Pokemon Supernova

PART ONE- FIRE 1. THE NEW TRAINER Kaira stared out her window at the sight of her new town of Twinleaf. The sky glared back at her with a sickly gloom. Kaira felt homesick. She missed her old hometown bitterly. She had come from Johto, and her family had to move here only because her father had volunteered to help out professor Rowan in his research of a strange new pokemon that he had recently discovered. Kaira sighed. She made her way down stairs. She was the only one in her house awake, for it was only 5:30 in the morning and she was the only one in her family unable to sleep, lost in her thoughts and memories all night. She stepped outside in her bare feet, and felt the cold, wet ground from the rain last night. She looked around hopefully. She knew she wasn't the only one to be awake at this time. And there was only one other person she was thankful to have around this strange new region. Someone she had looked up to as something almost even more than a friend. Barry had been the first person to greet her and make her feel welcome in Twinleaf Town. When she had first moved in, he had introduced her to all the neighbors and pokemon he knew in town, and even though they had only known each other for three weeks now, Kaira and Barry became great friends. It was unusual for Kaira to make friends with somebody, for back in her old home, people treated her like she was some kind of weirdo just because she didn't like pokemon. It was true- Kaira couldn't stand being around pokemon. She could never stand being around them, nor could they stand being around her. And it wasn't Kaira's fault….there was just something about her that made her automatically fear pokemon and make pokemon not like her. Kaira hated it. She wanted to like pokemon, to be normal around them like everyone else, but there was just something natural about her that made her dislike them. Kaira had always looked at it like some sort of stupid disorder about her. But that was one of the main reasons she had very little friends. Often people around her age of fifteen, she pretended to be a naïve, weird person that made people view her as an absent-minded outcast. But when she met Barry, Barry had gotten the bright side out of her. She stared up into the empty gray morning sky as she remembered how Barry's enthusiasm and spirit had gotten her to enjoy being around him, and even be herself around him. Barry was the first person to open her up like that, and become a true friend to her already. He didn't treat her like she was a strange, unsocial weirdo, and he saw her as a good friend. The sad part was….he didn't see her as anything more than a friend. Kaira had grown to love being around Barry, even though some of the time, he was busy running around with his pokemon. But Kaira wished that one day she could tell him her true feelings about him. The cold breeze blew over Kaira. She liked the cold. She loved the rain and the chilly winter breeze that would blow over her chocolate brown hair. But even the close winter season here wasn't the same as in Johto. She took a walk up the road, hoping to find him where she expected him to be. Barry was tossing stones out into the cold wet pool-- known as Lake Verity. Thankfully to Kaira, he was alone and didn't have his Empoleon with him. She managed a slight smile at the side of her face as she approached his side. "Hey Barry," she murmured. "Oh hey. A little early to be out right now! I bet you didn't sleep, huh?" Kaira shrugged. "It's not like I have anything important planned for today." The air blew in her pale white face again. "Ha! Hey, my parents complain about me not getting enough sleep since I'm always so busy working up late with my pokemon, you know? It's fun to have pokemon to keep you busy and excited for what's to come, that I barely get little to no sleep some nights. I get less sleep from liking this place TOO much. You, on the other hand, get very little sleep from not liking this place enough. Isnt that kinda funny?" He picked up another stone and tossed it into the water. I chuckled. "Yeah, I was just thinking all night. There's really nothing to miss about the Johto region…..I really had no friends there. But it was where I was born and….well….the noise the Starly were making last night reminded me of the way the Hoothoots used to do the same at night. It reminded me of how homesick I really was." Barry met Kaira's gaze. "Aw, I'm sorry to hear that. But hey! The pokemon here arent that bad. And I'm sure I've seen a Hoothoot or two once in a while around here. This place isn't entirely wiped out of Johto pokemon." Kaira huffed. "I just wish I could feel the same about ANY pokemon." "Hey, I believe if anyone tries, they can achieve ANYTHING, as long as the try. You just need a little motivation, and some spirit to keep you from despairing! And I'm gonna make sure I teach you." Barry went from an understanding gaze to a serious, forceful expression. "No friend of mine is gonna live their lives, not knowing what it's like to have a special bond with pokemon!" Kaira giggled. It always lightened her spirits whenever she shared the, with Barry. "Hey! I really wouldn't mind if I have to stay here for the rest of my life, you know." "Hey, did you know that this very lake lives one of the three pokemon?" Said Barry, tossing another stone as hard as he could far out into the lake. He wasn't taking Kaira's comment seriously. "Mesprit, the Being of Emotions, can control how people feel about things. Neat, huh?" He looked at her with a raised smile, and Kaira just rolled her eyes and smiled. "Sure. I guess Mesprit is the reason I just happen to hate her and all the other pokemon around me?" Barry laughed and gave her a friendly push. "No! Mesprit can change that if it wants to. Since you're so scared, I come here every morning to try and ask it myself." Kaira looked at Barry with a tender expression. "Really?" "Yep. Of course, I've never seen it myself face to face, for it's totally rare and too valuable to be seen by humans, but yeah! I try to tell it to help people like you to be yourself and enjoy pokemon around you!" "Aw, you really don't--" "Whoa! What time is it?" Barry suddenly looked at his pokewatch with widened eyes. He met Kaira's gaze. "Hehe, sorry bout that. But hey, Professor Rowan should be up by now. I hear he's giving out starter pokemon today!" "Starter pokemon?" Kaira gave Barry a funny look. "Yeah, every season, old man Rowan gives out a Piplup, a Turtwig, or a Chimchar to anyone who wants to start their pokemon training. You should pick one! I was thinking this would be a great opportunity to help you bond with pokemon more! Come on! Let's go, I'll take you!" Barry was starting to run off again, but Kaira stopped him. "Hey, wait!" She had a frustrated look on her face. Barry turned to her. "Huh? What's wrong?" "Look….it's just that…I've already tried this before. I was already offered a starter pokemon in Johto…and I failed. Badly." "Really?" Barry turned from his running position to face her again. "Yeah, I picked the easiest pokemon that everyone said was the calmest and the most obedient….and it didn't like me," Kaira explained the dreadful moment without meeting Barry's gaze. She looked down at her bare feet. "I picked Chikorita. I took it home, and let it out of its poke ball. I was so scared at what to do next once it was free, that I just panicked and tried to send it back to its poke ball. But the Chikorita was happy and excited to get out that it escaped and wandered around the house, and I…well….I don't want to talk about what I did next and what happened after that." "Aw, come on. This will be different! I'm gonnaa be here to help you!" Kaira looked up and met Barry's excited and understanding gaze. She suddenly felt determined. "Well, I guess I can try again. But I'm serious. If I mess up this time, I'm never touching another pokemon in my life." "Oh yes, you will!" Barry gave her a devious smile. "I'm gonna make sure you get pressured as much as you can by pokemon until you realize how fun they are! Now come on and let's go see those starters!" Barry took off without her, and Kaira gazed after him with an uneasy but admiring expression, and then she laughed and took off after him. "Hey! Hey, Barry wait up!" She ran through the woods in her bare feet, until she realized how frozen they were. She gasped and clenched her teeth. "Shoot! Barry! Come back! Where'd you go?" She kept herself from gazing around, for the fear of being alone in the wild and surrounded by pokemon would only get worse. She ran forwards, yelling, "Barry! Hey, Barry!" She clumsily tripped over a short rock---only that it wasn't a rock, but a sleeping Bonsly that woke up with a start. "Bonsliii!" It cried and jumped around. Kaira, laying on her side, gasped and froze in fear, until the Bonsly bounced away. Her gaze followed it as it snuck passed a strange group of people in the trees. She narrowed her eyes and peered into the thicket. There were about four tall dark people, and a large bulky creature on four legs at their side. As a low, menacing growl sounded from their way, Kaira immediately knew they were trouble. She got up and ran back home. She arrived at Professor Rowan's lab looking like a homeless, helpless kid. Her white and gray nightgown she had been wearing was partly muddy from her fall, and her hair was brushed, though slightly ruffled from running. Her feet were dirty, and turning blue from the cold they had been in. All her feelings of happiness and spirit from her earlier encounter with Barry had all been washed away and she felt like a loser again. She looked around and saw that several scientists were wandering around the strange lab, and then she widened her eyes hopefully as she saw Barry with his Empoleon by his side, coming up to the corner of the lab where there were three poke balls. Then Kaira's gaze faltered as she realized who else was gathered around the pokeballs. Dawn, a sixteen year old girl who lived just two blocks away from her house, was standing between Barry, and a boy named Lucas. She wore her pink jacket and fluffy white scarf, and her hair looked as perfect and shiny as it can ever be on this cold, dry morning. Her face was smiling and she looked happy and satisfied as she chatted with Barry and Lucas about the new starters in the pokeballs. As usual, Dawn was her outgoing, opinionated self. She was nice, Kaira thought, though Kaira didn't like her one bit. One reason, was because she had known Barry longer, and Barry had become almost like her best friend before he met Kaira. Another reason was because she seemed to want to know everything there was about pokemon, just like Barry did, and to Kaira, that just proved she was a better friend to Barry, considering she loved pokemon and had a spirit for training pokemon just like he did. Kaira never tried to let the thought bother her, but it always occurred to her that Barry might just secretly be in love with Dawn, or Dawn might secretly be in love with him. They weren't the friendliest towards each other, though. Kaira knew perfectly well that Barry was nicer to her than he was to Dawn, for he and Dawn treated each other like misshapen brothers and sisters. But their arguments they purposely started among each other were obviously fake, and it just showed how much they really cared for each other as good friends…maybe even more. Kaira watched with a devious feeling welling up inside of her as she watched Barry push Dawn out of his way so he can peer into the pokeball in the middle. Dawn frowned and gave him a sharp pinch on the shoulder and made him step away. They got into some kind of argument that Kaira couldn't hear, but from the way Kaira saw their faces lighten up and the way Lucas was rolling his eyes and smiling, that they were just in another one of their teasing quarrels. Kaira was so focused in her glare at the three of them, that she didn't realize a strange, ice cold creature that was purring against her dirty leg. "Hhh-huh?" Kaira flinched and lifted her right leg up and covered her mouth as she gazed down in horror at Glaceon, Dawn's own pokemon. "Achhh! Get away from me!" She jumped back, bumping into a shelf of books and fell down, knocking several off the shelf and falling around her. Glaceon, looking confused, suddenly realized what a noob Kaira had been after it had just been friendly to her. Glaceon's ice cold eyes narrowed into slits and it gave a ferocious hiss and her, breathing out a cold breath of air towards Kaira and stalked away towards Dawn and the others. Barry, Lucas, Dawn all noticed Kaira. "Hey! There you are Kaira!" Called Barry excitedly. "What were you doing? Come over here and join us!" Kaira felt humiliated. She frowned and sighed, and felt like never getting up again. 2. CASAVON Kaira watched with a devious feeling welling up inside of her as she watched Barry push Dawn out of his way so he can peer into the pokeball in the middle. Dawn frowned and gave him a sharp pinch on the shoulder and made him step away. They got into some kind of argument that Kaira couldn't hear, but from the way Kaira saw their faces lighten up and the way Lucas was rolling his eyes and smiling, that they were just in another one of their teasing quarrels. Kaira was so focused in her glare at the three of them, that she didn't realize a strange, ice cold creature that was purring against her dirty leg. "Hhh-huh?" Kaira flinched and lifted her right leg up and covered her mouth as she gazed down in horror at Glaceon, Dawn's own pokemon. "Achhh! Get away from me!" She jumped back, bumping into a shelf of books and fell down, knocking several off the shelf and falling around her. Glaceon, looking confused, suddenly realized what a noob Kaira had been after it had just been friendly to her. Glaceon's ice cold eyes narrowed into slits and it gave a ferocious hiss and her, breathing out a cold breath of air towards Kaira and stalked away towards Dawn and the others. Barry, Lucas, Dawn all noticed Kaira. "Hey! There you are Kaira!" Called Barry excitedly. "What were you doing? Come over here and join us!" Kaira felt humiliated. She frowned and sighed, and felt like never getting up again. Barry, Lucas, and Dawn all hurried over to her. Dawn was holding her Glaceon. She stared down at Kaira with a narrowed look. "You didn't have to scream like that. Glaceon was actually trying to be friendly with you." Kaira glared back up at Dawn and looked away. Barry held out a hand towards her. "Come on, Kaira! Get up and meet the pokemon. You're not hurt, are you?" Kaira took his hand and got up. She was slightly angry that Barry wasn't even apologizing that he had left her behind in the woods. "No, I'm fine," she muttered under her breath, looking down. Glaceon hissed at her again. Dawn was glaring at Kaira with the same expression. "I'm surprised Glaceon would even TRY. You're always turning down pokemon whether they wanna scare you or not." Kaira just met Dawn's gaze, thinking "It's not my fault, you stupid wannabe!" But she kept her mouth shut. Kaira was always unsocial and weird around people that were her age, which was why she had never made many friends. Dawn, especially, was one of the people she couldn't stand having around. She and Barry were always so hip and chatty around each other, and Kaira couldn't help suspecting they secretly loved each other deep down. Barry was the only person who acted like Kaira's best friend, and Kaira had fallen in love with him in the three weeks she had moved here. To see someone like Dawn with him, someone that was his type and shared so many common adventures with pokemon like he did, it just made Kaira mad. But she kept her unresponsive personality the same around Dawn. Lucas gave Kaira a hopeful look. "I've already met all the starters last night. They seem much friendlier than last season's." Dawn nodded and laughed. "The Piplup is way more calm and respectful than my feisty little one!" Barry shrugged and gave a narrowed smile. "Your Piplup will never become as feisty and powerful as my EMPOLEON." "Shut up," replied Dawn challengingly. "Piplup can battle you any day and win." "Well then!" Lucas threw his hands up between them before they could start their yappy quarreling. "We should take a look at those pokemon!" He led the way back towards the corner where the three pokeballs were kept. Kaira kept to the back by Barry's side. "I don't know…" she said with uncertainty. "I'm just gonna lose my faith once I let the pokemon out of its poke ball." "Come on!" Urged Barry. "You're just despairing again. You'll never get anywhere if you just despair!" Dawn turned to meet her gaze. "Yeah, if you keep believing that you're just gonna fail, it's just going to seem more possible." Kaira bit her lip. To have Barry encourage her with understanding and enthusiasm in his tone was one thing, but for Dawn to remind her how unsuccessful she was different. "I did have faith in myself before," said Kaira, "but then I just lose it when my stupid disorder kicks in." Dawn nodded. "I'm really sorry about that. But you can still get a little more acquainted with pokemon if you try hard enough." "Hey, Kaira!" Barry picked up the middle pokeball. "You ought to get a Piplup! That way you'll ace through pokemon battles and learn what it's like to be a trainer at the same time!" "I don't think she should get a Piplup," said Dawn with concern. "You know how proud and headstrong they are. My Piplup even had trouble with me the first time I got it." Lucas nodded. "I would say Turtwig would be the best. It's obedient and friendly." Barry gave an unsure expression. "Mmm, Turtwig's a little slow on learning. Chimchar can be a beast at training. It's friendly, AND a strong little guy!" Kaira wasn't finding any of the choices appealing. She sighed. "I really don't know…..maybe I should just try another pokemon? Are Starly easy to train?" Lucas met her gaze. "Starly are easy to train. But I wouldn't want to look to just a simple Starly to start my journey." "The choice is yours, Kaira," said a deep serious voice. Professor Rowan joined them all. "Which will it be?" He took the left poke ball and threw out a Chimchar. "Chimchar?" He threw out the next one. "Piplup?" He threw out the last. "Or Turtwig?" Kaira glanced at all the pokemon and her heart pounded. That stupid feeling she always felt when she was around pokemon struck her. Why must she always feel this way? No matter how hard she tried, or what she told herself, her fear of pokemon was like a permanent disorder. "Uh…." She took a step back and felt humiliated. She knew she was turning red in front of everybody. Dawn gave her a concerned look. "If you like, we could choose for you. And then we'll all help you in your training." "Come on, Kaira," said Lucas encouragingly. "They're all great pokemon." Chimchar was hopping around excitedly and looking happy to see people around it. It looked up at Lucas. "Chim! Chimcharrr!" Lucas laughed and gave it a pat on the head. Its tailed burned nicely and it seemed to smile. "Hey, look at your new trainer over there," Lucas pointed to Kaira. "Try and show her how strong you could be, and she might just pick you to be her next pokemon!" Chimchar met Kaira's startled shy gaze, and suddenly its eyes narrowed into slits. Its tail flamed wildly and it made a low growl. Dawn glanced down at it. "Chimchar? Are you okay?" Kaira held up her hands. "Um…haha, excuse me. I'm probably just going to start problems." She walked towards the exit passed the three starters. Barry blocked her way. "Hey! You're not going anywhere!" He had a mischievous look in his eyes. "If any pokemon's gonna pick on you, then I'll be there to teach it to behave!" Kaira smiled. "Yeah, if you know how to heal a permanent disorder." Suddenly, Kaira felt her back get splashed by cold water. She gasped as she turned to face the Piplup, who was glaring at her with blue, icy eyes. The Piplup cried out a loud, "Piiiipluup!" And spat out a strong Bubble attack towards Kaira. She choked a shocked gasp and fell to the floor again, scaring away the Turtwig nearby. Dawn gasped. "Oh my gosh! Are you all right?" She came over to hand Kaira a towel. "And the Piplup was so nice this morning!" Kaira huffed. "It's always my fault." She threw back the towel and ran out the door, not looking back. Kaira ran to her house and up the stairs, ignoring her mother's greeting from the kitchen. She slammed her door shut and threw herself on her bed. She felt like hiding her face in her pillow for the rest of her life. She didn't cry though-- she never did cry. Sometimes even she wondered why how sometimes, no matter how sad she felt, she couldn't cry. Tears never swelled up in her eyes whenever she was sad. Perhaps it was because she was so used to being left out and insecure with pokemon that she couldn't bring herself to cry at the right time. Kaira sighed and stared out the gloomy window again. A flock of Starly flew in the distance. They were so cute, they way they followed each other in a straight line, and pecked at each other playfully as they circled around the trees. "Too bad I couldn't bring myself to enjoy them," thought Kaira bitterly. She huffed and blew a strand of hair from her eyes. Kaira didn't show up from her room until evening. Her father was still with Professor Rowan, still busy with his research. Barry had been at her door two or three times, calling her to come out, but she had ignored him. She didn't want to show her face in front of him while he was with Dawn and Lucas. They were always with him throughout the day, whenever he had his free time. Kaira cursed at Dawn, for the only time Barry did have free time was when he wasn't busy training his pokemon. But Kaira could barely have any time when she could have Barry all to herself, since Dawn or Lucas were either with him. And Kaira couldn't be herself in front of anybody but Barry. Even Lucas, who was polite and understanding about her personality wasn't enough to make Kaira feel comfortable and herself. She sat at the kitchen table, staring out at the evening sky. "What's wrong with me?" She muttered. Why couldn't she like pokemon like everyone else did? Suddenly, something banged at her door. She huffed, knowing it was Barry. "Might as well answer now, there's nothing else I want to do." She got up and walked towards the door. But when she answered it, there was no Barry. Instead, something small and fast dashed into the house passed her legs and hopped up the bottom of the stairs, sitting atop the banister. Kaira gasped as she realized that it was Chimchar-- the same Chimchar from Rowan's lab. It looked around the house curiously, sniffing and hopping from one place to another, crying out its monkey cry. "Ahh! No! Shoo! Get outta here!" Kaira grabbed a broom nearby and threw it clumsily towards the Chimchar, scaring it away and crashing it into a chair. The Chimchar made a snarl at her and dashed up the stairs. "Hey, come back! Get out!" Kaira shot up the stairs after it. She had no idea how to handle a pokemon loose in her house. She made a leap towards the Chimchar, but fell to the floor as it escaped her grab. It yelled angrily back at her and breathed out a slight burn at her. Kaira screamed and saw that her left forearm had a red burn on it. Chimchar suddenly leaped into her room. She got up and followed it. What could it want from her? Earlier, it treated her like an enemy it had been expecting, and now it just randomly shows up in her house, heading towards her room. She looked around her room. The Chimchar was gone. But the window was tightly shut. "Chimchaaa!" Came a muffled cry from the closet. Kaira gasped. The crazy pokemon was probably burning all her clothes! She swung her closet open and saw that the Chimchar was carrying a small pink toy treasure chest that was almost its size. "Hey! That's mine!" Kaira's tone was angry now, not scared. The pink toy treasure chest had been her childhood toy, and inside it contained the silver ring her mother had given her before she died. She promised herself that she would keep her mother's wedding ring safe in the toy box, locked away unless the toy key unlocked it. Chimchar met Kaira's gaze with angry eyes and blew out a puff of smoke. "Chimchar!" It yelled challengingly. Kaira couldn't let this pokemon take off with it. "Give it back!" She yelled. Then her gaze faltered. "Please….give it back. It's special to me." She doubted this pokemon even understood how she felt or what she meant, so she looked around for her phone so she could call Professor Rowan for help. But suddenly, the Chimchar leaped onto her shoulder and then leaped at the window, opening it up with its long arms and took off with the box. Kaira took her purple sweater and ran after it into the dark night. "Chimchar!" She yelled, forgetting about asking for help as she ran pass Professor Rowan's house. All she cared about was getting her mother's ring back. "Chimchar, come back! I'm gonna get you, you little…" Her voice lowered as she pushed her way through the woods and followed its flaming tail. It stopped at the edge of Lake Verity. Kaira appeared from the bushes, and glared at the pokemon. "I've got you now. Give me back my box!" Chimchar met her gaze and its tail glowed. "Chimcharrr!" It showed no sign of fear as Kaira approached. It suddenly held up the pink box towards the full moon. Kaira stopped and winced. "What the world are you doing?!" She gasped. Suddenly the box glowed bright pink. The moon's shine seemed to become a brighter beam as it shone on the box. "Hey, if anything happens to that ring inside, I swear I'm gonna--" Kaira's voice was surprisingly challenging and she impressed herself at how determined she felt towards this pokemon. Chimchar interrupted her with a shot of fire. Kaira ducked and avoided it, but she kept her eye on the box. Suddenly, it hovered off of Chimchar's hands in the air. Kaira suddenly remembered Mesprit, the Being of Emotions. Whatever this Chimchar was doing, did it have anything to do with Mesprit? "Chimchar….." Kaira watched in awe as the Chimchar shot a blast of purple and white flames towards the box. Purple and white? Kaira wasn't sure if those were even flames. But suddenly, the box unlocked without her toy key, and a tiny horizontally oval shape, about the size of a four-inch bean bag. Something at the center of it was glowing silver, and Kaira realized it was the ring that belonged to her mother. "Hey! The ring! What the heck are you doing to it?!" Kaira suddenly took a fallen tree branch at her foot. "GIVE IT BACK!" She leaped up towards the oval shape above the box, and whacked her branch at it, ignoring the angry cry of Chimchar. But as the oval shape fell from the air, Chimchar suddenly leapt at Kaira's face and shook her head until she fell on her knees. "Ahh! Get offa me!" She yelled, pulling the pokemon off her face. A musical squeak suddenly sounded over the forest. It was like an echo, though it only came from where Kaira was. Chimchar let go of Kaira's face and the both of them stared up at the oval shape that hovered back up in the air. The toy box was on the ground, and the oval suddenly shone brightly. Kaira saw that it was a yellow creature with small button eyes and a tiny mouth. Just underneath the mouth was the glowing ring at the center of its body, and on the bottom corners were its two stubby small legs. It had arms too, tiny short arms at the sides of the glowing ring. It was like the shape of an egg, except it was horizontal, and at the sides of it stuck out two black dents like ears. It made a squeaky noise again and raised up its tiny arms, making the ring shine even more brightly. The squeak was high and musical, creating a harmonic slur that sounded like a flute. To Kaira, the creature was cute in a way, though she started to back away, for her instincts told her it was some kind of pokemon. "M-Mesprit?" Her voice quavered. Apparently, this Chimchar knew this pokemon was in her box, and it had brought it to the Lake Verity to free it. Could this be one of the Three? Mesprit, the Being of Emotions? Chimchar gave Kaira a punishing slap on the foot and cried at the oval pokemon. "Chimmii! Chimchar!" It waved its arms and jumped up and down at the pokemon. The little pokemon suddenly opened its tiny mouth and gave out an even higher cry and suddenly, the moon shone brightly and practically lit up the whole forest. Kaira stared around her wide-eyed. "Wha-?! What's happened? Hey, cut that out! What in the world?!!" Suddenly the pokemon stopped its singing and looked at Kaira. Kaira felt a shudder through her, and tried to tell herself that it was a tiny, cute little creature staring at her with button eyes, and not a menacing red-eyed monster. But then Chimchar started giving out whining cries as if it wanted the pokemon to keep singing. The yellow pokemon suddenly drifted towards Kaira, and Kaira stood frozen. "I'm not running this time….I'm not running this time…." She told herself through clenched teeth. The little pokemon landed on her head and squeaked happily, cuddling in the smooth top of her head. Kaira would've fainted, but then she felt a strange tremor through her. It was a giddy feeling of happiness and excitement she had never felt around pokemon before. Was this how Mesprit controlled feelings? Suddenly, there was an alarming call from the lake, and Chimchar suddenly flinched and leaped in the air, kicking in terror. "CHIMMMCHARR! CHIMM!" It cried out its terrified cry and leaped at Kaira's head, trying to pull the oval pokemon off. As the little oval shape clung to Kaira's hair, she stood in horror as she realized she had two pokemon on her head. Before she knew it, she was screaming like crazy. "AHHHHH! HELLLP!! GET OFFFF! AHHH!" She raced back to Twinleaf and tripped over again, falling into a mud puddle. "Dammit!" She sputtered in distress, whipping her head, trying to shake off the oval pokemon and Chimchar who clung to it. The oval pokemon was whimpering in its meek, squeaky cry. Suddenly, the oval pokemon let go and cast a black wind that sent Kaira tumbling head over heels once, and blacked out. 3. SHAPESHIFT Barry was running as fast as his legs could carry him. Heracross kept up with his speed, despite the bad shape he was in. "Ahh! Great, I can't believe we lost to Paul….again! Hercross…you were great. At least that jerk was nice enough to leave one pokemon that could help me travel back home!" Barry's expression looked wide-eyed and distressed, as if he were shocked, angry, and in a hurry at the same time, which was exactly what he felt. Barry had spent all night battling Paul up in Floaroma Town. It had been ages since Barry had last seen the strange, ambitious trainer, and even though Barry's pokemon had grown twenty times tougher, Paul had as well. The battle had been tough, taking up the entire night. Barry almost had Paul beaten, but Paul's Electivire had grown powerful to wipe out the last of his pokemon. By the time it was morning, Barry's last pokemon, Heracross, was almost down, while Electivire was as tough and unhurt as can be. Barry knew he would be grounded if he didn't return home by midnight, and he was already way pass that time. Paul had let him go, concluding his victory of their "useless" and "pathetic" battle. But before Barry had stormed off, he made Paul promise to make a visit sometime today before he left. Paul was traveling to the base of Mt. Coronet, seeking the strange new species of pokemon that Professor Rowan and Kaira's father, Theodore, were inspecting. Apparently, Paul had heard about their latest experience. "Huh! While that guy's chasing fairies that probably don't even exist, Imma be training you all until you're the toughest pokemon in the world! And don't worry, Heracross! I promise I wont strain you guys, I'll show I can train enough without even trying super hard!" He glanced at his watch. "6:30?! Dang, I've been battling for HOURS!" "Herrr," muttered Heracross as he ran by his side, entering the town of Twinleaf. Barry laughed. "Well, minus the time I spent discussing to Paul about what's been happening lately. I can't believe he's been through so much since we've seen each other!" Barry arrived at the pokemon center, healed his pokemon, and then rushed out, heading back to his house. He managed to arrive before his mother had woken up. "Good thing she wakes up pretty late," muttered Barry, running up the stairs noisily. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of his door shutting quickly before he reached the top of the stairs. "Hey, what the--" He ran up to his closed door and tried to open it, but something on the other side held it shut. Barry frowned and banged on the door. "Hey! Hey, whoever's in there, you better open the door, or I'm giving you a FINE!!!" He reached into his pocket for Empoleon's pokeball. "Don't make me Drill Peck the door open!" The door suddenly flung open and the Chimchar from Rowan's lab appeared with a strange shock in its eyes. "Chiiim!" It cried, jumping up and down. "Chimchar! Hey, what's going on?!" Barry demanded. "Ahh! Barry!" Cried Kaira's voice. Barry glanced over where Kaira laid on his bed on her back, her arms and legs strapped to the mattress by vines. "Kaira?! What in the world! I should give you a fine! What the heck are you doing here?" Barry suddenly widened his eyes and flinched. "Ahh! And what kind of pokemon is THAT?!" He pointed at the strange horizontal oval shape that had a silver gem glowing at its center. The poke on was hovering above Kaira, squeaking happily as it circled around her, singing a musical, harmonic cry. "Ughhh! I have noooo idea!" Kaira yelled. "But I'm scared out of my guts! Please help me out of here! This crazy little egghead wont even let Chimchar free me!" Barry approached Kaira, but then a shot of purple electricity shot in front of him, shaking the room slightly. Barry jumped back in surprise. "Chiiiiii!!!" Squeaked the oval pokemon angrily. Its button eyes looked cute when it was angry. "This Chimchar just swooped in my house and stole my toy treasure box!" Explained Kaira. "I followed it up to Lake Verity and it summoned this weirdo that's singing over my head! Is this Mesprit or something?" Barry stared at her, and then broke out laughing. "Ah-hahahah! No wayyy that's Mesprit! My gosh, you need to pay attention to pokemon more, Kaira!" "Hey, I don't know how I'm even keeping myself alive around these two! This yellow pokemon put me to sleep and I just woke up about five minutes ago in this room. I have no idea what this pokemon's trying to do, but its singing sure is both annoying and lovely at the same time, its crazily entrancing me!" The hovering pokemon was singing in a low tone as she spoke, and its tiny mouth seemed to open and close as it glowed with intensifying light. Kaira was shaking. "Ughhh…..what's it doing?" Barry chuckled nervously, staring at the pokemon in awe. "Hehehe, I really have no idea what kind of pokemon this is. I've got to take a picture of this! Hang on, where's my pokedex?" Suddenly, Chimchar cried out a startled, "Chiim!!" And the oval pokemon's singing started whirring around it as it stopped singing and started whimpering in pain, its tiny arms thrashing up and down as its whimpering turned to shrieking cries of terror. It's scream became so loud it shook the room, and Kaira was suddenly freed. Barry fell to his knees. "Whoa what the--?!" Suddenly, a blackness swept over them and Barry blacked out. Something was licking Barry's forehead. "Ugh….mom? Kaira? Dawn?" His vision was blurry, and by the time it cleared, he realized the yellow oval pokemon was smiling down at him, and then it continued to lick his head with its sticky tongue. "Huh? Hey! You!" Barry immediately shot up, but the oval pokemon gave a squeak and clung on with its tiny arms. "Hey, get offa me, you little---huh? Hey, wait! Where am I?" He looked around with the tiny four-inch yellow pokemon clinging onto his forehead. "Hey! I'm in….Mt. Coronet! What the heck happened?! Oh yeah! I was zapped by this little shape!" He gasped. "Kaira!" He looked around for his friend that was just tied to his bed. "I could've sworn she was freed before my head went to sleep…..hey! You egghead!" He went cross-eyed as he frowned up at the yellow pokemon clinging onto his forehead. "You explain in your sing-songy language what the heck you're up to! Why were you in Kaira's toy box? Why did you send her to my room? How long have I been asleep?! Why am I here?!! What's going on?!?!" The yellow oval stopped licking. "Chiiii…." It murmured innocently and then continued licking. "Hey, that's actually a little uncomfortable, you know. Huh?" Barry glanced over at a rock jutting out by a stream. Kaira was laying on her side next to it, with Chimchar upon the rock, looking down at her with worry in its eyes. "Kaira!" Barry ran over to Kaira and knelt down by her side. He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a soft shake. "Kaira? You awake? You okay?" She was breathing, though very slowly. Barry suddenly felt strangely scared for her. "Urghhh…..oh no, Kaira…WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" He demanded, at the yellow pokemon. The yellow pokemon stopped its licking and faced Kaira, still sticking onto Barry's forehead like a yellow horizontal oval tattoo. It blew a small puff of smoke from its tiny mouth towards Kaira's nose, and she sniffled and sneezed as the smoke disappeared into her nostrils. Barry gasped. "What are you doing? And will you get offa me?! You're not doing anything useful, and you're--nothing--but--a--problem--!" He struggled as he grabbed the tiny pokemon and tried pulling it off his face. But the tiny pokemon was incredibly strong and it clung onto Barry's head, squealing and shaking him roughly, that Barry fell from his knees and landed on Kaira's side, waking her up. "Uh!" Gasped Kaira, her eyes shooting open. She whipped her head to Barry with shock. "Barry!" She breathed. Barry stared at her with a confused look in his eyes, and then immediately shot up on his feet. "Ahh….sorry! Just making sure you're all right!" The yellow pokemon snickered and continued licking. Chimchar snickered along as well. Barry glared up at the yellow pokemon. "This little nitwitt is just nothing but a….WILL YOU GET OFF MY FACE AND STOP LICKING ME?!!" Barry's voice echoed through the cavernous cave around them in Mt. Coronet. Kaira was gazing up at Barry with admiration in her face for a moment, and then blinked into surprise. "Barry, it's not licking you! It's……sucking on you!" Chimchar gazed up at Barry with wide eyes. "Chim-chaaa!" It jumped up and down. "Huh? Ahh! Get it off!" Barry pulled at the pokemon even harder. "Don't pull on it!" Cried Kaira. "You'll make it--" The little pokemon made its squealing cry and its button eyes shrank as tears started to drip out. The pokemon squeezed its eyes shut and suddenly, a wave of black air swept around Barry and he disappeared. The little yellow pokemon was alone in front of Chimchar and Kaira, blinking its tears away. Barry found himself holding his breath underwater. He splashed out and thrashed around wildly. "Help! Help! I must be in the middle of the sea! HELLLLP!" But then, he heard a squeaky giggle. His feet touched the ground, and he realized he was only in the stream next to Kaira, Chimchar, and the yellow pokemon that stood in front of them, looking at him deviously. "Oh you---!" Barry noisily splashed his way over to the nearby shore. The oval yellow pokemon jumped in front of him and blew a tiny puff of air that sent him flying back a few feet back into the stream. Kaira couldn't help laughing. Barry sputtered and got out of the stream at the other side. "Ugh! If only I had my pokeballs with me right now! I would catch that pokemon and teach it a lesson!" "Chim-chaaaarr!" Chimchar jumped up and down, facing the little pokemon with wide eyes. The yellow pokemon suddenly looked sad and squeaked back a helpless reply. Kaira glanced at them. "What in the world are they talking about? As if it really matters! How do we get out of here?!" She turned to face Barry, who had arrived over the stones across the stream. He was wet, but his face still showed alert determination. "Actually, these pokemon are probably what I thought they were." He pulled a seaweed out of his hair. "They are aliens from space?" Kaira guessed jokingly. "Something like that." "What? Really?" "Yeah, see, Professor Rowan says he's discovered pokemon from the base of Mt. Coronet that are a strange particular species," Barry was eying the little pokemon as it hovered around, with Chimchar curiously following it. "He said that the pokemon's DNA has been said to have come from….well….not exactly outer space, but perhaps from somewhere as if another dimension." Kaira winced. "How the heck does he know? I've never seen this pokemon in his lab." "He hasn't seen the pokemon for real," said Barry. "He's only found remains, such as those weird sparkles that the pokemon's leaving behind. He's found DNA from those sparkles and analyzed that it has DNA of a strange species that could have something to do with those comets and matter from outer space. I'm not a super nerd, but all I know is that he's predicted that this pokemon may have the abilities of something as close to a shapeshifter, with the ability to travel through not just different places like it has done with us, but also different dimensions through space and time." Kaira raised her eyebrows and glanced at the yellow pokemon as it started to glow again. "You mean like Dialga and Palkia?" She had heard stories of the two powerful and mystic pokemon of the Sinnoh region. Barry laughed. "Not exactly. This pokemon was found to have been a SHAPESHIFTER. Dialga and Palkia can control the space and time, and pokemon like this egg face can travel through all the dimensions and places in space by shape shifting in different forms of some sort. Like right now, it's probably not even from this planet. It could've come from a totally different world, a whole different universe, and has only shifted into this shape to appear visible on this planet." "But what about Chimchar? Why is it following that pokemon around like its expecting it to do something?" Barry raised his eyebrows at Chimchar. "Well, you said Chimchar summoned this pokemon to free it from the box it got locked in. It was probably expecting it to come in this world, and Chimchar could've possibly needed it for something, so it freed it from the box it was locked in." "If Chimchar needs the pokemon, could it be possible--" "That Chimchar could be a shape shifter also?" Barry interrupted her, reading her thoughts. "Exactly what I was thinking! Hey, I bet it's not even a real Chimchar! It's probably a whole new creature from another world that's shape shifted into a Chimchar to be visible in a dimension like this! Awesome!" Barry knelt next to the Chimchar. "Hey, Chimchar! Can you possibly--" "But wait!" Shouted Kaira. "What are we supposed to do? I bet the whole reason why these pokemon brought us to this part of Mt. Coronet was because they wanted to find a way back to their dimension somehow. You said Rowan first found their DNA in here, so this place could've been the first place they arrived in. it could also be their only place to leave also." "Huh? Well, what do they want with US?! Why take us here with them?" "Exactly what I'm saying! We really should find our way outta here. Just leave those time-traveling aliens to find their way. We need to get home!" "Hey, we don't have to!" Barry felt anxiously jumpy now. "We can follow these pokemon to where they came from, and discover what else we can find in their new world! I bet there's more pokemon out there that meets the eye!" "And have no hope of returning back?!" Kaira sounded urgent and terrified. "No way! We should--" "But we could be famous!" Barry grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes excitedly. For a moment, Kaira's eyes were a different kind of anxiousness, but Barry didn't notice it. "Together, we could be like…..the two first time-traveling explorers to discover a new world---no, a new DIMENSION!" "Barry, calm down," Kaira grabbed his wrist and pushed his hands off her. "I'm not going anywhere with these…pokemon. I just can't. I--" "Hey….." Barry was staring at her in awe. "….you seem to be taking this whole thing much better than I thought! Are you even as scared as you think you are?" Kaira raised her eyebrows. "Well….I do feel irritatingly uncomfortable, but I'm not freaking out as much as before." "Hey, that's awesome!" Suddenly, Kaira felt something crawling up her neck. "Eeee…." She knew it was the little yellow pokemon. She heard its squeaky hum "Oh no….GET IT OFF!" "Whoa, calm down," Barry reached to poke the oval pokemon's head as it clung to the side of Kaira's neck. "It's really cute! We should give it a name. Kinda reminds me of a Cleffa that shrunk even smaller into a more oval shape and turned yellow! Let's call it…Casavon!" Kaira winced as the oval pokemon jumped into Barry's hands. It was no bigger than one human hand. "Casavon? Why Casavon? I was thinking Eggafairy or something." "The name just came to me," shrugged Barry. "The way it can cast away into different places and dimensions, we should call it Casavon!" The little pokemon squeaked out a happy cry as if it agreed. "Well….okay, whatever. But what should we do? There's probably some reason why it took us both to the place where these pokemon were planning