Flaming Embers 2: A Dark Power



Pokémon and some characters copyright Game Freak

Story and some characters copyright Matt/gocubs711

Chapter 1

5 years later… 

“Come on Matt!” Ember yelled at me. “We’re going to be late!” I was just waking up.

Hi, my name’s Matt. I’m 20 years old and I live in the Hoenn region with my girlfriend, Ember.

“What’s going on?” I muttered, still half asleep.

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember shot a small ball of fire at me. I screamed. “What was that for?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Both of us are the Pokémon Blaziken. Ember’s been one her entire life, but me…well that’s another story.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember laughed. “So you’ll stay awake. Now let’s go. We don’t want to be late for the ship.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh, right,” I said. I’d almost forgotten. Professor Birch and Professor Palm invited us to come with them to Unova to reveal Palm’s invention for the Pokémon communicator. He had given me one after a guy named Simon turned me and about forty other people into Pokémon about five years ago. We had to take a ship to get to Unova. I got out of bed and we headed out the door.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I walked over to my friend Alex’s house and yelled, “Wake up!” as loud as I could. When he didn’t respond, I went inside (he gave me a key) and into his bedroom. I sent a small corner of his sheets on fire. He started to stir a bit, and when the flame touched his foot he jumped and stumbled out of bed. When he saw me in his room he said, “Not cool.” He was invited, too. I put out the fire, he got dressed, and we left.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The three of us arrived in Slateport around 15 minutes later. Birch had told us to meet him at the harbor. “I don’t see him anywhere,” I said. The place was pretty crowded. Then I heard something. I could faintly hear my name being called. “Hello?” I shouted back. I heard it again. It was Birch.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There’s Birch!” Ember shouted. She must see him. After scanning the crowd a bit, I saw him, too. We pushed through the crowds to get to him.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Good to see you, Matt!” Birch said. Palm was right behind him, carrying a briefcase that was overstuffed with papers.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You too, Birch,” I replied.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Thank you all so much for doing this with us,” Birch told us. “You two will be perfect for this.” He was talking about Ember and I, even though Ember didn’t have a communicator like I do.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wait, how does Ember fit into this?” I asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Birch said to Palm, “Professor, if you will.” Palm then opened his suitcase, papers falling out, and took out another communicator. He handed it to Ember. She accepted it with a shocked face.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“But I thought these things only worked on people like me who were human before.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“They did,” Palm explained. “But we wouldn’t exactly be able to present this to the world if it only worked with a small group of people. So we engineered it more until it worked with all Pokémon.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember put it on. She said, “Does it work?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex, who was too busy admiring the boat, jumped and shouted, “What the hell?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“It works,” I said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Shall we get on the ship?” Birch suggested. We agreed.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The S. S. Tidal was a pretty nice ship. The captain, Mr. Briney, took a lot of pride in it. This ship goes to Unova only once a year, and since Birch and Palm are professors, they got tickets easily.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The trip to Unova took about 3 days. Ember and I shared a room, Palm and Birch shared one, and Alex got one of his own. There wasn’t much to do on the ship except battle other trainers. They were quite impressed with the fact that they were battling a Pokémon who used to be human and called out their own moves. It had been about 5 years since I was human last, and my story had become famous. Everyone knew me when they saw me, even if it was kind of obvious. I’m one of the only Blazikens in civilization without a trainer with them. The only other one is my girlfriend.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I was sitting in my room reading a book when the boat suddenly stopped moving. Birch knocked on my door and told me that we’d arrived in Castelia City, the largest city in the world. In one of the many skyscrapers is where Palm would present his invention to the region, using me and Ember as “examples.” I couldn’t wait for it.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom: .0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chapter 2

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Hello, and welcome to Hotel Castelia,” the lady at the front desk greeted us. “Do you have a reservation?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Birch, party of five,” Birch said to the receptionist.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Ah yes, here we are.” She looked at me, then to Ember, and then to Birch. “Are these two Blaziken with you?” she asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yes, they’re part of our group,” Birch said, a little irritated.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“And they’re staying outside of their Pokeballs?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Listen lady, we may be Pokémon, but we aren’t animals,” Ember said using the communicator.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The lady looked at Ember, confused. “Did you just…talk?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yes, she did,” I said. “And I can talk, too.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The lady handed us our keys, hesitantly. She seemed a little scared of the fact that Pokémon were talking. Just wait ‘till Palm’s invention gets out…

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We arrived at our rooms, which were all in the same hallway. Birch and Palm got one room, and Alex, Ember, and I shared another. I asked Alex if it was awkward to be in the same room with us, but he said he didn’t mind. After Alex unpacked (Ember and I didn’t need to, since we don’t wear clothes), Professor Palm came in and told us that we’d have some time to explore the city. He gave us an address to meet him and Birch at six tonight. It was two o’clock now.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We took a tour around the city. Everyone thought that Alex was Ember’s and my trainer, since he was the only human with two Pokémon. Things sure were different here. It seemed like there were no Pokémon around. And the few that were around were right next to a trainer. Back in Hoenn, a lot of Pokémon, trainer or no, were out and about all over the place.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After a couple hours, we came up to the Castelia City Gym. “Hey Matt, you should take on that gym,” Alex told me.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Not a bad idea,” I thought out loud.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wait, seriously? I was just joking…”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“No, it might be fun. I haven’t had a good fight in a while.” I walked in the front doors.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You sure picked a crazy one,” I heard Alex say to Ember.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After getting through several large blobs of honey, I finally made it to the gym leader, Burgh. At first, he didn’t recognize me as a challenger. He probably thought I had a trainer that was just behind. After a couple seconds, he shouted, “Hello?” When there was no answer, he said to me kind of sarcastically, “So who do you belong to?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I responded, “Myself.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You can talk?” He seemed quite amused, but not scared. He smiled. “Very well, shall we battle?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“That’s what I came here for.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Excellent. But first, you must tell me your story, Blaziken.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I told him everything that had happened to me. How I used to be human, how I got changed, and how I’m able to talk. He responded, “Fascinating.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“So are we going to battle or what?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Of course,” Burgh smiled. “Go! Whirlipede!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I had researched Unova Pokémon before I got here. Most of them here are different than the ones in the rest of the world. A Bug-Poison type isn’t much of a match for me.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Blaze Kick!” I shouted. I sent the heat down to my foot where it caught fire. I came up with my own “motion” so I wouldn’t copy Ember. I leapt into the air, and crossed my arms. I let a little fire come off of them as I un-crossed them, then I did a front flip into the impact. Flames went everywhere, but the bug was still standing.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Poison tail,” Burgh commanded. The Whirlipede’s tail turned purple as it spun and slammed into me. It knocked me down, but it wasn’t that bad. I stood up, and then felt my stomach get queasy… I’d been poisoned!

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Flamethrower,” I shouted. I sent a large stream of fire out of my mouth, and the Whirlipede fainted. Burgh recalled it, and then sent out his next Pokémon, a Leavanny, Bug-Grass type. I should be able to take this thing down easily. I shouted, “Blaze Kick!” and took it down in one hit. I’m not really sure why Burgh decided to send it out, it has a times four weakness to fire. His last Pokémon was what I was worried about. He sent out a Dwebble, a Bug-Rock type. Usually I wouldn’t worry about Bug OR Rock, but when they’re both together, Fire and Fighting do normal damage against them.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Sand Attack,” Burgh said. The Dwebble shot sand into my eyes. It stun like hell. My eyes turned red and it was hard for me to see. I shot a Flamethrower, but it missed by like two feet. “Smack down.” The Dwebble grabbed me and slammed me into the ground. The poison didn’t really help that much. I was getting weak, but I stood up and said, “Blaze Kick.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I did my fancy moves and went right into the Dwebble. It wasn’t super-effective, but it did the job. I looked on the Bug type and saw a burn. I cheered on the inside. I didn’t want to seem overconfident. I was doing pretty well, but I was really getting hurt by the poison. Burgh ordered another Sand Attack, but I was able to avoid it. I decided to use Bulk Up. This way I could possibly stand another hit, and also raise my own attack.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Burgh ordered the Dwebble to do another Smack Down, and at the same time, I charged up a Blaze Kick. Both of our HP levels were low, and I knew that whoever survived this hit would win. We collided in the air, and I don’t know what happened right after that. I fainted from the impact.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I woke up on a bed in the Pokémon Center. Ember was sitting in a chair, waiting for me. “I’m guessing I lost,” I said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Actually, it was a tie,” she replied.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I sat up quickly. “Wait, seriously?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She nodded. “The Dwebble fainted at the same time you did.” Ember and Alex must’ve come in without me noticing. “Burgh told me to congratulate you on the battle. He’s never seen a single Pokémon come close to taking him down.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Burgh seemed like a pretty cool guy, even though he was a little creepy. I laid back and put my hands on my face. I asked, “What time is it?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“5:30.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I sat right back up again. “Palm said to meet him at 6!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember laughed. “I know. I was waiting for you to wake up before we went.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Well, let’s get going!” I jumped out of bed, checked out, and we left for the address. This was going to be a really interesting experience…

