The Spirit World

Makoto and the others were once again flying off to the North Pole on the flying duo of Appa and Koraidon. The boys were relaxing while Katara looked down at the clouds. "The clouds look so soft, don't they? Like you could just jump down and you'd land on a big soft cottony heap."

"Maybe you should give it a try." Sokka joked.

"You're hilarious." Katara sarcastically told her brother.

"I'll try it!" Aang jumped off the bison and fell through the sky, laughing on the way down. As he disappeared in the clouds, Makoto, Katara, Sokka, and even Koraidon looked down to find their Airbender friend.

"Uh...Aang!?" Makoto tried to call out...just before said Avatar got back on Appa's saddle, wet.

"Turns out clouds are made of water." Aang used his Airbending to dry himself.

Makoto chuckled a bit after that, but that stopped with growls coming from Koraidon. "Koraidon, what's wrong?" He asked his Pokemon. Koraidon nodded his head at something down below. Makoto looked down as well. "Guys? You might want to see this." Soon everyone looked down to see a giant black mark in the valley.

"It's like a scar." Sokka said.

They landed in the middle of the burned area and got off Koraidon and Appa to walk around a little. "Listen, it's so quiet. There's no life anywhere." Sokka said.

Makoto turned to see Aang looking pretty upset. "Aang, are you okay?"

Sokka looked down and noticed the footprints on the burnt ground. "Fire Nation! Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for-" He was cut off when Katara shushed him. "What? I'm not allowed to be angry?" He whispered, but Katara and Makoto pointed in Aang's direction.

They all looked at the Avatar who just sank to his knees and sighed. "Why would anyone do this?" Aang ran his hands through the dirt. "How could I let this happen?"

"Aang, you didn't let this happen." Katara assured him. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Yes it does." Aang said. "It's the Avatar's duty to protect nature, but I don't know how to do my job."

Makoto shrugged. "Well, that's why we're heading to the North Pole. To find you a teacher."

"Yeah, a Waterbending teacher." Aang corrected the Pokemon Trainer. "But there's no one who can teach me to be the Avatar. Monk Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me."

"The Avatar before you?" Sokka asked him. "He died over a hundred years ago, how are you supposed to talk to him?"

"I don't know." Aang answered. Momo got on Aang's lap to offer some comfort, letting the Avatar pet him gently.

In a different area, Zuko was searching through the woods. "Uncle! It's time to leave! Where are you? Uncle Iroh!"

"Over here!" Iroh's voice called out. Zuko made it through a clearing, and saw his uncle soaking in a makeshift hot tub.

"Uncle?" Zuko asked. "We need to move on, we're closing in on the Avatar's trail as well as the trail of the Pokemon Tamer and I don't want to lose them!"

"You look tired, Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles?" Iroh offered.

"My troubles cannot be soaked away. It's time to go!" Zuko told him.

"You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little. The temperature's just right, I heated it myself." Iroh heated the water some more by shooting steam from his nostrils.

Zuko swatted the steam away. "Enough! We need to leave now! Get out of the water!"

"Very well." Iroh stood up on his feet.

Zuko, realizing that his uncle still didn't have any clothes on, quickly covered his eyes. "On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes? But be back at the ship in half an hour or I'm leaving without you!" Zuko turned to walk away, leaving his uncle who went back to relaxing in the water.

Back with Aang and the others, the Avatar was still sad about what the Fire Nation did when Katara walked over to him with something behind her back. "Hey, Aang, are you ready to be cheered up?"

"No." Aang answered just before an acorn hit him in the head. "Ow! Hey, how was that cheering me up?"

Sokka laughed a little. "Cheered me up." And that got him an acorn to the head as well. "Ow! Yeah, I probably deserved that."

Makoto rolled his eyes a little before he turned to the Waterbender. "Katara, what are you even throwing at them anyway?"

Katara showed the Pokemon Trainer an acorn in her hand before she turned to the Avatar. "These acorns are everywhere, Aang. That means the forest will grow back. Everyone of these will be a tall oak tree someday, and all the birds and animals that lived here will come back." She placed an acorn in Aang's hand and closed it.

Aang gave her a smile. "Thanks, Katara." The Waterbender smiled back at him.

Momo dug up some more acorns and stuffed them in his mouth, but his ears picked up the sound of more digging. He looked up a bit and blinked when he saw what was digging as well. Aang noticed the look on the lemur's face. "What is it, Momo?"

