~ Lune ~

It all began, Lune recalled, when chaos first broke out in the Sacred Kingdom. It hadn’t always been this way. Life was enjoyable once. Lune shook his head sadly. His face was marked with the scars of sorrow, and his once brightly-lit eyes were dimmed with weary hopelessness.

And yet, what was an Eevee like him to do? He knew (or thought, at least) what would once more bring joy to the Sacred Kingdom, but he had neither the power nor the support to do what had to be done.

Sighing, Lune rested his head on the soft, sweet grass, allowing his long ears to droop down his neck side-by-side. With his bushy tail wrapped around his small body, he idly pawed at the white tuft of fur that grew around his neck and fell at his chest, frowning as he did so. The cold, smooth stone embedded in his forehead glowed slightly as the sun’s morning rays cast warm light upon it. This Everstone would, till the end of time, prevent Lune from evolving into a more powerful form. Forever an Eevee he would remain. He yawned, peeking over the water’s edge to look at his reflection. A pathetic creature stared back at him with its infinitely deep black eyes, whose golden fur had long since lost its glorious luster. Truth was bitter.

This secret meadow was the one place he could find peace nowadays. The soothing melody of the rushing waterfall and swift stream would often help to calm his nerves. Here, in the midst of sweet, fragrant flowers, he could rest. There was no fear of discovery. Lune himself had stumbled upon this meadow by pure chance, and not without help. The only way in was hidden deep in the darkest corner of a mysterious cave. The cave itself wasn’t very large, but many pokémon tended to avoid it because of its narrow, confining space and the risk of falling into unseen holes, never to be found again… Hidden and unnoticed lay the entrance to the meadow. Even from up close, it seemed like nothing special – just another crevice in a cave that was full of them. On the other side, though, was this sacred meadow, serene and welcoming. The best part? It was a secret, not to be seen even by air. Only one other pokémon knew of this sanctuary…

“Hey, Lune, plan on sitting there feeling sorry for yourself all day?” Shockwave crawled through the narrow crack in the stone, leaped through the waterfall’s cascading curtain (his favorite part), and swam across the stream, coming out icy cold and thoroughly drenched: Just the way he liked it. Lune had to give the Pikachu credit. That crazy yellow mouse never failed to brighten up the darkest day. Lune smiled. If Shockwave weren’t here to cheer him up with his – literally – electric personality, Lune wouldn’t know what he’d do.

“Seriously, though.” Shockwave shook himself dry. “They’re announcing the new Guardian today. You should come.”

Lune blinked. He’d forgotten all about the new Guardian! Traditionally, there had to be at least two. They were chosen by the Emperor… At the thought of the Emperor, Lune grimaced. He didn’t want to think about that just yet. This day, though, would be a very important one.

The Guardians held the responsibility of maintaining order in the kingdom. In times of war, they, along with the Emperor, (Oh, not the Emperor again!) would command the vast army. Of course, the choice would be crucial. Lune hoped that the Emperor – It pained him when he thought of that good-for-nothing – would at least be capable of making a decent choice. No one, in Lune’s mind, deserved the Guardianship at this point. They would just have to make do. Unless…

“Hey, Kingdom to Lune! Kingdom to Lune!” Shockwave crossed his arms. “Coming?”

Lune grinned sheepishly. “Um, yeah. Sorry.”

“I was afraid I’d have had to zap you,” Shockwave teased. “Speaking of which, you don’t appear quite alert yet. Perhaps it’d be a good idea, anyway.”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Lune snickered, playfully shoving the Pikachu into the stream. Shockwave emerged, spewing water and twisting his mouth into a sly grin.

“Race ya!” he called, already halfway across the stream.

“Hey! No fair!” Lune yelled, chasing after the rapidly-disappearing Pikachu, forgetting, for a moment, his pain and his sorrow.

“The Emperor approaches! The Emperor approaches!” So the messenger Murkrow called, trailed by the Emperor’s procession. Several fierce Growlithe led the way, swishing their fiery tails impatiently. They bared their sharp teeth, snarling at anyone and everyone as if, at any moment, they would pounce upon their victims and rip out their throats with brute ferocity characteristic only of the canine race. It was hard to believe that these Growlithe were only puppies; If they were exposed to Fire Stones, their graceful, majestic evolution form, the Arcanine, would provide them with such power that they could now only dream of.

“Lune, bow!” Shockwave whispered in a tone of urgency. “Emperor Ryu’s coming!”

Growling, Lune cast a hateful glance toward his bane of existence. The proud, egoistic Ampharos had gained the title Emperor Ryu against the will of many. From the start, some had protested – the insightful ones who could see even then that Ryu’s coronation was a huge mistake (Shockwave had protested, and vehemently so) – but no one heeded them back then. Through time, it became evident that this poor excuse of an Emperor did not deserve to be an Emperor at all. Too late now…

“Lune,” Shockwave hissed as he tugged on the hostile Eevee’s leg, “There’s no time for this now! Bow, quickly, before they catch you!”

Glaring at the conceited Ampharos, Lune was again reminded of just how much he hated Emperor Ryu. The Emperor traveled around with a stuck-up gait, stretching out his long, black-banded neck and lifting his nose and ears so high up that he probably saw the sky whenever he opened his eyes. That is, if he opened his eyes at all. The thing about Emperor Ryu, though, was that he very seldom found it worthwhile to look upon his subjects and his kingdom. He was better than them all, and therefore, they didn’t deserve his time. To Lune’s utter annoyance, the Emperor began stroking his glossy yellow coat and playing about with the shiny red orb on his yellow-and-black striped tail. Lune gave Emperor Ryu one more second, and then he would…

“CHUUU!”

One thing about Shockwave: Being zapped by him was extremely painful when he wanted it to be.

Emperor Ryu raised an eyebrow. At his signal, the procession stopped. “What may we have here?”

At this point, Shockwave tripped Lune over, creating the illusion that Lune had made a very clumsy attempt at bowing and failed. As much as he hated to admit it, this was probably the best thing that could have happened to him at this point, even if he was forced to bow to someone that he didn’t recognize as Emperor. Lune knew he would thank the Pikachu later.

“Almighty Emperor Ryu, I sincerely apologize for this disturbance. I have a slight cold that went out of control, and I happened to sneeze on this very unfortunate Eevee.”

Yet another thing about Shockwave: He was a genius, a talented actor, a formidable battler, a fun-loving pokémon, and whatever the heck he wanted to be. He knew exactly how to get what he wanted when he wanted it. There was no mistaking that Shockwave was a prodigy.

Emperor Ryu shrugged, rapidly losing interest. “It’s just an inconsiderate Pikachu who should learn not to get colds on days like this. Move on.” The procession made its way to the center of the square, and there it stopped.

“Dearest loyal subjects,” Emperor Ryu uttered in the midst of a yawn, “I now pronounce Lady Naien as the second Guardian of the Sacred Kingdom.”

“What’s wrong, Lune?” Shockwave asked, upon noticing the look on Lune’s face.

“Oh – nothing. Nothing’s wrong.”

“Never believed he’d actually do something, huh?” Shockwave cocked his head aside. “Me neither.”

“It’s settled, then. The tournament begins in a week.” Lord Yoruno pronounced this, as he did with all of his statements, with a certain sureness that was characteristic only of himself. No one could match his unshakable confidence, nor did any else possess the wonderfully charismatic personality that was so distinctly his. This Umbreon, Lune thought, was remarkably competent, and possessed a certain military genius that almost always involved cautious unpredictability. It was for his obviously outstanding competence that he was made Guardian in the first place. Lune sighed as he thought, first, of Lord Yoruno, midnight-black coat gleaming with a splendid sheen, standing proudly as his fluorescent, ever-changing yellow rings added to his general majesty… and then of the sharply-contrasting Emperor Ryu. If only…

“We should start, then. There’s a lot of work to do to set this up.” Lady Naien seemed to love her new responsibility. Ever since she was made Guardian, Lune noticed an increase in the Houndoom’s enthusiasm and energy. He smiled. Lady Naien had wanted this for a long time.

As Lune gazed upon Lady Naien, the inner flame, he thought, just for a moment, that he could hope again. Her fiery spirit and sense of self-pride would serve her well in the Guardianship. The fact that she was a Houndoom – and, at times, though she never showed it, lived up to her demonic legacy – would not affect in the least her kind heart and her genuine desire to make things right. Perhaps the Sacred Kingdom had a chance…

“Since you both will need to deal with setting up the tournament,” Lune started, “I will be the only Adviser left free.” With nods from the two Guardians, Lune continued. “Then I will do my best.” With that, he left the forest clearing in search of Shockwave. He had a lot of things on his mind, and he thought it better to rest briefly before he began his arduous work as an Adviser.

The job of an Adviser was a very difficult one, filled with the pressures of those receiving the help and the anguish resulting from those who were irrationally, stubbornly persistent. Those who wanted to join the frequent peacetime tournaments often sought the help of the Advisers. They brought to Advisers their plans for special battle tactics that they hoped would surprise their opponents. It was common knowledge that each pokémon had his, her, or its own unique special abilities. Whether or not the pokémon knew fully what these abilities were, and how to use them, was the Adviser’s problem.

When a pokémon came to an Adviser bringing along hopes, it was the Adviser’s job to first determine whether the goals were realistic, explain the limitations and expectations to the pokémon, and, finally, help the pokémon bring out and use his, her, or its own special ability.

“KAIIII!”

Lune started, shocked. His heart pounded wildly against his chest. “Shockwave!” he whined.

Struggling to control fits of laughter, Shockwave came out of the bushes. “Sorry, but you looked so deep in thought. I couldn’t resist. Lighten up!”

Shaking his head, Lune couldn’t help but smile. “I need to Advise several pokémon soon. The tournament is set to begin in a week!”

Shockwave looked pleased. He never refused a good match, and tournaments were always loads of fun. For once, though, his expression turned serious. “I want to be an Adviser. I know I could help pokémon a lot that way.”

Lune knew that Shockwave meant it. Shockwave was very careful, as was Lord Yoruno, not to make any false commitments. When Shockwave promised something, though, he’d keep it. Young though he was, he’d definitely do an excellent job. He was, after all, a prodigy. There was only one problem.

“I have to convince Emperor Ryu to get a new Adviser…” At that, Shockwave groaned.

Lune sighed. It had been like this all week. There was no end to the number of impossible requests. He had no magic. He couldn’t just grant a pokémon’s every irrational wish.

“You see, ma’am,” Lune tried once again to explain, “I don’t mean to be rude, but what you ask for is impossible.”

The Magcargo huffed, and her tail flame brightened with anger. Her usually light red body became a deep crimson. She was terribly flustered and irritated that she could not get what she wanted. “You Advisers are supposed to help. Help help. I come to ask you for help with my special ability, but no, you tell me. No, no. I’ve had it, you hear? Had it, had it!”

As the old snail rose with a sour look on her face, Lune couldn’t think of anything scarier than a frustrated Magcargo. He backed away cautiously…

It was when the sun’s rays shone upon the hardened, rocky shell that Lune noticed something.

“I’ve got it!” he cried excitedly. “I’ve figured out your special ability, and it’s awesome!”

“What what?” The Magcargo blinked. “You know how I can fly?”

“No,” Lune told her, “but don’t be disappointed. You’re capable of something far better.”

“Oh?”

Smirking, Lune examined the Magcargo’s shell like a child who’d just found a new toy. “Be right back. Don’t go anywhere!” Before the Magcargo could say anything, Lune bounded off. No sooner had he gone, though, than did he return again, carrying a container of water in his mouth.

“Don’t even think about bringing that near me. Don’t you dare, you hear?”

“Ma’am, you need not fear water at all.”

“You’re crazy! Crazy crazy. Every Magcargo knows water is bad. Bad bad! Stay away from me! Away I say!”

Putting the container down, Lune turned to the Magcargo and grinned.

“Please listen to me, ma’am. Just once is all I ask. If this doesn’t work, you are free to leave.” Unwillingly, the Magcargo gave her attention to Lune.

“Great! This is how it works. When you get angry, your body temperature soars to unusual heights. This heats the shell on your body dramatically – so much that it gains a red glow. I noticed that just now. My theory is, if you can control your body temperature and intentionally induce a rise in heat, you will receive protection from water.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“Here’s how you do it. First, withdraw all parts of your body under your shell. Remember to heat it, too.”

Full of doubt, the Magcargo shook her head, then pulled herself under her shell, keeping safely hidden. Before long, the hard rock achieved a deep, red glow, and the air around it turned into a mass of sweltering, tangible heat. Lune picked up the container and dumped the water onto the waiting Magcargo, who didn’t notice. Before the water could even reach her, it evaporated into steam.

“Come on, come on! Don’t have all day, you know,” she mumbled.

“It worked!” Lune yelled, jumping excitedly.

“What what?” The Magcargo emerged, and to her surprise, realized that Lune told the truth. “Oh, thank you, thank you!” she cried, rejoicing.

“No problem. Good luck in the tournament, ma’am.”

At that, the Magcargo, realizing that she had not yet registered, left in a hurry.

“Tomorrow…” Lune smiled to himself. “I’d better get ready.”

“And now, let Round One of the tournament begin!” The announcing Farfetch’d, tiring of spending so much time in the air, landed on the Emperor’s balcony before he continued. From high up there his voice would carry better, anyway. Emperor Ryu, for once, seemed genuinely interested. He believed he was a great battler himself, so the matter was worth his attention. Next to him, on either side, stood Lord Yoruno and Lady Naien. They, too, enjoyed the thrill of tournaments, and on occasion participated in them. The Farfetch’d, having had enough rest, cleared his throat. “Starting off, Lune the Eevee versus Shadow the Gengar! I bet we can already see where this one is going.”

“Boooooring…” Emperor Ryu yawned. “The poor Eevee doesn’t stand a chance. Normal attacks don’t affect Ghost types!”

“Get ‘im, Lune!” Shockwave yelled.

On the open battlefield, the proud specter cackled. “An Eevee with an Everstone on his forehead? What, not even an Umbreon? This battle was over before it even started!”

Lune remained silent. Instead of reacting to Shadow’s taunts, he scanned the arena carefully. Several layers of sheltered bleachers reaching around in a horseshoe shape, the Emperor’s marble roofed balcony perched high above directly in the middle of the U… and not much else, except the earthen floor. This was a standard, general arena, open to any competitors. There were no extra factors that would be present in special tournaments; water, ledges, closed roofs, and the like were not added. Lune nodded. So be it.

Apparently, Shadow expected Lune to make the first move. He began with a lightning-quick charge to catch Shadow off guard, but the Gengar was even quicker. The crowd gaped in awe as Lune fell right through Shadow’s body to the other side.

“He phased out from Lune’s Quick Attack, huh?” Shockwave mumbled to himself. “So that’s how fast he is. Pretty good.”

Again, and for the third and fourth time, Lune attempted more rapid strikes, and each time Shadow dodged, the same way as before.

“I see you don’t learn from your mistakes!” the Gengar called. “Then you must suffer the consequences!” A blue glow outlined Lune’s body, and as he was raised above the ground, he found it impossible to break loose. Shadow’s will was too strong, and his crushing mental force too powerful. Lune gagged. If this kept up, his lungs would surely explode… At that moment, the Gengar stopped squeezing and threw Lune into the dirt. Ignoring the “Had enough yet?”, he got to his feet and slowly brushed the dust off of his fur.

“He has to use it…” Shockwave whispered.

