No! I thought in horror and anguish. K can't catch me! I'm Ash's Pidgeot, not hers! I glanced at Lightning, though I knew that he could neither move nor speak. Taking a deep breath, I tried desperately to flap my wings, but they wouldn't move, no matter how much I flexed my wing muscles. I endeavored to say something, but my beak seemed to be sealed shut. A cold, blue force of electricity surrounded Lightning, my flockmembers, and I, impairing all of our movements.

I could only watch helplessly as Nature Hunter K tucked her Nature Checker into her pocket. When her hand emerged from the pocket, it carried a Pokeball-sized metal ball instead of the Pokedex-like Nature Checker. She then pressed a small red button on her left hand's glove, the glove the paralyzing blue electric current extended out of. Instantly the blue electricity around us disappeared. Surprised slightly, I flapped my wings. They could move again!

"Fly!" Boulder, the old male Pidgeotto, shouted. Thirteen feathered bodies, including mine, shot into the air, flapping their wings frantically. I focused on the light piercing the treetops, forgetting about everything except for escaping from K and beating my wings in quick flaps.

"Oh, no, you don't!" K screamed, throwing the metal ball at me. The steel ball hit me squarely on my shoulder, and I winced with pain. There was a loud clicking sound, and suddenly the metal ball was gone. It had sprung open with a clang and turned into a small cage that fenced me in. Frantically, without thinking, I crashed against the cage's steel bars, only to be met with a painful rush of electricity that coursed through my body. I collapsed, panting with pain.

"Help!" I screamed, half out of pain and anguish. Struggling to keep my head up, I spotted Lightning a blazing streak of white light trailing behind him as he rammed my cage with all his might. However, the cage didn't move at all. Instead, it let loose a strong electric current, even stronger than the one that shocked me. Lightning, zapped by the powerful electricity, fell to the ground with a sickening thud and groaned.

"Lightning…" I whispered in horror. I turned to face my flockmembers. "You can still free me," I croaked, "as long as you don't physically touch the cage."

Sky and the others immediately leaped up into the air, grunting and flapping their wings rapidly to create a formidable Gust. K hissed angrily, shielding her face from the driving wind. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out another metal ball, which was much bigger than the one that captured me. Grunting, she hurled the ball at Sky.

"Look out!" I yelled, but the ball moved with amazing velocity. It struck Sky painfully on her back, and she groaned as the ball snapped open into a cage that was big enough to fit all my flockmembers. The Pidgey and Pidgeotto sat dazed for a while before they realized what was happening. Soul whimpered in anguish as she discovered that there was no escape, while Sky staggered weakly from the blow of the metal ball.

I watched, amazed, as Lightning bravely heaved himself up, breathing heavily. With a determined light in his eyes, he launched into the air.

"Gyarados, Ice Fang!" K called, throwing a Pokeball. The blue water serpent appeared in a flash of white light, its vicious fangs glowing with a bluish tinge. Before Lightning could do anything, the Gyarados attacked. It sank its teeth into Lightning's shoulder, and I closed my eyes in horror and fear. Trembling, I breathed heavily as I forced my eyes to open. Lightning was lying on the ground, motionless, while K was calling back her Gyarados.

There seemed to be absolutely no hope now. My flockmembers huddled together in their cage, knowing that there was no escape. Lightning was silent; the Gyarados's Ice Fang attack had knocked him out for good. As I struggled desperately to stay awake, Nature Hunter K, knowing that all the Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot were helpless, moved toward the piles of gold and silver coins at the foot of the Celebi shrine. Smiling, she pulled out a large sack and began stuffing the coins quickly into the sack. Suddenly, as I watched her do her dirty work, I remembered something…

Celebi will greatly punish anyone who tries to damage the shrine…

A high-pitched cry rang through the previously quiet forest. "Stop!"

K whirled around angrily. Alert now, I stood up, looking around the forest for the source of the cry. My flockmembers' cage was immediately abuzz with activity, as heads turned towards the direction of the call. Fluttering high above the shrine was a small green Pokemon, with transparent wings and blue-tipped antennae. Celebi!

I stared in amazement as the Guardian of the Forest fluttered over to my cage. K dropped her sack with a thud and stood there, unmoving, apparently surprised at seeing such a rare Pokemon. Sky gasped in awe, and Cascade trembled with excitement.

"How did you all get into these cages?" Celebi asked in horror. It turned angrily to face K. "Did this coin-thief do it?"

I nodded. "Yes, she did it," I moaned. "She also knocked out my friend, Lightning, with her Gyarados. And now she wants to steal all those coins! I can't believe that she's cold-hearted enough to do this!"