on leaving." "Maybe they wanted us to come with them?" Barry held Casavon in his hands, raising it to look at it in front of his face. "See? Look at the way its been treating us! It's clinging to us like it wants to keep us all together! We should follow them and see what happens!" "Follow them?" "Chimm!" Chimchar jumped up and down and frowned up at Kaira, waving its arms towards a darker tunnel in the distance. The stream trickled into the tunnel, the running water echoing throughout the caved place. "This is awesome. I wanna see what these pokemon are up to. I bet they arent even real pokemon maybe?" Barry eyes were watching Casavon as it hovered above his hand, glowing brighter by the second. "I wouldn't want to go anywhere without Rowan or anyone else knowing." Said Kaira with uncertainty. "Look!" Barry pointed at Casavon with astonishment in his eyes as the little pokemon surrounded itself with a bright yellow glow. A short string grew out from the bottom of the pokemon, no longer than a single inch. A diamond shape appeared at the end of the string, like a tail for the pokemon. Upon its head, a thin bright line formed around the top of its horizontally oval forehead, and glowed an even brighter yellow than its body. It hovered slightly above its head, like a halo. The surrounding brightness that shone around Casavon stopped and Casavon looked the same again, except with a newly grown tail at the end and a halo above its head. "What just happened?!" Barry widened his eyes happily. "Awesome! Are you like an angel now?" "CHIIM!" Chimchar blew an annoyed breath of flames at Barry's face. "Chim! CHIIM!" "Ugh! What? What's your problem? I bet YOU can't change into anything as cool as that!" "I think it wants you to shut up, Barry," chuckled Kaira. "We really should think of something to do before we go anywhere with these guys." 4. RED GLOW Lucas stared at the beautiful flower field in the City of Floaroma. His Clefable was happily chasing the Starly and Shinx it found hiding in the flower beds. He glanced over to where Dawn was ordering flowers from the flower shop. He stared at her, mystified. At last, he and her were finally together-- alone. There was no sign of Barry to butt in and blabber about himself or his pokemon. Lucas had been trying to ignore his feelings for Dawn before, but it just made him miss her even more. He was secretly in love, ever since she had challenged the Sinnoh contests and had became one of the top contest champions known all over the region. When she had come back home, she and him have been getting to know each other more to practice toughening up their pokemon for even more challenges to come. He had seen her as something better than a friend, but he had always tried hard to ignore it. By now, it was pretty obvious that the closest person Dawn belonged to, was Barry. The two of them acted like such a married couple, constantly arguing and nagging at each other more than they praised each other. Barry might've not noticed it, but Lucas predicted it was very likely for Dawn to end up with him."Hey…unless…." Lucas looked at his Infernape by his side. "Wasn't Paul here last night? Barry was saying something about giving him a battle yesterday. He's not still here, is he?"Infernape shrugged and grumbled a low growl, looking around."You said something about Paul?" Dawn's voice was hopeful as she walked up to Lucas with a pot of flowers in her hands. "Oh! He was here, wasn't he? Barry said he was going to pass by to examine those pokemon in Mt. Coronet. I bet he's traveled there by now, though. Too bad we didn't even get to say hi."Lucas nodded. "Yeah, but Barry hasn't shown up in Twinleaf all day. I bet he's gone off to explore with Paul, since Barry's always chasing after people's adventures."Dawn huffed and smiled. "Yeah, we better go find him. If he isn't anywhere here in Floaroma, we should tell Rowan."A dark cloud hovered over Mt. Coronet. A lone trainer stared up at the highest peak, watching as a thin, barely visible billow of smoke blew in the air. Something must be happening inside. And it had something to do with those new species Professor Rowan had discovered."Paul!" A voice cried in the distance.The trainer turned. It was Dawn and Lucas, running up the hill towards him."Paul!" Dawn's expression was hopeful and enthusiastic. "Hey! What's up? It's been awhile."Paul kept his serious expression and shrugged, looking away from Dawn. "Nothing important for you to know," he replied. "I've been toughening up in Isshu a little."Dawn's eyes widened. "Isshu? Wow, really? That's….where Ash Ketchum is at the moment. Gee, I wonder how he's doing there. It's been a long time since he's left me also.""Well, people come and go," said Paul tartly, frowning as he started walking away from Dawn, his eyes narrowed and focused on the cave of Mt. Coronet. "I've got important things to do than worry about where Ash is right now."Dawn watched Paul walk away, but she refused to be ignored. "Huh? Hey! You're just still angry about the way Ash won you over last time, arent you? Come on! The least you could do is be thankful that you've seen ME after all this time."Paul stopped and turned to meet Dawn's confused gaze. Lucas stood by her side, frowning at Paul. "Yeah, I've finally met you face to face again. And for us, it hasn't been a long time since we've done OUR battle."Paul's frown narrowed into a grimace as he remembered his battle with Lucas about a month ago. The boy had been so much like Ash, except with a smarter strategy and a less boastful personality. But his skill and determination reminded Paul so much of Ash, that Lucas had beaten him, and left Paul secretly embarrassed to lose to such a trainer. "I bet you wouldn't have won anything if people didn't go so easy on you." Said Paul simply. "Your pathetic attitude makes people think you're so easy to defeat that they just go easy on you, just like I did. If I went all out against you, I think our battle would've been different.""Hey!" Lucas stepped forward. "You wanna rematch and see who can win for real this time? I can battle you any--""Wait!" Dawn stepped between them. "Just stop….please! Paul, we just came over to say hi. And we just want to know if you've seen where Barry went. He did battle you last night, didn't he?"Paul turned to Dawn and narrowed his eyes. "I beat that kid easily last night. I thought I sent him running home this morning.""That's a lie," said Lucas challengingly. "We were just at Twinleaf. We stopped by to look around for Barry, and didn't find him anywhere. So we came to ask you where he was."Paul said nothing. He just stared at the two with a cold expression. He really wasn't in the mood to chat with anyone-- especially Dawn and Lucas-- before he found out what's the secret behind these supposedly new species of pokemon. Dawn spoke calmly. "Paul, do you know where Barry is honestly?""If I cared for WHERE he ran off to, I would tell you. I have no idea where he went after he told me he had to get home as soon as he can before he was missed." Paul turned away, hiding his irritated frown."But he was missed," said Lucas. "We didn't find him anywhere in Twinleaf.""Well, I have no idea what could've happened to him," said Paul sourly.Dawn narrowed her eyes at him and then sighed. "We have to find him. I have a bad feeling about where he went.""Come on, he probably ran off to speak to a gym leader across the region or something," said Lucas simply. "Barry's known for disappearing without telling anybody whenever he feels like it. He should turn up by evening, or even tomorrow.""But if Barry wanted to get home as soon as possible after his battle, why would he just disappear before even reaching home? It doesn't make sense," said Dawn.Paul rolled his eyes and continued walking forwards. He was tired of hearing pathetic worries for such a trainer. Dawn was like, what? Sixteen by now? She still hasn't changed much from when he had last seen her with Ash Ketchum. "Hey….where are you going?" Dawn called after him. "It's nothing you would be interested in. I'm off to Mt. Coronet," was all Paul replied. He didn't stop or look back, and he expected Dawn to say something after him, but she didn't. He disappeared down the hill, entering the hidden cave that lead to Mt. Coronet's bottom part. He looked around for any flecks of glitter that Rowan had been sharing earlier. There was nothing, and he put his hands in his pockets as he made his way down into the cave of Mt. Coronet.He took out one of the newspapers Professor Rowan had sent out a few days ago. It told of the certain areas the pokemon have been discovered, along with possible explanations on where they could've gone.Before long, Paul was deep inside, and had discovered a large pit where there was a shining stone in the middle. He slid down towards it, and tried to pick up the stone. It stuck to the ground.Paul winced and pulled harder.Suddenly, the cave gave a slight shake. Paul looked around. There was no sign of a single pokemon, nor could he even hear pokemon cries or anything this far down. But then the stone he held on started to glow.Paul kept his grip, and as the stone started to shine even brighter, he held on tighter, willing to pull the whole thing out.A blast of energy burst from the rock and sent Paul flying to the back of the pit, about a yard away. He winced in pain and got up. "What in the world….." Paul stared in astonishment as the shining stone glowed a pink glow that turned a blood red. The stone raised itself from the ground, but the stone wasn't alone. A dark shape was attached around the stone, appearing from underground as the stone rose. The shape hovered up in the air, with the stone glowing in the shape's center. The shape was a horizontal oval, no wider than four inches, and no higher than two inches. On the top corners of the shape were two dents sticking out like small ears, and it had small tiny legs sticking from the bottom corners. The shape was red, though it didn't glow as brightly as the stone at its center. It was a dark, bright red, though the stone was an emphasizing glow that kept Paul's gaze transfixed. The shape was alive…..possibly a pokemon. It had small, black button eyes and a tiny mouth in the middle, just above the stone. Its tiny arms at the sides were as small and short as its tiny feet, and overall, it was like a horizontal oval shape with a dent stick up at the top corners.Paul was wide-eyed with astonishment. The glow the stone made was emphasizing the pokemon, and Paul couldn't take his eyes off it. He suddenly took a step forward, but stopped. His heart was throbbing with excitement for this pokemon, though he was both excited and scared. Something about this pokemon was…..captivating."Chiiiii….." The little red pokemon raised its tiny arms and sung a strange, musical tune, though in a rough, squeaky cry that came from its tiny mouth. Its button eyes were staring down at Paul, and even though they were just nothing more than cute, innocent little eyes, they were staring into him, as if hypnotizing him to keep coming forwards.Paul felt a tremor of dread about this pokemon…though at the same time, he wanted nothing more than to touch the little red shape. He started taking slow, small steps forward, not blinking once as he kept his eyes on the hovering pokemon."Cheeeeee……." red light glowed around the pokemon as it sung, and soon brightened around Paul as he got closer. Paul made a slight gasp, but he didn't stop coming towards the pokemon.The music was becoming more entrancing. Paul was feeling transfixed more and more every second. Finally, he was right beneath the pokemon, and the red oval was just an arm's reach up high. Paul slowly drew his right arm forward, ready to give the glowing red pokemon a single touch.The pokemon had its eyes squeezed shut as his arm reached out, and it sung higher and louder, that it was almost deafening. The tip of Paul's fingers touched the pokemon, just right next to where the stone was in the center.Suddenly, the pokemon flashed its tiny eyes open, and in a split of a second, a blast of red energy blasted from the pokemon, and had Paul wrapped around in a tightening grasp of light. Paul was suddenly hit by a wave of energy, but something was grasping his entire body as he was lifted up in the air. Nothing was wrapped around him as he rose up into the air, and red flickering light danced around him. Paul tried to yell, but he suddenly didn't have the strength. The grasp was so tight and painful, and the singing had stopped, though there was still a terrible echo whirring around him. The red oval pokemon was hovering directly in front of him now, and its button eyes were an evil grimace. Its cute little face was a sly smile, and it suddenly glowed with intensifying red light. A short string grew from the bottom of the pokemon, and a red triangle shape appeared at the end. From the corners of its forehead, just slightly under the dents that stuck up like cat ears, even tinier sharper dents formed underneath, a dark blood red just like the triangle at its new tail. The red oval shaped pokemon screamed a deafening cry, and Paul was released, though he was thrown harshly down towards the ground below. He landed with a hard thump, and his vision went blurry.But the last thing he saw before he blacked out, was the red oval shaped pokemon lowering down to rest on his chest, murmuring a strange squeak to him."Casaaa……..casa…..Casavan……."Lucas and Dawn were heading back to Twinleaf, though they stopped at the bottom of the hill.Lucas turned to Dawn. "Is something wrong?" She had stopped to look down at her feet. She was pinching at the end of her white scarf."Oh….it's nothing. I'm just thinking about what Paul could be doing right now." She quickly looked up. "And Barry! I'm really worried about Barry too……"Lucas sighed and turned to face her. "We should follow Paul down there, huh? I bet he's checking out Rowan's analysis about those strange species of pokemon discovered."Dawn shrugged. "We really shouldn't bother Paul. I can still see he's tired of me nagging at him….even though it's been so long since we've seen each other."Lucas put an arm on Dawn's shoulder, and felt a tremor of happiness run through him as he stared into her eyes. "Nah, don't worry. You don't even bother him that much! He was being a jerk, so you're just reminding him that you don't like that. You did nothing close to nagging. He's just a--""Thanks," Dawn interrupted him and chuckled. "I know how you feel about him. You've complained to me about how rude he was about your first battle."Lucas laughed nervously. "Well, you've told me lots about him when you were on your journey with Ash, so I thought he was actually a pretty interesting guy. Well, he's interesting all right, but yeah, you weren't kidding when you described him as heartless. I saw the way he treated his Staraptor!"Dawn huffed and looked over to Mt. Coronet at their side, not too far off. "Well…..should we just take a look? He shouldn't have gone to far down by now, and we kinda know our ways around Mt. Coronet.""Not the bottom parts of it," reminded Lucas, feeling a strange feeling about going in alone."Well…I just have a bad feeling. Barry's down there, I know it.""We really shouldn't go in without our own pokemon. We left them back at home."Dawn widened her eyes. "Oh, you're right! And while we drop by, do you think we should maybe ask Kaira about what could've happened to Barry? He could be at her house."Lucas laughed. "Oh yeah, right! She was the only house we didn't ask, considering she might just ignore us anyway." Lucas halfheartedly kicked a pebble.Dawn rolled her eyes. "Yeah. What's with her? She never wants to talk to anybody. I mean, I understand her problem with pokemon, but she doesn't even want to make friends. I try talking to her, but she just either ignores me, or gives a quick response."Lucas shrugged. "It's kinda her own fault she doesn't have anymore friends besides Barry….who talks to everyone." He stared after the pebble he just kicked, which wasn't much more than a yard away. Suddenly, the pebble started to glow.Lucas widened his eyes. "Huh?" He hurried over to see the pebble."Hey, what's wrong?" Dawn joined his side. "Is that pebble glowing?"The pebble was suddenly shining a bright bluish color. "It is!" Lucas reached out to grab the pebble. "Whoa…" he held it in his hands, and showed it to Dawn. "Check it out. Is it some kind of rare mineral?""Let me see," Dawn reached out to take the pebble from his hand, but as her fingers touched the pebble upon Lucas's hand, a sudden blast of light exploded from the rock and the two of them disappeared. 5. A RIPPLE THROUGH SPACE It felt like the entire day had gone by since Kaira and Barry were zapped in the bottom of Mt. Coronet. They were following Casavon and Chimchar, until they stopped at a dead end of a twisted tunnel. A sharp pointed rock jutted up like an upside-down ice cream cone. Chimchar leaped towards it and jumped up and down, calling Casavon to come over. Unfortunately for Kaira, Casavon was literally attached to her. It was on her forehead, sucking her like it had done to Barry. "Hehe, you sure you're doing all right?" Barry said to her. Kaira had been scared out of her wit's the entire time, and even though Casavon showed no sign of harm towards her, Kaira couldn't keep herself from shaking and clenching her teeth in fear. "No! I am NOT alright! What is this pokemon planning on doing to me?!" "Chiii…." Casavon happily nuzzled against Kaira as it stopped its sucking. Barry narrowed his eyes and peered closer to Kaira's forehead. "Hmm….I don't know, but it's made some red mark on you now." "WHAT?!" "Haha! Just kidding!" "Barry!" Kaira laughed a little. Suddenly Casavon rose from Kaira's forehead, and Kaira felt a wave of energy flow through her as it stopped the sucking. "Hey, wait a second!" Barry was staring at Kaira in awe. "It's actually made some kind of mark on you! You've got some kind of diamond shape glowing." "What?! Wha--?!" Kaira suddenly hovered in the air as Casavon stood at the top of the sharp rock. A wave of light circled around Casavon and Chimchar, and then around Kaira. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?! GET ME DOWN!" She screamed. A flash of light exploded from where Casavon had been standing, and a gap opened at the ceiling of the cave, like a dark hole leading to space. Barry stared up at it in awe. "Whoa! Hey, I think they're actually time-traveling now!" "Ahh! Get me off! It's so tight!" Kaira had nothing wrapping around her, though she felt like there was something grasping her body tight as an Arbok's wrap. "WHAT?! And they're taking you with them?" Barry yelled from below. "No way! You're not goin' anywhere without me, and no one's time-traveling without me! Casavon! Take me with you!" Barry jumped up to grab at Casavon, but Chimchar jumped in the way and angrily sent a blast of flames and energy towards Barry, making him crash to the ground. "ACHHH!" Barry felt to the hard ground with a thud. "Barry!" Cried Kaira. "Chii!" Casavon was coming towards her, looking happy and excited as it clutched Kaira's forehead again. "Uh…..!" Kaira tried to keep herself from shaking off the little pokemon as it snuggled happily against her. Then Casavon leaped on her head and jumped once, and everything went black once again. Kaira woke up in an awkward position. She was on her back, lying on an uncomfortable surface, and her legs were sticking up, against a hard, cold wall. The air was cold, and Kaira felt parts of her hair and her face slightly wet, as if she had been splashed a little. "Ugh….." She had a headache, and the spot where Casavon and attached to her felt sore. As she touched it, she gasped and flinched. It felt smooth and cold. "Oh great! Do I have a rock stuck on me now?" She groaned. "Casavon?" She looked around for the little oval, but then found that Kaira herself, had fallen into a well. There was barely any room around her. "Barry?" She gasped, feeling horrified and alone. "Ahhhh…….you're kinda sitting on me!" Barry's voice suddenly yelled from underneath her. Kaira gasped and realized she was laying on Barry's side. She immediately sat up and stood, pushing herself against the wall of the well in embarrassment. "I'm sorry! I---" "Gee! Next time you hug a tiny little egg face, make sure you know how to control it!" Grunted Barry as he tried to get up from his position. "That Casavon sends out energy waves more powerful than a Palkia can!" "Chimmchar!" Shouted a cranky cry that echoed around the well. "Chimchar!" Something suddenly landed on top of Kaira's head. Kaira's eyes went wide. "Ahh!" She waved her arms wildly. "GET OFF!" "Chim-CHAA!" Chimchar sent out a blast of purple sparks and Kaira fell harshly to her knees, splashing into a little trickle of water. Barry narrowed his eyes. "SHHH! Quiet, you guys! We gotta get out of this dump." He pushed the lid above them open and the stench escaped into the air, which was even colder outside. Kaira flinched as she felt something on her back. She turned and caught a glimpse of Casavon appearing out of nowhere, clinging to her back with a cute smile on its oval face. "Casavon!" Kaira gasped. . "Come on!" Barry was standing out of the dumpster, holding out a hand towards Kaira. She took his hand and stepped out of the dumpster. She winced in disgust as she brushed herself off. "Dang, where are we?" Barry was looking around in awe. "Rendridge Town," said Kaira, reading the blurred sign. She looked around them. It was snowing, though the snow on the ground was thin, and streets and grass were visible here and there. There were houses around them, and it looked as if they had arrived at a small, quiet village. Barry looked wildly around him, as if expecting something to come out and attack them. "Huh! I don't see anyone! Must be a ghost town, I bet. I don't even hear the eerie cries of Ghastly in this place!" "Chiii….." Casavon rose from Kaira's hands and looked around, looking confused. "Chim?" Chimchar looked up hopefully at Casavon. Casavon looked sad and surprised. "Chiii…." Barry sighed. "I wish we could understand what they're saying. I bet we're not in the region of Sinnoh!" Kaira narrowed her eyes at the sign. "There's more written here, but I can't make out what it says…" "We should explore this place and see if we can find anyone to tell us where we are," said Barry, beginning to walk away. "Wait! Arent you worried at all? How are we supposed to return home?" Barry turned to her with a smile. "Ask Casavon," he said simply. "You think Casavon will just listen to me," replied Kaira tartly. "Of course! A true pokemon trainer will have their pokemon understand almost anything they say, or even feel! And I think Casavon's already bonded with you already! Look at how much it likes you, unlike all the other pokemon have always felt towards you. Did it ever bite or snap at you the first time you met it?" Kaira thought for a moment. "Well, no. it really didn't. But I bet Casavon's not even a pokemon." "Of course it is!" Said Barry. "I just think it came from a different dimension or something." Kaira sighed. Here she was, alone with Barry. Besides the two strange pokemon with them, there was probably absolutely no one else in this area, but her and Barry. She longed to make this moment worthwhile, for she had always loved sharing her alone time with Barry. Back at home, the early mornings were her only private moments when she had Barry all to herself, and they never really lasted long. But now here they were, with no Dawn or no pokemon to distract him. She could totally have a great time in this….strange unknown place. "You alright?" Barry stepped closer towards her, for Kaira had her head staring down at her shoes with her arms wrapped around herself. Kaira looked up into his green eyes. They had a concerned expression to them, and she felt like she could just stare into them forever. "Huh? Oh yes….I was just…thinking….." She bit her tongue. That was another one of her stupid responses she tended to make when she was nervous. "Hey, I promise I'll find a way to get us back home," said Barry, crossing his arms and giving her a promising look. "I promised to stick with you, so I'm promising to stick with you until you return home safe." "Really?" Kaira felt her heart pound. "Of course! You know, Casavon only teleported YOU to Mt. Coronet. I only tagged along. It had no interest in taking me along, I took myself with it. I've promised to stay with you through whatever you'd go through with this pokemon, and I've promised to help you get back home as well." Kaira was breathless. She kept her mouth closed so that her breathing wouldn't sound so fast and loud. "Well….thanks, Barry. But…..you really don't have to--" "I know," said Barry, chuckling. "But I'm your friend, right? I choose to stay by your side." Kaira felt strangely happy, and then her spirits slightly fell as he mentioned the word "friend." She was longing to just finally share her feelings with him-- right now-- before it was too late. "Hey, Barry?" "Yeah?" He listened carefully. "I---" "Chimmm!" Chimchar slipped and fell onto the ice, screaming a loud whiny cry as Casavon laughed at it. Barry turned and then his eyes widened. "Hey! I saw somebody!" Kaira raised her eyebrows. "A person?" "I think so! Come on! Let's go check it out!" He grabbed her hand and started hurrying towards the middle of two tall houses. Kaira let him go. "Wait! Barry! What about-- wahh!" Kaira suddenly tripped over Chimchar and fell, hitting her chin on the icy street. "Ow…." She winced in pain and Chimchar peered down at her. Chimchar's eyes were narrowed. "Chim…" It growled. "Chi!!" Casavon's squeak was a startled cry, and Kaira looked up as a bomb of smoke exploded from behind the broken black house ahead of her. Kaira stood up. "Barry? Barry!" There was no answer. "Oh great. BARRY?!" Casavon landed on her head, trembling in fear, and she felt like she was being watched. She hurried over to the black house in the distance, and stopped as she saw how tall and uninviting it looked up close. It looked like it had been slightly burned, though not entirely destroyed yet. Kaira bit her lip, looking around for Barry. "Great," she muttered under her breath. "I failed. I'm always failing. I had my chance to tell Barry….but now he's gone and I probably can't do anything about it….because I'm a useless failure." She longed to run around this ghost town, looking for Barry, but part of her just wanted to drop down and mope. "Kaira…." a little voice sounded behind her. I raised her eyebrows, and turned to face Casavon, who had hovered its way towards her, staring at her with its tiny eyes widened into intent. "Am I hearing things now?" Kaira groaned. "It's me, Casavon," said the little pokemon. Kaira was sure the voice was coming from Casavon, though its mouth wasn't moving. "Yep, I'm hearing things," she was about to walk away, but then Casavon spoke clearer. "No! Kaira, it's me," said the little voice. "I'm speaking to you in your head. No one could hear me but you. And you can only hear me through your thoughts and inside your heart." Kaira winced, suddenly feeling scared of this pokemon. Her lifelong fear of pokemon was started to kick in again. "Uh….can you prove it somehow? I could just be going crazy…." "Kaira…." Casavon hovered towards her face, just half an inch from her nose. It waved a tiny arm at her and smiled cutely. "Hi, I'm Casavon, the pokemon that teleported you all the way to the fifth dimension. I'm waving at you, so hiiiii." "Okay!" Kaira whipped her head away and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her eyes shut. "I think I get it! What's going on?! Why didn't you speak to me before?" "Ha! That snakeskin was with you, that's why," replied Casavon sassily. Kaira faced the little pokemon and winced. "Snakeskin? You mean Barry?" "His skin tastes so dry….like a snake's," Casavon gave a disgusted look. "I tried heart-bonding with him earlier, but he wasn't the right one. His blood was a pure, meaning he was a pure being of the first dimension." Kaira shook her head disbelievingly. "What the heck are you talking about? First dimension? And you said something about teleporting us here, to the FIFTH dimension! Where are we…..and what do you mean by heart-bonding and pure blood?" "Okay, so first let me introduce who I really am," said Casavon carefully. "I am a time-traveler, just like that snake boy, Barry, predicted. I travel through time and space, places and regions, practically dimensions as well. But first, let me remind you. Here, in the fifth dimension, I am known as Chibu, one of the three time-travelers of this dimension." "Chibu? Is that your real name?" The pokemon giggled. "Well, technically yes. You may call me what you want, but there are three of us. There's me- Chibu, and there are two others just like me known as Chiba and Chibo. The three of us are all very similar, each sent to travel through each of the three dimensions, and search for the missing being. This missing being is said to have been born originally from the fifth dimension through space, and is said to be needed to bring back the pokemon, Gaiyah." Kaira listened carefully and slowly nodded. "So….this 'missing being' is supposed to bring back Gaiyah?" "Gaiyah is a fifth dimensional pokemon," said Casavon-- or Chibu apparently. "It was summoned from the first dimension--- which is your own world. It was the earth pokemon, mother nature in a way. At the beginning of time, when the world of pokemon was just coming to life, Gaiyah was born from the earth within, born to control nature over the entire world." "I've never heard of this pokemon," said Kaira, "Why havent people ever mentioned such a legendary pokemon like this?" "Well, when Gaiyah was first born, the god pokemon, Arceus, realized it could do more than just destroy the world with its natural tornadoes and rainstorms. It could also bring destruction with other dimensions that lived on the same world at the same time. Gaiyah was so powerful, it had the power to control natural disasters from the earth that lived in the first dimension, as well as disrupt other worlds that lived in the same spot, though in other dimensions." Kaira blinked. "So there are other dimensions that live on earth as well?" "There are dimensions everywhere," said Chibu. "They just arent visible. You might even be standing in your room in Twinleaf right now, at this very moment. But you just don't see your room or recognize anything at all, bcause you arent in the first dimension where it all belongs. You are here, in Rendridge Town, in the fifth dimension. This is how my time-traveling works. I was sent to your dimension, while the other two time-travelers were sent to the other two dimensions- the second and the third. We were in search of the missing being that's been wandering around in one of the possible three other dimensions. When Arceus discovered Gaiyah's true powers, it feared that it would cause destruction that would lead to the end, just like what happened in the fourth dimension. A pokemon as powerful as Gaiyah had destroyed its entire world, and the fourth dimension had become nothing more than a mere transparent dimension…….unable to be seen and traveled to again." Kaira nodded. She wasn't fully understanding everything, but she listened carefully. "Arcues didn't want Gaiyah to destroy the earth or the first dimension. Arceus itself was more powerful than Gaiyah, though it couldn't bear the same exact abilities that Gaiyah could do. But Arceus banished the pokemon Gaiyah, not destroying it, but sent to another world, far away from the first dimension's reach. Eventually, Gaiyah was sent to a new dimension which was the fifth. But the fifth dimension has a strange gap between its time and space, so that no being could reach the other dimension, nor could beings from the other dimensions could find their way into the fifth….except for me and the other two of the three time-travelers." Kaira nodded. Chimchar was kicking snow everywhere, having fun slipping on the slippery sidewalks of the town. "Has Gaiyah somehow escaped then? Is that why you time-travelers were sent to find the 'missing being?'" "No," chuckled Chibu cutely. "Gaiyah isn't the missing being. See, not long after Gaiyah had created the world of the fifth dimension, the living beings here began to learn how powerful their creator was. Gaiyah didn't have any connection to its own home-- earth-- but it still had powers for its new world here in the fifth. The people of the fifth couldn't just banish Gaiyah like Arceus had done, so they found another way to limit possible destruction and over-control over weather and natural disasters. They split Gaiyah in half. Two new living souls were created from splitting Gaiyah, and one half of Gaiyah was its good side. If that half of Gaiyah lived in your world, it could bring the most exotic spring flowers and do a number of great things to the world that mother earth has been said to do. That good side of Gaiyah became like an angel, an angelic spirit pokemon- Dalyah. That created its own time-travelers, which was how I was created. I was born from the aura of the angelic pokemon side of Gaiyah, along with two other time-travelers." "But of course, there was the good-hearted, angelic side of Gaiyah, there was also, unfortunately, the bad side of Gaiyah. This half could summon the worst of mother nature at her angriest, such as hurricanes over the oceans, and deadly blizzards and earthquakes that destroy. This side became demonized, and became known as Ultramaur, the devil pokemon. It even created its own set of time-travelers, and guess what? They look just like us!" Kaira raised her eyebrows. "So there's another pokemon out there that looks exactly like you?" Chibu nodded, smiling. "Yep. The two other time-travelers that belong to MY trio for the angel pokemon, Dalyah, are Chiba and Chibo. Chiba has my same oval shape, except it's red, with its ear dents sticking up instead of out at the sides. Chibo is blue, and its ear dents droop down. We all have the same eyes and looks, and if you wanna see those wannabe messengers of Ultramaur, just picture with tiny devil horns and ugly triangle-tipped tails!" Chibu huffed out a puff of yellow smoke in anger. "So why were you sent to time-travel? What does this missing being have to do with Gaiyah?" Chibu sighed. "Our world in the fifth dimension is changing. Dalyah is missing and Ultramaur has taken over the natural controls over nature, and we have experienced losses from place to place, especially in the south. Dalyah isn't here to protect us from Ultramaur, and now the devil pokemon's said to have even taken over spirits of other pokemon, turning them evil against each other and their trainers. Some towns are even said to have been destroyed because of the pokemon's sudden change in behavior. There is a mystic pokemon far across the sea, and high into the clouds of the biosphere, a flying lovebird known as Dovanna, who can read the world's balance and control the path of time-traveling. Ultramaur has attacked this pokemon, and is said to have even escaped with its messengers….into the other dimensions. But we don't know which dimensions Ultramaur could be roaming in. Dovanna has gone missing, for Ultramaur has taken the pokemon with it. We don't know what Ultramaur has done with this pokemon, only that it could be roaming in the other dimensions. We need Dovanna, for not only can it read and control the gap of time-traveling, but it can also control auras of pokemon and people, meaning its aura can enter another being and live as that creature." "So Dovanna's the missing being," muttered Kaira. The name of the pokemon seemed so distant, and as she uttered it, her mind when into a trance, as if trying to remember a certain dream from long ago. She immediately picture the pokemon to be a white, snowy, and magnificent white dove with closed eyes and a beak clear as ice crystals. Chibu nodded. "Yep. Dovanna could be anywhere in the dimensions, in any form it wants to be. It could be a pokemon, a person, a plant, anything living thing that can hold an aura. The time-travelers were sent to each of the three possible dimensions, to retrieve Dovanna, so that Dovanna can bring the aura of Dainto and Dalyah together, and make them commingle to become one, as Gaiyah again." "But…..why do you want Gaiyah back? You've split it in two, and powers have been limited. Ultramaur is already bad enough…so if he's combined to form Gaiyah again, wouldn't that be even worse?" Chibu giggled. "That's what the scientists thought. But unfortunately, one side of Gaiyah has become even worse, for remember: Gaiyah has a good side also. Don't forget the goodness and warmth of mother nature. But Ultramaur is just all bad. It has no good side to stop it, and with the all-goodness Dalyah missing, Ultramaur has gotten even worse, escaping into the other dimensions. We have to use Dovanna to track it down, and let it combine with Dalyah to become Gaiyah again. That way, it wouldn't be as worse as now." Kaira stared into Chibu's cute little button eyes. She brought herself to smile at the little pokemon. "So you've chosen me to come with you?" Chibu stared back seriously. "Kaira, when I entered this dimension in Mt. Coronet, I SENSED there was a trace of Dovanna's aura somewhere. I tracked it down to Twinleaf, and I tried tasting Barry's blood, to see if I could read his aura as anything like an aura from the fifth dimension. But like I said, his aura tasted dry, like a snake. He was a pure blood, born from earth in that dimension you live in. You, on the other hand, tasted different. You didn't taste like Dovanna, but your aura did taste like it belonged to the fifth dimension." Kaira widened her eyes and said nothing. Chibu laughed. "It's alright! I brought you back here so we can see just in case. But right now, I believe you wanna look for Snakeboy right now, huh?" "Oh yes," Kaira answered quickly. "We really shouldn't leave him wandering around a world of possibly demonized pokemon." "Ha! You're right," Chibu dashed to cling on Kaira's head. "Too bad I can't read auras unless I'm SUCKING on them." Chimchar cried and leaped to Kaira's side. Kaira looked down at the pokemon. "So what's Chimchar? It's not a shape shifter like Barry thought, huh?" "Oh no, we arent shape shifters. But we do come from another world in which our DNA is a little different. I think that's what confused Professor Rowan. No, Chimchar's just another regular pokemon from this dimension. Unfortunately, he's accidentally followed me to this dimension when I was in the middle of summoning a time gap! Ugh, you annoying beast," Chibu stuck its tongue at the pokemon. "That's why it was looking for me to take it back to its dimension here." "Hmm," Kaira chuckled. "So you've returned him. You ought to go back to our own world and continue searching for Dovanna." "Yeah, I would, but thanks to your Snakeboy friend, we have to find him first." But suddenly, there was a sharp cry from Chimchar, as a dark shadow loomed over Kaira, and took hold of her, covering her mouth from screaming, and stuck something sharp in her neck. 6. WICKED SORCERESS Barry was running across the empty town. He was sure he had spotted a tall figure in the shadows, and there had to be someone out here to help him."Hello? Is anyone here?" He stopped behind a building. "Man, this town's a real ghost town." He was starting to get cold. He gasped and whipped around behind him. "Kaira?!" She was just running behind him just a minute ago. "Kaira! Casavon! Chimchar! Oh great, either I left them behind….again, or something happened to them. Anything can happen when you're in a new world, let alone a new dimension!"He began to run back towards the dark alley behind him. He looked around. "Kaira! Casavon?!""Eeecchhhh…………" an eerire screech sounded nearby. Barry whipped his head to face a Ghastly hovering by a tipped over trash can. "Hey, so there are Ghastly here after all," muttered Barry. But then he blinked. Something was different about this Ghastly. Its eyes looked red and menacing. All Ghastly had menacing eyes, but something about this one seemed even worse, and it even crept out Barry to be anywhere near it. Barry slowly walked forward, though the Ghastly was keeping its gaze glaring at him."If only I had my pokemon with me….""Eeeehhaaa!" The Ghastly suddenly expanded to twice its side, its eyes widening to a freaky glare."Ahh!" Barry took off running, not looking back."Ugh!" He suddenly bumped into a tall figure, and would've fallen over, if a cold hand hadn't reached out to grab his forearm."Ahh!" Yelled Barry. The figure that grabbed him was just like anyone he would expect to see in a ghost town. It was dressed in a black robe, with a hood over its head, covering its eyes and the top half of the face. "Lemme go! Ahh!"Barry struggled to yank away, but the stranger's grasp was strong. "Urhhh!" Grunted the muffled voice under the hood. "Yahh! How DARE you trespass the property of Empress Mai!" The angry yell from the stranger was a female's, and an old one from the sound of it."I'm sorry! I don't mean to! I'm looking for my friend and pokemon!" Barry protested. The lady let out an irritated hiss. "Echh!" She tossed his arm with force to the left, and Barry fell hard on his side. The stranger stomped her foot madly. "You will pay for your foolish appearance at a time LIKE THIS!!!" Instantly, she threw out a purple and white poke ball, and out popped a large, long Seviper that hissed in rage as it revealed its long body and slashing its poison tail in the air. It glared at Barry with such a wicked pierce in its eyes. Usually Seviper gave people sassy grimaces, but this one looked as mad as its trainer sounded. "In the name of the fifth dimension and Gaiyah's summoners," the lady rose her arms up in the air, and suddenly the gray sky turned into an even darker gray, "I banish you to the world of no return, where you could forever--""Wait!" Barry held out a hand as the Seviper rose high, as if bracing itself to listen to the strange command from the lady. "I'm looking for a pokemon called Casavon! Uh….if you've heard of a particular time-traveling pokemon that looks like a yellow oval and about four inches long? Its got a halo and it can travel through space! I was teleported here by accident by that pokemon! I mean no harm, I was---""Time-traveler?" The lady hissed in her sharp, edgy voice. She dropped her arms and her Seviper lowered with its menacing expression still on its face. "Y-yeah! I'm not sure what its real name is, but its like a tiny little football and its yellow with a halo! It took me and my friend to this place and I was just trying to find them!"The lady was facing Barry with her hood still covering her eyes and nose. She let out a hand towards her Seviper and hissed a strange word to it that made it stop its creepy hissing at Barry. The lady started walking towards Barry. Her mouth was only visible, and it was slightly open, as if a little surprised about what Barry was telling her. Barry held his ground as the lady reached a pale white hand towards him. "Get up," she ordered in her demanding tone. She sounded a little old, and her arm was thin with her hand slightly wrinkled. Barry held his breath and took her hand. She yanked him up with force that he gasped and nearly fell back over. "What's your name?" Her tone was more of a demand than a question."B-Barry," Barry tried not to look scared. The lady finally pulled back her hood, revealing a face that almost took Barry's breath away.He had expected to see a creepy old lady or old gypsy, but no…..this lady was actually quite stunning. She was Asian, with skin white as snow, with piercing green eyes that went beautifully with her face. Her hair was jet-black and she was overall, a little bit old, somewhere in her forties or fifties. Her face was a tiny bit wrinkled, revealing signs of her middle age. But something about her just struck Barry, feeling as if he were looking at the most beautiful queen of his dreams. Her figure was tall and thin, and she glared down at Barry, with a gleam in her eyes. "How many of you are here?" She demanded sharply.Barry's heart pounded. He felt strange. "Um….only me, my friend Kaira, and two pokemon. A Chimchar, and a time-traveling pokemon that was from here.""You come from the first dimension, don't you?""I-I came from a planet called earth….""You ARE from the first dimension!! Oh!!" Her eyes suddenly blazed into an angry red. Barry swallowed. Did her eyes just turn red? "I should've known! Chibu! The missing one of the three!" she whipped her head to look away, muttering something angrily under her breath. Her Seviper hissed along with her."Um, I'm sorry but," Barry raised his voice, though he tried to sound polite. "I really have know idea what's behind these pokemon. I was just accidently taken along."The lady faced him with a softer expression. She suddenly smiled coldly. "Oh, of course! I'm soo sorry. I ought to make you feel more welcome in this new world, shouldn't I?"Despite how sarcastic and chilling she sounded, Barry let himself fall for it. This lady was quite beautiful. Barry managed a small smile. "Yeah…..I would love to know a thing or two about this world…the fifth dimension really?""Ah yes," the lady smiled wickedly. "Come, child. It's getting cold here. There's a bench right here….SEVIPER, MOVE!"Seviper, who was lollygagging with boredom around a nearby