Reshiram and Servine

There was a certain level of power which, if one crossed over it, things became terribly unfair. For instance, Reshiram could tell any lie, which inconveniently tended to get people to hate him even though he was simply doing what came naturally. Also, he could torch a hundred acres of forest in minutes with just a single flare from his tail. He often spent energy intentionally weakening his power, because otherwise he'd have the whole land turned to ash before long. And that wasn't fair to the mortal Pokémon.

He also spent a lot of time keeping away from most others. That was pretty fair; others could still seek him out and if they did, they probably knew what they were coming up against. Probably. There were some idiots on occasion that challenged him to battle. When that happened, he generally made sure that they could walk away from the battle alive. Or that they could be carried away alive, if they were stubborn enough. But those who really wanted his help knew where to find him.

Yet, being in self-imposed exile was tough on the spirit. He got lonely from time to time, even though his sister dropped in fairly often. And the mortal Pokémon who visited tended to be overly rash or overly deferential. Then there was the matter of always being on the same mountain, day after day, month after month, year after year. That got to one after a while. Reshiram knew that for truth and did his best not to do something foolish. But sometimes, one just had to get away from getting away from the world. To keep from going crazy, of course.

That's how he came to be here, at a lake in a forest far from his mountain retreat. There was a festival going on in a town not too far from here, so many of the local Pokémon had gone to town for the day. While he did consider checking out the festival only from a discreet distance, Reshiram was more interested in the lake right now. It looked to be fairly nice; a bit dark, rather deep, but that was lakes for you. Seeing that things seemed okay, Reshiram dropped into the water to get himself a bath.

What few Pokémon were still in the lake quickly scattered, through underground water tunnels or out through the trees. They weren't sure what was going on, but they figured it was better to avoid the large stranger that radiated power so strongly that his tail and wings glowed through many stages of red, like the northern lights. Reshiram was a little disappointed that none had tried talking to him, but that was a pretty normal reaction. Pushing it out of his mind, he tended to his grooming.

It was some time later when he heard the rustling of leaves, indicating that something was running towards him. Lifting his head from the water, he turned to shore and saw a reptilian Pokémon: bipedal, with thin short arms, some leaves on the tail, light green scales. There were several who could fit the description, but he soon pinned it as a Servine, a male. The green Pokémon rushed out across a large rock and leapt at him. "Begone, foul beast!"

Reshiram saw a flicker of green and leaned his head back, although not in time or far enough to avoid getting hit by the whip of a vine. It stung briefly, but he was certain it wouldn't even leave a mark past an hour or so. Although he hadn't expected to be attacked, he didn't get angry. It was most likely some misunderstanding. That, and the Servine had crashed into the water, quickly flailing about as he did so. Reshiram watched as he hurried to swim out and climb onto the rock.

"Blast, where's the bottom of this lake?" the Servine asked, irritated.

"Further down," Reshiram said in a 'I'm helping, but not really' kind of voice. It was a pretty deep lake; he could submerge his wings fully. All in all, it had been rather relaxing here until the sudden attack.

"I can tell that," he snapped, turning to face him. "Now, Mr. Wise Guy, I am here to bring you to justice!"

"Pardon?" Reshiram said, but by then, the Servine had zipped off into the undergrowth and virtually disappeared. Shrugging, he went back to his bath, deciding to rub his head and upper neck against the large shore rock. It wasn't like the pumice he had back at his usual spot, but it was good enough.

A couple of minutes later, there was a shaking of leaves. He looked up in time to see the Servine back on the rock. "Hah!" he shouted, flicking small seeds at him. Leech Seeds; they would send many thin roots back to the Servine, allowing it to drain energy from him.

But it also had the effect of hindering movement a little for both sides. Reshiram thought of heat. In response, his inner flames appeared outside, torching the Leech Seeds into uselessness. If he really wanted a battle, he wouldn't do that in order to be fair. The water around him bubbled a little as thin steam curled out.

