Arc One: Mystery

Chapter Seventeen: Behind Closed Doors


As fast as I can go, I run down the closed off path. It's funny, because I thought Sparks would have cut me off by now, with him claiming to be the fastest of us all.

Maybe he went back to read what the sign said? I shrug my shoulders at the thought. Who knows, maybe he wasn't as fast as he said he was.

I make a left turn to avoid running into a wall. I slowly pick up my pace as I feel myself getting closer to what I'm looking for.

I don't know why I'm so interested in going somewhere that's off limits. Is it desperation? Curiosity? Possibly a memory calling out to me? Perhaps all of that combined.

I really don't want to fall into another mood swing. I just got happy again, but it was pretty hard to escape that void, yet it feels like one wrong move and I'll be back inside it, even deeper than before.

"Red! Wait for me!"

Ah! There he is. I can only imagine that he'll be in front of me in only a matter of seconds, but I think that I'll reach my destination first, as I see more cones in a line standing in the way of a room.

A smile appears on my face as I get even faster. I can hardly wait to see what's on the other side.

I turn and...

...

"Hmmm." I go as I focus closer on my surroundings.

I see covers over...things. I'm not sure what they are. I get closer in order to take a closer look and-

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" A yellow dot yells at me as it appears right in front of me. Of course, the yellow dot being Sparks.

I put my hand back and say, "What? Is it dangerous?"

Sparks shakes his head, "Well, no, it isn't, but it's an artifact."

I tilt my head a pinch. "An artifact in a construction zone?"

Sparks puts his paw over his mouth. I can tell that he thought what I just said was pretty humorous. "This isn't a construction zone. I went back and read that sign. This place is going to hold artifacts that were found in this very mountain."

After he says that, I decide to look around again, and sure enough, right next to the covered objects, I see signs in front of them all. I even start to see drawings on the walls as I look more carefully around.

I walk up to one of the signs and briefly read it: "These tools were used to carve out this room that you stand in right now..."

I then take a peek underneath the covering and see some pickaxes that have seen better days.

"We really should leave this place, Red. The workers could come back at any second." Sparks says. He then adds, "Why did you even run in here in the first place?"

"I'M GETTING DESPERATE, OK?!" I yell at him. He's caught off guard by my sudden increase in volume, and before he can say anything, I apologize.

"Sorry, I'm just stressed out." I say as I sit down on a nearby rock. "This entire plan seems like it's some fantasy. I'm left with asking myself if this is even going to work out in the end."

Sparks then walks up to me and says, "You know, it's not good to look at the down side all the time. Staying positive is the key to be...well, positive."

I look at him. "I know." I say with my head resting on my hands. "It's just that this place is huge, we're running out of time, and..." I then pause as I notice something on the wall. I get up and move closer to it.

I put my torch to the wall and see that it's Arceus and Xatu on it.

"Would you look at that?" Sparks says, "I think it's the legend." He then starts to get excited. "Maybe it has some clues where Xatu is."

I then looked back at the paintings, realize something. "Sparks, I think this is a slideshow." I put my hand on a picture. "Look at this. It shows a Natu walking by some grass...I think."

Sparks giggles a little. "I guess these drawings are so old that it's hard to see what they were at first, but it seems right."

He then rushes over to my side and says, "And look at this one, Natu is hearing something off to the side."

He then moves to the next one before I can get to it. In fact, he then continues to move on before I have the chance to catch up with him. Before long he returns to me before I can finish going through first four pictures.

"Alright. So, I think I know what the full story is." The Pichu says with a smile. "So, picture this: Natu was roaming around a forest when he heard somemon. When he went to see who it was, he saw Arceus talking with some Pokemon. I guess they must have been having an argument because the next scene showed a Togedemaru using Thunderbolt at Arceus. Natu was still curious and walked into the little brawl."

"Arceus noticed his presence and had the fight paused. I think Natu wanted to find out more so he wanted to see if he could help, and Arceus saw that he really wanted to help, so he allowed him to stay to help."

"And if you look at these photos, I guess the Natu stuck around with Arceus after that, even when he grew up into a Xatu."