bench, suddenly flinched at the lady's sharp command, and then hissed angrily, slinking out of the way. The lady turned to Barry and smiled, putting her arm around his shoulder, slightly warming him with part of her black satin robe. She sat down with him on the cold bench. Barry thought he could've been less cold standing."Now, let me introduce myself," said the lady carefully, keeping her intent piercing gaze on Barry. Barry couldn't help but stare back into her eyes, feeling dazed and lost in them. "I am a being born of ….what you might call….dark matter."Barry suddenly raised his eyebrows. That didn't sound good. "Dark matter? Is that a good thing?"The lady chuckled. "Well, it depends on how you look at it. I was born from the second dimension, so like you, I really don't belong here either. Here, I am known as the Empress of Ice, Empress Mai. My real name is Prima Dona.""I'm Barry," said Barry politely, smiling again.Prima Dona laughed. "Haha, yes. You already told me. I was born when a mystic pokemon summoned dark matter in the second dimension. Born from ice comets and powerful stars from space, my aura created, and I became what I am right now-- which is a powerful sorceress of matter.""In the form of a human, huh?" Said Barry, keeping his smile. A very hot one at the age of fifty, also. He added silently. "Yes, a human," said Prima Dona tartly. "But, child, I am more than just a human. I am a sorceress, a soul created from dark matter in space, born from the matter of darkness and light from powerful stars. My aura bears that of a very powerful being, and I have managed to time-travel through the gap behind the dimensions, and enter even this forbidden fifth dimension itself. You see, it can be possible to time-travel through the other four known dimensions in your world, but the fifth has been created by the pokemon, Gaiyah, after it was banished from your own world in your dimension. This fifth dimension was created to keep Gaiyah itself from returning, and to keep pokemon like Dialga and Palkia from entering this dimension. There is a certain gap that keeps any being from entering and exiting this fifth dimension. But I, Prima Dona Mai, have been born with the ability to break through that particular gap, so when I followed my creator here, curious about how that pokemon had summoned such matter and power to create my aura. That pokemon turned out to have the ability to break through the gap as well.""Ah," Barry nodded. "That's pretty awesome. What pokemon was it?""Oh, I don't think it's any kind of pokemon that you've heard of yourself. The pokemon was known as Ultramaur, and I found out Ultramaur's past, how it was created itself. But before I get to explaining that, I must tell you what happened when I entered this world. I first arrived far up north, where the snow was more fierce and deadly. There were some pretty dangerous pokemon out there, and I used my powers on those pokemon, giving them abilities to use powers the way I do. In other words, they became much stronger in battles, and I created a league of strong creatures at my side, raising them to become powerful pets of mine to serve my will. With these pokemon at my side, I could control the ice and weather of the north like an ice queen, and people began to notice the changes in atmosphere and the waves of the sea. They discovered me, and welcomed me to a city not far from the vast, frozen wasteland I was living in. I became their Empress, and I watch over the ice cities of Dentor, Frostlynn, and Rendridge.""Ice cities, huh?" Barry looked around with wonder. "Huh! Well, unfortunately, there's been a huge change in the mystic pokemon within," growled Prima Dona. "I must explain to you the history of this place and the pokemon, Gaiyah. But you know, I really don't like explaining things." She smiled sweetly at Barry. "It really pisses me off, and I do not want to show a nice boy like you the angry side of me."Barry laughed nervously. "Hehehe, noooo I don't wanna see that."She gave him a narrowed smile and tilted her head. "How old are you? You seem very young to be a time-traveler.""Oh, I'm barely seventeen," said Barry proudly, even though he was just a little over sixteen. He was feeling in love and dazed by this woman, who probably wasn't even a real woman. "And honestly, I'm no time-traveler, but I look forward to it!""Seventeen?!" Prima Dona gasped. She suddenly grabbed Barry's chin, tilting his head back and examining his neck. "You don't have the mark."Barry felt the cold chill of her fingers. "What mark?""Never mind." She let go and looked away disappointedly. "I was expecting Chibu would bring back someone who had a connection to this dimension. Apparently, you arent the one."Barry suddenly felt upset. "What are you talking about? Who's Chibu? And what were you expecting me to be? It's not my fault I'm not some godly king from the twentieth dimension, or somewhere exotic, born with supernatural powers pass my will."Prima Dona whipped her face to him, her eyes flashing with anger. "Chibu is that foolish little pokemon that brought you here!"Barry gasped. "You mean Casavon?"Prima Dona winced in disgust. "Casa-what? Apparently, the pokemon that brought you from your dimension to ours is a messenger of my enemy! Ultramaur created three messengers to help it time-travel. These messengers, unfortunately, have duplicates that are the complete opposite. Ultramaur's enemy, is a terrible pokemon known as Dalyah. Chibu happens to be one of the three messengers of Dalyah, and they look exactly like the three that come from Ultramaur."Barry was staring at Prima Dona in disbelief. "So…..Casavon-- or Chibu-- is a messenger of…""A terrible pokemon, yes," said Prima Dona intently. "Chibu is only ONE of the three time-travelers of Dalyah, the nemesis that's against my creator, Ultramaur. Chibu was sent to your dimension to fetch back a certain being that is needed to banish Ultramaur forever."Barry looked at his shoes, feeling betrayed. "Aw, man…." he muttered. "But…..it bonded so well with Kaira. With KAIRA! If any pokemon could bond with her that well, and that quickly--""Barry," Prima Dona put her hand on his shoulder, and Barry was silenced at the coldness of her hand that got him lost in Prima Dona's gaze. She spoke calmly and carefully. "Who is this Kaira? And you mentioned a Chimchar? I would very much like to meet these others that came with you and Chibu. I could maybe even….help you guys."Barry was staring into Prima Dona's blue eyes. Blue eyes? Didn't she have green eyes the first time he looked at them? Oh well. She was still stunningly beautiful to him, and he felt like he could listen to anything she told him, and believe every word she said, no matter how wrong it sounded. "Help us?""Oh yes," said Prima Dona, casting a thin smile. "I would love to help you. You seem more than just a being from the first dimension, Barry. Your spirit gives me faith. Chibu's probably gotten your friend fooled by all its cutie-tootie attitude. But I can help her. Why don't we look for her? She shouldn't have gotten too far. And while we're looking, I can explain to you the history of this dimension, and pokemon like Ultramaur and Gaiyah.""Oh yes, I'd love to hear about that," said Barry, not taking his eyes off of Prima Dona's.Prima Dona smiled and got up. Her Seviper slithered at her side, its creepy eyes narrowing at Barry with undisguised hatred. Prima Dona pulled up her hood over her head. Barry stared at her, still mystified, and thankful that this time, she didn't cover half her face with the hood. "Come along, then. I'll find her. I can watch over this town like a vulture. It won't be long till you see her again."Barry smiled and nodded, getting up. He longed to hold hands with her, though even he was still not stupid enough to do something like that to someone with such powers, and such attitude. He walked by her side, feeling lightheaded and not himself around this lady. But he barely noticed it through Prima Dona's cunning voice and entrancing looks. 7. LITTLE DEVIL Lucas suddenly woke up, laying uncomfortably on a roof. His cheek was stuck on the iced platform. "Uh…" he tried to pull his cheek off. "Hey! Dawn?"Dawn suddenly appeared from behind him. She looked at him and laughed. "Ah-hah! Oh, wow. Nice landing, huh?""Just help me up!" Said Lucas with irritation. The last thing he had remembered was becoming entranced by the shiny pebble he had found atop the hill by Mt. Coronet, and then being hit the head, blacking out. Now here he was, waking on what looked like the top of a house. Dawn laughed and gave him a sharp tug, ripping his cheek off the roof. "Ow! Dammit, that hurt!""Sorry, I helped you, you know," said Dawn, giving him a look.Lucas sighed, rubbing his cheek. "It's fine, I'm just……a little shocked. What happened? All I remember was finding a glowing stone, and then….we got zapped by lightning, or something?""I'm pretty sure the stone…..zapped us," said Dawn, looking uncertain. "Wherever we are now, it sure doesn't look like Twinleaf." She looked around them, and saw that they were surrounded by a city of tall buildings made of ice, and houses here and there shaped like icicles. Lucas looked around with wonder. He gave a nervous laugh. "So where are we in? Ice City? This sure isn't Snowpoint either.""No," said Dawn breathlessly. "It's not. But I think I love it. It's kinda beautiful."Lucas smiled at her with humor and gave her a nudge. "Snap out of it, Dawn. We could be thousands of miles from home. That rock could've been part of the pokemon Rowan had been observing. He said the evidence proved that the pokemon came from another world, possibly another dimension. That glowing rock could've been part of the pokemon since it zapped us like that."Dawn gasped. "Yeah. We could be more than just miles from home." She turned to face him. "What do we do? Where's that rock? Maybe it can take us back!"Lucas looked around urgently for the shining speck. "Aw! I have no idea. It was merely a pebble, so….""There!" Dawn was pointing down at the back of the roof. Lucas crawled over, careful not to slip of the ice cold roof. He peered down below where there was a tiny sparkle in the snow. "Let's go see," he slipped off the roof, carefully landing on his feet. He looked back up, watching as Dawn slid down with ease, smiling as he remembered how clumsy she used to be before her adventure with Ash Ketchum, and that if she were still her inexperienced self, she would've had trouble to jump off a simple house. Lucas knelt down to grab at the shining spot, but suddenly, something popped out of the snow. "Chii!!!" It squealed. It was a pokemon, no bigger than a small football, and was a bright glowing blue with a halo over its head and a short stringy tail that had a blue diamond at the end. It had dents at the bottom corners, sticking down, along with tiny arms and legs no longer than an inch. "Whoa…." Lucas gasped, staring with intent as the little pokemon glowed. The shining pebble was at the middle of the pokemon, and it hovered with a scared look in its small button eyes."Oh, how cute…." said Dawn. The little glowing pokemon gave a startled squeak and then dashed away, disappearing into the crowd of houses and people."Hey! Wait!" Dawn called pleadingly after it.Lucas suddenly blinked a couple times, snapping into focus. It seemed as if every time he looked at that rock, he was in some sort of hypnotized daze. "Ugh….come on. We have to follow it! It could be our only way to get back home!"Dawn grabbed his hand as he started to take off. "Wait!"Lucas felt Dawn's cold hands and stopped, meeting her blue gaze. She looked nervous. "Hey…not long before you woke up, I found this."Lucas widened his eyes in surprise as he saw Dawn taking out an looked like an egg. It was about seven inches long, and it had been in her pocket of her pink sweater. It was long, but the shape wasn't wide enough like a normal egg, though it did bear the shape and looks of an egg. "A pokemon egg?"Dawn nodded. "I found it….stuck in the chimney of the house I woke up on. Snow was covering it, and I was looking for the pebble while you were still asleep. I found it buried under the snow in the chimney, and kept it with me just in case.""Why?" Lucas gave her a queried look. "If it's a pokemon egg, you should leave it alone. The parent could've left it hiding there on purpose."Dawn gave him a narrowed look. "You think I'm stupid enough to not think about that before taking it with me? I saw ashes covered over this egg. There was snow all around it, both under and above. Do you think a pokemon would just leave its egg where its all cramped and dirty in a chimney, where it could possibly freeze?""A Koffing probably would," said Lucas. "And judging by the looks of this place, I think any pokemon around here could be born, surrounding itself with snow or ice. You don't know what kinds of pokemon we can find around this place….for all we know, we could be on the other side of our universe! Or even more than that--- another side of the dimension!""Are we going to follow that pokemon or not?" Said Dawn sourly, putting the egg back in her pocket. Half of it stuck out. "I think we're wasting our time when we could've caught up to that pokemon before it disappears somewhere else again."Lucas glanced at the egg with uncertainty, then sighed. "Fine. Let's go," he held out his hand, and smiled as Dawn grabbed it and ran with him down the alley where the shining blue pokemon had disappeared.Paul awoke in a dark forest. He felt a strange throbbing in his head, and his vision was blurry. "What happened to me….?" He muttered angrily, squeezing his eyes shut. The last thing he had remembered was meeting the most entrancing-- and cute-- pokemon of his life. It was blood red, and the size of a four to six inch football, with dents that stuck up and the top corners of its horizontally oval body. It had tiny horns of the devil at the corners of its head, and cute button eyes with a devilish smirk to them. It had attacked him. It had literally lifted him off the ground with psychic powers, and then threw him back down. Now here he was, awake in a dark place, in an unfamiliar forest.Paul shook his head and his vision cleared. "Damn pokemon," he growled. He would never trust another cute pokemon again. He didn't even understand how he had even become interested in that devilish little creature. He narrowed his eyes up at the dark night sky. The stars were lined in a weird pattern, and seemed to circulate the sky in a dazzling array of shapes. He wasn't in Sinnoh. "Where have I seen these constellations before?" Muttered Paul, walking forwards, keeping his head looking up at the sky. He hadn't seen this pattern of stars in Kanto, Johto, or Hoenn either. Was he in Isshu? No……he couldn't be sure. He wasn't much of a stargazer anyway, and he hadn't paid much attention to the stars at all. "Ugh….judging from the powers of that pokemon, it could've taken me anywhere." He remembered Rowan saying something about a pokemon that had come from another world, possibly another dimension. For all he knew, he could be anywhere."Damn…." he squeezed his eyes shut. His head was throbbing again, and he winced as he felt blood trickle from the side of his forehead. The pokemon had thrown him hard. But he was feeling more than just a headache. He felt like he was shutting down, and struggling with a strange sense of rage to keep awake. He nearly fell forwards, and he grabbed a nearby tree branch, tearing it off the tree in frustration. Paul fell to his knees. His eyes opened, and they were hot and teary from frustration. He felt like he was……changing. And it was hurting him terribly. There was a squeak in the woods. Paul barely heard it, for his ears were throbbing and hot from pressure, but he suddenly saw the pokemon again. A red glow rose up into the sky right above him, and the red football shaped pokemon with ear dents sticking up, appeared with its wicked cute smile. Red light glowed around it, and another sense of energy flowed around Paul. He felt strengthened, and the pain lessened. He looked up into the pokemon's tiny button eyes. Voices echoed through Paul's head. They were all meek, squeaky little voices, though at the same time, they sounded evil and cackled with laughter. Paul blinked up into the red pokemon's eyes, knowing the voices came from the pokemon, even though the pokemon kept its mouth shut the whole time.Paul couldn't bring himself to speak. Only questions ran through his head. "Who are you? What do you want from me? What….have you done to me?"Suddenly, the same small voices echoed in his head again, and spoke clearer. "Hello, Paul…..heehawed…….I'm having fun here….." Paul stared up in wonder as the red pokemon kept its wicked smile on him, rocking back and forth, swaying the lights around it and making Paul feel dizzy and sick as he watched them. "Hehe…..I am Chiba. I'm a strong pokemon…..a VERY strong pokemon."Paul focused his gaze on the pokemon, feeling a sense of hope surge through him. The pokemon, Chiba, was speaking to him only through his thoughts. Paul could only talk back in his head. "But…I can never catch you. I just know it. You're….too powerful…..even for me."Chiba's grimace remained the same as it cackled in its cute, but devious way. "Ooh, of course! I'm wayyy too strong for you. Aha, I bet you've never said that before to a pokemon, havent you? Hehe, and you've barely met me that long also." Paul's head was still throbbing, and the lights that flowed around him were burning him, making him feel sore and sick. "Ugh…..do you mind……please, I've done nothing to deserve this pain."Chiba cackled. "Hahaha! You want to catch me though, don't you? Admit it. Despite all this pain and crud I'm giving you, you still want me, huh? Yeah, Paul, you're still foolish enough to want to take your poke ball outta your pocket and capture me easily. Teehee, admit it, you fool." Chiba's menacing smile narrowed into a more devilish grimace as it sent out more waves of energy flowing around Paul, making him feel even worse.Though Paul couldn't groan out loud, he was shouting a bunch of curses in his head. He squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped his arms around himself, feeling burned, sore, and beat up at the same time. The waves of energy were killing him. "I admit it!" He shouted angrily in his mind. "I hate the living crap out of you….." He flashed open his eyes with anger in them, as hot tears flowed down from the intensifying heat that burned around and through him. "…..but I still would love nothing more than to have a pokemon like you…….mine."The little red pokemon squeezed its eyes shut, still smiling evilly. "Pah-haha! You're such a fool, Paul. You're nothing but a coward." It laughed in its small voice, and opened its eyes, staring into Paul's intent eyes. "Well, guess what? I've given you a chance."Paul grunted in pain in his mind. "A chance?""A chance. If you really want to catch me….impress me first! You are in the fifth dimension, Paul. MY world. I belong here. I'm nothing like your strongest legendaries back in your own world, nooo, I'm much more than that. You know it, don't you, Paul? You know you wanna catch me. Well, catch me if you can!" Chiba suddenly threw an intensifying blast of bright light at Paul, sending him hitting against a tree behind him, and Paul collided with such force that for a second or two, he was positive he had been dead, and then suddenly snapped back to life. The heat was gone, though his body still felt the hotness and sore from Chiba's torturing waves of light. He opened his eyes in shock, staring at Chiba with wide-eyed wonder and horror as the red little pokemon drifted towards him, glowing and grimacing in its evil smirk. Its tail was swaying as it hovered in front of him, the triangle shape at the end glowing bright red like its body."Now! I've given you the powers of psychics and the ability of dark matter," spoke Chiba in his thoughts. "With the power of dark matter AND psychics, you can control both the physical and spiritual part of the world. You can physically control the objects around you with psychics, and even distort and mess up the auras of the objects within.""You mean….I can control the spirits of pokemon? Or any living creature?" Paul was staring up in awe."Not spirits, you idiot," laughed Chiba, smacking him with a shot of light. "I meant the auras within. You can control minds of the pokemon within, so that their aura can be touched by the darkness of what I've given you."Paul didn't entirely understand….but he felt a surge of excitement and anxiety run through him. He was actually going to have a chance to impress this pokemon, and even get to capture it for himself. "I won't let you down, Chiba. Tell me what you want me to do….I will do it." He stood up, wincing at the pain that seared through his body and his head, where it hurt the most.Chiba chuckled cutely, narrowing its tiny eyes. "My, my. You're the tenacious type, arent you? A lot like me in a way…but no. No, Paul, you've got quite a ways before you end up like meeeee. That's why you're just beginning. Do what I say, and then you'll find out for yourself…..the true power of dark matter. After that, then I can be yours.""I won't let you down," promised Paul through his thoughts. His head was hurting, but he still managed to communicate well with this pokemon through his thoughts. "I'll do whatever you tell me, and I promise I will show you who I can really be.""Ha! You're still a fool!" Laughed Chiba tauntingly. "A mere, worthless fool. Just pathetic."As Chiba spat those words at Paul, he felt hit by a force as strong as Chiba's lights earlier. Except he wasn't hit by anything physical this time.Chiba continued to speak in his mind. The little pokemon kept its tiny mouth closed into its evil smile as it spoke. "To really impress, me, I'm not looking for what you can do on the outside. You can do all as I say, and obey all my commands and expectations I tell you to do, but if you don't find out the true power of the dark matter, you will never achieve it. Right now, I've only given you psychics. Right now, you can only obey my commands to impress me, with your psychic abilities. You don't have the ability of dark matter, and unless you figure it out along the way, you won't achieve it. After you discover what the ability of dark matter can really do, then you will achieve it. Then you will become like me, and then I will be yours……and you can be mine….." Chiba cackled in its evil tone again.Paul was entranced by the red glow of this pokemon again. He stared up in awe at it, and nodded carefully. "I won't let you down," he said once again. "What do you want me to do first?"Chiba narrowed its eyes and smirked even creepier. It was cute….an devilish at the same time. "There's a town not too far from here. I want ya to find a way to bring everlasting winter to it….because winter's my favorite season." Chiba giggled wickedly.Paul blinked. "You want me to find a way to make it snow?""Find the town of Caravel City!" Shouted Chiba. "There is a certain pokemon that's known as the spring pokemon, and I want you to do something about that blasted creature! Do anything to make it stop its weather-changing ability to keep it spring all year! I wanna see ice-cold winter over that town, where the people shall shiver in cold and pokemon shall struggle for survival. I loooove winter." The little red pokemon glowed with intensifying red light.Paul chuckled. "So you like winter. I wouldn't have expected that from a pokemon like you.""Oh, hahaha! I'm more cold than you think, Paul," laughed Chiba hysterically. Its eyes narrowed into its cute, menacing smile. "Trust meeeeee.""I will find a way," said Paul. "I will find a way.""Pah! You better! I'm not going to help you in any way! I shall do nothing but watch over you and laugh at how pathetic you are--- if you prove to be! Figure things out yourself. I won't be there for you."Lucas stopped to catch his breath. "Dang…..I saw it in the midst of all these people.""Oh….we lost it," groaned Dawn. They were standing in another alley, behind a tall building that seemed to curve at the top like a fish hook. "This is a really strange place," said Lucas, wincing around them. The whole town was like an imaginary city of ice sculptures and snow. "If I were born here, I probably would've been a lot more outgoing that I am. I'm so tempted to skateboard on that curvy building!""Well, we shouldn't stay here any longer," said Dawn. "We've got to find that pokemon with the pebble that got us here." Suddenly, the white egg in her pocket glowed."Hey! You really should think about what to do with that egg before we leave," Lucas reminded her. "You can't just take it home with us. Who knows what kind of pokemon can hatch from that egg?""Lucas, I know I'm not going to do anything foolish like that," she gave him a snappy look. "It's just…..this egg gives me the feeling that it's lost and needs me to look after it." She took the egg out and looked at it with a dazed look in her eyes. Lucas blinked. He realized how much she must've looked like him when he was transfixed with the blue pokemon's gem. "Dawn! It could be dangerous! We don't know what sort of stuff could happen in a world like this."Dawn held the egg close to herself and hugged it. She gave Lucas a challenging stare. "If you want, I could just stay here forever with this egg, and you can feel free to leave and do what you want."Lucas was taken aback by Dawn's sudden mood. But before he could say anything back, he saw something shiny blue on the reflection of the egg. "The pokemon!" He whipped around and saw the light blue football-shaped pokemon with the pebble. "Chii!" It cried with an alert look to its eyes, before dashgin away again.Lucas hurried after it, not looking back as Dawn kept up with him, holding the egg tightly as it glowed brighter. 8. STRUCK BY SORCERY Kaira's scream was muffled as the cold hand covered her mouth. As soon as she felt the stab in her neck, her vision suddenly went blurred and spinning. She nearly fainted, until she heard the squeal of Chibu and angry cry of Chimchar. Suddenly Kaira felt a wave of energy erupt inside her, and she whipped around, throwing her attacker far away, crashing the person into the burnt house in front of them. Kaira stood, staring in awe, shocked at what she had just done. She turned to Chibu, who sent a wave of sparkling bright yellow lights towards where the attacker had fallen, and Chimchar used its angry Flamethrower.Chibu huffed and shook its tiny body. "There! You ought to be careful, Kaira. That intruder has been banished into a state of nothingness in outer space, and he'll never bother us again.""What the hell was that? What did I just DO?!" Kaira felt the strange flow of energy in her veins suddenly drain away, and she felt like a normal person again. "Chimchaaa!" Chimchar jumped up and down, glaring at the burned spot in the crashed house where they had attacked the sudden attacker. "Shut up, Chimchar," Chibu gave the fire pokemon a sharp poke with a spark of a tiny lightning bolt. Chibu turned back to Kaira. "I gave you energy, Kaira. You havent felt it long enough, but that's how it feels like to have the energy and power of a time-traveling messenger in the fifth dimension. That's how it feels like to have abilities created by the stars of outer space in the fifth dimension."Kaira raised her eyebrows. "You can just give those powers to me, and then take them away just like that? I can become as powerful as you whenever I want?"Chibu giggled. "Well, yeah. But keep in mind….I've marked you with the heart-bond. When I sucked your forehead, I had given you an invisible mark only seen by me and the beings of the fifth dimension. That means I've bonded with you, and I can watch over you no matter how far from you I am. I can share powers with you…..no matter where I am. That mark on your forehead proves that I am your heart-bond."Kaira felt startled, but she pushed the feeling away and let the sudden happiness flow through her. She managed to smile. "Wow….so I practically have my own pokemon….and it's you."Chibu smiled cutely. "Yep. I tried doing the same to Barry….but like I said….he couldn't heart-bond with me since he was a pure blood of the first dimension."The thing with being a "pure-blood" born from another dimension crept Kaira out. Was she a half-blood then? She didn't feel like asking. "CHIMCHAAAAR!" Chimchar let out an irritated blast of flames at Chibu and waved its arms towards the charred house, and took after a dark figure that snuck around the corner.Chibu gasped. "Shoot! He escaped!" Chibu dashed after Chimchar, chasing after the dark figure.Kaira hurried after them. "Hey, wait! Who is that anyway?!" She didn't like this place. All she wanted to do was find Barry and get out of here. She didn't like thinking that she was farther from home than she could imagine.Chibu was quick. But Kaira managed to catch up by keeping her eyes on the glow of light that brightened around the pokemon as it shot out blasts of energy. "Hah! I bet that kicked his ass!" Chibu's small voice sounded triumphant as the pokemon slowed down with Chimchar skiding to a stop and cheering noisily.Kaira was still a few blocks down, but she hurried up to them, keeping her eyes focused on Chibu's glowl the dark houses that loomed around her seemed to want to eat her up. "Hey, Kaira!" It was Barry's voice. Kaira gasped and stumbled with distraction, and stopped running, looking around. "Barry?" She called, turning to walk back and peer around the house behind. She widened her eyes as she saw him standing there, happy to see her, but then her smile faltered. A tall dark figure stood by his side, a lady with a black robe and a hood over her head. Her face was pale white, and her eyes a piercing dark brown. Her expression was menacing, and she was glaring at Kaira with undisguised disgust. "Your friend, huh? Is she from the first dimension?"Barry nodded, keeping his smile on his face. "Of course," he laughed. "Like I said, we were all from earth, and Casavon-- I mean Chibu-- teleported us here. Kaira! Come on! This is Empress Mai, the powerful Ice Queen of this region!"Kaira met the lady's gaze steadily and nodded, not saying anything.The lady narrowed her eyes into creepier slits. "Please, call me Prima Dona. Where's the pokemon? You had Chibu with you, didn't you?"Kaira's heart pounded. "Uh…."Barry's expression was suddenly intent and grave. "Kaira, you have to listen to what this lady knows. She's lived in this dimension for….five centuries?""Five decades," growled the lady, rolling her eyes. "Oh, yes….so sorry! Prima Dona's been acquainted with Chibu before! Kaira, it's a terrible pokemon. Apparently--""Enough!" Prima Dona let out her left arm in front of Barry's face. She was staring into Kaira, as if trying to read her thoughts. "Where's Chibu?""Chi-- Barry, what's--" Kaira stuttered, looking at Barry in disbelief. What had this lady told him? She had a bad feeling.Suddenly, Chibu dashed to Kaira's side, with a look of horror on its face. "Chiii!" It cried. It wasn;t speaking to her through her thoughts, but as a regular pokemon cry. "Chibu!" Kaira exclaimed, grabbing the tiny pokemon in her hands."Bahhh! There!" Screamed Prima Dona. She immediately threw out a purple and white poke ball, and a magnificent Seviper revealed its long, powerful body. Prima Dona suddenly raised her arms up to the sky, and dark clouds shadowed over their area. Prima Dona was glowing, but the glowing light was dark and deadly. Seviper rose tall, glaring down at Kaira and Chibu with glowing, narrowed eyes. Kaira felt her heart drop as she realized how content Barry was being. He stood there at Prima Dona's side, his arms crossed, smiling at Kaira as if nothing was happening. "Hey! Barry, what--?!""Seviper! Poison Tail!" Prima Dona's screaming voice cracked the air and sent out a blast of lightning behind her. The Seviper hissed loudly, raising its large tail with a glowing, deadly purple. "No!!" Kaira held out Chibu, knowing the little pokemon would know what it was doing. "Chiii!!" Chibu sent out a wall of bright light, blocking the attack as Seviper hit its tail at the wall, causing a blinding explosion of yellow light. Kaira fell to her back. This Seviper was huge. She had seen Sevipers a few times before, and they had been one of her most hated and feared pokemon. But this Seviper was longer and bigger than any she had ever seen. Its length was probably three feet longer than the ones back in her world, and its height was like an extra foot taller when it rose its head to its formal position. And this Seviper had no cunning smile. It was glaring as if trying to kill Kaira with just the sharpness of its expression. "Fool!" Prima Dona yelled with irritation."Kaira?! What are you doing?!" Barry was looking scared now. He hurried to her side and knelt down by her. "Let Chibu go! Believe it or not, it's tricked us!""Chii!" Chibu escaped Kaira's grasp and started to fight the Seviper. Kaira met Barry's gaze with alarmed eyes. "How could you say that?! Chibu's a messenger of the angel pokemon, Dalyah! It's brought me here because it may need me to help it! Have you heard of the legend of Gaiyah yet?""Prima Dona's told me everything!" Said Barry seriously. "Dalyah's a feared enemy! That pokemon's kept Ultramaur's powers limited, so that Prima Dona's had no power to control the dark matter that flows in her aura! Anyone on Dalyah's side is an ENEMY!"A blast of light flew over Kaira as Chibu battled furiously against Prima Dona's monstrous Seviper. Kaira narrowed her eyes. "An enemy of us? Or an enemy of Prima Dona?! Barry! Ultramaur's the demonized side of Gaiyah! If it has summoned dark matter to create someone like Prima Dona, then she is an enemy for us all! Dalyah's the angelic bringer of peace and mother nature! Chibu's a helping time-traveler for it!" What sort of things had Barry learned from this lady?Barry stared into Kaira's eyes. They were bearing into her, but they were unusually distant. He looked confused. "No," he shook his head, standing up and biting his lip. "You can't side with Dalyah. It would…..hurt Prima Dona."Kaira winced visibly in disbelief, not believing what she was hearing.Prima Dona threw a ball of dark purple and black energy behind both of them, cackling in her creepy loud voice. "Ahahaha! My dear Barry, nothing can hurt me." She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "NOTHING. I am immortal. I was created by Ultramaur, a dark angel pokemon. I am a dark angel born of the dark matter in the second dimension, born to follow in Ultramaur's steps as a living aura that could be in the form of a human."Kaira narrowed her eyes. "Barry, we have to get out of here. Now."Barry was shaking his head, his eyes fixed on Prima Dona. "I'm not going anywhere," he said in a distant voice.Kaira whipped her head to face Barry. She stood up. "Barry, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" He was walking towards the tall, evil lady, a thin smile cracking his lips. Prima Dona smiled sweetly, tilting her head and holding out her hand for him. Barry took it without hesitating, and Prima Dona yanked him towards her to pull him into a gap that she had been standing in front of. Barry disappeared in the circulating black nothingness.Kaira gasped. "Barry!" Without thinking, she hurried after him, but Prima Dona hit her hard with a blast of red light. "What did you do to him?!" She screamed. Prima Dona smiled wickedly. "Nothing serious. He's kinda got me misty-eyed, so I wouldn't do anything serious to him…..yet. YOU on the other hand, are a marked one of one of the time-travelers, arent you? Chibu's marked you, I can see it clearly."Kaira touched her forehead. She remembered no one but the living beings of the fifth dimension could see the mark on her forehead. "And with you, Chibu can do more than just time-travel," growled Prima Dona, her eyes piercing into Kaira just like her Seviper's. "With you, Chibu can do a great deal more….considering you are a half-being. And because of that, I will destroy you." She raised her arms high, and the dark clouds above turned a nasty reddish color, and thunder rumbled faintly.Kaira held her breath, looking up, not knowing what to do."Kairaaaa!!" Screamed Chibu's cry in her head. It was holding back Seviper with a veil of light surrounding itself. Suddenly there was a deafening crash of thunder, and the place flashed blindingly. Prima Dona gasped and stared at her hands. "What?! What happened?!?!" Her face was a deadly anger. The clouds above had turned into a light gray, and a soft wind blew over Kaira. She looked at Prima Dona, who was glaring up at the sky. "Arghhh! It's you again, isn't it?! You blasted soul! What do you want now?!!" She sent a black flash of light from her long fingers towards the gray clouds, but the exploded into dust as they hit.Prima Dona screamed and suddenly dropped to her knees as if someone had given her a rough push. "IDIOT!" She yelled deafeningly at the top of her lungs. She started cursing in a strange, scary language. Kaira suddenly looked around her, and saw that Seviper was thrashing in pain as if something was taking over it as well. She was aware that there was someone around them all, but the presence remained unseen. Chibu was suddenly on her head. "Kaira! Get in the gap! It's alright! It's Roxeus, the pokemon of wind and atmosphere….it's distracting Prima Dona and her Seviper. Go!"Kaira hurried over into the uninviting swirl of blackness, and disappeared inside. 9. REUNITED Barry felt like he had hit his head for the fifth time today. He opened his eyes, feeling dizzy and half-awake. "Ugh….what happened now?" He felt like every few hours, he was ending up in a different environment, in a different place. Now he looked around and saw that he was in some sort of forest, where there were strange, eerie cries and noisy bugs heard everywhere.Barry looked up and saw that the stars were a strange line of dazzling patterns. "Am I still in the fifth dimension?" He sure hoped so….he was longing to see Prima Dona again. His left forearm was hurting. He widened his eyes with wonder as he realized there was a strange mark on over his forearm. There were four black lines that went around, and a shaded triangle shape drawn in the middle of the lines. It shone in the moonlight as he held it high. "Prima Dona…." She had grabbed him at that very spot before pulling him into the dark gap behind her. A strange throb went through his head, and suddenly, he knew where he was. He was still in the fifth dimension, and Prima Dona had meant to send him to her mansion in the town nearby, but then an evil spirit had screwed up her powers and she had accidently sent him far across the Arctic Sea. The thought had just randomly came to Barry, as if Prima Dona had reminded him in his head just now. He stared at his mark on his arm and blinked. "Wow." He gazed back up in the sky with hope in his eyes. "Prima Dona…..you're in trouble. I will find you. I will help you." Something had disrupted her powers after he had fallen into that dark gap. It was a spirit….though he still didn't know what spirit exactly. He could almost hear Prima Dona's voice in his head, as if calling him to come and help her. Chibu was still with Kaira. "Chimchar!" Out of nowhere, Chimchar swung from a nearby tree branch, landing in Barry's arms. "Chimchar! Chimchar!!!" It looked urgent and happy to see him again. "Hey, Chimchar!" Barry held the pokemon, relieved to see it all right. "How'd you get here? You followed me, didn't you!""Chim!" Chimchar nodded. He looked behind, as if expecting something to come out of the bushes. "Chimchar?" Called Kaira's voice. She stepped out from between the trees, her thin shadow visible in the moonlight. She gasped. "Barry!""Chimchar!" Chimchar suddenly spotted the mark on his forearm. Suddenly, Chimchar yelled a startled cry and shook its body, trying to wriggle free from Barry's grasp.Barry looked at the pokemon. "Huh? Chimchar! What's wrong?" "Chim-CHA!" Chimchar spat an Ember attack on Barry's mark on his forearm. Barry dropped it and Chimchar ran away, disappearing into the forest. Kaira watched after Chimchar, with a scared look on her face.Barry faced her, wincing. "Huh! What was that about?"Kaira whipped her head to Barry, and walked up to him. "Barry, I've lost Chibu. Where is Chibu?!" Her eyes were horrified and her voice sounded shaky and angry."You lost Chibu?""WHERE IS CHIBU?!" She demanded, glaring at him now. "Have you seen it? I know it came with me through the gap! I know it did! Where is it?""Whoa, whoa, whoa, why are you yelling at me like I did something to it? I didn't see any sign of Chibu. And I don't want to either!""Ugh!" Kaira sounded hopeless. She turned away, shaking her head. "I'll find it myself. Clearly, you still don't care about how important that pokemon it is….""Kaira, that pokemon's dangerous!" Barry sighed and put his arm on her shoulder. She turned to meet his pleading eyes. "Whatever you've learned from Chibu might be false. It's trying to find the missing being so that Dalyah and Ultramaur can become one and form Gaiyah. Without Ultramaur, Prima Dona wouldn't be the same! Can't you see how terrible it would be if Gaiyah came back to the world again?"Kaira narrowed her eyes. "Maybe it woul be bad for Prima Dona, because she is nothing but pure evil.""She is NOT pure evil!""She was born from dark matter!" Kaira protested, her eyes narrowed and in disbelief. "Ultramar's a dark angel just like Prima Dona said to your face-- a devil pokemon! If it created Prima Dona out of darkness to follow its path, then Prima Dona's nothing but pure evil, just like the pokemon Ultramaur!"Barry shook his head, slightly smiling. "Ultramaur's not pure evil. There's no such thing as an evil pokemon. It's just very powerful. There's no such thing as an evil pokemon.""Huh! You just said Chibu was an evil pokemon!" Kaira turned and started to walk away. "You don't understand. And Chibu's not only important to the world….it's important to me."Barry held out a hand towards her, but then let it down. "Fine then," he said reluctantly. "I guess I'll just find my own way to look for Prima Dona. She needs me." He stared at the mark on his forearm.Kaira looked back with despair in her eyes. Was that a sorry look she was giving him? Suddenly, there was a shake and something growled in the bushes behind Barry. Barry gasped and looked behind, seeing a something dark and scaly moving through the bushes with a dangerous snarl. "Ahh!" Barry dashed forward, leaping away as a Garchomp appeared from the bushes behind, barely missing Barry as it reached out to slash him. Barry landed at Kaira's heels, and she backed away in surprise, hitting her head on a branch and falling forwards, in front of Barry. Barry met her confused gaze, and then stood, pulling her up. "Come on! A Garchomp!" He and Kaira ran through the woods, and suddenly, Kaira screamed as she skidded to a stop, looking down at the river that was about ten feet below. They were at the edge of a short cliff, and there was no where to go but jump. Barry could hear more Garchomp and Gabite gathering behind them, getting closer. "We have to jump," breathed Kaira. She immediately threw herself off the edge, splashing into the running river below. "Whoa!" Barry jumped in after her before realizing how brave she could be when she was scared of pokemon. He fell in the ice cold water, gasping for air and thrashing wildly as the river carried him downstream. "Barry!" Cried Kaira as he caught up with her. Suddenly a flash of blue light pierced the dark sky above them, and a log fell into the water."Grab on!" Called a voice.Barry and Kaira held the log and climbed on top, and looked at each other with shock. "You alright?" Said Barry, looking into her scared eyes. She nodded. A strand of hair was over her left eye, dripping wet. "I think so."A rope suddenly caught a twig sticking out of the log. The rope pulled the log back and Barry and Kaira were pulled to shore. Barry got off and saw their rescuer. He gasped in disbelief. "Lucas!"Lucas was looking just as shocked. "So you DID go to Mt. Coronet!" He breathed. Dawn suddenly appeared from the trees. "Barry? Kaira? Oh my gosh! You guys!" Dawn hurried over and Barry whipped around to face her, and the both of them hugged each other with relief. "What in the world are you guys doing here?!" Barry shouted, slowly letting Dawn go. Dawn stared into his eyes with a look of happiness and shock. "Well, we were looking for YOU, before Lucas found some special pretty stone that got us zapped here. What about you?"There was an irritated huff behind Barry, and he turned to see that Kaira was standing up, wringing her purple sweater, looking upset and left out. Barry turned back to Dawn. "Hey, we should find somewhere to rest and discuss this whole thing, I'm kinda soaked and freezing out here."Dawn laughed and brushed her jacket. "Yeah, and you got me a little damp too," she said teasingly.Barry shrugged. "Serves you right for following me here! I thought Kaira and I were the only ones who knew about this place!"Lucas laughed. "No, wherever you go, we'll find you, Barry. And we were just sitting by a campfire not too far from here." He turned to Kaira. "You okay?" She was staring out into where the river was flowing towards, with a narrowed look on her face as if wondering what would've happened if she went on with it, and