A new chapter hath been written – and so, here it is!

Today's chapter was inspired by ideas from MikySP and a guest reviewer!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size.

A Legendary Night Adventure

Grade Two

May (7), Gary (7), Paul (7), Leaf (7), Drew (7), Ash (7), Misty (7)

"What is that one called?" whispered Drew, his eyes glued to the page in front of him.

"It's really cool," said Ash, his face shining.

"One of my favourites," said Gary, grinning broadly, but keeping his voice low. "Moltres."

"It's kind of like a fire Pigeotto," said May thoughtfully.

"How does that," said Misty, raising an eyebrow, "look anything like a Pigeotto?"

"Oh, come on," urged Leaf. "Flip the page. What's next?"

"Are you guys ever gonna be quiet?" came Paul's muffled voice from beneath a blanket.

"We're gonna, we're gonna," said May. "We're just—"

A loud noise startled her and some of her friends. They looked frantically around, but it was only a snore from Drew's butler, who was asleep on the sofa bed.

They were all staying in Mt. Silver Cabins for the weekend. Gary's grandpa, Professor Oak, had been called to Mt. Silver to take part in an investigation of rumoured sightings of a legendary Pokemon, and he'd decided to bring the kids along for a mini-vacation. They had two cabins to themselves – one for the boys, and one for the girls – though Ash's mother, Delia, and May's mother, Caroline, who had come along, had allowed May, Leaf, and Misty to go over to play with their friends before bedtime.

Professor Oak was still at his meeting, and Drew's butler, who was supposed to be watching them, was fast asleep. Evidently, the long drive had exhausted Paul as well, because he had no interest in Gary's new Pokemon book. Everyone else, however, was seated on the floor between two beds, eyes transfixed to the large, colourful illustrations of the mythical Pokemon that Gary was showing them – legendaries.

"Can't you going to turn off the lights, at least?" Paul said crankily.

"The lights are off," said Gary, pointing to the ceiling. "Drew's butler made us shut them off."

"I mean the flashlight," said Paul, pointing to the one they'd been using to look at the book.

"But Paul," whined Ash. "I wanna look at the pictures."

"Look at them in the morning," Paul snapped, retreating back beneath the covers.

"Maybe we should go to bed," said Drew hesitantly. "My butler told us we had to sleep by nine." He pointed to the digital clock on the side table. 11:00 PM shone in bright, red numbers in the dark.

"I wonder why my mom hasn't come over to get us," said May, frowning.

"Maybe she thinks we'll spend the night here," said Misty, shrugging. "It's pretty late. She and Ash's mom must've thought Drew's butler doesn't want to take us outside when it's so dark. There could be wild mountain Pokemon around."

Leaf yawned widely and leaned her head on Misty's shoulder. "You know, I'm kind of tired too."

"Oh, come on," said Gary. "I'm wide awake."

"So am I," said Ash.

"Me too," said May.

"I'm not really that tired either," said Drew.

"No way I can sleep right now," said Misty.

"You know what?" Paul sat up suddenly, his eyes dark. "If you guys wanna stay up all night, then fine. Don't blame me when Giratina comes and takes you away to the Distortion World. I won't try to help, because once you're all gone, at least it'll be quiet, and I'll get to sleep."

Everyone stared at him.

"The… the Distortion World?" said May, tilting her head. "Giratina?"

"What are those?" asked Drew.

"Sound familiar," Gary mused.

Paul shrugged. "It's probably in your book. Giratina's a legendary."

Everyone leaned over Gary's book as he flipped through it. Sure enough, there was a dragon-like, black, gold, grey and red Pokemon named Giratina.

"Giratina," Misty read slowly, taking care to spell everything out. "Said two have two forms, Giratina appears in legends and myths as a Pokemon that resides in the Distortion World, and that is able to cross into ours."

"It looks kind of scary," May murmured.

"The Distortion World," Misty muttered, her eyes travelling to a little box of text off to the side. "An alternate dimension. Not much is known about it, but ancient ruins suggest it defies the laws of our world." She frowned. "Not very helpful information."