Makoto looked ahead. His eyes widened when he noticed a big squirrel in front of them...one that was familiar only to him. "Wait, is that...?" He smiled and tried to call out to the squirrel. "Hey, Greedent!"

The squirrel stopped digging for acorns, his head shot up and turned to the one calling him. When Greedent saw Makoto, he smiled happily. "Dent! Greedent!" In happiness, the Greedy Pokemon ran over and tackled Makoto to the ground while the others watched.

They were confused when Makoto laughed as he hugged the Normal-Type Pokemon. "Greedent, it is you! Oh, I'm so happy you're here!"

Sokka stood up and raised an eyebrow. "Makoto, you know this...thing?"

Katara began to realize why Makoto was so happy to see Greedent. "I get it! This must be another Pokemon from your dimension, right?"

Makoto was able to stand up, but he kept a gentle hand on Greedent's head. "He is. Guys, this is the Normal-Type Pokemon called Greedent."

Aang looked confused. "Odd, he doesn't look like the Pokemon we saw back in Omashu."

"That's because he isn't a Paradox Pokemon, Aang." Makoto told him. "Greedent's just a regular Pokemon. A partner of one of my friends named Arven."

"Arven?" Sokka repeated.

Makoto nodded. "Yeah, he's one of my friends that was with me when we found the diamonds." He looked down and noticed the sad look on Greedent's face. "What's the matter, Greedent?"

Before an answer could be given, Katara noticed that someone was coming their way, so she gasped a little. They looked to see that it was an old man in green with a walking stick approaching them.

"Hey, who are you?" Sokka asked the old man.

The old man turned to Aang. "When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible, but those markings...Are you the Avatar, child?"

Aang turned to Katara, who nodded her head, before nodding to the old man. "I am."

"My village desperately needs your help." The old man suddenly turned to Greedent. "Thank you for finding the Avatar, you kind creature." Greedent smiled a little and nodded.

Makoto raised an eyebrow. "You know Greedent?"

The old man turned to him and nodded. "I do. As do you, then you must be friends with the poor creature's owner...the one known as Arven."

Hearing the name made Makoto smile. "Arven? He's here?"

The old man looked down in sadness. "He is, but..."

Makoto dropped his smile. "But what?"

The old man shook his head a little. "It's best to take you all back to my village. Follow me."

The old man and even Greedent took them back to a small village that looked like it was under construction after some kind of destruction.

They entered a small house where the old man introduced Aang to his people. "This young person is the Avatar."

One of the villagers approached Aang. "So the rumors of your return are true." He bowed to the Airbender. "It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence."

Aang bowed in return. "Nice to meet you too."

Greedent turned back outside. "Greedent! Greedent! Greed!" He gave a call to someone. Suddenly four figures entered the house. Aang and the others saw that the figures were actually four different Pokemon.

"Four more Pokemon?" Sokka asked.

"They came here all of a sudden with this person who tried to help us." One of the villagers explained.

"Arven." Makoto silently said. Still, that was enough to get the attention of the other four Pokemon. They beamed happily when they saw Makoto and went over, surrounding him. Makoto laughed and patted some of the Pokemon. "Okay, okay! I'm glad to see you guys too! Cloyster, Garganacl, Toedscruel, Scovillain! Yeah, I've been worried about you too!"

Aang and the others smiled a little at the scene before the Avatar turned to the chief. "So, is there something I can help you with?"

"I'm not sure." the chief answered.

"Our village is in crisis, he's our only hope!" the old man urged. He turned to Aang to explain the situation. "For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He is Hei-Bai, the black and white spirit."

"Why is it attacking you?" Sokka asked. The Pokemon stopped smothering Makoto so they could pay attention.

"We do not know, but each of the last four nights he has abducted one of our own. The last to get abducted before you came was the person called Arven as well as one of his creatures you call Pokemon...His loyal partner he calls Mabosstiff." the chief explained.

Makoto gasped a little while looking at Arven's other five Pokemon. "Oh no."

The chief looked out the window at the setting sun. "We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near."

"What happens then?" Katara asked.

"As the solstice approaches, the natural world and the Spirit World grow closer and closer, until the line between them is blurred completely." the old man answered.

"Hei-Bai is already causing devastation and destruction." the chief added. "Once the solstice is here there's no telling what will happen."

"So, what do you want me to do exactly?" Aang asked.

"Who better to solve a crisis between our world and the Spirit World than the Avatar himself?" the old man asked him. "You are the great bridge between man and spirit."

Aang looked uncertain. "Right, that's me."

