"speech" - regular talking

"speech" - Legendary Pokemon talking

Revised.

Chapter 20

6/8/0046/Evening

Ecruteak City

Bell Tower

The always golden skies over Ecruteak City was one of the largest tourist attractions for this city, next to the old fashioned culture that many people wanted to learn about. While many tourist just loved seeing the goldenrod colored skies so often, the actual citizens of the city had grown accustomed the sight, although it was indeed a special sight, especially during a sunset.

Standing at the base of Bell Tower was the five Kimono Girls. They were waiting patiently for the sixth and seventh girls that was supposed to the join them.

"Ah, there she is." Nozomi noted out loud, pointing out Grace and Lana who had just come into view in the crowd streets that led up to Bell Tower.

"Sorry I'm late!" Lana shouted as she neared them, slowing down to a light jog.

"That's fine. So is Blake-kun heading east or west?" Yumi asked, looking toward the dark haired girl who took a moment to catch her breath.

"He's going east." Grace replied.

"So we can assume he's headed for Mahogany Town." Nozomi concluded, getting a nod from her sisters.

"He's traveling with a boy that he met in the Battle Dome." Lana informed them before looking up at the tall tower that was looming over them.

"Good, for now we can let him move freely." Nozomi said before all eyes settled on Grace.

"So does that mean its my turn?" Grace asked, receiving a nod in reply from the girls.

"Yup, we think you're ready to head to the top of Bell Tower and meet with Ho-oh now." Miyu said, beaming at Grace's growth since they had last seen her.

"Really, awesome." Grace exclaimed as Rei stepped over to her, placing a hand on Grace's shoulder.

"We want to you ascend the tower and unite your Crest with Ho-oh. But you have to go through the inside of the tower." Rei explained, pointing up to the top of the tower where they could barely get a glimpse golden column that was protruding from the roof of the tower.

"Well I don't have any flying Pokemon to begin with, but why do I have to go through the inside?" Grace asked, her attention being drawn to Hiroko who had the answer.

"The tower is filled with Pokemon that don't belong there." She began. "During the Dark Days when Ho-oh had to abandon the tower because the people of Ecruteak revolted against it. While Ho-oh was gone, numerous Pokemon moved into the tower because they recognized it as a sacred ground that was ripe for them to conquer."

"So that means they must be really strong." Grace concluded.

"Yes. Battles take place inside Bell Tower on a daily basis. Many trainers have gone into the tower for training, but most people don't make it past the second floor without getting all of their Pokemon knocked out." Nozomi explained, receiving a determined nod from Grace.

"I had to do the same thing in the Whirl Islands. They're really strong." Lana added, which only seemed to add to Grace's motivation

"Good luck Grace." The girls said to her as Grace made her way toward the two collasal doors that acted as the main entrance to Bell Tower.

"Wait, how are you guys going to know when I'm finished?" Grace asked, looking back at the girls.

"Don't worry about that, no one in the entire city is going to miss it." Nozomi replied, motioning for her to continue on.

"...Alright then, see you guys later!" Grace said as she approached the entrance where two monks were waiting for her. The duo of bald headed males gave her a nod before they stepped toward the doors, pulling them open to give Grace access to the tall tower.

The inside of the tower was dark, dusty and very quiet. Wooden beams were the support pieces that were spread out all over the place to hold up each floor. Grace could only wonder how such an old building was still standing despite the number of centuries it had been standing in Ecruteak City.

"Aaah!" Grace shrieked as she burst through the wooden wall of the tower along with her Tangrowth, the two of the beginning to fall down alongside the tower. "Tangrowth, use Vine Whip!"

The grass type Pokemon raised its right arm, firing several vines at the hole it and Grace had created in the side of the tower while Grace grabbed onto its second arm. Their decent came to a sudden stop before Tangrowth began to pull itself back up into the tower. The tower tower was in terrible shape.

The wooden walls could be broken quite easily, and this was evident by the number of holes in the walls that could be found in the upper floors of tower. It was a very dangerous mission.

"Are you okay Tangrowth?" Grace asked as the two of them rose back up to the entrance to the battle zone that they had been thrown out of. All of Grace's Pokemon had taken quite a beating as they journeyed through the tower, cleaning out each floor of the Pokemon that were present before them moved on to the next.

