Chapter 12: Cold as Ice

Route 5

The sun shined bright in the midday sky. Sounds of the Pidgey and Spearow lines echoed through the sky as they flew over the area; heading towards the nests that they made in the trees. Rattata's and Raticate's forging around the grass and trees for food to return to their nest for the day. And sounds of Oddish and Bellsprout playing in the grass and absorbing sunlight. As nature moved along for the time, the group and I appeared on the pathway; walking through the Route in peace. "Ah. What a nice day. The sun is shining. The bird Pokémon are singing. No crazy encounters. Today is a good day." said Pat as he put his arms behind his head as he walked. "Yeah... it is a nice day." Sora replied. "Munch-lax." Munchlax replied. "And days like this should include both relaxing and training." Pat replied. "Yeah! Munchlax and I have been itching for a battle! What do you say, buddy? Do you wanna do some training together?" Sora replied. "Munch!" Munchlax replied happily.

"Heh! That's the spirit! What do you think, Bulbasaur?" Pat replied. "Saur!" Bulbasaur replied. He laughed happily to its response, and then they ran off with Sora and Munchlax to start their training. "Huh? Hey! Where are you two going?" said Celina as we turned around and saw them running off. "I guess they're going to do some training?" Zuzu replied. "Great. That just exactly what I thought they would do since yesterday. Well then... if they're going to do some training, then I'll go too! If I can find some students of the Academy around here and challenge them... I'll show them what I learned from Tay's Gym battles." Celina replied. "That sounds great! Can we come with you?" Zuzu replied. "Sure!" Celina replied happily. "Awesome! Tay? Zach? What are you two going to do?" Zuzu replied. "We'll go set up a resting place by the picnic table over there. If Sora and Pat find you two, tell them to meet us here." Zach replied.

"Okay. Alright, we'll catch up with you in a bit." Zuzu replied with a wave. "Alright. See you guys soon." Zach replied with a smile and wave. The girls ran off together to train, and then Zach and I walked over to the picnic table; setting up our resting spot. After the set up was finished, we cooked ourselves a small lunch and ate in peace together. "Hey, Tay?" he said. "Hm?" I replied curiously. "That thing that you did with Tsunami in the battle against Gyarados... what was it? Is it something that only Guardians can do?" he replied. "What thing?" I replied. "You know... both of your eyes glowing, and speaking at the same time. I remember the first time you did it with Aurasoul... he spoke in a cool, calm masculine voice. And with Tsunami... he spoke in a strong, noble warrior kind of voice..." he replied. "Mhm?" I replied.

"So... how do you do it? How do you make them talk?" he replied. "How do I make them talk? Like... talk like a person with my powers?" I replied. He nodded his head yes to my question. I sighed, put down my lunch, and then stared at him in the eyes; making sure that he will understand. "Its an ability we Guardians call: Synchronization." I said. "Synchronization?" he replied curiously. "Mhm. It's an ability that Guardians can use to fully connect with their Pokémon, and be completely in sync with them when they fight together. We only do this whenever we are in a pinch during battles that push us over the edge." I replied. "Huh... interesting... so you only do this when you and your team are in a very tough situation?" he replied. I nodded my head yes to his question. "Wow... looks like I have a lot to learn about your Guardian bloodline and its connection to Pokémon all over the world?" he said. "We all do. Even I still have to know more about it. Who knows how many Guardians of my bloodline have roamed this world to protect it before they passed away?" I replied.

"We'll know in due time. And we'll discover your bloodline's secrets together." he replied. "Right." I replied. We did an arm bump happily, and then heard some rustling in the grass. "Hm?" I said curiously. "What is that?" he replied as we stood up and looked at the grass. Our teams turned around, saw what we were doing, and got into their battle stances; wondering who will jump out of there to attack us. The grass rustled more, and then we saw two orange puppy-like Pokémon walk out of the grass; looking around and sniffing the air. "What the..? Are those..." I said. "Yeah! They're Growlithe!" Zach replied in a soft, excited tone. I took out my phone and activated my PokéDex. "Growlithe, the Puppy Pokémon. A Fire type. Growlithe has a superb sense of smell. Once it smells anything, this Pokémon won't forget the scent, no matter what. It uses its advanced olfactory sense to determine the emotions of other living things." said my PokéDex.

The two Growlithe stopped sniffing the air, turned their heads towards us, and then barked happily. "I think they smell the food?" I said. "Yeah?" Zach replied curiously. We looked down at the leftovers we had on our plates, looked at each other, nodded our heads, picked up our plates, and slowly walked upto the two Growlithe; gently putting down the plates near them. "There you go, guys. You must be hungry." said Zach. The Growlithe barked happily as they wagged their tails, and then ate the leftovers. We watched them eat silently, and then knelt down on our knees as the Growlithe finished their meals. They then looked up at us for a moment, walked over to us, sniffed us, and then jumped up on us; giving us licks on our faces. We laughed happily as they did this, and then gave them some gentle pats; making them happy. "Aww~. You guys are really sweet and friendly puppies, aren't you?" I said.

They barked happily to my question, turned to our teams, saw them looking at them, and then ran over to them; convincing them to play. As they did this, Zach and I sat back up, turned to each other, and I motioned to him in sign language that we should catch them. He blinked his eyes once, nodded his head in understanding, and then we took out two PokéBalls; preparing to catch them. "Ready?" he asked me. "Ready." I replied. We then quietly threw the PokéBalls at the two Growlithe, and saw them being caught successfully; surprising them and our teams. The two PokéBalls landed on the grass, shook three times, and made dinging sounds; confirming the captures. "Growlithe has been registered to your PokéDex." said our phones. We slowly stood up from the ground, walked over to the two PokéBalls, and picked them up in our hands. "Nice work." said Zach.

"Thanks. Hey..? Since when did you know sign language?" I replied. "Oh, that? My Grandma taught me a few years ago. When our family learned that you have PTSD and might not speak anymore due to your trauma, she decided to teach me sign language so I could communicate with you. How about you? How did you learn how to speak in sign language?" he replied. "From my therapists in Vermilion City. They taught me, my Mom, and my brother sign language during my PTSD sessions." I replied. "Wow... you had to go all the way to Vermilion City for all your therapy sessions?" he replied. "Yep. Vermilion City has the best doctors from all over the region working there. We started going there when the doctors back in our hometown really didn't help us out." I replied. "I see... because you old doctors would rather medicate you instead of help you?" he replied. "Yep." I replied. "Damn... that's just awful." he replied. "Mhm. But when we started my sessions in Vermilion City, we noticed how all the doctors actually truly cared about my diagnosis. So instead of just medications, they put me in classes and taught me at my own pace on how to control the trigger signs of it." I replied.

"That's amazing. It must've been very relieving for you and your family to find the right doctors to help you." he replied. "It sure did." I replied. "Did you ever get to see Lt. Surge during your sessions too?" he replied. "Yeah. I got to see him a bunch of times. He also goes there for his PTSD sessions too." I replied. "That's right. He was in the army many years ago, and was saved by Electric-type Pokémon." he replied. "Yep. See? I knew that you were good at history." I replied. "Yep. And we did just learn of the war Lt. Surge was in this year in school." he replied. "That's true. When I first met him, his Raichu instantly got attached to me and wouldn't stop cuddling me." I replied. "Really? Lt. Surge's ace Pokémon got attached to you?" he replied. "Yeah. At first I thought it was my Mark that got him to do it, but then Lt. Surge told me that he taught Raichu how to sense PTSD and help comfort people with it." I replied. "Oh, wow. That's awesome." he replied.

I nodded my head in agreement to his response, and then we looked back down to the PokéBalls in our hands. We looked back up at each other and smiled warmly. "What are you thinking about?" he asked me. "Nothing. I was just thinking that they can come out and play with our teams until the others come back." I replied. "Sure. Sounds great to me." he replied. After that, we threw the two PokéBalls up in the air, watched them open, and saw our new Growlithe appear. They barked at us happily, wagged their tails, and then sat down in front of our feet. We knelt down, gently petted their heads, and then watch them jump up and lick our faces and hands. Our teams walked over to us and saw their new allies for the first time, watched them turn around, sit, and bark happily at them; wagging their tails at the same time. "Go on, boy. Go play." I said to my Growlithe. "You too, boy. Go on and play with your new friends." Zach replied.

After that, both our teams walked back to their spots, and began to play with their new friends. We smiled happily as they played, and then we heard something meow nearby. "Huh?" said Zach. "What was that?" I replied. We looked around curiously for a moment, heard the meowing some more, looked up at the tree, and saw a cat Pokémon hanging onto a giant branch; meowing for help. "Hey... isn't that a Meowth?" said Zach. "Yeah. It is. But what is it doing up there by itself?" I replied. Zach took out his phone and activated his PokéDex. "Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokémon. A Normal type. Meowth withdraw their sharp claws into their paws to silently sneak about. For some reason, this Pokémon loves shiny coins that glitter with light." said Zach's PokéDex.