"Hey, great bridge guy, can I talk to you over here for a second?" Katara asked him. They, Sokka, Makoto, and even Arven's Pokemon gathered to have a talk of their own. "Aang, you seem a little uncertain about all of this."

"Yeah, that might be because I don't know anything about the Spirit World." Aang said, making his friends worry. "It's not like there's someone to teach me this stuff!"

Makoto placed both hands on Aang's shoulders. "Aang, calm down. We're just worried, that's all. You think you can help these people?"

"I have to try, don't I?" Aang answered. "Maybe whatever I have to do will just...come to me." Makoto got his hands off Aang's shoulders just before Momo got on Aang's left shoulder, making him smile.

"I think you can do it, Aang." Katara said.

"Yeah...we're all gonna get eaten by a spirit monster." Sokka said. That made Toedscruel smack him with one of her tentacles. Sokka rubbed his back where she hit him. "What? If Aang can't stop the spirit monster, who will?"

Makoto looked at the five Pokemon and noticed how sad some of them looked. With a determined look, he turned to the other three. "I will." They gave him surprised looks, but he continued anyway. "I know, I know. It's not my place to do an Avatar's job, but I want to give it a shot anyway. I finally found out where one of my best friends have been staying, only to be told that he and one of his Pokemon have been captured by the spirit that's been destroying this village! Even if I'm not the Avatar, I still want to try, if not for the village..." He gave Arven's remaining Pokemon a soft smile. "Then I can at least do it for them." The five Pokemon looked at him emotionally.

Aang smiled softly and patted Makoto on the shoulder. "Thank you, Makoto." He looked out the window. "But, I think this is something I have to do alone."

Iroh was still soaking in the hot springs, in fact he was snoring until a noise startled him back awake. "Who's there?!" Just after he said that, a small mouse came out of the bushes and scurried to the edge of the tub.

Iroh gently picked up the creature. "A meadow vole, I should've known. You startled me, little one." The vole was gently placed down before Iroh gave off a yawn. "It seems I dozed off and missed my nephew's deadline, but it was a very sweet nap."

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, scaring the vole away just as dust clouds began to make their way to Iroh's direction. Before he knew it, Iroh was held in place by three different stones.

After that, three Earthbender soldiers came and surrounded Iroh. One of them held up his uniform. "He's a Fire Nation soldier."

The captain turned to face Iroh. "He's no ordinary soldier. This is the Fire Lord's brother, the Dragon of the West. The once great General Iroh, but now he's our prisoner." He smirked at Iroh who gave them a glare.

Back at the village, Aang was standing in the middle of it, waiting for Hei-Bai. The sun was starting to set.

"Hello? Spirit? Can you hear me? This is the Avatar speaking!" Aang tried to call for Hei-Bai. "I'm here to try and help stuff!"

Everyone else was hiding in the house as they watched. "This isn't right. We can't sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up." Sokka told them.

"If anyone can save us, he can." the old man assured him.

"He still shouldn't have to face this alone." Sokka said.

Makoto looked down at Arven's Pokemon. "Sco?" Scovillain even asked in sadness, which made Makoto gently rub her green head.

Aang saw that the sun has set. "The sun has set. Where are you, Hei-Bai?" He still didn't get an answer and no spirit appeared before him. "Well, spirit, uh...I hearby ask you to leave this village in peace!" He smacked his staff to the ground. "Okay, well, I guess that's settled then." He turned around and walked away.

As he did, something big, black and white came from the forest. It stalked Aang until he finally noticed long enough to turn to the spirit. "You must be the Hei-Bai spirit." He bowed to the spirit. "My name is-" He was cut off when Hei-Bai let out a roar before walking over him. "My name is Aang! I'm the Avatar and I would like to help! Hey, wait up!" Aang chased after Hei-Bai.

The spirit was already destroying the buildings, even moving pretty fast to do so while Aang kept trying to speak. "The Avatar's methods are...unusual." the chief commented.

"It doesn't seem too interested in what he's saying." Sokka said.

Makoto bit his lower lip a little. "Maybe we should help him out."

"No, only the Avatar stands a chance against the Hei-Bai." the old man told him.

"Aang will figure out the right thing to do, Makoto." Katara assured him.

Makoto looked back at the spirit destroying the buildings, still worried for Aang and for Arven. "I hope so."