"I can tell you more about it," said Paul, his voice quiet and oddly serious. "It's a strange place, where you can walk on walls and sideways and stuff. And there are large things floating around, and the houses are weird, and if you fall off, you might fall down… very far down…"

"You're making that up," said Gary. "The Distortion World doesn't exist. I never heard about it."

"Yes it does. Someone got taken there once."

"That's not true."

"It is. Ask your grandpa. It does too exist."

May shivered. "Does it… really?"

Misty rolled her eyes. "He's just trying to scare us."

Paul looked like he was about to say something, but, surprisingly, he shut his mouth instead. He lay back down, pulling up the covers and turning so his back was towards them. "Watch out for dark places where Giratina might be," came his muffled voice. "Like under the bed…"

His friends looked at one another.

Then scrambled onto the second bed, the one that was supposed to be Professor Oak's. They (other than Leaf, who was half-asleep and barely comprehending what was going on) stared intently at the dark space beneath the bed Paul was sleeping on. Finally, Misty huffed.

"This is dumb. We were sitting on the floor for so long, and nothing happened. He's just making stuff up to make us look dumb."

"But the book said that stuff was true," said Drew worriedly.

"That doesn't mean it's over here in our cabin."

"I don't know, Misty," said Ash, scratching the back of his head. "Professor Oak did come here to see if there was a legendary Pokemon somewhere around here."

"Oh, come on, Ashy-boy," said Gary, rolling his eyes. "It could be anything. Just look at how big my book is." He held it up. "There are so many legendary Pokemon. It could be any one of them."

"I guess…" Ash's eyes brightened. "Then maybe there is a different legendary Pokemon under the bed. It'd be awesome to make friends."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Ash, do you really think—"

Before she could finish, Ash leapt off the bed and squatted down to look beneath the it. "Nope," he said. "Nothing down here."

"Maybe it's in the Distortion World right now," whispered May. "Maybe it'll suddenly come if we go under there."

"I don't think so," said Ash. "And didn't we just say it doesn't have to be Giratina under there?"

"If you're so sure, Ashy," said Gary, smirking, "then why don't you go under there yourself?"

Ash looked into the dark space and shivered. "No thanks. I might get stuck."

Gary's smirk broadened. "You're just scared!"

"No." Ash stood and looked at him fiercely. "I meant what I said. I wanna meet legendary Pokemon and be their friends."

"That's never gonna happen," said Gary.

"Sure it is." Ash held himself as high as he could. "Isn't there supposed to be one somewhere on this mountain? I'm gonna find it and make friends with it." He turned to the door.

"Ash, wait," said Drew. But it was too late. Ash had already grabbed his jacket, slipped on his shoes, and darted out, leaving his friends shivering in the cold air that had entered when he opened the door.

"That's a dumb idea," said Drew, shaking his head anxiously. "A very dumb idea. He could get lost."

"What should we do?" said May. "Should we wake your butler?"

Drew looked at his butler and shook his head. "No. Ash could get in trouble." He slid off the bed and headed for the door. "I'm going after him."

"But what if you get lost too?" said May. "I'm gonna have to come too."

"You guys," Misty said, crossing her arms. "Honestly, there is no way you could manage without me."

"You going out there too, Misty?" said Gary, smirking. "Even with all those bug Pokemon outside?"

Misty faltered. But she knew her friends needed her for this kind of mission. "The bug Pokemon are probably all asleep. Besides, it's too cold at night for bugs."

With that, she, Drew, and May bundled into their jackets, put on their shoes, and left, leaving Leaf now fast asleep on one bed, Paul concealed under the covers of the other, Drew's butler snoring on the sofa-bed, and Gary sitting on the edge of Leaf's bed, flashlight in one hand, book in the other. A part of him wanted to follow his friends. He wanted to see if they could really find the legendary Pokemon. But there was one problem.

Despite all the bravado he'd put on in front of his friends, he actually believed Paul about Giratina.

He knew that it probably wasn't hidden under the bed, and that Paul didn't really think it was going to spirit them away. But he knew Paul. At this point, they'd been friends for a long time, and he knew how to tell when Paul was just trying to scare them, and when he was being serious.