Calmly, Lune raised his right forepaw in the air. As if by signal, the darkness flowed towards that one central point, summoned by its master… The deep purple orb throbbed violently as it grew, threatening, at any moment, to explode. Without a word, Lune sent the ball on its path of destruction… Normally, the ethereal energy would have erupted with searing devastation upon contact with its target. Against expectations, it passed right through the intended victim’s body, crashing instead into the ground behind him. Shadow roared with laugher. “You think I’d just ignore my biggest weakness?” he snorted. “I can phase out of anything! Just try me!”

Shadow’s image flickered, then drew out into a long blur. Eventually, Lune could spot three Gengar… two of which, he knew, were illusory. He did not have to fear the mirror images, for they themselves had no substance, but until he figured out which Shadow was real, he had three targets to choose from. He wondered… Perhaps already? He only had to try. Lune smirked. “Ready, Shadow? Here I come!” Most unexpectedly, Lune began showering the three Gengar with a dense, seemingly endless barrage of solid yellow shurikens.

“What does that Eevee think he’s doing?” Emperor Ryu shook his head. “Swift is a Normal type attack! Normal attacks don’t affect Ghost types!” he declared knowingly.

Most of the crowd seemed to share the opinion. Shockwave tsked. “Fools.”When the stars finally stopped coming, the dust settled to reveal an utterly astonished Gengar, alone. His mirror images no longer existed.

“What? How is that possible?” Emperor Ryu rose from his throne and bent over the bars of the balcony, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

“Phasing isn’t always automatic,” Lord Yoruno answered. “It takes energy for a Ghost-type to phase out of attacks. That repetition of Quick Attack was no foolish accident. Though Shadow was fast enough to phase out of all four, which alone is already an impressive feat even for a powerful Gengar, he did not do so without expending an incredible amount of energy. Lune played on this, wearing his opponent down without Shadow realizing it. The final deciding blow, though, was the unusually powerful Shadow Ball. Lune sacrificed a great deal of energy to create it, expecting Shadow to dodge. By doing so, Shadow played right into his trap.”

Lune grinned. Shadow fell for it! Excellent. “Hey, Shadow! Dodge this! That is,” Lune added mischievously, “if you can.” Before Shadow had the time to respond, Lune lunged, sinking his sharp teeth, crackling with dark energy into the Gengar’s arm. When trying to shake Lune off didn’t work at first, Shadow instead drove his fist into the stubborn Eevee’s side, forcing him off. Lune fell and did not move.

“You’re done for!” Shadow cried, clamping the palms of his hands together. Immediately they began to spark violently with electricity. “Take this!” The tripled bolt of lightning surged through Lune’s apparently limp body with a sickening snap. When he still continued to lie on the floor without making a sound, Shadow thought he could smell victory.

“Don’t worry, little Eevee. I’ll end this quickly. “The psionic blast rushed at it target, enveloping him in what seemed to the spectators like a spherical explosion of light. Not many could survive that. Lune was one of the few.

Lune’s ears perked up, and he got to his feet. The glint in his eyes screamed that something was amiss. Up to this time, he had been waiting, patiently, until the perfect opportunity presented itself. No one had noticed the faint white glow around his body.

“Now, Shadow, receive doubled wrath!”

The entire arena erupted with blue psionic energy, coupled with a severe thunderstorm. Massive bolts of electricity burst through the blast radius with boiling rage, tearing away at the helpless victim. Amazingly enough, Shadow survived… Not much, but he was still left standing.

Lune raised his front right paw once more, summoning the darkness that would spell Shadow’s destruction.

“I… can’t phase out of that…” Shadow gasped, struggling to speak. “But you can’t escape Destiny Bond, Eevee! I shall not lose!”

“Watch me,” Lune muttered. This time, his ethereal sphere sailed upwards, towards Emperor Ryu’s balcony, directly above Shadow.

“You missed!” the Gengar cried. “You missed!”

“Oh, really?”

The resulting explosion broke off a large part of the roof. As it came crashing down, Shadow realized with horror that he could not bind his fate to lifeless, falling rubble. With a curse under his breath, he gave way under the crushing marble…

After a long moment of drawn-out silence, the Farfetch’d opened his beak to speak. Voice trembling with awe, he announced shakily, “Incredible! Lune the Eevee has defeated Shadow the Gengar! He will proceed to round two!”

“Lune! Lune!” Shockwave gave Lune a thumbs-up as the Eevee stepped off of the battlefield. “Guess what? I’m next.”

“Cool. Who against?”

“And, after that amazing battle to start us off, we can only imagine what exciting surprises the others will bring!” The Farfetch’d’s voice rang clearly through the air. “The Emperor’s broken balcony roof is only temporary, and will be fixed by tomorrow. Right now, though, let’s welcome our next two combatants: Shockwave the Pikachu and Amethyst the Golem!

“No sweat, Shockwave,” Lune winked.

“Piece of cake!”

Above, Emperor Ryu grunted. “Now THAT is a horrible match-up. Everyone knows Ground types always crush Electric types. Who does these stupid match-ups?”

“They are chosen at random,” Lady Naien replied firmly. “I made the pairings.” At that, Emperor Ryu bit his lip.

The earth began to tremble, and violent tremors followed, only to be abruptly ended. The crowd gasped.

“I don’t believe it!” the Farfetch’d cried. “Shockwave the Pikachu has completely avoided the Earthquake by jumping into the air! He has even struck Amethyst the Golem mid-air with a well-placed Iron Tail!”

Lune smirked. “That’s it, Shockwave,” he muttered to himself. “Show them. Show them all. Let them know the prodigy that you are!”

Amethyst snorted, rubbing away the metallic remnants from the large chinks in her boulder-like hide. “Don’t get cocky, you little rat! I haven’t even started yet!”

“Try me.” Shockwave mustered an extremely aggravating look that would, if he so chose to allow it, drive anyone absolutely crazy. Amethyst, no match for her opponent’s wit, took the bait immediately, flying into a vicious rage. No longer would her mind easily reason; Her anger would think for her instead.

“That is IT, Pikachu!” Amethyst yelled, whilst locking herself into a tight ball. “I’ll bring out my secret weapon now! You can’t get away!”

At that, Amethyst began to roll, slowly at first as she started to accelerate, but increasingly faster, until she reached frightful speeds that no Golem could ordinarily achieve. Almost nothing at this point could outrun her.

Shockwave had not been idle. While his opponent gathered momentum, he had called silently to the skies above, and even now, dark storm clouds shadowed the battlefield. With a signaling rumble of thunder, they burst open to pour forth their full torrential fury, reducing the dirt ground to waterlogged mud in moments.

“Nice try, but I’m still rolling!” Amethyst cackled. “And while I do, no amount of rain can harm me.” Though slowed a little, Amethyst did not view this as significant enough to matter. She turned and started for Shockwave. At this point, Shockwave kicked off and sprinted, moving so quickly that he could only be seen as a yellow blur in the dark storm. Still, Amethyst could keep up, and the distance between the two lessened every moment.

“Whoa!” The Farfetch’d strained to be heard over the din. “It appears as if Amethyst the Golem is catching up to her opponent, even in this heavy rain!”

Lune shook his head. “Fools.”

Just as it looked as if Shockwave was finally tiring and had no means of escape, he jumped aside, leaving his hardened, silver tail directly on Amethyst’s path… Unable to stop or swerve, the Golem rode right into Shockwave’s metallic tail, was lifted several feet into the air, and crashed directly into the hard, marble wall in front of her. When she uncurled, she could immediately feel the stinging rain lash at her face.

“The water will drown me! Don’t let me drown!” she shrieked.

As if her prayer had been answered, an invisible force drove the clouds away, leaving the warm, friendly sun and the clear blue sky.

“You!” Amethyst pointed accusingly at Shockwave. “You did this! You will pay!”

The past events of the round had taken their toll. Amethyst was on her last bit of energy, and it showed. This was it: her trump card. Whether it succeeded or failed, she had to deal with the consequences.

A sparking, orange ball of energy expanded in between Amethyst’s clasped hands, crackling with chaotic matter. She was putting every ounce of her remaining strength into it. The ball grew… and grew… and grew. Every moment it seemed more dangerously out of control. Eventually, Amethyst had no more energy with which to power it, and it was now that she launched the plasma towards Shockwave in the form of an annihilating beam. The field erupted with the blast, blinding all with an orange flash of light. When the smoke cleared, Shockwave was standing perfectly still behind a shimmering energy barrier.

“So,” Amethyst whispered, “I fail…” With that, the Golem collapsed.

Silvery stars twinkled softly in the jet-black sky. The golden moon cast its luminous glow on the arena below. A warm, comforting silence from the subdued crowd served, in its own way, to encourage the final battlers of the day as if excited, enthusiastic spectators cheered on loudly from the sidelines. All eyes were on the two combatants.

One stood perfectly still, holding his metallic claws up and crossing them together in a defensive position. Starlight shone onto his gleaming crimson coat, revealing his slender figure, and, just barely, the gossamer wings on his back. His opponent pawed the ground impatiently. The bulldog snapped his huge jaws and pounded his fists together, threatening to crush the opposing mantis. A glint of mad fury remained always in his eyes, as if he possessed some burning killer instinct that taught him always to destroy…

Awestruck, the spectators looked on as the two stared each other down, wondering who would make the first move – Bill the Scizor, with his cool, yet slightly nervous gaze; or Thor the Granbull, with his reckless, frightful glare. Above, Emperor Ryu’s face twisted into a thoughtful frown. “Hmm… I’ve seen this Granbull in a lot of other tournaments. He’s good. He’s been champ in one of our earliest tournaments a few years ago. He knows Fire Punch. Scizor is quadruply weak to fire. He doesn’t stand a chance,” Emperor Ryu commented wisely.

As things went, the more experienced and incidentally the more aggressive of the two struck first. With amazing speed, Thor lived up to his name, smelting the red mantis with massive, sizzling bolts of lightning that blackened Bill’s delicate wings. Just as the Scizor fell to his knees, twitching in agony, a distant, steely cry drew Thor’s attention to a dim corner. Out of seemingly nowhere, a crackling orange monstrosity lanced forth, catching its victim by surprise… Thor shut his eyes tightly to endure the searing pain; It was not enough that he clamped his jaws close and clenched his fists. It was intolerable. In furious agony, the Granbull pounced on Bill, and, howling, drove his flaming fist directly into the Scizor’s chest. The impact shattered Thor’s target into pieces, revealing the real Bill some ways behind.

“Perfect Substitute…” Lune whispered. It was understood that no one should break the powerful silence.

“Quick thinking,” Shockwave agreed, “but he’s still not conserving his energy enough. Hyper Beam right off the start, not to mention how much he put into that Substitute for it to take both the Thunder and Fire Punch… He can win, though.”

“Yeah. Thor being a veteran tournament battler means nothing here save the experience. That does not guarantee him a win. Never has. Never will. Bill shows promise.”

Thor roared. “You sleazy trickster! How dare you pull a stunt like that! Don’t you know who I am?”

“Afraid not.”

At that, Thor began firing rapidly, one after the other, greenish-yellow orbs of electricity that traveled at frightful speeds.

“Wow! Look at the speed of those Zap Cannons!” the Farfetch’d cried. “Zap Cannon is supposed to move relatively slowly, but Thor won’t have it! They don’t call him Thor for nothing!”

“Zap Cannon barrage… Too fast!” Bill gasped, barely escaping the first with a starry, nearly impenetrable barrier, then narrowly avoiding the second by jumping aside.

“He’s losing confidence.” Shockwave bit his lip. “Come on, come on…”

The third of Thor’s electrical assault approached Bill rapidly. If the Scizor didn’t think fast, he would be subject to its wrath… Hoping for the best, he looked towards the sky, and his wings began to whir quickly. Just seconds before impact, Bill lifted off the ground, saving himself from the electrical orb that went skimming past his feet.

“You think you can escape through flying, Scizor? Think again!”

This time, Bill made no attempt to dodge, but instead, closed his eyes. Within moments, his gleaming red coat shone with a mystical aura - one that would keep him safe. As the highly concentrated energy struck him, he did not feel his muscles lock up like they would have under normal circumstances. He was free of the bonds of paralysis…

“Argh! Don’t get cocky just because you got a Safeguard in! I’m not through!” With a startlingly high leap, Thor managed to grab onto Bill’s leg with his right arm, then began to pound the Scizor repeatedly with his flaming red fists…

Gasping, Bill raised a claw and brought it down onto his aggressor’s head, at the same time charging his other with crackling, yellow-green energy…

“He’s seen Zap Cannon so many times, he’s had the opportunity to Mimic it. Yes! That’s it!” Shockwave cheered.

“Alright, Bill! Show that veteran that mere status alone must bow to the truly talented!” Lune yelled.

Bill regained his fighting spirit. He flew up higher... “Fall, Thor!” he cried, while slamming the energy orb into the Granbull’s face. Thor maintained a firm grip, but, as his muscles refused to cooperate, he was forced to release his hold and fall to the ground far below…

A sickening crack marked Thor’s landing, and it looked as if he was not going to get up… Slowly but surely, though, the persistent Granbull rolled over his side until he faced the ground, then pushed his body upwards with his arms and legs.

“As expected, the veteran Thor is still going!” the Farfetch’d announced. “And soon, he’ll just use Heal Bell to remove his paralysis. Too bad for Bill the Scizor!”

Bill shook his head. “Oh, no you don’t,” he muttered. “I’ve worked too hard for this. I think I have an idea…” Addressing Thor, he called, “Hey, are you really going to be wussy and Heal Bell? I wouldn’t, but I’m probably braver than you are. You can go ahead and be a coward if you want. I don’t care. My opponent is a scaredy-Granbull! Scaredy scaredy Granbull!” Bill danced tauntingly, working Thor into a rage.

“I’m no coward! I don’t need Heal Bell!” Thor roared. “I’ll get you!”

While Thor made futile attempts to reach Bill in the air, at times being overcome by twitching fits, the Scizor relaxed, waiting to regain lost stamina.

“You! Scizor! Too scared to come down?” Thor growled. Bill ignored him.

Finally, Bill’s raspy breathing evened again, and he decided to continue. “It’s now or never…” Gathering all of his remaining strength, Bill joined his claws together to house a violently sparking orb… It burned orange with its intensity, swelling as long as Bill could continue directing energy into it. At last, he began to lower himself, and Thor saw this as a chance to vent out his fury… When the Granbull tried, though, he brought himself closer to the energy beam’s searing devastation, throwing himself into the immediate blast radius. With a final cry of defeat, Thor fell and did not move.

“Totally unexpected!” the Farfetch’d cried. “We’ve seen close to a hundred battles today, but none as surprising as this one. The rookie Bill the Scizor will advance to the second round! This ends Round 1. Congratulations to all!”

Voices… Lune darted off the golden pathway and into a dense bush of sweet-smelling flowers.

“This place stinks!” an Aipom commented, referring to the neatly paved, carefully decorated, peacefully organized Sacred Kingdom.

“Yeah, yeah, I bet we can make it better!” his companion, a Mankey said excitedly.

“Hey! Look, Elbuort!” The Aipom pointed at the large greeting sign ahead. Both stopped walking to examine it.

Elbuort scratched behind his ear and began to read. “Hmm… Welcome to the Sacred Kingdom. We pride ourselves in this beautiful realm. Please take heed of our rules to ensure a pleasant stay and a wonderful experience. For entertainment purposes, we host many frequent peacetime tournaments. If you wish to participate, please register at the beginning of each tournament. You may request an Adviser,”

“…who will work hard with you to bring out your true potential in battle,” Lune continued, emerging from his hiding place. “May I help you?”