Meowth kept meowing for another moment, and then heard something climb up the tree. It looked around curiously, and then saw me appear behind it. "Hey... it's okay. Don't need to cry, little guy. I'm going to help you get down from the big, scary tree you climbed up on. Does that sound okay to you?" I said. Meowth blinked its eyes curiously at me, meowed once, and then let me gently pick it up. "Don't worry, little guy. I got you." I said. Meowth meowed nervously in my arms for a moment, and then I safely got down from the tree. As I looked at Meowth, I noticed some cuts on its body that were still red. "Looks like you got yourself into quite a scuffle, huh little guy?" I said. Meowth meowed shyly and looked around the area; seeing that we are now back on the grass. "What happened?" Zach asked me.

"It's hurt. Got a few red cuts on its body." I replied. "Alright. I know what to do. Abra. Come here." he replied. His Abra heard him and came over to us; seeing the Meowth in my arms. "Abra?" it said. "Abra? Can you go into my bag and find my first aid kit for me?" he replied. "Abra." it replied. It used its psychic power to open his bag, found the first aid kit, and then gave it to him. "Ab-ra." it said. "Thank you, Abra." he replied. He opened the first aid, and slowly began to help me clean up Meowth's wounds. Meowth lightly screeched in pain from the cotton ball that was dipped into a Potion touched one of the cuts on its body. "It's okay, buddy. We're just trying to help you. That's all." I said. Meowth meowed again, and it made our teams notice what was going on. They then walked over and surrounded us in a circle; making sure no one tries to jump over and attack it. A few minutes later, we were finished with patching up Meowth's wounds. I gave it a Oran Berry to eat, watched it eat slowly, and then fall asleep in my lap.

We sighed in relief, gave each other a fist bump in celebration, and then watched Meowth sleep in peace. "We did good, Tay. We did good." said Zach. "Yeah. We sure did." I replied. I gave the Meowth some gentle pats and heard it purr happily to my touch. "Aww. I think he already likes you." said Zach. "Really?" I replied. "Yeah. If it wasn't for you... he would've never gotten down that tree and got attacked by a wild Pokémon." he replied. I nodded my head in agreement to his response, and then saw my Growlithe approach me, and sniff Meowth curiously. After he stopped sniffing Meowth... he sat down, and wagged his tail happily. "Hehe. I guess he passes the vibe check?" I said. He nodded his head yes to my response, stood up, walked over to my Bag, dug through it, took out a PokéBall, walked back over to me, gently put it down on the grass, and rolled it over to me with his nose.

"I think your Growlithe wants you to catch the Meowth?" said Zach. "Are you sure, Zach?" I replied. "Yeah, I'm sure. I think Meowth is much for safer with you than me. Plus... by the way he's purring loudly when you touch him, he trusts you." he replied. I blinked my eyes twice, looked down at Meowth as he slept, looked back up at Zach, and then nodded my head in understanding. I then picked up the PokéBall my Growlithe gave me, and gently tapped Meowth with it; beginning the capture process. The ball closed, shook once, and then made a dinging sound; confirming the capture. "Meowth has been registered to your PokéDex." said my phone. I then let Meowth out of his PokéBall, and saw him still sound asleep on my lap. "Looks like he didn't even notice?" said Zach. "Yeah... but I think he'll know soon enough." I replied. "Know what?" replied a voice.

We all turned around to my left, and saw the group had arrived. "Hey, guys." I said. "Hey. Whoa... who do you guys got here?" Pat replied. "Oh? These three? We each caught a Growlithe, and I caught a Meowth." I replied as the group and their teams walked over and sat on the grass with us. "Guys? These are our friends: Pat, Sora, Zuzu, and Celina. And these are their Pokémon. They are traveling along with us." Zach replied as he introduced our Growlithe to the group. "Hi, you two. Nice to meet you." Zuzu replied. "Vulpix." Vulpix replied happily. Our Growlithe sniffed the group for a moment, and then gave them licks happily; making them smile and laugh. After the licks had ended, we let our teams go back to playing and relaxing for the time being.

"Man... Meowth really do like to sleep for the day, don't they?" said Sora. "Mhm. They're nocturnal." I replied. "Yep. Once its nighttime, this little guy will be active and patrol around where we are to keep us safe." Zuzu replied. Zach and I nodded our heads in agreement to her response. "Anyways... how did you guys find Meowth and the two Growlithe?" Celina asked us. "We found the Growlithe over there in that big patch of grass when we finished eating lunch. We gave them some of it, fed it to them, and then caught them after they were distracted by our teams. After we caught them, we heard this little guy meowing up on that tree above us. So Tay climbed up the tree, rescued him, got him down, and we healed his wounds. After he fell asleep in her lap, she caught him after her Growlithe gave her a PokéBall from her bag. And... now here we are." Zach replied.

"Wow... what a story." Pat replied. "Mhm." Zach replied. "What about you guys? What did you all do while we were over here?" I replied. "I battled a few wild Pokémon, and caught this this funny, little dude." Pat replied as he showed us the recently caught page of his PokéDex on his phone. We looked at it curiously for a moment, and then saw the new Pokémon on the screen for the first time. "What!? You caught an Aipom!?" said Zach surprised. "Yep. I found it when I was training my team with Sora up in a tree eating some fruit. I battled it with Pidgey and won. After I caught it, my Pidgey evolved into Pidgeotto!" Pat replied. "No way! Congrats, man!" Zach replied. "Thanks! I was completely surprised when she evolved, but I knew that with this evolution... I'm just a few steps closer for her to become a Pidgeot!" Pat replied.

"That's awesome! Can't wait to see that happen for you. Who knows? Maybe the three of us will have Pidgeot of our own someday?" Zach replied. "Yeah!" Pat replied happily. We smiled at him happily, and then turned to Sora and the girls; wondering what they did. "My turn?" Sora asked us. "Yep." I replied. "Okay. I did some training with Pat, and battled a couple students I knew from the Academy." he replied. "Same here. And Tay? We used some your battlefield strategy against them, and won." Celina replied. "Really? That's awesome! Congrats on your victories." I replied happily. "Thank you, Tay." Sora replied happily. "You're welcome." I replied happily. "What about you, Zuzu? Did you do some training for the Contest?" Zach replied. "Mhm. Sure did. I wanted to test on the bonds of my team and see if they trust each other and their emotions. I know it's going to take a lot of work to make them fully trust each other, but I am willing to take my time with them and learn of their personalities to see if they can work together." Zuzu replied.

"That's great, Zuzu. We know that you can do it. As long as you believe in yourself and your team, you can accomplish anything." I replied. "Right." Zuzu replied with a smile. "Pi-kachu!" Zuzu's Pikachu replied happily. "Gey!" replied a voice. "Hm?" I replied curiously as we turned around; seeing our Flying Pokémon racing each other. "Oh? Are they having a race?" said Pat. "Yeah! Do your best everyone!" Zach replied. Dragonfire and Fearow finished the race in the tie for first, and saw everyone else fly towards them; completing the race. They all cheered happily together, and then suddenly Zach's Pidgey began to glow! We stood up and gasped in shock of what we were seeing, and ran over to our teams. "Whoa! Zach's Pidgey is evolving already!" said Pat. Zach's eyes widened in surprise and happiness to see his first caught Pokémon begin to evolve. After a couple minutes passed, Zach's Pidgey had evolved into Pidgeotto! "Pidge-otto!" said Zach's Pidgeotto.

"Ah! He did it! He evolved into Pidgeotto!" Zach replied happily. He took out his phone and activated his PokéDex. "Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokémon. A Normal and Flying type, and the evolved form of Pidgey. This Pokémon flies around, patrolling its large territory. If its living space is violated, it shows no mercy in thoroughly punishing the foe with its sharp claws." said Zach's PokéDex. "Pidge-otto!" Zach Pidgeotto replied happily. He then did an air dance with Pat's Pidgeotto; showing off their new speed. As they did this, Hurricane looked up at them, and then flew over to my shoulder; perching onto it silently. "Hm? Hurricane? You alright?" I asked him. "Pid-gey..." he replied in a slight sad tone. "Are you sad that you didn't evolve like they did?" I replied sadly. He nodded his head yes to my question. I looked at him sadly, perched him on my arm, and then gave him a hug. "Hey..? Whenever you feel like it, we can go do some training together in order to help you evolve. That sound good to you?" I said.

He blinked his eyes, thought about it for a moment, and then nodded his head yes to my response. I lightly smiled at him, and let him perch back up on my shoulder. After I let him do that, we heard a loud explosion nearby. We all quickly turned around to our right, looked upto the sky, and saw two Pokémon clash in the sky. "Whoa! What is that?" said Sora. "I don't know..? Let's go check it out." Zach replied. "Right." we replied. After that, we packed up all of our things, and ran over to the destination of the clash; wondering what is the cause of the clash in the sky.