"Tang, tang." It replied, more concerned with Grace than itself since she had received a few bumps and bruises as well.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Grace replied as they reached the entry point to rejoin the battle. As they climbed back into Bell Tower, they were created by the sight of Grace's Electivire being slammed into one of the wooden support pieces by a group of three Ampharous' in a push match.

"Tangrowth, help Electivire with Power Whip!" Grace shouted, getting nod from Tangrowth as it raised its arms. A thick, green glowing vine extended from each of its wrists which Tangrowth then used to knock away the Ampharous' from Electivire.

Grace's electric type Pokemon thanked Tangrowth for its help before Grace hollered at the two of the follow her across the room where the rest of her Pokemon were still battling.

'Finally, the last floor before the roof.' Grace said to herself with a small smile as she and all six of her Pokemon ascended the stairs to enter the last floor. Grace's eyes became wide as she looked around at the occupants of the final floor and the sheer number of them that they would have to battle. 'Whoa.'

This would certainly be the toughest part.

"Alright everyone, let's take out as many of them as possible in one go!" Grace declared as the rest of her Pokemon came out onto the floor, ready to receive their commands. "Arcanine, Solar Beam! Lucario, get em' with Aura Sphere! Tangrowth, use Seed Bomb! Metang, use Meteor Mash! Milotic, Blizzard! Electivire full power Thunder Bolt!"

Outside the tower, everyone's attention was drawn to Bell Tower when several flashes of light could been seen from all of the windows followed by each of them being blown out of their stationary position, falling to the ground below.

"Whoa, what's going on in Bell Tower?" The questions flew around the streets like wild fire. They were aware of the battles that took place in Bell Tower quite often, but the battles had never drawn everyone's attention as this one did.

Inside the tower, Grace coughed several times, laying on her stomach since she had been knocked over by the force of the blast. After a few moments, Grace rose up to her feet to check her surroundings as the dust cleared. In the dust cloud, she could see six silhouettes that matched the body types of each of her Pokemon.

The dust cleared away completely after a short period of time, and Grace could see that each of their attacks had knocked out all of the Pokemon on the floor.

"Great job guys, let's finish this job." Grace declared, pointing to the staircase at the center of the floor. This would take them the roof of Bell Tower.

After climbing the staircase, Grace met with a warm breeze. Taking a moment to take in the amazing view she had of Ecruteak City, Grace could tell that this was definitely the place she would want to live in after her Pokemon journey was over. Turning back the roof of Bell Tower, Grace noted that the only noteworthy objects up here was the spiral column that rested precisely in the middle of the roof with four Ho-oh statues surrounding it.

"We made it." Grace said as she walked up to the column. Grace closed her eyes for a moment before she slapped the column with her up here was the spiral column at the center of the roof where the red tiles intersected. "I'm back Ho-oh!"

At the moment of contact, her Crest lit up, revealing its gold color in the shape of a large sun with a rainbow floating above it. The column began to flow, gaining the entire city's attention as the entire roof disappeared inside of the light. From there, a vertical ray of light was fired into the skies, creating a focal point that the orange clouds began to circle around.

For a moment all was quiet as the clouds took shape into the head of the Legendary Phoenix Pokemon. There was a roar from within the cloud before the actual Pokemon burst out of it, hovering over Ecruteak City before it began to fly toward the tower. With each flap of its wings, bright sparkles were showered down onto the citizens who had gathered into the streets.

Shock and awe was clearly evident on everyone's faces. They would've never believed that such a Pokemon existed, but here was was before them.

"Ho-oh! I came back!" Grace shouted, waving at the Phoenix Pokemon as it circled around Bell Tower.

Ho-oh roared once more before it ascended to the top of Bell Tower, gracefully landing at the top of the spiral column. Perched in that position, Ho-oh peered down at Grace, tilting its head sideways before it recognized her Crest.

"Grace-san, I am grateful for your return."

"No way, you can talk?" Grace exclaimed, receiving a nod from the large bird.

"Only with you. We are connected because we share the same Crest. But for now, we must shift our attention to the Storm."

"What storm is everyone talking?"

"This is not your typical storm. This is the Storm, where the Crests of Darkness and Light will face off to determine who shall have the right to hold the Crest of the King."

"But Blake already has the Crest of the King."

