“Wh…What do you want?!” Professor Rowan, the white-mustached professor of the Sinnoh Region, asked as he backed away from the ominous figure that stood before him.
“You know what I want, Professor.” The man, shrouded completely by a hooded black cloak, answered. On his right stood the bulking brown mass of a Mamoswine, the ice-tusked evolution of Piloswine. On his left was an Arcanine, the orange and black-furred canine Pokemon considered by some to be a Pokemon of legend.
“You won’t find it here.” Rowan responded, the tone of fear disappearing from his voice as he realized that his enemy would not gain anything from their encounter.
“How unfortunate for you.” The cloaked man replied. “Mamoswine, Blizzard!” The large brown Pokemon roared, summoning a small snowstorm inside the Sandgem Town laboratory. Frost coated all of the machines and desks in the laboratory, and when the blizzard ceased, Professor Rowan had been frozen solid in a block of ice.
“Let’s go.” The man decided, heading for the door as his Pokemon duo followed him.
“Happy birthday, Trevor!” A crowd of people shouted as the eleven year old boy blew out the candles atop the white-frosted cake in front of him. A mile-wide smile grew on the blonde-haired boy’s face as the small flames disappeared from the waxy pillars on which they sat.
“What did you wish for?” Asked a dark-haired boy of the same age as the candle blower.
“I’m not telling you!” Trevor replied with a grin. A small, brown-furred ape ran over to the boy, latching its arms around him and knocking him out of his chair.
“Hey, Monferno!” Trevor returned the fire Pokemon’s hug, being careful to avoid the flame on the tip of its tail. “Are you back from Professor Rowan’s lab?”
“Yep, we just got back.” A middle-aged man with black hair and a stubbly face, obviously the boy’s father, answered. “We made pretty good time getting here, too.” He looked around, noticing the extinguished candles on the cake. “Aw, did we miss you blowing out your candles?”
“Sorry.” Trevor apologized. “Mom said it would be okay, because she took lots of pictures.”
“Well, okay then.” The father walked over and kissed his wife on the cheek.
“Let’s go open presents!” One of the boys Trevor’s age suggested, pointing to the large stack of colorfully wrapped boxes under a nearby tree.
“Yeah!” Trevor agreed, and the mob of children began to follow him and his Monferno over to the large oak tree.
“So, how did the appointment go?” Trevor’s mother asked his father.
“Pretty good, but I think the old man is losing his mind.” Her husband chuckled. “He keeps rambling on about how Trevor’s Monferno is ‘special’ or something…and not just it, either. Some of the other kids’ Pokemon as well.”
“Well, what did he say about them? He might be right! I think that our son’s Pokemon is pretty special…it certainly cheers him up a lot.”
“No…he was saying something about its DNA, or something like that…I don’t know, I tend to stop paying attention when he starts talking about all of that scientific stuff.”
“Oh, you’re so bad.” His wife joked as she dotingly pushed his shoulder.
“Hey mom, dad, come look at what Patrick got me!” Trevor ecstatically called. With smiles on their faces, the child’s loving parents hurried over to see the gifts that their child had received.
“I’m telling you, I don’t know where it is!” The old woman spoke in a very frail voice.
“Well you’d better figure it out, quick.” The hooded man replied. Just as he had with Professor Rowan, he had cornered the old woman with his Mamoswine and Arcanine, and had wrecked the furniture in her house. Even the woman’s prized pictures of Palkia and Dialga, Sinnoh’s legendary gods of time and space, had been torn up by Arcanine’s claws.
“Even if you find the flute, it will do you no good! Someone will stop you!”
“I doubt it, lady.” The cloaked man responded. “If you don’t know where it is, then you are of no use to me. Mamoswine, Blizzard!”
“Lairon, Metal Claw!” Before Mamoswine could successfully summon a snowstorm, a metal-clad quadruped busted through the door of the house and dashed over to Mamoswine, slashing at it with a powerful claw.
“Swine!” Mamoswine cried out in pain as it slammed against the nearby wall. The cloaked man looked to the door to see a tall boy with silver hair standing in the doorway. He wore raggedy dark brown clothes, and looked to be about eighteen.
“Who are you?” The cloaked man asked as Mamoswine recovered from the attack.
“You won’t get the flute!” The boy proclaimed. Lairon attacked again, catching Mamoswine off guard for the second time.