"Hey, what was that for?" the Servine asked, half-shocked and half-angered.

"It was rude of you to interrupt my bath with a battle," Reshiram said. "Why would you do so?"

Now he turned indignant. "Rude? You've been terrorizing the woods for months now, and we're not going to stand for it any longer."

Slightly puzzled, Reshiram said, "I believe you have the wrong Pokémon. I have only arrived here today." Really, what was he being mistaken for?

"You lie! You try to be sneaky and sly, but I've been investigating you. You can't hide any more!"

"I couldn't lie if I tried," he replied. And that was true. Untruths grated against his soul, like nails screeching across stone, or slow rain falling on a fire, or a rotten berry among ripe.

The Servine growled. "Stop being a coward and fight." He attacked with his whip this time, helped in that Reshiram was closer to shore than before.

He remained calm, though. "If you wish." He then snatched at the Servine, gently picking him up by the torso. Then he swung his head around, flinging him across the lake. Skipping once off the surface of the lake, the Servine cursed as he landed back in the water and had to swim out again.

Pity he hadn't been the right shape to skip all the way across the lake, Reshiram thought. But once had been good. He waited for a bit, but when the Servine didn't come back immediately, he went to finish off cleaning.

The Servine came back several minutes later, along with a few of his kin. "There he is, that's the troublemaker," he said. "You'd better watch out now, punk, cause we got you outnumbered!"

"He might be the one wrecking stuff," another Servine said.

Reshiram sighed. It was worse than those rash ones that climbed his mountain; at least they had some kind of idea of who they were challenging. As he was done with the lake, he beat his wings and rose out of the water. It was a tough take-off, what with the water resistance and the extra weight in his soaked fur. But he had no intention of flying like that, just getting over to the large rock and landing there. He shook his body, spraying water droplets all around.

The Servines skipped back, trying not to get hit. "Or he might not be," the one said.

"He is rather too big to go unnoticed," a third said.

"And rather too bright."

"But he threw me across the lake!"

"I told you that I was just here for a bath," Reshiram said, settling down on the rock and increasing his heat output. It would help him dry off quicker.

"Sorry about him, great one," one of the females said, bowing. "He gets ideas in his head and doesn't think them through much."

"I understand."

And the Servine in question didn't even flinch at the insult, looking more surprised. "Great one? Why're you calling him great one?"

"You can't tell?" she hissed at him. Then, speaking up again, she asked, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I am Reshiram, Dragon of Yang, Herald of Truth." He'd gotten more titles over the years, but those two described him well enough. "I'm out seeing the world."

"Oh really?" the rash one asked. "If you're a herald of truth, then can you tell us who's been wrecking homes and crops all over the forest lately?"

He nodded. "I could. But I don't think I will."

"And why not?" he asked, although the others all hissed at him for being so argumentative

"You've been exceptionally rude to me today, so from my point of view, it's not a vital thing to look in to." He yawned, more to show his indifference than in being tired. "But if your peers would bring me a few apples, I might consider things differently. Not you, though."

"We'd best leave him be at the moment," one of the other males told the rash Servine. "Come on, let's go." They more or less dragged him off back into the woods; bit of argument and the crunch of footsteps floated through the trees.

Destroying crops, huh? Well from what he'd seen in flying in here, a request for a few apples shouldn't be too difficult. But if they came back and honestly told him that there weren't any to spare, he'd accept a spoken apology and use his power to find the truth.

Not knowing how long they'd take, Reshiram tucked his head under his left wing and rested there, surrounded in his own heat. He had left his mountain to keep himself from going crazy with solitude. But sometimes you came out and discovered that craziness was waiting for you anyhow.

…

Servine White entry: They avoid attacks by sinking into the shadows of thick foliage. They retaliate with masterful whipping techniques.

Reshiram Black entry: This Pokémon appears in legends. It sends flames into the air from its tail, burning up everything around it.