Aang tried again to talk to the Hei-Bai spirit. "Please, would you stop destroying things and listen?" He jumped up to a roof while Hei-Bai kept on bashing. "I'm just trying to do my job as spirit bridge! Excuse me, would you please turn around?" Hei-Bai kept going on a destructive rampage, annoying Aang. "I COMMAND YOU TO TURN AROUND NOW!" The spirit bashed the building Aang was standing on, sending him crashing into another building.

Makoto gasped when he saw that. "Aang!"

"That's it, he needs help!" Sokka got up and began to run.

Makoto stood up as well. "I'll go too!"

"Sokka, Makoto, wait!" Katara tried to stop them. Arven's Pokemon even called out to the two of them, telling them to come back.

Sokka and Makoto ran outside, Katara was about to follow them, but the chief stopped her. "It's not safe!"

Hei-Bai was standing over Aang when Sokka and Makoto ran up behind the spirit. "Hei-Bai, over here!" Sokka threw his boomerang at the spirit...but it just bounced off the creature's behind.

Makoto tossed one of his Poke Balls. "Raichu, use Swift!" Raichu came out and fired her attack at Hei-Bai, but it didn't do well either. Seeing this made Makoto grunt as he returned Raichu.

Sokka and Makoto ran until they reached Aang. "Guys, go back!" The Avatar told them.

"And let you face that spirit alone? No way, we're a team!" Makoto said.

Sokka agreed with the Pokemon Trainer. "He's right! We'll fight him together, Aang!"

"I don't want to fight unless I-" Aang couldn't finish because Hei-Bai quickly grabbed Sokka and ran off.

"Sokka, no!" Makoto glared at the spirit. "I'm not letting that spirit take another friend of mine!" He was about to run off, but Aang placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Don't try to stop me, Aang!"

"I won't." Aang's reply surprised the Pokemon Trainer enough to get him to turn around, just as Aang opened up his glider. "Get on!" Aang waited until Makoto got on the back of the glider before taking off after Hei-Bai and Sokka.

Katara ran until she got to the gate. "Sokka!" The villagers and Arven's Pokemon came out of their hiding spots and looked where they disappeared in sadness.

Zuko and a couple of his soldiers returned to the hot springs to pick up Iroh.

"Uncle! Uncle, where are you?" Zuko called out, but got no response.

"Sir, maybe he thought you left without him." one of the soldiers guessed.

"Something's not right." Zuko looked at the empty tub and the stones that were in it. "That pile of rocks."

"It looks like there's been a landslide, Sir." the other soldier said.

But Zuko knew better. "Land doesn't slide uphill. Those rocks didn't move naturally." It became clear to Zuko. "My uncle's been captured by Earthbenders!" At that, he narrowed his eyes a little.

Hei-Bai ran through the forest while carrying Sokka. Aang and Makoto were in hot pursuit, avoiding the trees as they flew closer and closer to the spirit.

Sokka noticed his friends flying over. "Aang! Makoto! Over here!" Aang flew himself and Makoto above the trees, still following Hei-Bai who went back to the burnt oak forest. "Help!" Sokka cried out to them.

"Hang on, Sokka!" Aang got them closer to their friend.

"We're here!" Makoto yelled. He and Aang reached out for their friend. Sokka reached out to them as well. When they finally got a good grip...Hei-Bai vanished with Sokka, which caused Aang to lose control of his glider! Both Aang and Makoto screamed a little as they crashed to the ground in front of a statue of a panda bear. After the crash, both boys were left unconscious.

"Sokka!" Both Aang and Makoto shot up after a few minutes and looked around.

"They're not here." Makoto sadly said.

"I failed." Aang added.

Elsewhere, Earthbender soldiers were riding on ostrich horses and holding lanterns so they could see where they were going in the night. Iroh was chained and sitting on one of the ostrich horses, wearing nothing but a loin cloth.

"Where are you taking me?" Iroh asked.

"We're taking you to face justice." the captain answered the question.

"Right, but where specifically?" Iroh asked once more.

"A place you're quite familiar with actually. You once laid siege to it for six hundred days, but it would not yield to you." the captain explained.

Now Iroh knew where they were going to take him. "Ah, the great city of Ba-Sing-Se."

"It was greater than you were apparently." the captain said.

"I acknowledged my defeat at Ba-Sing-Se. After six hundred days away from home, my men were tired and I was tired." Iroh yawned. "And I'm still tired." He fell asleep and fell off the ostrich horse, making the Earthbenders stop to pick him up before getting back on the road.

While they did so, no one didn't even notice the sandal that Iroh left behind. The Dragon of the West secretly smirked to himself, satisfied that his plan was starting to work.