“Arcanine, put this fool in his place!” The cloaked man commanded. Arcanine let out an intense blast of fire that struck Lairon and burned it severely.
“Lairon, Dig!” The silver-haired boy ordered. Lairon dove through the floorboards, digging a tunnel into the ground.
“Mamoswine, use Take Down when it resurfaces!” Lairon emerged from the ground, attempting to hit Arcanine, but the agile canine easily dodged the attack, giving Mamoswine a clear path to its target. The large, pig-like Pokemon rammed into Lairon, sending it skidding across the floor.
“This isn’t good…” The silver-haired boy realized.
“Kirlia, Psychic!” Suddenly, Mamoswine was encased in a purple aura and was flung through the air, hitting the wall opposite the one that Lairon had hit. All of the humans and Pokemon in the room looked to see a girl with green hair standing behind the silver-haired boy, a Kirlia at her side. She was about the same age as the boy, and wore a white t-shirt, a white skirt, and two red bows in her hair. Next to her stood another boy of the same age, who wore a white t-shirt and pants and had spiked red hair. By his side was a Vigoroth, poised and ready to attack.
“You okay, Mason?” The boy with the Vigoroth inquired.
“I’m fine.” The silver-haired boy replied.
“Sorry we’re a little late,” The girl apologized, “We received a distress signal from Eterna Forest, but it turned out to be a false alarm.”
“And just who are you?” The cloaked man asked, annoyed by the interruption.
“I’m Emily.” The girl answered.
“And I’m Sean.” The boy added. “And we’re from the Sinnoh Peace Enforcing League!”
“The SPEL?” The cloaked man muttered under his breath. “What are they doing here?! Did Rowan call them before I froze him?”
“Vigoroth, Slash!” By Sean’s command, Vigoroth dashed forward, slashing at Arcanine with its sharp claws.
“Arcanine, fight back with Extremespeed!” The cloaked man ordered. Arcanine quickly recovered from Vigoroth’s attack, retaliating with an extremely fast tackle and sending Vigoroth crashing into the wall.
“Kirlia, Psychic!” Emily commanded. Kirlia waved its arms, and Mamoswine was surrounded by a purple aura and flung at the wall once again.
“Lairon, Headbutt!” Though weakened by Arcanine and Mamoswine’s attacks, Lairon was not reluctant to join the fray of battle, ramming Arcanine with its steel head.
“Mamoswine, Take Down! Arcanine, Heat Wave!” This time, Mamoswine directed its ramming attack at Kirlia, doing severe damage to the frail psychic Pokemon. Meanwhile, Arcanine let out a blast of fiery breath that was powerful enough to finally knock Lairon out.
“Lairon!” Mason shouted. Because Lairon was his only Pokemon, the boy was now out of the fight, and could only watch his friends battle.
“Kirlia, Mamoswine is weak! Hit it with another Psychic!” Once again, Kirlia concentrated on its opponent, flinging it into the air with a mental attack. The heavy Mamoswine hit the ground with such a force that it was rendered unconscious, no longer able to battle.
“Vigoroth, keep using Slash!” The white monkey Pokemon and the orange canine Pokemon continued to exchange attacks, but now that Mamoswine was out of the picture, Kirlia could aid Vigoroth. The two Pokemon’s power combined was enough to subdue their opponent, eventually knocking it out.
“You may have won this time,” The cloaked man said as he returned his defeated Pokemon to their Pokeballs, “But you will not stop me from getting the flute! If Rowan didn’t have it, and the old woman didn’t have it, there’s only one more place that it could be!” He threw a Pokeball into the air and released the large blue dragon with orange wings, Salamence. It opened its mouth, loosing a powerful blast of energy that opened a huge hole in the wall of the house. He quickly boarded his flying Pokemon as it flew out through the hole it had created, disappearing into the sky.
“Thank you all for coming!” Trevor handed children goodie bags as their parents arrived to take them home. One by one, his friends’ parents showed up to take their kids back home. Soon, only three of Trevor’s friends remained: Patrick, the dark-haired boy that had inquired about Trevor’s wish; Crystal, a shy girl with long blonde hair; and John, a tall redheaded boy.
“Well, that was fun.” Trevor’s dad commented as he rocked back and forth in a rocking chair on his house’s porch.
