired a Thunderbolt attack at her attacker and knocked it out.
"Just a few more to go! Miss Esp, Mew, strike back at those Noctowl's with Psychic!"
Mew and Miss Esp quickly focused and began to squeeze the two Noctowls with their psychic power, and then threw them into the ground. The Noctowls quickly got back on their feet and then took off again, flying straight into Mew and Miss Esp with another Take Down attack. Mew endured the hit, but Miss Esp was knocked off her feet. Both Noctowls were knocked to the ground, but still had enough strength left to get back on their feet.
"Ok, your turn now, Pippi!" Rina called out. "Attack both Noctowl's with Surf!" Pippi nodded and moved out ahead of the two psychic pokemon. She summoned a wall of water from under her feet and rode the wave toward the Noctowls. Pippi then jumped off at the last second as the wave crashed down upon them, knocking them out.
"Suicune, attack Flareon with Hydro Pump! Raikou, attack Vaporeon with Thunderbolt! Entei, trap Jolteon with Fire Spin!"
Suicune opened its mouth and fired a powerful, high-pressure blast of water at Flareon. Suicune's attack soaked Flareon and pushed it back several feet, where it finally fainted. Entei, meanwhile, opened its mouth and released a spiralling blast of flames into the air. The flames fell down around Jolteon, forming into a twister around it to leave it trapped.
Jolteon and Vaporeon, the only remaining pokemon from the group Duke ordered to attack, were each able to attack before Raikou was able to gather enough electricity for another attack. A bolt of electricity fired out from the swirling flames, striking Suicune, and a Water Pulse fired by Vaporeon hit Entei. They recoiled from the attacks, but easily shook it off. Raikou then fired back at Vaporeon, blasting the water pokemon with a Thunderbolt attack. Vaporeon cried out as the electricity struck it and collapsed.
"Entei, let's finish this! Attack Jolteon with Fire Blast!" May called out. Entei reared its head back and then spat out a fireball at Jolteon. The fireball began to expand and pushed through the flames surrounding Jolteon, striking it and exploding shortly after impact. The flaming twister dissipated and Jolteon was knocked out by Entei's attack.
"So much for your army of pokemon!" May taunted Duke.
"Tch. Should have known those monks' pokemon were no good." Duke muttered, then shrugged in response to May. "Oh, I still have my army." He replied, then pointed toward their pokemon. "Lugia, attack their pokemon with Aeroblast." Lugia moved in front of Duke, obscuring him from view as it turned to face the group of pokemon. Lugia reared its head back and took in a deep breath.
"Aeroblast? What's that?" May wondered, having never heard of the attack before.
May would soon have her answer. Lugia leaned forward and opened its mouth, firing a torrent of wind concentrated like a beam. It strafed the attack across each of their gathered pokemon, knocking all but Mew off of their feet. Mew, having been floating in the air at the time, was knocked back a few feet instead.
"Whoa! I've never seen an attack like that before!" May exclaimed in disbelief. Each of her own pokemon were able to get back on their feet shortly after enduring the attack, as did most of Rina's pokemon. Miss Esp, however, stayed down. The attack had landed a strong enough hit on her to knock her out, forcing Rina to recall her.
"Well no pokemon is an army!" Rina yelled at Duke, then turned to May. "We've still got Lugia outnumbered, let's hit it with everything we've got!"
May nodded quickly. "Right! Suicune, Aurora Beam! Raikou, Thunderbolt! Entei, Fire Blast!"
"Pippi, Volt Tackle! Try to hit that collar! Mew, Psychic!"
The pokemon launched a volley of attacks against Lugia, with their trainers assuming it to be a flying-type pokemon. As they launched their attacks, Lugia crossed its enormous wings in front of its body to defend itself. A multicolored beam and a bolt of electricity struck Lugia as Suicune and Raikou's attacks hit first.
They were followed up by a blue glow surrounding Lugia as Mew attacked with Psychic, though Lugia barely flinched as Mew tried to crush it. Mew tried to throw Lugia into the ground to finish it, but the giant bird pokemon barely moved an inch. A fireball in the shape of a stick figure struck Lugia as well while it was being assaulted by Mew's Psychic attack. The fireball had been spat out by Entei and expanded until it finally struck Lugia, then exploded. Lugia staggered back, nearly hitting Duke, but was able to hold its ground.