Back at the village, Katara sat in front of the gate, waiting for Aang and Makoto to come back with Sokka. Next to her were Arven's Greedent and Scovillain, they were also waiting for Makoto to come back as well as the other two that went with him.

The old man walked over to them. "Everything's gonna be okay." he told them.

"I know." Katara held Sokka's boomerang close to her. "Greed." Greedent sighed in sadness.

"Your brother and that other boy are in good hands." The old man assured them. "I would be shocked if the Avatar returned without them."

They didn't even see Aang and Makoto sadly walk back into the village. "Katara, Katara we lost him." Aang said to the Waterbender.

Makoto looked over at Greedent and Scovillain in shame. "Sorry, guys. We didn't even come close to saving Arven and Mabosstiff either." When they walked over to the three of them, they still didn't notice them.

"The sun is rising, perhaps they will return soon." the old man said, confusing Aang and Makoto.

"What? No, we're right here." Aang raised a hand to wave it in their faces. He stopped and looked at his hand.

Makoto looked down at his hands. "Uh, Aang? I think I know why they're acting like they can't see us."

"Yeah, they really can't see us." Aang replied.

They saw that their hands, like the rest of their bodies, were intangible and blue. "We're in the Spirit World!" They both said in realization.

Still on the trail for his uncle, Zuko noticed a lone sandal on the ground in front of him. He picked it up, sniffed it, and quickly reeled back in disgust. "Yup, that's Uncle Iroh." Knowing he was getting closer to his uncle, he climbed back on his rhino to continue his search.

Katara, Greedent, and Scovillain stood in front of the village gate in sadness. Aang was sitting next to them...not like they could see him or Makoto at the moment. "I'll figure this out, guys, I promise." Aang told the three of them. "Like they said, I'm the bridge between the two worlds in this dimension, right? All I have to do is...figure out what I have to do, but once I do that, no problem!"

Makoto was silent, still looking down at his hands. "Now I know how a Ghost-Type Pokemon feels." He finally looked up when he and the others heard Appa growl. They looked over to see the flying bison walking over to Katara and the Pokemon.

Aang smiled while looking at his bison. "Appa! Hey, buddy, I'm right here." He looked a little down. "But I guess you can't see me or Makoto either."

Katara gently petted the bison. "It's okay, Appa. I'm sure they're on their way back. I bet they even found you and the Pokemon a bunch of moon peaches for a treat." Both Greedent and Scovillain perked up at that. The four of them walked passed Aang and Makoto, leaving the two that were in the Spirit World alone at the gate.

Makoto sighed a little. "Looks like we're on our own for this one, Aang."

"What am I supposed to do?" Aang looked up at the sky. "Avatar Roku, how can I talk to you?" He got no answer, so he looked down in despair.

Makoto walked over and tried to assure his friend. "Easy, Aang. We'll find a way to get you to talk to Roku."

Aang looked at him. "How do we do that?"

Makoto tapped his chin a bit. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure, but maybe us being in the Spirit World could help us find a way to do so." That made Aang smile only a little. That's when they both noticed something coming their way. "What's that?" Makoto even asked.

"Sokka?" Aang asked. They both squinted their eyes to try and get a better look. What they saw was a dragon spirit flying over to them. "That's definitely not Sokka!" Aang opened up his glider while Makoto pulled out Koraidon's Poke Ball. Aang jumped and tried to fly...but he couldn't! He tried to Airbend, but nothing happened. "What? I can't Airbend in the Spirit World!" He turned to Makoto. "Looks like we'll both have to ride Koraidon!"

"Uh, that might not be an option either." Makoto looked down at his Poke Ball with a worried look.

"Why? What's wrong?" Aang asked.

Makoto turned to the Airbender. "My Poke Balls don't work in the Spirit World either, so I can't bring out any of my Pokemon to help out!" He proved his point by pushing the button on his Poke Ball...which did absolutely nothing to the ball at the moment.

The dragon finally caught up to the two of them and landed right in front of them. Both Aang and Makoto gulped in fear. "You don't know where Sokka is, do you?" the former even asked the dragon. "Or a friend of mine named Arven and his bud, Mabosstiff?" the latter had to try.

Instead of answering both questions, the dragon just extended his whiskers to the boys. When they touched their foreheads, they saw an image of the same dragon flying the skies with someone on his back. Once the vision was over, Aang looked at the dragon, now understanding who he really is. "You're Avatar Roku's animal guide, like Appa is to me."

"And like Koraidon is to me." Makoto also understood.