“Hey, look at that!” Trevor’s mom pointed out a large blue Salamence flying through the sky. “Wait a minute…is it just me, or does it look like it’s flying toward our house?” Trevor’s father looked up and confirmed that the dragon Pokemon was, in fact, approaching their house.
“Kids, you need to get inside, now!” He shouted upon realizing who was piloting the incoming Pokemon. Obeying his father’s stern command, Trevor led the rest of the kids past his parents and into the front door of the house, closing it behind them.
“Larry, did you honestly think I wouldn’t figure it out?” The cloaked man landed his dragon Pokemon in the front yard of the house and got off of its back. “Rowan knew I was coming, so he entrusted the flute to you, his best friend.”
“Evidently, you’re a bit smarter than you were ten years ago, Shane.” Trevor’s father replied.
“Hand over the flute, Larry. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” The cloaked man reached for a Pokeball on his belt and lifted it into the air.
“There’s no way I’m letting you get this flute.” Trevor’s dad responded. “Even if I have to fight you for it.”
“You always were a courageous fool.” The cloaked man mocked. “Electivire, teach him a lesson!” He threw the Pokeball in his hand into the air, releasing the yellow evolution of Electabuzz that had two wires sticking out of its back.
“How nostalgic.” Larry remarked. “Magmortar, I choose you!” He too grabbed a Pokeball from his own belt, throwing it into the air and sending out the red and yellow evolution of Magmar with flame-shaped shoulders.
“Electivire, Thunderbolt!” Electivire’s body began to glow, and it launched a bolt of electricity at Magmortar.
“Magmortar, Flamethrower!” Magmortar countered by launching a blast of fire from one of its cannon-like arms. The attacks collided in midair, creating an explosion and enveloping the yard in a field of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Electivire had already begun charging toward Magmortar, catching it off guard with a Thunderpunch. Magmortar fell back onto the ground, but quickly recovered, getting back up and hitting Electivire with a Fire Punch. Electivire responded with a Discharge attack, to which Magmortar countered with Lava Plume. The two Pokemon were almost evenly matched, but Electivire appeared to have the upper hand.
“Finish it, Electivire!” Shane commanded. “Giga Impact!” Electivire rushed forward, slamming into Magmortar with incredible force. The fire Pokemon could not withstand the attack, and it fell to the ground, defeated.
“No! Magmortar!” Larry shouted.
“Hand it over, Larry.” Shane demanded. “Or I’ll take it by force.”
“Fine.” Larry agreed, reaching into a small brown sack on his waist. “Here it is. Just please…don’t hurt my family.” He pulled out a small object that vaguely resembled a conch shell. It glowed a brilliant shade of azure, and it was surrounded by a magnificent aura as if it was not of this world.
“Yes!” Shane approached Larry and took the cerulean flute. “The world…is mine!” He mounted his Salamence once again and ordered it to take flight, this time heading for Mount Coronet, the mountain range in the center of Sinnoh.
“Larry…why did you give him the flute?” Trevor’s mother asked. “With it, he can…”
“If I had not, he would have killed us and taken it anyways.” Larry replied. “He had us at a disadvantage, Kelly. And it is true that he has the flute…but I have no intention of letting him use it.”
“What do you mean?” His wife inquired.
“I believed what Rowan said a little more than I let on.” Larry explained. “In fact, I know for a fact that he was right. I just didn’t want to trouble you or Trevor about it unless I needed to.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I don’t have time to explain.” Larry answered. “Get Trevor and the other kids. We’re following Shane.” He threw two Pokeballs into the air, revealing Charizard, the red dragon with a fire-tipped tail, and Flygon, the green dragon with rhombus-shaped wings.
“Where are we going, dad?” Trevor asked as he and the other kids were ushered onto the flying Pokemon’s backs.
“To save the world.” His father replied, a grim expression on his face.
Salamence landed on the summit of the mountain, where a dense fog clouded the area. In the center of the rocky peak was a spire that ascended into the clouds and beyond. The pillar was completely unscalable, but it was Shane’s target nonetheless. The cloaked man lifted the azure flute up above his head, as if offering it to the heavenly column. Suddenly, it began to glow a hundred times as intensely as before, and the pillar began to glow with a similar blue light.
“Yes…yes!” Shane exclaimed as the flute was lifted from his hands by a mysterious force. It began to float upward, but suddenly, its blue glow turned purple, and its movement stopped.