“Toidi, this tournament stuff sounds fun. Don’t you think so?” Elbuort asked the Aipom excitedly.

“Yeah. Hey, you, Eevee, do you know where we can find these so-called Enticers?”

“Advisers…” Lune corrected.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Toidi waved it off impatiently. “Do you know where they are or not?”

“I happen to be one of them,” Lune replied testily. He had low tolerance levels for pokémon such as these. Unfortunately, he ran into them all the time. It was all he could do to keep himself from acting rashly. Whenever he lost his temper, despite his efforts to control himself, he always regretted it.

The paved pathway sparkled with the rays of the afternoon sun. It was a perfectly lazy day. No one did much but relax. No preparations for the coming second round of the tournament would be made today; the traditional rushing would come tomorrow, the day before Round Two would begin. But today was meant to be lazy.

As Shockwave and Lune ambled casually down the path, heading for the heart of the Kingdom where all the fun idleness lay, a messenger Sandshrew barred their way.

“Are y-y-y-you L-Lune?” she stammered, staring at the Eevee as if he was an atomic bomb that could go off at any minute. He nodded, puzzled.

“Emperor Ryu has… has… has sent for you,” she managed. “He was v-v-v-very angry. He needed to see you about attacking v-v-v-visitors.” The Sandshrew shrank back in fear, trembling after every word she spoke.

Shockwave turned to Lune in horror. “You WHAT?”

“I had no choice.” Lune hung his head. “When I told them their demands were impossible to meet, they decided to turn on me.”

Shockwave remained silent. After a while, he began to speak, slowly. “Why didn’t you just tell me this before?” He looked hurt.

“Sorry…”

“Um, e-e-e-excuse me, but could you p-p-please hurry? Emperor Ryu doesn’t like w-w-waiting.”

“Lune…” Shockwave whispered, softly but clearly, “be careful. And this time, bow!”

Emperor Ryu had chosen a rather unfavorable place for a meeting. It was dark, hot, stuffy, and horribly depressing. Lune sat dejectedly in a corner, picturing various images of electrically fried Ampharos as he waited.

Lune was willing to bet that Emperor Ryu’s silence was intentional, that it was meant to make him angry, and that Emperor Ryu was bent upon wasting his valuable time. Finally, he could take it no longer, and he confronted the Ampharos, growling. “What the heck do you want from me, you… sleazy… ARGH!”

The Emperor withdrew slightly, but remained relatively calm. “Your behavior, Eevee, is unacceptable.”

“And yours isn’t, you good-for-nothing hypocrite?”

“That’s not the point right now. The point is that you attacked two visitors here.”

“Yeah? How do you know? You just take their word for it and don’t give me a chance to say anything in my defense? They didn’t even understand the rules! They turned on me! I am fully to blame and they are not?”

“Don’t you dare give me any of that nonsense about rules. You are pushing me over the edge. If I ever hear about you causing trouble again, you will be banished from the Sacred Kingdom forever! I don’t care what your excuse is. You are wrong, and you’d better damn shut up about it before it’s too late!”

Lune glared at the Emperor. Their fiery gazes met. Each was too stubborn to back down. Each wanted the last word. Shockwave’s warning rang through Lune’s mind…

This had gone far enough. Lune had foolishly let his anger control him; he needed to stop before things took a turn for the worst. Averting his gaze, Lune turned reluctantly away and forced himself to leave.

“Lay low,” Lord Yoruno advised.

“Shockwave…” Lune whispered, wishing the Pikachu were here, “What have I done?”

“Ugh. I knew it. I was against his coronation from the very beginning. Then again, there certainly wasn’t much to choose from back then, either.”

“You’re not mad at me?” Lune felt relieved.

Shockwave shrugged. “At least you told me what happened this time.”

“Sorry… I won’t hide things from you again. I promise.”

“Okay.”

“Hmm, it’s almost time.” Lune got to his feet, shaking the blades of meadow grass from his fur.

“Huh?”

“I set up a practice battle with Lady Naien today. She said she would wait at Misty Lake. It’ll help keep both of us in shape. The Tournament of the Eternal Flame that she wants to join will begin soon. C’mon, Shockwave, let’s go meet her.”

A harsh wind rattled the flimsy skeletons of the dry bushes. Lune shivered, panting as he climbed with difficulty up the steep mountain slope. The biting frost was vicious. Cold mountain air did not get any more cruel than this. Shockwave, of course, moved along effortlessly, stopping to wait for the struggling Eevee from time to time.

Suddenly, the bleak, deserted landscape was gone. Rugged, rust-colored dirt slopes transformed into soft meadow grass. Here the ground leveled and the howling wind stopped.

The Misty Lake was named by no accident. High among the clouds, surrounded by a ring of lush, forested mountains, this vast crystalline lake was shrouded in a light, mysterious mist. It was a tranquil scene and well worth the perilous climb.

As the day came to its end, reflected across the lake were the red and golden rays of the setting sun. Lune sighed and settled down in the soft grass, smiling when Shockwave made the point of taking a dip in the icy lake water.

“You should come in too.” Shockwave smirked.

“Heck, no way. The water’s freezing!”

“I’ll drag you in!”

With that, the Pikachu got out of the lake and began to chase after Lune.

Lune broke into a run. “Not this time, Shockwave!”

“Looks like she isn’t coming…” Shockwave looked over at the disappointed Lune, who was gazing blankly at the stars above. “You were really looking forward to that battle, huh?”

“Yeah, but it’s not just that…” Lune dipped his paw into the lake water, watching the ripples spread. Lady Naien had promised, and Lune valued promises. Part of the reason Emperor Ryu disgusted him was the fact that the Emperor continually made empty promises that he would never keep. In Lune’s opinion, promises were not made to be broken. He knew Lady Naien understood this principle. She was just busy with other matters. He just wished that she had not promised…

Shockwave shrugged. “You can battle her some other time, you know.”

“Yeah…”

“Hmm. It’s too late to get back down now. We can spend the night up here and go back tomorrow.”

Lune nodded in agreement, then flinched. “Oh, no…”

“What is it?”

“The Tournament of Eternal Flame begins tomorrow morning. I promised Lady Naien that I would be there… I keep my promises.”

“If we get lucky, we’ll make it back by sunrise. Come on!” Shockwave darted down the slopes.

The heavy stench of sulfur thickened the tangible air. The sweltering heat here was so dense that Lune could see it move. He found it difficult to breathe in this choking atmosphere. Even Shockwave displayed signs of discomfort. Yet they would endure it, for Lady Naien.

Hot, glowing coals paved the ground of this mysteriously natural arena. The smooth stones, white to begin with, gleamed red like blazing fire, somehow never smothered by the thick black ash that hung in the air. These, Lune suspected, had some sort of magical quality unknown thus far… He gazed down the gaping mouth of the dark cavern that seemed to lead down into the farthest depths of the land. The rough mountain range beyond was strange and unwelcoming; worse so than the dreary slopes that led up to the Misty Lake. Even Shockwave who enjoyed adventure would not venture there. The cavern itself was hostile. Lune had entered it once, and he had felt like he faced the wrath of an ever-raging inferno… He had barely made it out alive, and not without Shockwave’s help.

“Hmm, looks like Emperor Ryu will not be keeping track of this tournament. Lune? …Did you just hear what I said? Talk to me! I’m getting worried.” There was a slight tinge of alarm in Shockwave’s voice.

“Um…” Lune blinked, snapping back into reality. “Sorry, I guess I’m a little more tired than I thought.”

Shockwave laughed nervously. “Right. So, anyway, Lady Naien’s next. Look who she’s up against!”

An ever cool Umbreon stood calmly on the burning stones, not showing the slightest sign of pain. In fact, his face revealed no emotion of any sort. His dark, gleaming fur glistened even now in the filthy atmosphere, glorified even more by the luminescent glow of his bright yellow rings. He stood perfectly still and did not blink.

“Lord Yoruno?” Lune nearly fell over in surprise. “He doesn’t seem to care that the arena was chosen so that Fire types alone could long endure it…”

Shockwave nodded. “This should be interesting. The only question now is how good a fight Lady Naien can put up before Lord Yoruno prevails.”

Lune looked over at Lady Naien. The white skull crest on her chest glowed as her face did with determination. Her long, slender tail was lifted high in the air threateningly like a scorpion’s in an offensive stance, poised and ready to strike. Eyes blazing with fire, the Houndoom was ready to give this match everything she’d got.

“Lady Naien will try her hardest… Either way, she won’t be disappointed. I give her five minutes at most,” Lune said.

“Nah, she’ll last a little longer than that. When she does, you have to jump into the Misty Lake for however long she held out!” Such was Shockwave’s challenge, but Lune was unworried.

“All right, then, it’s a bet. But don’t count on seeing me get into those hellish icy waters anytime soon! I won’t lose. Not this time.” Lune was sure of it.

Enthusiastic spectators cheered the two combatants on, impatient for the match to begin. In the confusion, all but an attentive few failed to notice Lord Yoruno: Rings glimmering even in the haze, he began to fade, slightly at first, while his body grew ever dimmer as his faint outline shone – then, abruptly, he was gone. A cry of surprise rushed through the onlookers as they finally realized that Lord Yoruno had disappeared. Lady Naien scanned the arena uneasily. Like most, she had no clue as to Lord Yoruno’s whereabouts.

“He just jumped,” Shockwave whispered, pointing. “Now he’s making his way stealthily behind her.”

At first Lune was bewildered. He could not understand how Shockwave could have spotted the completely invisible Lord Yoruno. As he strained to see, though, he realized that several stones behind Lady Naien were weighed down, barely. Lord Yoruno had nearly gotten away with it, but even he could not conceal his step, however light. Still, Lune knew he would not have caught this if Shockwave had not shown him. Lady Naien remained oblivious to it all, and her searching eyes now displayed a frantic light. She could not find Lord Yoruno.

Suddenly, the hot white stones began to glow – in spite of themselves – the coldest blue that Lune had ever seen; he shivered, chilled by the cruel light. Willingly the gleaming stones rose, some from a circular perimeter around Lady Naien, enclosing her in a glowing prison as they flew into the sky and trapped her in a sphere; the others from below her, breaking loose of the layer of ash, coming out from under her feet and forcing her to stumble. Now, it seemed, Lord Yoruno had no more intention of hiding himself, and the Umbreon revealed his position a safe distance away. With a signaling nod, he commanded the suspended stones to strike, and all obeyed their master, flinging themselves at the horrified Houndoom within.

Lightning flashed in the sky, crashing through dark clouds of ill omen. To Lady Naien it seemed the raining of the stones lasted an eternity… But she did not know that once the vicious barrage ended, a new terror began. Water gushed forth from the clouds in torrents, stinging her no less relentlessly than the flying stones. She cried for the rain to stop, but instead of slowing, the storm worsened with renewed fury, and she gave up the mental struggle. Lord Yoruno’s will was too strong now.

Just when things couldn’t possibly have gotten any worse, the abundance of stones that had clattered to the ground rose for a second time, and it seemed that nothing would prevent another assault. Gathering her courage and strength, Lady Naien now looked to the shadows for help, and they came. In three balls around her, darkness collected swiftly, and, stripped of time, unable to wait for the throbbing orbs to reach their full potential, Lady Naien struck each one, sending them lurching forward in her panic. Three separate explosions resulted; the stones involved in the collision were annihilated in the rippling ethereal eruptions. For a fleeting moment Lord Yoruno’s psionic control seemed to falter…

Taking advantage of what she hoped was her opponent’s blunder, Lady Naien howled mournfully, calling for mercy, as she turned her head upwards to the hidden sun. This time Lord Yoruno did not fight back, and the tormenting storm clouds parted, leaving the sun to shine down upon the waterlogged land, tentatively at first, then stronger. With the sun beaming down upon her, Lady Naien felt, for the first time, that now she had a chance to launch an offensive of her own. The Houndoom’s coat dried quickly under the warm rays, and every moment she felt energy from the sunlight surge through her body increasingly faster… Lady Naien radiated with a golden glow, intense as the rays of the sun. Lune saw her body sparkle with light as she walked, painfully but determinedly towards Lord Yoruno. He gazed on calmly, making no effort to escape.

With a cry, Lady Naien unleashed her gathered power in a single stabbing pillar of light that engulfed the waiting Umbreon and shattered him to pieces. At that same instant, a crackling energy beam lanced forth from the real Lord Yoruno behind the Houndoom before she overcame her momentary confusion.

When she realized what had happened it was too late. Roaring, Lady Naien shook her head with vicious rage, driven mad by the searing agony that tore at her flesh. Her mouth foamed with thick, white froth, and though the energy had faded, she continued to twitch horribly, shivering with unwanted memory of the pain.

Lord Yoruno bolted, kicking up ash and stone as he ran ever swifter, until he became merely a black streak in the smoke-filled arena. Then he swerved and made straight for Lady Naien, lowering his head to ram her… Just barely, the Houndoom’s body, limned with a red glare, flashed suddenly – and, to everyone’s amazement, Lord Yoruno was thrown back.

Still calmly the Umbreon leapt to his feet, then approached Lady Naien, emotionless, but like a silent predator ready to deal the final blow to his hapless prey. Lady Naien, however, had one last defense. In a final burst of blazing fury, eyes flashing with one last hope, the Houndoom descended upon her opponent with a terrible rush of power, dealing blow after frenzied blow with frightening swiftness, transforming her pain and weakness into strength, and turning it into her opponent’s suffering and sorrow. For an instant it looked as if predator had been turned to prey, and prey to predator, and many thought that all had been reversed. But the past events of the taxing battle proved too much for Lady Naien to bear… Bringing his glinting tail of metallic silver crashing down upon the Houndoom’s skull, Lord Yoruno ended her assault swiftly. Long silence followed.

“Five minutes and three seconds, Lune!” Shockwave yelled. “Haha! I win!” Hearing no response from Lune, Shockwave paused, then saw that the Eevee lay on the floor asleep. His careworn face was filled with lined of worry. Shockwave wondered at Lune’s unnatural thinness and the frail softness of his fur. The Eevee had been troubled much lately, worrying about something he would not tell Shockwave about, and in the meantime neglecting to take care of himself. Shockwave sighed. He couldn't ask Lune to stop being close and reveal his feelings, but if Lune didn’t start eating soon, Shockwave would have to force him to come to his senses. Lune stirred.

“Are you staying to watch the rest?” Shockwave asked, already knowing the answer.

“I’m exhausted. I’m heading back to the Sanctuary. Tell me what happens, and I mean every single detail. I’m counting on you! Oh, and it seems I have lost the bet. I’ll fulfill the requirements after I get some sleep.” Lune winked, and was off.

Cool, fresh stream water lapped gently over Lune’s face. The sound of the cascading waterfall splashing musically upon the water’s surface above was soothing; almost immediately, as if in a dream, whatever doubts or tenseness remained in Lune was magically washed away by the silvery notes. Suddenly he just felt carefree, purged of his troubles by the sparkling radiance of the crystalline water and the warm, golden sunlight above all. This dive was the best thing in a long time that Lune had taken for himself. It was just so relaxing to roam freely underwater, gazing at the glittering sandy bottom of the stream.

A shadow passed overhead. Another lurked nearby. Lune caught the gleam of cold, evil eyes. When he turned, the horror that he saw set his heart pounding wildly. That sleek, blue figure… the red jewel on her forehead… the long, slender beak… those webbed hands and feet… Then a streak of green flew across the stream and waited on the grassy riverbed. There could be no mistake. Assassins.