"I need to save my friend and I don't know how." Aang spoke to the dragon. "Is there any way for me to talk to Roku?"

The dragon lowered his head towards the boys. "I think he wants us to climb on." Makoto told Aang. The two of them got on the dragon and looked back at Katara, Greedent, Scovillain, and Appa. "Don't worry, guys. Aang and I will be back." Makoto even told them.

Aang turned to the dragon. "Take us to Roku!" The dragon flew off with the two of them. New goal: find a way to speak to Avatar Roku!

Aang and Makoto rode on Roku's dragon and even passed by the Earthbenders that were still taking Iroh away. While the Earthbenders didn't see them...Iroh DID and he gasped when they flew over their heads.

The captain heard the gasp. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing." Iroh replied, but he said something else. "Actually, there IS a bit of a problem, my old joints are feeling sore and achy, and these shackles are too loose."

"Too loose?" the captain repeated.

"That's right, the cuffs are loose and they jangle around and bump my wrists." Iroh jingled the shackles to prove his point. "It would help me if you would tighten them so they wouldn't shake around so much."

"Very well." the captain turned to the Earthbender keeping hold of Iroh. "Corporal, tighten the prisoner's handcuffs."

They stopped to tighten the handcuffs, but as the corporal was about to tighten them, Iroh heated the cuffs the same way he heated the water in the springs and pressed the soldier's hand to it, making him scream in pain. This gave Iroh enough time to get off the ostrich horse and shoot fire from his feet, startling the other ostrich horses. While the soldiers tried to calm the animals down, Iroh took his chance and rolled off the cliff, but the captain saw him roll down.

Meanwhile, Roku's dragon took Aang and Makoto to an island with a volcano on it. He flew them through a temple and up to the ceiling.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" Aang cried out in panic.

Makoto tightly shut his eyes. "Brace yourself!"

The boys screamed and held on to each other while the dragon kept flying up. As they did, they phased through the ceiling and landed in a room that has a golden statue of Avatar Roku in it.

Makoto blinked and looked at his arms again. He chuckled sheepishly. "Oh, right. We're in the Spirit World." Clearly, he was embarrassed about forgetting that they were in the Spirit World at the moment.

They got off and looked at the statue. "I don't understand, this is just a statue of Roku." Aang said.

"Just like the one we saw back in the Air Temple Sanctuary." Makoto added. The dragon reached his whiskers to the boys again. Once they touched their foreheads, they saw a vision of a comet.

"Is that what Roku want's to talk to me about? A comet?" Aang asked.

Makoto blinked a couple of times, something finally came to him. "Wait, hold on! I can understand why you want to show Aang stuff like this, but why are you showing this to me? I mean, I know I came to the Spirit World with Aang because I was riding his glider with him when it happened, but...I'm starting to feel like you have another reason for bringing me with him."

The dragon used his whiskers to touch their foreheads again. This time the vision they saw was a bunch of Paradox Pokemon going on a rampage, under the watch of someone else. A big blast was made before the vision ended.

Makoto took a step back in shock. "Paradox Pokemon?"

"Maybe Avatar Roku wants to talk to you about them." Aang guessed.

"If that's the case..." Makoto turned to the dragon. "How can we both talk to Avatar Roku?"

The dragon lowered his head, revealing a beam of red light that was pointing next to Roku's head. He used his whiskers to show them at least one more vision, this time the vision was of days passing by with the light getting closer and closer to the Roku statue until it finally hit his face.

"It's a calendar." Aang looked down at the pattern on the floor. "And the light will reach Roku on the solstice. So, that's when we'll be able to speak to Roku?" The dragon growled a yes.

Makoto gave the dragon a serious look. "I'm sorry, but Aang and I can't wait that long. We both have friends that we need to save now." With that said, the dragon flew away from the island with Aang and Makoto on his back.

Iroh was still rolling down the hill, but the captain used his Earthbending to send a torrent of dirt and rocks over to him before sliding down there himself. The other Earthbenders followed him until they reached an almost completely buried Iroh.

"He's too dangerous, captain. We can't just carry him to the capital, we have to do something now." a soldier told the captain.

"I agree. He must be dealt with immediately and severely." the captain said. Iroh spat out a pebble and smirked deviously.

Appa was flying up in the sky with Katara on the reins to search for Aang, Sokka, and Makoto. "It's no use, Appa, I don't see them anywhere. Our best hope is to go back to the village and wait. They might even be able to find Makoto's friend, Arven." Katara turned to bison back in the direction of the village.