"That changes nothing. The Crest of the King is what they want, and they will stop at nothing to get it. The Dark Crests have already entered the Storm. I can feel it. The loss of the Clear Bell."

"I'm sorry Ho-oh. We messed up on Mt. Tsuji."

"That is nothing to worry about right now. We must focus on what is ahead for you, me and the rest of your race as well as my own."

"Yeah, just tell me what I have to do." Grace said confidently.

"Unite our Crests."

Ho-oh jumped off the column it was resting on, landing in front of Grace where it spread its wings, revealing the same exact Crest Grace had on her wrist only it was located on its stomach. Grace gave the large Pokemon a quick nod before she placed her left hand on its Crest.

Both of them gained a golden shroud. This time the light was far smaller than when Grace had first touched the column. Only she had Ho-oh disappeared inside of the light, Grace's Pokemon looking so as not to be blinded by the light.

Route 42

Blake gasped in pain as he dropped down to both of his knees, tightly clutching his right forearm. it had began to throb in pain just a few moments before, and it was causing him so much pain that standing was something he could no longer focus on.

"Woah, are you okay?" Matt asked, kneeling down next to him.

"I'm…fine." Blake mumbled out as he rolled up the sleeve of his jacket on his right arm to examine his Crest. The pentagon made up of five smaller triangles now had a second color filling up one of the triangles. Next to the neutral silver that he had gained from Lana, a bright gold filled in the next triangle.

6/8/0046/Night

Bell Tower

Grace rose up from the ground, rubbing her head to calm the shooting the pain she was feeling. Her entire team was surrounding her, but Ho-oh was missing from the group.

"Ra." Arcanine said, playfully rubbing its nose against Grace's now that she was awake. Grace laughed as she ruffled the fur on top its head.

"I'm happy to see you too Arcanine." Grace with a smile as the fire type Pokemon took a step back, allowing her to stand up. "Where's Ho-oh?"

"I have left for Hoenn. But if you ever need me, just call."

Grace looked around for the source of the voice, recognizing it as Ho-oh's, but the Phoenix was no where in sight.

"So we can speak to each other even though you're so far away?" Grace asked out loud, getting several confused looks from her Pokemon.

"Yes."

"So why are you going to Hoenn?"

"The Eons have left this region making it the safest possible for me to rest at-at the moment. Beware Grace, both of the Eons are on the mainland, hunting down the Crests of Light."

"Don't worry Ho-oh, I'll stay on guard." Grace said, assuring the Phoenix that she would be fine.

Kimono Girls' Estate

Grace sat in a semi-circle with the rest of the Kimono Girls, Lana missing from the group.

"That was quite a show you gave the people of Ecruteak City." Rei commented as Grace took a seat. Grace smiled at this.

"Would you expect anything less?" She replied.

"So Ho-oh has gone to Hoenn?" Hiroko asked for clarification, getting a nod from Grace. "And Lana has already met with Lugia so now we're down to three."

"Have you guys found Raikou, Entei or Suicune's Crest yet?" Grace asked, examining her Crest which she could make visible at her command now.

"We haven't yet. We're sure that they're still in the Johto Region, but finding three people from over a million makes this job pretty difficult." Rei replied with a shrug.

"But it's alright as long as they remain invisible. If we can't find them, I'm sure that the Dark Crests can't either." Nozomi added. "And while I know this is off topic, we'll be splitting up again."

"Again?" Miyu whined.

"I know we just got back together, but we've found Blake and Grace. We have to focus our attention on gathering the remaining Johto Crests now." Nozomi continued. "Lana has already left to continue the search. The odds of us finding them is far greater if we split up rather than stick together."

The Kimono Girls sighed at the truth of this fact. Grace looked up in thought, recalling the events at the Tsugi Temple.

"But what if you guys run into the Dark Crests again. Don't you have a way to protect yourselves?" Grace asked them.

"Of course we do. We just sealed them away to train themselves for the Storm." Miyu chimed in.

"It's a little early, but I suppose its the appropriate time to call them back." Yumi added.

"How come I don't know about them?" Grace asked.

"It was before you were born. The Elder suggested that we seal them away until it became necessary for use to them." Nozomi explained. "Come with us."

"Whoa, I've never been in this room before." Grace said, examining the cave like room they had entered. The entrance to the room was nothing more than a opening in the floor in the one of the many dead ends of the state.