But here? In the Sanctuary? Was Lune safe nowhere? Lune gritted his teeth. He had to think… fast. He knew he could match a regular Golduck in swimming speed, but assassins of every breed were the swiftest, stealthiest, and most skillful of their kind.

Only one advantage presented itself to Lune in this situation… He knew this stream’s very nature. The assassin Golduck was in foreign waters. Lune paddled even harder, kicking with all his might although his muscles were sore and tired out. The water surface was still out of reach. Up ahead, though, he knew there was a powerful hidden current above. Even the assassin Golduck would have trouble with it. Lune needed to go past it, all the time swimming directly beneath it, then pull up immediately after it ended. For, though his body could probably have endured the underwater flight, his lungs could not. He was out of breath, and he could already feel his lungs threatening to explode. His strokes weakened… Lune faltered… His pursuer crept up ever closer…

But Lune would not fail. Not after all he had done. Already he felt faint, but his mind pushed him on, and his heart, despite the lack of air, thumped hard against his chest. He could see the ending of the hidden current ahead. Just a little more…

Suddenly, Lune had gotten across. Everything seemed surreal; he felt like he was floating in a dream… But his body kept paddling, and steadily he rose, up, up, up, until he breached the water’s surface.

Then, in a shock, reality rushed back to Lune as he sputtered and choked, gulping in huge mouthfuls of air thankfully. He gave a cry of joy, for his pursuer had pulled up too soon and now she fought against the swift current. Still, Lune hadn’t much time… He paddled to the shore and dragged himself out.

Out of nowhere, Lune felt a sharp blow to the back of his head. He stumbled and fell. A wave of fear washed over him; suddenly he was afraid.

A sleek, deadly mantis stood over Lune, brandishing his cold, cruel scythes. Lune felt a trickle of blood crawl down his neck. Colors began to swirl together into a chaotic mass, and images blurred. The assassin Scyther snickered; a menacing gleam flashed through his eyes. His body was emerald green; his bared teeth were a pearly white; his wings fluttered in the wind, but they were no less cruel than the rest of him, for the topmost ones grew upon two sharp, long spines that pointed outward in opposite directions from each other. He opened his mouth and began to speak. Lune, wavering between light and darkness, had to struggle to understand.

“Fool! You should never have betrayed Emperor Ryu. Do you know what we’re going to do to you now?” The assassin Scyther paused to gloat upon the fear in his victim’s glazed eyes. When he saw that the Eevee was not going to respond further, he cackled. “Don’t despair; the blow I dealt you is nothing compared to what you will suffer next.” The Golduck pulled beside him, smirking devilishly.

“Now,” the Scyther continued, “we must say goodbye. You’ll pay for resisting Emperor Ryu!”

“Have you figured out your sorry fate yet?” the Golduck taunted. Lune did not answer. In fact, he could not; he had no strength left. He had lost touch with reality.

“We are going to disappear you,” the Scyther whispered in a sinister tone, with relish. “Just think: no one will ever know. They will wonder where you have gone. They might begin to panic. Emperor Ryu will reassure them. Then, in a regretful tone, he will inform them that you were found drowned in a treacherous river. He will say that you had been swimming too deep and were swept up by a current. He will tell them it threw you down a waterfall. He will say that you fell to the rocks below; with your injured head, you could not swim. He will present your limp body. They will believe him. They will mourn you for a while, and then slowly you will be forgotten. No one will know the truth.”

Lune listened, horrified but helpless. The glinting blade fell upon him… Everything went blur.

“NEVER!” Lune wailed, jerking his head upwards. He was bathed in sweat. The sun was beginning to sink beneath the forest trees. There were no assassins in the Sanctuary.

“What in the name of…” Lune cut himself off. He grimaced painfully. “Well, Emperor Ryu, looks like you win the war. I don’t know why that vision came to me, but it’s just as well. I must leave the Sacred Kingdom by sundown. So,” he added bitterly, “goodbye, kingdom of horror! I am going home to where I belong: far away from the likes of Ryu.”

Lune had not always lived in the Sacred Kingdom. Long ago, there was a time in which he never knew what it was - when the only places he ever heard mention of it were in old stories that no one knew were true. In his time of youth, he had very little to worry about. His days in the Forgotten Kingdom were the most carefree he would ever see. He was totally different then. Still, he hadn’t been content. Lune sighed. If only he had known…

He had been too naïve to understand, Lune thought. He had longed for adventure and glory. Well, he had adventure now, he thought bitterly, but where was the glory?

Lune choked. Part of him wished he had never left the Forgotten Kingdom. The other part reminded him of the reason he had come in search of the Sacred Kingdom, the only reason worth all this pain: Shockwave. Shockwave had left to explore the world before him, finding excitement in every corner. Eventually, Shockwave made his way to the Sacred Kingdom…

Getting to his feet, Lune shook the grass from his fur. “Shockwave!” he cried, “how could I have forgotten?” Lune darted off into the thick brush nearby, ignoring the thorns that scarred his side. He tore through the dense entanglement of branches and leaves in a reckless hurry. Abruptly, the brush ended, and Lune found himself in a forest clearing. He stopped to catch his breath.

A thick, brambly ring of towering undergrowth enclosed this secluded area. Above, the treetop canopies did not reveal the clearing, though during the day, golden light would come streaming through.

“This is the spot… Hasn’t changed much in ages. It’s like this clearing never feels the burden of time upon it. It’s a separate world.” Lune walked cautiously over the soft grass, turning his head this way and that, desperately trying to find something.

“Haha! There it is!” Lune pounced upon a small mound of grass cleverly hidden under the shadow of a tree’s magnificent roots. Growing upon it were small white flowers with many delicate outward rays, beautiful like stars. Lune dug up the soil underneath the flowers slowly, uprooted them, then placed them in the center of the clearing with intense care. “Something as beautiful as that deserves to spread across the land, wild and free.” Lune looked upon the starry flowers, and, for a brief instant, he was showered with doubt. If he left the Sacred Kingdom for good, he would never see anything like them again.

Lune shook his head. “No, there’s no time. I’d better finish this quickly.” Lune headed back for the uncovered mound, then frantically began to throw dirt, stones, and roots upwards with his paws. Finally, he struck something hard. “Yes…”

The cold stone glowed in the little light that was left. It gleamed silver in the rapidly approaching night, and as the sun sank lower, it began to glitter and shine stronger than before. Lune scooped it up and hastily carried it away in his mouth. He cast one last glance at the starry white flowers in the middle of the clearing, loth to let them leave his sight.

Then his expression changed. “If they grow here, why not in the Forgotten Kingdom?"” Lune scrambled to the edge of the clearing where the largest ancient tree grew. Its trunk was thick and knobbly with old age; its branches hung heavily overhead, laden with fat, ripe fruit; its strong, leathery leaves – a deep, dark green – were bigger than his face. Lune placed the Moon Stone at the tree’s roots and began to climb its short, bent trunk.

Soon after, Lune descended, grinning with a leaf-full of shining golden berries. He picked up the Moon Stone, then turned his attention to the flowers growing in the center of the clearing. Gingerly, Lune pulled one flower out from the grass, being careful to leave some soil between its intertwined roots. He placed it amongst the berries, then folded the leaf to conceal them. “Gold Berries and an Evening Star… What a treasure. I’ll need some Miracleberries too, though. But most importantly,” Lune added, eyeing the Moon Stone, “I need to show Shockwave that I left of my own accord.” Lune bounded back to the Sanctuary, stopping on the way to collect several small but mysterious berries. At times, they blazed red like an internal flame burned inside them; or they sparkled an icy blue, like delicate frost in a snowfall; sometimes they even gleamed a rich forest green, and their scent was as refreshing as crisp mountain air or a garden of mint.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lune finally set foot in the Sanctuary once more. There he left the Moon Stone between long blades of grass. Shockwave would find it and understand.

Back when Shockwave had left the Forgotten Kingdom, Lune had hardly known him, and would certainly not have considered him a friend. In fact, their first meeting had not been a pleasant one: Lune remembered that he had begun to argue with Shockwave over some silly, insignificant matter. The argument quickly escalated into an unfriendly duel, in which Lune totally despised Shockwave’s annoying ability to remain perfectly calm and cool. The worst part, of course, was when Shockwave actually decided to zap him “lightly”. What Shockwave considered a light zap seemed to Lune like a ferocious strike from a particularly brutal lightning bolt. It was more than just a little static shock.

After that, Lune decided that he hated Shockwave. Still, there was something about the Pikachu that drew Lune to him. When Shockwave left the Forgotten Kingdom in search of adventure, Lune followed soon after. That was when he discovered the Sacred Kingdom.

Lune remembered that he had been excited beyond his wildest dreams, especially when he learned about the frequent tournaments. He could not wait to settle down in the Sacred Kingdom, which, at the time, seemed to him a far more interesting place than the Forgotten Kingdom.

The Moon Stone had been won from a special tournament that tested teamwork. He had been puzzled when he needed to find a partner, for he knew no one there… Or so he thought. Unexpectedly, and very much to Lune’s surprise, Shockwave had invited Lune to join the Tag Team Tournament as his partner, and together they had defeated all opposition. Lune felt that Shockwave should keep the stone, for he believed that their victory had been largely because of Shockwave alone. Shockwave had laughingly shaken his head and refused both the prize and the credit. In that short period of time, Lune’s respect for Shockwave had shot up exponentially just as his hatred for the Pikachu had dropped to none.

As for who should get possession of the Moon Stone, they decided that neither should keep it. Since there was no practical use for the stone, they agreed that they should hold on to it as a reminder of their victory; later, when they discovered the Sanctuary, they hid it in the forest clearing, promising never to disturb it unless it was sorely needed.

Lune smiled. He needed it now, all right. Saying one final goodbye to the Sanctuary and all the good of the Sacred Kingdom, Lune padded off softly into the night, being careful not to leave any trace of his steps behind, not knowing which he feared more: to be followed by assassins, or by Shockwave.

As Shockwave ran, drawing in hasty gasps of air, his heart thudded urgently faster. A sense of alarm lingered about him; his face was filled with horror.

“He’s gone!” Shockwave cried, bursting through the palace door, coming crashing wildly into the wide lobby in which the two Guardians stood. Lady Naien looked concerned, but Lord Yoruno did not express more than just a slight interest in the matter.

Turning to Lady Naien, Shockwave uttered breathlessly, in a panic: “I can’t find Lune anywhere. Something happened to him.” Shockwave had hastened to the Sanctuary, but the only traces of Lune’s footprints in the grass had faded off rather quickly as he followed the tracks, until the trail abruptly came to a halt and vanished from existence.

“Check more carefully.” Lord Yoruno was not worried. Lady Naien, on the other hand, was beginning to panic, though she tried her best to hide it. The Houndoom looked over at the calm Lord Yoruno, who did not move or blink. Finally, Lady Naien gave up trying to simulate the Umbreon’s unfeeling manner, and she turned to Shockwave.

“How long has he been missing?” she asked. “Perhaps we could send out a search party.”

Shockwave shook his head. “You’ll never find him that way.” For once, the Pikachu could not hide his frustration when he wanted to. Suddenly everything had gone wrong. He had never in his life felt overwhelmed like this before; there was nothing, no matter how terrible, that could have shaken him. Now it was different. Crying out with exasperation, Shockwave raised his arms in the air. Anything within his immediate area erupted with chains of lightning; the white marble floor beneath him was charred black from the electricity. Slowly, to calm himself down, Shockwave took deep breaths. He caught Lady Naien’s surprised gaze. “I’ve searched everywhere.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Lady Naien began, after she recovered from the shock, “except that we’ll be looking.”

“There’s no guarantee he will ever be found,” said Lord Yoruno without emotion. “For all you know, he may be lying drowned at the bottom of some lake.”

Shockwave clenched his fists. “Or,” Lord Yoruno continued, “perhaps he’s stranded on top of an obscure mountain, buried under many feet of snow.”

Growling, Shockwave turned his back to Lord Yoruno and Lady Naien. “I’ll find him,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “I’ll find him without your help.” With that, he left through the doors.

Shockwave splashed his face with cool river water, disheartened. He had scoured the Sanctuary for hours, and still he found nothing. The full moon had risen up above the treetops, high among the twinkling stars. It was nearly midnight.

But as the reflection of the moon in the rushing water broke into an array of white light, Shockwave saw something that he had not noticed before: a glint of silver in the long meadow grass.

Panting from exhaustion, the Pikachu hurriedly uncovered the Moon Stone. Light of the stars shone upon its smooth, cold surface, intensifying its glorious gleam as if it were a small, silver piece of the moon itself. Shockwave picked it up.

“The Moon Stone,” Shockwave muttered grimly. “So the matter was urgent.”

Then, bit by bit, Shockwave began retracing Lune’s steps, hoping that he could discover the Eevee’s whereabouts. He went first to the forest clearing where the Moon Stone had been hidden for so many long years. There he discovered the patch of Evening Stars and the Moon Stone’s upturned resting place. He also noticed the tree laden with Gold Berries.

“Judging by the way those thick branches are bent slightly, the tree has recently been climbed,” he observed. “But why would Lune need Gold Berries? He would only bring them along if he planned to go on a long journey.”

Pacing back and forth, Shockwave began to sniff the air, then dropped to the ground on all fours and carefully followed a barely noticeable trail of slightly trodden grass out of the clearing. Soon, he came to the very tree from which Lune had harvested Miracleberries.

“Miracleberries? He was definitely setting off for a certain place. He’s always cautious; he’d never want to be caught unprepared, and he’d never leave in the first place without a plan.”

Shockwave frowned. “Lune left me the Moon Stone to tell me that he had left of his own will. However, that is the only thing he left me. He could have left me more. He was even careful enough to travel so swiftly and lightly that now I can’t even sense the path he took. That can only mean one thing: he thinks he’ll be followed.”

“But by what? Think, Shockwave, think!” he told himself. “Well, Lune’s been increasingly worried recently, after that incident with Ryu. He couldn’t be afraid of the incompetent Ampharos himself; Lune has no respect for Ryu. The only thing that would be capable of tracing down Lune if he had not hidden his trail from me would be… an assassin…”

Shockwave nodded. “It’s possible. Lune doesn’t know that Ryu resigned. Lune’s been thinking too much these days. It’s likely that all the worrying finally got to him; at some point, something must have happened to make him believe that assassins would pursue him.”

“Where is he heading for?” Shockwave whispered. He paused for a long while. “The Forgotten Kingdom… could it be?”

It was a cold night. The silver light cast by the glowing stars illuminated the paved golden pathway upon which Lune was so careful to tread lightly. After he had gotten through the narrow cavern, he had decided to travel by the main path, for two reasons: the very convenient and speedy passage it provided, and, more importantly, the frequency of its use. It would be impossible, especially the next day, for his tracks, trodden upon by hundreds of others, to be remotely traced. No assassin could follow that trail. Even Shockwave could not do it.

Lune sighed. He hated the fact that he could not say goodbye to Shockwave. If he had, though, Shockwave would never have allowed him leave alone. Lune knew that the Pikachu loved the Sacred Kingdom as if it were his own native soil. It would be unfair to Shockwave if Lune had let him set off on the long journey for home. Shockwave was happy in the Sacred Kingdom, and Lune did not want it to change. Besides, assassins were bred to kill coldly, and take pleasure in the killing. If they caught Lune, he did not want Shockwave to be caught with him. It never occurred to Lune that, regardless of what he did to prevent it, Shockwave would come after him anyway.