Celebi nodded and hissed angrily. Turning to K, it conjured up a glowing, powerful Energy Ball and hurled it at the Nature Hunter. K shouted and leapt out the way just in time, the shining, green ball exploding next to her as it hit the ground. Cursing and spitting, she reached down to grab the sack, but the sack began to glow with an eerie blue light. Celebi, with its eyes glowing with psychic energy, used its powerful psychic powers to toss the sack towards the foot of the shrine. There was a tinkling sound as the gold and silver coins spilled out of the sack, landing in a perfect pile.

"You winged fool!" K screamed, raising her arm to fire her evil, paralyzing electricity at Celebi. Celebi, however, reacted surprisingly quickly. Without wasting any time, it began to rapidly fire bright green Energy Balls at K's feet. Clenching her teeth and cursing, K turned and fled from the attack, disappearing into the thick growth of Ilex Forest. By the time the explosions from the Energy Balls died down, the Nature Hunter was gone.

"Thank you, Celebi!" I sighed. I closed my eyes, respectfully dipping my head at the magical, winged grass-type Pokemon. "I am very grateful that you saved us, and I understand that you appearing was just a random stroke of luck. I promise that I will learn from this experience to train harder and rely on my wits and experience, not just my luck. Because, I know, that a legendary Pokemon is not always there to rescue you. Sometimes, you just have to rescue yourself."

Celebi bowed and giggled. "You don't have you say all that," it said, smiling. "Thank you for the thanks, anyways. By the way, I'm not done with my rescue. I still have to get you out of that cage."

"Oh!" I exclaimed. In my joy at seeing a legendary Pokemon, I had totally forgotten that my flockmembers and I were stuck in electrical cages. "These cages are electrically charged, so they will give you a painful electric shock if you touch them. You can use ranged attacks though, but we're all so fenced in that we can't use our ranged attacks without hurting ourselves."

"No problem," Celebi assured us. Using its psychic powers, it lifted the extremely heavy cages into the air. Gasping in awe, my flockmembers and I all got out of the way before Celebi set the cages down. We watched in amazement as Celebi's glowing blue eyes returned to their normal color. Then, just like that, the cages curled up and once again became harmless little metal balls.

"Wow," I whispered. "How do you have so much power, Celebi?"

Celebi just shrugged. "Well, I am a legendary Pokemon," it declared. Then it nodded at my flockmembers, changing the subject. "Pidgey and Pidgeotto," it asked, "Are you all far away from home?"

Sky seemed surprised when she answered, "Yes, we are from Viridian Forest in Kanto." She cocked her head to one side, puzzled. "How did you know that?"

Celebi just giggled and twirled in the air. "Remember, I have exceptional powers," it said. "I'm actually a one-of-a-kind Celebi, because I can use Teleport. I can take all of you back home in an instant, if you like."

"Oh, we would love it if you did," Sky said gratefully. "We have some younger Pidgey who might not be able to handle the long journey home."

"Hey!" Soul protested. "What are you talking about? Of course Fog, Feather, and I are tough enough!"

"Shh." Sky shushed. "Come on; we're not teleporting just because of you three!" She turned to me and dipped her head. "Well, we'd better get going now, Thunder."

I nodded sadly. "Good luck, all of you!" I exclaimed. "Have fun in Viridian Forest!"

Celebi nodded back and rose into the air, its beautiful, transparent wings fluttering. My flockmembers followed, their feathered bodies and wings rising towards the lush, green canopy of the forest. I watched with an aching sadness as Celebi and my flockmembers all began to glow with a beautiful silver light. Then, just like that, they were all gone. All that remained where they had been was the beautiful scenery of Ilex Forest.

I sighed as I turned to Lightning. My traveling companion lay unmoving where he had fallen so long ago, with crackling blue electric currents still flowing between his feathers. Looking around, I spotted several perfect, juicy Sitrus Berries and Cheri Berries growing on nearby bushes. Perfect! I thought happily. I hopped over to the bushes and plucked off the tender, succulent berries. My whole body ached – the cage had electrified me, too. Lightning's condition is worse than mine, I reminded myself. Clasping the berry stems in my beak, I hopped back to Lightning. He groaned, blinked open his eyes, and lifted his head weakly.

"Wha – what happened?" he croaked. "Where's your flockmembers?"

"Shh," I whispered. "Don't move. I'll explain what happened later." I dropped the berries lightly in front of him. "Here, eat these. They'll make you feel better."

"Thanks," he mumbled, gobbling up some of the Cheri Berries. Sighing and flexing his wings, he said, "Here, Thunder. You can eat the rest."