I then joke and say, "Maybe Natu was looking for a friend to spend time with?"

Sparks smiles. "Yeah, that could be the reason why, but it seems that he really did want to help him out."

He then turns to the last batch of pictures and says, "I guess Arceus rewarded Xatu by giving him this. You'd want to see this." He stops as he looks at the photo, which is, hands down, the biggest one of them all, but it's the best, as it shows a wonderful garden by a cliffside looking out into the sunset.

"Wow." I say. It's surprising how well kept this thing is.

Wait...sunset...

"You don't think this is where he is, do you?" I ask Sparks.

It takes a moment for Sparks to realize, but when he does, he jumps in the air. "You're right! It's a sunset! Just like the legend said! He can only be seen at sunset. And looklooklooklooklook!"

I look to where he's pointing and that's when my eyes widen. The picture contains Arceus looking down upon Xatu, but the eye-catcher here is what's in between the two: A silver stone that is surrounded by a golden glowing light, with the stone having the wheel-like structure that Arceus wears around him in the center of it.

"Is...is that what the Lucky Pebble looks like?" I say out loud.

Sparkles appear in Sparks' eyes as he tries to keep his excitement under control. "It has to be! How would that not be lucky to have with you. It looks so shiny too. I mean, it's hard to tell because it's so old, but it would make prefect since for that to be what we're looking for."

He then presses his badge on his ear and says, "Guys, are you there?"

While he tries to communicate with the rest of our team, I smile. Finally, for one time on this trip we have some good news. I turn back to look at the pebble drawing and think to myself, "Won't be long now."

I walk up to it, put my hand over it, and close my eyes. I was only believing the legend before just because it would save my skin, but after seeing that work of art, I don't doubt it at all. Not one bit.

"Just you wait." I say to myself, "We're going to find that pebble, and we're going to solve this mess once and for all, I just know it."

My smile grows even bigger. I feel better having said that to myself. Makes all the dark clouds storm away. Sparks was right, I need to stay positive, no matter how grim it is. As long as there's a will, there's always a way.

I then take my hand off of the wall and turn back to Sparks. "Alright, Sparks. Did Lucas and Eve respond yet?"

I then stop. I'm not talking to Sparks. In fact, I'm not talking to anymon. Just a rockwall. And to add on, it's much darker than it was before. My worst fears start to get the better of me as I realize that I'm not in the same room that I was in before. Instead of blankets covering some artifacts with drawings on the wall, it's just a dark room that has nothing but rocks...and it's even darker too, did I mention that?.

"WHAT THE!" I yell as I continue to look around for the Pichu. "Sparks, where'd you go?! SPARKS!" As soon as I get no response, I get a terrible idea inside of my head.

"..."

"I didn't just died, did I?"


Lucas and Eve make their way through the hallways. They thankfully haven't come across any branching paths...but neither of them wanted to say that, as they were sure one would appear as soon as they finished.

While they were walking, Lucas noticed something about Eve's aura. It felt proud, happy, like it had won a battle of some sort. He guessed that she did just cheer him up, and he was very grateful for that, but it felt like he was missing something.

"Gahhh...why can't I be a Lucario already." Lucas thinks to himself. "Then I'd be able to sense more."

He then panics at the thought, realizing that he admitted that he wasn't the best at aura. Like Zygarde said when he mocked him.

The Rilo shook his head. "N-no, don't think like that. You're strong. You can sense Red's aura just fine, and that means I do know my stuff. Red's not evil."

He then looks at his paws. He then begins to think. "If he wants an Aura Sphere, then I'll give him one to remember." He then takes a deep breath...and then feels like he can't move anymore.

"Lucas, look where you're going!" He hears a voice in his head say.

Before Lucas can respond, he realizes that he was just about to crash into a wall.

He then felt something come off of him and he turned his head toward the white fox. "Thanks for stopping me, Eve. Did not want to slam my snout into a wall." He happily says.

Eve, however, gives him a worried look. "You're still not worrying about Red, right?"

Lucas smiles. "What?! No, I was thinking of something else."

The Vulpix tilts her head. "And that would be..."

"Learning Aura Sphere." He proudly says.