A fork in the road split the main pavement. One led far into the west, where green, abundant forest stretched on for miles. Flowers of every color of the rainbow were scattered across the grassy land; on the trees, an endless bloom of luscious fruit hung, sparkling under the moonlight. The other narrower road crawled into peaceful darkness, often mistaken for black, abandoned evil. For this reason, few dared venture there.

At the end would be a gate, a shadowed gray under the twilight, and a faded gold under the rays of the sun; it was barely noticeable, and would almost always be missed. Through the gate was a long journey by a secret valley, closed in on both sides by mountains tall and proud. Those on the left remained blossoming in eternal spring, while the range on the right raged perpetually with bitter cold winter. The valley itself, Lune recalled, smelled sweet, as a meadow in the summertime. The soft, young grass sprouted often with flowers of all kinds, and the field was a yearlong sea of joyous color. Here birds sang sweetly of their happiness, in such melodies few alive had ever heard. The journey, though long, would be one of great bliss.

This was the beauty that Lune remembered, from when he passed it long ago. Through that hidden gate lay a secret haven; beyond that haven lay his beloved home. Lune smiled, walking slowly down the lonely road into the darkness, dreaming of the wonders that lay beyond the gate at the end.

The gate was guarded. First to catch Lune’s eye was the apparent leader of the group, who now stood in the center of the circle, whispering inaudibly. The Sneasel, slightly taller than Lune would have expected one to be, was slender, muscular, and formidable. The way he stood with such confident pride reminded Lune somewhat of Lord Yoruno; but the Sneasel he saw had something else – energy, perhaps – and the spirit of a rebel fighting for a cause. Lune could see, marked on the Sneasel’s face, light of determination and the faint hint of great but well-hidden power. It looked as if the Sneasel was, like a coiled serpent, waiting patiently for something; and when the time finally came, he would strike. To Lune, though the Sneasel was of feline race, his features and the look in his eyes more resembled those of a fox: stealthy and cunning.

Behind the Sneasel was a large cat, whose pearl-white fur gleamed in eerie coldness under the moonlight. She flicked her short black ears tensely, remaining ever watchful, ever vigilant and distrustful. Blood red was the jewel on her forehead, glinting like the assassin Golduck’s did in Lune’s vivid dream.

To the right, a Nidoqueen sat on a fallen tree, tenderly rubbing her wounded foot with an herbal leaf. She appeared to have been injured in some kind of battle. Her left ear was notched; her rounded horn was blunter than it was supposed to be, and bleeding; the bony spines on her back were cracked at parts; and her tough, blue armor was covered with bruises and scratches. Worst of all was her wounded right foot.

“Ningai,” said the Sneasel softly, “how is the leg?”

“The pain is gone, Élan,” she replied. “These healing leaves are a blessing to us. They have saved our group from utter despair many times before. I should hate to imagine what we would do without the Seirin. This is the only place the plant will grow. We must never lose hold of it.”

The other group members nodded in agreement. A Slowpoke yawned, gazing into apparent space with such a blank expression that Lune could swear that it looked as if not a thought passed through the Slowpoke’s head. The Slowpoke swayed back and forth, seemingly out of boredom, and swished his pink tail in the air, lacking something better to do. His goofy resemblance to an undersized hippopotamus was mostly due to the fact that he had large lips, along with the only four big, flat teeth that he had in his mouth. His pink skin was smooth and unbroken, in sharp contrast with the rough, bruised hide of Ningai.

Slightly apart from the others lay a silent, pensive Dragonair. His long, snakelike body shimmered under the silver stars. If he moved, his skin appeared to shift color. First Lune thought it was a soft lavender shade, but it changed then to a deep, shadowed blue, and then almost to a glittering silver. Upon the Dragonair’s head was a small horn, but crafty and sharp. His milk-white ears were, in truth, small, intricate wings of delicate design. The magical carbuncle under his chin glowed brightly, as did the indigo beads near the end of his tail. The Dragonair was deep in thought, and did not speak.

Lune backed away from the moss-covered stone wall. He could not get by without being seen; confrontation was not an option. And so he realized that the Hidden Valley was closed to him, and that he would have to find another route. The Mountains of Spring, protected by dense forests, were out of the question. Lune turned fearfully to the range on the right, reluctant to climb into the foreboding mountains that towered overhead in eternal winter. He took a deep breath, gathering up courage. At that instant, he felt something quickly wrap around him, and uttered a muffled cry when the Dragonair looked him in the eye.

“I am Senryu. Struggle if you wish to die.”

“I don't trust him,” the Persian hissed. “It was only yesterday that Ningai had to put up with those nasty officials. How do we know he's not one of them?”

“Who the heck are you pokémon?” Lune asked irritably. He did not appreciate being constrained by Senryu like a bound prisoner.

“How dare you say that? I'll tell you who we are!” the Slowpoke cried. “Our band fights against Emperor Ryu, and we want him to give up his throne. Not that he's a bad emperor or anything. He's just lazy, hypocritical, and mean. But he's still a good emperor!”

“Luktam, enough.” The Persian was annoyed. “You know that you can't say too much without contradicting yourself. Idiot. You should stop when you're ahead.”

“Oh, Charisma, give me a break,” Luktam retorted. The Slowpoke rolled his eyes. “I'm not that stupid, you know.”

“Emperor... Ryu?” Lune repeated, surprised.

“Yes, Eevee,” Ningai answered. “We despise him. Now, please tell us: are you working for the emperor?”

“He has to be!” said Luktam excitedly. “Why else would he be prowling around here and spying?”

“Shut your oversized mouth!” Lune snapped. “Do not speak of matters beyond your understanding!” By now, Lune was flushed with anger, and began to struggle. “Let me go!” Senryu squeezed harder. Lune whimpered.

Sneasel held his hand up, signaling enough. “Release him, Senryu.”

Senryu closed his eyes and nodded slowly. He still thought that Lune was a threat, but he would trust in his respected leader's judgement. Lune broke free and shook himself, relieved.

Élan cleared his throat. “Unnamed Eevee, who are you, and why are you here? Please tell the truth. We do not want to kill you, but if you lie, we must.”

For the first time since his capture, Lune calmed down. “My name is Lune. This evening, I dreamt of assassins.” Lune sighed, weary. He walked to the center of the ring of logs and stood by the crackling fire. Then he turned to face his captors. “I had previously enraged Emperor Ryu in my defiance, and when I confronted him, he threatened exile. The dream I had today was horribly vivid. I'm afraid that assassins may very well be after me. For that reason, I fled. I'm leaving the Sacred Kingdom for home.”

Élan was frowning. “He couldn't do it himself, so he sent assassins instead.”

Shivering, Senryu withdrew from the group. Charisma, too, was bothered. Ningai rose. “Élan, please do not speak of the assassins,” she pleaded. Luktam alone remained unafraid. Whether this was due to ignorance or courage was not certain, but Lune was willing to bet on the former.

“Sorry,” Élan replied apologetically, “I won't do it in the future.” He turned to Lune. “Lune, as you call yourself, we won't obstruct your path. You are free to come and leave as you please.”

Lune smiled. “Thanks. I was hoping to pass through the gate into the Hidden Valley, but if Emperor Ryu's spies ask, you can't lie for me without putting yourselves at risk.”

“We don't have to lie about your whereabouts if you don't pass through the gate. When they ask whether we've seen you go through it, we can deny it, and we'd be telling the truth.” Élan smirked.

“Élan, should we really be trusting that Eevee?” Charisma asked. “For all we know, he may just be a brilliant storyteller.”

Luktam stepped in front of Lune, glaring. “You're not going anywhere.”

“Let him leave, Luktam,” said Ningai.

“I won't! Not until he takes the Oath!” Luktam yelled. “He's not one of us. Until he swears loyalty to our clan, I won't let him sneak away from us. I won't trust him until I see our mark on his ear.”

Élan placed his hand on Luktam’s shoulder. “He seems trustworthy enough. Believe me, Luktam, please. Let him be.”

The Slowpoke hesitated, but dejectedly gave in. He hated Lune, but he trusted Élan more.

“I’m sorry, Lune,” Élan said, “but Luktam gets excited at times. Go ahead. We’ve used up too much of your valuable time.”

“Actually, I’d prefer to stay for a little bit longer. What is the Oath Luktam talked about, and what is your mark?” Lune asked.

Smiling, Élan began to explain. “The Oath is taken by a pokémon who wishes to join our clan. It is an oath of loyalty that binds us together. Betrayal is punished with a permanent expulsion from the group; depending on the potential danger of the individual to us, we will either imprison or place the traitor under careful watch. We bear our mark on our ears.”

Only now did Lune notice that each of the pokémon before him wore, on the right ear, a sparkling ring of gold that shone with brilliant light.

“You do not have to take the Oath,” Élan told Lune.

“Any ally against Emperor Ryu is valuable,” Lune replied. “I was planning on hiding at home forever, far away from the Sacred Kingdom. However, seeing that I am not alone in my own resistance gives me hope. I will continue fighting against Emperor Ryu. He cannot cast me down any longer. I do not belong to him. I have had enough, and he will pay. I will not take his blows!”

“With such spiritual fire, I don’t see how you could have given up hope in the first place,” Élan said. “But all is well, it seems.”

“Well,” Lune began, turning to face each member of the group, “will you accept me now?”

“Gladly,” Élan replied. “You can travel by the valley. We will cover for you.”

“I won’t jeopardize any of you,” said Lune firmly. “I’ll travel by the Mountains of Winter.”

Senryu shivered, but said nothing. Ningai, as gently as she could, placed an open gold ring on Lune’s right ear, then let it clasp together, permanently sealed by magic. Lune flinched, but the pain vanished when Ningai treated the puncture wound with a Seirin leaf. Luktam merely watched in indignant disbelief, Charisma in wavering distrust.

“We look forward to your safe arrival at your home,” Élan said, waving goodbye to Lune, who was already disappearing into the shadows.

It was unbearably cold. Harsh winds stung, biting at raw flesh. Lune’s right ear felt especially bare. Though totally frozen, the wound around the golden ring burned the worst. Whenever another hostile wind blew by, Lune shivered uncontrollably; for his fur was caked with fallen snow, and the freezing air felt magnified a thousand times, as if Lune had just jumped into the icy waters of the Misty Lake and was now in the middle of an arctic gale.

Ningai, along with giving Lune some strong vine rope so he could hang his carrying leaf around his neck, had packed several Seirin leaves with Lune’s berries just in case; but Lune found that what he needed most was the lone Evening Star that he had hidden among the rest of his pack. He often looked upon it whenever he felt that he could not go on; and in its celestial beauty, the jewel of all flowers, Lune found spirit and renewed hope. He had been travelling for days now, resting scarcely if he managed to find some shelter (usually in the lee of a small rock to escape a bit of the wind), and eating precious little. He had to save his Gold Berries for strength in times of desperate need. He had no idea how much longer this frozen hell would last. Through all the trials thus far the Evening Star had survived, and its loveliness had been preserved. Lune was glad of it. Otherwise, trudging on miserably through the endless blinding white, Lune would tire soon, and in his faltering die.

A trickling of water brought the dead wasteland to life. It was the only sound of anything remotely friendly that Lune had heard for days. Its silvery song was soft and comforting, but sad. There was mystery to its notes, as if something hidden deep inside – some dark secret, perhaps – that had laid concealed for eons of time, was yet to be discovered. Lune followed the gentle stream, which swiftly grew into a wide, easy river. Gates of snow closed the river in on either side. The only way past was through the water itself. Lune prepared to dive.

Suddenly, the frozen earth trembled. A large shadow, ominous and foreboding, rose from the dark depths. Its segmented, serpent-like body sparkled like the brightest blue sapphires of all, glittering as meager light cast shades of faded rainbow upon the specks of ice and snow upon its skin. As an aquatic creature, it had no legs, nor arms, but fins: jagged ones that gleamed white along its spine and at its tail. The ones protruding from its face on each side were the largest of them all. The dragon bore long blue whiskers beneath its chin; its jaws were cruel, filled with rows of teeth as sharp as knives. Lune had never seen a more vicious specimen of a Gyarados in all his life.

“Who are you, stranger?” the Gyarados questioned in his thundering voice. “My name is Surge, and I’m the appointed watcher of this gate. You won’t get through until I know who you are, and you won’t at all if you’re an enemy or spy.”

Lune was silent, too surprised to speak. Surge’s accent was intimately familiar, as was the very nature of his name. “Surge,” Lune began, “is not the kind of name that you would hear in any place but the Forgotten Kingdom, my land. Even your accent is one of that land of greatness. Let me pass! I long for home.”

Surge, however, was not convinced. “You sound different. If you were once from here, I can’t tell. Your accent is foreign.”

“No, not completely foreign. It has just been mixed with the dialect of another land. Don’t you hear traces of our tongue in my speech?”

“Well, maybe a little, but that doesn’t prove anything. You might just be trying your hardest to imitate the Forgotten Kingdom’s accent right now. By the way, if you were from the Forgotten Kingdom, you would definitely have preferred to go by the Hidden Valley. Why did you choose the Mountains of Winter? Please realize that your behavior is very suspicious.”

“Assassins would have pursued me. If I had traveled by the Hidden Valley, I would have been caught.”

Surge was still not convinced. “What is your name, Eevee?”

“I’m Lune. The Forgotten Kingdom is my home. Please do not keep it from me any longer!”

“Lies!” roared Surge. “Impostor! Lune the Guardian died many years ago; he was never found. He had gone on a journey, promising to come back soon, but never returned.”

“That was my mistake,” Lune sighed. “I was enchanted by what the Sacred Kingdom had to offer. I was selfish not to send back news of my whereabouts. I regret it now!”

“Lune the Guardian had glowing golden fur, unlike your dirty, dull coat. You’re too scrawny and unhappy.”

Lune shook his head. “He also had an Everstone in his forehead. Look at mine, and you must admit that I am the only one who ever showed that feature!” Lune drew back his hairs to reveal the small, glowing stone. Surge’s eyes widened for a moment, but he remained firm and stubborn.

“You’re a better impersonator than I thought. Whatever the reason you decided to lodge that Everstone into your forehead for your country, it must have been an important one: some devious plan to hurt the Forgotten Kingdom, no doubt. I have no idea why you would want to go through the pain otherwise. You can’t fool me with one thing, though. Lune the Guardian had good looks, which is too much to say for you. Sorry, but I can’t let you through.” At that, the Gyarados brought his long, heavy tail down upon the riverbank, missing Lune by mere inches. Growling, Lune carefully placed his leaf aside and prepared to fight.

“If you get past me, you can proceed to the Forgotten Kingdom,” said Surge. “But I’ll make it difficult for you.” The Gyarados rammed into the mountains of snow that formed gates beside the river. From the tops of each, broken rocks and great heaps of snow tumbled down the gates, piling up in the middle of the river and completing the blockade. Small gaps allowed the gentle river waters to flow through, but Lune knew that small as he was, he would not be able to fit. If he wanted to cross, he’d have to climb over.

“We don’t have to fight,” Lune sighed, “but if it’s a challenge you want, it’s a challenge you’ll get. I will get past you, no matter what the means.” Lune hastily collected a sphere of ethereal energy, almost immediately hurling it into Surge’s face. In the short time that the Gyarados had taken to recover, Lune had already created a perfect, lifelike duplicate of himself to act in his place, and was now swimming to the newly formed buildup of snow.