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember and I arrived at the skyscraper’s lobby. Alex was waiting for us in there. “What took you guys so long?” he asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’d like to see you faint in battle and then get better within an hour,” I replied.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Well that’s not going to happen.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You want a bet?” I grinned.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex looked at me, fear in his eye. “You wouldn’t dare…”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I shot out a small stream of fire at him. I knew it wasn’t enough to singe his clothes or anything, but it would get my point across. He jumped back, lost his balance, and fell over. “Not cool,” he grumbled.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember and I laughed and I helped him up. Birch ran into the lobby from the elevators. “Matt! Ember! You guys made it!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Why wouldn’t we?” Ember said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Palm is upstairs getting everything set up. He’s going to do some talking, and then to call you two out as examples…” Birch continued to give Ember and I the run down. While he was talking, I noticed Alex wander off. He’s had a short attention span for as long as I’ve known him. He went over to some woman and started talking to her. She was dressed in all black, but she didn’t look evil. And her eyes seemed…unusual. “…and that’s it.” Birch concluded, “Any questions?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I didn’t want to say that I wasn’t paying attention, so I shook my head. “Excellent. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to the conference room.” He led us to the elevator. Alex didn’t come with us.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember and I waited in the hallway during Palm’s presentation. Our cue was when we heard our names. Thinking about the communicator made me think back to the time when it was invented: 5 years ago. And it made me remember why. Ember must’ve noticed that I was a little out of it, and she asked, “Are you ok, Matt?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied. Whenever I thought about that day when I knew I was never going to be human again, it always made me sad. But I also had to remember the life I have now. My thinking was cut short when I heard Palm say, “Let me introduce to you a good friend of mine, Matt!” I went into the door, and the audience was surprised that I was a Blaziken.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“How are you doing today, Matt?” Palm asked, trying to make a comfortable presentation.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Pretty good,” I responded. A collective gasp came from the crowd. I’m sure they were more surprised that I was talking.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You see folks; Matt here has quite the story. Why don’t you tell it to them?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I told them the story about how I used to be human. I was getting used to telling it by now. After I had finished, many people in the audience and shocked and concerned looks on their faces. One guy even shouted out, “What the hell is wrong with that guy?” which got a few laughs.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Palm continued with his presentation as I stood there, not really knowing what to do. “Originally, my design only worked for Matt here and other people changed by Simon. But in the past five years, I have adjusted it so that it works for all Pokémon!” Then the crowd started to cheer, as Palm called in Ember. “This young lady right here has been a Pokémon since birth. I give her the PokéCom, and voila! She can speak!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The room was silent. I took off my communicator and whispered to Ember, “Say something!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh! Uh, hi everyone,” she said, shyly. But the audience cheered anyway.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Palm started his conclusion. “So as you can all see, we no longer must deal with misinterpretation of what our Pokémon is saying. We can talk with our partners and grow greater bonds with them. Buy a PokéCom today, and grow deeper bonds with man’s greatest partner.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With one last cheer, Palm, Ember and I exited the stage. “I’m sorry,” Ember said as soon as we got out.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Palm chuckled and asked, “For what?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I totally blew it in there!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“No, no! You did excellent!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Really?” she asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Of course,” I said. She smiled.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We met Alex and Birch in the lobby. Birch had a meeting, which is why he wasn’t a part of the presentation.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What happened to you?” I said to Alex.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Huh?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You wandered off with some woman about an hour ago.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh, right. Actually, she’s pretty nice.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“How did you two even meet?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“She just kind of…came up to me I guess.” He shrugged. “I told her about you two and she said that she wanted to meet you.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wanted to meet…us?” Ember asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex nodded. Almost as if on cue, the lady came back into the room. “Ah, Alex, I see your friends have returned,” she said. To us: “Hello, Matt and Ember. My name is Armana. I’ve been paying close attention to you two.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I didn’t really know what to say. She seemed nice, but when someone says something like that, what do you say? I decided on: “Uh…”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The lady smiled. “Don’t take it the wrong way. I run a club for Pokémon to help them get stronger. I’ve heard about your story and your efforts in the gym battle. We’d love to have you in the club.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A chance to get stronger did seem like a great opportunity. And if the head of the organization wanted us, what good would it do to pass it up? “I’d love to join,” I said. Ember looked at me like I was crazy.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She removed her communicator so Armana wouldn’t understand us and said, “Are you crazy? How do you know that this is a legitimate thing?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh, I can assure you it’s quite real,” Armana said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wait, can you understand us?” Ember asked, still not using the PokéCom.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yes, very well. I’ve trained myself to speak your language in order to better connect with you.” Interesting, I thought.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I asked Birch if it was ok for us to go to it. We would be in Unova for a week, so he didn’t mind. “Excellent,” she said. “All of our members are independent Pokémon like yourselves, so you should fit in quite well.” It sounded cool.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Armana lead Ember, Alex, and I to her club. It was on the edge of the city, almost near the desert that is Route 4. It wasn’t a large building like every other building in the city, rather the size of a small gym. Alex obviously wouldn’t be doing any training to get stronger, but he would be there for support. That, but he also doesn’t want to spend the week with two guys in their thirties.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When we entered the club, it was a lot bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. There were dozens of Pokémon here. At first, it looked like just an ordinary hangout, with tables and a concession stand. The area in the middle was a little lower than the edges where all the tables were. Armana told us that the training grounds and the rooms were located down the stairs. This building may not have been very tall, but it goes underground deep.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’m going to go get the registration forms,” she said. “Feel free to get something from the concession stand, meet some of the other Pokémon here, or just hang out.” She went through a door that I assumed was her office.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex asked if we wanted anything. Even though I was a Pokémon, I still liked human foods. I had a bag of chips. They didn’t cost anything. We get free food, too?

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A Raichu came over and introduced himself. He walked on two legs like a human would. There was also something different about him, but I couldn’t quite tell. “My name’s Felix,” he said. “You guys new?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I nodded. “We just found out about it today.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“That’s cool. You guys are gonna love it here. Armana is a genius when it comes to power.” He grabbed my arm and kind of wiggled it. “She can bulk this up in a matter of days.” That comment made Ember choke on her drink laughing. I would’ve turned red, but I was already there naturally.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Anyways,” Felix continued, “Most of us here are one big family. We get to know each other well as we go stronger. It’s great, ‘cause this way we don’t have a trainer to hold us back.” He nodded his head towards Alex, who couldn’t understand a word without a PokéCom.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’ll see you guys around,” he said, and walked away.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I turned to Ember and asked, “Did I ever hold you back?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She immediately said, “No! Of course not! If anything, you made me better.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I believed her, but it still made me think. If all of these Pokémon are here, does that mean that they don’t want to be caught and bond with a trainer? As I was thinking about this, Armana came back with the forms. I signed them (still using my human signature) and handed them back. She handed each of us a key for our room. It was on Basement Floor 9. This was a huge place. Alex said he’d meet us later and left.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We decided to take the stairs so we could see everything on all of the floors. On Basement Floor 1 was a standard gym. Not a Pokémon Gym, but one with treadmills and weights and such. On Floor 2 was a swimming pool. I loved swimming, but there was a sign next to it that said, “Do not use if you are Rock, Ground, or Fire type.” That kind of made me upset, but I’d get over it. On Floor 3, there was a giant rock climbing wall. On 4, an area that looked like it was outside, even with the lighting. Floor 5 was the floor I would probably be spending the most time at. It was a floor dedicated to battling. About 8 arenas were marked out and there were hundreds of wooden dummies around the room. Armana must go through a fortune paying for them all. Floors 6-10 were the floors with the rooms on them. But my favorite floor was Floor 11. It was a giant lava pit only Fire-Types were allowed to use. I decided to step in it, and it felt amazing. Had I been human, I would be dead. But as a Blaziken, the lava felt so good on my skin. Ember was laughing about how much I enjoyed it.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We walked back up to our room. I could tell that I was going to like it here, even if it was for only a week. I was just about to put the key in the lock, when a familiar voice called out. “Hey, you guys!” I turned and saw Felix the Raichu.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Felix!” I said, faking enthusiasm.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Is this your room?” he asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yeah,” Ember replied. “Why?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Because I’m right here,” he pointed to the door next to ours. Great…

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Awesome,” I said, with more fake enthusiasm. Felix wasn’t exactly the greatest character I’ve met. After a couple minutes of him, I had to go in my room. The place was nice. There were two beds, a TV, even a computer. It was pretty basic, but it would do. Most of our time would be training anyways. I looked at the clock. It was 10:30. Ember and I decided to go to bed. We wanted to be well rested for the coming week. I climbed into bed and said, “Goodnight,” to Ember. I fell asleep almost instantly.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom: .0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chapter 3

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">''“No, please,” I yelled. “Stay away from me!” I was running from those horrible creatures. Pokémon should be my friends! But these things weren’t friendly. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For some reason, a group of Pokémon from the Unova region turned extremely feral. Any Pokémon they bit became feral as well. Not only that, but the Pokémon changed into a very dark, twisted form. I had done all I could do keep my own Pokémon away from them, but it wasn’t enough. Even my closest partner, Ember, had turned evil. She was one of the ones chasing me. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I ran through the streets of what used to be Mauville, trying to survive. Civilization was gone. Most of the humans had been killed. I was one of the few left. I could hear the howls and growling of the Pokémon chasing me. I knew I wouldn’t last much longer. Suddenly, a Linoone jumped out in front of me, teeth bared. It caught me off guard, causing me to trip. I knew I was done. I looked up into the evil eyes of my former Blaziken. She swiped at me with her claw, and the dark Pokémon chasing me were upon me. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I woke with a start. Ember was still asleep on the bed next to mine. I looked at the clock. It was 4:30 in the morning. That was one hell of a nightmare. I put my head back down on my pillow and tried to fall back asleep. No luck. I laid there until Ember woke up. “Morning,” she said with a yawn. “You’re up earlier than usual.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I couldn’t sleep,” I told her. I decided not to say anything about my dream.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We both got up and took the elevator to the first floor to get some breakfast. They had quite a lot in stock. I didn’t realize last night that there was an entire kitchen back there. I decided to get pancakes. Some of the syrup got on my feathers and Ember laughed, embarrassing me a little. A few more Pokémon came to our table to introduce themselves. This was a really friendly atmosphere. We met a very energetic Tepig, a somewhat elegant sounding Persian, and a Mightyena. All of them seemed like nice people-err-Pokémon. Though like Felix, there was something a little different about them. The main thing was them walking on two legs.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I noticed one Pokémon, an Umbreon, sitting at a table in the corner, alone. Ember was talking to the three of them (who I discovered were all good friends.) I interrupted them for a second to ask, “Hey, who’s that guy sitting over there?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Persian, whose name was Kathryn, said, “That’s Will. He doesn’t really talk to anyone. He’s actually pretty lonely. But he’s one of the strongest fighters here.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Tepig Kyle jumped up onto the table, his front two hooves resting on the table, his back two on the seat. He said, “I heard that he was one of the victims of this thing that happened in Hoenn where this one guy tried to turn a bunch of people into Pokémon.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kathryn looked at him shocked. “You mean he used to be human? How strange…”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember and I shot a quick look at each other. I think we both knew not to tell anyone that that happened to me as well. It was almost comforting to know that someone else like me was here, though. I got up, went over to his table, and sat down. “Hi, I’m Matt,” I said to him. He looked at me strangely, as did pretty much everyone on this floor.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There’s something different about you,” he said. “You are not like most Pokémon here.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I didn’t really know how to respond to that. Luckily, I didn’t have to. Will gave an expression that told me he had just realized something. “Why are you talking to me, exactly?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I shrugged. “I’m just trying to be friendly, I guess.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You have much to learn still if you want to make it big here,” he said. He got up, leaving the tray, and walked down the stairs, on two legs.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Mightyena (Ian) spoke up. “We told’ya he don’t talk much.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I heard you,” I said back. The trio left, leaving Ember and I alone at the table until…