Down below, Zuko noticed Appa flying in the sky. "The Avatar and the Pokemon Tamer." He was about to follow the bison, but he stopped and looked down at the tracks he was following before he looked back up at Appa, trying to decide who to go after: Aang and Makoto or Uncle Iroh.

Roku's dragon flew Aang and Makoto back to the burnt forest. The boys saw their bodies, Aang's was sitting on top of a panda statue while Makoto's laid in front of the statue. Makoto was knocked off the dragon and back into his body just before the dragon phased through the statue to place Aang back into his own body.

Makoto got up while Aang jumped off the statue before the two of them looked back at it. Aang opened his glider while Makoto brought Koraidon out before the two of them flew back to the village.

The villagers were waiting with Katara and Arven's Pokemon. The six of them looked down in sadness.

Cloyster looked up and noticed something coming to them. "Cloy?" He smiled when he saw that it was Aang, Makoto, and Koraidon. "Cloyster!"

Katara smiled when she saw them as well. When the boys landed, Katara hugged them both. "You're back!" Momo and Arven's Pokemon gathered around them as well. Katara noticed that her brother wasn't with them. "Where's Sokka?"

"I'm not sure." Aang looked down.

Arven's Pokemon each gave Makoto a hopeful look. Makoto sighed a little. "Sorry, guys. I still haven't gotten Arven and Mabosstiff back." He looked up and saw that the sun was beginning to set.

The Earthbenders were all set to take care of Iroh. The Dragon of the West was stretched over a boulder.

"These dangerous hands must be crushed." the captain used his power to make a boulder float over Iroh's hands.

Just as the boulder was dropped, Zuko showed up and kicked the boulder away. He landed and broke the chains off his uncle with a kick.

Iroh stood up with a smile. "Excellent form, Prince Zuko."

Zuko stood by his uncle's side. "You taught me well."

"Surrender yourselves, it's five against two. You're clearly outnumbered." the captain said. The Earthbenders surrounded the two of them.

"That's true, but you are clearly outmatched." Iroh pointed out.

The Earthbenders launched stones at the pair, but Iroh was able to break them with the chains. Zuko blasted the two nearest to him with fire. The two behind him were about to launch another stone, but Iroh used the chains to turn the stone against them, making it hit them in the stomachs, knocking them out.

The captain and Zuko were clashing against each other. The captain launched more rocks at Zuko who dodged them and fired more fire at the captain. He just used his helmet to protect himself from the fire before he made a sheet of rocks rise above him. He would've fired them at Zuko, but the chains were wrapped around the captain's feet thanks to Iroh. He yanked the chains and knocked the captain off his feet, which made the sheet of rocks fall right on top of the captain.

The two of them looked over at the defeated Earthbenders before Zuko placed a hand on Iroh's shoulder. "Now would you please put on some clothes?"

At the village, Aang was at the gate, waiting for Hei-Bai to come back. Makoto and the villagers were waiting in the buildings again.

Aang kept waiting, even as the wind blew against his face a little. Soon, he began to walk away. As he did...Hei-Bai appeared and started to smash a building. Aang quickly made an air barrier to protect himself from the falling debris.

"Aang, what are you doing? Run!" Katara yelled.

Makoto raised a hand. "It's okay, Katara. Aang knows what he's doing." He looked at the Airbender with a knowing smile.

Hei-Bai ran to the village sanctuary and Aang gave chase. The Avatar jumped over the spirit and placed a hand on its forehead, he saw an image of the spirit's true form. When he landed in front of Hei-Bai, Aang began to speak to it. "You're the spirit of this forest. Now I understand. You're upset and angry because your home was burned down." As he talked, Hei-Bai leaned in closer to listen. "When I saw the forest was burnt, I was sad and upset, but my friend gave me hope that the forest would grow back." Finished speaking, Aang held out the acorn Katara gave him so the spirit could see it.

Aang placed the acorn down so Hei-Bai could pick it up, changing back to its true form and turning around to leave the village, now in peace.

When Hei-Bai left, bamboo grew in front of the gate. The missing villagers stepped out of the bamboo along with Sokka, Arven, and Mabosstiff.

"Sokka!" Katara ran over to give her brother a big hug.

Arven groaned and shook his head. "Oh man, what happened?" He turned to the Dark-Type Pokemon next to him. "Hey, Mabosstiff? You okay, bud?" Mabosstiff gave a happy bark.

