ALANA

Of course he'd disappeared. At least last time he hadn't left until after he told me where and when I could find Suicune. To find the other beasts, and the birds, and get them all to the tower would be seriously difficult.

Or it would be… if there weren't another option. Everyone knew the legends of Ho-oh resurrecting the beasts, as well as its close friendship with Lugia, but there was another who held the favor of the rainbow phoenix. A human.

I smiled at the idea of having thought of something that even he hadn't. Now the only real question was what to do about Suicune.

"Olivia, can you stay here and keep Suicune asleep?" I asked. "When I'm at the Pokémon Center I'll pick up Uriah to help out."

"Spinda spinda!" Olivia accepted.

I took out the five Pokéballs for Dawn, Herb, Picasso, Meg, and Sir X. I recalled each of them individually, then left the warehouse, leaving Olivia and Suicune behind.

I picked up speed and jogged at a steady pace straight south until I reached Mahogany Town. Nurse Joy greeted me when I entered the town's Pokémon Center.

"Hello, nice to see you again," she said with the same smile I'd grown used to. "How can we be of assistance?"

I handed four Pokéballs to her. "My Klefki, Bibarel, and Smeargle got pretty hurt in a battle. Also, I'd like to use the PC to make an exchange."

Nurse Joy took Dawn, Herb, and Picasso. "There's an open box over there. Feel free to exchange your Pokémon there."

"Thank you," I said. I walked over to the box and inserted my Pokédex into the slot. The computer read my identification and pulled up a set of options. I clicked the one I wanted and waited for Professor Oak's face to appear on the screen.

"Hmmm?" he asked. "Ah, Alana. It's been a while," Oak said. "What do you need?"

I placed the fourth Pokéball on the transporter. "Can I get Uriah back? I can exchange him with Sir X." Considering the sheer number of fire-types I expected to see in the near future, I really couldn't risk it with Sir X.

"Certainly," Oak said with a smile. "For obvious reasons, research on Shedinja is pretty hard to make. Plus I'm sure Shino would be happy to see Sir X again."

"Thank you." Sir X's Pokéball vanished from the transporter. In its place was a new Pokéball. I took it from the machine, removed my Pokédex from the box, and tossed the Pokéball into the air. "Uriah, I choose you!"

Uriah emerged. "Kadabra!" he bellowed in his typical grandiose fashion.

"Uriah, you remember the warehouse over by the Lake of Rage?" Uriah nodded. "Olivia's there with Suicune, the Beast of the North Wind. Can you Teleport there and get them both to me in the Kanto region?"

"Kadabra… Ka-dabra!" Uriah gloated. He rose into the air, flexing the iron spoon in his hand, and vanished… along with myself. Instead of the Pokémon Center, we were now in a dark room surrounded by grey stone.

"This is Mt. Moon," I realized. "You got us all the way here. This is good, real good. If we're already in Kanto, can you get us south by southwest and then get Olivia and Suicune?"

"Da-bra!" Uriah transported us again, to the familiar scenery of Route 1.

"Thank you," I said to Uriah. Uriah nodded and Teleported away. I started walking some more to get to my real destination.

As I walked, a voice in my head began speaking. "You cannot just ask for the human's help. You will have to defeat him in a battle if you want his assistance. And you know that your Pokémon will not stand a chance against his."

The voice in my head, whoever it was, was right. This trainer was tough enough to make Cail look like a rookie who still thought evaporation meant that fire beat water. But I couldn't let that slow me down. I had to think of a way to win.

Author's Notes

Two more of Alana's Pokémon have been introduced. Uriah the Kadabra was named after the magician Uri Gellar, from whom the Abra line was inspired. Shino, meanwhile, is a Ninjask, and Sir X's (for lack of a better word) twin. The name Shino is derived from the Naruto character who, like a Ninjask, is a very fast bug ninja.