Eve chuckles a bit. "You really want to learn that move, don't you?"

"If it means it'll prove Zygarde wrong, then I have to so before we meet again."

"Did your book help you at all?" Eve asks.

Lucas shrugs his shoulders, "Well, let's find out."

He then starts to take deep breaths. "Ok, Lucas. You got this. Just reach inside of yourself and just let it out." He puts his two arms out and closes his eyes as he starts to growl. "Come on. Make one, just do it already." He says to himself.

Eve stares at him for a while as he continues to try and make one. All she sees is sweat coming down from his head as he slowly shakes, but no blue sphere appears. His paws don't even glow.

"GAHHH!" The Rilo says as he goes to fall on his face. Eve, however, is ready and catches him with Psychic.

"Are you ok?!" Eve asks.

Lucas sighs, "I...heh, I still can't make one."

As he gets back on his two feet, Eve asks, "I guess you should have picked a better book."

"I guess so, ha ha." Lucas says. He then frowns and continues, "It said that Fighting-Types would be able to reach inside of themselves much easier than other types. Why can't I do the same thing."

"Maybe if you were a Lucario, you would be able to make one. Plus, I'm not sure if Riolus can use that move." Eve says.

Lucas makes a fist and turns to Eve, "B-but I have to find a way to make one. If you can learn any move than I can-" He then stops.

"..."

"THAT'S IT! YOU CAN TEACH ME AURA SPHERE!"

Eve then jumps in surprise. "Wait, wait. W-what?!"

"You said you can learn any move, not to mention you also said you can sense aura too. You can help me." He says excitedly.

Eve still wears a panicked look. "Ok, let me correct you. First, I said I FEEL like I can learn any move. And second, I can't sense aura very well. In fact, I think you'd sense it better than me."

"Come on, Eve. You can help me out." Lucas says. "All you need to do is just make a small Aura Sphere and then tell me how you did it so that I can do the same."

Before Eve can respond, their both hear their badges go off. "Guys, are you there?"

It's Sparks. Lucas is the first to respond. "Yeah, we're here. What's up?"

Sparks says, "Well, me and Red were going around the mountain when we came across some kind of collection of artifacts that were found in this mountain, and on the walls of the room we're in has the story of Xatu!"

"Really!" Both Lucas and Eve say surprised.

The Pichu continues, "Yep. Both of us pieced the story together, and it's pretty cool. I bet you two would love to see it, especially the last picture. While all the photos have seen better days, that last one was beautiful and looked good as new."

"What was it?" Eve asks.

"I think it's where Xatu lives. Some place like a slope of the mountain, with flowers everywhere, and the sun was even setting."

"Like what the legend said when you can find him." Lucas says.

"Bingo." Sparks says, "And the Lucky Pebble is on it, too, and it sure does glow bright."

Hearing this puts a smile on Lucas' face. "Wow, that's...heh, now that sure is something. Is there anything else that you found out?"

There's a noise that sounds like something dropped to the floor, and then a pause after that.

It lasts so long that Lucas calls Sparks again. "Sparks, you there?"

"..."

"..."

Still nothing. Now the two start to worry. "Hello! Sparks!"

Sparks finally answers, "...Guys, are you still listening to me?!"

"Uh, of course we are?" Lucas says. "Where did you go?"

"You shouldn't be asking me where I went."

Eve gets nervous, "What do you mean by that?"

They both hear the Pichu gulp. "It's Red! He's gone!"

"WHAT?!" The Rilo and Vulpix yell.


"WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo." I continue to say to myself as I walk back and forth around the dark room I reside in. I've been doing that as long as I've been in here, which totals to only a few minutes.

Still, I'm freaking out. One minute, I'm in the museum-like room, the next, DARK ROOM! And I don't even have my torch with me so it's not like I can see very well.

I'm half expecting something to appear out of the corner to scare me.

"Red! Where are you!"

"AHHHHHHH!" I scream as I jump in the air, and wouldn't you know it, I slam my head against the ceiling. First time my head hit a rock, and I hope it'll be the last time.

After I fall back down, I try to gather my thoughts together as I also wonder if my head is bleeding. I put my hand on my head and bring it in front of my face.