Near Underground Path

Two Trainers stood tall in the field; staring each other down. They then looked up at the sky and saw their Pokémon fly back down from the sky. "Knight!" said one Pokémon. "Flame!" said the second Pokémon. The two birds flapped their wings and stared each other down fiercely; ready for whatever their Trainers command them to do next. As they did this, the group and I appeared from the distance, saw the two birds, and their Trainers for the first time. "Yo! Guys! Check it out! It's Declan!" said Pat. "Yeah! It is! And he's using Corviknight! But... who is he facing over there?" Sora replied. We stared at the other Trainer for the first time, and then most of us recognized him. "No... way... is that... Lulu's brother Shay?" said Zuzu. "Yeah... it is him. And he's using his signature Talonflame... what are he and Declan doing out here?" Celina replied. "Huh? You guys know him?" Sora replied. "Mhm. He's Lulu's older brother, and an expert on Flying type Pokémon." Zuzu replied.

"He started his journey around the same time as Tay, Zach, Pat, and the Sakaki brother's older siblings." Celina replied. "Wait... Zarc and Shay started their journeys the same time as Red, Blue, and Leaf?" Sora replied. "Mhm. They have all faced each other from time to time in their journeys. When Red became Champion after defeating Blue, Shay and Zarc would challenge him and the Elite 4 during their journey, but Red was always too strong for them." Celina replied. "Wow... they must be that strong if they can challenge him." Sora replied. We nodded our heads yes to his response, and then looked at both Shay and Declan again; wondering what they will do next. As we watched them, Hurricane looked at Talonflame and Corviknight as they stared each other down; wondering how strong they truly are.

"Corviknight! Use Iron Head!" said Declan. "Knight! Cor-vi-knight!" Corviknight replied as it used the attack; hitting Talonflame. Talonflame was pushed back by the attack for a moment, shook off the pain, and then stared down his opponent. "Now use Air Slash!" said Declan. "Cor! Cor-vi-knight!" Corviknight replied as it used the attack. "Dodge it!" Shay replied. "Talon!" Talonflame replied as he dodged the attack. "Cor!?" Corviknight replied in shock. "Now! Show them your true power! Rise up from the ashes like a phoenix, and scorch your foes with your blazing spirit! Talonflame! Use Flare Blitz to take down Corviknight!" Shay replied. "Flame! Ta-lon-flame!" Talonflame replied as he surrounded himself with fire, quickly descended from the sky, turned his fire blue with white tips, and hit Corviknight with his full power; making Corviknight fall. "Cor!" cried Corviknight. "Corviknight!" Declan replied worriedly as his Corviknight crashed down onto the ground. Talonflame uncovered himself from his flames, took recoil damage, and then shook off the pain. He then gently flew down to the grass and checked on Corviknight with Shay and Declan.

Corviknight slowly stood up, ruffled it feathers, and looked up at Talonflame as he flapped his wings mid air. "Your Corviknight has grown stronger, Declan." said Shay. "Thank you, Shay. We had been focused on training together since our last encounter to test its defense to fire and electricity, but I have a feeling that we both still have a lot to learn." Declan replied. "True, but you both have shown us that you have a powerful bond together and withstand the weaknesses that come your way. You know, your skills and intelligence would come in handy for us in The Resistance." Shay replied. "The Resistance?" Declan replied. "Yeah. We're a group of Trainers whose lives were traumatized by evil organizations. We formed the group in order to stop them from harming others, and save the world from their tyranny." Shay replied. "Like Team Rocket? I've heard rumors that they have returned." Declan replied. Shay nodded his head yes to his response. "They have. They caused a incident in Cerulean City a few days ago, and the cops found video and audio evidence in the Aquarium." Shay replied.

"That's frightening. I remember seeing the footage of the attack with my family on the news... and then I saw someone that I recognized stopping the attack." Declan replied. "I did too. I recognized both of the heroes that stopped them." Shay replied. "Both of them?" Declan replied. Shay nodded his head yes to his question. "Declan!" replied a voice. Before he could say anything, Talonflame and Corviknight turned around and saw something coming near. The two Trainers turned to their partners and saw us coming near. "Declan." said Celina. "Celina. Sora. It's good to see you two again." Declan replied. "Likewise." Sora replied. "You know these kids?" Shay replied. "I do. I've known these two since they joined the Academy, and the rest of them... I've known them since I met them in Viridian City." Declan replied. Shay blinked his eyes, looked at us, and recognized most of us. "Hi, Shay. Long time no see." said Zuzu. "Hi, Zuzu. It's been a while since I've seen you and the others together like this. How've you been?" Shay replied.

"I've been good. Just been practicing for the upcoming Contest, and traveling with my friends." she replied. "I see. It looks like you all have been taking good care of each other." he replied. "We sure have. Right, guys?" she replied. We nodded our heads yes to her response. He nodded his head in understanding, turned to his Talonflame, and saw him gently fly over to me and perch himself on my arm. "Flame." he said. "Hi, Talonflame." I replied. We stared at each other silently for a moment, and then I began to remember the day I saw him in Cerulean City. I looked around his neck and saw a red scarf wrapped around him. Once I saw the red scarf, I began to remember the second Guardian and his allies wearing red scarves on parts of their bodies too alongside their Pokémon. After those memories stopped playing in my head, I snapped back into reality and now fully recognized Talonflame. "Hey..? You were the one that was watching me a couple days ago, weren't you?" I said. "...Talon." Talonflame replied with a nod of his head.

"Huh!? Tay? You know this Talonflame?" Zach replied. "Yeah. I saw him in Cerulean City a couple days ago. He was watching me train with my team before the battle with Misty yesterday." I replied. "Flame." Talonflame replied with a nod of his head. "Looks like you really do have a good memory, huh Taylor?" Shay replied. "Yeah. All it took was this red scarf wrapped around his neck to make me remember that it was him." I replied. "Flame." Talonflame replied. After that, he gently let go of my arm, flapped his wings in mid air, and then saw Hurricane on my shoulder. Hurricane then got off my shoulder, flapped his wings in mid air, and then began trying to play with Talonflame. Talonflame accepted the offer, and began to play with Hurricane. "Heh. I haven't seen him like this in a long time." said Shay. "Maybe he's just happy to make a small friend?" I replied. Shay nodded his head in agreement, and then we all set up a giant picnic area near a giant pond to talk together. As we did this, Corviknight was healed up and went over to play with all of our winged Pokémon; letting them all stretch out their wings and have fun together.

"So? What brings you all here? Are you all on your way to Vermilion City?" Declan asked us. "Yep. We're heading there for a couple huge things." Zuzu replied. "A couple huge things, huh? Like what?" Declan replied curiously. "For the Vermilion City Contest, and for Tay's third Gym battle." she replied. "Her third Gym battle?" Shay replied. "Yep! She's won two Badges already." Sora replied happily as he gave me a little nudge. "She did? Congratulations to you, Taylor. You're a quarter of the way there to challenging the League." Declan replied. "Thank you, Declan." I replied. "Heh. So you're really are doing the Gym challenge to face your brother, huh?" Shay replied. "Mhm." I replied. "Well then... I wish you luck on this journey. If I can give you any advice... it would be that it gets harder from here. Starting from Lt. Surge and all the way to Blue... it gets really hard from here." Shay replied. "He's right. The next battles are going to be tougher than the last two. As long as you know your type advantages, you should be good." Declan replied. "Right. Thanks." I replied.

"Are they really that tough?" Sora replied. "Mhm. They are tougher. Some Trainers that I heard stories of really struggled against Lt. Surge and the other Gym Leaders and ended their League dreams because of how strong they are." Celina replied. "Really? That's scary." Sora replied. "Mhm." Celina replied. "And it is because of their battles with both Blue and Red. Their battles with them have pushed them to the limit on becoming serious Gym Leaders on how to represent their cities and their specialized types. Many Trainers now for the past five years have begun to realize that all the Gym Leaders are now truly giving it their all in battle. Even a select few Trainers have been very lucky to challenge one of their strongest Pokémon that no one had ever faced before." Shay replied.

"Hey! That's what happened with Tay during her battles with Brock and Misty!" Pat replied. "Correct." Shay replied. "So what do you mean by a select few, Shay?" Zach replied. "A select few Trainers like Taylor have those battles because they see real potential in them, and want to test their limits." Shay replied. "Huh? So that's why Brock used Steelix and Misty used Gyarados against you, Tay... they really see true potential in you to become Champion." Zach replied. "What!? Brock used a Steelix against her?" Declan replied. "Yeah. He used it against her to test her bond with her Lucario." Zach replied as they turned to Aurasoul as he watched all of our Pokémon playing together. "I see... and is he as strong as he thought?" Declan asked. "No. He's way stronger than he ever thought. Let's just say he and Tay thought of some very interesting attacks together to take Steelix down." Zach replied.