“What?!” Shane turned around to see Emily, Mason, Sean, and their Pokemon standing behind him.
“You will not summon Arceus!” Mason declared.
“I’ve gotten this far…I’m not about to let some kids ruin my plan!” Shane reached for his Pokeballs, throwing all six of them into the air. His Arcanine, Mamoswine, Salamence, and Electivire were joined by Metagross, the blue steel Pokemon with a silver cross on its face, and Gyarados, the draconic blue serpent with fins on its back. Metagross immediately began concentrating in order to disable Kirlia’s psychic hold on the flute. Within a matter of seconds, the flute’s aura was back to its normal color, and the instrument continued its ascension toward the heavens.
“Stop it!” Mason commanded. His Lairon stomped the ground, sending out an electrical wave that it had obviously learned from a technical machine. Electivire raised its arms, and the attack was redirected, harmlessly hitting the powerful electric Pokemon.
“Charizard, Flamethrower! Flygon, Dragonbreath!” Through the thick fog, blasts of fire shot from seemingly nowhere, aimed at the rising flute.
“Arcanine! Salamence!” With incredibly quick reflexes, Shane ordered his Pokemon to use fiery attacks of their own, blocking the oncoming blasts before they could reach their target. Soon after the beams were fired, Charizard and Flygon landed on the edge of the mountain peak, and their passengers dismounted.
“Kids, send out your Pokemon.” Larry whispered to his son and the other children. Trevor released his Monferno; Patrick sent out the green tortoise with bushes on its back, Grotle; Crystal released the blue penguin Pokemon with a yellow beak, Prinplup; and John sent out the black and blue lightning Pokemon, Luxio.
“Well, well, well! All of Rowan’s little peons! It’s too bad the professor himself couldn’t join us!” As Shane spoke, the flute disappeared into the clouds above the congregation of people, and the clouds turned dark. Thunder rained from the clouds, striking random places on the peak.
“No!” Larry shouted, reaching his arm out in vain.
“Yes!” Shane exclaimed. “Arceus…come forth!” The clouds began to part, and a bright light shone down on the mountaintop. A large, equine, immaculate figure descended from the heavens, riding a sunbeam like a moving sidewalk. It had a green face, golden hooves, and a golden wheel around its body. As the Pokemon strode toward the pillar from which it had been summoned, the earth trembled in its mighty presence. All flying Pokemon in the area were immediately grounded, as if a field of strong gravity surrounded this new Pokemon.
“Arceus!” Shane called. “I have summoned you! Now do my bidding…bring destruction to this world!” The equine Pokemon let out a cry that immediately knocked out Charizard, Flygon, and all of Shane’s Pokemon. Emily, Mason, Sean, and the children’s Pokemon, however, were unaffected by the attack.
“What?! Why are these wimpy Pokemon still standing?!” Shane questioned in disbelief.
“Because Professor Rowan was right,” Larry replied confidently, “These Pokemon are special.” Without warning, the seven remaining Pokemon began to glow with a light as bright and intense as the one emitted by Arceus itself. The glowing Pokemon’s forms began to change; they were evolving. But even when they had transformed completely, their glowing did not cease. Suddenly, a beam of red light shot from the newly evolved Infernape, directly hitting Arceus. The rest of the glowing Pokemon followed suit; a blue beam shot from Empoleon, a green one from Torterra, a yellow one from Luxray, a purple ray from Gardevoir, an orange one from Aggron, and finally, a white beam from Slaking. The beams converged when they hit Arceus, and the immaculate Pokemon, too, began to glow with a multicolored light. As the light hit Arceus, it turned, and began to ascend back up the glowing path on which it had descended.
“No! No!” Shane shouted frantically, unable to do anything to stop the Pokemon he had summoned from returning to where it had come from. As the Pokemon disappeared from view, the clouds returned to their normal positions, and the stone spire stopped glowing. The azure flute was nowhere to be seen, and Shane had no Pokemon left with which to defend himself.
“It’s over, Shane.” Larry declared.
“As commanding officer of the SPEL, I hereby place you under arrest.” Sean decreed. Emily’s Gardevoir waved its arms, and psychic shackles appeared on Shane’s wrists, binding his arms behind his back.
“Finally…it’s over.” Larry thought aloud. “It’s been ten long years…and it’s finally over.”
“Dad, what just happened?” Trevor was extremely confused.