No blood, thank goodness, but who did that voice belong to?

I go to put my hand on my chin when it hits something on my bandana: My badge.

The dots then connect and I grab it and hold down the center button. "Sparks, was that you?" I ask.

As soon as I finish, I hear Lucas say, "Red, Sparks said you disappeared. Where'd you go?"

I then smile. I can't believe how much I forget about my badge, but I'm so happy that I have it with me.

I then answer my best friend. "I have no idea. I went up to the wall that had the big picture at the end, put my hand on the Lucky Pebble, closed my eyes, and then when I opened them, I was in a dark room with no lights whatsoever."

"The Lucky Pebble?" Sparks says.

In my head, I can imagine him walking toward the drawing and putting his hand on it, and he should be here soon.

"WAIT, YOU GUYS FOUND A LUCKY PEBBLE!" Lucas says excitingly.

"No, a drawing of it." I answer. "Sorry buddy."

I hear Lucas groan as I wait for Sparks to appear.

"..."

"..."

I then ask, "Sparks, are you putting your hand on the wall?"

"Yes, but nothing is happening."

"Your hand is top of the center, right?"

"Yeah, how long did it take for you to disappear?"

"Not this long, I can tell you that." I respond back.

"Wait, you're saying that you teleported, and Sparks can't meet up with you, correct?" Eve asks.

I gulp. "...Yes..."

I then hear Eve worrying as Lucas says, "Well, uh...this isn't good. How are you supposed to find you?"

"I don't know. There does seem to be a hallway here, but that wasn't the entrance." I answer.

"Sparks, you're being a bit quiet. Are you thinking about something?" Lucas says.

"...Guys..." Sparks begins. "Do you realize that Red might have found the way that leads to Xatu!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"WHAT!" We all go at the same time. I just can't believe it. How did I not see that before. I somehow got into a hidden passage that might just lead to Xatu. Guess I was so worried about being separated from everymon that I forgot about why we came here.

"That makes sense." I say. "But why did I teleport and not you, Sparks?"

I hear him laugh. "I guess we'll have to ask him about it. Now-"

He is then cut off by Lucas, "Yes! I knew we could do it. Now, how are we going to get back together again?"

Sparks then clears his throat. "That's what I was about to say."

"Oh, sorry." Lucas says.

"Alright, listen carefully everymon." Sparks says, "Red, can you set your badge down on the ground and press an orange button on the side of it."

"Ok." I go as I try to figure out where the orange button is. It's quite dark and my torch didn't teleport with me. However, I think I pressed it.

Suddenly, my badge starts to beep and flash yellow. Which makes me turn my head away from the sudden source of light.

"Alright." I hear from Sparks. "Take a couple steps back, Red. We're all going to teleport to your badge...hopefully."

"Wait, we can do that!?" Lucas says in shock.

"Most likely." Sparks says a tad worried. "I suggested it to Daisy a while ago, and she said that it still had some bugs, but should be fine. The only draw back is that we won't be able to go back tonight because they would have to recharge."

"It's a risk worth taking." Lucas says. "How do we do it?"

"Hold down the orange button, and then press the teleport button. It should then take us to Red's location." The Tiny Mouse Pokemon says.

"Wait, what will happen if this doesn't work?" Eve asks.

"...Beats me." Sparks says.

I don't think that helped Eve in the slightest.

"On three." Sparks says. "One. Two. Three!" The audio then cuts off, and for a few second, I'm left to my thoughts. Hoping that this plan will work.

I then notice that the light on my badge stops flashing, and stays on.

Moments later, the light gets so bright that I cover my eyes. I take a small peak and see the three lights coming out of the beam. The three lights then change in size as they slowly get dimmer.

Soon, Lucas, Eve, and Sparks are standing in front of me. "Red!" They all say.

Sparks jumps on my head, while Lucas gives me a hug as soon as he could. I sweat as I worry that his torch might burn me, but he quickly lets go of me.

"S-sorry!" He starts, "I was just really worried about you, and the fact that this might lead to Xatu...I'm having a hard time keeping myself under control."

I chuckle and say, "I still can't really believe it, too. Both the fact that we're in here and the fact that I found this by accident."