"Very interesting attacks, huh? I remember seeing them on the Pewter City Gym livestream." Shay replied. "You have?" Zuzu replied curiously. "Mhm. I was watching it when I met up with Lulu and Yuto near Saffron City. I had never seen them that excited about a Gym battle before, but once they told me that Taylor was the one challenging Brock... I knew that I had to watch." Shay replied. "Because you want to see if she can take on Red?" Celina replied. Shay nodded his head yes to her response. "Gey!" replied a voice. We all turned around, looked upto the sky, and saw Hurricane fly down to us with Talonflame. They landed safely on the grass, and looked at me and Shay. "Haha. You having fun, buddy?" said Shay. "Flame." Talonflame replied happily. He then turned to Hurricane, jumped over behind him, and gently pushed him towards Shay; wanting him to get a closer look at him. "Oh? Who is this?" said Shay as he gently picked up Hurricane and perched him on his arm.

"That's Hurricane. He's my Pidgey that I caught at Route 1." I replied as Shay looked at him. "I see. Well... I must say... I have never seen a Pidgey like him before. These blue colored tips on his wings... they help him stand out to all the others of his kind. I guess that what family line he was born into... they must really loved staying up high in the sky." Shay replied. "Pid-gey!" Hurricane replied happily. He then got off of Shay's arm, flew over to me, and perched onto my shoulder. "Talon! Talon-flame! Flame-Flame-Talonflame!" said Talonflame as he jumped up, flew up in the air, and used Brave Bird. He then flew back down and motioned Hurricane to use Brave Bird as well; wanting him to show Shay that he can use it. "Gey!? Pidge... Pidgey! Gey! Pid-gey!" said Hurricane surprised, thought about for a second, jumped up in the air, flew up, and used Brave Bird to quickly descend to the ground.

"What... did I just see... what I just saw..?" said Shay surprised. "Yes... this little Pidgey can use Brave Bird. Incredible..." Declan replied. "Knight! Cor-Cor! Cor-vi-knight!" Corviknight replied as it jumped up in the air and used Brave Bird too. It landed down gracefully and celebrated with Talonflame and Hurricane. "Taylor? How did you teach him Brave Bird?" Shay replied. "I didn't teach him that move. He learned it on his own prior to us meeting him." I replied. "Pidgey!" Hurricane replied with a nod of his head. Shay was surprised and stayed silent for a moment, looked at Hurricane and I a couple of times, looked down to the ground, and then stood up from his spot. "Hm? Shay? What's wrong?" I asked him. "...Taylor. I challenge you to a battle." he replied. "What!?" my group replied in shock. "I want to see how powerful your Pidgey's Brave Bird truly is. I want to see if he has what it takes to use that move efficiently in battle. And I want to see how strong your bond is with him." he replied.

I thought about it for a moment, stood up silently, looked up at Shay, walked upto him, and extended my hand to him. "Shay... I accept your challenge." I said. He blinked his eyes, smiled warmly at me, and then shook my hand; accepting my word. We let out hands go, and then I turned to Hurricane. "Hurricane? Do you want to battle?" I asked him. "Gey? Pid-gey!" he replied with a nod of his head. After that, Shay and I walked over to near the giant pond, walked to our sides of the field, and stared each other down. Hurricane flew up on my side of the field, and prepared himself for battle. As he did this, he turned to see all the Flying-type and winged Pokémon looking at him. They nodded their heads to him; giving him confidence to fight. He nodded his head too, and then turned back to Shay; seeing Talonflame by his side. He took out a PokéBall, stared at it, and then turned to me and Hurricane.

"Okay, little guy. Let's see how you fare against your final evolved stage!" he said as he threw the PokéBall up in the air. It opened and we saw the final evolved form of the Pidgey line appear and flew around the sky. "Pid-geot!" it said. "Whoa! Check it out! It's Pidgeot!" said Sora. "So cool!" Pat replied. Shay's Pidgeot flew down to the ground, and stayed in mid air; ready to fight. "So he's got one too?" said Zach to himself. He took out his phone and activated his PokéDex. "Pidgeot, the Bird Pokémon. A Normal and Flying type, and the evolved form of Pidgeotto. By flapping its wings with all its might, Pidgeot can make a gust of wind capable of bending tall trees." said Zach's PokéDex. Pidgeot spread out its wings, and began to flap them. "Geot." it said. "Gey!?" Hurricane replied surprised. "Behold! My strongest Pokémon on my team: Pidgeot!" Shay replied. "So that's your strongest Pokémon..." I replied. "Yes. "I've had this Pidgeot ever since it was a Pidgey. Ever since then, it has been my greatest partner. It inspired me to become a Flying-type master, and teach others about the limitless skies above us, and how many Pokémon fly in the sky. We've explored many regions together and fought many Flying-type Pokémon to show the world that we rule the sky." Shay replied. "Pidg-eot." Pidgeot replied.

We stared down Shay and Pidgeot silently, turned to each other, slowly took a deep breath, nodded in understanding, and then looked back at our opponents. "Declan, this won't be an ordinary battle. This will be a practice battle. This battle will test on how powerful this little Pidgey can be at this stage." said Shay as Declan and his Corviknight and Raichu walked to the edge of the pond, and looked at both of us. "Understood. Taylor? Do accept the conditions of this battle against Shay?" Declan replied. "I understand. Alright, Hurricane. Let's show them how powerful your Brave Bird truly is!" I replied. "Pid-gey!" Hurricane replied. "Pidgeot, let's show them your true power as the Master of the Sky!" Shay replied. "Ge-ot!" Pidgeot replied. "Alright! Battle, begin!" Declan replied.

Battle! Taylor vs. Shay!

"Pidgeot! Use Aerial Ace!" said Shay. "Pidge-o! Pid-ge-ot!" Pidgeot replied as it used Aerial Ace. "Dodge it!" I replied. "Gey!" Hurricane replied as he dodged the attack. "So he's a fast one, huh? Well let's see if he can dodge this! Pidgeot! Air Slash!" Shay replied. "Pidgeot! Pid-ge-ot!" Pidgeot replied as it used Air Slash. "Dodge it with Quick Attack!" I replied. "Pid-gey!" Hurricane replied as he used Quick Attack to dodge Air Slash. After that, they began their chase in the sky; clashing in mid air multiple times. "Hurricane! Fly down and use Sand Attack!" I said. "Gey! Pid-gey!" Hurricane replied as he flew down with Pidgeot behind his tail, turned around, and used Sand Attack; blinding Pidgeot. "Pidgeot! Get the sand out of your eyes! Quick!" said Shay. "I don't think so. This is our only chance! Hurricane! Use Brave Bird!" I replied. "Pid-gey! Gey! Pid-gey!" Hurricane replied as he flew up in the air, looked down at Pidgeot, and then quickly descended from above while using Brave Bird. Pidgeot got the sand out of its eyes, looked around, looked up, and then was hit by Brave Bird; making a loud explosion.

The smoke disappeared, and we saw Hurricane still flying in mid air; breathing heavily from using Brave Bird. As he tried to get more air in his lungs, Shay's Pidgeot stood tall, and was damaged from the attack. "Whoa... Pidgeot took a big hit from the attack..." said Celina. "Yeah... I guess that this is how powerful Hurricane's Brave Bird attack is." Zach replied. Shay and I stared at each other silently for a moment, and then Shay warmly smiled at me. "Taylor. You did an excellent job training him. That was the most powerful Brave Bird that I have ever seen. I am very impressed." he said. "Thank you, Shay. We've been working hard since Day 1." I replied. "That's what I like to hear. But now, this is where this battle ends! Pidgeot! Use Brave Bird!" Shay replied. "Pid-geo! Pid-ge-ot!" Pidgeot replied as it used Brave Bird.

Hurricane's eyes widened in shock to see Pidgeot come his way with Brave Bird. He closed his eyes and braced for impact. As Pidgeot got close to him, a Ice Beam came out of nowhere and stopped the battle mid match; shocking all of us. Pidgeot stopped the attack, flapped its wings, and then went to hide Hurricane from the Ice Beam; protecting him. "Hurricane!" I said worriedly. "Pidgeot!" Shay replied as we ran over to them. We stopped in front of them, and saw Pidgeot hiding Hurricane in its wings; keeping him away from the Ice Beam. Hurricane breathed a sigh of relief, released himself from Pidgeot, and flew over to me. "Hurricane? You okay?" I asked him. "Pidgey." he replied. I gently hugged him, and then we looked at Pidgeot. "Thank you, Pidgeot." I said. "Geot." Pidgeot replied.

"Hey! You guys okay?" said Zach as he and everyone ran over to us. "Yeah. We're okay." I replied. "But where did that Ice Beam come from?" Shay replied. After he said that, we heard a voice begin to sing. "Huh? What was that?" said Celina. "It sounded like it came from the pond?" Zuzu replied as we turned to the pond. As we looked out to the pond, the voice began to become clearer to hear through the mist. "Hey... something's coming through the mist..." said Pat. "But... what is it?" Sora replied. The silhouette swam closer to us, and then we saw something appear from the mist for the first time. "Whoa..." said most of us. "What is that..?" Sora asked us. "It's a Lapras..." Zuzu replied. She took out her phone and activated her PokéDex. "Lapras, the Transport Pokémon. A Water and Ice type. Its high intelligence enables it to comprehend human speech. When it's in a good mood, it sings in its beautiful voice." said Zuzu's PokéDex. "Wow... it's so pretty." she replied.