And the way Paul had been talking about it, the fact that he truly believed in Giratina was clear. If Paul of all people believed in something Gary would have otherwise considered ludicrous, then it must be true. It chilled him to the bone, and even thinking of going outside when Giratina was haunting his imagination was an impossibility.

"I'm not afraid," he whispered so only he could hear.

And he sat on the edge of the bed, pulled a blanket around his shoulders, and fixed his eyes to the darkness beneath the bed.

They found Ash before he got too far. He'd stopped mid-path, right before entering the shadows of the forest. He turned around to face them when they came close enough and grinned, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Hey guys. I wasn't sure which way to go, so…"

Misty huffed. "That way," she said, pointing back down the path they'd come. "We gotta go back. What were you thinking, coming out here alone?"

"Misty, I really think there's a legendary Pokemon out here," said Ash seriously. "I think I saw something glowing fly from way up there" – he pointed to a high peak of the mountain and directed his finger into the darkness before them – "all the way into the forest. I think it might have been a special Pokemon."

"That sounds kind of scary," May said. "Even if you did see it, what if it's dangerous? Should you really go towards it?"

"You heard me." Ash faced her, his eyes determined. "Whatever Pokemon I meet, I wanna be its friend. That means scary-looking Pokemon too."

"But the Pokemon don't always want to be your friend," Drew pointed out. "What if it attacks, and—"

"Uh, guys…"

The three of them turned to Misty. Her face had gone pale, and she was pointing to a blue Pokemon standing on the path leading back to the cabin. May gasped and backed away, but Ash stepped forward eagerly.

"I know what that is," he said. "I think it's called a Heracross. It's so cool! It's—"

"A BUG!" Misty screeched, bolting in the opposite direction, into the forest.

"Wait, Misty," May yelled, running after her.

Drew and Ash looked at each other, nodded, and chased after them, calling their names, going deeper and deeper into the light-less shadows.

Gary was sure he heard screams. His friends' screams. And as much as he wanted to assume that everything was fine and it had been some harmless shadow that startled them, he couldn't. Not with the probability of an attack by Giratina high in his mind.

"Paul," he hissed.

"Mm…"

"Paul!"

But Paul was either fast asleep, or straight-out ignoring him, because he didn't budge.

Scowling, Gary tried Leaf next.

"Leafy," he said, shaking her shoulder. "I think the others are in trouble. We gotta go look for them."

It didn't take him long to realize that waking Leaf was going to be impossible.

Maybe he could wake Drew's butler…? But that would mean getting his friends in trouble, and, more importantly, getting in trouble himself, since he was supposed to be asleep at this time.

He was in a predicament. He loved scaring his friends, but he never wanted them to actually get hurt, and from the screams he'd heard, he knew they were probably in some kind of trouble. And that meant that if he wanted to help them out, he would have to search for them himself.

Except his fear had taken a hold of his senses and was steering him away from that option.

"But I have to," Gary whispered to himself to boost his morale. "Only I can save them. I gotta go save them."

He slipped off the bed, the cold floor sending a chill through his feet. He found his shoes, put on his jacket, and, gripping his flashlight as tightly as he could, opened the door and began his mission.

"It was just a bug, Misty," Ash whined.

"Exactly." Misty shuddered. "A bug."

"You didn't have to run away. Now we don't even know where to go."

"We wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if you hadn't gone exploring on your own!"

May and Drew followed their two bickering friends anxiously. It was hard to see the path they were going on because of the lack of streetlamps, and they had no way of knowing if they were heading in the right direction towards the cabins. Even before Misty had calmed down, it had become clear that they were utterly lost.

"I wish we'd brought the flashlight," May groaned. "Then maybe we could go back."

"I don't think it would have helped," said Drew. "There aren't any signs for us to follow here."

"I just hope we don't run into any more Pokemon…."

"We probably won't," said Drew – not because he believed it, but because the last thing he wanted was May having a freakout over every small sound that could potentially be a Pokemon.

"Guys," said Misty, stopping abruptly, her argument with Ash apparently put on hold. "We're lost."

"We know," said Drew and May simultaneously.

"No, I mean, we shouldn't continue on. We're probably making ourselves more lost."

"Then… then what do we do?" said May. "We can't stay here forever, right?"