It was pretty dark in the room, although the girls had brought candles with them to give the room a dim lighting. At the end of the rather small room was a glowing horizontal line that ran across the wall with five points on the line. Each of those points glowed in a different color that was clearly visible in the dim light.

"Do you guys remember what to do?" Nozomi asked, getting nod from each of her sisters. "Then let's begin.

One by one, each of the Kimono Girls approached one of the points on the line and placed their hand on it. The lines connected that particular point would disappear as each of them moved their point to a specific spot on the wall. Once all five girls had move their point to its desired location, the lines connected each of them reappeared, taking the shape of a pentagon.

"Woah, how'd you guys do that?" Grace exclaimed only to be shushed by the girls. The inside of the pentagon became a bright cyan that lit up the entire room with several purple blotches mixed in.

"Here they come." Rei said, pointing toward the pentagon. One after another, five Pokemon came out the pentagon, standing on all fours.

"No way, you guys have been hiding these Pokemon for so long?" Grace asked, rushing over to the five Pokemon that were observing their new surroundings. "They're all so cute."

"All of you, don't let her touch you." Nozomi said sharply as Grace neared the Pokemon. As Grace jumped at them, all five of them became a fast moving blur that easily avoided Grace's frontal attack before stopping in front of their respective owner among the Kimono Girls. "Excellent."

Nozomi greeted her Leafeon with a quick nod which the Pokemon returned while Miyu wrapped her Jolteon up in a tight hug, telling it how much she missed it while it was training. Rei dropped down to the floor, engaging her Vaporeon in a staring contest while pressing their noses against each others.

Yumi knelt down next to her Espeon, scratching the Pokemon behind its left ear which gained a purr from the it. Hiroko smiled at her Flareon, allowing the Pokemon to take its place on her shoulder.

"Eevee evolutions." Grace commented, looking at the five girls and their Pokemon.

"It's been a tradition among the Kimono Girls for centuries. Although we'll be abandoning that title now." Yumi said as she threw off her kimono to reveal her new outfit. It consisted of a pair of blue designer jeans with a flora pattern running up the side, a hot pink t-shirt and a demin jacket with the collar flipped up.

The remaining girls did the same to their kimonos, revealing the same outfit Yumi was wearing on the t-shirt matched the color of their Eevee evolution. Together they released the string that held their hair up in a bun, allowing their long black hair to tumble down to their upper back.

"I haven't let my hair down in ages." Hiroko said, examining her hair which she hadn't felt against her neck in years.

"I feel so…free." Miyu said, throwing off her wooden sandals.

"Come guys, there's no time to waste. The Five Sisters of Ecruteak City have work to do." Yumi said excitedly, slipping out of her sandals as well. "Let's go!"

6/12/0046/Noon

Mahogany Town

Mahogany Town, one of the smaller, lesser known towns of Johto was placed quietly in between two mountains that overshadowed it in size and popularity. It's sole attraction was a Pokemon Gym, but this had been lost during the Dark Days. Most foreigners stumbled onto the town while traveling toward Lake Rage, using the town for rest and lodging.

Matt and Blake slowly moved through the town, having another one of their aimless discussions that Matt would normally start since he couldn't stand the silence Blake preferred. Blake had tried to ignore him, but soon enough he would find himself taking part whether he wanted to or not.

Matt was initially labeled a nuisance by Blake, but after spending some time with the teen, Blake found himself enjoying the time he spent with Matt. It was the first time he had ever gotten into a heated discussion about Pokemon with someone else, no to mention Matt was also a good training partner since they were both aiming for the IBF Tourney.

Blake glanced back at Matt after he received a tap on the shoulder from the boy.

"Your phone." Matt said after he removed his headphones, allowing Blake to take notice of the constant ring that was coming from his Pokedex. Flipping open the device, Blake answered before it could go to voicemail.

"Blake?" Shari called out after repeatedly saying hello.

"Yeah, do you need something?" Blake asked once he recognized her voice.

"Can you meet me in Mahogany Town. We just got a call for a mission." She replied.

"Well I'm already in Mahogany Town but..." Blake glanced at Matt, wonder what exactly he should consider Matt had no knowledge of Blake's situation with Team Rocket. "I brought along someone who might be interested in joining."