Lapras stared at us silently, and then swam over to the edge of the pond. It stopped at its right side, looked to its right, and then we saw someone gently get off of Lapras's back. As the person got on the grass, they turned around and saw us for the first time. My eyes widened in surprise as I saw the person and fully recognized them as they adjusted their glasses. "Lorelei!" I said. "Huh!?" my group replied in shock. "Oh! Hello, Taylor. It's been a long time since I've seen you." Lorelei replied as I ran upto her. "Likewise. How've you been?" I replied. "I've been good. Just been traveling and training Lapras while scouting out for future Trainers to take on the League." she replied. Lapras made a happy sound, and then nuzzled me happily; making me smile. "Hi, Lapras." I said. "Hehe. Looks like she remembers you?" Lorelei replied with a smile. "She sure does." I replied. I let her go from the hug, turned to the others, and motioned for them to walk over to us.

They then walked upto us and saw Lorelei and Lapras up close. "Oh? Are these all friends of yours?" Lorelei asked me. "Yep. They sure are. Everyone, this is Lorelei. The strongest Ice-type Trainer in Kanto and one of the members of the Elite 4. And this is her signature Pokémon, Lapras." I replied. "Hello. It's nice to meet all of you." she replied. "Likewise." Zach replied. "Nice to meet you too." Zuzu replied. She smiled warmly at them, and then turned to Shay; seeing the red scarves on him and his team. "Hold on... I remember you. You were one of the Trainers that challenged me at the League a few years ago." she said. "So you do remember me?" Shay replied; shocking us. "Of course. I recognize those red scarves from anywhere. You're part of that Trainer group called the Resistance, correct?" she replied. "That is correct. I am the co-leader of the Resistance." he replied.

"What..? Co-leader? Resistance? What's going on here?" Celina asked. "Shay? What is this Resistance group?" Zach replied. Shay sighed, and then showed off his Resistance Badge. "The Resistance is a group of Trainers who are standing up against organizations that are trying to destroy the world for their own personal gain." he said. "I see... I've been hearing about you and your group on the news for the past couple years. You guys have been rounding up criminals all over the region faster than the police." Lorelei replied. "You've got that right." Shay replied. "That means that you must've heard of the Gyarados incident caused by Team Rocket in Cerulean City?" she replied. "What!?" we replied in shock. "Yeah. I've heard of it. We were there in the city when this happened. My most trusted teammate went on to stop the rampage and save the city... alongside her." he replied as he pointed at me.

As I heard what Shay had said, I began to have flashbacks of the Gyarados incident and heard their voices play in my head; hearing them say Team Rocket multiple times in my head. Then I began to remember what Mewtwo had told me about them. After the flashbacks ended, I put my hand to my chest and my body began to have an anxiety attack. Lapras and my Pokémon instantly recognized what was going on with me, and then surrounded me to calm me down. Everyone looked at me shocked and worried; wondering what was going on with me. "What just happened?" said Pat. "She just had an anxiety attack. When she sees certain people or things... or hears certain words or names, it will trigger her trauma response and her body will shut down as stress and anxiety take over her until people that she trusts will help calm her down." Lorelei replied. "So... you're saying she's going through traumatic shock?" Declan replied. "Yes." she replied.

After she said that, Lapras then began to calmly sing, and I began to calm down once I heard Lapras's voice. My rapid breathing began to slow down, and my rapid heart rate began to slow down. Shay watched me silently for a moment, and then had a flashback of the night Yuto and his brothers told him about the day I was kidnapped by Team Rocket. "So Yuto was right all along... she is still traumatized by them..." he said in his thoughts. Lapras sang softly for a moment, and then lifted its head up from my shoulder; seeing me coming back to my senses. I let my hand go from my chest, felt my body completely relax, blinked my eyes, and then looked up at Lapras as it stopped singing. It made a sound to me; asking if I am now okay. I blinked my eyes, nodded my head yes to its question, and gave it a hug. "...Thank you, Lapras." I said. Lapras made a calm, happy sound at me, and then looked at everyone else looking at us. I let it go from the hug, and saw everyone else looking at me.

"Taylor..? Are you okay now?" Lorelei asked me. "...Yeah. I'm okay now." I replied. "Are you sure?" she replied curiously. I nodded my head yes to her. "Okay... let me if you can walk." she replied. "Huh? Why do you want her to do that?" Zach replied. "I want to see if her body is still shut down in certain ways. Recovering from traumatic shock doesn't just happen in a snap of a finger. It takes time and patience to recover from it." she replied. Zach blinked his eyes, stayed silent, and then nodded his head in understanding. A moment later, all the Pokémon around me slowly walked away from me and gave me space. As I saw the open space; I took a deep breath, slowly stood up, and began to walk slowly towards the group. As I did this, my team slowly followed my lead to make sure I don't fall or drag my feet on the grass.

After taking a few more steps, I stopped in front of everyone and looked at them. Lorelei walked upto me and stared at me calmly and silently. "Okay. Now we need to do the finger test. Make sure your eyes are locked onto my finger as I move it slowly in your line of sight." she said. "Okay." I replied. "What? Why does she need to do that?" Celina replied. "To test her eye movement. Many doctors do this with their patients to see any signs of a neurological disorder or life threatening health conditions." Declan replied. "Ah." Celina replied. I watched Lorelei move her finger from left to right, up and down, and repeat the process a couple more times. "Okay. Your eye movement is good... but... your right eye is struggling to move. It wants to move, but it feels like that it is being held back by something that doesn't want you to do it." she said. "Uh oh... is that bad..?" said Sora. "I think so..." Zuzu replied. After that, the test was done, and I stood alongside my friends.

"Tay? You feeling okay?" Zach asked me. "Yeah. I'm okay. And if any of you ask about my right eye struggling to move during the vision test... I'm not that worried about it now. My doctors had told me about it before, and they're still trying to figure out why it does that." I replied. "Oh? So this is something very recent?" Zuzu replied. "Mhm." I replied. I blinked my eyes, looked at my team as they looked at me, and then turned to Lapras; seeing it watching me closely. "Excuse me, miss Lorelei?" said Declan. "Yes?" Lorelei replied. "What are you doing around here? Are you looking for someone?" he replied. She blinked her eyes, sighed, and then looked back at all of us. "Do you all really want to know why I'm here?" she asked. We all nodded our heads yes to her question. "I'm here looking for Team Rocket Grunts. I saw them running away from the police in Saffron City with a powerful Pokémon in a energy cage." she replied. "A powerful Pokémon? Did you see what it looked like?" Shay replied. "I did. Once I saw it... I knew immediately what the Pokémon was." she replied. "What was it?" he replied. "It was the Legendary Pokémon: Moltres." she replied.

"Moltres!?" we replied surprised. "Yes. It was indeed Moltres. The Grunts captured it in the energy cage when they saw it flying above the city. They were led by two members in white uniforms and a talking Meowth. They ordered them to go with them to the Underground Tunnel, and prepare for the admins to arrive to take Moltres to their new base." she replied. "Hold on... did you just say... a talking Meowth? Like... it can actually talk like a human?" Declan replied curiously. "Yes. It talked like a human." she replied. "That's... cryptic." he replied. "Indeed. But whatever these Grunts are doing to Moltres... I know that it isn't good." she replied. Shay blinked his eyes silently, turned to me, saw me clutch my hands into fists, blinked his eyes again, and then turned back to Lorelei. "Lorelei. We can help you set Moltres free." he said. "Huh!?" most of us replied in shock. "Shay..? Are you serious about this?" Lorelei asked him.

"Yes. I am. I want to help you rescue Moltres. If it ends up in their leader's control... they will use it to burn the region to the ground in order to get the other Legendary Birds, take over the region, and make us suffer under their tyranny." he replied. She blinked her eyes once, turned to Lapras; seeing it looking at her. They nodded their heads in agreement, and then turned to Shay. "Alright. You can help us. But you all have to follow my orders. I can't risk you all getting hurt by them." she said. "Got it. And as for you guys... I want you all to have these." Shay replied as he turned to us and gave us a bag. We opened it up and saw red scarves and Resistance Badges inside. "Shay? These are the same things you have? Why are you giving them to us?" Zuzu asked. "Because I need your help. If I were to call anyone of my team right now... they wouldn't make it here in time." he replied. "And you also trust us to help you in this mission right now?" Pat replied. Shay nodded his head yes to his question.