Makoto gave a big smile, happy that he finally found one of his friends again. "ARVEN!" He happily raced over to his friend.

Hearing the voice made Arven look around. "Makoto? Is that you?" He looked ahead and saw not only Makoto, but his other five Pokemon racing to him and Mabosstiff. That made them both smile happily. "Makoto! It's my little buddy!" The two Pokemon Trainers happily hugged each other in relief. While Mabosstiff gave Makoto a good few licks, Arven's other five Pokemon smothered him in great relief.

Sokka and Katara broke free from their own hug. "What happened?" the former asked his sister.

"You were trapped in the Spirit World for twenty four hours. How are you feeling?" Katara asked.

"Like I seriously need to use the bathroom." Sokka walked away to answer nature's call.

Taking a break from Arven's Pokemon, he and Makoto decided to have a talk as well. "Makoto, what happened? I've been trying to find you and the others that went down deeper in Area Zero with us. All of a sudden, Mabosstiff and I got caught by this big creature!"

Makoto looked serious. "It's a bit of a long story, Arven. Here's what happened..."

It took a little while, but Makoto was finally wrapping up his side of the story. "And then we ended up here getting you, Mabosstiff, and Sokka out of the Spirit World."

Arven blinked a couple of times. "So, not only are we in a different dimension, but the Paradox Pokemon from Area Zero are here as well? And we have to catch them, find the others AND the Dimension Diamonds in order to get back home?"

Makoto nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

Arven just smiled at his friend. "Oh well, at least I'm reunited with my little buddy again." He gently patted Makoto on the shoulder before he noticed the Synchro Machine. "And I take it that's your changed machine that now allows you to transform with the help of your Pokemon, correct?"

Makoto looked at his machine as well. "Yeah, I guess you could say my Synchro Machine evolved like a Pokemon. Now the machine helps me change into different Synchro Forms."

Arven raised an eyebrow. "And how many times have you done this?"

Makoto held up two fingers. "So far, only twice: once with Golduck and once with Meowscarada."

The two of them stood next to Aang, Sokka, and Katara who were standing in front of the village chief. "Thank you, Avatar. If only there was a way to repay you for what you've done."

"You could give us some supplies and some money." Sokka said.

"Sokka!" Katara nudged her brother.

Sokka shrugged. "What? We need stuff."

Arven looked in his bag. "I'm gonna have to agree with him. We could use some stuff, otherwise I won't be able to help make some meals for the long trips."

"It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey." the chief left to get things for the group.

The five of them turned to each other to talk. "I'd like to thank you three for the help in freeing me and Mabosstiff from the Spirit World...and for bringing my little buddy back to me." Arven placed an arm around Makoto's shoulder.

Aang nodded. "He helped us a couple of times and he's our friend too, it's the least we could do."

Makoto smiled a little. "Now we just need to find Nemona, Penny, Carmine, Kieran, and Hunter." The final name on the list made Arven's face darken a little. "Right, I still want to give that guy a piece of my mind." He even muttered in annoyance.

Katara turned to Aang. "I'm so proud of you, Aang. You figured out what to do all on your own."

"Actually, I did have a little helped." Aang confessed. "And there's something else." He thought back to the comet Roku's dragon showed him and Makoto, and also the image of the rampaging Paradox Pokemon and the figure watching over them.

"What is it?" Sokka asked.

"Both me and Makoto need to talk to Roku, and I think the two of us found a way to contact his spirit." Aang explained.

"That's great!" Katara said.

"Creepy, but great!" Sokka added.

Arven raised an eyebrow. "Wait, contact a spirit? And he wants to speak to both Aang AND Makoto? About what?"

"Long story, Arven." Makoto answered. "There's a crescent shaped island. If Aang and I go there on the solstice, we should be able to speak to Avatar Roku."

"But the solstice is tomorrow." Katara pointed out.

"Yeah, and there's one more problem." Aang started uneasily. Makoto rubbed the back of his neck as well.

Arven noticed how the two of them looked. "What is it, you two?"

"Well, the other problem is that the island...is in the Fire Nation." Makoto answered. The looks of shock and fear were now on Arven, Katara, and Sokka's faces.

And that's another chapter edited at last! Once again, it's time for the good news/bad news moment: The good news is that Arven and Makoto are now reunited like in the original version of the chapter...but the bad news is that our heroes have to get to the island in the Fire Nation in order to talk to Avatar Roku about the comet and the Paradox Pokemon! Tune in next time for the edited version of chapter 8 to see how different it becomes. Until then, see ya later!