“A miracle, son,” Larry replied, “A miracle.”
“You know what I want, Professor.” The man, shrouded completely by a hooded black cloak, answered. On his right stood the bulking brown mass of a Mamoswine, the ice-tusked evolution of Piloswine. On his left was an Arcanine, the orange and black-furred canine Pokemon considered by some to be a Pokemon of legend.
“You won’t find it here.” Rowan responded, the tone of fear disappearing from his voice as he realized that his enemy would not gain anything from their encounter.
“How unfortunate for you.” The cloaked man replied. “Mamoswine, Blizzard!” The large brown Pokemon roared, summoning a small snowstorm inside the Sandgem Town laboratory. Frost coated all of the machines and desks in the laboratory, and when the blizzard ceased, Professor Rowan had been frozen solid in a block of ice.
“Let’s go.” The man decided, heading for the door as his Pokemon duo followed him.
“Happy birthday, Trevor!” A crowd of people shouted as the eleven year old boy blew out the candles atop the white-frosted cake in front of him. A mile-wide smile grew on the blonde-haired boy’s face as the small flames disappeared from the waxy pillars on which they sat.
“What did you wish for?” Asked a dark-haired boy of the same age as the candle blower.
“I’m not telling you!” Trevor replied with a grin. A small, brown-furred ape ran over to the boy, latching its arms around him and knocking him out of his chair.
“Hey, Monferno!” Trevor returned the fire Pokemon’s hug, being careful to avoid the flame on the tip of its tail. “Are you back from Professor Rowan’s lab?”
“Yep, we just got back.” A middle-aged man with black hair and a stubbly face, obviously the boy’s father, answered. “We made pretty good time getting here, too.” He looked around, noticing the extinguished candles on the cake. “Aw, did we miss you blowing out your candles?”
“Sorry.” Trevor apologized. “Mom said it would be okay, because she took lots of pictures.”
“Well, okay then.” The father walked over and kissed his wife on the cheek.
“Let’s go open presents!” One of the boys Trevor’s age suggested, pointing to the large stack of colorfully wrapped boxes under a nearby tree.
“Yeah!” Trevor agreed, and the mob of children began to follow him and his Monferno over to the large oak tree.
“So, how did the appointment go?” Trevor’s mother asked his father.
“Pretty good, but I think the old man is losing his mind.” Her husband chuckled. “He keeps rambling on about how Trevor’s Monferno is ‘special’ or something…and not just it, either. Some of the other kids’ Pokemon as well.”
“Well, what did he say about them? He might be right! I think that our son’s Pokemon is pretty special…it certainly cheers him up a lot.”
“No…he was saying something about its DNA, or something like that…I don’t know, I tend to stop paying attention when he starts talking about all of that scientific stuff.”
“Oh, you’re so bad.” His wife joked as she dotingly pushed his shoulder.
“Hey mom, dad, come look at what Patrick got me!” Trevor ecstatically called. With smiles on their faces, the child’s loving parents hurried over to see the gifts that their child had received.
“I’m telling you, I don’t know where it is!” The old woman spoke in a very frail voice.
“Well you’d better figure it out, quick.” The hooded man replied. Just as he had with Professor Rowan, he had cornered the old woman with his Mamoswine and Arcanine, and had wrecked the furniture in her house. Even the woman’s prized pictures of Palkia and Dialga, Sinnoh’s legendary gods of time and space, had been torn up by Arcanine’s claws.
“Even if you find the flute, it will do you no good! Someone will stop you!”
“I doubt it, lady.” The cloaked man responded. “If you don’t know where it is, then you are of no use to me. Mamoswine, Blizzard!”
“Lairon, Metal Claw!” Before Mamoswine could successfully summon a snowstorm, a metal-clad quadruped busted through the door of the house and dashed over to Mamoswine, slashing at it with a powerful claw.
“Swine!” Mamoswine cried out in pain as it slammed against the nearby wall. The cloaked man looked to the door to see a tall boy with silver hair standing in the doorway. He wore raggedy dark brown clothes, and looked to be about eighteen.
“Who are you?” The cloaked man asked as Mamoswine recovered from the attack.
“You won’t get the flute!” The boy proclaimed. Lairon attacked again, catching Mamoswine off guard for the second time.