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Hey guys!” Alex yelled, coming up from behind us. “How is this place?” Ember and I described the entire place to him. His jaw was open the entire time. “Man, I wish I was a Pokémon. You guys get all of the good stuff.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Just then, Armana came into the room. She asked us how we liked the place and we told her how much we liked it. She then said that all of the training rooms were open from 7:00-7:00. It was around 9:30 now. Alex, Ember, and I went down to the arena room with the training dummies. Alex didn’t really have to do much. In fact, he was looked at funny because he was a human. The only human here that was respected was Armana. Ember and I got out a few training dummies (which were surprisingly durable) and started practicing our moves.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember’s moveset (which had somewhat changed in the past five years) consisted of Blaze Kick (of course), Flamethrower, Sky Uppercut, and Dig. Mine were Blaze Kick and Flamethrower as well, but I also knew Bulk Up and Double Kick. It took a lot of work to destroy the dummies, but eventually, Ember and I were breaking them like there was no tomorrow.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I hope Armana doesn’t mind us breaking all of these,” Ember said. Right after she said this, a bizarre-looking Buizel told us that this place never runs out.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Around an hour later, I heard a voice I did not want to hear. “Hey, you guys!” It was Felix. He had a Cubone with him.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I turned around and said, “We have names you know.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Felix put his paw behind his head. “Actually, I don’t think I remember your names.” He tried to act embarrassed, but it didn’t work. We told him our names. When I told him mine, he said, “Matt, huh? I think I’ll call you Matty.” I hated being called that. I just wanted to ignore Felix. But wouldn’t you know it, he asked to battle us.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Are you up for it, Matty?” he taunted. There’s no way I could’ve turned it down. It was going to be a double battle with Alex as the referee. Even though he couldn’t understand Felix and the Cubone they could understand him which was all that mattered.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Challengers, take your positions,” Alex said. Ember and I stood in the right place as we mentally prepped ourselves. “Three…Two…One…Battle!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Dig!” Ember shouted, and went underground.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Thunderwave!” shouted Felix. It was directed at Ember, but it missed since she was underground.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Blaze Kick!” I shouted. Felix was too worried about Ember underground to focus on me. I leapt into the air, sending the heat down to my foot. As I was about to strike, the Cubone shouted, “Bonemerang!” and he threw his bone at me. The second I made contact with Felix was the second I was hit with the bone. Felix screamed, but so did I. As I was getting up, I forgot about the second part of the move. It came back and knocked me over again. I struggled to get back up.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember came up out of the ground and rammed into Felix. I bet that hurt. I said, “Bulk Up!” and raised my attack and defense. Felix tried to hit Ember with another Thunderwave, but he missed again. The Cubone shouted, “Earthquake,” and I knew I was in trouble. Ember did the smart thing though, and jumped into the air while starting her Blaze Kick, leaving the three of us on the ground. I went through a ton of pain, but thankfully, so did Felix. His Electric typing meant his only weakness was Ground. While Felix was screaming in pain, Ember landed her Blaze Kick perfectly, knocking Felix out.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Felix the Raichu is unable to battle,” Alex said, to nobody.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Now all that was left was the Cubone, who had the type advantage. “Bulk Up!” I said again, hoping it would make a difference. Ember used Sky Uppercut, flinging the Ground-Type into the air. That gave me an idea. I shot out a stream of fire to distract him, and as he was coming down, I yelled, “Double Kick!” My first kick hit him right to the chest; the second knocked him into the wall and into unconsciousness.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The Cubone is unable to battle. The victors are Matt and Ember!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember and I high-fived. That was our first battle here, and we won it. We got a few congratulations from other Pokémon watching. They told us that Felix almost never loses in battle. I was still hurting pretty badly.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Thankfully, Armana let us explore the city in our free time, so Ember and I decided to go to the Pokémon Center to heal up. It didn’t take very long, but I did run in to somebody there.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Hey, Burgh!” I said to the gym-leader. He turned around.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh, hey Matt,” he said. “I didn’t get a chance to congratulate you on our battle yesterday.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You weren’t too bad yourself.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Nobody’s ever come close to beating me with one Pokémon, let alone being one Pokémon.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I smiled. I could tell that Burgh liked me. We chatted for a few minutes, but then he told us that he had to go. We left too, and went back to Armana’s club. The rest of the day was pretty similar. We went on the rock climbing wall (which was made of actual rocks, not the ones with the plastic hand/toe grips) and relaxed in the lava pit as well. On the same floor was a sand pit, which I assumed was for Rock- and Ground-Types who couldn’t stand water, either. I think the lava actually burned off the syrup stuck to my feathers.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">By the end of the day, Ember and I were exhausted, and we didn’t even have any help other than a battle with Felix. I felt like I was getting a lot stronger, though; even if it was only one day. Ember and I crashed at around 9:00.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom: .0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chapter 4