Pippi was the final pokemon to attack Lugia, holding off to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. She charged toward Lugia, electricity swirling around her body. She tried to get a clear shot at Lugia's neck to destroy the collar around it, but Lugia raised a wing to block the attack. Pippi landed a strong hit, but bounced off Lugia's wing and hit the ground. The impact left Pippi dazed for a moment as she tried to shake off the recoil.
"Our attacks had no affect on it?!" Rina exclaimed in disbelief.
"No way! Even Kyogre wasn't that tough!" May said.
"Lugia has already fought one battle today, it's had some time to prepare you could say." Duke said, snickering to himself. "Of course, Lugia's endurance is rather legendary as it is. Though, for a legendary pokemon, it's offensive capabilities leave something to be desired." Duke shrugged. "It more than makes up for it with the powerful attacks at it's disposal. Observe! Lugia, attack Mew with Hydro Pump!"
Lugia opened its mouth and fired a high pressure stream of water at Mew. As the water struck it, Mew cried outwas pushed back through the air until it dropped and skidded against the ground. After the punishment it had taken in the battle with the Noctowl's, as well as enduring Lugia's Aeroblast, Mew was left too weak to endure the hit and fainted.
"MEW!" Rina cried out. She quickly grabbed a pokemon and recalled it, fearing Duke might try to enslave it while it was unconscious.
"This isn't good, we just can't damage that thing and our best pokemon are already weakened from previous battles." May clenched her fist and thought hard. "Ok, have to think this through. Right now I've got Suicune, Entei, and Raikou. They can't do much to Lugia, but maybe that'd change after a Calm Mind or two."
"They might not last long enough. Lugia seems to have some sort of power boost of its own on its side. Defensive and offensive, I'd be willing to guess it used Ancientpower and was lucky enough to maintain the power granted by the attack." Haruka said to her. "Destroying that collar is your best bet, I believe. Rina certainly wanted to target it for some reason."
May blinked. "That's right!" She thought, then frowned as a realization dawned on her. "But Lugia is protecting that collar too. If only there was some way to get past it, to maybe attack it from above..."
"There is a way." Haruka said. "Tell Suicune to call out for Ho-Oh. Ho-Oh should come if it hears Suicune howling. Make sure it tells Ho-Oh to aim for the collar."
"Ok, got it!" May nodded, then whispered the message to Suicune so Duke wouldn't overhear it. "Suicune, we need Ho-Oh's help! Tell it to aim for the collar!"
Suicune blinked, considering this for a moment. "-Very well.-" Suicune replied, nodding. It then raised it's head to the sky and let out a howl. "-AIM FOR THE COLLAR!-" Suicune added, calling out loudly to Ho-Oh and hoping it would get the message.
"Huh?" Rina blinked in confusion, having only heard what Suicune had said, and looked over at May. "May...umm...what's Suicune doing?"
"Getting some help!" May replied.
"What's this? Think Lugia's physical defense is weaker? Don't bet on that!" Duke said to the girls, snickering. "Even if Lugia's physical defense was weaker, it can Recover from the damage and already has increased defenses. Face it, there's no way you're getting out of this one, girls."
"I wouldn't be so sure!" May shot back, pointing into the air. Rina looked up as well and gasped.
"Like I'm going to fall for something like that." Duke replied. After a moment, though, he could hear a crackling sound above him and looked up in time to see a giant bird composed entirely of fire diving straight down. Duke growled and clenched his teeth. It was too late for him to do anything about it, though. The fire bird dove straight into Lugia, striking it in the back of the neck and smashing into the ground. Duke quickly moved away, feeling the intense heat from the flames.
The flames soon dispersed, revealing another giant bird with rainbow colored feathers standing on top of Lugia. The new arrival hopped off Lugia's back, standing next to it as Lugia stood back up again. The collar that had been around Lugia's neck was gone, reduced to a molten puddle on the ground. Lugia shook its head and then turned to the other bird.
"-I suppose I owe you one, Ho-Oh.-"
"-I didn't realize we were keeping score.-" Ho-Oh replied. It then turned toward May and Rina. "-Suicune, Raikou, Entei. Good to see you all again. I see you have found her. Or rather, she has found you.-"
"-Ho-Oh, we have returned with the chosen one, as you instructed.-" Suicune replied, then bowed down to Ho-Oh. Entei and Raikou followed suit shortly after.
"Whoa! That's Ho-Oh?!" May exclaimed in disbelief. "It's so...colorful."
"That's really all you have to say? Show a bit more respect!" Haruka scolded her.
"Ho-Oh, don't let your guard down!" Rina called out. "He still has a slave collar left, and he can use a smoke ball to teleport away!"