“Arcanine, put this fool in his place!” The cloaked man commanded. Arcanine let out an intense blast of fire that struck Lairon and burned it severely.
“Lairon, Dig!” The silver-haired boy ordered. Lairon dove through the floorboards, digging a tunnel into the ground.
“Mamoswine, use Take Down when it resurfaces!” Lairon emerged from the ground, attempting to hit Arcanine, but the agile canine easily dodged the attack, giving Mamoswine a clear path to its target. The large, pig-like Pokemon rammed into Lairon, sending it skidding across the floor.
“This isn’t good…” The silver-haired boy realized.
“Kirlia, Psychic!” Suddenly, Mamoswine was encased in a purple aura and was flung through the air, hitting the wall opposite the one that Lairon had hit. All of the humans and Pokemon in the room looked to see a girl with green hair standing behind the silver-haired boy, a Kirlia at her side. She was about the same age as the boy, and wore a white t-shirt, a white skirt, and two red bows in her hair. Next to her stood another boy of the same age, who wore a white t-shirt and pants and had spiked red hair. By his side was a Vigoroth, poised and ready to attack.
“You okay, Mason?” The boy with the Vigoroth inquired.
“I’m fine.” The silver-haired boy replied.
“Sorry we’re a little late,” The girl apologized, “We received a distress signal from Eterna Forest, but it turned out to be a false alarm.”
“And just who are you?” The cloaked man asked, annoyed by the interruption.
“I’m Emily.” The girl answered.
“And I’m Sean.” The boy added. “And we’re from the Sinnoh Peace Enforcing League!”
“The SPEL?” The cloaked man muttered under his breath. “What are they doing here?! Did Rowan call them before I froze him?”
“Vigoroth, Slash!” By Sean’s command, Vigoroth dashed forward, slashing at Arcanine with its sharp claws.
“Arcanine, fight back with Extremespeed!” The cloaked man ordered. Arcanine quickly recovered from Vigoroth’s attack, retaliating with an extremely fast tackle and sending Vigoroth crashing into the wall.
“Kirlia, Psychic!” Emily commanded. Kirlia waved its arms, and Mamoswine was surrounded by a purple aura and flung at the wall once again.
“Lairon, Headbutt!” Though weakened by Arcanine and Mamoswine’s attacks, Lairon was not reluctant to join the fray of battle, ramming Arcanine with its steel head.
“Mamoswine, Take Down! Arcanine, Heat Wave!” This time, Mamoswine directed its ramming attack at Kirlia, doing severe damage to the frail psychic Pokemon. Meanwhile, Arcanine let out a blast of fiery breath that was powerful enough to finally knock Lairon out.
“Lairon!” Mason shouted. Because Lairon was his only Pokemon, the boy was now out of the fight, and could only watch his friends battle.
“Kirlia, Mamoswine is weak! Hit it with another Psychic!” Once again, Kirlia concentrated on its opponent, flinging it into the air with a mental attack. The heavy Mamoswine hit the ground with such a force that it was rendered unconscious, no longer able to battle.
“Vigoroth, keep using Slash!” The white monkey Pokemon and the orange canine Pokemon continued to exchange attacks, but now that Mamoswine was out of the picture, Kirlia could aid Vigoroth. The two Pokemon’s power combined was enough to subdue their opponent, eventually knocking it out.
“You may have won this time,” The cloaked man said as he returned his defeated Pokemon to their Pokeballs, “But you will not stop me from getting the flute! If Rowan didn’t have it, and the old woman didn’t have it, there’s only one more place that it could be!” He threw a Pokeball into the air and released the large blue dragon with orange wings, Salamence. It opened its mouth, loosing a powerful blast of energy that opened a huge hole in the wall of the house. He quickly boarded his flying Pokemon as it flew out through the hole it had created, disappearing into the sky.
“Thank you all for coming!” Trevor handed children goodie bags as their parents arrived to take them home. One by one, his friends’ parents showed up to take their kids back home. Soon, only three of Trevor’s friends remained: Patrick, the dark-haired boy that had inquired about Trevor’s wish; Crystal, a shy girl with long blonde hair; and John, a tall redheaded boy.
“Well, that was fun.” Trevor’s dad commented as he rocked back and forth in a rocking chair on his house’s porch.
“Hey, look at that!” Trevor’s mom pointed out a large blue Salamence flying through the sky. “Wait a minute…is it just me, or does it look like it’s flying toward our house?” Trevor’s father looked up and confirmed that the dragon Pokemon was, in fact, approaching their house.