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">''“No, please,” he yelled. “Stay away from me!”He wasn’t going to get away from us. He had gotten seriously injured, and the smell of blood was too much to resist. My mate and I as well as a large group of Pokémon were chasing him. We were getting so close. I leapt at and tackled him. He was mine. The other Pokémon swarmed around him and we feasted. The human was dead. A feeling of pleasure swept through me. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This is what I was meant to do. Humans were the bane of my existence. They will soon be no more. I looked for more humans to be my prey. The once busy Castelia City had become barren. I walked by the ports, to look for anyone hiding there, and I caught my reflection in the water. The look in my eyes was pure evil. I liked it that way. I went into a shack by the port. I could smell the humans in there. I heard a woman scream. I turned my head and saw her, holding a small one in her arms, both of them crying. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I began to step closer to them, but when I did, a Herdier got in my way, barking at me to stay away. I smiled at its efforts. I lunged at it and bit it like a vampire. Evil filled its eyes and its fur turned mangy. It then turned its eyes on its former owners. Now they were his prey… ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As the doglike Pokémon was attacking the woman and child, I heard a gun cock behind me. A man was standing there, gun pointed at me. I lunged for him, but at the same time he fired… ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">And I woke up. It was closer to the time I usually woke up, instead of like 4 in the morning yesterday. I still decided not to tell anyone about my dreams. But they were far too realistic to just be a nightmare. And they were both connected. I put that thought to the side and waited for Ember to get up.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I simply just went with cereal for breakfast today. It would be easier to clean up if I spilled something. Ember and I ate with Kathryn, Ian, and Kyle. They were a nice group of Pokémon. I challenged them to a battle later today and they agreed.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I may be small,” Kyle said. “But I’m an expert in battle!” Ian playfully rubbed his head. There was something a little different about them, too; other than of course the fact that they’re walking on two legs.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I looked over at the table where Will sits. He was alone again. Finished with breakfast, he got up to go put his tray back, when he accidentally ran into Felix, spilling a bowl of milk on his head.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Felix began to steam with anger. “Why when I’m done with you, there ain’t gonna be nothing left of you!” He let loose a large bolt of lightning at the Umbreon, who screamed in pain.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I really hate Felix,” Ember said. I couldn’t just sit there and watch Will get electrified to death.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I shouted, “Hey, Felix!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As he continued the electric onslaught, he said, “Stay out of this, Matty!” He wasn’t going to listen to me. I sighed, and stepped between Will and Felix, absorbing the charge of electricity. Will fell over after there was no shock to hold him up. Meanwhile, I was being shocked with 10,000 volts of electricity. I was screaming in pain. I somehow managed to gather enough strength to shoot a blast of fire at Felix. He crashed into the wall and went unconscious.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I went over to help Will up. He grunted in pain. “Why did you do that?” he asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I wasn’t gonna let you get fried over here,” I replied. Will looked at me in an odd way. His expression was a mix of “are you stupid?” and of shock. I couldn’t really tell what he was thinking. He picked up his bowl, gave it to the kitchen staff, then went downstairs, I’m assuming to his room.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I went back over to my own table and sat down. The small group there started to clap. That is, until they saw something behind me.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What?” I asked a little worried. I turned around and saw Armana there.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We need to talk,” she said, then went into her office. I knew she wanted me to follow her.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kyle mocked me, “Ooh, you’re in trouble!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I didn’t respond. I just got up and walked towards Armana’s office. Her tone told me that I was in major trouble. I entered her office.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Have a seat,” she said. I obeyed. “I’ve noticed recently the feud between you and Felix.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I wanted to say something immature like: “He started it!” but I decided it would be best not to say anything.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“And you have quickly grown to being one of the best fighters here.” She smiled.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wait…what?” I asked, confused.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I want to offer you the start of the highest honor at our club.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I didn’t really know what to say. I settled on, “Thanks.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Armana smiled again. “Follow me.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I followed her into another room. It was dark, but not pitch-black. There were several pillars around the room. They were dark. That’s all I can say: dark.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“These pillars contain a very dark essence,” she explained. “It is a risky thing we do here, but it helps us get stronger.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Something told me that I did not want to touch those.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“So what do you say?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I turned her down. I now knew why so many of the Pokémon here walked on two legs and looked somewhat different. These pillars were changing them. Armana was giving them what she promised: strength. But I didn’t want to get it this way.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I left the office. Ember was the only one left at the tables. “What did she want?” she asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We shouldn’t talk here,” I said. We went back to our rooms to talk. After I finished explaining, Ember asked me, “What are we going to do?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I sighed. I needed to tell her about my dreams. “I had a dream a couple nights ago. I was human again and…I was being chased by feral Pokémon. They came from the Unova region and they turned any Pokémon they touched feral, too. Eventually…they got you. You and all the other Pokémon were chasing me and I couldn’t run anymore. Y-…They killed me.” For some reason, I couldn’t say “you” to Ember in that sentence.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh my god, Matt,” she said. “That’s awful!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“It gets worse. Last night, I had another dream. This time I was Blaziken. But I was a feral Pokémon. All I wanted to do was kill people. As demonic as it sounds, it made me feel…happy. You were changed, too. Eventually, I went into a house and killed a mother and child. I was a monster…”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I started to cry a little bit. Even though I knew it was a dream, it still scared me like hell. Ember put her arm around me. “What do you think they mean?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I think that this is what the dark power is leading to. All of the Pokémon here, well most of them anyway, are going to be the start of it.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember nodded. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, until it was broken by a knock on our door. “Did you guys forget about our battle?” It was Kyle.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Of course not!” I shouted back. I’m glad he showed up to lighten the mood. I went over to open the door and was facing Kyle and Kathryn.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Ian had some…business to take care of,” Kathryn explained. The way she said it was a little suspicious. I had a feeling it had something to do with Armana’s power, but I didn’t say anything. I’m pretty sure that I was the only one (besides Ember) who knew anything about what Armana could be planning.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh, that’s ok,” Ember said. The four of us went to the arena floor and got ready to battle. As soon as we entered the room and got in our positions, a lot of the Pokémon stopped what they were doing and came over to watch. We must’ve put on a good show yesterday.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We were up against a Normal-Type and a Fire-Type. I wasn’t majorly worried about them, but they had been here a long time. This was going to be a good battle. Alex didn’t come today, so he obviously wouldn’t be refereeing us. We didn’t really need one, though.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kyle started it. “Heat Crash,” he shouted. A giant ball of fire appeared and crashed down on top of me. It didn’t hurt that much, but for his size it was a good hit. I shouted, “Double Kick,” and attacked Kathryn. My first kick hit square in her chest and she was knocked back. My second one hit a little lower, knocking her over. But she got right back up.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It was Ember’s turn. She used Dig and went underground. Kyle’s eyes started to dart at the ground. He knew Ember was coming for him. Kathryn yelled, “Slash!” and, well, slashed me. It left a small scar across my chest, but it wasn’t that noticeable. I decided to take advantage of Kyle’s distraction. I yelled, “Double Kick!” and slammed both of my feet into him. He was knocked back, but not very far. Just then, Ember came up from underground, nailing Kyle yet again. He was taking a real beating, but he stayed standing.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kathryn smirked and said, “Hypnosis.” I didn’t feel anything from it, but I looked over to Ember, who obviously had. She was asleep standing up. How does that even work? She was completely susceptible to attacks, but I kept on fighting. Kyle shouted, “Smog!” and let loose a cloud of Poison. Please don’t poison me, I silently pleaded. The smog got into my lungs and made me cough violently. Then my stomach felt queasy. “Oh great,” I said. I was poisoned again.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I looked over to Ember, who was still asleep. I sighed and said, “Blaze Kick!” I did my signature flaming cross-chop in the air (I wanted to give these nice folk a bit of a show) and came slamming down on Kathryn. She struggled to stand up. She took a step and was about to say something when she winced.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Are you ok, Kathryn?” Kyle asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yeah,” she said. “But I think I’ve been burnt.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Don’t worry, I’ll help!” Kyle said. His expression turned serious. “Rock Tomb!” he yelled. Suddenly eight or nine large rocks came down from the ceiling around me. I was trapped, until the rocks broke. A thousand pointy stones were driven into me at the same time. Even worse, I think it lowered my speed.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kathryn slashed me again, but it didn’t hurt as much as the first one. Having a burn reduced her attack. Suddenly, Ember stirred. She was awake!

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Blaze Kick!” she yelled. She still sounded a little tired, but I could tell she was focused. She slammed Kathryn into the wall. I felt the poison damage me a little. I shouted, “Flamethrower!” and shot out a long stream of fire at the Tepig. I could tell he was almost done. But then again, so was I.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kyle did not look like he wanted to give up. With all of his strength left, he yelled, “Heat Crash!” and sent a ball of fire down at me. The poison kicked in again. I was almost done. Kathryn shouted, “Slash!” and hit Ember. She was in a lot better shape than I was.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember and I looked at each other and knew it was time to finish this. At the same time, we shouted, “Blaze Kick!” We both did our little thing and collided, Ember with Kathryn, me with Kyle. They were both knocked back into the wall and were knocked out. Ember ran over to me and gave me a hug. I returned it. We had won. The Pokémon gathered started to cheer.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Around half an hour later, our opponents came to. “Great battle,” I told them. “Likewise,” Kathryn said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The four of us decided to go to the Pokémon Center to heal up. I noticed the Pokémart had Palm’s communicators in stock. I went over and bought a couple of them. After we were all healed, I presented them to Kathryn and Kyle as a gift for a great battle.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wow,” Kyle said, putting it on. “Nobody’s really done anything like this for me before.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Don’t mention it,” I said. Kyle smiled. We all went back to the club, where they had just started serving lunch. Alex was waiting there for us.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Where’d you guys head off to?” he asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Pokémon Center,” I told him. “We just had a pretty intense battle, didn’t we?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Totally,” Kathryn said, using her communicator. Alex jumped. Then he saw that Kathryn was wearing one.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You really need to start paying more attention to things, dude,” I said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yeah…shut up.” I laughed.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I ordered a cheeseburger from the concession stand. I ate with Ember, Kathryn, Kyle, and Alex. I decided to tell Kathryn and Kyle that I was affected by the same thing Will was. They were shocked by my story. They seemed to be impressed by the fact that I was the one who took down Simon.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few minutes later, Ian finally showed up. He looked a lot different than when I saw him last time. The first thing I noticed was his eyes. They were red like they should be, but they looked a lot…darker. I also noticed that his fur was a lot mangier than it usually was.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Well don’t we look different,” Kathryn said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Armana gave me a ‘promotion,’” Ian said in a slightly bragging tone. I shot a look at Ember. I knew this wasn’t good. Armana was giving more of her dark power away. What did she have to accomplish from this?

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Now I know what you might be thinking. If I knew that Armana was changing the Pokémon here, why would I stay? Well, two reasons. First, I don’t need the dark power to get stronger, but I did enjoy the regular training. Second, Ember and I were the only ones that knew what could be the result of this. We could stop it before Armageddon occurred.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Will was sitting alone again. He must’ve caught me staring at him, because he shouted back across the room, “I’m waiting.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I asked him, “For what?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Will got up and walked over to our table, attracting a few stares from others. I could tell people weren’t used to him being social. “The past couple of days it has seemed like you’ve been trying to prove yourself to me. What is there to prove? It’s not exactly like I’m someone important here.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I stood up and looked at him, trying to be firm, but not threatening. “You need to stop being all alone. I’m trying to reach out to you.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Will nodded slightly, then turned away and went downstairs, I assume back to his room. I sat back down. “What is up with that guy?” I asked everyone.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I told you before, he don’t like being social,” Ian said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Just then, Armana came on an intercom and said, “Attention members: I will be taking a group of Pokémon to the Nacrene Museum tomorrow. If you would like to come on the trip, please see me in my office. Thank you.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Ooh, that sounds like fun,” Ember said. She turned to me and said, “Do you want to go, Matt?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Why not?” I replied. “What about you three?” I asked Kathryn, Ian, and Kyle. They all replied that they would. We all went into her office and told her we wanted to come with. She didn’t show much emotion. She seemed like she really had to get something done.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom: .0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chapter 5