didn't get saved. Kaira met his gaze and nodded, not saying anything. Her purple sweater was in her hands, wet and dripping. Barry looked at her with concern, wondering what was going through her mind. She was always so strange around other people. He turned to Dawn. "Well, take us there! I'm cold and hungry and wet and angry and--"Dawn gave him a nudge as he passed her, following Lucas into the forest. They chatted about their earlier encounters in the fifth dimension since their arrival, though Barry knew he did most of the talking. He mentioned Prima Dona, and where she had come from. He told about Chibu and the Chimchar from Professor Rowan's lab, and how Chibu had traveled to their dimension to look for the particular missing being. Dawn and Lucas were listening intently. Kaira sat next to Barry as he excitedly went on about their adventure, but she sat, staring into the fire with a half-hearted look on her face. But she raised her head when Barry mentioned how Prima Dona had told him the story of Gaiyah and the two pokemon that were created when it split-- creating Dalyah and Ultramaur. "So the pokemon that's been wandering around Mt. Coronet," spoke Dawn, "is that a pokemon created by Dalyah or Ultramaur?""Chibu was created by Dalyah," said Barry. "Because Prima Dona was seeking the pokemon that were messengers of her enemy. Chibu is one of the three messengers. The others are Chiba and Chibo, who look just like Chibu, except Chiba's red and Chibo's light blue."Lucas widened his eyes. "Light blue? Hey! Dawn and I were chasing a pokemon that looked like that!""Football-shaped with tiny button eyes and a halo?" said Barry.Dawn gasped. "Yeah! Except this was light blue. It had drooping ear dents at the bottom corners of its body. Wow, we've been chasing a messenger of Dalyah."Barry nodded. "Dalyah has blocked Ultramaur's dark powers, therefore, blocking the dark matter from entering Prima Dona. Before Dalyah went missing, Prima Dona had no power to save her city when the terrible blizzard destroyed it. That's why when we arrived, the place was all empty. But now that Dalyah's gone missing in the other dimensions, Prima Dona was able to retain some of her dark powers back. She plans to capture all three of Dalyah's messengers before they find a way to combine Ultramaur and Dalyah together and recreate Gaiyah again."Lucas and Dawn looked at each other. Dawn had a quizzical look on her face. "But I thought bringing Gaiyah back together would limit the powers of Dalyah and Ultramaur. Isn't Ultramaur's dark matter getting worse now? If Ultramaur combines with Dalyah, it's dark powers can be limited when they become one as Gaiyah again.""Yeah," said Lucas with uncertainty. "And if Prima Dona was born of dark matter, she's like…..a witch. Barry, you probably shouldn't trust her."Barry's eyes went wide. "What? No! you don't understand! Prima Dona's done nothing evil! Who ever said dark magic was evil magic? Prima Dona's a powerful sorceress willing to keep herself strong! Now that she's got some of her powers back since Dalyah went missing, she plans on searching the dimensions for the three messengers of Dalyah, to prevent them from finding a way to create Gaiyah again. You can't trust Chibu! We have to find it and let her take care of it so the pokemon, Gaiyah, isn't summoned."Kaira huffed. "You're not gonna take Chibu anywhere. It's heart-bonded with me." Dawn and Lucas turned their gazes to Kaira. "What's that?" Asked Dawn in a calmer tone. "Did you say Chibu heart-bonded with you?"Kaira nodded, staring into the fire. "Apparently, it can now find me anywhere, and I can communicate with it no matter where I am…..""Then why don't you do that now?" Barry asked quickly. "You were wanting to find Chibu so badly! You should ask it where it's at, so we can go get it!""Why? So you can turn it in to Prima Dona?" Said Kaira with no emotion. Barry said nothing, but stared at her blankly. He felt a voice calling him in his head, and suddenly, he realized…..if he wanted to keep Prima Dona safe, he should keep his mouth shut about her while he was with his friends. If they weren't going to agree with him about how Prima Dona was no enemy to be feared, then he might as well just keep his thoughts about her to himself. Lucas sighed. "Well, we lost the blue pokemon around here. Apparently, it's called Chibo, I guess.""That just leaves Chiba," said Dawn. "And that one's supposed to be a red one with ear dents sticking up."Kaira looked up, a narrowed gleam in her green eyes. "Make sure it's got a halo as well. It must have a halo just like Chibu and Chibo did, or else it's not a messenger of Dalyah."Barry nodded, his eyes staring pass Dawn, lost in thought. Lucas looked at Kaira. "Do the messengers of Ultramaur have a slight difference?"Kaira nodded. "They look exactly alike, except they've got tiny devil horns on their heads instead of halos. And their tails have a triangle at the tip rather than a diamond. I bet they don't glow as brightly and valiantly as the messengers of Dalyah do."Barry suddenly flinched as he stared into the fire. For a moment, he had a vision of Prima Dona, smiling at him deviously with her long finger pointed up over her lips, as if telling him to keep a secret. "Hey, dude. Barry, you all right?" Lucas waved a hand in front of Barry's face. "You've stayed quiet for almost three minutes."Barry blinked and met Lucas's gaze. "Uh….yeah! I was just thinking." He had his right hand covering the mark on his left forearm the entire time, feeling the need to hide it from Kaira….and everyone else. It seemed to be his only connection to Prima Dona, just like Kaira's invisible mark on her forehead was her only connection to Chibu. And Prima Dona seemed to be forcing his mind to keep quiet about her, and not mention too much about who she was. Lucas shrugged. "We all need to think about what should be done next."Dawn huffed. "Well clearly, there are pokemon from the fifth dimension wandering out there! Dalyah is missing, and Ultramaur's found a way out of this world because of that. Dalyah's messengers are trying to find Dalyah and bring it together with Ultramaur so they can become Gaiyah, and can never escape the fifth dimension again.""We should keep looking for Chibo then," said Barry, trying to sound alert and determined. "You guys were close to finding the blue messenger ?""We should find them all," said Kaira in a distant voice, staring up at the stars. "I know where Chibu is. It's sent me a message telepathically. I must find it….""You know where Chibu is?" Lucas looked at her. Dawn raised her eyebrows. "Where is it? Can we find it by the next few days or so?"Barry watched as Kaira's gaze narrowed and she looked down. "I…..don't know.""Where is Chibu exactly?" Asked Barry. "I don't know."Dawn narrowed her eyes. "Well, you just said it told you. Did it give you specific information?"Kaira shook her head and met Dawn's gaze. "I don't know-- I mean, I know where it is. I… I can't tell you." She stuttered and sounded distant. Dawn said nothing and everyone just stared at her. Kaira frowned as she looked down, not meeting anyone's look.Barry tried to speak. "If you wanna tell everyone where it is, I can leave if it will make you more comfortable--""No! I'm not telling anybody!" Snapped Kaira, getting up and walking away, disappearing behind a grove of trees. Dawn watched her go with a look of disgust in her eyes. "Kaira! Where are you going?"There was no answer. Dawn whipped her head back to face the fire. "Huh! Whatever. If she doesn't want to save her best pokemon friend she's finally bonded with, that's just her problem."Lucas chuckled halfheartedly, peeling off a stick. "Seriously, what's with her?" Muttered Dawn."Don't be like that," said Barry, not realizing how distant his own voice sounded. He was staring into the grove where Kaira had disappeared. "She does care about saving Chibu. We all need to make sure she does. We need all the messengers of Dalyah to……stop the dark matter from Ultramaur." He felt a sharp pang of regret at those words, and he clutched his mark harder, feeling it starting to sting him.Lucas sighed and threw his stick in the fire. "Well, we should get some rest then. Tomorrow morning, I'll see if I find any trace of Chibo before we move on." He rose up."Hey, wait," said Dawn, looking around herself. "How are we supposed to search for the three messengers? They could be ANYWHERE in the hundreds of dimensions out there.""Not hundreds," said Barry, giving her a raised look. "There are only four possible dimensions that we know of. There could be more, but we only know of four. This fifth dimension is actually supposed to be unknown with no access whatsoever, but apparently, some pokemon have been released and can break through the time gap. And each of the three were sent to each of the three available dimensions. The fourth one was destroyed long ago."Dawn huffed and gave him a look. "Well, it's still way too much to search. How are we going to find anything in just one dimension? There's three messengers out there, and thousands of possibilities on where they could be."Barry suddenly felt his mark glow under his hand, and it stung him like a wound. He squeezed his eyes shut and faced the ground, holding his arm tighter on his lap. Dawn gasped. "Hey, you okay?"Barry's mark was stinging, and he hoped no one had noticed the glow. He kept his eyes tightly shut so he wouldn't end up yelling in pain. "I think….Kaira would no how to find all three messengers. She may know more than I do." He clenched his teeth and gripped his arm tighter.Lucas and Dawn were staring at him with concerned and confused looks. Dawn blinked. "She does?""Probably…since she can communicate with Chibu," said Barry, opening his eyes slowly, still facing the ground as his vision went blurry. He still pushed himself to hide it and keep talking like there was nothing wrong with him. "You should ask her. She wouldn't have gone too far."Lucas huffed. "Well, I'm gonna get some sleep before we do anything else. He looked over to the grove of trees. "Hey, Kaira! We'll be asleep if you think of coming back. We could use your help!" His tone was friendly, though Barry knew he was just being diplomatic and convincing. He looked at Barry and shrugged. "If she doesn't tell us anything, we can find our own way." He threw a blanket over the fire to put it out. "Oh yeah? How?" Questioned Dawn. "We can start by tracking down Chibo. That one's still in this dimension. After we catch it, we might be able to find out where the other two could possibly be.""Hey, Barry!" Dawn's gaze was looking at him intently. "What's wrong with you? If something's bothering you, come on and tell us. It's very obvious, you know.""NOTHING is wrong with me!" He yelled, giving Dawn an intent look, grasping his arm. "I'm just having a headache after all I've been through today. And about Chibo, I wonder what it's doing back in this dimension when it was supposed to be in one of the other three?"That seemed to distract them from giving him more questioning looks. Dawn sighed. "That's why we should find Chibo, I guess. Unless Kaira turns up tomorrow, we'll decide what we'll do."Barry rose up, and winced slightly at how stiff he felt everywhere. "We better watch out for Garchomps if we're gonna sleep out here! If only I had my pokemon, darn it!""I know!" Lucas kicked a rock into the woods. "Who knows? Perhaps we'll get to catch some fifth dimension pokemon?""Hey, whatever happened to that Chimchar from Rowan's lab?" Dawn asked suddenly. "It's still out here, isn't it? In these very forests!"Barry raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah! Well….Chimchar was just a stowaway. It had nothing to do with Chibu or the other messengers. It just accidentally followed Chibu into our world and wanted to come back. Now it's back where it belongs…..so darn! I didn't even get to say good-bye!" Barry's heart sank as he remembered the last thing it did to him before he saw it again, how it had spat fire at his mark before running with screaming fear. "Aw…" said Dawn reluctantly. "Well, good night you two. If you see Kaira or Chibo in the middle of the night, wake the rest of us up."They said good night to each other and Barry lay on the cold ground he sat on, and took his hand off his mark. The fire was out, but his black symbol still shone brightly in the moonlight. It started to glow a bright red, and Barry held back a painful gasp. Images of Prima Dona went through his head. His wound was stinging like an infected wound, as if someone had sliced those marks on his arm. But as far as he knew, Prima Dona had marked him herself. She would keep an eye on him, but unlike Kaira's heart-bonding symbol, Barry couldn't keep an eye on Prima Dona. He sat up, looking over into the grove of trees, thinking about going over to comfort Kaira and apologize. A voice inside him-- a voice that wasn't Prima Dona's-- was telling him to go and help his friend out, but then he felt a stab through his head and Prima Dona's cackling voice was echoing, destroying his thoughts of sympathy. Barry was transfixed by thoughts of the beautiful, coldhearted sorceress. He lay back down, falling into dreams of hypnotizing visions of Prima Dona. 10. TEAM SOLAR Lucas was the first to wake up. The morning was very early, and on his poketch, the time said 5:40. Lucas sighed and sat up. The time here in the fifth dimension was probably different, just like how the mornings looked. He looked around. Usually, it was freezing on winter mornings, or if it was summer, the mornings were still at least a slight chilly. But here, everything was hot. Not just warm, but hot. Lucas realized the wetness on his cheeks wasn’t just the dampness from the moss he had been laying on, but it was also sweat. Everyone was still sleeping. He cracked a smile at Barry, who had moved to sleep closer to Dawn. His arms were spread in front of him as he lay on his side, as if he had been hugging Dawn before she had rolled away from his grip in her sleep. Lucas was thankful for himself that his constant pang of jealousy wasn’t kicking in this time. He had more things to worry about than getting Dawn to notice him a little more. He looked away and stood, looking around for Chibo. The blue pokemon should’ve been around here somewhere. In the middle of the night, he had woken to a blue flash in the sky above them, and he saw it land somewhere in the trees. “I should speak to Kaira,” he muttered. She ought to know something about where Chibo or Chibu could be. He headed towards the grove of trees where Kaira had disappeared into the other night. It wasn’t long until he found her at the edge of a ravine. She wasn’t looking down into it, though her gaze was focused across towards the other side, alone in her thoughts. “Hey, Kaira?” He called out politely. He hoped she wasn’t still mad about…….whatever had made her mad. Kaira turned to gaze him, her eyes looking lost and clouded, as if she had been crying. She took a step forward….and let herself drop over the edge of the ravine. “Kaira--? NOOOO!” Lucas yelled out in shock, holding out his arm, but it was too late. He heard a splash from the noisy river, and he saw Kaira’s body get carried away in the water. Was she crazy?! “Kaira!” Yelled Barry’s voice in the distance. He dashed passed Lucas’s side and jumped into the water after her before Lucas could think of what to do next. Lucas rushed downstream , watching with fear as Barry caught up to Kaira and grabbed her shirt, grasping her arm and pulling her as fast as he could toward the shore. Lucas helped both of them out. “My gosh! What in the world—are you guys all right?!” Lucas shouted. Dawn suddenly appeared at Lucas’s side. She gaspe din horror. “Oh my goodness! Barry! What happened?” Barry spit. “Bleh! Wow, that water literally tasted like spices!” He winced with disgust and looked down at Kaira. “Hey, Kaira!” He shook her limp body. She had her eyes closed. “Come on, wake up. I know you’re not unconscious!” Kaira’s green eyes flashed open, and she was glaring up at Barry. “What? You saved me!” She gasped. But Lucas was taken aback by the snappy tone in her voice. Dawn frowned. “Well of course hesaved you! What’s your problem now?” Kaira sighed and sat up, shivering and dripping wet. “Just leave me alone….” She got up and started to walk away. But Barry stood and held her shoulder. “Now wait just a minute!” He sounded angry. “Just tell us why you wanted to throw yourself in that ravine! If you want to commit suicide, you should just wait till we’re back home in our own dimension!” Kaira whipped around and met his gaze with the same clouded look in her eyes again. “It wasn’t suicide.” Dawn rolled her eyes. “Then what were you doing?” Lucas looked at Kaira with seriousness. “If you can at least tell us what you know about Chibu also? Did it have anything to do with that?” Kaira looked down and narrowed her eyes. “I received a dream from Chibu.” She said finally. “I…..I was told that I was supposed to…..I don’t know.” She turned away. “Just tell us!” Barry sounded more determined and demanding than usual. Kaira huffed. “Chibu tells me that I am a part-spirit of the fifth dimension.” She was looking down steadily. “Apparently, my soul belongs to this world, so that when I die……my aura will become part of this dimension.” Lucas raised his eyebrows. “Why? Were you born here, or something?” “I really don’t know…..” said Kaira distantly, “but Chibu says that in the first dimension—our world—when living beings die on earth, their body goes back to the earth. Their souls leave to become part of another world, and well…..when I die, my soul leaves to become part of this world. My soul will come back to where it belongs here in the fifth dimension, and my soul will become alive again…..into another being.” “So when you die, your soul will leave to become reincarnated…..except you’d be reincarnated in the fifth dimension?” Barry asked, looked at Kaira’s expression with a narrowed gaze. “I….I don’t know. It was all so vivid. Chibu came to me and told me who I was….but it wasn’t very specific. It told me to figure it out by myself. All I know is that…..somehow I came from here.” Lucas nodded. “Kaira, we’re here to help you if you need us. Right now, we’re all stuck here so if you must stay here for your destiny, we’re here for you.” “I don’t know my destiny!” Kaira looked up at the light gray sky. “All Chibu told me was that I’m part of this world, and I must help this world and find out who I am.” “Well, where is Chibu?” Asked Dawn. Kaira met her gaze with a look of dislike in her eyes. “It’s gone, that’s where.” She replied testily. “Prima Dona didn’t manage to catch it, but she did manage to steal the sliver ring at its center. That ring is what allows it to break through the gap in this dimension, and travel through to the other worlds so it can look for the missing being, Dovanna, and recombine Dalyah and Ultramaur to become Gaiyah again. Without the ring, it can’t go anywhere. Apparently, it’s stuck in a dark hole since Prima Dona stole its ring and pushed it into the dark gap that brought Barry and I here.” Barry gasped. “You’re saying Chibu’s trapped in that field of nothingness? That’s crazy! That dark gap that teleported us from all the way across the sea…..Chibu’s stuck in that?” Kaira nodded. “It needs its ring to go anywhere. Right now, all it can do is talk to me telepathically and guide me on what to do.” “We should help it!” Dawn said. “But….how can we find the same dark gap? I mean, it’s like walking into a hallway to get to the next room, but then the hallway suddenly disappears into…..who knows where? How can we get that dark gap back?” Kaira looked at the ground and frowned. “The only way to actually find Chibu itself is to enter the dark hole in space. That’s where all nothingness gets sucked into. Chibu is as good as dead…..just like Chibo.” “What happens to Chibo?” Asked Lucas. Barry met his gaze quickly. “Prima Dona’s taken Chibo’s gem before. She told me she’s shrunken it…..so that it’s less powerful to travel through the other dimensions. That’s why it’s stuck here now.” Caravel City was quite the boisterous place. Paul stood at the top of a hill, gazing over at the middle-aged place with a studying intent in his eyes. The pokemon, Chiba, had told him to fill this place with the power of ice and snow, and to fulfill an everlasting winter for the pokemon.The little red pokemon hovered above his head, snickering with its cute, devilish smile. “Teehee….remember the world has been changing,” it said deviously in its small voice. Its mouth never moved, and Paul could only hear it through his head. “Since Dalyah has gone missing, Ultramaur’s taken over the earth within, causing the wandering spirits to become evil, and to possess the live pokemon around here. This is the city with the most destruction and population of possessed pokemon. This is Caravel, terrible city of wars and battles.” A warm wind blew over Paul, and he felt as if the spirits of the planet were touching him, and urging him to do Chiba’s evil bidding. Chiba hovered closer to Paul’s ear. “Remember Paul……” it said cunningly. “…..I’ve already heart-bonded with you. No one can hear my voice in their thoughts but you. I’ve given you the scar on your forehead to prove it. The scar is only visible to those who are from this dimension, and no one else.”Paul frowned. He had been told of how there have been others from his world to have entered. “So the spirits have warned you of the other earth beings out there? They’ve actually arrived?”Chiba huffed out a puff of angry red smoke. “The spirits summoned by Ultramaur, they have seen the earth beings arrive here, and they are fearful that they can be part of the prophecy. The prophecy states that the three chosen ones from earth are a big part of the summoning of Gaiyah. Somehow, they are connected with the pokemon, Dovanna, or at least will find a way to connect with it, and then bring back Gaiyah.”Paul narrowed his eyes. “If that means losing you, I will NOT let it happen.”Chiba giggled. “Just because I’ve heart-bonded with you doesn’t mean I’m entirely yours yet. Heehee….for now, you are mine.”Paul started walking towards the city. “Somehow, I’ll find a way. I will impress you. And then you will be mine.”Chiba hovered over the hill, snickering tauntingly after Paul as the little pokemon watched him go.Paul entered the city. The place didn’t look too modern. It was crowded with poorly dressed people in rags, carrying around baskets or working together to pull wagons with their pokemon. As Paul eyed each of the pokemon with intent, he realized that most of them were just like the ones from his own world. Rapidash, Machoke, Grotle, any of the modern pokemon he was used to seeing were here. But then he walked passed a group of strange men. They were dressed in rags, and some had no shirt. They were whipping their pokemon to pull the largest and most exotic looking carriages Paul had ever seen. He stopped walking to stare at a trio of Gabite harnessed to a tall, expensive white carriage that looked like it would hold the queen of England. The men on board were dirty-faced and angry with sweat as they whipped at their pokemon roughly to pull them on.The Gabite made startled and painful whimpers as they were whipped. Paul flinched as a man whipped one with a loud snap that could’ve been heard all through town. Paul almost felt bad. He turned away slowly and continued on, feeling a pang of sorrow for those pokemon. The whole city looked like it had rich, tall buildings without too much litter and destruction on the grounds, though at the same time, half the people looked like poor peasants from Africa. Some did look might and rich with the strong-looking pokemon, while others slept under outdoor grocery table with weak-looking pokemon.Then Paul stopped to peer at something that interested him. He reached what looked like a private arena, where people gathered to fight their pokemon battles. Already, he had seen a regular Starly here use a strange, powerful move he had never seen before back in his world. He curiously walked up towards the doors that opened to a strange, wide-open arena.But before he could enter, the doors suddenly shut closed. Paul frowned. “What the hell?” He looked around, seeing if there was anybody who had shut those doors like that in his face. He suddenly spotted a group of tall dark people around the corner in the shadows. They were huddled together, standing and talking in low voices. He narrowed his eyes and quietly walked to get a closer look at them. There were three guys and a lady. All were dressed in the strangest clothes. The guys all wore identical tight black shirts with tight black pants, with a diagonal silver slash across the front of their shirts. The slash looked like a Meowth had scratched across their shirts, leaving the color of silver. The girl wore the same black tight shirt with a diagonal slash, though the color revealed a purplish glow. She wore a black skirt over her tight black leggings, with heels as sharp as a Sharpedo’s tooth. They looked dangerous in a way, like evil ninjas or robbers. They reminded him of team rocket for their outfit, though their devilish looks on their faces were more serious and angry like Team Galactic.“Heyyyy, hey, hey! Outta the way, man! You’re on Solar property!” Paul was suddenly pushed as a tall man with scruffy blonde hair pushed pass him. He was dressed like one of them.Paul whipped around to glare at the man. “Who might you be?” He said in an irritated tone.The guy winced and laughed. “Hah! Why should I tell you? You ought to tell us who the heck you are, trespasser! What? Are you a spy or something?”The group of four that Paul had been watching suddenly turned to face him. They were all wearing a mask over their eyes, looking like raccoon bandits. They narrowed their gazes, their eyes suddenly flashing an evil red glow through the opening of their masks. They made their way up to him, and Paul was surrounded by a group of tall, darkly dressed people with evil gazes. All looked unfriendly but the smirking guy with blonde hair. Paul suddenly felt scared, though he glared at them to hide it. He reached into his pocket, ready to summon his Honchcrow. “Who are you?” Demanded one of them. “What are you doing, spying on us?”The girl spoke in a smooth, menacing tone. “Violators shall be persecuted, you know. We can tell if you’re a spy or not.”“I’m no spy,” said Paul carefully. “I’m…..a foreigner. I honestly have no idea what’s going on in this city.”The five dark people all gave him looks of disbelief. The tallest one with the deepest voice spoke. “Not know what’s going on in the city of Caravel? BAH! B.S.! Everyone knows what’s going on here! Everyone’s heard of the ongoing battle of Prima Dona and Madorius! You, sir, are nothing but a complete foolish spy! A fail for a spy at that! And for trespassing on the property of Prima Dona, we shall kill you.”The guy reached suddenly threw out a jet-black poke ball. “Go, Honchcrow!” Out popped a magnificent shadowy figure, but Paul widened his eyes as he saw the fiercest looking Honchcrow he had ever seen. This Honchcrow revealed itself in the air, spreading its wings and calling out an eerie, screeching cry. It faced down at Paul with a piercing look of anger. But something was strange about this pokemon. This Honchcrow had blood-red eyes……..and no eye ball. The eyes were piercing into slits, but Paul wasn’t sure if he even saw a trace of its eyeballs in that red glow. He widened his eyes in shock, and without thinking……he summoned his own Honchcrow. “Honchcrow! Stand by for battle! Use you Dark Pulse!” As his Honchcrow appeared from its poke ball, it revealed itself valiantly and faced its opponent. But one look at the opponent Honchcrow’s eyes was enough to scare Honchcrow out of its wits to fly away like a coward. It turned and flew, crying a scared screech Paul had never heard from it before.“What?! Honchcrow! What are you doing?! Use your Dark Pulse Attack!” Paul shouted with disbelief.One of the dark people smiled evilly. “Hmph. You really arent from here…….arent you?” Then the guy looked up at his own Honchcrow. His eyes flashed a bright red through the slits of the mask, and he muttered a strange, creepy-sounding language and instantly, the Honchcrow charged after Paul’s Honchcrow like a blur, and with the blink of an eye, Paul’s Honchcrow was lying on the floor in front of the wall, as if it had collided and fell. Paul held his breath as he saw a trickle of blood on the wall. He was in severe trouble. He turned to meet the glaring gazes of the five tall people.The tallest guy gave a low growl. “Our Honchcrow will take care of anymore pokemon you have. We will take care of you ourselves.”The tallest guy crouched down in a blur, and suddenly leaped into the air, flipping once and spread out his arms, growing claws out of them. He hovered in the air, and then spun around, then faced Paul with the face of a cat-like scowl. The mask over his eyes no longer looked attached, but had become part of his face. His eyes were still red and narrowed into slits, but his mouth revealed sharp white fangs. His face was like a wild, dangerous and crazy expression.Suddenly, the dark people around Paul closed in on him, growling in the shadows. Paul backed away, but he bumped into the person behind him, who suddenly gave him a sharp push that he fell 11. FOLLOWING CHIBO A blue light flashed in the gloomy sky. Kaira followed the others reluctantly, her eyes still in their dreary gaze, confused and depressed. Dawn, Lucas, and Barry had all agreed to following after Chibo after they had seen its blue light flashing in the sky, heading towards the north. Especially after hearing the prophecy from Kaira’s dream, the others were determined to catch up to this pokemon when it was able to leave this dimension and seek the missing soul of Dovanna in the other worlds. But Kaira’s feelings were starting to falter again. She was starting to lose hope and feel like the isolated person she was back in her own world. She looked up and narrowed her eyes at Dawn. Why did she have to show up all of a sudden? Did she have to appear everywhere she and Barry were alone together? Kaira was sure this was the exact perfect place to have Barry alone with her, with no Dawn or no Lucas to come and interfere. Unfortunately, things never lasted for Kaira. She kicked a pebble in her path as she slowly followed along. She listened with a pang of anger as Barry chatted endlessly with Lucas and Dawn, just like he would do back in Twinleaf whenever they were around him. She liked it a lot better when it was just her and Barry alone in this world. She kept her gaze fixed on him, breathing a quiet sigh as she thought about the way he had saved her this morning, how he had grabbed her and taken her ashore, yelling with a wide-eyed look of shock in his eyes. He had been scared…..for her. Kaira’s heart pounded at the thought. She heard a little voice in her head. Don’t trust him Kaira. Be careful on anyone you meet. Remember……he could be in the powers of Prima Dona. Kaira bit her lip. Chibu was warning her. But Kaira didn’t respond back in her head. She didn’t want to think about how Barry could be drawn to Prima Dona. Right now, she was more worried about him being drawn to his childhood friend, Dawn. “There! I saw it again!” Lucas stopped and pointed to the sky, towards a tall tree. “Chibo’s headed for the next city! Oh, if only we had a map of this world. I feel like such an alien on this planet.” Kaira knew the next town. Chibu had told her about the city of Caravel, where a horrible battle was taking place. Kaira, remember. Prima Dona may not be in the city at the moment, but she’s got a whole alliance of people and pokemon working for her. Some may be on her side just for pure evil and power, others may have become possessed and taken over by dark matter. Unfortunately, this world is suffering from the evil of dark matter. Kaira replied in her thoughts. It could happen to us, couldn’t it? How should we avoid it? Well, there are dark spirits wandering on this very planet at the moment. They could be with you right now. But the only time they would have the power to take over your soul so that you become a possessed demon of dark matter, is only if they use the power of ice. Ice? With ice, the dark spirits can freeze your soul so that they can easily take over and make you become one of them. The dark spirits are dead—nothing but auras that haven’t reached the dark hole. They wander on this planet and seek living bodies. Once they enter the living body of another creature, they can take over the being’s soul, so that they can control their movement in another body as a live spirit again. This is why dark spirits always belong to the dark hole of nothingness. If you have been evil in your life in this dimension, your soul wouldn’t leave peacefully. You would be banished into the dark hole of nothingness, where you can never bother the world again. Kaira listened carefully. Her eyes looked blind and dreary. That’s why Prima Dona wants you in the dark hole. She wants you to die in it so that your soul can be purposely sucked in……even though you have no evil heart. Exactly. This is why the angel pokemon, Dalyah, has kept any dark spirits from escaping the pull of the dark hole. The pokemon, Ultramaur, is the exact opposite. It can keep evil spirits from vanishing into the dark hole, so that they can wander the earth like ghosts. Dalyah’s kept Ultramaur from doing any such thing, but unfortunately, it’s gone missing. This is where you and the three earth beings come in. You, yourself, have power from this dimension that you can use to help this world from Ultramaur and the power of dark matter. You must find out that power, and learn who you really are. The other three earth beings on the other hand, must find control over the elements they will be touched by. Darkness, light, fire, and ice will be involved to help rid the world of dark matter. The three beings from earth shall be both blessed and touched individually by each element, and in the end, it will help benefit the planet. They will help nourish the planet of dark matter and evil, while you will benefit the entire dimension because of you who are. You are more important than you think, Kaira. You said there were three beings from earth. Why would they be touched by four elements? If each one shall be blessed and cursed, what happens with the fourth element? Chibu’s small, cute voice took a few seconds before answering carefully again. The fourth element shall have no benefit. It will be involved, but it shall have no blessing for the three earth beings. Three shall be touched individually by darkness, light, and fire, while the last element—ice—shall banish the betrayer I told you about. Kaira gasped. Oh yeah…..the fourth earth being. The human out there that has arrived, but doesn’t belong, shall betray us…….and then….. And then the element of ice shall overcome the human, freezing its soul so that a dark spirit shall take over. Chibu spoke with such dread that Kaira almost felt like it was talking right at her face. Kaira didn’t say anything back, waiting for Chibu to say more, but there was no reply. Kaira, I can’t tell you anymore. I don’t even know who the three earth beings are. You’ll have to find out yourself. You’ll see who’s who when someone gets touched by one of the elements. But remember……beware of ice. Ice is a powerful element, an element of dreadful coldness. The mystic ice pokemon was a legendary in a story that was said to have no heart in the cold empty body of the ice type. Please…..try not to tell the others too much. Don’t get them worrying. For now, just let them know that—under all costs—do NOT tell anyone from this world that they are from earth. Don’t even tell anyone that you were all from another dimension. Just follow the blue light of Chibo. You are headed towards the city of Caravel. Don’t trust anyone there. You never know who could attack you there. Here in this world, you are touched by spirits of the elements. There are many pokemon that come in forms of mystic legendaries, though most of the time they are invisible and only speak to you through nature. Find the daughter of the spirit, Lamaroone. She is married to King Malidorius of Caravel, and together, they live as a family of fire-type pokemon trainers. Very powerful indeed. Nothing like the trainers in your own world…. Kaira listened with intent, until Chibu said no more. Unfortunately, that had been the last thing Chibu said before Kaira lost connection. She tried calling out for it in her head, but just like a few times already before, it was unavailable. Kaira wasn’t scared…..she knew it was going to come back later. Telepathy from the dark gap must be pretty hard, she thought. But she was still haunted by the prophecy…..and what was to come soon. “Hey, Kaira!” Barry’s voice interrupted her thoughts. The others had slowed down and had joined her side. Barry was on the other side of Dawn, who was on Kaira’s left. “You alright? Your eyes went all blurry and blind for a moment.” Kaira winced. “Really?” She said distantly. Lucas laughed. “Nah, they weren’t blurry. But you were walking like you were a zombie or something. You sure you don’t need rest after that fall?” Kaira shook her head, looking down as she slowly walked along the grassy forest. This world apparently had grass growing where trees were so close together. Dawn turned to Kaira with concern. “Have you been speaking to Chibu?” “Yes….” Kaira replied. She didn’t think of anything else to say, for she didn’t feel like sharing her thoughts with the others. If they knew of the possible blessing and curse that might come to them, and the real truth about the ice, they wouldn’t stop blabbering about it with Barry. And she didn’t want to see the three of them get into such an engaged conversation without her. Dawn stared at Kaira without changing her expression, and then looked forwards. “Well, I’m not asking you to share everything. I’m just expecting some help from you, since you’re the one with the connection to a pokemon of this world. You ought to be more helpful and tell us anything useful—I know you have something in mind that we all should know.” Kaira narrowed her eyes at Dawn’s tart tone, but she said nothing. Suddenly, a flash of fire blew over Barry’s head. Barry widened his eyes and dodged to the right as a ball of fire dropped down to where he had been standing. “Wahh! Am I about to receive my fire curse now? Where did that come from?!” He looked all around him with shock, and Kaira suddenly felt her heart leap. Could the element of fire really be claiming Barry already? Dawn gasped and grabbed Lucas’s arm. “Whoa! Look out!” Suddenly, balls of fire shot out from all around Barry, hurtling towards him in a circle. Barry ducked as the fires smashed into him, creating a small explosion, blowing everyone back. Kaira fell on her bottom a few feet away. When the smoke cleared a little, Barry suddenly gave out a happy yell. “Whoa, Chimchar! You’re back!” Kaira caught a glimpse of Barry running towards a small shape on the ground, but then flames suddenly blew at his face from the shape. “Ahhh! Hey!” Barry whipped away, rubbing his eyes. “Chiiiim!” Chimchar’s cry was unfriendly. It suddenly appeared from the smoke and jumped towards Kaira, landing on her shoulder. Kaira gasped and let out a startled, “Uhhh…..ahhh…” But surprisingly, she kept herself steady and calm. “Chimchar!” Dawn and Lucas both shouted with delight. Barry appeared from the smoke, coughing. He looked up at Chimchar with a frown. "Hey, what the heck! what's your problem? Sheesh, I thought you hated Kaira." He met Kaira's gaze with a playful expression. Kaira saw that he was clutching his left forearm, as if he had hurt it. His face was smoky and red, but most of it smeared off from rubbing it. "Chi-imm!" Chimchar swatted its hand at the air towards him. Kaira was a little taken aback by its sudden unfriendliness towards Barry. Lucas grabbed the pokemon off Kaira’s head. “Whoa, there! What have you been doing? I guess you’re more than just a lab pokemon ready to go on an adventure in Sinnoh. You’re really from the fifth dimension, huh?” Chimchar was glaring at Barry, and it replied with a testy. “Chimmmm…..” Dawn smiled at it. “Well, I guess it’s been following us. Would you like to come along?” She gave it a friendly poke on the nose. Chimchar sniffed and then lighted up as it looked at Dawn. “Chimchar!” It cried happily. “Great! We can take it along, can’t we?” Dawn looked at Kaira. Kaira shrugged. “I—I don’t see why not…..” She couldn’t hear Chibu say anything to her in her head. “Awesome!” Said Lucas. “We need some kind of pokemon to come with us on our journey. There’s obviously going to be a lot more than just the pokemon we know from our own world.” Dawn nodded. “Chimchar can protect us. We’ll help train it!” “We should get going,” said Kaira, gazing up at the sky. the light gray had turned into a darker thicker sky of clouds. “We must reach the next city. All I’m going to tell you is to keep quiet about who we are.” She met Dawn’s gaze, who was looking at her with intent. “As far as anyone around us knows, we are foreigners from the east. We come from a town called……Deadwood Town.” The word just popped into her head, and somehow she knew it was a real place. It was as if Chibu had given her a sign in her head. Dawn winced. “Deadwood? Okay….whatever. We should start heading northeast now. tell us what you can on the way.” As they headed on, Chimchar rode on Lucas’s shoulder. Kaira kept casting concerned glances at Barry, wondering what had come between him and Chimchar. She wanted to come up and ask him, but she felt a little scared to speak to him. she wondered if he really cared for her the way she cared for him. The look in his eyes when he had saved her…..could he really have feelings for her…..even just a little? She noticed he was keeping quiet, and his face showed signs of stress. He was constantly wincing in pain, and he still held his forearm. They stopped at the top of a hill. Ahead of them…….was the perilous city of Caravel. “There it is,” said Lucas in awe. “Kaira, you say that this city has been known for its battles and violence among the people?” “Violence among people and pokemon,” said Kaira. “The pokemon are not only possessed by devils at the moment, but even the regular pokemon out there are trained to be tough and brutal. There’s barely any peace there ever since Prima Dona arrived and angered King Malidorius.” Dawn nodded. “She is ice…..he is fire. Perhaps they have to do with the elements to affect us?” Kaira shrugged. “We have to go and see Malidorius. He will guide us out of the town safely somehow. We must tell him we are only foreigners passing through.” “You think he’ll just trust us?” Said Barry. “No. But whether he trusts us or not, he would gladly get people out of his territory, especially if he doesn’t know them. We just have to try. It’s too dangerous to cross the town without someone to protect us besides a single pokemon.” Chimchar cried out sourly, hearing Kaira’s words clearly. Barry gave it a look. “Yeah, if only I had my own pokemon right now.” Kaira suddenly noticed a glow in Dawn’s pocket. She had noticed the strange shape of an egg sticking out, but she didn’t care to pay attention to it. Now that she saw it glowing, her eyes became transfixed by it……as if she were having the most vivid déjà vu. For a moment, she forgot everything that had happened to her, and her mind went blank, trying to focus on remembering the history of that egg. She suddenly regained her senses as they all moved on. But she hissed at Dawn in a low voice. “Hey! You have an egg there. You didn’t tell any of us about it.” Dawn met her gaze with a slight look of surprise in her eyes over Kaira’s discovery. “Yeah she did,” said Lucas, coming closer to Dawn’s side, speaking in a low voice. “She told me. And only me.” Surprisingly, Barry didn’t but in or look at them as they spoke quietly. He still held his arm with a narrowed look in his eyes. “Well, now you should tell me,” said Kaira, feeling her concern for the egg begin to overpower her. Every time she fixed her gaze on the pure white egg, her heart seemed to throb with urge. Dawn frowned. “Well, I found it alone in a chimney at Rendridge Town. Nobody was there to claim it, and I couldn’t imagine the mother of this egg to just leave it frozen in snow, stuck in a chimney.” “Get rid of it,” Kaira’s voice suddenly hissed with venom. She felt a sudden burst of anger and fear over the thought of having the egg around them. Dawn gave her a look, a little taken aback by her tone. “Why? Am I doing anything wrong?” Kaira suddenly felt nauseous and angry. She didn’t know how….but she felt weak and overpowered by the sight of the glowing egg. “It’s going to hatch soon….” She murmured, her eyes transfixed. “Dawn…I think your egg is scaring her,” said Lucas. Dawn huffed. “Well then leave it alone. I can handle it myself. all you have to do is stop staring at it.” She looked at Kaira quizzically as Kaira’s eyes began to grow wider and more distant as she stared with awe at the egg. “Hello….? Are you okay?” She waved a hand over Kaira face. “You look like a Noctowl, staring at my egg like that.” YOUR egg?! The angry words screamed through Kaira’s head and she glared at Dawn. “Chibu said so,” she said tartly. “Chibu wants you to let go of that egg.” It wasn’t true, and Dawn knew it. She frowned and sighed. “Oh please.” She muttered, walking faster and catching up to Barry, putting a hand over her egg. Kaira watched Dawn go with a look of hatred in her eyes. But as she took her gaze off the egg, her vision suddenly cleared and she was focused again. She gave a slight gasp of surprise and stumbled on her feet as she walked. Lucas met her gaze. “You okay?” He asked, wincing at her. “That egg makes Dawn feel so protective and in control. But it makes you look all defenseless and confused. Do you know anything about that egg?” Kaira blinked a couple times, and then shook her head. “No…..I—I don’t.” 12- CITY OF FIRE “Guys, welcome to Caravel City,” said Lucas as the four of them entered the exotic and crowded city.Barry looked around, feeling more and more uncomfortable. His mind was spinning with images of Prima Dona. The symbol she had given him on his forearm was getting worse, starting to feel more and more like an infected wound that stung him terribly. He could feel the overpowering images of Prima Dona taking over his head….and at the same time, he wanted nothing more than to see her again.