I look over and see that Eve is looking around.

I ask, "Are you ok?"

She turns red and says, "Yeah! I just...feel weird. "

I then joke, saying, "Maybe you should teach yourself Teleport, then you'd know how it'd feel better."

"I already know that move. It just feels weird when I'm not the one in control" She then turns to Sparks and says, "So, what do we do now?"

"We follow the path. Hopefully at the end of this thing, we'll find Xatu." Sparks says.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Lucas says. "Let's go."

He then dashes down the path without warning. I feel Sparks jump off of me as the rest of us then take off after him.

If I had to describe what we're running through, don't worry. It's just a genetic dark cave, but Lucas' torch does light it up enough that I can tell that the cave does have some kind of blue lines sitting on the walls. I don't know if they make any more drawings, but it doesn't look like they do.

Unfortunately, I run into Eve and fall on top of her, to which she immediately turns red.

"Oof! Sorry Eve. I didn't-"

She then uses Teleport to escape from me, and I fall onto the ground.

Yep, she wasn't lying. She can use that move just fine.

"R-Red, please watch where you're going." She says behind me.

I chuckle nervously as I pick myself up. "Sorry, I didn't know everymon stopped...why did we stop?"

"Um...Look in front of you, buddy." Lucas says.

I then look ahead and see a raging river just a few inches away from me.

Hmm, it's amazing how distracted I can get. It's pretty loud, too.

"So, are we swimming across it, or do we have something inside the bag that can help us?" I ask the rest of the team.

Sparks then says, "I don't think we can swim across. It seems pretty strong, and I don't think we're heavy enough to keep our ground, so if we fall in there, I think we would get carried away by the current."

This is followed by Lucas saying, "And I didn't pack anything for a river. I didn't even think there was one in here."

Sparks then says, "Maybe Eve can teleport us over to the other side."

The Vulpix doesn't agree and panics, "I've never teleported anymon besides myself before, and it's also a tiring move to use, which is why I only use it to go short distances."

"Would the badges work?" I ask as I hold up my badge.

Sparks shakes his head. "Even if you could throw it to the other side, all of our badges are dead. Plus, you don't even have you badge with you."

I then look at my hand, and realize that I'm not holding anything. I also realize that I took it off of my bandana and placed it on the ground back in the first room we're in...and I never bothered to picked it back up.

"I'll be right back." I say, and head back over to the room that I entered in.

As I walk through the tunnel again, I take my time to look closely at the glowing walls. I was right about the blue lines not making up any drawings, but what are they? Why do they look like they're moving.

"It's not Aura, is it?" I ask myself. I mean, it could be. It's the same color as an Aura Sphere. A cool, yet warm blue color that's so inviting. I feel myself calm down as I look at it. What a lovely feeling.

It, however, starts to darken as I get closer to the room we started in. I look a head of me and notice that it won't be too long till I-

A flash then appears inside the room. That's weird, did somemon else get in?

...

WAIT?! IS SOMEMON THERE?!

I rush torwards the room faster than before, with my mouth starting to fill itself with fire as I get closer. I hold my breath, and get ready to take aim as I reach the dome.

"FREEZE!" I ironically go as I release a barrage of tiny fireballs at...nothing but the wall on the other side.

I then begin to look around. It doesn't seem like anymon is here, and the only way in here was to touch that picture, and I don't think you can go back after that. Not to mention that the only way I know somemon could get out was by going through the way I just came in.

I then notice the blinking light that is my badge. Still lying on the floor, just as it was suppose to.

"Was it just my head, or was it always flashing like that." I ask myself. I continue to stare at it until I just shrug my shoulders.

"Yeah, it probably was just my head jumping to conclusions." And I pick it up and go to leave.

"But was it really all in my head." I think again. "Or is there really somemon here?"

"That is correct, young Raboot." A wise, strong, voice calls out in my head.

I turn white as I look behind me. I see a bird-like Pokemon that's mostly green, but has white wings with black and red at the end of them. It has a singleary red feather on the back of his head as he looks at me with his four eyes. One set on his head, while the other is on his chest.

"X-X-XATU?!"