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The next day, Armana gathered the group to go to the museum. In addition to the five of us, Felix, Will, and even Alex were going, too.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“How’d you get to come?” I asked him.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He shrugged. “I asked and she said, ‘Yes, yes, you can, now go away.’”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Interesting…”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We took a bus there. I’m sure it was the only thing Armana could get to transport a dozen Pokémon to another city. On the way, it started to rain. I hadn’t seen it rain this hard since I was back in Hoenn. I had to be careful not to get caught in it for long. That was one of the downsides about being a Blaziken: being in water really sucks.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We got to Nacrene a couple hours later. As soon as Armana parked the bus, Alex ran off in a blur. He forgot to go before he got on the bus. I shook my head. The rest of us got off the bus and went inside. Luckily I didn’t get too wet.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We were greeted by the museum officials. Armana had loaned everyone on the trip one of Palm’s PokéComs so the Pokémon could talk. News of Palm’s invention had reached all across the region, so the people there weren’t surprised that we were wearing them. We began the tour. It was a somewhat small museum, but there was a gym in the back. I decided not to challenge this one. I took this trip to relax.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The tour guide started to tell us about the ancient war between the two legendary Pokémon Reshiram and Zekrom. “They were once a single Pokémon controlled by two brothers,” she explained. “But eventually, the older brother sought truth, whereas the younger brother wanted to pursue his ideals. The Pokémon split into two, Reshiram siding with the older brother, Zekrom with the younger. War eventually broke out between them, ending in a tie. To prevent a war like this from happening again, the two Pokémon’s spirits were sealed in the Light Stone and the Dark stone, both of which we have here in the museum. Legend has it that two heroes will come forth and claim the stones, summoning the power of the two.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Felix put his paw up and asked, “Why keep them here in public when some idiot could just come right in and take them and start the war again?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We have very high security, Sir,” the tour guide politely replied.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She continued to talk more about it. I noticed Armana start to slip away from the group. I was about to say something when the tour guide said, “Now, If you’ll follow me to our fossils exhibit…” and I was taken away with the crowd. I lost sight of Armana. The fossils weren’t very interesting. I’ve seen all the Pokémon that are resurrected from these fossils at least once. While we were busy looking at the fossils, Armana was busy with something else. Suddenly, alarms blared. I turned around and saw the glass display case shattered, the Dark Stone missing from it. I knew Armana took it. Zekrom was the Pokémon of ideals. It could help her make her sick and twisted ideals come true. I knew she had to be stopped. The doors locked shut and she was trapped at the entrance. Everyone looked at her. But she wasn’t scared whatsoever. She turned around and showed us she had the dark stone.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Give it up!” one of the security guards shouted.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What do you need with that, Armana?” I asked her, trying to sound clueless.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She sighed. “A perfect world is hard to obtain,” she said. “But with the power of Zekrom by my side, I shall obtain it without fail!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“A perfect world?” all of the Pokémon minus Ember and I asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Pokémon are powerful beings! They shouldn’t have to be held back by humans!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I cringed a little. Simon had said almost the exact same thing five years ago.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A security guard rolled his eyes and ordered a couple others to grab her. “Fine,” she said. “If you don’t want the power of Zekrom to be next to me…” She ripped her arm free of the security guard, took the Stone, and shoved it into her stomach. It began to glow black as it fused with her body. “Then I guess Zekrom will have to be a part of me.” She smiled really demonically.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What the hell?” the guard shouted. After a few seconds, Armana came back into view. She looked no different. Everyone in the building stood there, confused about what just happened.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Just then, Alex came out from the bathrooms (he spent a while in there.) He saw us all crowded around the entrance and said, “Hey, why is everyone over there?” Nobody responded, still in shock about what they saw. He started walking over here when I spotted something in his path. The Light Stone had fallen out of the display case and was right in front of him. Alex was focused on the crowd, and not where he was going.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Alex!” I yelled. “Look out!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But it was too late. He stepped on the Stone. It rolled underneath his foot, causing him to trip and fall face first into the ground. His chest landed on the stone. On impact, it began to glow white, much like with the Dark Stone and Armana. After an even more blinding light, Alex stood up, a little shaken. “What the hell just happened?” he asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I have no idea…” I replied.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The tour guide tried to make things seem casual by saying, “And that’s the end of our tour. Thank you for visiting!” but it didn’t really help much.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I then heard a woman shout from the back. I assumed it was Lenora, the Gym Leader. “What’s going on out there?” She then came into view. She looked like someone you don’t want to mess with. One of the museum people told her everything that happened. She immediately became very worried.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh, this is not good at all,” she said. “Where’s that boy?” She was talking about Alex.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’m right here, ma’am,” he said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Sir, I believe we need to have a talk.” She saw Ember and I and said, “Are those your two Blaziken?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex sighed. He gets asked that question every day.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We’re not,” I said simply. “And why I look like this is a completely different story.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She didn’t seem to mind the fact that I could talk. “If you want, you three can follow me into the back room,” she said. “There’s something very important I need to tell you.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lenora poured the three of us a cup of tea. “Now, before I tell you what just happened, you need to tell me something.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Anything,” I said. Anything could help me stop Armana from turning the world into what happened in my dreams.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I know we’ve just met, Matt,” she addressed me, “But I can already see that you know something very few people know. I need you to share it with us.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I told her and Alex about my dreams (Ember already knew) and how I thought that Armana was behind it, giving the Pokémon at her club a dark power.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh dear, that is not good at all,” she said. “Now that she has the power of Zekrom within her, her ideals will be made true.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Do you have any idea how we can stop her?” I asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The only power strong enough to oppose her is the power of Reshiram.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Which is inside me…” Alex said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The four of us sat in silence. We all knew that Alex was going to have to step up and be the hero.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Hey Matty,” Felix yelled. “Get out here, we’re about to leave!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The three of us stood up to leave. “Thanks for the advice, Lenora,” I said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If you ever need me,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to call.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I nodded, and we went back into the museum. Everyone was there except for Armana.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Where’d Armana go?” Ember asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We have no idea,” Kathryn said. “She must’ve snuck out while Alex was being infused with the Light Stone.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“How are we gonna get home?” Alex asked; a question no one knew the answer to.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Matt?” A voice said behind me. I turned around and saw Burgh. This dude was everywhere.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Hey, Burgh,” I said. “What brings you here?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh, I heard the museum was having some trouble, so I decided to come over and help out. And you?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’m on a trip with the club I’m in.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh, so you’re a part of that club? I’ve been interested in it, but I haven’t gotten the chance to talk with the head of it. Is she here right now?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I explained to him what happened.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I see,” he said. “Well, if you need my help, you know where to find me.” The gym-leaders in Hoenn didn’t do anything like this.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Thanks Burgh,” I said. He went to the back, I assume to talk with Lenora.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I looked around and said, “Where’s Alex?” My question was answered by a bus horn. The group went outside. Alex was at the wheel.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You guys ready to go, or what?” he said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We didn’t really have much choice, so we got on. It was still raining, but not as harshly.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Like I expected, Armana wasn’t at the club when we got back. The Pokémon that decided not to come weren’t doing anything differently. A couple asked where Armana was, and Felix opened his big mouth and told the entire building what happened to her. Some Pokémon panicked, not knowing what to do without someone in charge. It’s not like we ever saw her while we trained. She was always in her office, only talking to the Pokémon she was giving the dark power to.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Trying to put that whole situation behind me right now, I went down into in training room to do a practice battle with Ember. Just before we were about to begin, though, Will approached me and said, “May I speak with you, Matt?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I looked at Ember, asking permission, and she nodded. I followed him out of the room.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What do you need?” I asked him.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He looked at me with piercing red eyes and said, “It’s going to drive me crazy if I don’t figure this out. There’s something that makes you stand out from the other Pokémon here. You’ve turned down Armana’s power, which is the reason all of us are here-power.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Will was really focused on knowing this. I heard from other Pokémon that Will was a victim of the incident in Hoenn like I was, meaning he was once human, too. I decided I had to tell him. “Up until about 5 years ago,” I said. “I was a human.” His eyes widened as I said this. I pretended to not notice and continued. “But then I entered a tournament for trainers, and the lunatic running it turned me and around forty others into Pokémon. I’ve been stuck like this ever since, but I like being a Pokémon.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“So that’s it,” he said. “You were once human.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I nodded. “And from what I’ve heard, so were you.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Will stared at me; his eyes were piercing right into me. With all of the dark power he’d obtained from Armana, his eyes looked even more evil.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You’ve heard correctly,” he said. “I don’t remember much of my human self. After I found out I was going through changes into an Umbreon, I lost my mind. I isolated myself from everyone I cared about. I knew I would only put them in misery if they saw me like this. That same year, well after the change was done, I snuck onto the S.S. Tidal to come here, where I found Armana. I’ve been training here ever since.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I wondered why Will was against being with others. Now I know the change really screwed his mind up.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You’re a good Pokémon, Will,” I said. “And I’m sure you were a good person, too.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Will turned his head, and then went downstairs to his room. I went back into the training room where I saw Felix (Great…) trying to intimidate Ember. He looked a lot more like the feral Pokémon in my dreams than he did even earlier today. “You want to try beating me now? I got all this power in me!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rolling my eyes, I shot a Flamethrower at him. He must’ve caught it, because at the last second he jumped out of the line of fire.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Perfect, Matty showed up. Listen, I want a rematch against you guys.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’m up for it,” I told Ember.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Actually Matt, I think you should try to beat Felix on your own.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I didn’t understand why Ember didn’t want to fight, but I gladly accepted a one-on-one.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Tomorrow, Felix,” I told him. It was a long day today, and I was exhausted.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“See you then, Matty!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember and I went to our room. As soon as we got in, I sprawled on my back on my bed. “How the hell are we going to stop Armana?” I asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Right now, all we can do is wait,” Ember replied.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We can’t wait, though. Armana’s out there, plotting to use Zekrom to turn the Pokémon of the world into savage creatures. We have to stop her.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We sat in silence for a few minutes until we decided it was time to go to bed. I closed my eyes and drifted into slumber.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom: .0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chapter 6