"Probably not forever," said Drew logically. "Maybe just for the night until someone finds us."

"I don't wanna stay in the forest all night!"

"Hey, don't worry," said Ash cheerfully. "Gary's still back at the cabin, right? He might tell someone, and we'll get rescued!"

"Would Gary even think of doing something like that?" said Drew doubtfully.

"Of course he would," said May. "Gary's really smart."

"At least he wouldn't do something dumb like come out here on his own and get lost with us," said Misty.

Ash frowned. "Knowing Gary…"

"He wouldn't do that," said Drew. "He's probably waking my butler up right now to get us all in trouble for going out like this."

"You know," said Ash, grinning sheepishly. "If were gonna be rescued later anyways, can we go exploring a bit more?"

"No," said Misty, crossing her arms.

"But Misty, standing around here is getting me cold, and there are probably cool Pokemon around here."

"No."

Drew and May looked at each other. The last thing they wanted was Ash and Misty fighting again. And it looked like they were going to do just that if they let the conversation continue.

"Maybe Ash and I can go a little up ahead," said Drew.

"I said no, Drew."

"Not a whole lot, Misty. Just a few steps. Then we'll turn around and come right back if we don't see anything."

"Bad idea."

"No, good idea," said May, glancing at Misty. "You know, maybe it'll be good to walk a little, 'cause Ash is so cold, he could freeze all up. And… he'll be with Drew, so it won't be a problem or anything."

Misty looked disapproving, but didn't say anything, so they took it as a yes. Misty and May, who didn't want to run into any more Pokemon (any more bug Pokemon, in Misty's case) remained in place while Drew and Ash walked up ahead.

"You know, it's kind of weird we only ran into one Pokemon so far," said Ash to Drew. "I thought there'd be a lot more. There are lots of Pokemon that stay awake at night."

"Yeah. Weird," said Drew absentmindedly. He was more preoccupied with his continuous checks over his shoulder so he'd know which way they'd come from.

"Hey, it's not really that cold anymore," Ash said after a little while, tugging his jacket's collar away from his neck.

"Mm?"

"It's pretty warm. Too warm…"

Drew realized that he was getting warm too. He unbuttoned his jacket, but it wasn't enough.

And then they noticed it: the light.

Somewhere up ahead was a light, getting brighter and brighter. It smelled like…

"A fire," said Drew, his eyes widening. "I think there's a fire up ahead."

Ash looked up to the sky and frowned. "But I don't see any flames or smoke." His eyes brightened. "Maybe someone's out camping!"

"Are you sure it'd be this hot if it were just that?"

But Ash wasn't listening. He raced forward, and Drew, groaning, followed.

"Hey!" called Ash as he burst through the bush into a clearing. "Can you guys…?"

He trailed off, standing frozen, causing Drew to bump into his back. "Ash, what're you—?"

Ash pointed up ahead. In the clearing was not a camp, but a Pokemon, a massive, yellow flying-type, with flames on its head, wings and tail, a long, graceful neck, and sharp eyes that locked onto them. Its body radiated with so much heat that the boys were sweating, but they hardly noticed their discomfort; they were too awestruck.

"That was in Gary's book," Drew finally managed to say.

"What was it called again?" Ash whispered.

Before Drew could answer, the Pokemon threw back its neck and let out a resounding cry. In a second, it was airborne… and heading right for them.

"Move!" Drew screamed, grabbing Ash's arm and dragging him back. The Pokemon's voice shrieked behind them, and the two ran faster and faster until Misty and May came into view, sitting against a tree where they'd left them. Misty stood up, raising an eyebrow.

"Guys, what are you—"

"Run, Misty!" Ash screamed.

Just as he said it, the Pokemon appeared right behind them. May screamed.

"Come on," Misty yelled, pulling May to her feet and starting to run.

The four ran, screaming, gasping for breath, but they didn't dare slow down.

"Why is it chasing us?"

"I don't know, Misty!"

"What did you guys do?"

"Nothing! We didn't do anything!"

"Guys!" Drew yelled. "Now's not the time!"

"Where… do we go?" May managed to say through gasps.