“Kids, you need to get inside, now!” He shouted upon realizing who was piloting the incoming Pokemon. Obeying his father’s stern command, Trevor led the rest of the kids past his parents and into the front door of the house, closing it behind them.
“Larry, did you honestly think I wouldn’t figure it out?” The cloaked man landed his dragon Pokemon in the front yard of the house and got off of its back. “Rowan knew I was coming, so he entrusted the flute to you, his best friend.”
“Evidently, you’re a bit smarter than you were ten years ago, Shane.” Trevor’s father replied.
“Hand over the flute, Larry. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” The cloaked man reached for a Pokeball on his belt and lifted it into the air.
“There’s no way I’m letting you get this flute.” Trevor’s dad responded. “Even if I have to fight you for it.”
“You always were a courageous fool.” The cloaked man mocked. “Electivire, teach him a lesson!” He threw the Pokeball in his hand into the air, releasing the yellow evolution of Electabuzz that had two wires sticking out of its back.
“How nostalgic.” Larry remarked. “Magmortar, I choose you!” He too grabbed a Pokeball from his own belt, throwing it into the air and sending out the red and yellow evolution of Magmar with flame-shaped shoulders.
“Electivire, Thunderbolt!” Electivire’s body began to glow, and it launched a bolt of electricity at Magmortar.
“Magmortar, Flamethrower!” Magmortar countered by launching a blast of fire from one of its cannon-like arms. The attacks collided in midair, creating an explosion and enveloping the yard in a field of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Electivire had already begun charging toward Magmortar, catching it off guard with a Thunderpunch. Magmortar fell back onto the ground, but quickly recovered, getting back up and hitting Electivire with a Fire Punch. Electivire responded with a Discharge attack, to which Magmortar countered with Lava Plume. The two Pokemon were almost evenly matched, but Electivire appeared to have the upper hand.
“Finish it, Electivire!” Shane commanded. “Giga Impact!” Electivire rushed forward, slamming into Magmortar with incredible force. The fire Pokemon could not withstand the attack, and it fell to the ground, defeated.
“No! Magmortar!” Larry shouted.
“Hand it over, Larry.” Shane demanded. “Or I’ll take it by force.”
“Fine.” Larry agreed, reaching into a small brown sack on his waist. “Here it is. Just please…don’t hurt my family.” He pulled out a small object that vaguely resembled a conch shell. It glowed a brilliant shade of azure, and it was surrounded by a magnificent aura as if it was not of this world.
“Yes!” Shane approached Larry and took the cerulean flute. “The world…is mine!” He mounted his Salamence once again and ordered it to take flight, this time heading for Mount Coronet, the mountain range in the center of Sinnoh.
“Larry…why did you give him the flute?” Trevor’s mother asked. “With it, he can…”
“If I had not, he would have killed us and taken it anyways.” Larry replied. “He had us at a disadvantage, Kelly. And it is true that he has the flute…but I have no intention of letting him use it.”
“What do you mean?” His wife inquired.
“I believed what Rowan said a little more than I let on.” Larry explained. “In fact, I know for a fact that he was right. I just didn’t want to trouble you or Trevor about it unless I needed to.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I don’t have time to explain.” Larry answered. “Get Trevor and the other kids. We’re following Shane.” He threw two Pokeballs into the air, revealing Charizard, the red dragon with a fire-tipped tail, and Flygon, the green dragon with rhombus-shaped wings.
“Where are we going, dad?” Trevor asked as he and the other kids were ushered onto the flying Pokemon’s backs.
“To save the world.” His father replied, a grim expression on his face.
Salamence landed on the summit of the mountain, where a dense fog clouded the area. In the center of the rocky peak was a spire that ascended into the clouds and beyond. The pillar was completely unscalable, but it was Shane’s target nonetheless. The cloaked man lifted the azure flute up above his head, as if offering it to the heavenly column. Suddenly, it began to glow a hundred times as intensely as before, and the pillar began to glow with a similar blue light.
“Yes…yes!” Shane exclaimed as the flute was lifted from his hands by a mysterious force. It began to float upward, but suddenly, its blue glow turned purple, and its movement stopped.
“What?!” Shane turned around to see Emily, Mason, Sean, and their Pokemon standing behind him.