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">''“Felix!” My trainer, Brian, yelled. I was busy eating some fruit off of a small bush in his backyard. I scurried over to him and he rubbed my head, messing up my fur. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Pika,” I said. Brian was the greatest in the world. He was young, but he knew what he was doing. He played with me every day and cared for me greatly. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Are you ready to go to the gym?”He asked me. I responded with a nod of my head and a small squeal of delight. His dad was a gym leader, and we trained there every day. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I rode in my trainer’s bike basket on the way to the gym. I could see all of Castelia from that small basket. It was great. We got to the gym and his dad was at the front of it, posting something to the door. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Dad?” he asked, worried. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">His father turned to him and said, “Oh hi, son. I’m just finishing things up here.” ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What happened to the gym?” Brian asked. His eyes looked up to his father like a puppy. I sat in the basket, wondering what was going on. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">His father sighed. “I’m sorry, son, but our gym hasn’t been getting enough visitors. The Unova Pokémon League has decided to shut us down.” ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There was a look of shock on both my face and my trainer’s. His father lost his business. The boy shoved his bike the other direction, jostling me in the basket and he pedaled off, tears streaming from his eyes. What was going to happen to us now that his father was out of business? ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Suddenly, I was in my Brian’s house. He and I were playing on the floor. I was happy, but it wouldn’t last long. My trainer’s father came in and asked to talk to him in another room. I stayed there, wondering where they went. After a few minutes, I became worried. I went into the room I thought they went in, but I didn’t see them. That’s when I looked out the window and say the car pulling out of the driveway. I hopped up onto the windowsill. “Pika…” They had left me. I ran outside to try and catch up with them, but they were long gone. I started to cry. Was I not good enough for him? Was I too weak? Thoughts like these filled my head as I started to wonder. Who knows where I went. All I know is that eventually, I gave up. I passed out from not having anything to eat and barely drinking any water for a few days. I woke up with some lady holding me in her arms. “It’s ok…” she whispered to me. “I’m going to make you nice and strong…” ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I woke up to the sound of banging at my door. I looked through the peephole and saw Felix standing there. “Wake up, Matty! It’s time for our battle!” he shouted.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I opened the door. “Felix, it’s 7:00 in the morning! Can’t it wait until later?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Felix barred his teeth. “What, you scared?” he taunted.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I slammed the door on his nose. “Ow!” I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn’t. I sat there thinking about the dream I just had. I had been put inside Felix’s shoes. Did that really happen to him? Could that be why he’s such a jerk? A few minutes later Ember woke up and we decided to head upstairs for breakfast. I decided not to tell her about it.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As we were eating, Alex came barging in and over to our table. “Is there a TV in here?” he asked, frantically.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“No, I don’t think so,” I replied, looking around. He grabbed me by the talon and dragged me outside. “Where the hell are you taking me?” I asked him. A few minutes later, we arrived at the Pokémon Center, where a large crowd was gathered around the TV in there.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The report on screen was saying, “…the legendary Pokémon Zekrom has been somehow awakened and is currently residing at Dragonspiral Tower. We also have reports of an incident at the Nacrene Pokémon Museum of an incident involving both the Dark and Light Stones. After an interview with the Gym Leader Lenora, these reports have been confirmed. Experts have advised to remain calm, though be prepared to evacuate if necessary.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The entire Pokémon Center gasped. “Dude, this is really serious,” I said. “Who knows how soon Armana will unleash her rein now!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What the hell are we supposed to do?” Alex responded. “I don’t exactly know how to summon Reshiram’s power, now do I?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Perhaps I can be of assistance?” A voice said. We turned and saw a figure in the corner, leaning up against the wall. He walked over to Alex. “Yuri’s the name,” he said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Alex,” he shook his hand. “How can you help?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I happen to know quite a lot in this area of expertise.” I looked at his eyes. They were…different. I also noticed a pink circle on the shoulder of his jacket.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Don’t tell me,” I said. “You can unleash the power of a Legendary too, can’t you?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I see, a talking Blaziken,” he smiled, “And a very observant one at that. For you are correct.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I…” Alex said, sounding a little confused. “I…”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What is it?” I asked him.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I see…Palkia…” he spat out.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“One perk of our powers is that we can see each other in our true form,” Yuri explained.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“True form?” Alex asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Come,” Yuri said. “Let me tell you a story.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The three of us went to Yuri’s apartment where he sat us down. “As I’m sure you know, the Legendary Pokémon created this world we are a part of. They knew that their rein would not last forever, though. So they sealed part of their essence away in items sacred to them. For Reshiram and Zekrom, it was the Light and Dark stones. For Palkia: a sacred pink pearl. They would one day choose the one to replace them. The one worthy enough to release the essence inside of the item would gain their powers, including the ability to turn into them.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex had a dumbfounded look on his face. “So Reshiram picked me to be his replacement?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“More or less,” Yuri said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“But you can help me unleash Reshiram’s power, right?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I can.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Good,” I said. “Alex, I hope you’re a quick learner. Armana could be at us any time soon.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex nodded.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Don’t worry,” Yuri said. “I teach very well.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’ll see you when you’re ready, Alex,” I told him. Arceus help us all.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I went back to the club. Ember, Ian, Kyle, and Kathryn were waiting for me. “What took you so long?” Ember asked. I told her everything about to happen, from Armana/Zekrom awakened and Alex being trained. They were all absolutely shocked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“It really sucks,” I said. “But it’s the only way we’ll be able to save the world from an awful fate.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“An awful fate?” Kyle asked. Crap, I thought. I forgot these guys don’t know about my dreams. I looked to Ember to see if she could bail me out. She shrugged. Great…

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There’s got to be something she’s planning up there,” I said. “And considering how badly she wanted it and how crazy she was in trying to get it, it can’t be good.” That worked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Just then, Felix stormed up the stairs. “There you are, Matty!” he yelled. “Now stop chickening out and let’s have our battle already!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We went downstairs into the arenas. It was just going to be one-on-one this time.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You ain’t beating me this time!” Felix shouted. I don’t see why he was so angry.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ian was our referee. “Go,” he said, I guess not really knowing what to do.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Thunderbolt,” Felix yelled. A large bolt came charging at me, sending electricity all throughout my body. It was a lot more powerful than I remember it being.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Blaze Kick,” I yelled. I skipped on the flashy moves; I knew with Felix’s speed he could easily dodge it. I impacted, but it barely deterred him.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Felix chuckled. “Is that all you got?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I used Bulk Up. I knew this battle might take a while, so I might as well.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Double Team,” he said. A whole mess of Raichu surrounded me, all of them looking dark, all of them with their arms confidently crossed.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I couldn’t tell which one was real, so I shot a stream of fire at one and started to quickly spin in a circle. When I saw the real one flinch, I focused the fire onto him. It scorched him pretty badly, but no burn. “Thunderbolt!” he used again. This time, however, my muscles became really numb. I had a hard time moving them, and I knew what his meant. I’d been paralyzed.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Having trouble?” he asked. I really just wanted to kick that little rat across the room. So I did. “Double Kick!” I shouted. Both kicks hit him square in the gut. Felix was slammed against the wall, but he got right back up, grinning. “Surf!” he yelled. How did he learn that? A giant torrent of water came rushing towards me. The flames burning on my wrists went out, and I really felt pain.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I struggled to get back up. “Blaze Kick!” I shouted, but I couldn’t get off of the ground. The paralysis wouldn’t let me. Felix only laughed.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Surf,” he said again, and the wave came again, only stronger. The room filled with water. I could just make out Felix smiling under the water. Then he shot out a large wave of electricity, which stun even more underwater. I couldn’t take it anymore. I fainted.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I was at Armana’s club, trying out my newly earned power from her. They were amazing. Ember had them as well, and we were absolutely tearing apart the training dummies. Then, I heard an ear-splitting call coming from the sky. Something in my mind told me to try to listen to it, so I did. It was telling me to go outside. I think everyone else at the club was listening to it as well, because everyone started going up the stairs and out into the city. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It let out an excruciating cry. I put my hands over my ears to try to cover it. I let out a scream of pain as my talons extended, becoming sharper. My feathers became a mess. I looked over at Ember, who was also going trough changes like this. I saw her eyes, which turned from blue to red. I could only assume mine were doing the same thing. A desire to kill filled my head. Killing is good <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">, the voice told me. Humans are not to be here. ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Matt…”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">''Now come, the voice said. The entire group started heading north, to Icirrus City and Dragonspiral Tower. The voice was there, waiting for us… ''

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Matt!” Someone slapped me and I jumped up. I was in the Pokémon Center recovering from the battle with Felix. Ember, Alex, and Yuri were sitting in the chairs next to the bed I was in. Looking at their faces, I knew something bad had happened.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What’s wrong?” I asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“While you were unconscious,” Ember said, pausing. “Armana started her plan.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We heard a loud screech through the air. Next thing we knew, all of the Pokémon at the base that had taken some of the dark power were changing, even more horrid than they were,” Yuri said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Then they all started going north,” Alex finished. “I’m guessing to Dragonspiral Tower.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">That was exactly what happened in my dream. And I experienced it firsthand. Well, sort of.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I turned to Alex. “Are you ready?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I think so.” He grinned, and I think I saw a large canine tooth inside his mouth.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Good,” Yuri said. “We’ll have to go soon if we want to stand a chance in beating Armana.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“How are we going to get there easily?” I asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex laughed. “Oh, do I have a surprise for you, Matt!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The four of us got up to go outside. Alex and Yuri went first, but Ember grabbed my arm and held me back. “Listen Matt,” she said. “Before we go, there’s something I need to tell you.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What?” I asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She had her eyes down, but then looked up, sighed, and said, “I’m pregnant.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At first, I didn’t really know what to think. But then I actually laughed. Not in a mocking way, but in a way that showed that I was happy. I hugged her and said, “This is great!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You really think so?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I smiled. “Of course I do.” I was at a loss for words. I was going to be a father.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You guys coming?” Alex called.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yeah, we are,” I responded. I hugged her one last time and we went outside with the other two.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Remember what I told you,” Yuri said to Alex.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex nodded. Yuri motioned for us to give him some space. Alex stood in the street and closed his eyes. In a couple of seconds, large white ribbons of light were coming out of his body, surrounding him. It was unbearable to watch, so I turned my head away. When the light died down, I turned my head back and was faced with a ten-foot foot tall Reshiram.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Alex?” I asked, hesitantly.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He smiled and said, “Told you.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom: .0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chapter 7

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The three of us climbed on Alex’s back. He was going to fly us there. He flapped the giant wings on his arms and the turbine-like appendage behind him powered up. We took off. On the way there, I had time to think about everything that has happened since I came to Unova. And I thought: I would never have the idea that Armana’s powers were a bad thing unless I had those dreams. All the dreams I had weren’t something I had on a normal basis. Everything in them was exactly what was going to happen.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Including the first dream I had. Something tells me that if I had never become a Pokémon, I would never have been able to stop this. Wherever or whoever these dreams came from, they knew what was going to happen, but they couldn’t stop it. They need me to.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Then I thought about that I do need to do this. Ember is carrying my child, and I need to make this a safe world for both of them. I also thought about how much of this was thrown onto Alex. It was a total accident how Reshiram became part of him. Then again, nobody at the museum saw the Stone until right before Alex was about to slip on it…