“I’ll be waiting, Barry…….” Her sharp, cold voice echoed in his head. “Make sure you’re there for me. don’t let your friends stop me….”Somehow how he knew he couldn’t let anyone hurt Prima Dona…..even his friends. She was nothing but pure evil……but she meant so much to him. Her overpowering beauty made him protective to stand up to her-- no matter what the consequences. His head hurt at the thought. The whole world could suffer….if it meant giving Prima Dona what she wanted. The thought pierced through his head, though deep down in his heart, he knew he was wrong. But he couldn’t escape it. His wound hurt him every time he tried to back down. He held his head high, promising to stick to Prima Dona’s words-- and do what it took to benefit her. This was the city of her alliance. She wasn’t here at the moment, but she was coming. She was waiting for him not too far away, and in the meantime, he must help her benefit. He flashed a glance at Kaira. He couldn’t let anyone ruin her existence. The pokemon, Ultramaur, must NOT be stopped. Kaira suddenly met his gaze with her soft green eyes. He held them for two seconds, and then looked away. He longed to stare into them, to study the look of calm and emotion that she always showed in her eyes. But he couldn’t tell her the truth. He had to betray them. He had to betray them all…..for the sake of Prima Dona. He knew he was the one human to have not belonged. He was the unwanted earth being to betray, and he knew it. He couldn’t bare to meet anyone’s gaze. Chimchar even treated him like he was unwanted already, as if it already knew his plan.Without him talking to Dawn and Lucas, they kept their conversation slow and steady towards each other. Everyone looked so careful and aware of their strange surroundings. Some people here were horrible to their pokemon, and some seemed to have suffered from a terrible past as they lived homeless with their pokemon.Barry was lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice he was drifting away from the others.“Hey, Barry--” Dawn’s voice called before he bumped into something.“Uh--!”Barry looked up and saw that he had bumped into the dark figure of a Lucario.“Grrrrrr….” The Lucario slowly turned and met Barry’s gaze-- with the most shocking eyes.“Whoa--!” Barry backed away in surprise as he noticed its eyes were glowing red-- with no eyeballs. The Lucario stared at him and snarled even louder, stepping forward to him as Barry carefully backed away.“Uh…..someone tell me what’s with this Lucario?” Said Barry, backing off as the Lucario continued to walk towards in front of him.Lucas gasped. “It may be possessed!” Chimchar gave a startled whimper and clung onto Lucas’s shoulder. Suddenly, the Lucario leaped forward and grabbed Barry’s shoulders with its strong grasp, and pinned him to the ground with such force that Barry felt as if he were going to get squeezed to death in the next second.“Barry!” Dawn cried. Chimchar let out an angry cry and blasted flames at the Lucario, throwing it off Barry.Barry sat up, watching as the little monkey tumbled with the dark pokemon. “I think it is possessed. Look at the way it tumbles and moves!” The Lucario was faster than any regular Lucario Barry had ever seen. And the disgusting noises it made when it growled voraciously sounded nothing more like a demonized pokemon. Chimchar was suddenly thrown against a building wall and the Lucario held its hands out and sent out a beam that paralyzed Barry, Lucas, and Dawn from running away. They all hovered an inch above the ground, paralyzed by the strange red beam from Lucario.“What in the world!” Barry yelled. “Save us, Kaira!” Dawn shouted. Kaira was standing right behind Lucas, frozen in fear as she stared at something in Dawn’s pocket. Before Barry could see what she was looking at, someone suddenly dropped down from the building and grabbed Kaira from behind.“Ahh--” Kaira’s scream was muffled as the person put a hand over her mouth. “Kaira!” Shouted Barry, trying to move as the Lucario growled and started walking up towards him. The person was wearing a ski mask that covered its whole face like a bank robber. It turned to face Barry. “Houndoom! Flamethrower!”A Houndoom suddenly leaped from behind Barry and breathed a blast of flames at the Lucario. Thankfully, this Houndoom wasn’t missing any eyes. “What-- who are you?!” Lucas whipped his head to face the person as the beams released their grasps. The person sounded like a guy, and as he let go of Kaira with a hard push to the ground, he dashed like a ninja to Houndoom’s side. “Get ready……”“Huh? For what?” Barry sputtered. Suddenly, numerous amounts of Riolu appeared from the roofs of the buildings that surrounded them. They appeared from around corners of houses, heading towards Barry and the others, all with red eyes and no eyeballs. “Now, Houndoom! Use Earth Fire!” Yelled the strange masked trainer. The Houndoom gave a deep growl and suddenly, the ground shook, erupting fire from all around, destroying the demonized Riolu around them. Barry dodged over the erupting fires, yelling and keeping his eye out for Dawn, Lucas, or Kaira. “Hey, guys--! Ahh!” He jumped back, barely missing the shot of flames that erupted from the ground below him.He ran as fast as he can around the corner of a building where the fighting and eruptions weren’t going on. He stopped behind a tall, old looking building just nearby the attack. He panted, suddenly feeling Prima Dona’s presence in his head. “Beware…….don’t play with fire….” she echoed in a teasing sort of tone. “Of course not,” he muttered out loud, even though it only sounded in his thoughts. “I’ll never……hurt you with fire.”“Hurt WHO?!” An challenging voice suddenly sounded nearby. Barry looked up and saw that there was a girl standing a few yards in front of him, staring at him with a look of anger and despise in her eyes. She looked about sixteen, or somewhere around his own age. Barry blinked. “Huh? Did I say something?” He stuttered, not wanting to give out anything from his thoughts.The girl whipped her arm down her side, holding a dagger. She was dressed in red and brown clothes, and from the way she was dressed, he guessed she must be one of the richer families in this city. She almost looked royal in a way. Her hair was as dark as the midnight sky, and her eyes a dark red color that crept Barry out. She did have eyeballs, but they were a reddish brown, almost as red as the possessed pokemon’s.“You’re not from here…..I can smell it,” she said snappish, her eyes narrowing.Barry couldn’t help letting out a slight laugh. “Hah, you people here have a stronger sense of smell or something?”The girl was suddenly up to his face in a flash, and within half a second, he was pushed against the wall, with the girl glaring at him as she pinned him against the wall with her right forearm on his chest, her dagger in the same hand. She spoke in a dangerous, angry tone with her teeth clenched. “Either you don’t know who I am, or you’re just asking for trouble. You don’t know how to respect the princess of Caravel, don’t you?”Barry was shocked by her sudden movement to push him against the wall so fast. And her grip was hurting him like a car had crashed into him. “Uh-- what?! Princess of Caravel! I swear, I didn’t know…..I’m a foreigner!”The girl’s gaze suddenly faltered and her eyebrows raised. “Foreigner, huh? We’ll just see about that.” She let her arm off his chest, releasing her grip. “My father will banish anyone who happens to be a spy of Team Solar or the Vargmen.”Barry fell to his knees, suddenly feeling weak after the girl had released him. “Uh…..Team Solar? Vargmen?” He looked up at her with a wince. “Might I remind you……I come all the way from the south. Whatever’s going on here I--”“Hah! The battle of fire and ice is more than just worldwide now. My father’s been at war against the alliances of Vargmen and Team Solar grunts. You’d have to be from another world to not have heard of that!” Barry swallowed and held back a snicker. This girl had spirit, and if she weren’t so demanding and royal as she looked, he could probably like her a little more. He shot up, grimacing. “Well, you tell me what you want. I was just attacked by demonized pokemon back there while I was just passing through. Feel free to treat me like crud if you think I’m one of…..whoever you think I am.”The girl winced and laughed. “Shut up. My name’s Delaine. Don’t ask me to curtsy for you, I really not that ladylike as I should be when I’m outdoors.”“Hah! And I don’t easily back down as you may think!” Said Barry mischievously. “If I had my pokemon with me, I swear--”“Barry?” Called Lucas’s voice. Suddenly, his friends appeared from around the corner, with the masked person and his Houndoom. They all looked smoked and shocked from the shocking and tiring battle with…..devil pokemon. “There you are!” Dawn ran up to him and hugged him. “I thought those Riolu banished you or something! Who knows what the pokemon in this world could do? Especially when they’re possessed by devil spirits!”Barry felt a shock run through him, but then he felt warm in her hug. He wrapped his arms around her and laughed. “Hah! Just think what some of us can do if only we were born here and grew up with pokemon like this!”Suddenly, Kaira groaned. “Ugh! You guys!” She yelled angrily.Barry let go of Dawn and suddenly looked to where Delaine was standing. His heart lurched, knowing that she had heard every word he had said about coming from a different world, but then he felt incredibly relieved when he saw that Delaine and the masked human had come up to talk to each other, not paying attention. Delaine was wincing. “We should tell father.”The masked human sighed and took off his mask, revealing a dirty face with red eyeballs and ruffled brown hair. “Dang……I probably wouldn’t have saved these trespassers….if only they weren’t attacked by demonized pokemon. It’s not fair for anyone to be attacked by something that shouldn’t exist in this world anyway.”Barry narrowed his eyes. “So you wouldn’t have rescued us if those Riolu weren’t possessed? That ain’t fair!”“Shut up,” said Delaine. “You guys are coming with us back to our mansion. King Malidorius should see you.”“Don’t you guys have a castle?” Barry teased.“Oh no, our mansion’s even better than a castle,” said the guy sarcastically. “I’m Seth, by the way. This is my girlfriend, Delaine.” He gave Delaine a quick pinch on the side. Barry laughed. “Already met her-- wait, girlfriend?!” The two looked almost like twins, despite the different hair color and Seth’s poor outfit.Dawn spoke. “Hey….we would love to meet the king. We were just passing through and--”“Save your excuses for later,” said Seth, holding a hand at Dawn’s face with a sideways smile. Houndoom growled quietly. Delaine chuckled. “For now, come along with us. Our mansion’s got more than just us and a King. We’ve got special pokemon that you can’t keep secrets from.” 13. AURA OF MATTER Lucas clenched his fists distractedly as Seth and Delaine took him and his friends to a large mansion that was the size of the white house. Lucas raised his eyebrows. “Hey, what were you talking about? This is a castle, not a mansion!” Maybe in the fifth dimension, they considered castles to be even more exotic than this. Delaine gave him a sideways look. “Ha! It’s a mansion. I say that because I think it’s the smallest one in this region of Rishwa.” “Dang,” Lucas stared at the castle in awe. Seth nodded. “It’s a lot better in side. We’ve got a fire pit and our own volcano in the sacred flame room.” “Wow, you guys must be powerful,” said Dawn. Seth smiled and took Delaine’s hand. Lucas still couldn’t believe they were a couple. The two looked almost like twins, despite the dark brown hair that Seth had. Barry let out a sigh and looked at Kaira. “Does this place ring a bell to you?” Kaira slowly shook her head, gazing out at the castle. “No….well, in a way. The smell does seem to bring back something that feels like a memory I had forgotten.” Delaine raised her eyes at Kaira. “Really? Hmm, you guys will have to tell us more about yourselves. But first, we’ll have to settle things with my father.” Paul opened his eyes, his vision still spinning. He could barely see anything but blur. He heard a distant noise—a strange murmur ringing in his ears. Then after a few seconds, he realized that it wasn’t a murmur, but laughter. It was the squeaky voice of Chiba. “Nheeea…..nheaaa….hnnaa….hhaanna..haa..” Chiba’s creepy laughing suddenly became a little clearer. “Ahahaha…..Loser……….muhahhahaa….coward……just pathetic…” Paul’s thoughts answered back vividly. “Uhh…..what’s going on?” “Pathetic coward! You’ve been captured by Team Solar! Maha, I ought to just forget about you now….but it’s just so fun to watch you fail…..heheee…..” Chiba’s echoing voice kept fading away then coming back, and then finally the laughing stopped altogether. Paul’s vision suddenly became blurrier with anger and his heart suddenly pounded. “Urrr….I’ll teach you to call someone pathetic you stupid piece of….” “Hey, you purple head! WAKE UP!” Something suddenly banged into Paul’s head. Paul suddenly jerked awake. One of the darkly dressed people with the mask over their eyes—apparently a Team Solar grunt—was standing over Paul, with a menacing Chimecho in his hand. The pokemon was gleaming its nasty red eyes at him, and looked like an evil bell than a happy, ringing pokemon. The Chimecho swung towards Paul, and smacked him on the face this time. “Ahh! You--” Paul squeezed his eyes shut and flashed them open again, his vision suddenly becoming fully clear. The Solar grunt was smirking down at him, showing shining white teeth in his wicked grin. “Ehehe, so we’ve got a little toughy here, eh?” Taunted the grunt. “Where’s my pokemon?!” Paul demanded as he shot up, glaring at the grunt face to face. “What have you done to my Honchcrow? Who ARE you people?!” Paul felt that these people were more than just human beings. The way they had attacked him the other night had been too…..disturbing. They snarled like animals. They clawed at him with claws. Their eyes had turned a bloodier red than before, looking like totally possessed creatures. This dimension was more than Paul had expected. “Aha!” The grunt kept his grin. “Your precious little pokemon are unharmed! The Honchcrow may need a little healing, but we’ve shown the rest of your pokemon to the Geisha Prima Dona. She’s always interested in trespasser’s pokemon. As for you, if your pokemon prove worthy, she may even let you live.” Paul shook his head in disbelief, narrowing his eyes at the grunt. “Who……” “Aha! I see you don’t know the legendary Ice Queen of the dark hole, Prima Dona.” A female Solar grunt approached the other guy’s side. She had luscious lavender hair under her black bandana, and gleaming red eyes under her mask. “He isn’t from here, you know.” She had her gaze fixed intently on Paul, her expression unreadable. Paul shook his head. “No, I am from the first dimension…..I believe. I’m from a planet called earth, the world in the dimension in which the pokemon Arceus rules.” The two grunts raised their eyebrows. “I knew it,” said the female. She let a sideways smile. “I’m Dionza. This is Reuben,” she gave the grunt next to her a sharp shove. “We are your bodyguards, and Prima Dona’s made us swear to keep our eyes on you until she decides.” Reuben gave a shaking laugh, looking uncertain and muttered something under his breath. Dionza gave him another shove. “You go back and assemble the leagues like you were told. There are battles out there to be fought, and King Malidorius has sent a scout along the borders of Caravel.” Reuben met Dionza’s sharp gaze for a moment, and then whipped around, stomping away, cursing quietly. Paul winced. “Where am I? Wasn’t I just at Caravel City?” He looked around, realizing that he was in an exotic kind of place, with a high ceiling and surrounded by statues carved of ice—statues of pokemon, some that Paul had seen, and some that he had never seen. Not only did they just look fierce, but also evil-looking. Even with the statues, Paul could see the evil in their eyes, and suddenly felt like he and Dionza were not alone in this room yet. Dionza chuckled slyly. “I can explain a thing or two to let you know where I are.” Suddenly, Paul felt her grab his hand in her cold, icy grasp, and then in a second, she dashed over to sit on an ice cold bench nearby, with Paul at her side. Before Paul could even see how it had happened so fast, she spoke with an intent tone. “Let me tell you something, Paul.” He looked over to meet her gleaming eyes that pierced through him even harder than an ice spear would have. “You are not from the fifth dimension, arent you? You arent from this planet of Gaiyah. I could smell since the moment they brought your unconscious earthen body in our castle. I sensed your aura wasn’t a natural born aura from this particular world, for I am a psychic human, just like the psychic type pokemon I stole.” Paul narrowed his eyes. He felt uncomfortable around this……particular human that probably was more devil than she looked. He couldn’t imagine how much worse Prima Dona could’ve been if she was the Queen. “Psychic type?” He questioned. Dionza nodded. “We humans are more connected to pokemon than you think. We inherit the abilities similar to our pokemon, so that we are connected to this planet just like they are. At the beginning of time when this planet was forming, pokemon were born from the natural resources on this world, to thrive and help nourish the planet. The grass type used their powers on plants, fire with volcanoes, and so on. The pokemon were part of this world, and when they died, they’re spirit would rise to….another place, while their bodies disintegrated back into the planet Gaiyah. A lot like your planet, huh? Well, the humans are different. They were born from the planet as well, but their unnatural powers to create man-made things that can destroy the world angered Gaiyah. When humans die on this planet, their souls may leave to the same place the pokemon go, but their bodies don’t go back to the earth like the pokemon. Instead, our bodies disintegrate into the earth, and instead of resting in peace there, the planet send our bodies into nothingness, otherwise known as the black hole. It’s like a punishment for the evil things humans can do to the world….as well as the pokemon. Our leader, Empress Prima Dona, was one of the first evils to arrive in this world. After Gaiyah was split, one half—Ultramaur—created Prima Dona. When she entered the world, she changed the way people could adapt naturally to the world just like their pokemon did. She showed them better ways to power up pokemon, and use sorcery to get what we want. Sorcery is no better than your man-made problems that are destroying earth. In fact, sorcery and magic is much worse. But then again, those people who weren’t psychic—like I am—couldn’t possess magic powers like she did. So they just used man-made features and worked to design their cities and ways of life rather than use magic. Overall, humans became more a of a threat to this world and many forgot what it was like to adapt, to control their pokemon’s power whenever creating natural help for them, such as staring campfires or using their speed to hunt for food. People became to independent to use their unnatural tools, and Gaiyah was getting angry. Even though the pokemon wasn’t its natural self anymore, the planet within still possessed the good side of Gaiyah- Dalyah. It was angry with what Ultramaur for creating this dark being of Prima Dona, driving the humans to destroy the planet, so it punished the humans by letting their bodies go into nothingness when they die, instead of going back into the planet. It could’ve also changed the path that their spirits went to as well, so that even the spirits wouldn’t pass on to the place the pokemon went. But Dalyah was more of the…angelic side of Gaiyah. It wouldn’t let something like that happen. It still wanted the good humans to have their spirits leave their bodies to go where their pokemon’s spirits went, though their bodies would go a different path.” “So…..apparently you guys are the team of grunts Prima Dona formed to help spread this act of devilry? The pokemon Ultramaur has wanted to change the path of human spirits so that they go into nothingness, and now that Dalyah’s gone, you guys are taking over to let that happen?” Dionza chuckled. “We are Team Solar. We were born from the sorcery of Prima Dona, created by matter. No one but the pokemon Ultramaur could create a living soul from dark matter, so we are just as normal as any human being on this planet. But we look up to Prima Dona as our creator, just like Prima Dona looks up to Ultranaur as her creator. We seek what she seeks, and she seeks what Ultramuar seeks—which is to conquer the dimension in dark matter, not nothingness. We spread the bidding of using pokemon power to claim our rights, to make them more powerful than they really are—to seek power and adaptation to the world. If humans disagree, we possess their bodies with dark matter, so that they can think like us.” Paul stared at her for a moment, listening intently. Then the thought of Chiba flashed in his mind, and a smile cracked the side of his lip. “I believe that we can use pokemon power.” He said deeply. “The thought comes naturally to me. I think pokemon are more than just souls who are part of the world, or bodies to use in battle. I believe they can do more, and with even more power, they can do as much as…..well…..do whatever they’ve done with Prima Dona.” He looked around the place in awe. He felt the stautes watching him. “Prima Dona’s got some really powerful and unusual pokemon with her, doesn’t she? I can feel it.” Dionza smiled cleverly. “Of course. She’s used the power of her sorcery to make them powerful enough to become like her league of warriors rather than just useless battle partners. They are much more powerful than you can imagine.” Her eyes bore into Paul’s. Paul suddenly felt a strange, chilly feeling, but he liked it. He frowned and met her gaze intently. “For years, in my own world, no one could ever understand the true and real power of pokemon. Even the strongest trainers out there—Cynthia for example—she only believed that pokemon were just pathetic friends at your side, and you just need the simple feelings of love and trust in them to win.” Dionza chuckled. “That’s what makes the strongest trainers out there weak at heart. This is why we are here. we believe pokemon have a true power within them in our dimension, that not only are they just descendents from the planet, but that they also possess the power to control. We humans can use their power to have complete control over this world, to be powerful and unstoppable over anything. Prima Dona hopes to achieve as much as she can from pokemon and people around this world. This is why we are currently in a battle with that fool, King Malidorius. People like him refuse to let pokemon be controlled by sorcery to become stronger than they really are. So now that Dalyah’s not here to protect her wimpy little world, we have decided to wage war against those who don’t want to become like us, those who don’t want to have their pokemon control the world with more power than they could imagine.” Paul winced. “Well, I’m more than shocked to have met a group like you, then. I’ve never met anyone else who feels this strongly about the power of pokemon. I…..I would love to meet…..this Prima Dona that everyone’s spoken of.” He heard a giggle in his head that seemed to have come from Chiba. “Well then,” said Dionza, not taking her glinting red gaze off him. Her eyes shone through the slits in her mask. “I see you are…..not what I expected. But that’s good. I’m surprised. If you really do feel that way, then maybe Prima Dona might even let you in. I, myself, can tell you are quite the trainer. I see strength and darkness in you, that you can make a great ally for us. But…….not even I can be sure.” Paul frowned. “There’s that prophecy, isn’t there?” Dionza nodded. “The three beings from earth……..they are supposed to save this planet, they are supposed to somehow get rid of people like us. But…..there’s still the fourth one from earth, isnt there?” An evil smile cracked her face. “One human that wasn’t wanted in this world, one that will be banished by the element of ice. one that will betray, and one that will be against the other three.” Paul met her gaze steadily. “I’m against anyone out there who despises the power of pokemon.” Dionza chuckled. “Good. I hope you’re as good as I think.” She lay a cold hand over his, and they stared deeply into each other. Paul felt himself by the overpowering feeling of success for finding such people, whether they were devils or not. And it wasn’t just from the glinting red eyes from Dionza. King Malidorius had been quite the forceful type. He really did live up to his name as the “King of Fire.” He was tall, muscular-built, and his temper was hotter than fire itself. He had let Lucas and his friends pass without killing anyone, though he wanted to test their identities by inviting them over for dinner in his dining hall tonight, right before Seth and Delaine could lead them away with an army of people, known as the flame people. “Flame people!” Barry laughed as soon as the four of them were out of earshot of the king. Seth and Delaine were taking them upstairs to get dressed for dinner. “Hah! What, are people here fire-blood or something? Can they breathe fire like Malidorius’s Arcanine can?” Seth gave him a sideways smile. “Of course! Hey, if we weren’t told to make sure you guys looked nice and proper for dinner tonight, I would’ve vomited fire at you! That’s way worse than having it breathed at you.” Lucas laughed and Delaine shook her head, meeting Lucas’s gaze with a wry smile. “You guys really aren’t from this world, arent you?” Lucas’s smile suddenly faltered. Their secret was out, and there was nothing he could say against it. 14. AURA OF MATTER Lucas clenched his fists distractedly as Seth and Delaine took him and his friends to a large mansion that was the size of the white house. Lucas raised his eyebrows. “Hey, what were you talking about? This is a castle, not a mansion!” Maybe in the fifth dimension, they considered castles to be even more exotic than this. Delaine gave him a sideways look. “Ha! It’s a mansion. I say that because I think it’s the smallest one in this region of Rishwa.” “Dang,” Lucas stared at the castle in awe. Seth nodded. “It’s a lot better in side. We’ve got a fire pit and our own volcano in the sacred flame room.” “Wow, you guys must be powerful,” said Dawn. Seth smiled and took Delaine’s hand. Lucas still couldn’t believe they were a couple. The two looked almost like twins, despite the dark brown hair that Seth had. Barry let out a sigh and looked at Kaira. “Does this place ring a bell to you?” Kaira slowly shook her head, gazing out at the castle. “No….well, in a way. The smell does seem to bring back something that feels like a memory I had forgotten.” Delaine raised her eyes at Kaira. “Really? Hmm, you guys will have to tell us more about yourselves. But first, we’ll have to settle things with my father.” Paul opened his eyes, his vision still spinning. He could barely see anything but blur. He heard a distant noise—a strange murmur ringing in his ears. Then after a few seconds, he realized that it wasn’t a murmur, but laughter. It was the squeaky voice of Chiba. “Nheeea…..nheaaa….hnnaa….hhaanna..haa..” Chiba’s creepy laughing suddenly became a little clearer. “Ahahaha…..Loser……….muhahhahaa….coward……just pathetic…” Paul’s thoughts answered back vividly. “Uhh…..what’s going on?” “Pathetic coward! You’ve been captured by Team Solar! Maha, I ought to just forget about you now….but it’s just so fun to watch you fail…..heheee…..” Chiba’s echoing voice kept fading away then coming back, and then finally the laughing stopped altogether. Paul’s vision suddenly became blurrier with anger and his heart suddenly pounded. “Urrr….I’ll teach you to call someone pathetic you stupid piece of….” “Hey, you purple head! WAKE UP!” Something suddenly banged into Paul’s head. Paul suddenly jerked awake. One of the darkly dressed people with the mask over their eyes—apparently a Team Solar grunt—was standing over Paul, with a menacing Chimecho in his hand. The pokemon was gleaming its nasty red eyes at him, and looked like an evil bell than a happy, ringing pokemon. The Chimecho swung towards Paul, and smacked him on the face this time. “Ahh! You--” Paul squeezed his eyes shut and flashed them open again, his vision suddenly becoming fully clear. The Solar grunt was smirking down at him, showing shining white teeth in his wicked grin. “Ehehe, so we’ve got a little toughy here, eh?” Taunted the grunt. “Where’s my pokemon?!” Paul demanded as he shot up, glaring at the grunt face to face. “What have you done to my Honchcrow? Who ARE you people?!” Paul felt that these people were more than just human beings. The way they had attacked him the other night had been too…..disturbing. They snarled like animals. They clawed at him with claws. Their eyes had turned a bloodier red than before, looking like totally possessed creatures. This dimension was more than Paul had expected. “Aha!” The grunt kept his grin. “Your precious little pokemon are unharmed! The Honchcrow may need a little healing, but we’ve shown the rest of your pokemon to the Geisha Prima Dona. She’s always interested in trespasser’s pokemon. As for you, if your pokemon prove worthy, she may even let you live.” Paul shook his head in disbelief, narrowing his eyes at the grunt. “Who……” “Aha! I see you don’t know the legendary Ice Queen of the dark hole, Prima Dona.” A female Solar grunt approached the other guy’s side. She had luscious lavender hair under her black bandana, and gleaming red eyes under her mask. “He isn’t from here, you know.” She had her gaze fixed intently on Paul, her expression unreadable. Paul shook his head. “No, I am from the first dimension…..I believe. I’m from a planet called earth, the world in the dimension in which the pokemon Arceus rules.” The two grunts raised their eyebrows. “I knew it,” said the female. She let a sideways smile. “I’m Dionza. This is Reuben,” she gave the grunt next to her a sharp shove. “We are your bodyguards, and Prima Dona’s made us swear to keep our eyes on you until she decides.” Reuben gave a shaking laugh, looking uncertain and muttered something under his breath. Dionza gave him another shove. “You go back and assemble the leagues like you were told. There are battles out there to be fought, and King Malidorius has sent a scout along the borders of Caravel.” Reuben met Dionza’s sharp gaze for a moment, and then whipped around, stomping away, cursing quietly. Paul winced. “Where am I? Wasn’t I just at Caravel City?” He looked around, realizing that he was in an exotic kind of place, with a high ceiling and surrounded by statues carved of ice—statues of pokemon, some that Paul had seen, and some that he had never seen. Not only did they just look fierce, but also evil-looking. Even with the statues, Paul could see the evil in their eyes, and suddenly felt like he and Dionza were not alone in this room yet. Dionza chuckled slyly. “I can explain a thing or two to let you know where I are.” Suddenly, Paul felt her grab his hand in her cold, icy grasp, and then in a second, she dashed over to sit on an ice cold bench nearby, with Paul at her side. Before Paul could even see how it had happened so fast, she spoke with an intent tone. “Let me tell you something, Paul.” He looked over to meet her gleaming eyes that pierced through him even harder than an ice spear would have. “You are not from the fifth dimension, arent you? You arent from this planet of Gaiyah. I could smell since the moment they brought your unconscious earthen body in our castle. I sensed your aura wasn’t a natural born aura from this particular world, for I am a psychic human, just like the psychic type pokemon I stole.” Paul narrowed his eyes. He felt uncomfortable around this……particular human that probably was more devil than she looked. He couldn’t imagine how much worse Prima Dona could’ve been if she was the Queen. “Psychic type?” He questioned. Dionza nodded. “We humans are more connected to pokemon than you think. We inherit the abilities similar to our pokemon, so that we are connected to this planet just like they are. At the beginning of time when this planet was forming, pokemon were born from the natural resources on this world, to thrive and help nourish the planet. The grass type used their powers on plants, fire with volcanoes, and so on. The pokemon were part of this world, and when they died, they’re spirit would rise to….another place, while their bodies disintegrated back into the planet Gaiyah. A lot like your planet, huh? Well, the humans are different. They were born from the planet as well, but their unnatural powers to create man-made things that can destroy the world angered Gaiyah. When humans die on this planet, their souls may leave to the same place the pokemon go, but their bodies don’t go back to the earth like the pokemon. Instead, our bodies disintegrate into the earth, and instead of resting in peace there, the planet send our bodies into nothingness, otherwise known as the black hole. It’s like a punishment for the evil things humans can do to the world….as well as the pokemon. Our leader, Empress Prima Dona, was one of the first evils to arrive in this world. After Gaiyah was split, one half—Ultramaur—created Prima Dona. When she entered the world, she changed the way people could adapt naturally to the world just like their pokemon did. She showed them better ways to power up pokemon, and use sorcery to get what we want. Sorcery is no better than your man-made problems that are destroying earth. In fact, sorcery and magic is much worse. But then again, those people who weren’t psychic—like I am—couldn’t possess magic powers like she did. So they just used man-made features and worked to design their cities and ways of life rather than use magic. Overall, humans became more a of a threat to this world and many forgot what it was like to adapt, to control their pokemon’s power whenever creating natural help for them, such as staring campfires or using their speed to hunt for food. People became to independent to use their unnatural tools, and Gaiyah was getting angry. Even though the pokemon wasn’t its natural self anymore, the planet within still possessed the good side of Gaiyah- Dalyah. It was angry with what Ultramaur for creating this dark being of Prima Dona, driving the humans to destroy the planet, so it punished the humans by letting their bodies go into nothingness when they die, instead of going back into the planet. It could’ve also changed the path that their spirits went to as well, so that even the spirits wouldn’t pass on to the place the pokemon went. But Dalyah was more of the…angelic side of Gaiyah. It wouldn’t let something like that happen. It still wanted the good humans to have their spirits leave their bodies to go where their pokemon’s spirits went, though their bodies would go a different path.” “So…..apparently you guys are the team of grunts Prima Dona formed to help spread this act of devilry? The pokemon Ultramaur has wanted to change the path of human spirits so that they go into nothingness, and now that Dalyah’s gone, you guys are taking over to let that happen?” Dionza chuckled. “We are Team Solar. We were born from the sorcery of Prima Dona, created by matter. No one but the pokemon Ultramaur could create a living soul from dark matter, so we are just as normal as any human being on this planet. But we look up to Prima Dona as our creator, just like Prima Dona looks up to Ultranaur as her creator. We seek what she seeks, and she seeks what Ultramuar seeks—which is to conquer the dimension in dark matter, not nothingness. We spread the bidding of using pokemon power to claim our rights, to make them more powerful than they really are—to seek power and adaptation to the world. If humans disagree, we possess their bodies with dark matter, so that they can think like us.” Paul stared at her for a moment, listening intently. Then the thought of Chiba flashed in his mind, and a smile cracked the side of his lip. “I believe that we can use pokemon power.” He said deeply. “The thought comes naturally to me. I think pokemon are more than just souls who are part of the world, or bodies to use in battle. I believe they can do more, and with even more power, they can do as much as…..well…..do whatever they’ve done with Prima Dona.” He looked around the place in awe. He felt the stautes watching him. “Prima Dona’s got some really powerful and unusual pokemon with her, doesn’t she? I can feel it.” Dionza smiled cleverly. “Of course. She’s used the power of her sorcery to make them powerful enough to become like her league of warriors rather than just useless battle partners. They are much more powerful than you can imagine.” Her eyes bore into Paul’s. Paul suddenly felt a strange, chilly feeling, but he liked it. He frowned and met her gaze intently. “For years, in my own world, no one could ever understand the true and real power of pokemon. Even the strongest trainers out there—Cynthia for example—she only believed that pokemon were just pathetic friends at your side, and you just need the simple feelings of love and trust in them to win.” Dionza chuckled. “That’s what makes the strongest trainers out there weak at heart. This is why we are here. we believe pokemon have a true power within them in our dimension, that not only are they just descendents from the planet, but that they also possess the power to control. We humans can use their power to have complete control over this world, to be powerful and unstoppable over anything. Prima Dona hopes to achieve as much as she can from pokemon and people around this world. This is why we are currently in a battle with that fool, King Malidorius. People like him refuse to let pokemon be controlled by sorcery to become stronger than they really are. So now that Dalyah’s not here to protect her wimpy little world, we have decided to wage war against those who don’t want to become like us, those who don’t want to have their pokemon control the world with more power than they could imagine.” Paul winced. “Well, I’m more than shocked to have met a group like you, then. I’ve never met anyone else who feels this strongly about the power of pokemon. I…..I would love to meet…..this Prima Dona that everyone’s spoken of.” He heard a giggle in his head that seemed to have come from Chiba. “Well then,” said Dionza, not taking her glinting red gaze off him. Her eyes shone through the slits in her mask. “I see you are…..not what I expected. But that’s good. I’m surprised. If you really do feel that way, then maybe Prima Dona might even let you in. I, myself, can tell you are quite the trainer. I see strength and darkness in you, that you can make a great ally for us. But…….not even I can be sure.” Paul frowned. “There’s that prophecy, isn’t there?” Dionza nodded. “The three beings from earth……..they are supposed to save this planet, they are supposed to somehow get rid of people like us. But…..there’s still the fourth one from earth, isnt there?” An evil smile cracked her face. “One human that wasn’t wanted in this world, one that will be banished by the element of ice. one that will betray, and one that will be against the other three.” Paul met her gaze steadily. “I’m against anyone out there who despises the power of pokemon.” Dionza chuckled. “Good. I hope you’re as good as I think.” She lay a cold hand over his, and they stared deeply into each other. Paul felt himself by the overpowering feeling of success for finding such people, whether they were devils or not. And it wasn’t just from the glinting red eyes from Dionza. King Malidorius had been quite the forceful type. He really did live up to his name as the “King of Fire.” He was tall, muscular-built, and his temper was hotter than fire itself. He had let Lucas and his friends pass without killing anyone, though he wanted to test their identities by inviting them over for dinner in his dining hall tonight, right before Seth and Delaine could lead them away with an army of people, known as the flame people. “Flame people!” Barry laughed as soon as the four of them were out of earshot of the king. Seth and Delaine were taking them upstairs to get dressed for dinner. “Hah! What, are people here fire-blood or something? Can they breathe fire like Malidorius’s Arcanine can?” Seth gave him a sideways smile. “Of course! Hey, if we weren’t told to make sure you guys looked nice and proper for dinner tonight, I would’ve vomited fire at you! That’s way worse than having it breathed at you.” Lucas laughed and Delaine shook her head, meeting Lucas’s gaze with a wry smile. “You guys really aren’t from this world, arent you?” Lucas’s smile suddenly faltered. Their secret was out, and there was nothing he could say against it. 15. THE ROYAL FIRE KING AND HIS POKEMON Kaira’s heart pounded at Delaine’s comment. No! She knows now! She knows we’re humans from…earth. That’s ‘cause Snakeboy made it so obvious that you guys weren’t just “foreigners” from across the planet. Chibu’s voice suddenly spoke in Kaira’s head. Thank him for making it even worse. Kaira let out an irritated sigh. Delaine turned to meet her gaze. Her eyes were staring at Kaira intently. “You know, we humans are more connected to the earth, and our pokemon much more than you think. Some of us can even smell like some pokemon can. Apparently, it was so easy for me to sense that you guys are not just foreigners, but foreigners from another dimension. I could scent it when I first met Barry.” She flashed him a narrowed smile. “Hey! That’s not fair!” Barry met her gaze playfully. “Sheesh, the things I could’ve done if only I were born on this planet! I bet Seth can run with supersonic speed?” Seth laughed. “I wish. But no, we humans are connected to the pokemon we were born with. If Delaine wants to waste her time explaining the whole things to you people, go in her room. Imma be out with my Houndoom.” He turned with his purple pokeball in his hand, but Delaine grabbed his hood he had put on. “Oh no, I’m not going to do all the talking for this. Apparently, I sense something more within these people.” She casted a quick narrowed glance at Kaira. “Remember the prophecy you know…..” Seth turned to face Kaira. He was kind of…..good looking in a way, but no. He was with Delaine, as strange as that looked. But he just gave a sideways smile and shook his head. “You really think they could be that special? Kind of odd for them to show up without a sign that they were coming.” Dawn spoke up. “Hasn’t the prophecy been going on for centuries actually? Like…..ever since Gaiyah was split?” Seth laughed. “Yeah, more like millions of years ago. Seriously, prophecies are a pain. They can take a few days to millions of years to come true. That’s why I don’t believe this has even happened yet.” Delaine’s room had a tall green door with picture frames of her and some fire type pokemon. Most of them were pictures of her and a Ninetales, doing pretty epic looking battles, and going on what looked like tough journeys. One of the pictures showed Delaine riding her Ninetales, looking about seven or eight, and she had a sword in her hand as her Ninetales dodged through a ring of water, breathing out a flames of fire. Barry whistled. "Daaang, now i totally wish i were born here." "Heck yeah," said Lucas, raising his eyebrows at the pictures. "You get to do more than just go on gym battles with your pokemon. Look at you in battle when you're only like six!" Seth laughed. "Actually, she's nine. She looks too young for her age." He gave Delaine a teasing nudge. she nudged him back. "Whatever." She opened her door and stood to the side, smiling. "Now come in. I promise. there arent any pokemon or planetary things that are going to bite you or swallow you up." Kaira clutched her blade of fire in her hand. She was wearing a thin lavender dress, for the king Malidorius always wanted his guests to be dressed royally whenever attending a royal inner