The pathway branched into more, and there was no way of knowing which way they should turn. They were going to get even more lost. The Pokemon was going to catch up, and no one would ever know what happened to them or where to find them, and…

"Over here!" someone called out.

Standing in one of the pathways was the silhouette of someone waving a flashlight as a signal of where to go. This person, their saviour, was none other than…

"Gary?" Misty sputtered in shock.

"This way," Gary shouted, pointing down the path. "This way to the cabins!"

"Thanks, Gary," Ash yelled as they bolted past him.

They were going to make it. They were going to make it back…!

And then Gary tripped.

He was running in the back of the group, when his foot got caught in a root, and he fell to the cold group. "G-guys," he tried to choke out, but they didn't notice, his call drowned in their screams. He could feel the heat against his back; he rolled over and found the Pokemon hovering right above him!

"You're…!" Gary gasped. "You're Moltres!"

Moltres let out an ear-piercing cry, and Gary snapped out of his daze and rolled out of the path into the surrounding bush. He pulled himself to his feet and started running, away from the legendary, his heart beating rapidly. He'd dropped his flashlight when he'd fallen, and the forest was dark. He could hardly see where he was going, and, considering the fact that Moltres's flames weren't lighting the way, Moltres probably didn't know where he was either and wasn't following him.

Giratina…

The Pokemon Paul had been talking about seemed a lot more likely to show up when it was so dark. Gary could feel the dread and anxiety creeping up his throat.

The Distortion World…

No! Gary yelled in his head. Giratina was not hidden in this forest. Giratina was not going to take him to the Distortion World.

But the more Gary tried not to think about it, the more the shadows around him seemed to be shifting, as if opening up a portal…

He was running in a blind panic. He forgot about Moltres; his imagination, and memories of Paul's quiet words, and the dark night were all playing tricks on his head, until he was certain his pursuer was the ghostly Giratina itself.

All of a sudden, he wasn't running anymore. He was falling.

He had run right off a cliff.

There was a heavy jerk on his whole body when he landed. But, he realized, he hadn't landed on the ground, but on something soft and warm and glowing.

He had landed on Moltres.

It took a moment for him to remember that that meant he was high in the air, so he clung onto its feather and tried not to look down. He was surprised its flames didn't burn him, but then he remembered hearing that sometimes, the flames on a Pokemon's body didn't hurt if the Pokemon didn't want them to. Like with Ponyta. Maybe it was the same for Moltres.

That meant Moltres knew he was on its back. Moltres must have caught him itself.

The Pokemon turned and looked at him, tilting its head. Gary hesitated and grinned back.

"You're not really that bad after all, are you? Why were you chasing us, though?"

Its eyes glinting mischievously, and it almost looked like it was smirking. Gary's grin broadened.

"You were just try to scare us. I guess you like having fun like that too, huh?"

Moltres let out a cry and soared smoothly through the air. The night breeze was chilly, but Moltres's flames kept Gary nice and toasty. His eyes were beginning to droop. How late was it?

"Can you take me back to the… cabins?" he asked, stifling a yawn. "I wanna go to bed."

He wasn't sure if Moltres understood, but it made a graceful turn and began a steady descent. Gary could see the cabins down below. The one he was staying at had the door open. Moltres went low enough so Gary could slide off its back.

"Thanks for everything," said Gary, looking back up at the Pokemon. "Let's meet again. I'd like to fly around with you again sometime, when I'm less sleepy."

Moltres looked at him intently, then nodded. With that, it flapped its massive wings and took into the sky, flying farther and farther, until it looked like the twinkle of a star. Gary yawned and stretched as he made his way to the open door of the cabin.

"Gary," Drew repeated frantically for the hundredth time. "We need to find Gary!"

The four friends had made it back to the cabin safely, only to find that the very friend who had rescued them hadn't been following. After a panicked few minutes, in which Ash had nearly run back outside, May had burst into tears, and Misty had started yelling at them to calm down (rousing an ill-tempered Paul), Drew had managed to make the rational decision of waking his butler and explaining the situation to him.

Unfortunately, Drew's butler was half-asleep, and finding it very difficult to comprehend what they were all trying to tell him in their frenetic babble.

"Gary's getting eaten by a Pokemon," May wailed. "We lost Gary!"