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We were about halfway to Dragonspiral Tower when something came to my mind. I picked up my Pokénav (which I hadn’t used in a while) and dialed in a couple numbers. I figured they could help us.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After about another twenty minutes, I heard Yuri say, “There they are.” I looked over Alex’s shoulder and saw a giant storm cloud above the tower. Armana was at the top, with all of her minions below, looking up to her and ready to follow any orders.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Yuri’s hands momentarily changed into those similar to a Palkia’s. He created some sort of shield around us, I’m guessing to hide us from the enemy. Alex brought us down a few yards from the tower and Yuri released the shield, allowing me to get out, then immediately put it back on.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Hey, Armana!” I shouted. “You aren’t going through with your plans!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Zekrom looked down and said, “Why if it isn’t the Blaziken who rejected my offer of power. You won’t be able to stand up to my army. Don’t you wish you had that power now?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’m not alone, Armana. I have a little friend with me.” On cue, Yuri released the shield, showing Alex standing tall.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Her eyes widened. “Reshiram,” she said, a little surprised. “Glad to see you here.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Zekrom,” Alex said. “This isn’t right.” They were addressing each other by their Pokémon names, not their real ones.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Armana ignored him and said, “My Pokémon, go, and destroy the two Blaziken! The Reshiram is mine…” She leapt into the air, Alex following her, and they started to battle.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The entire group of Pokémon started to walk towards us, hypnotized in Armana’s trance. I stepped up and started to speak to them. “Listen, everyone. I’ve come to know a lot of you within the week that I’ve been here. I know that all of you are good Pokémon. You don’t need this dark power to be strong; you just need to find power inside of you. Please, stop listening to Armana. You can all be great without her!” It was worth a shot. Unfortunately, they only came closer to us, even faster. Crap, I thought. Ember and I shot out a few streams of fire to try to keep them back, but we were being backed into a corner. Then, I heard a male voice shout, “Screech!” and waves of sound were directed at all of Armana’s Pokémon. I looked up on the cliff behind me to see Burgh standing there, along with his Whirlipede.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I was never happier to see him in my life. “We’ll take on some of them,” he said. I wondered who he meant by “we” until I saw Lenora behind him. They had both gotten my call.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Thanks Burgh!” I said. In the distraction, I dodged away and ended up facing someone I did not want to face in that situation. Will was staring at me, eyes filled with hate. He started charging.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I didn’t shout “Double Kick!” but I did use it. It barely did any damage to him, despite being super-effective. “Don’t try this with me, Matt,” he said. “You can’t win against us.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Will, please,” I said. “I know what it’s like to be a human once and be thrown into a Pokémon body. It was hard to get used to, but I made it work. I know you’re strong on the inside, Will. Please, don’t follow Armana.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Will tackled me and pinned me against a wall. I couldn’t move. He summoned a dark orb in his hands, charging it up. I braced myself for the impact, but it never came. Will had put down his paw and was looking down. Then he said, “You’re right, Matt.” He let me up. “You’re the only one I’ve met who’s been able to relate with me. Armana’s idea is twisted. I was just under a spell…” He opened his eyes, and the evil had disappeared from them.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Let’s get them,” I told him, trying to show that he was forgiven. We shook hands/talon/paw and ran at the group of Pokémon. Ember was busy fighting, so we went over and started to help her out. Ember was a little surprised to see Will fighting with us, but she didn’t complain.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Dark Pulse,” Will said. A dark rush of energy rushed out of him hitting the entire enemy Pokémon. They all cringed. Dark Pulse wasn’t even that strong of a move and it had hit them that hard. Will was pretty good in battle.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I heard a scream. I turned and saw Yuri fall to the ground. He was in his human form, not a Palkia. I didn’t need any more clarification. He was dead.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ember and I were shooting Flamethrower after Flamethrower out of our mouths. It was an easy enough move to keep using. But then I came faced with Kyle. When I hung out with him at Armana’s club, he was a cute, little, Tepig who was very energetic. Looking into his eyes now, I could tell that all he wanted to do was kill.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Kyle,” I said. “Don’t do this.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Smog!” he shouted. Poisonous air got into my lungs, but the poison didn’t set in like last time I fought him.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I sighed and used Double Kick. I really didn’t want to do this to him. He was one of my best friends at the club. Unfortunately, I think I might have hit him too hard. I had launched him across the field. And to make matters worse, Kathryn saw me do that.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Why would you do that to him?” she shouted, tears in her eyes. She lunged at me and used Slash. It hurt, but I recovered quickly. I looked at her eyes, and I didn’t see the evil in them.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Kathryn, wait,” I said. “Kyle was attacking me, I needed to defend myself. He should still be ok, but I need your help.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kathryn wiped the tears from her eyes, realizing that Armana’s spell must have been broken. “What do you need me to do?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Tell Ember and Will this, too. I need you to try to get all of the Pokémon back on our side. I’ll go check on Kyle.” She nodded and ran off to help Ember and Will.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, I ran over to Kyle, who was lying on his side, not moving much. I grabbed his head and held him up. He started to cough. “Matt?” he asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I smiled. He was ok. “It’s ok, Kyle.” I helped him stand up and soon he was ready to fight. “I need you to help me by helping Kathryn and Ember. They can tell you what you need to do.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You’re the only one who’s done anything super nice for me,” he said. “Of course I’m going to help you.” Then he ran off. I started to run after him, anxious to get back into battling. I looked up to see Alex and Armana fighting above. It was almost beautiful to watch. Alex’s orange flames collided with Armana’s blue thunder. I lost concentration on my battle, though, and that cost me. A large, yellow bolt of lightning struck me and sent me flying back. I slammed into the side of a cliff.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I looked up to see Felix. “Come for a rematch, Matty?” he asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I stood myself up. I didn’t try turning Felix onto my side. I knew it wasn’t going to work and I also didn’t want to. This guy had been nothing but a total ass to everyone at the club. Yes, I know his story of why he was such a jerk, but that still gave him no excuse.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I came to put an end to what will come.” I told him.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“And what is that?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The world will be full of savage Pokémon!” I shouted. “And it’s starting with you!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Felix had no change of emotion. “Armana gave me very specific orders to take you out,” he said. “I gladly accepted it.” He shot another bolt of lightning at me. I didn’t try to dodge it. I let it hit me, but it hurt a lot less than it should have.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Blaze Kick,” I shouted. Flame trailing form my talons, I slammed into him, embers scattering everywhere. He started to look weak. I took a quick glance above and saw that Alex was winning his battle against Armana. Her power was weakening, this was my chance!

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You’ve always wanted to be on top, haven’t you Felix?” I asked him. “You’ve got that mindset that everything you do is never good enough, don’t you?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I saw some of his confidence start to fade away. “W-What are you talking about?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You aren’t good enough to beat me Felix.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Are you crazy? The only time you’ve beaten me was with your little girlfriend helping you, and she ain’t here right now!” He shouted.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I grinned. “Isn’t she?” I jumped into the air as Ember used Earthquake, only affecting Felix. I landed in front of the entire group of Pokémon from Armana’s club that had been under the dark power, but were no longer.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I looked up to the sky. The Reshiram and Zekrom were in an intense battle. It ended soon after that, though, as Alex unleashed an orange fury of flames as they all collided with Armana, causing her to spiral down into the water around the tower. We all cheered for him (including Burgh and Lenora) and he flew down to greet us. I walked up to him. “Nice job,” I told him. I felt like I should be bowing. I was in the presence of a Legendary Pokémon.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He reached one of his wings to me and I shook the hand on it. Despite being a Legendary, he was still my best friend.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Don’t celebrate too quickly,” A voice behind Alex said. We all looked over to see Armana rise out of the water, Felix riding on her back.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’m not finished yet, Matty!” Felix shouted.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Get on my back, Matt,” Alex said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wait, why?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Get on my back!” I did.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex sprang up into the air until we were level with Armana and Felix.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“This ends now,” I said, mostly to Felix. He was my enemy here.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“It’s amazing what you have done here, Reshiram,” Armana said. “This Blaziken has really taken a shine to you.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Let’s just say I’ve known him a while,” Alex said. I smiled.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Why do you want this, Armana?” I asked. “Do you want a world where the Pokémon are all wild beasts, killing every human in sight?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Why you should know, Blaziken (she didn’t even remember my name), that humans are imperfect beings. Pokémon grow much better without a trainer. Humanity is just a waste of space.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“They don’t deserve to live with Pokémon like us.” Felix finished.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What about Brian?” I asked. “Was he a waste?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The look on Felix’s face turned from sinister to shock. “H-How do you know that?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Matt, what are you doing?” Alex whispered to me.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Relax,” I told him. To Felix, I said, “You loved Brian, didn’t you? He was a great trainer, wasn’t he?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Felix started to cry a little bit. “Enough!” Armana shouted. She closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate on Felix, who immediately stopped crying and went right back to looking evil, if not more.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Shall we, my queen?” Felix asked. Armana grinned. “Most certainly,” she replied.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">They both started to charge up an attack. Felix shouted “Thunderbolt!” but instead of the bolt being shot at us, he engulfed himself and Armana in it. Armana shouted, “Fusion Bolt!” and surrounded herself and Felix in a blue orb of electricity. The orb was surrounded by yellow streaks. It shot at Alex and I, shocking both of us extremely and almost causing me to fall off of Alex.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Had enough?” Armana taunted.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Use Fusion Flare,” I told Alex. It was Reshiram’s signature move.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Why?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Use it!” He did.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I jumped up off of Alex’s back into the air, where I intercepted the giant ball of fire. I used Blaze Kick on the ball, causing it to shoot at an alarming speed towards Armana and Felix. The ball literally went straight through them, or at least it looked like it did. They were extremely charred, and Felix fell off of his ruler.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Good luck,” I said to Alex as I jumped off of him, aiming myself at Felix. Armana tried to swoop down and save her falling minion, but Alex was faster and cut her off.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Engulfing myself in flame, I rammed into Felix, knocking us away from the water where I would be weak and onto the other side of the tower from where Ember and the rest of the Pokémon were. Felix was on the ground, in pain.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You could’ve been destined for great things, Felix,” I said. “I’m sorry it had to come to this.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Felix rolled over to face me. All of the dark power he had obtained from Armana seemed to have disappeared. He looked like a normal Raichu now. “Matt…” he said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yes, Felix?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’m sorry for being such a jerk to you.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“It’s a little late for apologizing,” I said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“After I lost my trainer…I didn’t know what to do. Armana was the first one who showed interest in me. She taught me to be this way.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I know you’re a good Pokémon on the inside, Felix.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Thanks Matt…” he said. “Do me a favor?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He looked straight at me. “Take down Armana for me.” Then he closed his eyes, and his breathing stopped.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Seeing this made me realize truly how much Armana had affected these Pokémon’s lives. Granted, I was the one who killed Felix, but he was good when he wasn’t under her influence. I looked up to the continued battle between Alex and Armana just in time to see something I wish had never happened. Armana had struck Alex with such a hard blow; it caused him to faint in midair. Alex plummeted to the water. He wasn’t coming out. Something was wrong.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You killed him!” I shouted at her, tears coming out of my eyes. “He was my best friend!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Oh, that matters no more! Now nobody can defeat me. My perfect world will come true.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At that moment, something started to build up inside of me. I could feel myself getting warmer and warmer. The air started to wave around me as I only got hotter.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Matt?” Ember asked from across the pond. “What’s wrong?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After what seemed like forever of heat building inside of me, I unleashed flaming ember after ember at Armana. The embers then turned into large flames, then into a single, giant beam of fire. It was all going directly towards Armana, bombarding her. She was unable to stay in the air, and she plummeted to the ground next to me. I ended the onslaught of fire and felt very light-headed.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Can’t take the heat?” I asked her.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“How could you have beaten me?” she replied.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There shouldn’t be a world without humans. They push us to do our best. I should know, I was a human once.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’ll never have that perfect world…” she said, completely ignoring me.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I sighed, sending all of the heat down to my foot. I spun in the air to get momentum, and I finished her off with a Blaze Kick. Using all of that energy caused me to faint, but I didn’t care. The world was safe.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom: .0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chapter 8