May blinked. "A smoke ball?"
Ho-Oh nodded, then looked past the girls to see the dead monks lying further away. "-Lugia, keep an eye on the human. It seems I am not finished here.-"
"-Very well.-" Lugia turned to the side to keep an eye on Duke. Duke growled and clenched a fist, realizing he was cornered.
Ho-Oh then set about it's business. With one broad flap of its wings, Ho-Oh sent several feathers flying from its body. One feather landed perfectly on each of the far away monks. Their bodies then became engulfed in flames and the feathers disintegrated, but they didn't burn. The flames revitalized them, healing their injuries and returning them to life. The monks soon began to stand up, looking dazed and confused. May and Rina looked back and were stunned to see the monks back on their feet.
"Like I said, Ho-Oh would be able to help them." Haruka said to May.
"No kidding...that's amazing!" May replied in disbelief.
Rina quickly forgot about the monks, turning her attention back to Duke. "It's over, Duke! Now release all of the pokemon you stole from those monks!"
"Hmph. I guess I have no choice." Duke replied, glaring at Rina and May. "Too bad, with those pokemon we could have finally taken the Battle Frontier in Hoenn..." Duke held out his arm to access the launcher on his wrist, which had a release button for the slave collars.
"The Battle Frontier?" May wondered aloud.
Suddenly, a snap rang through the air and Ho-Oh squawked in surprised as a metal collar suddenly clamped around it's neck. Rather than releasing the enslaved pokemon, Duke pulled a fast one on the group. With one quick movement he had aimed the device at Ho-Oh and launched his final collar to enslave the legendary bird. Ho-Oh's three servants gasped and quickly stood up and Pippi, who had been standing nearby still, growled and charged electricity around her body.
"HEY! Let Ho-Oh go right now!" May yelled to Duke.
"See you there!" Duke replied, then pressed another button on the device. Duke vanished, and one by one each of the enslaved pokemon followed suit.
"-NO!-" Pippi cried out, launching herself toward Ho-Oh with a Volt Tackle. Ho-Oh vanished as well, just before she could break the collar.
"-HO-OH!-" Lugia, Suicune, Raikou, and Entei cried out in dismay.
"How did he even do that?!" May said in disbelief.
"It's a Teleport, he must have used that device to signal a distant psychic pokemon to teleport them all away!" Rina replied.
"Well we have to go after them! I didn't come this far just to watch Ho-Oh get enslaved by some jerk with a collar-launcher!"
"-You three, this girl is Ho-Oh's chosen one, correct?-" Lugia asked Suicune, Raikou, and Entei.
"-That is correct.-" Entei replied with a nod. "-She has passed the trials put forth by Ho-Oh.-"
"-I have no part in Ho-Oh's plans, and fully intend to return to my place at sea.-" Lugia said to them. "-But for now, I will lend you my assistance. Ho-Oh freed me and now I must return the favor. Inform your master.-"
"May, Lugia just said it plans to go with us until we free Ho-Oh." Rina said to May.
"Alright." May nodded, reaching for a pokeball for Lugia. "Then I guess the first place we should check is that Battle Frontier..."
Author's Notes: Making note, festivals might make for an interesting plot that doesn't revolve around pokemon battling and instead focuses on character development. Or something.
Sub note, festivals are a good excuse for pokemon battles.
Originally, I was going to have May battle and capture Ho-Oh this chapter. However, then I got the idea in my head of Duke capturing Ho-Oh with his last collar (Lugia, after being freed, was going to intervene originally) and making off with it plus all the pokemon belonging to the monks. The monks you might remember from Crystal, only I had five instead of three. Was going to have the other two have an Umbreon and Espeon, but then I realized that it clashed with how Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon matched up with Entei, Raikou, and Suicune. So I just figured I'd give them a fighting pokemon instead, going with the typical monk stereotype of being barefisted brawlers in RPG's.
I don't plan to let May keep Lugia, if that wasn't already obvious. Though Lugia won't be the only legendary pokemon to leave May. That might not have been obvious, but knowing that you can probably guess which pokemon it will be.
On another note, you don't see Ho-Oh's ability to revive the dead being showcased much. Probably because that'd require something dies first. Or maybe that was just an ability meant to be alluded to rather than something it could actually do. Kinda like how Kyogre and Groudon are only ever shown to be able to affect the weather.
I keep forgetting Ashley and May have voices in their heads now. That'd be why Aisha was unusually silent last chapter incase anyone noticed. I forgot she was there...