We looked at the scarves and badges again, picked them up in our hands, looked back at Shay, and then nodded our heads to him. "Okay. We'll help." said Zach. "Great." Shay replied. We wrapped the scarves around us on different parts of our bodies, put our Badges on, and then looked at them on us for the first time. As I looked at them, I secretly used my powers to make more of them and gently wrapped the scarves and put the badges on all our Pokémon. "Heh. You guys look good wearing them." said Shay. "Thanks, Shay." Celina replied. "No problem. And you guys don't have to give them back. They're all yours to keep." he replied. "Really? You mean it?" Sora replied. "I mean it. They're all yours. And as co-leader of the team, I hereby declare you all as official members of the Resistance." he replied. "Wow... thank you, Shay. We promise to wear the scarves and badges with pride and honor." I replied. "I know you all will. Now. Let's get moving and save Moltres." he replied. "Right." we replied. After that, we began our move to the Underground Tunnel.

Underground Tunnel

The area was dimly lit, and sounds were mostly quiet inside the place. But in one area, a loud noise could be heard within the walls of the tunnel. On the other side of the walls, Moltres cried and screeched at the Grunts of Team Rocket; trying its best to break free of the cage. As it bashed the cage, it was shocked by some electricity; slightly injuring it and making it fall in pain. "There. Now it will stay quiet." said one Grunt. "Yeah. Now they're call with the admins won't be interrupted." another Grunt replied. "Right... but why did the Boss send them to do this mission? Aren't these three the ones who keep failing at stealing Pokémon and waste our team's money on making their machines?" the first Grunt replied in a whispered voice. "They are... but the admins gave them this assignment in order to prove themselves to them and the Boss in order to stay on the team." the second Grunt replied in a whispered voice. "Ah... but why do I have a feeling this is not going to go well?" the first Grunt replied. "Don't say that yet... you don't want to jinx us." the second Grunt replied.

As they talked to each other and watched Moltres, the three members they have mentioned were looking at the giant screen in front of them, and saw the admins looking down at them. "So... you three actually managed to catch the Legendary Pokémon, Moltres?" said one admin. "Yes, sir. We found it flying above Saffron City and caught it in our energy cage." the Meowth replied. "I see. Well... I must say... Jessie, James, Meowth... you have impressed us. With this successful capture, you might even please the Boss himself." the second admin replied. "Thank you, sir." Jessie, James, and Meowth replied. "Great work, you three. Keep Moltres contained in that cage. We will be there in a hour. And if anyone breaks in and finds out about Moltres... eliminate them." the first admin replied. "Yes, sir." the trio replied. After that, the call had ended, and then the trio began to celebrate their victory.

"Did you hear that!? They were impressed with us catching Moltres!" said Jessie excitedly. "Yeah! This might be our chance to fully stay with the team!" Meowth replied confidently. "And, if we keep this up... we might even capture Zapdos and Articuno for the Boss, and we will be given a position of power!" James replied happily. "And we might even get some rare and powerful Pokémon for ourselves!" Meowth replied. They celebrated with glee and began their preparations with the Grunts; while Moltres watched them in silence and anger. As they did this... me and the others already made it inside the tunnel, and I used my powers to see and hear what they were doing with Moltres, while Aurasoul used his Aura Vision to sense where they were. I clutched my hands into fists, and began to growl angrily. "Tay. Don't let it control you. Your better than this." said Zach as he put his hand on my shoulder. I turned to him and he saw the anger in my eyes beginning to form; ready to fight our enemies.

"Tay... breathe. Do not let your anger overwhelm you. I know that your Awakened form wants to protect you and give you the strength to fight... but you would be risking many more lives if you snap and go berserk. So please... try your best not to lose control... okay?" he said. I blinked my eyes a couple times, breathed slowly, and began to relax; making him breathe a sigh of relief. He patted my shoulder, let his hand go of it, and we nodded our heads in understanding. We then turned back with the others, and saw Team Rocket Grunts walking around with their Pokémon for the first time. "So they have the Rattata line, Zubat, Golbat, Ekans line, Grimer line, Koffing line, Oddish line, Bellsprout line, Drowzee line, Sandshrew line, Cubone line, Voltorb line, and the Machop line huh?" said Declan. "Yes. I've seen them use those lines all over the area. Knowing them now... those Grunts in the white uniforms told them to guard the area until the admins arrive." Lorelei replied.

"So what do we do?" Sora replied worriedly. "We ambush them." Shay replied. "What!?" Zuzu replied in a worried, hushed tone. "He's right. We have to ambush and distract them before the admins arrive. If we defeat them and freeze them in place... we can get to Moltres faster and rescue it." Lorelei replied. "She's right. We need to keep them here and not let them run away from here. Once we hold them back, Taylor and I will go to the room where they're keeping Moltres, take on the two Grunts in there, get Moltres out, and escape with you all together." Shay replied. "And if you see any of them enter a room and find Pokémon that they have kidnapped in them, release them immediately." Lorelei replied. We nodded our heads in understanding, and prepared our ambush. We hid in the shadows, watched the Grunts walking along the lit walls, and then began our ambush.

The first strike came from my Sandshrew, Ekans, Hydro, Solar, Pat's Bulbasaur, Rattata, Mankey, Aipom, Sora's Bellsprout, Mankey, Slurpuff, Krabby, Celina's Zubat, Poliwhirl, Abra, Zach's Wartortle, Abra, Growlithe, Zuzu's Pikachu, Vulpix, Declan's Raichu, Lorelei's Jynx, Cloyster, Slowbro, Shay's Talonflame, and Pidgeot. "Huh!? What the hell was that!?" said one of the Grunts. He and his group turned around and saw us take down a group of Grunts with out attacks. "Shit! Intruders!" he said. "Call those three in the room! We gotta get out of here!" another Grunt replied. "Wartortle, Ice Beam!" Zach replied. "You too, Poliwhirl!" Celina replied. "Tor! War-tor-tle!" Wartortle replied as he used Ice Beam. "Poli! Pol-i-whirl!" Poliwhirl replied as it used Ice Beam; freezing the Grunts in place. "Oh no!" some Grunts yelled. "Go! Get out of here!" the first Grunt replied. "No way! Team Rocket doesn't go down without a fight! Go, Drowzee! Use Confusion!" one Grunt replied as she threw a PokéBall.

"Drow-zee. Drowzee-Drow-zee." Drowzee replied as it came out of its Ball, and used the attack. Our group dodged the attack. "You guys think you're so slick? Well this one will stop ya! Go, Victreebel! Slice 'em up with your Razor Leaf!" another Grunt yelled as he threw a PokéBall. Victreebel came out of its Ball and begun its attack. "Grab them with your Vine Whip and throw them back, Bellsprout!" Soar replied. "You too, Bulbasaur!" Pat replied. "Sprout! Bell-sprout!" Bellsprout replied as it did what Sora asked. "Saur! Bul-ba-saur! Bul-ba!" Pat's Bulbasaur replied as he did the same thing as Bellsprout. The Razor Leaves returned to Victreebel, its Trainer, and the other Rocket Grunts and their Pokémon; knocking them back. "Vulpix! Use Flamethrower on Victreebel!" said Zuzu. "Vul! Vul-pix!" Vulpix replied as she used the attack on Victreebel; knocking it out.

"Why you little!? Muk! Use Sludge Bomb!" yelled a Grunt. "Muk! Muk-Muk!" Muk replied as it used Sludge Bomb. "Slowbro! Use Psychic!" Lorelei replied. "Slow. Slow-bro." Slowbro replied as it used Psychic to stop the attack, and push back our foes. As they were held back, Shay and I ran off with our teams to the next part of the tunnel. While we ran, we saw a huge line of Grunts with the Voltorb line appear alongside the other Pokémon that Declan had mentioned. I used my powers to do Earthquake on the ground; scaring our foes a little bit, and then Aurasoul used Bone Rush to hit the Voltorb and Electrode like baseballs as they came up in the air, made them crash onto the walls of the area, explode, and see all our foes knocked out. "Nice work." said Shay. "Thanks." I replied. After that, we kept on running.

A few minutes had passed, and Shay and I arrive at the room Aurasoul and I had been sensing. We stood by the walls and heard Moltres screech from inside. "It's in there... and it sounds like its hurt." I said. "Are you sure?" Shay replied. "I'm sure. I can tell by the tone of its voice." I replied. We heard Moltres cry again, and clutched our hands into fists; ready to burst down the door. As I heard the cries, I looked down to the ground, and saw a mysterious black cloak that was burnt and torn in some spots, and a mysterious helmet with green visors on it. I walked over to them, knelt down, examined them, and then stood up and walked back to my spot. "What are you doing with those?" Shay asked me. "I found them over there." I replied. He examined the cape and helmet for a moment, and then thought of an idea. "Put the helmet on." he said. "Huh? How come?" I replied.