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I expected to awake in a Pokémon Center, but when I opened my eyes all I saw was white. I was standing in the middle of nowhere.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Hello?” I shouted out. “Can anyone here me?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Then I saw some figures come in to view. At first, they were only shadows. But as they got closer, I saw that they were Legendary Pokémon. In the center of them all was Arceus, the God of all Pokémon. And also the Pokémon Simon had turned into with his plot to take over the world.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Hello, Matt,” Arceus said. I know that voice…

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Simon?” I asked.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He sighed. “Yes, Matt. It’s me, Simon.” I guess he was chosen by Arceus to replace him. “Despite what you thought, I did not turn myself into Arceus. I came in contact with the Azure Flute while my plot was going into effect. While you were transforming, trying to stop me.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Matt, all of us here would like to congratulate you on a job well done in defeating Zekrom.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I nodded. “Thank you. But, I can’t take all the credit. If it weren’t for the power of my friend Alex, Armana’s plan would have gone through. He died trying to defeat her.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Actually Matt,” I heard a voice say. “I’m still here.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I looked over to where the voice came from and saw Reshiram. “Alex?” I asked. He nodded.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“When those chosen to assume the forms of Legendary Pokémon die in battle, they permanently assume the Legendary’s form,” Arceus explained. “They then arrive and stay here.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">My heart immediately sank. After seeing Alex alive, I was ecstatic. But he’s stuck as a Reshiram.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“So you’re Reshiram now?” I asked him.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yeah, I guess I am.” Alex said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">My head drooped. I wouldn’t really be able to see my best friend anymore.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Matt, there’s something more we need to tell you,” Alex said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“What?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Arceus cleared his throat. “I was the one who caused you to have those dreams. The Legendaries are not allowed to interfere with what the other Legendaries nor what humans are doing. When we were little, my sister and I were raised a way that made us both crazy. I knew that if I had intentions as I did, Armana would as well. I remembered you from our little struggle five years ago. I knew you’d be great for our hero. The fact that you went to Unova only confirmed that you were the right one for us.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wait…your sister?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Arceus nodded. “Yes, Armana is my sister.” I nodded. I didn’t need to hear any more of that subject. “You are a great hero, Matt. I would like to offer you something in return for your great heroism. If you’ll accept it, I would like to give you your humanity back.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I didn’t even need to think for a second about it. “No thank you, sir.” The Legendaries (minus Alex) all gasped. “Sure, being a Pokémon has its downsides, but I’ve made a good life out of it. I’ve got a wonderful person waiting for me down below and I’ve got a child on the way. Being a human would utterly ruin that.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I understand,” Arceus said. “Is there anything else you would like?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I thought about it for a few seconds, and then decided on something. I told Arceus.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Are you sure?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Yes. I want to give him something taken away from him.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Very well,” he said. “It is done.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Thank you, sir,” I said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I’ll let you have one more talk with Reshiram and then I shall send you back.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I approached Alex, who was now ten feet tall.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Well, I guess this is it old friend,” I said. I started to get choked up.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex was crying a little, too. “I’ve had a hell of a time with you, Matt. You truly are a fantastic Pokémon.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Thanks buddy.” I said. I extended my talon, Alex his wing, and we shook hands before pulling each other in for a hug. “I’ll miss you, man.” Tears were streaming down my eyes now.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Me too,” he said. “Give them hell out there,” he said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“You, too,” I said. “Good bye, Alex.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stood there both smiling and crying as my vision turned white and I was sent away from the Legendaries’ domain. I never saw Alex again, though I knew he would always be watching over me from above.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom: .0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chapter 9

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The next day I met up with Birch and Palm again. I congratulated Palm on his success with his invention. When I told them what had happened to Alex, they were proud for him, but also a little sad knowing he was gone.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Our ship leaves this afternoon, Matt,” Birch told me.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I looked around the city. I had been here once before while I was human, but it just seemed…different now. I actually rather enjoyed it now. I said to Birch, “Actually, Professor, I think I’m going to say here.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Birch seemed a little shocked to hear this. “Very well then,” he said. “It’s been great knowing you Matt.” He and Palm shook my hand. It wasn’t as sad as my goodbye with Alex, but I think I was making the right choice in staying here.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Listen, I got to run, Ember’s waiting for me.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Birch nodded. “Congratulations by the way on your child!” he said as I ran off.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I arrived at Armana’s former club where Ember was waiting. She had a surprise for me. I saw her standing in the room, holding a Pokémon egg. Kathryn, Kyle, Ian, and Will were all with her. As soon as I saw the egg, I felt so happy. I went over and gave Ember a tight hug. Then I heard the door open. We all looked over and saw a Raichu walk in.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Everyone else was surprised to see him. I simply just said, “Hey, Felix!”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“How’s it going, Matt?” he said back.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Felix…” Ember said. “I thought you were dead…”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ok, so I asked Arceus if he could bring Felix back to life. He deserved a second chance, Now that Armana couldn’t control him, he could be a good Pokémon.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I ain’t going down that easy,” he laughed. Felix and I became great friends.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Within the next few weeks, the seven of us reopened Armana’s club under a new name. I came up with the name for it: “Reshiram Training.” The others liked it. Ember and I ran the place, while Kathryn, Ian, Kyle, Will, and Felix were all trainers here. I even got Burgh to give a few lessons now and again. We invited all Pokémon, wild, independent, and with trainers to come. We even gave out one of Palm’s PokéComs to every Pokémon who signed up with us. Ember and I started to earn a lot of money going into business like this.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Eventually, our egg did hatch into a little Torchic. We named him Flint. He had trouble walking around at first. It was funny to watch, but cute as well.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It was a beautiful day outside one afternoon, so I brought some Pokémon outside to do a fighting session. It was a pretty young group. I taught them some yoga (which works wonders for a Fighting-Type). They weren’t quite ready for the advanced stuff, but that was ok.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As I was teaching my class, Flint came running out and tried to climb up my leg. “Not now, Flint,” I said, laughing, but he wouldn’t stop. So I picked him up and put him on my shoulder. He seemed to like it up there.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">That night, I was sitting with Ember and Flint watching the stars. Most of the Pokémon at our club were in their rooms, sleeping. It was pretty silent between the three of us, so I decided to reflect on everything that had happened to me. I looked up into the sky and saw the constellation of Arceus. I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if Simon hadn’t turned me into a Blaziken. In fact, I’d be fighting for my life. Simon did put me through hell, but I forgive him now, considering he did help me save the world. Then I saw Reshiram in the sky and thought about Alex. He’s been my closest friend for almost ten years now. Ten years is a long time to get to know someone. And now he was gone. I started to cry a little. Flint looked at me and said, “Torchic?” He wasn’t quite old enough yet to use a PokéCom or talk in sentences.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I lifted him onto my shoulder and pointed to the Reshiram in the sky. “You see that, Flint? That’s your uncle Alex.” As soon as I said this, Ember smiled. “He’s someone very important. Maybe one day you’ll meet him.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Alex had given up everything. But he was a Legendary Pokémon now, a true god. I was so proud for him. I wasn’t going to let him down.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After about half an hour, Ember and Flint were asleep. We were all still sitting outside, though.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I hope you’re doing well up there, Alex,” I said.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">You’re doing just fine for yourself, Matt a voice in my head said. I didn’t freak out. I didn’t need to. I knew Alex was talking to me.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Glad to hear from you, man.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, he replied.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I’ve made life pretty good for myself in the Unova region. So much has happened, and I know a lot is going to happen in the future, too. But for now, things are going pretty easy. With Alex’s help, I made the world a safe place. Looking at Flint, I knew he was going to grow up well.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I now had another story to tell people. In fact, I just told it to you. Sure, I miss being a human, I miss the Hoenn Region, and I miss having Alex here next to me. But I knew he was working hard as Reshiram.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So you may say that some really bad things have happened to me, but my thoughts are the exact opposite. Will and Felix would have gone down terrible paths had I not come. Armana would have taken over the world. Arceus was right, I was a hero.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Flaming Embers will always burn inside me. Though Alex is gone, he’s still with me. And my new life is better than I could have ever hoped for. It’s a little funny to think how sometimes even your enemies can change your life for the better, even when they don’t plan to.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom: .0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:22.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">THE END

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 200%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I would like to thank everyone for reading this story. It is hands down: the greatest story I’ve ever written. May Reshiram watch down on you from above.