"But you still need Sitrus Berries to restore your energy," I pointed out, surprised.

"Oh, no need," Lightning said quickly. "I can heal myself easily with Roost, one of the battling strategies I use during gym battles."

"Really?" I asked, interested. "I've never heard of moves that restore health before."

"It's pretty simple, actually," Lightning said. "Watch." Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and spread out his wings. The moment his wings touched the ground, he began to glow with a warm golden light. I watched in amazement as sparkling feathers swirled around him, while the wounds on his body dissolved into nothingness. Finally, the shimmering feathers, then the golden glow, began to fade. He sighed, opened his eyes, and folded his wings.

"There," he said happily flexing his wings with ease. "I feel much better."

"Wow, that's so cool!" I exclaimed. "It's like eating Sitrus Berries, only easier and prettier."

Lightning shrugged. "Yeah, of course you'd think Roost is pretty. You're a girl." He nudged the remaining berries towards me with his wing. "You forgot to eat your berries."

"Oh, I forgot!" I exclaimed. "I was too busy watching you Roost." Gratefully, I gobbled up the Cheri Berries and Oran Berries, sighing with relief as the berry juices rushed down my throat. Feeling stronger and more limber almost instantly, I flexed my wings with pleasure.

"Ahh, I feel much better now," I sighed, feeling newfound strength flow through my body. I wanted to ask Lightning, "Do you want to get back on the road now?" but I bit back the brusque question. Lightning would be curious about how I got freed from K's cage, after all.

"So, after I got stuck in the cage, K threw another one of those metal balls at my flockmembers, just as they were about to free me," I began. "Of course, because we were all captured, we couldn't do anything as K attempted to steal the coins from the shrine. But then Celebi appeared out of nowhere, took back the gold and silver coins, and chased K away with an onslaught of Energy Balls. Finally, Celebi freed us all using its psychic powers."

"Where are Celebi and your flockmembers now?" Lightning asked.

"Oh, Celebi teleported with them back to Viridian Forest, where they came from."

To my surprise, Lightning's response was a quick and angry one. "Why didn't you ask Celebi to wait until I recovered?" he asked, twitching his tail with frustration. "I've always wanted to see a legendary Pokemon! After all, everyone wants to see legendary Pokemon, not just me! Why the rush, anyways? Your flockmembers didn't have to go anywhere in a hurry, did they?"

"Well, we have to go somewhere in a hurry, though!" I snapped, frustrated at Lightning for reacting so violently to my story. "By the way, almost no one lives to see a legendary Pokemon! I'm sorry, but that's just life. Deal with it."

"Well, somebody's being inconsiderate," Lightning growled, turning away. "Some folks never learn how to care about others."

"Well, somebody's being whiny," I retorted, stamping my feet in the dirt. "Some folks never learn how to deal with life."

"Listen to us, another argument, again!" Lightning exclaimed. "Do you want me to travel with you?" He took a few deep breaths, calming himself down. "If I'm so despicable, why are you even traveling with me?" he asked softly, staring at his feet. "If you hate me so much, why don't you travel on your own?"

Lightning was trembling, as if the idea of me traveling alone was too much for him to bear. Suddenly it hit me: what happened back at the Azalea Town gym was happening again. It was the strange emotion in Lightning's voice that I couldn't figure out, no matter how hard I tried. As I stood there, trying to figure out what to say, I felt it too: a sudden wave of the mystery emotion washed over me from my beak to my tail. It was indescribable – a jolt of some kind of feeling coursed through my heart, leaving it pounding furiously in my chest. I didn't know why, but it involved one thing – Lightning. Lightning was causing this.

As I stared at the ground, suddenly I heard a voice above my head.

"Excuse me, Pidgeot?" it asked. "Is everything all right?"

I looked up, and there it was: Celebi, again! It had apparently finished teleporting my flockmembers to Viridian forest and was hovering in the air above my head.

"Um, well, no," I stammered, staring pleadingly at our rescuer. "How did you get here so fast?"

"Well, I finished teleporting the Pidgey and Pidgeotto to their home, so I decided to return to Ilex Forest to make sure everything was all right." It scratched its head, puzzled. "I heard the two of you arguing, so I decided to come and check it out." Celebi fluttered down, landing on the ground in front of me. "Thunder, I really need to talk you about Lightning," it said quietly. "Do you have time to spare?"

"Huh?" I asked, puzzled. "How do you know our names?"

Celebi shook its head. "That doesn't matter. Come with me." It flew into the air, headed for the deep forest. "I need to give you an important piece of advice."

To be continued…