with him. After Delaine had explained the whole story of the planet of Gaiyah, and how humans were connected with their pokemon, certainly by being “born from the earth with them,” she had given her a dagger that consumed of fire. Apparently, Delaine could sense that Kaira was part of their own world just like her, and that part of her blood runs in the family of a certain fifth dimension soul. Kaira had been even more conscious about this place now, knowing that she really was born from the planet. She must possess pokemon powers of some kind! Delaine told Kaira that the power to use the abilities known by pokemon must not only come from being born from the planet with them, but to also be dedicated in the power and have faith in your pokemon. Without faith and love, the powers you can use wouldn’t work. Unfortunately, Kaira’s stupid problem of fearing pokemon had kept her from finding out her natural powers all her life. Delaine had given Kaira the blade of fire, for it was supposed to make her feel warm and protected by the weapon, and to use it with the pokemon if she got caught in any battles in the future. Apparently, tomorrow they were going to set out on their journey after Chibo after tonight’s dinner with the king. Delaine had told Kaira to keep her spirits up. “A quiet, calm girl like you would be a great human for the ghost type. Perhaps you have ghost type abilities?” She had been joking, but it was obvious that both Delaine and Seth saw Kaira as a shy, naïve person, just like other people always thought of her. But Kaira couldn’t imagine herself being born from the planet with ghost type pokemon. Those were one of her most feared kinds of pokemon besides snakes like Arbok and Seviper. Kaira was standing at the top of the stairs, deep in thought as she held the blade of fire. battles……when we set out to continue following Chibo north, we will have Seth and Delaine with us…..as well as their whole squadron of fire warriors. There will be obstacles, such as dangerous pokemon and…..Team Solar grunts. Kaira closed her eyes. Team Solar. The name sounded so….familiar. But she shuddered at the thought of encountering them. They had pokemon……most of them far more powerful than pokemon on earth could ever be. They were mere savages, created by the inhumane Prima Dona. Because they were born from matter from space rather than from the planet within, they came with natural powers that had to do with dark matter and demons since they were summoned by Prima Dona. Their connection to pokemon was powerful, and their auras can choose the pokemon types to connect with since they weren’t naturally born with any. Kaira didn’t want to see Prima Dona, or any of the crazy grunts that wandered around out there. She grasped her fire blade tightly, feeling the warmth and heat calm her down. She could almost fall asleep where she was, standing up……… “Hey, Kaira?” Barry was suddenly at her side. She shot her eyes wide open and then faced Barry’s gaze. Her expression calmed when she realized how pale he was looking, and that his eyes didn’t have their usual cheerful glint in them. He wore a nice navy blue shirt over smooth black pants. The fabric of the clothes looked royal and he almost looked like a prince. “Oh, hey. I’m just….thinking about what Delaine told us. I…..I can’t believe I’m actually born on this world. Why didn’t Chibu tell me?” Barry shrugged. “Did you try asking it?” Kaira huffed. “I can’t contact it write now.” Barry chuckled. “It’s like a lost satellite connection in your head. I didn’t think telepathy would be that way.” Kaira smiled with amusement, gazing into his eyes. “I didn’t think I was actually born on this world,” she replied quickly, before she could find herself gazing into his eyes and forgetting about everything else on her mind. “But I guess that explains all this déjà vu. Chibu did tell me that my spirit would come back to this world and all, but I didn’t actually think I was like one of the humans here, that I was actually born from within, along with a certain pokemon type where I would live to become like those pokemon, and help control its powers against the planet.” “What did you think you were?” Kaira shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know. I could never imagine myself……being born with pokemon. But in fact, the pokemon on this planet were created by both the pokemon Gaiyah, and the planet Gaiyah, so that they can help use their powers of fire, water, grass, electric, etc., to help the planet stay alive and thrive. We humans were created to control the power of the pokemon. We were born along with them, so that we can possess a little bit of their power, though not enough as they could use. But that was why we were given the gift of control. We were smart enough to learn how to take control, so that we can help keep the planet in balance by controlling the pokemon we were born with. Unfortunately, people like Prima Dona have abused that gift, and don’t treat pokemon with the love and care they need. Instead, they see their power as something that can be used to help them…..achieve more power…the power to control the planet and get anything they want…..” Barry laughed. “Wow, you’ve spoken like a true natural-born from this planet.” Kaira blinked, and met his gaze. “What? Oh, I’m just reciting Delaine’s words. Haha, I guess I got too carried away……the description of the world is all so vague and familiar, and it’s all just came back to me just a few moments ago.” Barry suddenly grabbed his forearm, and then forced a smile on his face. “Hehe, yeah…..Delaine sure has a voice for speaking too…….” His expression looked like he was trying to hide something. Kaira winced and looked at his forearm. His hand was grasping it tightly, though his long sleeve covered over it. “What the heck-- what’s the matter with your arm?” She demanded. “I’ve seen you hold it like that all day! Why havent you told anyone about it?” “Huh? What are you talking about?” He said suddenly. “There’s nothing wrong with my arm! This shirt-- it’s just itchy! It’s nice looking, but itchy!” Kaira felt betrayed. She narrowed her eyes. “Why can’t you just tell me…..you’re hiding something.” Barry lifted his expression and tried to look happy. “I like your dress, too. It’s good looking, but I bet that’s just as itchy, huh?” Despite the poor attempt to convince her that he wasn’t lying, Kaira’s gaze suddenly lightened up. “Really?” She couldn’t help her distraction. Barry had commented her on her outfit! How sweet! “It’s not that itchy……Delaine gave the more expensive and nicer looking one to Dawn, but this isn’t so bad. It feels fine, actually.” Barry nodded, slowly letting go of his arm with a forced expression. “That’s good. I bet Dawn can itch herself all through the night!” “Hey, Barry!” Delaine’s loud voice sounded from downstairs. “You better come to dinner now! Hurry up, you guys, before he starts suspecting you for anything!” Barry turned and looked down. “Hey, Seth! You guys have an elevator around here? I know it’s only a normal set of stairs, but there’s like ten of them to go downstairs to the dining room! You guys ought to have some kind of shortcut around this place!” Kaira didn’t pay attention to Seth’s response. She was lost in thought of why Barry was trying so hard to keep his wound a secret on his forearm. But at the same time, she was dreamily thinking about how he had complimented her on her dress. “Fine then!” Barry called down, making a face at Seth. “Jerk,” he muttered. He turned to Kaira. “What? What are you staring at?” Kaira suddenly snapped into focus, realizing she had been gazing at him with wide, unblinking eyes. “Oh, nothing,” she replied quickly. She narrowed her eyes. “Just wondering why you have to keep a secret from me.” Barry winced. “Why would I keep a secret from you?” His tone was strangely quiet and sounded fake. Clearly, he was lying to her. “Barry, hurry up!” Seth’s voice yelled. “I’m gonna tell Malidorius you’re snooping in our rooms!” Barry whipped over to face the stairs. “Oh no you don’t!” He rushed down the stairs noisily. Kaira stared down after him. Her eyes were clouded with their usual emotion, though this time, her heart was filled with an even stronger feeling. She squeezed her eyes shut. Why couldn’t he see……how much I feel about him? He was the only person she was open with. He was the only one she shared her thoughts and feelings with. Why couldn’t he see that he was more than just a friend to her? Kaira flashed her eyes open, biting her lip with a look of anger in her eyes. Dawn….. she thought furiously. He’s probably too focused on having a thing with HER. He’s too busy trying to see his relationship with her, so he doesn’t notice my feelings for him. It’s all because of HER. Chibu’s voice suddenly responded to her thoughts. “Oh, come off it, please! It sounded annoyed. Barry cares for you just as much as he cares for Dawn.” Kaira narrowed her eyes. “Yeah…..cares for me as a friend. Just a friend and nothing else. And don’t tell me anything against that! You saw the way he lied through his teeth at my face!” “Kaira…..I may not be able to watch over Snakeboy or read his mind, but I can tell you one thing. He’s not distracted with Dawn at the moment. I can feel it. He’s distracted by……something else. “ Kaira huffed out loud. “Oh yeah, and you don’t know what that something else is? You’re just trying to convince me. I can help this planet and find out who I am, AND have Barry understand my feelings all at the same time.” “Kaira……trust me. I can feel something around you when you’re with him. I know what’s on his forearm he’s been trying to hide. There is a mark-- a mark from Prima Dona. It’s probably taking over him somehow. I can sense that mark from here, but that’s the only thing I can sense.” Kaira raised her eyebrows. Prima Dona had given him a mark on his arm? Why would he keep it so secret? Then Kaira narrowed her eyes again. She made her way down the stairs. “But that still doesn’t explain why he’s never noticed how I feel for him. That doesn’t still explain his relationship with Dawn.” 16. BATTLE OF DARK MATTER Barry woke up the next morning, his head dizzy from his dreams. He had had terrible nightmares of Prima Dona punishing him for not keeping his secret of being a human, and that she swore he must destroy Seth and Delaine for even knowing about who they really were. Barry squeezed his eyes shut and then stared out the window. Despite the gloomy morning, the temperature outside was probably like an oven. The weather was always strange in the fifth dimension, especially in a place like Caravel. The other night, he had tried to keep his spirits up during dinnertime, chatting about the places up in the south where they had pretended to come from. Of course, only Seth and Delaine knew who he and his friends really were, and that they were human inhabitants of the first dimension- from earth. But they told know such thing to the king Malidorius or his attendants that served him at the table. But Barry hadn’t been too sure about the pokemon. The place had lots of well-trained pokemon, all fire type, and all as royal as Egyptian statues, and they all seemed to give them haughty, narrowed looks as if they knew they had a secret. Kaira had also been very quiet at the table also. She was always quiet and responded strangely to other people she didn’t know, and Barry hoped she didn’t let Malidorius suspect her. the king had been pretty jolly and boisterous with them. he was loud and funny, though at the same time, very demanding and conceited. Barry kind of liked him, and found him entertaining as a king. Malidorius had fallen in love with Chimchar, and treated him like a valuable little toy that he didn’t want to leave him. chimchar had also gotten along with the other fire types pretty well, especially Seth’s Infernape. But now Barry knew what they were going to do this morning. Malidorius had decided to send a troop of 200 warriors to escort Barry, Kaira, Lucas, and Dawn up north and out of their city. Lucas and Dawn did explain their following of Chibo, for they said they were just curious on where the long-lost time-traveler of Dalyah was going. Malidorius decided to have a troop of warriors escort them out of town, and until they reached the borders of their region, they would let Barry and the others continue their journey on their own. Malidorius was planning to lead a troop over to the western towns and attack one of Team Solar’s lairs and save the stolen pokemon. Delaine walked in the room with were Ninetales following her. “Huh! I don’t see why my father has to come! He really should stay and watch over his own city, not leave it in the hands of his stupid brother!” Barry raised his eyebrows. “Ha! Don’t tell me he really meant it? Kean’s gonna take over for a while?” Delaine gave him a sideways look. “Yep. For a while. My father really wants to get himself into battle now. He says he’s really tired of Team Solar hiding in all these different areas around the world, terrorizing all these parts with their stupid dark matter and pokemon stealing. Once we lead you guys to the edge of the region to the last city of Unita, that’s when we shall part ways and lead the troop west, while you guys go on continuing north to follow Chibo.” Barry sighed. “Man, I wish you guys can come. You’ve got awesome fire types to resist the cold out there in the north! And come on! Don’t you want to see what happens with Chibo?” He lowered his voice and added excitedly, “And see what comes of us three prophesized beings?” Delaine laughed. “You know, I’d really love to. But we’ve got to meet Team Solar at the west side of this entire region. This is the region of fire, and Team Solar’s disturbed the legendary that’s made this region what it is. The legendary fire type, Heatran, has been disturbed, and we must rescue it from the hands of Team Solar…,,,whatever the heck they may be doing to it.” Barry suddenly gasped. “You told us that last night! But I didn’t get a chance to ask a question! You guys really have a Heatran in this dimension also?” Delaine laughed. “Hah! Of course. It’s pretty much the bringer of this fiery region and warm climate, and all the fire pokemon who inhabit it! we can’t let some inhuman creatures like Team Solar to demonize it with dark matter. It’s fifty times stronger than the one in the first dimension!” “Oh yeah?” Barry challenged playfully. “Well, maybe I’d like to see this Heatran for myself! the Heatran back in our world is no more than a fire and steel spider that can wipe off a whole city.” Delaine shrugged and pulled out her armor from her closet, and harnessing her Ninetales. “Whatever. Just remember. Our fire troop shall come with you guys to follow the Chibo up north until it gets to the end of Unita Town. Then that’s when we split up and go our own way to save the pokemon of our own region. You guys can go on saving the pokemon of the entire DIMENSION.” Barry laughed. “Why not just let us do the work? If we save the dimension, we’ll be saving your region at the same time.” Delaine shrugged and gave him a sassy look. “It’s possible you guys might not even succeed. One of you is supposedly supposed to be the extra unwanted human who will be kicked out of the prophecy.” She hopped on the back of her Ninetales. “Come on. Dad’s already assembled the troops. We’re leaving this place right now.” As her Ninetales gave Barry a glinting look, it turned and carried Delaine out of the room. Barry watched with a distant stare. He looked at his scar underneath his long-sleeve shirt he still had to wear. He sighed. “What if I’m the one?” He thought. “What if I’m the one to betray everyone?” He sighed and closed his eyes as visions of the dangerously beautiful Prima Dona started flashing in his mind. Malidorius led the troop of 200 warriors out of the city. The warriors all stood at the side of one fire type pokemon at their side, and most of the fire types were Rapidash dressed as a knight’s pokemon with metal saddles. Everyone wore battle gear, though not as heavy as if going out to war. Everyone just had a sword in their hands, or one of those fire blazers like the one Kaira had been given. Barry himself still wore his orange and white long sleeve shirt over his own jeans, but he also had to carry his own sword as well. “Aw, come on. Can’t I get a lightsaver like Kaira?” He still pleaded Seth and Delaine as he traveled with them at the front, just behind Malidorius and his Arcanine. Delaine ignored him and pretended to listen to Dawn’s conversation with Lucas, and Seth turned to give him a naughty smile. “No way! you’ll break it.” “Shut up, I’ll treat it the same way you would,” Barry shot back playfully. Chimchar was at Barry’s heels, keeping up excitedly and jumping up and down with agreement. “ChimCHAR!” Delaine turned to cast a glance at Barry. “I hope you guys are used to hiking. We will be encountering some pretty rough hills to get over once we get pass this flat terrain.” Dawn looked around with wonder. “The environment is so……wondrous. It’s empty, but it’s bright and pretty interesting.” “It’s nothing but dry sand everywhere,” remarked Seth with a slight scorn. “And at the same time, the world is pretty much freezing over stupid dark matter.” Lucas raised his eyebrows. “Freezing?” Seth met his gaze. “When the dark spirit takes over your body, it’s just like it comes in and kicks out the real spirit inside of you and takes over. But it doesn’t really kick your spirit out, it pretty much freezes it and takes over. I heard it actually feels like your heart is turning to ice when a dark spirit enters you and takes over.” Delaine laughed. “You would know.” “Nah, I wouldn’t. my heart is as hot as the core of the planet.” “Huh! So this planet’s actually got a core just like earth?” Barry joined Lucas’s side. Seth gave him a wry smile. “Yeah. except our’s is probably more alive and stronger. It’s so alive it’s got its own pokemon born from it within.” Dawn looked at him with wonder. “When a pokemon is born from within….does it technically rise out from under the ground? Or is it just like having a pokemon give birth to an egg?” “Well, no pokemon exactly ‘rises from the planet.’” Delaine explained. “All pokemon are born normally, from eggs or inside the mother. But it’s just that at the beginning of this planet’s creation, the first pokemon and humans came from the core, all born from the fire and adapting to their surroundings in which they were born in. all the same, as those pokemon and humans passed on to new generations, we are all technically part of the planet since our first ancestors were born from the planet, so we too, will go back to the planet within when we die.” “You guys won’t,” added Seth mischievously, facing Barry. “Hah! We’ve got a better place to go! Our world is much more complex to die in than this,” said Barry. “I mean…..here, the humans go into nothingness, remember? You were punished for the long ago evil that you’ve done against pokemon, so the pworld doesn’t except your dead bodies. Your planet hates you!” Suddenly, Seth’s humored expression turned into a narrowed glare, and his skin turned bright red. His brown hair rose up as if he were zapped, and flames started to burn with his flowing hair. He clutched his sword tightly until it turned to a blazing color of shiny red metal, and he stopped walking and faced Barry with a deadly look in his eyes. Houndoom, who had been following him from behind, suddenly barked and howled in confusion, growling and fidgeting as it sided with its trainer and glared at Barry with the same look in its eyes. Barry froze. “Huh? What’s happened? Was it something I said?” “Barry!” Dawn gasped. Delaine uttered a strange word under her breath that Barry couldn’t clearly make out. She and Ninetales hurried over to Seth’s side and Delaine raised her arms towards her boyfriend, and grayish smoke suddenly whirled around the fiery trainer. “Ahh!” Seth spun and fell to his side, his Houndoom growling and nudging him back up. Seth brushed himself and frowned at Barry. “Idiot! Don’t ever speak to me like that again! damn!” “Wha--” Barry felt confused. “What did I do?” “You kinda told him the planet hates him…..” Lucas had an amused look on his face. Delaine huffed and met Barry’s gaze with an intent look in her eyes. “Yeah! That’s very offensive to say to ANYONE in this whole world. Seth, for one, just gets a little fumed literally. He can’t help it!” “Well, sorry,” Barry raised his eyebrows and continued walking, looking back to make sure none of the warriors behind them were talking about what had just happened. “I was just kidding, gee, he knew that.” Seth’s sword banged loudly as he drew it back in. He faced Barry with a forced smile, biting his lip. “Hey, it’s cool man. I tend to fire up with anger whenever I hear words like that. See, Team Solar always says things like that to us, and especially us since we are fire type people, and we are the closest beings that came from the very fire core. They’ve always taunted us at how none of us, no matter how close we are to pokemon, we will never descend with their bodies back to the planet. It’s always pissed me off, and I’ve always gotten so fumed and fired up around them that it just comes natural to me when I hear those words.” Barry shrugged and just laughed. “I probably would’ve been the same.” “And at least your spirits within can be with the pokemon’s spirits to a happier place,” said Dawn. Barry arched his neck over to see Kaira on the far side of Delaine, walking with her head straight, her eyes looking forward and unblinking. As always, she never engaged in conversations with the people around her, and her eyes her their usual, pale daze, focused on something far away and looking emotional. Barry sighed and made his way up to her side as the others continued to talk with Delaine and Seth. Chimchar followed along with Barry and hopped on his shoulder as Barry caught up with Kaira. “Hey,” he said in a friendly tone. He tried not to wince as the pain in his arm pierced through him again. why did it always have to do that around Kaira’s presence? Kaira blinked once and then met his gaze without changing her dull expression. “Hey….” Barry couldn’t help smiling with amusement. He realized how pretty she could still be even though her face was pale and flushed with deep, faraway feelings. “You’re awfully quiet. Come on! These are people from your real world—people you were kinda born with in a way. you should at least try befriending SOMEONE here.” Kaira shrugged and looked at her feet, her fire blaze hanging in one hand. “Why? It’s not like I HAVE to stay here, do I?” Her voice was slightly snappy, and she looked distracted and upset. “Well…..you never really know,” Barry wondered if Kaira could have a reason why she could’ve been on earth in the first place….and not remember a thing. Obviously, something must’ve happened to her that caused her appearance in the first dimension. Something really WAS different about her—she could be more important than he thought. “Yeah, of course I wouldn’t know,” she replied. “That’s why I’m so psyched about what we’ll find once we reach the far north with Chibo. Once that pokemon can travel through the space gap between the dimensions again, I might be able to find out who I really am. And Chibu warns me I might like it, and I might not….” “Have you been speaking to that pokemon lately?” Kaira nodded. “Anytime I can, I speak to it.” She spoke softly as she looked up at the gray sky. “It understands my feelings and….it really could be a great help for me. I really trust it. I’ve…..I’ve never felt that way about pokemon before.” Barry stared at her expression. He thought he saw a slight glint of thankfulness in her eyes, and he wanted her to look at him. He rarely saw that happy look in her pale green eyes. “Hehe, well--” “LOOK OUT!!! BARRY! KAIRA!” Delaine’s voice screamed as Barry suddenly whipped around to look behind him, jumping with surprise as a dagger almost half Barry’s size plunged at the ground behind him, barely missing him by a few inches. Kaira gasped and Barry stiffened as she stumbled at the collision and immediately grabbed his left arm. “Where’s that come from?!” She cried. King Malidorius was suddenly running at full speed with his Arcanine, rounding Barry and Kaira. The warriors behind them all started to shout and scatter, and blasts of guns were heard. Pokemon were roaring, and Rapidash neighed with challenge. “SHOW YOURSELVES, COWARDS!” King Malidorius was yelling over the loud cries of war. Barry looked around urgently, his eyes wide. “What’s going on? Are we attacking?!” “TEAM SOLAR!” Malidorius was yelling at the top of his lungs, his mighty voice like a Loudred. “SHOW YOURSELVES! OR WE SHALL TAINT THE SKY!” A Fearow shot through the sky, circling where King Malidorius and his Arcanine stood behind Barry and Kaira. The Fearow was possessed—Barry could tell by the scary red look in its eyes, and the way its feathers spiked with strange red marks. It cawed an eerie screech, tearing the sky with wide, powerfully arched wings. suddenly, a lithe human shape appeared from the Fearow's back and jumped off, landing on the ground with a crouch. Barry was amazed at how quickly and gracefully the human had landed on the ground from almost twelve feet high. It stood up and spoke in a deep voice. "Aha! Malidorius, I see that you've got your own squad of noobie warriors out, huh?" The guy wore a dark suit with a black mask over his eyes. there were small slits in the blindfolded mask, revealing a pair of glinting red eyes. "Team Solar..." Barry gasped. It was the first name to pop in his head. He narrowed his eyes as Kaira's grasp on his arm loosened and made his mark start to throb with stinging pain. "You have no right to trespass the oasis trail!" Malidorius yelled, drawing out his sword. "Get you and your filthy grunts off the borders of my property! You arent welcome anywhere in the world!" Dawn was looking around. "Others? Where are they?" Suddenly, a flock of Honchcrow, Pidgeot, and other flying type pokemon landed behind the Solar grunt, gathering together as more Solar grunts in the same dark outfits jumped off the haughty looking pokemon. The Solar grunt up front chuckled. "You can't tell us what to do. We were just off to pay a visit to your little town. Appears that you are already over here at the moment. Well then......please get outta our way. Fearow....Wing Attack." Barry expected a powerful force of wind to come from the large bird, but instead, this Fearow did something different. It slowly heaved up into the air and raised its wings, and bright yellow light emerged from them. Barry narrowed his eyes at the blinding light. "Uh-- what the?" Barry suddenly felt the ground give a jolt, and Malidorius grabbed him by the scruff, pulling him atop his Arcanine with him. Kaira whipped around as Barry disappeared from behind her, and then gasped as a blast of fire erupted right in front of her, just a mere few inches from her. "No you dont!" Delaine screamed, drawing out her fire blazer, shooting a ball of flames from the blazer. But the erupted fire suddenly spiraled into the sky above the Fearow and caught the flame ball with it, and exploded. Barry fell off the Arcanine, feeling the heated, stingy air blow him back, and he landed on the hot ground next to Seth and Kaira. "What's happening?" Yelled Barry over all the yelling. Around them, the warriors had started charging and pokemon were running around, attacking each other, colliding fire types with demonized pokemon. A Magmar leaped over them and jumped on an eerie Murkrow, tumbling away in the midst of the crowd. Seth coughed. "Fire Storm! Stupid Fearow has drawn the force from the ground within! It'll be just like a sandsotrm, only instead of sand, its flames blowing through the air!" "Flames in the air?!" Screamed Kaira, ducking as a figure jumped over her head. "We should've brought some water types, sheesh!" Barry yelled. "Just make sure it doesnt catch your hair!" Seth got up and charged into battle, attacking a Solar grunt that rode a tough looking Luxio with gleaming red eyes. "Seth!" Kaira shouted. She stood up with her shoulder hunched as the fierce wind started blowing around them, whipping small flames of fire through the air all around. Barry narrowed his eyes and shot up, trying to see through the sandy wind and flying fire. "Hey! HELLOOOOO?! WE DONT KNOW HOW TO FIGHT HERE!" "Barry! Over here!" Delaine's voice sounded from a clattering of swords and crying Rapidash just a distance behind Barry. He turned but couldnt see who he was looking at as he faced a group of tussling pokemon and people. "Delaine?!" He yelled, carefully making his way through the fighting crowds and fierce fire storm. "Chi- HAAAA!" Chimchar's familiar cry sounded to the left. "Chimchar!" Barry hurried over as he saw the small fiery shape dash behind a rock that jutted out. Barry followed Chimchar towards where the fire storm was starting to clear a little, and less yelling and fighting sounded. But he heard some shouting and a strange moaning pokemon cry. "Ahh! Let me go! You filthy monster, let me go!" Barry suddenly recognized the voice as Dawn's. "Dawn!" He hurried around a set of tall rocks and boulders, finding Dawn in the grasp of a taller dark figure with not only a blindfold over his eyes, but also a dark cloth wrapped around the mouth over his nose. The figure was grabbing Dawn around the waist as she faced with her back against his front, trying to escape the grip. "Argh! You let me go this instead, you inhuman fiend!" "Hey, let her go!" Barry ran up to them and drew out his sword-- surprised he still managed to keep hold of it. He wished he had had more fighting experience. This battle would've been less terrifying and more exhilirating! And his pokemon shoulve been here too! As Barry neared the dark figure from the side, the grunt turned its head towards him and flashed him a fierce glare. Barry noticed that unlike the other Solar Grunts, this one had no gleaming red eyes. Suddenly, Chimchar appeared from behind one of the taller rocks on the other side, and landed on the Solar grunt's back shoulders, biting into his neck with voracious angry eyes. "Urrghhh!" The grunt yelled in a muffled voice under the dark cloth that wrapped around his mouth. He let Dawn go and fell on his back as Chimchar nailed him down with one yank as it jumped off his shoulders. As the grunt lay on the ground, Chimchar peered over its face above its head, glaring into the slits of the grunt's eyes. "Dawn! Hey!" Barry hurried over to her side and helped her up. She had fallen on her knees, and her white leggings she had worn from the castle were torn, showing a slight bleeding from her knees. "You alright?" Dawn had a look of horror in her eyes. She turned to look at the Solar grunt behind them, who had gotten up and was brushing himself. "That.......that grunt...." she breathed. Barry whipped around with a challenging look in his face. "That grunt that looked like he was about to do something a little more than just kill you?" He pointed his fire blazer at him. Chimchar was jumping up angrily at the grunt's feet. "Wait!" Dawn laid a hand on Barry's blazer. Her eyes were shocked and focused on the grunt. "I....know you. We both do!" The grunt narrowed his eyes through the small slits of the blindfold and growled in disappointment. It ripped off both cloths off his face.......and revealed a familiar, glaring face. Barry dropped his blazer and nearly lost his breath. "Paul!" Barry and Dawn both yelled in shock at the same time. "Oh my gosh.......PAUL! How did.....how COULD you?!" Her horrified tone suddenly changed into an angry snap. She was staring at Paul with her eyes narrowed in disbelief. Paul stood still, staring at both of thm with a look of pure hatred in his eyes. His expresion suddenly lit up and he smriked. "I'm surprised to see YOU here." He spoke with a deep intent tone to his voice. "When I heard of the three earth beings finally showing up around these parts of the planet, I never thought for one slight moment that the three would include YOU guys." Barry was staring at him with wide-eyed shock. "The-- the three? You've heard of them too?!" Paul chuckled. "Course I have. I've only been told that there were three out there from earth-- out there, right at this moment. But I never knew you two could be the ones! What? Where's the third? Don't tell me Lucas is out there too!" "Paul...." Dawn was slowly walking up to him with a look of sadness in her eyes now. She stood up in front of him, looking into his eyes. Barry watched his expression falter and his eyes start to slightly calm with curiosity as Dawn methis gaze. "You've been captured under the power of Team Solar. No....this can't be! What have they done to you? What have you been through?!" Paul said nothing as he stared back at Dawn. Barry came up to her side. "I'll tell you what they've done!" Said Barry. "They've used his stupid desire and belief of pokemon power to turn him against us! They know how ambitious he is with pokemon! They've used his aggressive personality to make him one of them!" Suddenly, Barry grunted and winced at the pain that suddenly sliced through his mark on his forearm. But he kept his glare and kept going on. "And look! They didnt even have to possess him with a devil spirit! His eyes dont show it. He's already evil enough to be like them! Paul! I trusted you--- AHHH!" Barry suddenly squeezed his eyes shut and threw himself back, falling over to his side, grabbing his forearm with pain, feeling the punishing sting get worse. Dawn gasped. "Barry!" Paul chuckled slyly and grabbed Dawn's shoulders, making her lok up at him with surprise. "Dawn, I'm no devil spirit to have become part of Team Solar. That would just make me a fake. No, instead, I am myself, and they've accepted me for who I am." He paused and then added quietly, "Prima Dona admires the way I am." Barry suddenly shot his eyes open, forgetting all about the pain. Images of the stunningly beautiful sorceress flashed through his head and he shot up, muttering her name. He could barely see anything in front of him but a blur, as if the images in his head were overpowering his real vision. Suddenly, a tall, lithe figure with long flowing hair appeared in front of him with what looked like a piercing ice sword in her hands. “Barry! Watch out!” Dawn’s cry interrupted his thoughts and he suddenly blinked his eyes into focus, staring straight at the face of a female Solar grunt with a blindfold mask over her eyes. Her eyes were red and piercing through the slits, and she raised her sword, barely missing a stab in his heart as he jumped away with a startled yell. “CHimchaaa!” Chimchar suddenly flashed an Ember attack on Paul and he let Dawn go with an angry yell, and Dawn grabbed Barry’s hand—the left one that still felt numb with pain from the stinging mark. “Come on!” She cried, pulling him with her as they raced pass Paul with Chimchar ahead of them. Barry heard Paul’s faint yell as they made their way around the rocks and clefts as quick as they can. The place was narrowing into a canyon-like area with tall cliffs at their sides, and rocks jutting out in groups here and there. It was totally empty and faint with silence. Only their rapid footsteps were heard. Barry winced with pain as Dawn’s grip on his left hand grew tighter, until he whipped his arm from her grip. She was too shocked and focused to notice his sudden jerk, but finally, they stopped by a cave they found behind a tall rock that stuck out from under the ground. Dawn panted and fell to her knees again, staring out in surprise. Chimchar joined her side and cuddled next to her with a look of sadness in its eyes, as if feeling her pain. Barry, on the other hand, was starting to feel worse and worse about his own secretive wound. But he forced himself to sit by Dawn’s side, and stop grasping his forearm. “Dawn…..? Hey, come on, at least he isn’t entirely taken over. He’s still got…..his own aura. They haven’t possessed him yet, and there might still be a chance we can help him!” Barry had always looked up to Paul as a prized trainer to count on, and he felt just as devastated to see the one he had always looked up to suddenly become…..one of the dark ones. Dawn shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “No! I can’t believe it! He’s become one of them! That lady—the female grunt that appeared and almost chopped your head off—she was the first one to attack me. I had no pokemon with me, and I had no experience to fight. So I threw her off with my fire blazer too violently, stabbing it…..thorugh her heart.” Barry widened his eyes. “Whoa there! That’s pretty impressive, you should be proud of yourself!” Dawn huffed and continued. “She suddenly screamed and just….disappeared. She just quickly disappeared into darkness that just faded away as quick as a Ninjask. Then…..Paul appeared and caught me. He……he said nothing as he grasped me and watched me struggle and scream.” Barry frowned. “Well…..he probably was thinking whether to kill you or not. You are one of his closest……..rivals.” He couldn’t really say “friends,” for Paul really had no real friends of his own unfortunately. Dawn’s eyes were fighting back tears and she was staring ahead with a frown, trying to stop herself from crying. “Ugh! He’s not himself! I just know it, okay? He may not be possessed yet, but trust me. He’s not his real self. They’ve done something to him that’s changed him SOMEHOW.” She turned to Barry with a determined look in her watery eyes. “I just know it. I felt it when he grabbed me…..and held me so close against him as if…….he was trying not to let me go.” “Well, of course he wasn’t going to let you go, he knows his job as a grunt is to kill you.” “But….it felt almost a little more than that. if he wanted to kill me, he would’ve just jumped down and stabbed me right there. Instead, he grabbed me and let me struggle in his grip.” “Well, like I said, they haven’t possessed him yet. he’s not entirely…..demonized.” Dawn sighed and stood up, looking out to the darkening sky. it was sunset already. “Well…..now we know the four earth-beings on this planet.” Barry raised his eyebrows with interest and stood up at her side. “You, me, Lucas, Paul,” spoke Dawn. “One of us…..one of us is the unwanted being. One of us is said to betray the others and suffer from the element of ice.” Barry felt a stirring well up inside of him. He felt his mark start to tingle, and he said nothing. Dawn turned to look at him. “Remember what Kaira said? She told us that Chibu warns us of the fourth element—ice. Only the other three elements shall bless and curse each of us, while the other one—ice—shall do neither, but rid the unwanted fourth human.” Barry swallowed and didn’t meet her gaze. “I think….do you think it could be Paul?” Dawn spoke softly. “Barry? I worry about him, you know…..” She looked down at her feet. Barry felt a bunch of images fly through his head again. Paul as a Solar grunt, Prima Dona summoning the powerful element of ice…..and himself flying through ice type pokemon like a warrior. He heard a voice in his head that sounded like Prima Dona’s…..but he couldn’t make it out. “Barry?” Dawn suddenly nudged him slightly. “Are you okay?” Barry blinked rapidly and met her gaze. “Ugh….what? oh yeah, I’m fine. I’m….I’m really tired. I feel the same way about Paul. We…..we should really help him before he turns out to be….the unwanted one.” Dawn met his gaze and gave a small smile. She held his hand—his right one this time—and lay her head on his shoulder. “I’m really worried now. we really should get back to the others tomorrow morning….and maybe we should ask Kaira a thing or two?” Her voice suddenly sounded a little sour. “Do you think she’ll even care that Paul’s become….what he’s become?” Kaira. Images of her flashed through his mind. Barry narrowed his eyes. “Ehh, don’t worry about her. trust me. She’s more caring than you think. She’ll be just as surprised to find out that Paul’s here too.” “Huh! There better not be anyone else.” “Oh no, there won’t be any other earth beings,” said Barry. “Unless Kaira tells us, then there’s no more than four from our dimension. She’s the one who can speak to Chibu. Chibu can read the spirits within this planet, and I’m sure it will let us know if there’s anyone else out there.” Night was already drawing, and Dawn, Barry, and Chimchar decided to rest in the cave. Dawn was asleep with Chimchar in her arms, and she lay by Barry’s side next to a rock. Barry felt strangely safe by her side, though he didn’t want to sleep, afraid that he would just wake up with the same usual routine, his head always in a dizzy spazz. But to have Dawn next to him, he felt like he could sleep soundly with her and never witness another nightmare again. He felt like taking her in his arms and never letting her go again……just like Paul had done. Barry sighed. Dawn had feelings for Paul…..it was kind of obvious. But could she have possible feelings for himself? Sometimes, he felt the lightheaded intensity of her presence around, and he always hid it with his usual, annoyingly talkative behavior towards her. But sometimes, even Dawn showed the romantic side of herself, and that she seemed to have trusted him deeply. Barry even thought about how Lucas must feel about her. Lucas had known her exactly as long as Barry himself had known her. He looked up at the stars. They formed their strange, inquisitive pattern, lining up the sky brightly and dazzlingly, as if they were almost dancing. The thought of Kaira suddenly came to him. He really liked her as a friend, and he knew she was more than just a lonely, unsocial girl who didn’t know how to express herself to people. He wondered what would come of her when she discovered her true self, and who she was in this strange world. Suddenly, a blue light flashed through the sky just in front of their cave. Barry gasped and sat up immediately. Chibo! The pokemon had been spotted! Without thinking, or even waking up Dawn, he found himself dashing out of the cave and running after the blue light that lead towards a group of tall, pointy rocks. “Chibo! It’s you!” He hissed, not wanting to scare it away with his excitement. He stopped in front of the pointy rocks, looking around for the pokemon. A blue glow lighted up from the top of the rock in front of him. Barry raised his eyebrows with triumph. “I’ve gotcha now,” he said in his thoughts, creeping up slowly at the bluish football shaped pokemon that settled with its back turned towards him. he couldn’t wait to surprise Dawn if he caught this pokemon right now. if he caught it, perhaps they could befriend it easier, and stop trying to follow it with constant difficulty. As Barry was just a grab away from the Chibo, the pokemon suddenly whipped around, facing Barry with an evil, devilish smile on its face. “Chi-iiiii-iiiii!” It almost seemed to cackle in its cute, squeaky little voice, and it was then that Barry realized it had not halo glowing over it…..and it had tiny dark blue horns growing from the corners of its head. “Huh?!” Barry gasped aloud. “You’re not Chibo!” “CHiiiiiii!!!!!!” The little pokemon cried a wicked cry and laughed evilly. It cast a blue blast of energy towards Barry, and he was gone. 17. THE DARKNESS IN PAUL Lucas panted as the heat of the battle cleared. The fighting was gradually slowing down, and it seemed as if most of the Solar grunts were disbanding. Malidorius suddenly crashed in front of him, riding an armored-dressed Aerodactyl. “What’s wrong, boy?” He yelled in his demanding voice. His face was bright red with exhilaration and fury from the battle. The smoke was burning Lucas's nostrils. He could barely breathe. Without a single breath, he collapsed onto the ground, and the last thing he saw was Kaira's figure run pass him, stopping to glance at him with shock as he felt the fires around him swallow him up into the earth. Paul sharpened his blade at the edge of a stream. The cries of battle seemed to die down, and he guessed it must have ended. Whether Team Solar had defeated them or not, he didnt care. The only thing on his mind right now-- was Dawn. He had his chance to end everything between them. He had the chance to.....literally kill her-- send her into nothingness. The blade he held in his sore hands had the power of darkness within it, and one stab wouldve been enough to take over her spirit and let it escape her body, traveling over into the dark hole, where it can never come back again. But Paul couldnt do it. Not even for pokemon power. Not even for Prima Dona. He bit his lip and narrowed his eyes as he gazed out into the bloody horizon. Prima Dona was going to be furious. She would be pissed about letting off one of the possible three souls from the dimension of earth. His job was to find those of his kind, and kill them-- send their souls to the dark hole of nothingness-- a completely different dimension no one ever came back from. He looked up into the red orange sky. Pretty soon, the night would be as dark as the black hole. Paul imagined the souls that went out there. The black hole existed in space, but at the same time, it was like another dimension, just like the one he was in at the moment. Prima Dona had been born from one, yet, it was the place where souls died into. When a human body from the fifth dimension of Gaiyah died, its spirit would leave to a happier place with their pokemon, but their bodies would dissolve and rise into the dark