"To hide your face. What if those Grunts recognize you from five years ago? If you wear this, they won't recognize you." he replied. I thought about it for a moment of what he had said, and then I nodded my head yes to him. I took off my hat, put it in my bag, and put the helmet on. I then took my jacket off, put it in my bag too, and put on the cloak. "You okay?" he asked me. "Yeah... I'm okay. The helmet's just giving me some dark memories. That's all." I replied. "You recognize the kind of helmet, don't you?" he replied. I nodded my head yes to him. "Yeah. It's the model they used to experiment on me. When I found it on the ground, I saw that its controls were destroyed. So one of them must've tried to build it again after possibly hearing of me." I said. "We won't know until we face them." he replied. I nodded my head in agreement, and then we busted down the door together. "Ah! What the hell!? Who are you two!?" said a Grunt. "Your worst nightmare." Shay replied. "Is that so?" replied a voice. We all stopped in our tracks, looked out to the back of the room, and saw spotlights shine down on two people standing on top of a cage. "What the hell?" said Shay. "Oh no..." one Grunt replied in agony. "Not this stint again..." the other Grunt replied.

"Prepare for trouble!" said the first person. "And make it double!" the second person replied. "To protect the world from devastation!" the first person replied. "To unite all peoples within our nation!" the second person replied. "To denounce the evils of truth and love!" the first person replied. "To extend our reach to the stars above!" the second person replied. "Jessie!" Jessie replied. "James!" James replied. "Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie replied. "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" James replied. "Meowth! That's right!" their partner Meowth replied. "Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet replied. The Grunts slapped themselves on their faces, and shook their heads in agony. "So, you're the ones who captured Moltres!" said Shay. "Why, yes! We did! And once the Boss gets his hands on this baby, we will be given a position of power!" Meowth replied cunningly. "What!? Are you out of your mind?" I replied. "No way! That was what we were promised!" James replied.

"And we will make sure that it will happen, isn't that right Moltres?" Jessie replied as we saw Moltres in the cage. "Moltres! What did you all do to it!?" I replied. "That is none of your twerpy business! If you two are going to stand in our way, then we shall defeat you in battle! Go, Arbok!" Jessie replied as she threw a PokéBall. "You too, Weezing!" James replied as he threw a PokéBall. After they threw them, Arbok and Weezing appeared. Arbok hissed loudly and Weezing let out a tiny bit of smoke. "Pidgeot, let's go!" said Shay. "You too, Hurricane!" I replied. Pidgeot and Hurricane jumped up from behind us and then flew onto the battlefield. "Ha! You're going to fight us with a tiny, little Pidgey? You must be a rookie!" said Meowth. "Well this rookie has got a few tricks up their sleeve! Hurricane! Distract Arbok by flying around the room!" I replied. "Gey!" Hurricane replied as he began to dash around the room. "Ar-bok!" Arbok replied as it began its chase after him.

"That leaves Weezing to me! Pidgeot! Steel Wing!" Shay replied. "Geot! Pidg-eot!" Pidgeot replied as it used Steel Wing on Weezing; pushing it back. "Weezing! Use Thunderbolt!" James replied. "Zing! Wee-zing!" Weezing replied as it used Thunderbolt. "Pidgeot! Use Steel Wing to absorb the Thunderbolt, and attack it back!" Shay replied. "Geot! Pidg-eot!" Pidgeot replied as it used Steel Wing again, spun around in the air as the Thunderbolt touched its wings, absorbed the electricity, stopped spinning, and then attacked Weezing back; sending it flying. "Weezing!" cried out Weezing. "No! Weezing!" James replied worriedly. As this happened, Hurricane led Arbok around the room, squeezed through some of the smallest spots of the room, and then led it to the front of the cage. "Arbok! Use Crunch!" said Jessie. "Ar-bok!" Arbok replied as it used the attack. "Gey!" cried Hurricane. "Hurricane!" I replied worriedly.

Arbok then wrapped him around his tail, and then threw and bashed him around a few times in front of Moltres. Hurricane then fell to the ground, breathed heavily, looked up at Moltres as it looked down at him, blinked his eyes, looked away from it, and heard Arbok hissing at him. "Alright, Arbok! Time to have yourself a good, little snack! Use Poison Fang!" said Jessie. "Arbok! A-" Arbok replied as it used the attack. I closed my eyes worriedly, felt tears fall on my face, and then looked back at Hurricane as he tried to get back up. "Hurricane!" I yelled worriedly. Once he heard my cry, he quickly opened up his eyes, dodged the attack, and then flew up in the air; making Arbok hit the cage. "What!?" the trio said in shock.

"Gey! Pid-gey!" Hurricane replied as he flew back down, stared at our foes, and then his body began to glow! My eyes widened in shock to what I was seeing, and then I smiled happily at the sight. "Hurricane... he's evolving!" I said. A moment later, Hurricane evolved into a Pidgeotto! "Pidge-otto!" he said. "Just... our luck..." said James. "That's not fair! You can't just evolve in the middle of battle!" Jessie replied. Hurricane stared at the cage, saw the lock was almost broken off, thought of a plan, turned back to me, nodded his head, watched me do the same, smirked happily, and then turned back to our foes. "Ready, bud?" I asked him. "Geot-to." he replied. "Okay! Now, use Brave Bird on the cage!" I replied. "Geo! Pidg-e-otto!" he replied as he used Brave Bird on the cage; breaking and destroying the lock. The impact of the attack made the trio fall off the cage and break it.

Once Moltres saw the cage fall apart, it spread out its wings, flew up in the air, and let out a powerful battle cry. "Ah! It broke free!" said Meowth. "No, no no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Jessie replied. Moltres flew over to our side, stood behind us, and then used Fire Blast on their giant computer screen. "Hey! We paid good money for that!" said James. "Well now we're going to make them pay! Arbok! Sludge Bomb!" Jessie replied. "Weezing! Sludge Bomb!" James replied. Arbok and Weezing jumped up from the ground, and used Sludge Bomb. Hurricane and Pidgeot dodged it with ease, and looked at their foes as they tried to come close to us. "Brave Bird!" we said. "Geo!" they replied. After that, they used Brave Bird together, hit Arbok and Weezing, and sent them back to the trio; knocking them upto a hot air balloon.

"Now for the grand finale! Tetrax, use Thunderbolt!" I said. "Pika! Pika-chu!" Tetrax replied as he used Thunderbolt on the trio; shocking them and their Pokémon. After the attack, its power made an explosion on the top of the room, and it sent our foes flying. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" said Jessie, James, and Meowth. "Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet replied. As we looked up, the two Grunts tried to escape the room, but were stopped by Lorelei and the others. "What the!? Lorelei!?" said one Grunt. "In the flesh. Jynx. Put them to sleep for me, dearie." she replied. "Jynx. Jy-nx." Jynx replied as she used Sing on the Grunts and made them fall asleep. She then dragged them out of the room and stood by her Trainer. "Shay! Tay! You two alright?" said Zuzu. "Yeah. We're okay. Right, Tay?" Shay replied. I took off the helmet, shook my head for a second, and then looked at my group. "Yeah. We're alright." I replied; making them smile.

"Whoa! Check it out! Hurricane evolved!" said Pat. "No way! Wow... he looks so cool!" Sora replied. "Pidgeotto." Hurricane replied happily. He then flew over to me, and I happily hugged him in my arms. "You did it, bud! You evolved! I'm so proud of you!" I said. "Geo!" he replied. I let him go, and then we all turned to Moltres as it looked down to us. "Whoa..." said Sora. "So this is Moltres..?" Zuzu replied. "So cool..." Celina replied. She took out her phone and activated her PokéDex. "Moltres, the Flame Pokémon. A Fire and Flying type. When injured, Moltres enters the lava of a volcano, and its fiery temperature helps heal its wounds. They say when Moltres appears, it brings spring with it." said her PokéDex. Moltres blinked its eyes, turned to me, stared at me silently for a moment, and then recognized me. It let out a cry, gently flew up in the air, and then landed down behind me. It then lowered its head to me, and then let me gently pet it. "Hi, Moltres. It's been a long time since I've seen you." I said. "What..? How..? How is this even real right now?" Shay replied in a stunned tone. "Because Moltres is one of the Pokémon who saved her from Team Rocket." Zach replied. "What!? You saw it before!?" Shay replied.

"Mhm. Me, Pat, and the Sakaki Bros. saw it together with Articuno, Zapdos, and a mysterious Pokémon when they brought her home to us." he replied. Shay was completely surprised of what Zach had said, turned back to me and Moltres silently, and then saw it look upto the broken ceiling of the room. I healed its wounds with my powers for a moment, and then saw Moltres look back down at us. "You're safe now, Moltres. Team Rocket can't get you anymore." I said. Moltres nodded its head in understanding, and then looked at Shay. He then slowly walked over to it and got a closer look at it. Moltres then let out a calm sound at him; saying thank you to him. "...You're welcome. And thank you, for helping us out in the end." he replied. Moltres blinked its eyes, nodded its head, and then lowered itself to the ground to us; making us wonder what it is doing.

"It looks like Moltres wants to help us get out of here." said Lorelei. Moltres let out a calm cry; confirming her answer. "Are you sure, Moltres?" I asked. It nodded its head yes, and motioned for us to get onto its back. "Well, come on guys. What are we waiting for?" said Sora. After that, we got onto Moltres's back, and it flew us out of the tunnel. As we got out, we saw all the police cars surround the tunnel and arrest all the Team Rocket Grunts. "Heh. Serves them right." said Pat. "Yeah." Celina replied as she gave him a high five. After that, Moltres took us up high above the clouds and began to fly around in the sky; leaving us in awe of the sight of the world around us.