Meanwhile, Surge, oblivious to the trickery, was ready to knock Lune out quickly and mercifully before the Eevee tried anything. Trembling energy crackled at his mouth. Lune reached the snow banks and began to climb…

Surge’s beam lanced through the duplicate, reducing it to a pile of ashes. Quickly overcoming his surprise, Surge turned immediately to the gates; Lune was nearly over…

With a single lash from his tail, Surge brought the midsection crumbling down into the river. Although Lune paddled as fast as he could, his weary body could not out-race Surge. The Gyarados curled his tail around his captive… “Close, but not quite,” Surge snickered.

“You’ll be sorry you invited this,” Lune muttered, sinking his teeth through Surge’s hide and into tender flesh. Dark energy crackled through the wound. The Gyarados roared and began to thrash wildly; he had felt nothing like it before. Lifting his tail into the air, Surge lunged; but Lune, ready, let go and splashed into the water before he met Surge’s jaws. He swam to the bank. “Does the dark energy hurt, Surge?” he mocked.

Surge, already sparking violently with an incredible amount of electricity, shook his head and smirked. “No, but this will.” The charge surged forth in a loud, clattering din; if Lune did not dodge, he would be terribly burnt by the tremendous amount of energy. For better or for worse, the Eevee waited. In an instant, the electricity exploded upon him; the snow beneath melted; some even began to sizzle. Pain rushed through every part of Lune’s body. He lay crumpled on the ground. Still, he smiled; and when he managed to struggle to his feet, he cackled.

While Surge might have thought it, Lune had not been helplessly idle. On the contrary, Lune had been paying careful attention to every single detail of Surge’s recent strike. Now it was his turn to strike back. “Surge, you’ve just made the mistake that will spell your downfall.”

As Surge watched in horror, Lune began to spark in the same way as Surge had just moments ago; but the Eevee, bright yellow with the surrounding electricity, posed a more fearsome threat to Surge than Surge did to him. “Gyarados don’t like electricity, do they?” Lune taunted. “Eat this!” The energy burst forward like radiant light, blindingly bright and swift as lightning. But Surge, in his terror, would not allow himself to be subject to such torture. Just before impact, a starry barrier leapt up to save him; the energy was absorbed and dispelled. But Surge couldn’t keep that defense up forever. In the first place, such a shield cost great amounts of energy to build; and, as Surge attempted to create more of them, their chances of holding out against continued offensives would become increasingly slimmer.

“Argh! I’ve never been forced to use my special ability in real battle before!” Surge cried. “Congrats, Eevee, you get to die now. You’re too dangerous to simply keep imprisoned.” With that, Surge began to glow. Lune, hoping to interrupt the process, blasted the Gyarados with a particularly vicious bolt of lightning… But it was no use. Surge did not even display the slightest signs of discomfort. In fact, he looked energized. Lune remembered that as the energy had struck the Gyarados’s coat, it was absorbed.

Noticing the surprise on Lune’s face, Surge nodded, laughing. “You guessed it, Eevee. My special ability protects me from any regular energy-based attacks. As long as I keep up this protection, energy attacks feed me more strength. Sorry, but this ends now.”

Lune backed away. “You have traces of magic in your blood…”

“Yeah,” Surge replied. “I come from a line of gifted Gyarados. Our kind isn’t usually born with magic, but my family has some of it.”

“Looks like I have no choice but to do this, then.” Lune closed his eyes and bowed his head. “I apologize, but you leave me no other option.” The sky immediately darkened into deep shades of chaotic violet. Overhead, clouds of ill omen swirled together threateningly. Dread hung in the air, so strong that it was as unbearable as the stench of a rotting corpse. Surge, trembling, became overcome with fear; his white glow faltered, then faded altogether. Completely motionless, Lune was enveloped in an aura of darkness; no light dared to venture near. Surge could feel the blackness weigh down upon his mind, devouring it. Shadows emerged from infernal depths at their master’s call; they circled the Eevee, swaying from side to side, awaiting his command. They knew Lune as the master of darkness, ever since he had discovered them within himself. His was the true power to manipulate the awesome strength of the dark shadows. At his bidding, they came together, shivering with delight, cackling, every instant creeping closer to the horrified Gyarados…

“Wait! Stop! PLEASE!” Surge cried. For a moment, it seemed as if time itself had halted.

“Lune! Lune the Guardian! I’m sorry!” Surge shook his head in disbelief. “It really is you… Welcome home.”

“It took you this long to realize this?” Lune frowned, but halted the progression of the shadows. The chaotic clouds cleared out of the sky, but there still was no light. “What made you change your mind all of a sudden?”

“Your Hidden Power…” Surge whispered. His voice trailed off. He had to take a deep breath before speaking again. “The only Eevee in our entire history who had the power to completely control the darkness was you. No one could fake that very easily at all. Besides, if you were an impostor, you wouldn’t have been so hesitant to use your dark Hidden Power in the first place.”

“Brilliant deductive work,” Lune muttered. “For a moment, I thought I had suddenly gained the ‘good looks’ that you insisted I have.”

Surge reddened with guilt. “I’m sorry about that…”

“Irrelevant. You also seem to have managed to destroyed my entire supply of Gold Berries and Miracleberries.” Lune sighed. “…The Seirin leaves are gone, too.” He pawed through the crushed mess, hoping for a miracle. If only…

“Guardian Lune, I hate to bother you, but what is that strange flower behind you? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Lune’s heart leaped. “The Evening Star… It survived.” He picked it up gingerly. He planned to plant it in the Forgotten Kingdom as soon as possible. Lune remembered from what he had seen earlier that the river ended almost instantly after the snowy gates; a long, steep drop followed. Far below, the water crashed into an unseen pool. Lune couldn’t just jump down and hope to survive; not without Shockwave, anyway.

“Surge, I need a ride down the waterfall immediately. After that, you will have paid your debt.” Without another word, Lune jumped onto the Gyarados’s back. Surge did not know what to say. He had just made the biggest fool out of himself, insulted Lune, and, on top of that, had actually tried to kill the Eevee. Surge had expected a much harsher punishment. Glad that he was given a break (for the time being, anyway), Surge got to work.

Even for a Gyarados, going down this waterfall was no easy task. Surge had to carefully make his way down the Crimson Falls, for the entire drop was steep and littered with sharp rocks that jutted out here and there, gleaming cruelly red as if they fed on blood. The soft, sorrowful song of the river changed here; instead, the music was loud and demanding. Exactly what it pleaded for was unknown, but it could not be denied that its tone was urgently compelling. Eventually, Surge got safely to the bottom of the falls.

Lune smiled. “Thank you, Surge. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to plant this very special flower and make sure that it is tended to with utmost care. It has saved my life many times. The next things I will look for are food, drink, and rest. I haven’t had much of any lately.”

Shockwave, despite his usually complacent manner, was rather agitated. He looked at the Sneasel before him, then at the Dragonair, Nidoqueen, Persian, and Slowpoke. He could sense that they knew something about Lune that they were hiding. When he had asked them whether they had seen an Eevee with an Everstone on his forehead, none of them reacted suspiciously; except for the Slowpoke, who had given it away by gagging, and then accusing Shockwave of being an official of Emperor Ryu.

“I’ll say this one more time,” Shockwave started, annoyed. “Ryu gave up his position as Emperor. Only Lord Yoruno and Lady Naien are left now. I know that you know something about my friend, and I’m not leaving until you tell me what I need to find out.” There was still no response. The Persian made sure that the Slowpoke didn’t reveal anything more.

“He could be in serious trouble, for Ho-oh’s sake!” Shockwave cried, throwing his arms up into the air, frustrated. “Lune thinks he’s being followed by assassins. I know him. He’ll be taking drastic measures to avoid them. You five know something about him. Tell me!”

Ningai cleared her throat. “I think he’s telling the truth.”

“Wait, that means Emperor Ryu isn’t Emperor Ryu anymore? Just Ryu?” Luktam asked, surprised.

“That’s obvious, you dolt.” Charisma hissed irritably.

“But that also means our clan is useless now!” Luktam said disappointedly. “We have to go our separate ways now. It’s too bad. I liked our clan.”

Senryu shook his head disapprovingly, but said nothing. Élan sighed. “Luktam, a clan does not simply have to disband once a single goal has been accomplished.”

“But we have no other purpose to be together now, do we?” Luktam asked with bewilderment.

“Our clan is not all about fulfilling missions, Luktam. It’s more than that… If you really must have a purpose, though, I can give you another.” Élan frowned. “Our war has just begun. Emperor Ryu’s resignation brings up new problems… Now that only two Guardians exist, we are in danger of a dictatorship.”

Shockwave interrupted. “You really should tell me what you know about Lune now.”

Senryu cast a questioning glance at Élan, who nodded. “Well,” the Dragonair began, “as you suspected, he was fleeing from assassins.” Senryu paused. He found it difficult to bring himself to say what he needed to next. “He was heading for his homeland by the Mountains of Winter…”

“WHAT?!” Shockwave cried. “I’ll be going now, then.” He bounded off at full speed with dread in his heart.

Shockwave had brought few Gold Berries along for the journey; they were simply too much of a burden. Instead, he slung across his back a container that held a juice of great virtue: of both Gold Berries and Miracleberries, so he could travel lightly with something that would supply him with necessary strength as well as healing. The golden juice had smelled marvelously sweet, and the soothing aroma of the crushed Miracleberries had alleviated Shockwave’s terror.

The case itself had been fashioned quickly but skillfully by Shockwave. It was made from the sturdy, lightweight shell of a large fruit that grew in the clearing where he and Lune had buried the Moon Stone. The fruit and its juices were bitter to the taste, and its durable shell hard to crack. Shockwave had broken it open carefully, though, and cleaned it with the rushing waters of the meadow’s stream. The way he had opened it, only the very top came off. Shockwave had cut into each exposed wall in such a way that the small top lid fit tightly back on the shell like a seal. The silver shell, shaped very much like a long gourd, was large, but very light; and it fit perfectly when Shockwave strapped it on his back with a tough vine. The mixed juice of the berries that he had poured inside would last many days. Before Shockwave had left the band of pokémon, Ningai had given him some Seirin leaves, which he crushed and added to the juice. It sparkled and shone like gold even without sunlight; the juice was clear, like a diamond, but it was every beautiful color that ever existed. It was, of course, extremely valuable, and Shockwave sipped it sparingly.

The Mountains of Winter were worse than Shockwave could ever have imagined. The frightening stories he had heard about them in youth could not even begin to express the torment that these mountains truly were. The land was bleak and dreary, an eternal desert of ice and death. Bitter cold dwelt here, lashing spitefully at trespassers with its frozen wind whips. Misery and despair were its powerful, evil weapons. If Shockwave had merely been lost here by himself, he would likely have perished. But he had a goal, and he would make sure that he accomplished it, no matter what: Find Lune… alive.

Running day by day through the blinding white, never stopping to rest, plagued by worries that he would be too late, seemed to Shockwave almost surreal. It was a strain to breathe as he ran, from doom to doom. The whiteness seemed to last forever. Finally, Shockwave could hear the magical sound of a trickling stream that opened into a wide, gentle river. It felt as if life had been reborn. Laughing with joy, Shockwave dipped his hands in the cold water, then dove in.

Shockwave could hear the loud roaring of water. The easy river current had suddenly become swifter, and increasingly more difficult to swim against. Shockwave, guided through the snowy gates by the rushing water, cried out in alarm. A waterfall! But now the current was too strong and stubborn. Try as he might, Shockwave could not move against its will. As he was thrown over the edge of the water, Shockwave, in mid-air, caught hold of a red rock and clung on for dear life. It was fatally slippery, and every moment, the water that beat against Shockwave’s hands tested his grip. Shockwave could feel himself slowly weakening… As Shockwave fell, his life flashed before his eyes.

Rushing colors all ran into a blur. As the wind beneath Shockwave howled in his face, he could only wonder: Did Lune feel this, too? No, he thought. Lune would never have jumped into the river. Shockwave grinned to choke back his sorrow. Never again could he look forward to tomorrow, or wonder what surprises the next day would bring. If only he could find Lune one last time to say goodbye, it would be enough. But it was impossible. He would lie forever below the thundering Crimson Falls, unknown for eternity in his watery prison. It crushed his spirit to think about his lonely fate.

Then, as if in a dream, Shockwave heard a familiar voice calling: “Union of Soul!” Time seemed to slow almost completely to a stop. It was surreal; Shockwave knew he was floating in peace. He could not feel his body. The crash of the waters on the rocks beneath him became muffled, like a fading song, as if nothing existed anymore. Nothing had meaning. A great wave of relief and joy washed over Shockwave then; he had no more cares nor worries. If this had been the first time Shockwave had had such an experience, he would have thought that this perfect state of bliss must be what the dead felt upon death.

Shockwave could not feel his body because, then, he no longer had a body. His essence, his very being, was pure, a glowing light that shone with celestial radiance like a star. It was in this form of divine energy that he descended safely upon the earth, young and free. The Eevee who awaited him glowed also; his eyes were closed, and on his face was something Shockwave had never seen for what seemed like ages: a smile, simple and true. At that moment, Lune looked like a king again: his youth shone in his face, and his golden fur sparkled with splendor like it did in days of old. Lune was no longer the bitter, sad Eevee that had received much trial in his long, painful life; he was the Eevee of his childhood days, where not a single care crossed his happy mind. This Lune, reborn with the joy and vigor he used to have, was the one Shockwave entered as he was called. He did so gladly, and did not resist; and as he joined the Eevee’s body, Shockwave felt a great weight lift from his burdened heart. Lune was sound, and he was alive again.

Immediately sense and order was restored. Whatever sight and sound had been dull and gray before now surged back over Shockwave with vibrant bursts of music and color. Shockwave knew that he was alive, and so was Lune, once more.

We haven’t done that for ages, Shockwave echoed through Lune’s mind. I had nearly forgotten what your special ability was.

“It’s been too long, hasn’t it?” Lune smiled. Years ago, he and Shockwave had fervently traveled far and wide across the land in search of their special abilities, but no one could tell them the answer. Adviser after Adviser had tried and failed, directing them to faraway lands to seek help elsewhere. But all the time, the answers they sought had been within each other.

Lune remembered the day that he and Shockwave discovered their hidden potential. They had been exploring a deep cavern when Lune had fallen. The Tyranitar, whose lair he had disturbed, had immediately awoken in a reckless rage, and Shockwave, above, had been powerless to help. Lune remembered thinking that he would die that day; he remembered wishing Shockwave goodbye. But Shockwave would not accept it, and had cried out in fury. The change that overcame him was tremendous. All of a sudden, Shockwave was a well of power, awesome, omnipotent. Lune had felt a compelling force draw him into Shockwave’s body. He remembered how frightened he had been when he could feel his being, but not the warmth of the blood that ran through his body; and yet, he had felt strangely comforted, and knew that he was safe. When he had joined with Shockwave, the Pikachu had felt energized, stronger than ever before. Shockwave’s weariness and exhaustion had left in an instant; and Lune knew that Shockwave had become capable of far exceeding his limits in power. A while after they had escaped and recovered, Shockwave had called his power the Union of Spirit.

As for Lune’s Union of Soul, the effect was quite different. “Shockwave,” Lune began, “we’re going for a ride.”

All right! Shockwave cheered. This part is the coolest!