“You will not summon Arceus!” Mason declared.
“I’ve gotten this far…I’m not about to let some kids ruin my plan!” Shane reached for his Pokeballs, throwing all six of them into the air. His Arcanine, Mamoswine, Salamence, and Electivire were joined by Metagross, the blue steel Pokemon with a silver cross on its face, and Gyarados, the draconic blue serpent with fins on its back. Metagross immediately began concentrating in order to disable Kirlia’s psychic hold on the flute. Within a matter of seconds, the flute’s aura was back to its normal color, and the instrument continued its ascension toward the heavens.
“Stop it!” Mason commanded. His Lairon stomped the ground, sending out an electrical wave that it had obviously learned from a technical machine. Electivire raised its arms, and the attack was redirected, harmlessly hitting the powerful electric Pokemon.
“Charizard, Flamethrower! Flygon, Dragonbreath!” Through the thick fog, blasts of fire shot from seemingly nowhere, aimed at the rising flute.
“Arcanine! Salamence!” With incredibly quick reflexes, Shane ordered his Pokemon to use fiery attacks of their own, blocking the oncoming blasts before they could reach their target. Soon after the beams were fired, Charizard and Flygon landed on the edge of the mountain peak, and their passengers dismounted.
“Kids, send out your Pokemon.” Larry whispered to his son and the other children. Trevor released his Monferno; Patrick sent out the green tortoise with bushes on its back, Grotle; Crystal released the blue penguin Pokemon with a yellow beak, Prinplup; and John sent out the black and blue lightning Pokemon, Luxio.
“Well, well, well! All of Rowan’s little peons! It’s too bad the professor himself couldn’t join us!” As Shane spoke, the flute disappeared into the clouds above the congregation of people, and the clouds turned dark. Thunder rained from the clouds, striking random places on the peak.
“No!” Larry shouted, reaching his arm out in vain.
“Yes!” Shane exclaimed. “Arceus…come forth!” The clouds began to part, and a bright light shone down on the mountaintop. A large, equine, immaculate figure descended from the heavens, riding a sunbeam like a moving sidewalk. It had a green face, golden hooves, and a golden wheel around its body. As the Pokemon strode toward the pillar from which it had been summoned, the earth trembled in its mighty presence. All flying Pokemon in the area were immediately grounded, as if a field of strong gravity surrounded this new Pokemon.
“Arceus!” Shane called. “I have summoned you! Now do my bidding…bring destruction to this world!” The equine Pokemon let out a cry that immediately knocked out Charizard, Flygon, and all of Shane’s Pokemon. Emily, Mason, Sean, and the children’s Pokemon, however, were unaffected by the attack.
“What?! Why are these wimpy Pokemon still standing?!” Shane questioned in disbelief.
“Because Professor Rowan was right,” Larry replied confidently, “These Pokemon are special.” Without warning, the seven remaining Pokemon began to glow with a light as bright and intense as the one emitted by Arceus itself. The glowing Pokemon’s forms began to change; they were evolving. But even when they had transformed completely, their glowing did not cease. Suddenly, a beam of red light shot from the newly evolved Infernape, directly hitting Arceus. The rest of the glowing Pokemon followed suit; a blue beam shot from Empoleon, a green one from Torterra, a yellow one from Luxray, a purple ray from Gardevoir, an orange one from Aggron, and finally, a white beam from Slaking. The beams converged when they hit Arceus, and the immaculate Pokemon, too, began to glow with a multicolored light. As the light hit Arceus, it turned, and began to ascend back up the glowing path on which it had descended.
“No! No!” Shane shouted frantically, unable to do anything to stop the Pokemon he had summoned from returning to where it had come from. As the Pokemon disappeared from view, the clouds returned to their normal positions, and the stone spire stopped glowing. The azure flute was nowhere to be seen, and Shane had no Pokemon left with which to defend himself.
“It’s over, Shane.” Larry declared.
“As commanding officer of the SPEL, I hereby place you under arrest.” Sean decreed. Emily’s Gardevoir waved its arms, and psychic shackles appeared on Shane’s wrists, binding his arms behind his back.
“Finally…it’s over.” Larry thought aloud. “It’s been ten long years…and it’s finally over.”
“Dad, what just happened?” Trevor was extremely confused.
“A miracle, son,” Larry replied, “A miracle.”