Up in the Sky

"Wow... it's so beautiful..." said Zuzu. "Pi-ka..." her Pikachu replied. "Yeah... it sure is." Celina replied. "Ran..." her Nidoran replied. "Man... so this is what the sky looks like when you look out from the plane window... it's so beautiful." Pat replied. "Mhm." Zach replied. As we flew, we saw many kinds of Flying-type Pokémon appear and fly in a V formation. We took a bunch of photos of them on our phones and made some videos of our flight in the sky. After that, Moltres took us all the way back to Route 5. As we made our way there, we saw that the police cars were gone and the Underground Tunnel was surrounded by the International Police. "Huh? The International Police? What are they doing here?" said Sora. "Investigating the area." Lorelei replied. We looked down at the area again, and then saw someone down there with the cops. "What the..? Wait... that's Kite!" said Shay. "Huh? You know him?" Zach replied. "Yeah. He's the other co-leader of the team. What is he doing here?" Shay replied. "Looking for you?" I replied. "Maybe..?" Shay replied.

"Moltres? Can you take us down there?" I replied. Moltres nodded its head, and began its descend to Route 5. As we flew down, Kite saw us on Moltres's back for the first time, and his eyes widened in shock. He ended with his conversation with the cops, and ran over to see us as we got down to the ground.

Route 5

"Shay! Where were you!? Me and the team have been looking everywhere for you!? Are you alright!" he said. "I'm fine, Kite. Just got back from a rescue mission." Shay replied as he watched Kite look at Moltres. Moltres stared at him cautiously as everyone else except for me got down. "No... way... did you just rescue Moltres?" Kite asked. "Yep. A big group of Team Rocket Grunts kidnapped it in Saffron City and kept in a secret base in the Underground Tunnel. I was going to call you and the others for back-up... but I had some help from some good friends of mine." Shay replied. Kite looked at us silently and saw the red scarves and Resistance Badges on us; surprising him. He blinked his eyes, turned to look at me, and then recognized me. "Hey... isn't that the girl he's been talking about?" he said. "Huh!?" my group replied in shock. "Me?" I replied curiously as I pointed at myself with my eyebrow raised. "Yeah. You. You're the other Guardian that helped our friend take down those Gyarados in Cerulean City. The name's Taylor, right?" he replied. "What!?" my group replied in shock.

"Yeah... that's me." I replied. "I knew it! That Guardian on our team, and his friends have been talking about you for quite sometime. But now I finally get to meet you." he replied as I put my hat back on my head and turned it backwards. "I'm Kite Hart, co-leader of the Resistance. Nice to meet you." he said. "Nice to meet you too." I replied. I shook hands with him, and then gave Moltres gentle pats. "Tay? You know you can get off of Moltres, right?" said Celina. "I know, but I'm waiting for it to tell me to get off." I replied. Moltres nodded its head in agreement to my response, leaned over to me, and smelt something on me. "Hm? Oh... I know what you're sniffing at." I said. I took off my bag, opened it up, and took out some leftover Fire-type Pokémon food. "Here you go." I said. Moltres let out a small, happy cry, and began to eat the food from my hand.

"Whoa..." said Pat and Sora. "Okay... that's cool." Celina replied. "It's eating from her hand. That's amazing." Zuzu replied. "That's because of her heritage. Legendary Pokémon have a very strong connection to the Guardians." Kite replied. "Really?" Sora replied. Kite and Shay nodded their heads yes to his question. "That connection has been known as long time itself. The Guardians are the only ones who can fully control and tame Legendary Pokémon. Even though people like us can catch them, they're very hard to tame for us." Lorelei replied. "Because they are the only kind of humans they truly respect?" Zach replied. Lorelei nodded her head yes to his response. "Wow..." he replied. After that, I put my bag back on, watched Moltres gently lower itself down to the ground, and I got off of Moltres's back.

It lifted itself back up, spread out its wings, flapped them a few times, and then got up into the air. It let out a happy, thankful cry to us, and did a little dance in the air. "What is it doing?" said Shay. "It's dancing. It's showing us that it's happy to be free." I replied. Moltres continued its dance, and then most of our winged Pokémon flew up in the air to join in on the dance; making most of us smile. We couldn't even help ourselves to take some photos and videos of it; knowing this something that not everyone would ever get to witness. After the dance ended, our winged Pokémon returned to us, and Moltres flew back down to the ground; staring at me silently. I walked over to it, stared into its eyes, gave it one last pet and hug, and let it go. "Moltres... I'm going to miss you." I said. It let out a reassuring sound, and hugged me again; letting me know that we will meet again. "Yeah. We will meet again someday. And when that day comes, we will have a real battle and I will catch you." I replied.

It let me go, nodded its head in agreement, and let out a confident sound; telling me that it will keep my promise. I stepped back from it, watched it spread out its wings again, let out a cry of thanks to everyone, flapped its wings, jumped up in the air, and began to fly away. "Bye-bye, Moltres!" said Sora as he waved to it. "Munch-Munch!" Munchlax replied. "Goodbye, Moltres! We'll see you again soon!" Celina replied as she waved. "Bye, Moltres!" Zuzu replied with a wave. "Vulpix!" Vulpix replied. "Pika-chu!" her Pikachu replied with a wave. "See you again soon!" Pat replied with a wave. "Bye, Moltres! Thank you for everything!" Zach replied with a wave. "War-tortle!" Wartortle replied with a wave. A moment later, Moltres went up into the clouds, and disappeared from sight. I smiled warmly at the sight, put my hand to my heart, and felt my Mark glow for a few seconds.

"Shay. We better get going. The team is expecting you." said Kite. "Hm? Oh. Right." Shay replied. "You gotta go?" I replied. "Yeah. The team needs me at one of our bases." he replied. I nodded my head in understanding, and then extended my hand to him. "Hm?" he said curiously. "Shay? Thank you for everything today. If it weren't for you... Hurricane would've never evolved." I replied. His eyes lightly widened to my response, turned to Hurricane, saw him nod his head to him from my response, turned back to me, nodded his head, warmly smiled, and shook my hand back. "You're welcome. And good luck on your Gym Challenge. Me and Lulu know that you can do it." he said. "Thanks." I replied. After that, we said our goodbyes to Shay and Kite, and watched them leave together.

"Well then, children. I must be on my way too. I hope to see you all again someday." said Lorelei. "Likewise." Declan replied. "And Taylor? I hope to see you at the Indigo Plateau to challenge us someday." she replied. "I will. That's a promise." I replied. After that, we said our goodbyes to Lorelei, and watched her leave. "What about you, Declan? Are you leaving or staying?" said Celina. "Hm..? I think I'll stick around for a while. I was originally heading to Vermilion City to meet my parents there for the Contest." he replied. "Wait..? Are you in the Contest too?" Zuzu replied. "Unfortunately, no. My family and I are going there as spectators of the show. But ever since you have said that you all are on your way there too, I thought that I should join you for a little while until we get there?" he replied. "Really? You want to travel with us for a bit?" Celina replied. He nodded his head yes to her response. "Sure! You can definitely join us, Declan!" Sora replied happily.

We smiled happily at his response, and then walked along the Route together; continuing our journey to Vermilion City.

Thank you so much for reading Chapter 12 of the story! *Phew* Man... what a process on this one. First with reuniting with both Declan and Shay, meeting Lorelei, fighting Team Rocket Grunts, and rescuing Moltres. I knew that this Chapter had to be a start for the group to physically see Team Rocket roaming around for the first time, but I wanted it to be for a reason than for them just to be running or plotting something. So I decided on bring Moltres into this plot alongside the Team Rocket Trio from the first Pokémon anime.

SPEAKING OF WHICH! As of March 10th! If you are a fan of the Pokémon anime like myself, this is the FINAL EPISODE featuring the Team Rocket Trio: Jessie, James, and Meowth! I know how much they mean to many people who haved watched the anime for over 25 years, so I decided to put them in this Chapter as a little tribute to them and all my fellow 90's kids who have grown up with them since the very beginning alongside Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu. Oh boy... this also means in 2 weeks... it will be Ash and Pikachu's final episode ever...

Damn... that episode is going to hit me hard in the feels :'( . So if you are going to watch those episodes by the time you see this Chapter... here are some tissues and tissue boxes. You're going to need them. Trust me. These final three episodes we Pokémon fans are going to watch are going to make us cry big time.

Anyways, thank you so much for reading Chapter 12 of the story, and have yourself an awesome day!

Next time, Chapter 13: Beauty of the Lake. While training for the Vermilion Contest, the group hears of a Pokémon that is claimed to be the most beautiful of all in a lake nearby their campsite. What does this Pokémon look like? And will the stories of it be true? Find out in Chapter 13!