An aura of golden light enveloped Lune as he began to laugh lightheartedly. It was a feeling he had lately forgotten, and now, for the first time, he was getting to know it again. Joy filled his heart, and a sense of freedom. Gossamer wings seemed to sprout out of his back, soft like the clouds. Of pure energy, the silvery wings radiated with a brilliant white, and in them swam unmistakably the colors of the rainbow. As Lune leapt into the air, his soul leapt with him; he was free, and born again. He could not feel any happier, for now, his heart, overflowing with joy, would burst if he had any more.

Below, two ape-like pokémon envied the soaring spirit in the sky. “You know, Toidi,” said the Mankey to the other, “I bet he knew all along how to teach us our special abilities that would help us defeat every single opponent we faced without getting hurt, but he was too selfish to do it.” Nodding, the Aipom replied, “He deserves to be punished for his crime, Elbuort.” With that, the two left the Forgotten Kingdom and wandered off to visit other places that would benefit from their wise justice. After all, they were never wrong. (Well, in their eyes, anyway.)

Shockwave, don’t you ever do something like that again,” Lune scolded. He had, in fact, just awoken a short while before, when the sun had just begun to poke its warm rays through the morning clouds. There was a feeling of inexplicable dread inside of him, and something had dragged him to the Crimson Falls. He remembered the horror he had felt when he saw Shockwave shoot over the edge. It was worse than what he had felt when he himself had thought that the Tyranitar was going to kill him years ago.

Oh, come on, Lune. It’s not like I ran away from assassins that weren’t really there, Shockwave teased.

Lune blinked. “Huh?”

Ryu resigned the day that you left. He even made a special apology to you.

“WHAT?!” Lune crashed into a big cloud, struck, as if he had, for the moment, forgotten how to fly. As he fell through, wisps of cloud trailed behind his wings. Lune regained his balance, but he was still shaken. “…I can’t believe Ryu actually did something right,” Lune said after a while. “That’s just… miraculous.”

Uh huh. It’s just Lord Yoruno and Lady Naien now. Maybe I’ll finally get to be an Adviser.

“Yeah. Probably.”

How did you get down the Crimson Falls? You wouldn’t have jumped down, and you couldn’t have flown without me.

“I rode down on a Gyarados.”

What was a Gyarados doing there? Why wasn’t it there when I came?

“Surge was the guardian of the eastern gate. I released him from that duty when we got down. It was such a lonely job. He was really happy when he didn’t have to do it anymore. We don’t need a gatekeeper in the Mountains of Winter. We need to invite visitors to the Forgotten Kingdom, not shut them out.”

Lune, it isn’t fair to just sort of tell me what happened, Shockwave complained. You’re not going to make me guess, are you?

Don’t stop in the middle of things.

“Well, after a while, Surge decided to discourage my progress by attacking. He made the mistake of aiming Thunder at me, which, of course, I Mimicked and threw back at him. Mine didn’t get to him, though; he raised a Protect barrier. Then things began to get interesting. He pulled out his special ability. I tried to zap him quickly with another Thunder blast to stop him from pulling off whatever he was attempting, but his special ability had already taken effect.”

He had an anti-electric ability?

“Worse. Surge’s Gyarados line has magic in its blood. When he activated his special ability, he could absorb any regular energy attacks and use every bit of the attacks to heal himself.”

What did you do?

“Hidden Power.”

Shockwave stopped breathing for a moment. You used your Dark type Hidden Power on him?

“I really didn’t have much choice. He got so frightened that he begged me to stop, so I called it off before any damage was done. By then, he finally realized that I really was who I said I was, and that he was wrong the whole time.”

There was a brief silence, but not for long. Shockwave still had questions left unanswered. You knew I was falling.

We’re telekinetically connected, I guess. Shockwave shrugged. I felt the same way when you were leaving the Sacred Kingdom. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what.

“Strange, isn’t it? Most Eevee and Pikachu are not born with Psychic abilities.”

I don’t think we were born with any telepathic connection. I think our link was made.

“Yeah…” Lune was silent for a while. He spread out his energy wings so they glittered in the sunlight like a rainbow, and let the wind carry him wherever it would. He loved the peaceful sky.

You have a gold hoop earring.

“Hmm? Oh. Yeah. I offered my alliance to a clan that resisted Emperor Ryu, and the earring is their mark.”

Kind of late, huh?

“Yeah. At the time, even they didn’t know that Emperor Ryu had resigned. I didn’t really bind myself to them, though. I don’t belong with them. I think Élan understood that. I did it partly to shut the Slowpoke up, actually. He was going to be a nuisance otherwise; Luktam, I mean.”

Wait, there was an annoying Slowpoke named Luktam? And they all wore gold hoop earrings?

“Yeah.”

I think I met these pokémon.

“Really?”

Uh huh. They pretended not to have heard about you, but I knew they were lying. When I mentioned your name, Luktam gagged and sort of freaked out; he began yelling something about Ryu’s officials. I think it was kind of funny, actually.

“Hmm, I should introduce you properly to them sometime. I’m actually planning to invite them to stay in the heart of the Sacred Kingdom instead of on its outskirts. It’s pretty lonely out there.”

You’re coming back to the Sacred Kingdom?

“Yeah.”

What about your Guardianship here?

“Hmm, good point.”

Not like the Forgotten Kingdom requires a lot of care, anyway. This place isn’t close to as busy as some others.

“You’re right. There are already two excellent Guardians here. I don’t think I’ll be worried if I leave the Forgotten Kingdom in their hands.”

Sage and Blaze are still here?

“Yeah. I talked to them several days ago. We should go meet them. They’ll be overjoyed to see you. When you left your Guardianship to me and went away, the Forgotten Kingdom wept for you, and not just because it had lost you as a Guardian. You were sorely missed.”

Okay, let’s go see them.

Lune had landed and separated himself from Shockwave, who was relieved to be in his own body again. The flight was fun, but after a while, being in energy form made Shockwave feel empty and hollow. Returning to his solid body made him feel whole again.

“Where are Sage and Blaze?” Shockwave asked.

“Blaze is probably in the House of Guardians right now; he might be monitoring parts of the Forgotten Kingdom in the magical Pond of Sight that lies in the backyard. Maybe he’ll still be eating his breakfast.”

“What about Sage?”

Lune sighed. “Sage has gotten solitary over the years; even more so than he was back then. I think he’ll be taking a walk in the Lonely Hills over there in the north. He’s keeping a constant eye on the Forgotten Kingdom, though.”

“Let’s go see Blaze first, then.”

To Lune’s surprise, Sage was talking to Blaze when he and Shockwave arrived at the house. The garden outside had been left untended, but here and there things sprouted of their own accord with uncontested beauty. The day before, Lune had planted the Evening Star in their midst, knowing that it would thrive there, wild and free.

“Shockwave? Is that really you?” Sage asked, amazed. “Welcome back!” The Clefable smiled a sad smile. His eyes did not sparkle like Blaze’s, for Blaze was full of energy; Sage’s eyes were deep, dark, and filled with lonely sorrow. Although his spirit was damp, his physical build was nearly perfect. His black ears were sharp as ever, and he could hear the smallest sound; his glossy, white fur was thick and shone in the light. His sturdy legs and muscular arms could rival the strength of a Machoke. On his back, the pink fairy wings that were never meant to carry his species into the sky were so uncommonly large and strong that it looked as if Sage could actually fly.

Blaze, too, was in good health. The flames on his head and the ones that came out of his lower back burned brightly, and his fur – jet black on top and cream beneath – was smooth as silk. Most Quilava preferred to walk on all fours, although they could stand on two legs; but Blaze hardly ever set his forepaws to the ground. He never tired of walking upright. With his sleek mongoose body, he could run swiftly. Lune wondered why Blaze, who was in prime condition, could not seem to evolve into his ultimate Typhlosion form. He had evolved from a Cyndaquil easily enough.

“Hey! Shockwave! Good to see you! What’s up?” Blaze asked.

“Hiya,” Shockwave responded. “How are things going?”

“The Forgotten Kingdom is very peaceful nowadays. Sage and I don’t need to do much but watch. We’ll be fine managing it even without Lune,” Blaze answered cheerfully.

“That’s great,” said Lune. “Sorry to leave again like this, but I really can’t stay here if Shockwave is going back to the Sacred Kingdom.”

“Don’t worry,” Sage said reassuringly, “Blaze and I can hold the fort. You’ll visit once in a while, won’t you? It’s a nice surprise to see you and Shockwave here again.”

“Yeah, we’ll visit sometime,” Lune promised.

The cheerful singing of the birds blended in perfect harmony with the silvery voice of the calmly flowing river. All about, the sweet fragrance of the beautiful flowers in the meadow put hearts at ease. A pleasant afternoon breeze carried the soothing aroma far across the Hidden Valley.

The clan had awoken early and decided to go hunting, for they had not had a decent meal in days. Before long, they had been drawn deeper and deeper into the enchanting Hidden Valley, dumbstruck with awe. Inside, they silently scolded themselves for never coming into such bliss before. Now they knew why Lune had looked as if he would die when he could not travel by the Hidden Valley.

It had been two fortnights since the clan had watched Lune head home by the dreaded Mountains of Winter. Ningai was slowly roasting a skewered Raticate and several Pidgey that Charisma had caught, at times adding flame to the fire. She had to wait for the fire below to cook the meat, for if she simply tried to roast it with her own flame, the food would be hopelessly burnt in an instant. Senryu, meanwhile, who did not fancy rat or bird flesh, hunted down Remoraid in the river and swallowed them whole. He preferred fresh fish, for they lost some of their virtue if they were cooked.

Lying by the river, Charisma patiently fished with her claws. Roasted Pidgey flesh was deliciously sweet, but she liked the occasional taste of a young Poliwag or Horsea. But the tadpoles were slippery and the little seahorses extremely difficult to catch, especially because Charisma did not swim. Being a Persian, the weight of water caught in her fur would literally crush her to death in a short time. Charisma looked up. She had smelt something unpleasantly filthy, and wanted to either get rid of it or move out of the way.

Yelling with mischievous delight, the Slowpoke burst out of the water with a large Krabby in his mouth, splashing Charisma with the warm river water in the process. A glittering blue stone slipped quietly away from Charisma’s right forepaw, unnoticed, until it was too late…

“Luktam, you idiot!” Charisma shrieked, immediately shaking the water out of her fur. It was then that she noticed the tiny blue glow in the river, her precious gem floating away… “My sapphire! No!” she yelled, stretching over the riverbank and making desperate efforts to retrieve the blue stone. As it began to sink, a playful Horsea stuck her head out of the water, and, seeing the sapphire, picked it up and darted off, much to Charisma’s dismay.

Charisma had found the sapphire long ago, in a land of spectacular beauty that she… No, she wouldn’t think of it now. Not after what had happened there. How could she have been born there, how could it have been her home, if something like that could happen? But the sapphire reminded her of a time when things could not have gone wrong, and without it, only bitter memories remained… She needed her sapphire back.

Snickering, Luktam began to bounce around happily, as if he had just accomplished something highly respected and desirable. It wasn’t a particularly clever move. Charisma hissed. “It’s not funny! I’ll turn that stupid grin into an agonized frown!” The Persian sprang forth, and would have easily caught her fleeing prey between her sharp claws and teeth had it not been for Senryu, who wrapped his tail around her and gently lowered her to the ground. “You do not want to touch Luktam,” he told her. “I have seen where he has recently been. Do you know where some Krabby and Kingler hide?”

Face twisted in disgust, Charisma said, “I’ll get even with him later.” Senryu smiled.

“I saw that Horsea take off with your sapphire. I know how much it means to you. Do you want me to try to retrieve it?”

“You would do that for me?” Charisma asked, somewhat surprised, and very hesitant.

“Certainly. Give me a few minutes to find the little thief. I’ll stun her temporarily with a mild Thunder Wave, just enough to get the sapphire back.” Senryu winked, and was gone. Charisma lay deep in thought.

“Luktam!” Ningai called. “I’ve cooked your Krabby. The Raticate and Pidgey are ready, too. Charisma, Senryu, Élan, come!”

Senryu did not hear. He had gone far upstream in search of the Horsea, but could find nothing, not even in the hiding places where colonies of Horsea usually dwelled. Perhaps word had gotten throughout the river that a Dragonair was hunting. But Senryu did not wish to return empty-handed. He would do anything to see Charisma smile, for nowadays, the Persian was never happy. Senryu could not remember the last time that Charisma had not put a barrier between herself and the rest of the world. Pokémon were not born to desire utter loneliness. Charisma’s bitter coldness had been made. Senryu’s face darkened as he recalled Ningai’s story. Poor Charisma…

Élan was making his way down a tree when Lune and Shockwave arrived. The Sneasel held several eggs in his hands, all from the nest of the Pidgey family that Charisma had caught. The eggs would be a treat, for he had not had them in a long time. Besides, it would have been wasteful to leave them there to hatch into a world where there were no parents left alive to care for them.

Lune was just as surprised as Élan when the two saw each other. “Élan? What is the clan doing in the Hidden Valley?” Lune asked.

“We were hunting,” Élan replied. “I feel sorry now that we had not desired to enter this place sooner. It is a wonderful paradise.”

“It’s that evil Pikachu again! And Lune brought him here! I knew there was something sinister about that Eevee. Traitor! Oh, no! We’re all gonna die!” Luktam cried, running about on his short legs in a panic and frantically waving his tail in the air. “Shut up,” Charisma demanded as she slinked slowly towards the group.

“Relax, Luktam,” Lune said, trying to hide his irritation. “This is my friend, Shockwave. To my understanding, the clan has not yet met him properly.” Lune began the introductions, pointing at each clan member as he did so.

“So,” Élan began, “where did you go, Lune? You told us that you were going to your homeland, but not where it was.”

“The Forgotten Kingdom,” Lune said, with a tinge of pride.

Upon hearing the name, Charisma hissed. “Do not mention that place any more.”

Lune was puzzled, but one look from Ningai told him that it would be wise not to pursue the matter further at the moment. Instead, he asked, “Where is Senryu? Shockwave has yet to meet him.”

“I’ll find him,” said Charisma. No one challenged her wish. “If he hasn’t found my sapphire by now, I’m going to ask him to stop looking.” With that, the Persian ran, heading upstream.

“Care to join us for lunch, you two?” Ningai invited. Lune could feel his mouth water inside. He had not had meat for a while, for he disliked hunting. He could never find it in his heart to kill, although in battle he would be vicious. For the past few weeks, his diet had consisted mainly of berries – something he felt tired of at the moment. Shockwave, however, took one look at the dead Raticate and felt sick. He did not show it at all physically, but Lune alone could feel it. Shockwave himself was a rodent, and the sight of the Raticate made him feel ill at ease. “It’s okay. I’ll stick to berries. Berries are good,” he said. Lune accepted portions of the Pidgey, but did not touch the Raticate. Meanwhile, Luktam, having already finished his Krabby, wished that he had caught more than one. Charisma and Senryu were still gone.

After everyone had eaten their fill, and there was still no sign of Charisma, Lune ventured to ask the question that had been bothering him for a while. “By her name, it sounds as if Charisma was born in the Forgotten Kingdom. Why, then, does she hate its mention?”

Ningai sighed, and for a long while, did not speak. Finally, she said: “I know it is hard to believe, but Charisma was young and carefree once, when she lived in the Forgotten Kingdom. But…”

“Tell us what happened! Tell us why Charisma is so mean,” begged Luktam, bouncing excitedly.

