Chimecho

Chim, ching.

It was a blustery day at the peak of Mount Pyre. The sun shone in a pale blue sky, but the winds rushed right over the mountain. Under the rippling tall grasses, the smaller Pokemon hid to avoid being blown away. The trees were leaning over, but not breaking. Under these conditions, anyone downwind of the peak would have heard a clear bell-like chiming from the top.

Up at the very peak, there was a shrine created of white marble. Two glistening orbs sat on either side of the shrine. One was a deep marine blue, while the other was a vibrant volcanic red. Beside the shrine, there was a pair of small mountain trees. A Chimecho hung from the branches of the left tree. The yellow sucker on top of her head clung tight to the branch so that she didn't get blown away.

On a day like this, most of her kin would be hiding out in the small caves, or even in the catacombs within the mountain. But someone always had to be here, no matter what. Her ribbon-like tail was whipped about into the rough branches, causing her to ring without trying. If she lost grip of the branch, the gusts could easily grab hold of her and toss her down to rocky slopes. She had to stay strong.

Ding, ding, ching.

A pebble had gotten caught up in the wind. The Chimecho watched warily as it skipped across the shrine. Thankfully, it missed hitting the orbs. The orbs were to remain as undisturbed as possible. Nature wasn't always agreeable, so there were thunderstorms, blizzards, and, like today, windstorms. Even the odd earthquake sometimes. No matter what happened, this shrine had to stay calm and peaceful.

Those orbs had been created by Rayquaza, or so it was said. They contained certain vital powers of two other Pokemon gods, the red one Groudon and the blue one Kyogre. As long as the powers were contained within these two orbs, then the two gods would remain locked in slumber. That was important. They were fierce rivals, tearing up the earth and the sea in their arguments.

Even if they slept, they were still connected to the orbs. One or the other could become alert enough to break one of the orbs, awakening the other. Thus, the two rival gods had to be pacified even if they couldn't acknowledge it. There was always a small group of humans around who did that.

And there were the Chimechoes. In her family, tradition dictated that the females would stay in these trees during the day. They would sing quiet songs in their language to help keep the two entities connected to the orbs asleep. At night, the males would do the same. Normally there would be two or three others with her. But on this bad day, she was the only one who decided to remain out.

Ting, dong, ching.

It was tough to keep singing under these conditions. At some parts, she had to just deal with her random rings when the gusts were high. She sang whenever there was a moment of quiet. Thankfully, the orbs seemed quiet today. The wind wasn't affecting the two gods as much as it was her.

Her language really only had seven different kinds of chimes, but by altering the length, tone, and pitch, it was possible to communicate complex ideas. Like the tales of Groudon and Kyogre's battles, and why the Chimechoes had to remain on Mount Pyre, despite the vast number of Ghost Pokemon who lived here too.

There were still those that left. The rise of Pokeballs made it even more difficult to remain. Thankfully, the humans who took care of the shrine realized this. To help them out, they had given the shrine's Pokemon keepers a special green clip that was attached to their small feet. This marked them as uncatchable.

Ring, ting, ching.

"Keeping up on your duty, shrine maiden?" a voice asked.

She opened her eyes (having closed them against a bad series of gusts) and saw an elderly male human standing near her tree. "Tawn ting," she replied.

The current human keepers of the shrine had learned some of their language. He gently patted her. "I know it's tough. But your dedication is admirable."

"There's some folks coming up here despite the wind," the woman said, walking over to them. "They seem to be causing trouble in the catacombs."

"Chim ding," the Chimecho replied. She hoped they weren't looking to cause trouble up here.

"We do too," the woman said.

But then those people, dressed in red sweatshirts and dark pants, came right up to the shrine. "You have no right to be keeping the god Pokemon slumbering like this," the man in charge said.

"It was another god who sealed them away," the old man said.

"It is for the good of everyone that they remain sleeping," the old woman said.

The Chimecho let go of her branch to join them. The winds had relented just enough that she could float around without getting blown away. "Ting ching chim chime tawn," she said.

Beside the strange man, a Mightyena growled, then rushed forward and attacked the shrine maiden Pokemon. She was young, so she didn't stand a chance.

Later on, she found herself at a Pokecenter, fully healed. That was one good thing about technology; generations ago, that attack would have kept her in agony for weeks. With her was the old woman. "Do not blame yourself, maiden," she said. "You were not trained to fight like that one."

"Ding?" She floated over to the window.

The sunlight was incredibly bright. Heat made the air hazy and dry. As this was a power of the earth, it could only mean one thing. Groudon was awake. And he would not be pleased with awakening after centuries of being forced asleep.

"They're both awake," the old woman said, coming over to the window. "But there was someone else there. I think there is hope, if they can get Rayquaza awakened in time."

"Chim," the Chimecho said sadly. It was still terrible, and she hadn't been much help.

...

Chimecho HG/SS entry: It uses the sucker on its head to hang from a tree or from eaves. It can produce seven different tones.

Posted for Mother's Day, as a Pokemon my mother might like.