black hole, instead of descending down into the planet within. Humans werent wanted in the planet anymore. Dark spirits werent wanted. Prima Dona had ordered Paul to do her bidding-- and find the three from earth that were destined to stop her, and save the dimension. He failed. He just couldnt harm Dawn. "I dont love her," he muttered bitterly. "I've never fallen in love....with anyone before." "Oh, you know that's not true," said a dry, moody voice. He looked up, but didnt bother looking behind him to meet his approacher. "You've fallen in love once before......almost." Paul bit back the stinging pang of regret in his heart and he kept his voice low. "You would know.....wouldnt you, Dionza?" The long-haired Solar grunt chuckled and pinched the edge of her lip that had started bleeding from the recent battle. "Course i would. I'm born with the psychics. I can read you like a book. Especially you." Her voice was intent and smooth as she spoke to him. Paul narrowed his eyes as her footsteps approached him quietly. He heard a purring cat. She had her Choroneko around her neck. He said nothing back. Just moments ago, he had almost killed Dawn over this grunt. He had.....strange feelings for Dionza himself, and when he saw Dawn attacking her, he just....couldnt let her defeat a member of his side. But he couldnt defeat Dawn either. "I see you're back and living again," muttered Paul. "How does it feel?" Dionza chuckled and her Choroneko hissed quietly. "To be a spirit of matter that was nearly defeated and sent into nothingness? Well......it felt kinda strange, like i was drifting to a sleep state, but I wasnt really going to sleep. It just feels like any regular death, whether its for a human soul, or a spirit of matter." Paul bit his lip. The thought about a whole league of Team Solar members being no one but people born from the force of matter out in space was.....a litle creepy since that just meant they werent entirely humans. But not all of them were like that. some were just regualr people from the planet, possessed by the dark matter of Team Solar. Even some of the pokemon were like that-- no the pokemon werent created by matter from space, they all came from the planet Gaiayh within. The pokemon of Team Solar were only possessed to become the dark demonized creatures that they were. "Only Prima Dona's pokemon are born from dark matter, right?" Paul asked quietly, thinking about the terrible lady who was the Empress of Team Solar. "Prima Dona's pokemon? Oh no, not from DARK matter, no one can control dark matter but the pokemon Ultramaur. Even though Prima Dona was born from dark matter, she couldnt control it, though she can use regular matter from space to combine it with dark forces." "Whatever," Paul shook his head with confusion, turning around to walk away, passing Dionza without meeting her gaze. "Whatever it's taken to get your pokemon as strong as they are now, i wanna learn." He stopped walking and looked to the sky again, eying a flock of Staravia flying above. "Prima Dona's still got my pokemon in her hands, and she's promised me if i find the beings that are my type and kill them all, then she'll do the same with my pokemon and make them just like hers." Dionza turned to give him a raised look. "Have you even SEEN Prima Dona's pokemon?" "I hear they are fierce, more poerful than even a legendary at my own world can ever be. I hear they've got the strength of Dilaga or Palkia, and can possess the powers no ordinary pokemon even in this world can contain. I've had my own dreams about her and her pokemon ever since, and i've hoped for my pokemon to be just like hers one day. I will stop at nothing for it." Even if I have to do something as......end it with Dawn, he thought silently, but he squeezed his eyes shut at the bitter thought. Dionza chuckled slyly and pressed him on. She came up right behind his back and spoke close to his ear. He could feel Choroneko's warm purring breath on his neck. "Even if it means sacrificing that little heroine of yours?" She muttered. Paul opened his eyes into narrowed slits. He didnt answer. He walked away and didnt look back. He felt Dionza's watching him until he disappeared into the shadows. Paul made his way back to the cold, ice castle of Prima Dona. He felt so small in a place like this. He wanted to speak with Prima Dona again-- but alone this time. Before he got to enter inside, he looked to his left at a blast of blue light to his right. Curiously, he made his way into the forest where it got darker. He heard a strange buzzing noise, and a Starly suddenly swooped out from the branches of the trees in terror, flying over Paul's head and startling him. He shook himself and opened his eyes to where the blue light flashed again, and he caught the tall figure of Prima Dona standing behind the trees and branches. She sounded like she was yelling, though to Paul’s ears, her voice sounded very distant even though she was just a few yards away from him. Paul grunted. Was he going deaf? “Aha! You spy!” Screamed an angry voice that suddenly rang his ears into the right focus. He flinched and looked up, facing the little red shape of Chiba again. “Chiba!” Paul gasped, forgetting not to speak to the pokemon out loud and only in his mind. He suddenly shut his mouth and faced the little pokemon with wide eyes. “What do YOU want?” he asked in his thoughts. Chiba’s little voice replied back in his thoughts. It sounded angry now, and its cute face was frowning. Paul found it kind of funny how this pokemon didn’t look as devilish as it did mad as it did when it was happy. “You stupid fool!” Yelled Chiba, sending a blast of energy smacking Paul in the head. “You had your chance to complete one of the tasks Prima Dona had ordered you to do! and you BLEW it! you let that impudent DAWN go like you just freed a useless Pidgey! You should’ve killed her!” Chiba blew another force of energy, sending Paul hitting his back hard against a tree with force. He shut his eyes and grunted in pain as he felt the terrible pain of Chiba’s power surge through his body again as he felt himself sinking into the tree. “Please! I’m sorry! I—I really would have! But…..but Barry was there and--” “Oh, HAHA! BARRY WAS THERE?!” Chiba cackled and sent a tickling pain up Paul’s spine and then suddenly let him go, making him feel worn out and panting. “You could’ve killed the little wannabe also! Haven’t you forgotten they are ALL humans?! All three of those dumbass nincumpoops?!” Paul struggled to face up and meet the little pokemon’s eyes. They were slightly grimacing now, though the pokemon still looked angry. “Lucas……Barry……and Dawn…..they are all here, aren’t they? I must find them all…..” “You forgot one,” said Chiba tartly. “There’s that pale little zombie that follows along with them. She’s here too, ya know.” Paul gasped. “Kaira? KAIRA’S here also?” He suddenly felt his heart rush. So now there really WAS a fourth human? But what about him?! he was confused now. “Hey! don’t mix it up, fool! Kaira’s not like the rest of them. apparently, the spirits of the world have read her aura, and they say she’s a being from this dimension! So you don’t have to worry bout her…..for now. she’s not one of the three human beings.” “But…..what’s she here for then? Why was she able to come and…..should I go after her anyway?” Chiba was rising higher. “Oh, stop asking me all the questions! If you wanna impress me, find it your OWN way! if you really want me, figure it out yourself, and create your own impression! That’s what I’m expecting to see! I’m not gonna give you orders to just simply follow just like that. use your head, fool!” Paul felt a choke tighten in his neck and he gasped as the pokemon suddenly shot up into the sky, disappearing and leaving him panting on his knees, his heart beating so fast he thought he could die. There were so many things he could achieve if he just……did what he was supposed to do to Dawn….and the others. He could catch Chiba. He could be the master of pokemon that were as strong as Prima Dona’s. he could be……Prima Dona’s second in command—the king of Team Solar at her side if he became as strong as her. His eyes were focused and distant as he stared out in front of him, sinking deep into his thoughts. Suddenly, a bright white form appearedin front of his eyes, and revealed itself as the tall, pale figure of Prima Dona, her jet black hair flowing with the breeze as she stared down at him with piercing, dangerous eyes. At first, he thought she was just mere illusion in his thoughts, but then she struck out a sticklike dagger in her left hand, pointing it towards the ground to her side, and spoke in her edgy, cold voice. “Pathetic.” Paul blinked into focus and gazed up at her. he felt like her eyes would just kill him right there. He slowly stood up. “Prima Dona….” He addressed her as calmly as he could. “I’ve kept my promise. I will keep my eyes open, and follow the humans wherever they go.” “Don’t fool me with that garbage,” she snapped calmly. I sounded even creepier when she spoke smooth rather than her usual forceful tone. Only her fierce striking gaze revealed her angry feelings. “I know you let that hussy go when you had your perfect chance.” “Please,” he spoke quickly, looking at her intently. “I WILL follow them. I know where they are headed now, and I will get back at them all when I get the chance. I won’t let you down next to, I promise. Just wait and see. You can punish me later if I fail again, but please, this time, just give me a second chance….please.” He couldn’t imagine the terrible punishments Prima Dona could do. just chiba alone was bad enough, Prima Dona was a hundred times worse. She stared at him with glinting red eyes. “You impress me Paul,” she said inquisitively. “I swear, if your spirit wasn’t so different from the others, I would have your head on my dagger, your blood running through the ice shards of my nails, and your body sentenced to be spliced and shattered by the power of my ice pokemon before it’s sent to the black hole.” Her words ran through Paul’s veins, chilling him to the bone. “But! I see that you’ve got something in you that’s almost as much as the power of possessing. You’ve got ambition in your heart, Paul. That’s what drives you to do the things you do. don’t let it stop you. you can achieve so much more that way.” Paul felt her gaze deepen in him and strike his heart. She was so……powerful. So strikingly dangerous. He wanted to be like her…… “Thank you, Prima Dona,” he dipped his head. Prima Dona chuckled evilly, cracking a wicked smile at the corner of her lips. “Now, I will be going…..I have work to do. I must go to the Spear Mountains, the place where the mystic pokemon, Phandolia was born. I must travel there, and stop this world from what’s to come of the prophecy. While I am away, make sure you keep an eye on Team Solar for me……and keep your promise,” her eyes narrowed and glittered. “I will be watching you no matter what. Don’t think you can betray me behind your back, my punishments will be even worse if I perform them when I’m not so close to you.” Paul kept himself from backing away, and he nodded. “I will, Prima Dona. You can count on me.” With that, Prima Dona huffed and glared at him. “You better.” She raised an arm and from her sharp icy nails, a bright force of energy zapped from them and a terribly tall Milotic appeared form the light, revealing its body until it was a real, thirty foot tall serpent with a blue shiny back color rather than red. It swirled its way into the sky with Prima Dona right behind it, and they both disappeared into the darkness above. Lucas coughed and opened his eyes. His breath felt hot. His body felt overheated. He was lying upon a rock that blazed under the sun. he slowly rose, his limbs feeling stiff and powerful at the same time. He looked around. Desert. Empty land. Nothing but rolling hills and golden brown hot land that burned his eyes. Where was he? Was this a dream? He rose and groaned. The sun beat down at his eyes. The last thing he had remembered was being swirled into the force of the fire storm, like he had been caught in the eye of a hurricane. He scratched his head. His head felt……fiery. He rubbed his eyes. His fingers felt warm and soft. He blinked open his eyes and cried out with frustration and loneliness. His voice sounded that of an Infernape. 18. ON THE ROAD AGAIN The last of Team Solar dispersed. The pokemon that had been defeated just dissolved into the ground to……who knows where on this planet. Kaira expected King Malidorius to shout a taunt after them in triumph for beating them, but instead, the powerful king kneeled down and muttered something under his breath with a spiteful tone. Kaira winced and sudden felt weak and drained out. Her knees had been shaking, and she felt like she was going to faint. She dropped the fire blazer that was in her right hand. The blade dropped with a quiet thump, and Kaira felt the heat erupt from around it to the side of her ankles. "Kaira!" Cried Dawn's voice. She suddenly approached from the path that lead into what looked like a narrow canyon. Kaira slowly turned her head to meet her wide-eyed gaze. Dawn looked almost as pale as she did. "Kaira……have you seen Barry? He….he wasn't with me when I woke up." Kaira would've ignored her, for she really wasn't in the mood to talk and waste the little energy that seemed to be burning away from her. But she had mentioned Barry. "Where…..where were you? You guys disappeared last night. We've been sleeping out here, before we started cleaning up this morning from the battle." The warriors around them were slowly picking up remains of battle gear and feeding their pokemon potions to restore health. Everyone looked smoky-faced and worn out from the battle. Dawn huffed and looked down with her eyes clouded with regret. "Okay, look! Barry and I chased a few of the Solar grunts down that path, and then…..and then when we lost them, we decided to rest up in a cave we had found nearby. We…..we were exhausted and we had to stop and rest the night." Kara's eyes flashed with sudden anger and she snapped into focus and glared at Dawn. What had she REALLY done with Barry? She didn't believe her. It sounded bogus for Dawn and Barry to suddenly disappear from the battle-- together-- without even coming back until the next morning. Especially during a battle! Dawn looked up and met Kaira's expression. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?" Kaira said nothing and turned away, picking up her fire blade and started to walk away. "I don't know where he is." She muttered snappishly. She wanted to say more to Dawn and express her feelings more, but as usual, her feelings ran through her head and kept her mouth shut, cursing her emotion inside of her. Dawn probably snuck away just to have a little private time with Barry to escape the heat of the battle, and cool down by treating each other with the love and affection they truly felt about each other. If anything had happened to Barry, it would be Dawn's own fault! Dawn winced and crossed her arms. "Well, so-rry, I was just asking you. It wouldn't be my fault he just suddenly disappeared without a trace and didn't tell me anything!" Kaira turned to glare at Dawn again. "Well, he probably had more important things to do in BATTLE with us than spend some cuddling time with YOU." Dawn's eyes widened and she gasped. "What?! What the hell are you saying? Barry and I were attacked by Solar grunts and-- we escaped them down there! We had no energy left, nor the experience to even battle more, so we just rested by the time it was dark! We were NOT having a 'cuddling time,' what the heck!" "Sounds stupid for you guys to just disappear down there," muttered Kaira. "What were you guys really doing?" Without waiting for an answer, Kaira whipped around walked away, feeling fumed and weak. Her limbs tremble as they hung limply by her side, and she would be clutching her blade with anger if she hadn't felt so weak. "Hey, Kaira!" Yelled Delaine, running up to her from the midst of the crowd. Ninetales was at her side, and she ran amazingly by its side with the same graceful speed. "There you are! Are you alright? Are you hurt? That looks like a burn on your arm!" Delaine looked sweaty and urgent. She had obviously fought her bravest in the small battle. "Dawn! Hey, have any you guys seen Barry or Lucas? Seth's going around, counting how many warriors and pokemon we have left." "We shouldn't have lost so many," said Kaira distantly, looking around. "The battle wasn't…..too brutal. At least you guys looked like you threw them off pretty quickly." "Hah!" Delaine gave a raised smile. "When you've been raised in a world like this, especially in our fiery kingdom, battles like these will just seem like warm-ups." Ninetales huffed and murmured in agreement. "Now, where's Lucas? I thought he was just with dad--" "Aha!" Malidorius suddenly strode up to the three of them with Seth at his side. Behind them all, the warriors were gathering their pokemon and getting ready. "It appears that your little friend has been…..well, how can I say this so that you can understand……he's been captured in the eye of the fire storm." "Eye of the fire storm?!" Delaine gasped. Kaira felt a tremor through her spine. "Does that mean….." "Aye…." Malidorius crossed his arms and nodded slowly. "The fire storm has swallowed him up." Dawn's eyes grew wide. "That sounds just like what would happen if it were a tornado or something! He's……is he really…..?" "Ah, no my dear! Unlike the tornadoes in the east, fire storms that are summoned like this are referred to as 'burn cycles.' the fire is summoned from the hotness of the ground and the blazing lights of the sun above, and fire is created to pollute the atmosphere, flames flying here and there, and even creating a burn cycle, which is very much like a fire tornado. But the burn cycles don't just suck up things like vacuum cleaners, they sentence them to deep within the fiery depths within, where they shall awaken in another place!" Seth rolled his eyes and gave a sideways look. "What he means is that the fire tornado has sucked up Lucas and has taken him to who knows where." "Lucas is gone?!" Dawn gasped. "Where could the tornado have taken him?" "Who knows?" Said Seth. "Wherever the fiery air above takes him and continues to flame the thickness of the atmosphere to carry his body with the smoke, he will drift until the air weakens or cools down, and he can be dropped in the middle of nowhere." Delaine huffed, looking out to her right where the path lead down to the cliffs down the hill. "My guess is that by where the wind is blowing, he couldn't been taken along there," she tilted her chin to point in the direction. "That's ……a little off on where we are heading, but usually the fiery air doesn't last in the atmosphere too long. When anyone like Team Solar summons a storm like that, the fire won't last in the atmosphere for more than a few hours." "Heh, but that depends on how hot the weather stays…..and if those brutes summon fire nearby again," spat Malidorius, heaving a heap of battle armor onto his Arcanine, who let out a growl towards the heated breeze that blew towards the east where Lucas could have been taken. Kaira looked towards the cliffs. "What should we do? We…..we should look for him, at least someone should." "Aye, I'm not risking any of my warriors!" said Malidorius with a stern look. "Surprisingly enough, Team Solar has taken fifteen members and pokemon from us. Not defeated them, but have captured them and taken them away with their squad. There may be more in hiding out there, and might I remind you, these desert areas are full of fierce fire types that show no mercy, whether they are possessed or not! Lucas will just have to find his own way back to us and he'll catch up. He'll look to the blue light of Chibo." The king's Arcanine let out a summoning call, crying, "Aurraaaauuaa!" And the warriors turned their attention towards the king. "We will continue to the next town of Auburn Leaf Town! It's about a ten mile walk, so make sure your pokemon are healthy! Team Solar is supposedly onto our track now, and they may be back later to confront us again, which is why I'm changing routes! We will head to Auburn Leaf Town, northwest of the incoming town so that we hopefully won't be found. Let's move!" And they were on the walk again. Kaira kept by Delaine, Seth and the king with Dawn on their other side. "By the way, miss?" Malidorius gave Kaira a raised look, "nice job in the battle. You seemed to be fighting the best out of your little native squad. Where's that energized yellow head of yours?" Kaira's heart quickened and then she narrowed her eyes. "I don't know. Ask Dawn." Seth gasped. "Barry! Dad, I didn't find him anywhere! Has Team Solar taken him?" "They couldn't have!" Dawn gasped. "He was with ME in the caves down that path to the river, and if Team Solar took him over night, they would've taken me also!" Delaine raised her eyebrows. "Something must've happened then. He probably ran away, or ran into some kind of trouble…..which is probably the most likely thing he would do…dad, maybe we should send scouts to look for Barry or Lucas." Kaira saw that Delaine's expression was intent and more desperate than she sounded. She and Seth were the only ones who knew that she, Dawn, Lucas, and Barry were all from the first dimension of earth, and that they were needed for the importance of the planet…..and the fifth dimension. Kaira herself felt her own blood run cold at the thought of losing Barry…..left in the hands of Team Solar-- or even Prima Dona. Malidorious narrowed his eyes. "In times like this, we have to press forward and if anyone gets left behind, it's up to them what happens to themselves." "But--!" Dawn was about to object, but Delaine gave her a nudge and met her gaze with a raised expression, warning her to never question the king's orders. Kaira wanted to pout at the king herself. She frowned and felt betrayed and empty. "Where are you, Barry?" She thought silently. "Please……find a way back to us….I…..I need you. I need to around to help me…..stay strong." She looked up to the sky. The sun wasn't beating on them like a regular desert. The clouds were still thick and gray. Only the humid temperature and hot ground still kept the heat hot enough to summon a fire storm. As the king pressed on with the warriors following from behind, Kaira drifted a little behind the king with Seth, Delaine, and Dawn. "Hey, don't worry," said Delaine when the king was out of earshot. "Once we get to Auburn Leaf City, I know a gypsy who lives by one of the private areas there. She can tell you where Barry is, what's happened to Lucas…..and even your future most importantly." Kaira felt hopeful. "I take it the gypsies must be a little different here than our own world. Less complex and more clear maybe?" Seth chuckled. "Talia is sooo complex. Talking to her is like talking to a grandma who speaks a foreign language." Delaine gave him a nudge and laughed. "Shut up! She might know something super important about the three beings!" Dawn spoke up. "Hey, you don't think Lucas has been touched by the element of fire now? I mean, he HAS been touched by the eye of the burning cycle and--" "Oh, anyone can get caught in the eye of the fire tornado," Seth sighed. "I was caught in one once." Delaine chuckled. "At the age of seven." Kaira looked deep into her thoughts. She tried to communicate with Chibu telepathically. To her relief, Chibu answered-- and very quickly at that. "Kaira!" Chibu's small voice rang in her thoughts. "It's terrible……you've lost Barry, havent you?" Kaira huffed and answered in her mind, "Duh, havent you been feeling my emotions lately?" "Well, he's been taken! Kidnapped! Not by Team Solar, though." "Who then?" "By……Chibo. The devil Chibo. The Chibo that serves as a messenger of Ultramaur, not Dalyah." Kaira suddenly turned pale and she stopped walking. The others turned to look at her as her eyes focused on something ahead of them, wide-eyed with shock. "What's happened?! Do you know where he is?" "I can't trace where Barry's soul is….nor can I keep track of the devil of Chibo. But judging by it's the messenger of Ultramaur, my guess is that Barry may be taken…..taken to somewhere as close as the dark hole where Ultramaur may be, or maybe even to Prima Dona herself." Kaira couldn't believe which would be worse. "We have to help him! What should we do?!" Chibu spoke something urgently to her, but she couldn't make out what it was saying, for its voice was fading away, losing telepathic connection again. Kaira stood with her mouth slightly open in shock, her eyes blinking back into focus as the others had come to her side. "Um, Kaira?" Delaine was wincing. "Are you okay?" "Did you have a vision?" Dawn asked. Kaira held her breath and spoke distantly. "Barry's been taken by the devil of Chibo." Auburn Leaf Town was quiet compared to the bustling crowd in Caravel. The houses were tall, and the streets looked emptier and cleaner, with a few people and pokemon walking around here and there. It reminded Kaira of one of those medieval towns in the computer games she played online. The place was a little busy, but the atmosphere was calm at the same time. The king had been introduced their presence at the Gym Leader of the place, a tall prim looking man named Medley. They were given the small area just around the gym leader's property. "Wow, I'm surprised to see that you guys have got gym leaders here," said Dawn. "Of course, we just have people even stronger than gym leaders," said Seth. "Caravel City's too big for a single gym leader, so we've got our own kingdom of pokemon." Evening struck the sky like a blood red cut. Kaira and Dawn had settled in a tent with Delaine and Seth just by the king. Everyone had to sleep outside since they would only be spending a single night. Seth and Delaine had taken Dawn and Kaira to explore the pokemon in the woods nearby. Kaira had felt the pang of fear run through her again at the offering of seeing more pokemon, but since she had surprisingly resisted the crowd of fire types following behind with almost 200 warriors, she found herself wanting to come along. Dawn gave her a small smile. "You're really improving your trust over pokemon," she said politely. Kaira waited for her to say more, but she didn't. Kaira stared over at a tree to her side. "Yeah….I guess it's just 'cause I'm naturally born from this place and…..I just feel a strange connection to it." Dawn nodded. "Mm. Well, I bet you can do the same back in our own world if you help yourself feel comfortable with the pokemon here." Their own world. Kaira wondered how long it would be until they could ever see their own world again….to come back to earth where they belonged……or at least where Dawn, Lucas, and Barry belonged. She wondered what Rowan and the others back in Twinleaf would think about where they had gone. Kaira blinked slowly. "I wonder if Rowan knows where we are. He's still studying the mystery of Chibu's remains and where it really came from…..I wonder if he's figured what could've happened to us." Dawn gasped. "Oh yeah…..who knows? And….and who knows who else could've found their way here from our world. Apparently, there is the fourth, unwanted human out there somewhere…." Dawn looked down and narrowed her eyes with a look of frustration. Kaira turned to look at her. She looked as if she had been hurt in some way. Kaira herself felt hurt and lost as well without Barry. She wondered with a pang of anger if Dawn could be feeling the same way about Barry. But Kaira puckered her lips and pushed the thought aside. Here she was with Dawn, making a real conversation with her. She barely ever made real conversations with other people besides Barry, mainly because she just pushed the, away and didn't want to talk, or because she just stayed her strange, silent self and said nothing. But she suddenly felt her anger at Dawn ebb away, and she felt a little proud to finally be having a straight conversation with her. Suddenly, Delaine gave out a yell and started laughing. "You idiot! I could've had my hair chopped off or something!" Delaine and Seth were appearing from the deeper part of the woods, holding hands. Kaira came up to them. "Hey, you said something about the gypsy. Shouldn't we come see her as soon as possible? We're leaving again tomorrow morning." Delaine met Kaira's gaze and Seth gave an uncertain look. "Oh……Talia? Hehe, um…..you might not want to bother the creepy grandma right now…." "Yeah we were just there to check on her house," said Delaine. "Apparently, her property looked smashed and ruined as if someone had raided there or something." Kaira felt her spirits fall. She had been looking forward to meeting someone who could really tell her of her future, and who she really was! Dawn came up to her side. "What? We cant see her?" "If anyone's raided her place," said Delaine carefully, "you probably don't want to be anywhere near her or her house. Just trust me. You don't want to go there." "But WHY?" Kaira crossed her arms. "Was she even at her house?" "Probably not," said Seth, pulling Delaine's hand to walk pass them. "But you don't want to see her when her house is in that state." As Kaira watched them go, her heart quickened and her eyes narrowed. It didn't matter. Thoughts of Barry and Lucas flashed through her mind. Especially Barry. She HAD to see the gypsy. 19. FAR, FAR AWAY…. “Ahhhh---chiBOOOO!” A bolt of blue light blasted from a small, football shaped blue pokemon that hovered in the air with a button-eyed frown on its face. Barry suddenly found himself flying through the air, surrounded by a cold veil of sky blue light, drifting through nostalgic gray clouds until he crashed into a sticky web. “Ach!” Barry winced in disgust as he realized he was tangled in a large web with grossly stickiness that entangled him, and the web was weaved between to tree trucks at the top branches. His eyes were squeezed shut and as he flashed them open, he gasped and yelled with horror. He stared out at more trees that stood tall, and then realized he was stuck at the top of a tree—a tree that was probably fifty feet tall or even higher. He dared to look down as best as his head could move from the stickiness, and saw how high up he was, unable to look down any farther until the mist clouded his view from seeing any more down below. “I must be really high up,” he said to himself in a casual tone, trying to sound as calm as he can before he started freaking out. ‘SOMEBODY HEEEELLLLP MEEE! HELLLP!” His voice echoed out in the sky through the other top branches of the other tall trees. It was cold, lonely, super high, and the atmosphere felt empty and almost out of oxygen. Barry foolishly started struggling in the large web, not caring how safe he was to be tangled like this. If he were to fall from the top of this tree, who knows how much longer he would last before he hit the ground to his death. Suddenly Barry heard a faint chortling. It sounded squeaky and familiar, and it was coming closer. Barry gasped and let himself hang there. “Chibo…..” he remembered seeing the blue pokemon the other night when he was asleep…..with Dawn. For a moment, he was lost in thought of how he and Dawn were together, alone in the cave, and then he had seen the little blue pokemon they had been following—or at least he thought it was. apparently, this Chibo must’ve been the devil version of the little messenger. The blue lighted pokemon suddenly appeared through a tree in the distance, not too far in front of him. Barry watched with wide shocked eyes as the little football shaped blue pokemon drifted up to him. his arms and legs were spread out as he stuck to the web, looking like an X shape marked on the web. “You! you’re not Chibo! You’re the messenger of Ultramaur!” Shouted Barry. He narrowed his eyes. “If had my pokemon with me at the moment, I would so battle you and give you the worse defeat of your life!” Chibo was frowning and the little pokemon just huffed and blew another blast of energy towards Barry, making him feel a painful spark of electricity and freezing coldness at the same time. “Ahhh! Hey! what the heck’s YOUR problem? Where did you take me?! I want an explanation! I have no idea where things are in this world, so I need to know SOMETHING! What region am I in? am I still on the same planet? Have you taken me to another dimension?! Speak!” Barry started struggling again like a fly. He glared at the pokemon, who just glared back at him. “Can you SPEAK? Can you somehow bond with me like what Chibu did with Kaira? I can be a good friend too, if you just help me out here!” Chibo stared at him with a frown, and then started laughing. “Chi-hee-hee- heeee!” And it drifted over him, making a trail of blue light that fell like sparkles. “Huh? Hey! what the--” Barry suddenly sneezed as the blue glowing dust landed on his head and tickled his face as it blew around him. “Stop that! what’s your point? Why am I here?” Suddenly, the web shook, but not from Barry’s struggling. He gasped and looked around. Chibo was nowhere to be seen. But something bigger was. he saw a big bulky figure appear from the tree to his left, and start climbing the web towards him. the branchy long legs revealed what it was. it was an Ariados….but twice the size of a normal one. This pokemon was bigger than Barry, and was more like the size of his Empoleon as it towered above him, glaring down at him with gleaming bug-like eyes. Barry stared up in shock, his heart beating like a storm. “Don’t eat me….” Was all he could think in his head. He couldn’t speak, and he felt like just looking at the pokemon would be enough to end his life. He didn’t even struggle as the Ariados reached out to long front legs and took his body, pulling off the strings that attached to him. Barry suddenly let out a small gasp. The pokemon wasn’t going to wrap him up and eat him later. It was freeing him. One leg was wet as it rubbed around parts of him that had the sticky web attached, so that it could easily unwind him. as soon as he was free, the Ariados held him in its arms for a moment, and Barry stared back at it with awe. The pokemon suddenly gave out a hiss, irritated that Barry had interfered with its web and ruined its home. It didn’t want him around. the pokemon let him go and Barry felt himself falling through the chilly air, everything around him in a blur as he realized how fast he was going. It wasn’t until a few seconds that Barry started screaming with terror. He was falling—probably from a hundred feet high, and he was going to die. “NOOOOO! HEELP!” Barry crashed through the lower branches of the tall trees, feeling the sharp spikes and sticks tear through his clothes and scratching his skin. He yelled with pain and thrashed around, trying to avoid as many branches as he can. He passed by some pokemon, but he couldn’t even tell what they were. Some would growl and slash out at him for crashing through their part of the tree, and some just leaped over him and hissed. But suddenly, a single pokemon leaped from the trees, tearing the back of his shirt and causing a wound with a quick bite as it dashed over. “Ahh! What--” Barry squeezed his eyes in pain and opened them to catch a glimpse of the same pokemon flash by his side before he quickly passed it. it was purplish, and it seemed to keep appearing as he fell through more branches. Was it following him? Barry finally saw the ground below him. it was a leafy, flat place to fall on, and he started yelling. “AHHH!! NOOOO!!” He thrashed helplessly, and then felt the pokemon leap over him again, this time landing on his head for half a second before leaping off with speed. Barry waved his hands high, and grabbed a random branch he fell through, and managed to stop falling, hanging right over the ground, just five feet above it. Barry’s heart was beating faster than it ever had, but his grip clutched on tightly. He hung there, dazed and feeling traumatized at what just happened to him. Suddenly, a pokemon emerged from the tree that was part of the branch he clung to. for a moment, he was to scared stiff to turn and see it, but from the corner of his eyes, the pokemon was nearly cat-like and four-legged, stalking its way towards him. it was the purplish pokemon again, and around its body seemed to be flowering purple wings. Barry suddenly felt the pokemon over his head, standing on the branch he held the pokemon growled quietly, and then he felt a sharp bite on his left knuckles, a stinging pain that made Barry yell and suddenly let go. He fell to the ground on his side. His shirt was all torn and worn out, and one side of his shoulder was bare. He had a hole on the knees of his pants, and his face was badly scratched up. he winced and looked up, seeing the pokemon clearly for the first time. It was like an Espeon, except it had slightly longer legs. It’s eyes were dark and big, glaring at him menacingly. It almost looked related to Eevee, for it stood on four legs, and had a thin, parerlike tail flowing from behind. On its back, thin paper-like purple cloth seemed to be flowing out, along with a few strings that blew along in the breeze. The pokemon was kid of cute and pretty, and Barry stared at it with wonder before remembering what had just happened to him. he suddenly shot up to his feet. “Hey! where am I? Chibo! What did you do to me? Come help me NOW!” He looked around and realized he was in an open field, where there were lots of trees spread out—trees that extended up to the clouds with their trunks disappearing in the foggy mist above. The field looked nice with a few nice looking plants, but it Barry also felt lonely and like he was he only one here. “Heyyyy! Anyone---” Barry suddenly grunted as something rammed into his back. He fell to his chin and thrashed around, fighting the purple pokemon like a dog was attacking him. “Ahhh! Hey!” As he tried to push the pokemon and keep it from biting at his face, he realized how thin and light the pokemon felt, but despite how easy it was to lift it away from him, it was also quick and strong, immediately pulling back at him every time he pushed it from his face. Then the pokemon let out a shrieking howl and disappeared all together. Barry was lying on his back with his hands out, looking confused. He sat up, and heard rustling to his right—then to his left. He looked around wildly. The pokemon must’ve been ghost type, for it was invisible now and stalking him from around. barry suddenly felt a bite at his neck. “Wah!” He shot up, running for his life. The pokemon dashed after him, unseen. He could feel it on his heels, snapping at his ankles and tearing the bottom of his pants. “Ghastleon! SERAGHH ENAU FAUHHH!” A terribly forceful and angry female voice suddenly rang through the field, as if the sky had yelled at them. Barry stopped in his tracks, wincing. The voice sounded familiar. Suddenly, Ghastleon reappeared in front of him, a yard away, crouching and glaring at him through its large, dark eyes, its purple flowing paper thin cloths blowing back in the breeze. It snarled and suddenly leaped at him, landing on his chest and making him tumble backwards, bumping into a figure behind him. The person behind him gave out a snappy yell and pushed him forwards with cold hands. Barry grunted and fell to the ground on his chin again, but the pokemon that had leaped onto him had disappeared again before he hit the ground. He suddenly felt the pokemon appear on his back, hissing menacingly. “Achh! You mangy little gag!” Yelled the female voice, sounding from the person behind him rather than from the sky all around. Barry suddenly gasped and raised his eyes with a sudden surge of hope. “Prima Dona?” “Ghastleon! Get your ass off him right now before I slash your head off!” Screamed the lady. It was Prima Dona. The pokemon on Barry’s back crouched and snarled at Prima Dona, then leaped off, slinking away around Prima Dona’s feet with its body low to the ground. Prima Dona narrowed her angry glittering eyes and poked at Barry with a long, sharp stick. “Hey, get up, FOOL! I haven’t found you out here for nothing!” Barry got up and turned to meet Prima Dona’s gaze with a confused look. His spirits suddenly felt giddy and bewildered to see the dangerously beautiful lady again, and he brushed himself, feeling embarrassed to be in a state like this in front of her. His face must look dirty and terribly scratched, and his shirt was badly torn and showed his wounds underneath. He met Prima Dona’s icy gaze…..which was a silver gray look of anger and irritation this time. “P-Prima Dona! I- I uh…..why are--” “Hah! I suppose when I was told I would receive a little gift, I didn’t know it would really be YOU!” Her expression suddenly lightened up and she gave her Ghastleon a kick from behind. Ghastleon yelped and rolled around, snarling. Its flowing cloths thrashed around with it. “Oh, quit it, Ghasleon!” Prima Dona rolled her eyes. “You should be thankful! This is Barry, our first acquaintance from the earth world, remember?” Barry raised his eyebrows at the snarling creature. Ghastleon’s strings and paper thin cloths bristled behind it as it stared up at him with a glare. “I really don’t remember seeing a pokemon like THAT.” Prima Dona chuckled and gave a sly smile. “Oh, of course, Ghastleon’s always really shy to make itself seen around other beings. But might I remind you, it WAS with us in that first battle when my Seviper attacked your little friend back in Rendridge Town.” “Stalker, huh?” Barry couldn’t keep his eyes from staring right at Prima Dona. She was stunningly entrancing. “Ugh, he’s my little stalker alright. It’s been that way ever since it evolved from Eevee.” So it was related to Eevee. A ghost type evolution, obviously. Prima Dona lashed out her long stick-like spear. “So! I see you’ve been traveling along with your kind, huh? Following Chibo?” Barry blinked. “Um…yeah. why? Have I done anything wrong? Is that why you’ve sent me here?” “Nonsense! I had no idea you were sent to me! You see, I was on my way to the mountain of Phandolia myself, and a messenger from my beloved Ultramaur told me that it would fetch a little gift for me to take along to the mountain with me.” “You mean the devil Chibo?” Prima Dona’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about? I said messenger of Ultramaur, not devil Chibo.” “Same thing,” Barry thought silently. Any messenger of Ultramaur would be considered a devil. “Well, Ultramaur’s Chibo promised me a surprise to take to the mountain. It would be for the benefit for helping Ultramaur when I get there. Apparently, it’s fetched YOU.” “What am I supposed to do? and what’s the mountain of Phandolia?” Prima Dona hissed. “Phandolia,” she said carefully, her gaze bearing into him, “is a phantom pokemon, the mystic legendary of the Spear Mountain, also known as the Mountain of Phandolia. It is known as the keeper of spirits-- good, angelic spirits that keep the world of Gaiyah in peace. Mushy stuff…..with that pokemon around, Ultramaur has been sealed away in the dark hole, guarded by Dalyah itself. Phandolia keeps balance all the good little things the beings here do, in honor for the angelic Dalyah.” Ghastleon sneezed and rasped an angry snarl, as if disgusted with Prima Dona’s words. “Is it….like the pokemon Dovanna?” Barry remembered a pokemon called Dovanna being mentioned as the missing being that the three messengers of Dalyah were searching for in the other dimensions. “Dovanna,” Prima Dona murmured, were gaze sharpening. “Dovanna is more like……a so-called bringer of love. Together, Phandolia and Dovanna bring love and peace to the planet, and help spirits find their way to be like Dalyah. But now that Dovanna’s missing, the love and passion in this world is more likely to be taken over with by hatred and jealousy. Ultramaur’s got a better advantage.” She let a smile creep at the side of her face. “It’s escaped its dark hole and defeated Dalyah, finding its way into the other dimensions to take over with its aura of dark matter. This planet’s already been affected, as you can see. Without Dovanna, Phandolia isnt strong enough, and Dalyah itself has gone missing as well. I, myself, am finding my way to Phandolia’s mountain, to seek the pokemon, defeat it.” Barry suddenly felt his mark on his forearm start to throb. He lay a hand on it. “Defeat…..Phandolia?” Prima Dona kept a wicked smile on her face. “Just like I defeated Dovanna. Sent it away to be living upon another dimension where no one but the messengers of Ultramaur knows of. This world needs Ultramaur to help serve my bidding. Without Ultramaur, I am weak. I will start to lose my natural powers….again.” Barry suddenly felt his heart lift. He didn’t want Prima Dona to go weak and slowly ebb away. she was made of darkness…….found her way into the body of a beautiful human being summoned from ice. Deep down, he knew how deadly she was, and what she was doing can mean a whole lot to the world. But……he couldn’t resist the temptation of her piercing……blue eyes (they changed color again)…..and the beauty of her thin, pale face. Barry didn’t notice how lost he had become, gazing up at her with a blank, unblinking expression. He felt a cold smack on his face. “Hey! snap out of it!” She snapped. “What are you staring at?” Barry blinked and snapped into focus. “What?” He turned bright red. “Nothing! Just……I saw something….” Prima Dona chuckled. “Don’t give me that garbage, you know I can read you like a