"All of you," Paul said through gritted teeth, "be quiet."

"I need to save him," Ash shouted. "I need to go out there, and—"

"Ash, for the millionth time," Misty groaned, tightening her grip on his arm to prevent him from bolting outside, "we can't. We'll just get lost again, or hurt."

"What is going on?" Drew's butler muttered, rubbing his temples, blinking.

"Yeah, guys," a voice called from the doorway. "What is going on?"

Everyone turned to the speaker. There he was, leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed, a smirk at his lips: Gary.

"Gary!" May shrieked, running at him and pulling him into a crushing hug.

"C-can't… breath…" Gary pushed her away, gasping. "What?"

"We thought you got eaten!"

"Me? Get eaten? Ha! While you all were so scared and running away, I" – he puffed out his chest – "I made friends with Moltres. I even rode it."

Misty rolled her eyes. "As if."

"I'm serious."

She marched over to him and whacked his head.

"Ow!"

"I bet you ran up ahead and were hiding in the bushes to get us all worried over you."

"Did not! You guys all left me behind."

"Don't scare us like that again," said Drew, shaking his head. "We were really worried."

"Yeah, it wasn't funny," said Ash, frowning.

"I'm not lying! And anyways, you guys should be thanking me. For saving you."

"After the stunt you just pulled? No way!"

"I told you, I really did meet Moltres!"

They all began arguing, yelling over one another, until a voice erupted over all of them.

"EVERYONE, BE QUIET!"

The room became deathly silent. Drew's butler was on his feet, his eyes furious.

"What are you all doing up so late?" he said in a harsh whisper. "I told you all to go to bed at nine, didn't I? And what time is it now?" He gestured to the clock. "Two. Two in the morning!"

"Mm? It's morning?" Leaf groggily sat up, rubbing her eyes.

Drew's butler groaned, and held the bridge of his nose.

"This," he muttered, "is the last time I'm coming to a place like this with you children."

In the morning, when they all got up, none of them had gotten sufficient sleep. They were all drowsy and yawning as they got ready for the day.

Professor Oak showed up that morning as well. His meeting had turned into an all-night search when someone saw what looked like a Moltres soaring through the sky. Unfortunately, they hadn't managed to find it, but they were hoping to in the next couple of days. At least they could confirm that the rumours were true: there really was a legendary Pokemon at Mt. Silver.

"You know," said Gary to his grandpa, "I actually met Moltres last night. I even rode it."

"You're still telling that story?" said Misty.

"I really did ride it!"

"Sounds like a wonderful dream," said Professor Oak, lying in bed with a big yawn. "I think I'm going to take a nap."

"But it wasn't a dream."

"Stop talking," Paul snapped. "You're giving me a headache." He massaged his temples with his fingers. "If Giratina had taken you all away," he mumbled, "I might have gotten some sleep."

"And you with your Giratina story." Misty shook her head. "Really, you two…"

Leaf came up behind them and flung her arms around Gary's and Paul's necks. "Well, I believe you guys," she chirped. "You should've waken me, Gary. I want to see Moltres too."

"I tried to," Gary said. "But you weren't waking up."

"Well, next time, try harder! And Paul?" She winked at him. "Let's go Giratina-hunting sometime. I wanna see Giratina too!"

"Let go," Paul grumbled, shoving her arm off him. She giggled, stepping away from him and Gary, and she skipped off to wake Ash and May, who had dozed off again.

"Hey Paul?" said Gary.

"What?"

"You… weren't kidding about Giratina, were you?"

Paul only gave a small, mysterious smile.

"Come on, tell me. Tell me!"

It didn't look like Paul was going to answer, so after a little more pestering, Gary let it go.

But one thing was for sure: he most certainly had befriended Moltres last night, and no matter who didn't believe him, he was going to cherish that memory.

Who knows? he thought. Maybe I'll meet Moltres again, some day…

One more chapter: done! Time to work on the next one!

Also, I realized this story now has over a hundred favourites. Over A HUNDRED! Even though there are some long stretches of times when I don't update, people keep discovering this, and it makes me so happy! Thank you, everyone!

Bye bye for now. Have a marvelous day, and keep smiling all the way! :D