Casting a stern look at the Slowpoke, who immediately became dejectedly quiet, Ningai continued. “First I will tell you about Laurelin. She was an extraordinarily beautiful Bayleef, with leaves of gold in a ring around her neck, and one large, sparkling leaf growing from the top of her head. Her eyes were a bright sky blue, and her silken coat shone with the gold of her leaves. Laurelin and Charisma used to do everything together. They were inseparable. There couldn’t have seemed to be a more wonderful pair. Charisma thought that Laurelin was her friend; she trusted the Bayleef with her life.”

There was silence for what seemed like a painfully extended moment. Then Ningai gathered up the strength to speak again. “One day, Charisma and Laurelin were taking a walk in the Lonely Hills of the Forgotten Kingdom. Something happened, and Charisma fell, but managed barely to cling on to a ledge. Although Laurelin could easily have saved Charisma with her Vine Whip, she refused to help, and simply walked away. It was only later, after Charisma escaped from death alone, that she found out that Laurelin had pushed her off the cliff, intending to kill her. Charisma discovered that for all the time that she thought that she had been friends with Laurelin, the Bayleef was only looking for revenge. Charisma learnt that a while back, her parents had helped the existing Guardians of the Forgotten Kingdom to secure the banishment of Laurelin’s father from the land. He was previously proven to have viciously murdered seven pokémon, who had come to the Forgotten Kingdom to visit, but he still maintained that they deserved to die. He gave no reasons. His actions antagonized all of the lands from which each individual visitor came. For a time, the Forgotten Kingdom lay in threat of a seven-way war. Fortunately, the Guardians managed to convince the other lands to remain peaceful… But the Forgotten Kingdom has had edgy relations with them ever since that incident. That was long ago. Charisma still has terrible recollections when she hears mention of the Forgotten Kingdom. Forsaken, she left and never went back. Charisma trusts no one now, for fear of being hurt again. She forces herself not to feel any love or compassion. I worry for her.”

“She told you all these things, Ningai?” Lune asked in a saddened tone.

“Yes, and no one else,” the Nidoqueen replied.

At that moment, Senryu and Charisma came into sight. “I do not wish to break my promise,” he said to her. “I promised you that I would get your sapphire back.” Charisma thought that the Dragonair sounded genuinely sincere.

The Persian shook her head. “If you still haven’t found the Horsea who took it, she is probably gone,” Charisma said, somewhat disappointedly.

But Senryu tensed suddenly, distracted. Without warning, he disappeared into the river. He had felt something small brush by him: something with fins and a long, curled tail. The curious red eyes stared back at him, but soon, the Horsea’s inquisitive attitude changed into one of great fear. She prepared to bolt, but Senryu had already zapped her with constricting static electricity.

Senryu emerged from the river triumphantly, carrying the rogue Horsea and gently removing Charisma’s sapphire from her snout. He released the little seahorse, who, struggling, gratefully slipped away in a flash. Charisma followed behind, and could not hide the fact that she was a little pleased. As the two returned, Lune could see a noticeable change in Charisma’s expression: For the first time since he had met her, she did not wear a frown. But she did not smile, for she still could not tell if she should.

“Senryu showed her that we care for her. Perhaps there is still hope,” Lune heard Ningai whisper.

Lune waited until Charisma had finished eating the food that had been saved for her. “The southern entrance Valley is only a few hours away,” he said. “Why don’t we head for it now before the evening fades?”

Élan shook his head. “You and Shockwave can go ahead if you want. I think we would like to stay here a little bit longer.” There was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the clan.

“Well, we were kind of thinking that you could come to the heart of the Sacred Kingdom with us instead of living in exile on its outskirts,” Shockwave explained.

“Ryu can no longer terrorize you,” Lune continued. “There is no reason to continue living as if you were shunted from the community.”

Élan gathered the clan together, deep in thought, and, for some time, they held a serious discussion in whispers. Finally, Élan returned to where Lune and Shockwave were waiting. He neither frowned nor smiled. “We are greatly thankful for the invitation,” he said carefully, “but we must refuse. We have grown accustomed to our lifestyle, and do not wish to change it yet. Thank you for your consideration.”

“This means goodbye, then,” Lune replied. “Perhaps we shall meet again.”

“Perhaps,” said Élan, even as Lune and Shockwave prepared to leave.

“Hey, WAIT,” Luktam screamed, “You’re not just letting Lune break from the clan like this, are you, Élan? Clan members are supposed to stick with the clan! If Lune wants out, he has to defeat you and Ningai first.”

“Oh, no, Luktam, Lune’s not really-” Élan was cut short.

“It’s all right,” Lune said, smirking. “Shockwave…?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.” Shockwave grinned too.

Lune nodded. “We’ll battle you. Let’s make this one count.”

Ningai and Élan exchanged looks, then prepared to battle. Luktam laughed childishly. “Haha! You guys are nuts! You can’t beat Ningai and Élan!” he jeered.

“We’ll see about that,” Lune muttered under his breath, building a more intense dislike for Luktam every time the Slowpoke opened his mouth to speak.

“Caution is necessary, of course,” Shockwave whispered. “Lune, I want to see their reaction when I seemingly disappear and you grow wings and fly.”

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

“Okay, then,” Lune replied. “Ready, Élan and Ningai? Let’s go!” The rest of the clan members moved a safe distance away to spectate, under the lush foliage of shady, fruit-laden trees.

The ground shook with utter ferocity, tearing apart the earth with its violent fits. Shockwave had sprung upwards immediately to avoid Ningai’s powerful tremors, but Lune had not been quick enough; he was thrown off his feet. From that point, all he could do was cling onto the trembling ground tightly, hoping to avoid further injury. The world began to spin around him, and it was difficult to see. Meanwhile, Shockwave, mid-air, had leapt for Ningai, and, hardening his zigzagged tail until it glimmered a metallic silver, sought to strike the Nidoqueen in the face with its iron sting. Ningai dodged, but in so doing, ceased creating the violent tremors, giving Lune and Shockwave the moment that they needed.

“Union of Soul!” Lune cried, barely managing to struggle to his feet. The evening sky flashed momentarily with blinding light. Shockwave, now in his purest state of being, a glorious white radiance, was drawn into Lune’s body. Shining rainbows burst from the Eevee’s shoulders, forming the wings with which he could fly. He laughed as he took to the air, a free being, liberated from the confinements of the ground. He loved the feel of his energy wings as they beat against the sky; it put him at ease, somehow, and yet gave him a feeling of great jubilation.

Élan, who had until now been hanging on to Ningai’s shoulder, safely away from her Earthquakes, slid downwards to the grass below. “Looks like Lune won’t be grounded again,” he said. “At least, not until we make him come down.” Ningai knew that Élan already had a plan. But neither understood where Shockwave had gone; all they remembered was the intolerable flash of light, and the sudden sprouting of wings from Lune’s back.

They seem a little confused, huh? Let’s give them a hint. With that, Shockwave called massive storm clouds into existence high above; the sky darkened as they cast their ominous shadows. The gray forms seemed to throb and swell, threatening at any moment to burst. A roll of thunder followed the frightful flash of lightning, then, the rain, as if answering the urging call, burst forth in torrents. Ningai tried to hide her pain, and did not wince, but it was plain by the look of suffering in her eyes. The water stung her viciously. Then Shockwave made the river waters rise to towering heights, into one massive wave that grew larger as he fed it with the rain. Ningai watched in terror; Élan, horrified, finally understood.

“Ningai,” he screamed, “They’ve combined! An Eevee cannot summon a tidal wave like this, but a Pikachu is capable of using Surf. Shockwave is inside Lune’s body!”

“What phenomenal synergy they must have,” Ningai whispered, “to have special abilities that complement each other! I’ve never heard of something like this in the past.”

“Yes… But the wave approaches.” Élan was right. The river water loomed over the two, ready to come crashing down upon them, to engulf them with its dreadful might. “We both are capable of using Surf, too… Let’s turn it back on them together. Shockwave may be a strong battler, but I doubt he can take two at a time.”

With that, Ningai and Élan focused their mental strength on repelling the tsunami. Inch by inch, they pushed it back, and its overflowing waters slowly receded. Shockwave’s will and the power of the raging river were not alone enough to withstand a double assault. But just as Ningai and Élan began to think that they were winning, Lune snickered.

“You think I’m just going to beat my wings in place and watch you two mentally fight against Shockwave, without doing anything myself, just because an Eevee like me isn’t capable of using Surf any time I want to? What, have you forgotten about one of my obvious options?” Lune called.

Shockwave grinned. Mimic. Too bad you don’t permanently learn the moves you pick up during the battle, though.

“Hey, I like it anyway,” Lune replied. He had been following Shockwave’s thoughts carefully ever since the Pikachu had first begun to build up the wave, and he had enough – at least temporarily – to duplicate the effect. Lune added his newly acquired strength to Shockwave’s, urging the wave forward once more with renewed vigor. The ferocity of the mental assault caught Élan and Ningai by surprise; their control over the river faltered, and in that moment of hesitation, they lost the mental battle. The tidal wave submerged them suddenly, like a starving beast, too impatient to consume its prey slowly, and instead swallowing whole, and all at once. But the waters receded rapidly this time, downhill, back into the riverbed; and the heavy downpour slackened, then eventually stopped altogether. Gray clouds no longer hovered over the sky; the sun was free to shine again and give warmth. The river, now calm once more, seemed as if it could never have been the monster that it just was - never that ferocious. But the bitter sting of the ice cold waters, sharper than a thousand daggers, served as a constant reminder to Ningai that it was no dream; and even now, Élan still coughed violently, at times spewing forth the river water that had forced itself into his lungs. The nightmare was a reality.

Élan knew that it had to stop. Ningai, being a Ground type, suffered horribly from water-based assaults, for their stinging wrath caused her pain beyond the wildest imagination. Although Ningai herself was powerful and could take much punishment, she had not yet fully recovered from the wounds that she had received a month ago from the conflict with Ryu’s dirty officials. Élan could tell that this battle had already put an intense strain on Ningai; it could not continue. “Enough,” he cried in defeat, “We forfeit.” He did not say anything about Ningai’s previous injuries to Lune and Shockwave, who did not know. They were not at fault, after all, and he did not want to make them feel guilty.

Lune lowered himself to the ground beside Ningai and Élan. His wings, folded, slowly faded away, and in their place stood Shockwave, back in his own body. Both were confused, and both smelled disaster.

“SEE? I told you they were nasty! Look what they did to Ningai!” Luktam came running (or rather, in his case, stumbling – he was an extraordinarily fat and lazy Slowpoke, who scarcely got the exercise that was good for him) towards the four, followed by an irritated Charisma and, as usual, a calm but concerned Senryu.

“I… I thought we were just battling,” Lune said, almost half-whispering. He felt small, like a despicable murderer who had taken advantage of some helpless victim. Shockwave gripped Lune’s shoulder tightly; Lune could feel the Pikachu’s hand trembling.

“It’s not your fault,” Élan told them. “It’s mine. I should have been wise enough to stop her from participating in that battle in the first place. Ningai, I-”

“It’s all right,” the battered Nidoqueen said weakly, pushing herself slowly and painfully up to her feet, “I’ll be fine. It’s getting dark,” she observed, looking up at the late evening sky. “Lune, Shockwave, you two should head home. No excuses,” she added sternly. “I don’t want you two travelling too far into the night.”

“Um, okay…” Shockwave answered half-heartedly.

“Sorry,” Lune whispered, as Luktam mocked him with accusing glares. He turned around to follow Shockwave. Their forlorn frames soon disappeared into the darkness.

Shockwave had gone to the busy central square to relax. It had a friendly atmosphere, especially in the evening; Shockwave loved to watch as pokémon went by. It was interesting to see what they did. The evening sunsets were breathtakingly beautiful, and somehow, the gentle lavenders, and pinks, and golds, brought upon a sense of calmness and quiet joy. It was unfortunate that Lune, who had needed to work for the Guardians since they arrived in the morning, could not accompany Shockwave.

Grand though the Guardians’ palace was, Lune wished that he could have gone to the central square with Shockwave. He was in a quiet, pensive mood, and would have much preferred to sit in silence while he watched the graceful sunset. But he had been away long enough, and had much to do.

“Since you are alive and well, I suggest that you show up at the general tournament tomorrow,” Lord Yoruno told Lune.

“I’m still in the tournament?” the Eevee asked, surprised. “I thought I would have been kicked off of it a long time ago.”

“You will be if you miss tomorrow’s round,” Lord Yoruno replied. “You were already disqualified from Round Two. You’ll need to battle your way out of the Loser’s Bracket if you can. It’s a double elimination tournament. One more loss and you’re out.”

“Oh, wonderful. I wonder whom I’m up against,” Lune said to himself.

“Find out tomorrow like the rest of the pokémon,” Lord Yoruno snapped. “Stop fishing for advantages.”

“I didn’t ask for an answer,” Lune said quietly, avoiding Lord Yoruno’s gaze. The Umbreon tended to assume that Lune had ignoble motivations for all of his rhetorical comments. Lord Yoruno probably did it to everyone without realizing it, but Lune still hated it. Of all the virtues that Lune valued, honor was what he cherished most. The second in importance was competence. Lune hated being viewed as some sleazy criminal who always had dirty purposes. It hurt his pride.

Lord Yoruno broke the uncomfortable silence. “We have two new Advisers.”

“Finally!” Lune exclaimed, relieved. He was tired of having to deal with all the pokémon who needed an Adviser’s assistance. Although Lord Yoruno and Lady Naien were technically Advisers, too, Lune usually did most of the work. At last he could have help from two others; his burden of duties would be relieved somewhat. “Who are they?” Lune asked.

“You can find out when Lady Naien and I announce it tomorrow,” Lord Yoruno told him.

“I hate it when you do that…”

“Do what?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Lune sighed, turning away.

“Well,” Lord Yoruno continued, “don’t think that this puts you off the hook. You still have to do the work if you want to keep your job as an Adviser.”

“I did not need something that obvious pointed out to me,” Lune snapped, irritated. Lord Yoruno said nothing. “Stop it! Just STOP IT!” Lune yelled suddenly. Ever since he had first met Lord Yoruno, Lune had resented the Umbreon’s attitude of superiority; but he had controlled his burning anger, and bottled it within. Now, way past its due, the volcano that had lain dormant finally erupted. “I will NOT continue being treated like this!” Lune stormed. “You always talk to me as if I am stupid. You always tell me obvious things that I already know, and explain them to me as if I am not capable of understanding anything at all. You always assume that I am some sort of lowly criminal out to fulfill my own selfish, greedy purposes.” Lune roared, and his eyes, mad with fury, blazed with inextinguishable fire. “I have had enough! I am NOT some inferior, sub-intelligent life form! I am NOT an idiotic, sleazy criminal! STOP TREATING ME LIKE I AM!”

Lord Yoruno was taken aback. Amazement was in his face, and he was stung with guilt. He had never realized before that Lune, or anyone else for that matter, felt this way about his manner. “I’m sorry!” he replied meekly, as if he was retreating. “We can talk about anything else!” Lord Yoruno quickly changed the subject, and Lune, satisfied, eventually cooled down.

“Sorry about the outburst, but it was necessary,” Lune said after a while.

“It’s fine,” Lord Yoruno replied. “It’s just your competitive spirit. Use it well, and it will bring you far in life.”

As if drawing from a faraway thought, Lune answered: “I’m afraid I have too much.” With that, he left the palace silently to prepare for the tournament round that would take place the next day.