psychic.” Suddenly, a red glow appeared from behind her head, and a red pokemon hovered above her head. Barry held his gasp. The pokemon was small and football-shaped, except this one was red with ear dents sticking up at the corners of its head. “Chiba!” Said Barry, but then his spirits instantly fell. This one had small horns at the corner of its head also, just like the devil Chibo. Its stringy tail had a red triangle shape at the end, and from the way it was smirking and grimacing in that cute but devilish smile, it was no other than devil Chiba, another messenger of Ultramaur. “Was this what you were noticing?” Said Prima Dona sarcastically, raising her eyebrows and letting the pokemon settle on one hand. “This is Chiba, he Chiba messenger of Ultramaur. Before I go on to Phandolia’s mountain, this little beast will help me find that little pet of your unearthly friend.” Barry raised his eyebrows, looking at the red glowing pokemon with intent. “It knows where Chibu is,” said Prima Dona evilly. “It can help us retrieve it. Remember how I told you my goal is to capture all three messengers of that wretched Dalyah? Well, I’ve already captured one…” “You captured Chiba already?” Barry gasped. “A long time ago,” said Prima Dona slyly. “It’s long gone into the dark hole now. two more to go. One is already headed towards Phandolia’s mountain with those bratty earth beings following it. another…..is in a place oh so close to the dark hole, just not….entirely there. It’s still trapped in the portal gap that was supposed to take it to wherever it took you when you first got separated from me. If I can only summon that portal again, it would take so long to find it. but that’s why we’ve got little devil Chiba here.” Prima Dona gave the little red pokemon a pet and its naughty looking smile narrowed into an even eviler smile. Barry couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He found himself both scared that he was with someone who was probably the most terrible person on this planet, yet at the same time, he was lost in her beauty. He didn’t know what to think or feel. Barry let out a quick gasp as Prima Dona grabbed his forearm, wrapping her cold hand around the exact spot where she had marked the wound before. The clouds above thundered and the tall trees started to sway. Barry couldn’t imagine what it would look like if those hundred feet tall trees fell over. Prima Dona pulled Barry closer up to her, and bent over to smile at him face to face. “Ready, sweetie?” Prima Dona let Chiba hover off her other hand, and the little pokemon raised its tiny arms. “Chiiiii!” red light blasted from the pokemon, and Barry and Prima Dona dissolved into the red mass. 20. THE SPIRIT OF THE WITCH Lucas ran through the night, his fast Infernape speed blazing in the darkness at lightning speed. tears streamed down his fiery face, and he thought he could just wash himself away crying. He couldn’t be a pokemon….it was impossible, even here in the fifth dimension! Or could he….? The pokemon here were meant to be confined to this planet of Gaiyah, in which they were born from. What had happened to him? why was he a POKEMON?!” The desert was eerie and lonely, but Lucas knew he had to head north to where the warriors were headed, along where his friends were following the blue light of Chibo. A blue light flashed in the sky. this time it seemed a little closer. Lucas stopped in his tracks and gazed up at the starry night with sadness. He would do anything to get out of this stupid body of a pokemon—he wanted to be himself again. How would he ever speak to Dawn the same way? how would he explain himself when he returned to his own world—if he ever got to return? “This must be my stupid curse,” he growled to himself. “I guess it’s pretty obvious that I AM what one of the three beings of earth to come here and be touched by this STUPID element of fire! And this is how I’m supposed to be cursed! HOW IS THIS SUPPOSED TO HELP ME SAVE THIS DUMB OLD PLANET?! IT’S NOT FAIR!” His yell echoed through the lonely emptiness of the desert, in the angry cry of an Infernape. Paul followed Dionza through the strange chambers of Auburn Leaf City. “Dionza? We’re the only ones here. If no one’s wanted to come here, then we really are wasting our time trying to find anything,” Paul muttered, not liking this strange place one bit. Dionza looked back and flashed her glowing eyes at him. her red eyes were like a cat’s, able to see through the dark. She was holding his hand to help guide him. “Well, that doesn’t matter. I wanted to see a couple of old friends at the harbor of this place. Trust me, you’ll get to like these people, and they can be really good for our league of Solar grunts, now that Prima Dona’s not looking after us to keep us strong and moving.” Paul narrowed his eyes. He had never liked anyone in person. He had only valued their purpose on creating powerful pokemon. “Well, apparently, Prima Dona’s gone off with my own pokemon. It’s not fair that I have to fend for myself alone now. I don’t even have dark powers like you guys.” Dionza chuckled and stopped walking. Paul felt her gaze bear into him, standing in front of him with intent in her gleaming eyes. “You have me,” she said smoothly. “And I’m strong enough to fend for TWO people at the same time. Now come on! These old friends of mine have finally returned….it’s been so long since I’ve seen them.” “Oh really? Where have they been?” “Out at sea,” replied Dionza, climbing up a ladder towards the manhole at the top, with Paul carefully following along. “They’ve been sailing for almost two-hundred years now.” Paul winced, finding the whole idea of the human spirits on this planet still creepy to him. Dionza chuckled. “I’d like to meet any of the new inhabitants with them by now, and see how the old ones are doing.” Dionza and Paul climbed out of the stinky chambers of the sewer, closing the manhole behind them. Paul raised his eyebrows. Just across the street was a beach. The night sky glittered on the calm waves sparklingly. Paul followed Dionza onto the sand, gazing around him. the air was salty and warm, for they were still in the desert regions in the town of Auburn Leaf. Dionza stopped and huffed, turning to face him with a devious smile. “Nice beach, isnt it?” Paul blinked and met her gaze. “I guess…..it’s a little quiet here. I mean….I feel absolutely no life around this place.” Dionza chuckled. “Well, Auburn Leaf Town is not that quiet. It’s just not as busy as Caravel. This used to be my favorite beach, for it is where the mysterious pokemon, a Lucario, had lived in one of the caves nearby. The Lucario was said to have been a messenger from the stars, born from yet, another dimension, and had appeared from the waters, living in the sacred cave of the Star Lagoon.” Paul raised his eyebrows. “Interesting. What did it do?” “Oh, forget what it did,” said Dionza rolling her eyes and putting her hands on his shoulders. “This beach can be more than just a sacred place of Lucario. No one comes here because the Lucario is said to have scared away trespassers by summoning huge waves and shaking the ground. But! It won’t know MY presence since I have to real spirit from this planet, and neither do you.” Paul met her eyes. They were narrowed at him mischievously. He suddenly felt a strange surge of wonder and he smiled. “Well, then. I know what that means.” Dionza kept her playful, devious smile. “I sure hope you do.” Her gaze was dazed and hungry-looking, and Paul felt a tremor of anxiety and excitement. She smiled at him with sexy eyes, and she lay a gloved hand on his chest, right under his neck. Her purple hair flowed in the breeze, and Paul wanted nothing more than to just reach out and kiss her. she was stunning, almost like Prima Dona herself. Suddenly, a strange monstrous cry was heard in the distance and Dionza whipped around, facing the sea. “Lucario?” Gasped Paul. “No,” hissed Dionza. “That’s them. Captain Thron and his crew. See that awesome ship over there?” She turned to meet Paul’s gaze with a new look of mischief in her smile. Paul narrowed his eyes out towards the sea as he spotted a large ship with a dark veil with a face Houndoom that had an extra skull over its face. “They’re…..pirates?” He muttered in disgust. “Oh yes,” said Dionza sexily, gazing out at sea with intent in her eyes. “They’re a crew of studs with the most interesting pokemon you’ll ever find. They’ll love to meet someone like you.” Lucas finally found himself in the middle of a dark forest. The trees smelled of apples and cinnamon, his favorite smell that would always lighten his spirits up whenever he was in any kind of bad mood back at home. But not this time. The smell was like nothing to him, but burnt smoke and the fire that burned over his body. He slowly walked through the forest, out of breath and feeling downhearted, not caring where he went or ended up. he bitterly thought up all the things he could be missing now that he wasn’t with Kaira, Dawn, Delaine, Seth, and the warriors that followed them. Suddenly, a blue light flashed through the trees, and Lucas stopped to look up. A small shape suddenly appeared on the lowest branch, and it was none other than Chibo, staring down at him with cute, button eyes. Lucas gasped. Finally he met the little pokemon face to face again. it seemed like so long since they had just been chasing after its blue trail of light. “Lucas….” The pokemon spoke to him with a small, cute voice. Lucas gazed up in awe. At first he thought the pokemon spoke to him through his mind telepathically, like Chibu did with Kaira. But then he flinched as he realized it was talking straight at him vocally. “You can speak to me?” He said meekly. Chibo blinked and shifted on its branch. Unlike Chibu, this messenger looked shy and alert, its little eyes staring down at him with both cuteness and seriousness. Blue light glowed around it and made it clearly visible. “Of course I can speak to you,” it replied. Lucas could see its mouth moving as it spoke. “I am pokemon, just like you. We can communicate with each other pretty well. And since I’m a messenger of the angelic pokemon, I can talk to pokemon of ALL types. I’ve come here to let you know how close you are to your friends.” Lucas raised his eyebrows, and then narrowed them downheartedly again. “Eh, what’s the point? How am I going to tell them who I am? And even if they do know it’s me, what good can they do?” Chibo blinked slowly then spoke. “You have been touched by the element of fire. Remember—there is both a curse AND a blessing to it.” It suddenly gave a smile, and its face betrayed a sweet, innocent look that almost lifted up Lucas’s spirits a little. “Find out the goodness in you, Lucas. Use your ability of fire to help you through your journey, and then you can find out what your purpose shall be to help this world. The time won’t be long, Lucas. We really do need help as soon as we can.” “But what can I do?” “You’ve got the ability to see through portals in the heat of your fire. You have the sight and strength of fire, but that’s all I can tell you. I don’t even know much myself, I’m just waiting for the time to come.” “Firesight?” Chibo closed its eyes and opened them again. “Yep. You are in the forest of Auburn Leaf. Your friends are in town not too far from here. use your firesight to find them, and help them believe who you are. Try it on me. Try to peek into the light of fire and see what your friends are up to.” Lucas took a step back. “I can really do that? is that what fire-sight can really do? I can actually see into the minds of my friends?” “Somewhat. You can use fire as a vision to another dimension, or another place.” Chibo let out a giggle. “But be careful, remember also: when you’re peering at another person, there must be fire present. If someone is in the living room of a house and you use your fire-sight to see them, your fire shall appear at the base of their chimney, where a fire would burn and your eyes could watch through that fire, unseen by anyone else. Blow fire at me. I won’t be hurt.” Chibo hovered above the branch and spread its short, tiny arms out, ready for Lucas’s attack. Lucas took a deep breath. Thoughts of Dawn flashed through his mind. He closed his eyes and focused on his childhood friend. He loved her deeply, and he missed her with an ache that not even the warmth of his fiery heart could heal. He wanted to know where she was. He held his breath for ten seconds, his mind focused on the memoires he had shared with her, from playing with little pokemon as kids, to running through the flowery fields with Barry and rolling with their own pokemon as they grew older. He let out a strong blow of flames, and as the fire surrounded Chibo, the pokemon suddenly glowed with intensifying blue light around its body, and Lucas jumped back, startled if he had hurt the little pokemon. But the pokemon wasn’t hurt. Chibo had its eyes closed, and the blue light mixed dazzlingly with the flames that danced around it. chibo opened its eyes. “Now,” it whispered, though loud enough for Lucas to hear. “Look into the flames.” Lucas took a step forward as the light of fire grew bigger and expanded, catching the entire tree on fire. A wall of flames had formed between another tree and the one Chibo hovered by. Lucas stared into the flames, and then found his vision enhanced with the fire, as if being taken to another place. Though his body remained at the same place, standing and unmoving, his eyes were so dazed into the flames that his mind took him through the fire and he found himself traveling through a strange world of heat and fire, until he suddenly found himself in the middle of the same, dark, lonely forest. For a moment, he thought it hadn’t worked, and he was just gazing at the same place he was already in. but then he sniffed the air. It smelled of a different smoke, and a familiar scent wafted through the forest. "Dawn?" He thought. He suddenly realized he was a small flame of fire burning at the top of a tree, and his eyes watched through the flames into another part of the forest. He saw a figure of a human pass by along a path in the forest. As a flame, he spread further after her, keeping the same size of flames that drifted through the woods. His eyes stuck on the figure. Suddenly, when the trees slightly cleared and the moonlight shone on the human, he realized it wasnt Dawn-- but the thin figure of Kaira. Lucas was slightly disappointed...he had been sure this person was Dawn, for he had tried to imagine where SHE was at the moment. Oh well, he thought. At least he found someone. But what was Kaira doing out here all alone? He wasnt too curious, he knew if anyone would be out on a random dark night, all alone in the most quiet places, it would be Kaira. He watched as Kaira suddenly stopped in her tracks to gaze at him, her eyes meeting his. Lucas's heart pounded from the other side of the forest where he really stood, but he knew Kaira could not see him. To her, he was nothing but a small amount of flames, his eyes invisible and watching her. Kaira narrowed her eyes and took a step forward. Lucas raised his eyes, which he thought were supposed to be unseen in the flames. Was she seeing him?To his surprise, Kaira slightly bent over and reached out a hand towards him, towards the flames. Lucas almost wanted to explode into nothingness and disappear, and stop watching her. But before she could touch him, a yell was suddenly heard behind her. Kaira gasped and whipped around. A tall dark figure suddenly approached her. He was dressed in a black suit, but unlike Team Solar, he had no sparkling pattern on his chest, and no mask over his face. "Braunn....." she murmured in surprise. The dark warrior crossed his arms. "So.....I see you're an earth being. You and your little so-called 'foreigners from the east?'"Lucas widened his eyes. He recognized this guy from when he first met Malidorius at the dinner table. This was his strange, cunning younger brother that was like his second in command in the kingdom. And he knew their secret......Kaira stiffened and clenched her fists. "How do you know?" Her voice was a mere whisper. Braunn smiled and took a few steps up to her. "My dear, you think when a being of this planet falls in love with anyone, they're minds are more attached and watchful over every single detail of the one they admire?"Kaira's gaze remained calm and dazed, but Lucas could sense she felt just as shocked as him. The small flames behind Lucas burned with more content. When Kaira said nothing, Braun suddenly grabbed her shoulders in his strong hands, and looked into her eyes with intent. Lucas almost wanted to expand his fire and take her away from this creepy man. Delaine and Seth told how they had always disliked him and had even made up rumors that one day, he would overthrow Malidorius and take over the kingdom. And he had Kaira in his hands. Braunn chuckled slyly. "My dear, you do NOT know how to smile, dont you? Oh well, all the same, you're still......stunningly beautiful in your own strange way. I've seen the way the spirits treat you. I've spied on your little conversations when you think the king or everyone else can't hear. You, Barry, Dawn, and Lucas are ALL from earth, arent you? Hehe, well, I dont see why you should keep this a secret. The king will be delighted to know about it."He let her go and gave her a wink before disappearing into the trees. Kaira stood there, standing frozen and barefoot in her lavender nightgown, her hair blowing in the wind. Lucas couldnt believe it. He focused on Kaira as she slowly made her way off the path and back in the trees. Oh great, Lucas thought. More trees. He hoped he wouldnt spread. He struggled to follow after Kaira, his heart pounding. He couldnt find her. Finally, he found his way to a clearer spaced area, just behind a tall boulder next to a cliff. He gasped and saw Braunn pass by. Suddenly, a shadow emerged from the trees. Braunn turned. "Oh, hey! You again, huh?"Lucas couldnt see who it was, and he couldnt make himself bigger at the moment.Braun laughed. "My dear, come on! I know your secret. What are you going to do about it?"Kaira, Lucas thought. He could make out her thin figure shadowing the wall in front of Braunn's shadow. Suddenly, he saw the shadow raise its arms, and strange long claws grew out of the handsLucas choked a gasp and nearly blew out his flames. Braunn' shadow backed away. "W-what is the meaning of this?" He slightly chuckled. A blast of light suddenly erupted around the shadow, and Braunn's shadow fell over. Braunn let out a painful scream, but suddenly the shadow leaped at him, muffling his scream and arms raised up, a source of strange magicks flowing out. Lucas felt sick. Instantly, his fire blew out and Lucas found himself standing in the same part of the forest he had started, in front of the tree with Chibo hovering nearby. He stood there, shocked and unbreathing. It couldnt be. He must've been mistakened. Kaira could NOT be a witch. 21. BIRTH OF THE PLANET GAIYAH Kaira stepped through the strange fronds with a careful look on her face. The plants that grew in this forest seemed so stiff and fake. She looked around herself. The forest was dark and quiet, but no one was following. But she still felt like someone was watching her. It was pass midnight, and everyone was asleep by the gym leader’s yard, and she held her arms around herself, chilly in her thin lavender nightgown. Then she huffed. “Of course someone would be watching me,” she thought silently. There were spirits in this world, spirits that would thrive and awaken in the atmosphere of the planet, and they could be anywhere—whether they were seen or unseen. Delaine and Seth had taught her of the spirits of nature already, and how that there were spirits everywhere on the planet of Gaiyah, spirits that communicated with them in any way, such as by dreams telepathically, by showing signs in the air, or anything. Kaira thought it all very strange…..but she wasn’t surprised. This whole world was becoming so familiar each day, that it was driving her crazy. It made her want to find out more about herself. And so far, the closest way besides just continuously following that stupid blue light of Chibo, she could see that so-called gypsy lady, Talia, that Seth and Delaine had mentioned. It didn’t matter if her house had been broken down, and that it was absolutely not the right time to see her. she had to find out what she can, whether this lady was in a bad mood or not. She crept around the crowded trees, and saw a strange clearing just a few feet below, where there seemed to be piles of broken planks and logs that have once supported a house. Smoke was rising from one of the logs, revealing a strange, candle-burnt smell that wafted through the air. This must be Talia’s house. “Before I go any further…..” Kaira’s thoughts ran through her head, trying to speak to Chibu. “….is there anything I’m doing wrong? Is there any reason why I SHOULDN’T be here?” For a moment, she couldn’t hear anything, but a faint voice that seemed to try to be speaking to her. her heart suddenly beat faster. Chibu’s cry sounded distant—and in trouble. She thought she heard a yell in her head, telling her to turn back around, but she couldn’t quite understand. “Kaira!” Yelled a voice in the woods. Kaira flinched, startled, whipping around and her eyes widened through the darkness of the woods. The trees seemed to move, though with more force than what the breeze had blown over them. it was as if the forest around her was coming to life……and the dark spirits were coming to her. Suddenly, a human figure stepped out of the bushes. “Kaira? Is that you?” Kaira nearly fainted with relief. “Dawn!” She breathed. "Kaira! Are you crazy?! What in the world are you doing all the way out here? It's late at night!" Dawn stepped into the moonlight and Kaira could see the look of shock on her face.Kaira's gaze faltered and calmed down. She turned away. "None of your business. I'm just here to find out what I'm supposed to."Dawn gasped. "This is the gyspy's place.....isnt it?" She looked around the eerie forest. "Kaira, Delaine and Seth warned us not to go here." Her tone was powered and serious. Kaira kept her gaze focused on the ruins below. "Doesnt matter....she can help us. She can tell us what's behind each of us....we can find out who's who with the four elements....besides Lucas, who's already found his way into fire."Dawn approached her side and peered down the ledge, just a few feet above the destroyed place. "Kaira, if they told us not to go to her, there must be a good reason. Delaine wouldnt just suddenly tell us not to speak to the person who may hold the answers to most of our problems-- if there isnt a good reason to. we really should get back to the gym...this place is creepy."Kaira took a step forward. "I must speak to Talia," her voice was cold. "I feel....drawn to this place. I might've been here before..."Dawn followed her with a concerned look on her face. "Well....I hope you know what you're doing."Kaira glanced around at the ruins below, slowly taking steps towards the deserted, empty area. Dawn followed after her with a concerned look on her face. Kaira saw that there was still a trace of what looked like a cabin house, though the front door had been torn off its hinges and the rest of the front looked damaged like something tried crashing the entire front part. Kaira found her self walking right through the doorway. “Wait!” Dawn hissed, hurrying up to her. “We don’t know if--” Both Kaira and Dawn gasped as suddenly, a flash of bright light flickered in the room they had just stepped into, and then turned on automatically, lighting the room all around them. Kaira held her breath as she gazed around the place. It seemed pretty homely and nicely taken care of, and it showed no signs of anyone breaking in. “Hmm,” murmured Dawn. “I bet whatever happened to Talia must’ve been from magic or something. Really see no signs of anyone physically destroying this place.” “That could be even worse, then….” Said Kaira calmly, gazing around the place. It seemed like a living room, and to the left was a huge shelf of dusty books. She also spotted a fireplace straight ahead in front of them. she let out a gasp. The fireplace….was burning. “That’s where the smoke was coming from,” said Dawn, her voice shocked. “Hey! what do you think you’re doing?” Kaira was already making her way forwards, walking right up to the fire. For some reason, she felt as if it were calling her, trying to bring her closer to the beauty of dazzling flames and burning heat. Dawn caught up to her side. “Hey…” Suddenly she let out a gasp, and Kaira turned to see that something was glowing in her pocket. Kaira’s eyes widened at the glow. “Oh my gosh……you still have that egg…” she breathed. “Oh! Yes! Of course…..i’ve kept my jacket over all my outfits so that I can keep this egg with me! Everyday it seems so close to hatching, yet it hasn’t even hatched yet!” Dawn looked shocked and distressed. “Ugh! I just wanna know what it is!” “Give it to me,” said Kaira deviously, suddenly feeling that strange sense of dread and selfishness take over her, the same feelings she had felt before they had entered Caravel City. She reached out a hand to grab the strange egg. Dawn backed away. “No! what do YOU want with it? You don’t even know anything about it!” Suddenly, the fire behind them blasted a tall eruption of flames bursting through the chimney, making Kaira spin around to face it with awe. The fire was burning intensely, and suddenly, Kaira caught a glimpse of what she thought might’ve been two gleaming eyes, narrowed into slits, staring straight at her. Voices ran through her head—voices of her family, her mother, and voices of evil. She saw the two gleaming eyes glare back at her in the heart of the fire, but even though they never changed, she still saw that it was becoming like a morphing illusion, becoming different sets of eyes for different people. she suddenly felt the spirit of the planet talking to her. “Beware…..” the voice sounded ghostly and repulsive. The flames danced with more intensifying heat, and Kaira thought that the heat was just going to swallow her up. “Beware…….you are not supposed to be in here……” Kaira took a step back. “Dawn…” She gasped. “Do you…” She wondered if Dawn could see the eyes just like she could. But suddenly, there came what sounded like a choking scream from behind, and Kaira slowly turned to see that Dawn was being held by the neck and paralyzed with fear, choked by two twiggy arms. Kaira widened her eyes with fear. What had Dawn grasped by the neck was a long, ugly, demonic stick-like bug pokemon. Its body was a head taller than Dawn, and extended about seven feet behind it, resembling a literal stick bug. Its front arms stuck around Dawn’s neck, holding her to its stick-like chest, and its four back legs stood like upside-down V-shaped twigs. Its face was horrible, the creepiest face Kaira had ever seen on a pokemon. Its two beady eyes were probably as big as a human head, and revealed what seemed like zillions of tiny shapes upon the eyes, just like a fly’s. its mouth was just a mere curvy hook between the bottoms of its eyes, the ends sharp as scissors. Two long antennas stuck out from behind the eyes, the ends stained with what looked like blood. Kaira would’ve fainted with fear. Bug and snake pokemon were her most hated creatures, but suddenly, the bug gave her a flashy glare, and jerked Dawn’s paralyzed body back towards itself, making the glowing, trembling egg in her pocket fall out. Kaira suddenly had her gaze fixed on the strange egg, and her eyes followed it as it rolled up to her ankles. She slowly kneeled down and picked up the egg in her arms. The egg was crackling and bursting with bright light around it. it was finally ready to hatch. Instantly, the stick-bug gave an eerie, terrible shriek of anger, the worse cry Kaira had ever heard. The pokemon threw Dawn aside to the floor, and leaped towards Kaira with fury. Kaira barely saw the stick figured pokemon coming towards her, but she screamed with terror before the pokemon even landed on top of her head, pinning her down to the floor upon her side. Kaira felt paralyzed with fear, and she let the egg fall from her arms, and it rolled in front of her wide-eyed face, glowing brightly. Kaira felt the pokemon’s stick arms pin her head sideways to the floor, and as her ear pressed against the cold floorboards, she almost heard what sounded like a heartbeat from the fireplace behind her. She suddenly felt the bug’s rasping breath come closer to ear, and gasped a startled breath of air as she felt a sharp stab of the bug’s scissor like mouth pierce through her neck. The last thing she saw was the egg suddenly dissolve into the intensifying light, and the figure of a small bird-like pokemon form in the center. She heard the yowling scream from the bug atop her, and then she fell into a deep faint. In the beginning, there was darkness. Nothing but endless dark matter swirled through the space of nothingness, traveling through space through even more darkness. The universe wasn’t even the universe yet. Time upon time, stars began to form from the very matter themselves, small nebulas and star-born masses of space were created by the slowly changing and commingling forms of matter. The universe was barely beginning, and from everything that was being formed came through the matter of the space. The matter itself was controlled by even farther dimensions, formed by the creations of other inter-dimensional worlds, able to form the first few astronomical stars and planets due to the activity of the matter in other dimensions. Our own world in the milky way was barely forming at the same time, though our world was billions of light-years behind the dimension gap of this world. A pokemon called Gaiyah was born from the planet of earth within. Arceus was in charge of the birth of the planet of pokemon, and it had been a coincidence for Gaiyah to have been born. The earth had no pokemon yet, though nature was barely forming and beginning to take part upon the planet to give it environmental and natural purposes. Gaiyah had been born from the earth within, born from the nature and planetary matter of the newly forming earth. Its ability to summon the drastic changes of nature upon the earth—the blooming growth of life in the spring, the natural rapid ocean waves, the seasonal changes of the wind and wintry blizzards that pierce the planet, Gaiyah was in charge of everything, almost even more powerful than Arceus itself. Arceus could tell that this pokemon was going to be a great influence on its plant of pokemon. As signs of life began to form, and the first prehistoric pokemon walked the earth, Gaiyah supported the planet with all the environmental changes throughout the years, bringing in both the beauty and curses of mother nature. For different parts of the year, the planet would be blessed with the life of spring and reproduction of new pokemon every day, due to the powers of mother nature. But even though Gaiyah gave the earth the blessing of mother nature, there were also the worst curses of nature as well. Gaiyah formed large volcanoes by disturbing the core of the planet within, and brought harsh winter storms and heavy droughts here and there. Earthquakes destroyed many of the pokemon’s homes, as well as floods and storms of all kinds. Arceus knew this pokemon could do more bad than good. It feared for the safety of its planet. It sent Gaiyah to a faraway dimension where it could never come back. It passed through the gap towards the fifth, where the universe of dark matter and nothingness was just forming. Gaiyah entered that universe and since the place was just barely beginning, forming matters of life controlled by other dimensions far away, Gaiyah created another form of the earth in which it had come from. It created a planet very similar to earth, though much more complex and deep within spirit, for this planet was also born with the dark matter that pierced this dimension’s universe. The planet would be just like the other view of earth, controlled by Gaiyah’s own earthly powers to bring the goodness and worst of mother nature. Although earth was no longer in full control of Gaiyah, the earth would still continue to live through natural causes and whatever Gaiyah had left behind, such as stormy seasons and erupting volcanoes. The pokemon of the earth would have dreams, dreams of both longing and belief, and they would come true here in Gaiyah’s new dimension. As people were brought to earth, they believed they had come from the planet within. The first natives believed the pokemon around them were connected to them in some way, and whether the belief was true or not, it came true in the fifth dimension. People in Gaiyah’s fifth dimension were born from the planet within, and because of the bond people and pokemon shared on earth, the bond between people and pokemon in the fifth dimension were even stronger. But even though there were those who grew to love pokemon, there were those who would take advantage of their powerful skill and uncontrollable abilities to fight. There were those who would abuse pokemon and use them as tools, forgetting the whole idea of befriending a pokemon. This was what caused the disturbance in the fifth dimension. Pokemon of the fifth were confined to treachery by some of the planet-born people, and as a punishment, Gaiyah made it so that the humans would never come back to earth again. they may be born from it, but they may not go back to it when they die. Instead, their bodies will disintegrate up into the space of dark matter, to be sucked in the dark hole. Kaira felt the memory of her world coming back to her. She couldn’t see herself, though her eyes portrayed the vast mountainous lands and biomes of the planet of Gaiyah, in her own fifth dimensional world. This wasthe world of spirits, the world where dreams came to life. A dream of belief from another dimension would come to life here, portraying itself in its own way, if that dream or belief were strong enough. It didn’t matter if those dreams were good, or those dreams were bad. After Gaiyah had been split, Dalyah created two pokemon to make sure that the world was kept in balance, so that the evil of the other dimensions wouldn’t come to life and destroy Gaiyah’s creation here. the Pokemon Phandolia, stallion of the lone mountains, a unicorn-like pokemon with a mane as silver as the shining stars, was created by the goodness of hope and true hearts. The dreams of hope and loyalty created an aura of matter in the fifth, forming the pokemon Phandolia, who would keep everlasting peace and harmony in this world balance. Along with the bringer of peace, there was also love. With peace and good spirits, there also came love from the other dimensions, and with the auras of love, the pokemon Dovanna was created. Kaira suddenly felt her heart lift…..feeling a strange feeling she had never seen before……feeling the strange, happy feeling….of love. This was what it was like to love. This was what it was like to be happy again. it had been so long and Kaira couldn’t recall a single memory of when she had last felt this way. The sight of Phandolia and Dovanna, the bringers of peace and love, brought a strange new feeling surge through Kaira, and she felt like she can never feel sadness again. Then the other side of Gaiyah found its way. even though it had been blocked by Dalyah and trapped in the form of the dark hole of nothingness, it had managed to escape. Ultramaur created a spirit out of dark matter itself, learning to create its own little being brought to life by the dark matter of nothingness, as well as the brightness of the stars and brought to become a live spirit by the darkness of Ultramaur’s own heart. An evil spirit was created. The spirit was able to find its way around Dalyah. It escaped the dark hole, to seek a way to help its dark creator find its way out as well. The spirit formed its own human-life form, so that it could travel the planet in disguise. Kaira’s heart thudded. The spirit landed on the verges of an icy, barren wasteland of the planet Gaiyah, and formed the body of Prima Dona through the sorcery of summoned ice, creating the body of the ice lady, and becoming its spirit. The spirit and the body were officially brought to life, in the form of Prima Dona. The evil sorceress found a way to free Ultramaur from the dark hole, to battle Dalyah and defeat it, making its way to the planet of Gaiyah within. Dalyah was gone, and no one ever knew what happened to it. It’s messengers, Chibu, Chiba, and Chibo were the only ones left of it. Without Dalyah, the goodness of nature wouldn’t be protected, and Ultramaur could allow the dreams of ambition and beliefs of evil enter the dimension. It created its own messengers, the three devil forms of Chibu, Chiba, and Chibo. Kaira felt a surge of dread for the world she had been born in. Prima Dona was still around, and she was there to support the biddings of Ultramaur. She banished Dovanna. She destroyed its ability to love. The pokemon felt no more true feeling of love, and became heartbroken. Kaira’s heart quickened, feeling torn apart. Without the pokemon’s love, there would be no control of the emotions of love. Kaira already felt her own ability to love wash away, and she felt the pokemon’s sudden grief and hopelessness. The pokemon Dovanna disappeared, sent away to another dimension Prima Dona had whipped it to. Without the love of Dovanna, Phandolia wasn’t powerful enough. Peace couldn’t do as much against evil without the power of love. The pokemon at least managed to keep away from Prima Dona by hiding with its ability to become invisible, though even though it tried hard to maintain the goodness of peace in the world, the dark spirits and Ultramaur were taking over. Phandolia was hopeless, and Prima Dona was getting stronger. Kaira felt a groan in her chest. She felt utterly broken now that the love in her planet had been destroyed. She was easy prey for Prima Dona. The evil sorceress sent her away from the planet to the dimension of earth, through the gap of space between the worlds. Kaira could never find her way back into her world again, and her memory had been wiped clean….almost. “Kaira…..” spoke a voice in her head. It was Chibu. Kaira felt herself flowing through endless space of time and matter, but she couldn’t open her eyes. And though they were closed, she could see into, yet, another world of darkness and forming matter, almost like another dimension. “Kaira……” “Chibu…” breathed Kaira. “You’ve helped me come back…..you’ve taken me back here to my own world…..I…..thanks, Chibu.” If only she could still feel the need to love. If only she hadn’t become so scared of pokemon. She would’ve loved Chibu more than she could ever love before. Chibu chuckled in its small voice. “You still havent found out who you are, though. What caused Prima Dona to be able to send you to the world of the first? What was it that made the love of Dovanna….disappear? And what will be the result of the three beings of earth?” “Well…..I know that the three beings are to help restore the balance of this world—to combine with the elements of darkness, light, and fire. Somehow, they must use those elements to help rebalance this world again. Lucas has already been touched by fire….we’ll see what will come of him.” Kaira imagined the whole cycle again. she recalled how her planet had been created, and how Gaiyah must be combined again to restore the balance of the planet—and the dimension. Somehow, the three beings of earth were to prepare for this to happen. Because they were from Gaiyah’s natural born dimension, and that the dreams and matters that happened there affected what happened in the fifth dimension, the chosen three must come and combine with the elements of light, darkness, and fire of the fifth dimension, and somehow control the matters of the fifth to combine Gaiyah again. somehow, the elements here would help them. And Kaira herself was to be the main part of it. from the feelings she felt when she watched the formation of the planet and the formation of some of the most important pokemon, she felt that she was somehow connected with Dovanna, and that she had to find that pokemon in order for the restoration of Dalyah. With the three earth-beings bonded to the elements of fire, darkness, and light, they will find a way to combine Dalyah and Ultramaur together, with the element of light on Dalyah’s side and the element of darkness on Ultramaur’s side. The fire would be the summoning element to bring them together and become one. But they must first bond with the element, and by bonding, there would both be the blessing of it—which would be the ability to bring back the pokemon Gaiyah—and also the curse of it—which would be one they would find out for themselves. Kaira shuddered at the thought of ice. that was one element that would just simply get rid of the “unwanted” earth being that wandered somewhere on this planet. But Kaira suddenly felt a new sense of energy flow through her veins. In order for the elements to even take place in Dalyah and Ultramaur, Dovanna must be found first. And somehow, Kaira herself was connected to the pokemon, and she herself must find it. “The spirits have spoken to you, Kaira,” said Chibu intently. “It has been my job to try and find Dovanna, for me and my messengers to break through the space gap and search for it.” Kaira suddenly pictured images of Prima Dona. “The other two messengers…..Prima Dona wants them destroyed. She…..she has blocked Chibo’s ability to break through the space gap, and she’s trying to get rid of you. What…..what happened to the third one? What about Chiba?” “No worries…..Chiba is still out there somewhere…..seeking Dovanna in the other dimensions. But yes….Prima Dona does want to destroy. I’ve brought you here, Kaira, so that you can understand what you must do. if you are to find Dovanna, you must find a way to break through the space gap that separates the dimensions. You must follow Chibo, and let that pokemon take you through the gap…..after it finds a way to repower its ability. And Kaira……you still have lots more to learn about yourself…” Kaira knew Chibu was right. She still felt broken, and now she knew why. Prima Dona had washed away the love of Dovanna, and somehow, Kaira had her own love washed away. Prima Dona was the whole reason why she was on earth, without a trace of memory to tell her why. Prima Dona was the reason why she always felt so tense and downhearted around other people, and the pokemon in her life. She recalled her first moments of moving into Twinleaf. Thoughts of when she had first met Barry flowed through her mind. He was so welcoming to her….so friendly and sweet……she really never experienced being treated that way in her life, even though she couldn’t recall a thing past the day she had moved into Twinleaf. Although she had always known her strange, unsocial personality and fear of pokemon, she could never really remember pass the day she and her father were moving to Twinleaf. She only remembered the day as a few months ago, but shockingly, she couldn’t remember anything pass those memories of when she had first moved in. She did recall that she had come from Johto……but those memories were vague, and she couldn’t think of a single moment she had spent in Johto. She had only been told of the things her father had told her when they were on their way to Twinleaf. But those memories were just mere illusions formed in her head….her real memory really had been erased, and now that she thought about it, she really couldn’t remember a thing passed the day she and her father were sitting alone in the moving van, on their way to Twinleaf. It was like having someone tell you what you had done when you were a baby, but you couldnt really remember it for real, you're only TOLD about it. Thats just what it's like for Kaira, she was only told of her past in johto. She suddenly felt lightheaded and utterly dazed…..knowing that her father may have some secrets back in his own world as well. She started to wonder……what about…..her parents? Kaira’s dark vision suddenly whirred, and she suddenly opened her eyes in the room of the fire-smelling house. She was back in Talia’s living room, standing straight on her feet, holding something in her hands. She glanced down, and gave a startled cry of surprise. In her hands…..was a small, white bird, the pokemon, Dovanna. 22. CAPTURED Everything was black. Even blacker than it would’ve been if you had your eyes closed. Barry couldn’t see a thing. He couldn’t even feel his own presence there. Everything was utterly quiet. Dead silent. His body almost seemed to fade away and die off into the darkness of the silence. He couldn’t even find himself to speak or breathe. Was this what it was like? Was this what it was like to be trapped in the presence of the dark hole? This was even worse than death…… A blast of light suddenly shot through the blackness, and Barry suddenly found himself falling through space, where it was still dark black, but filled with the presence of matter that made the surroundings seem more alive. Barry yelled and suddenly fell into a pond of ice cold water. He had his eyes squeezed shut, and then flashed them open and thrashed under the water, his gaze following the direction of a nearby Gorebyss that swam pass him. Down below the water was nothing but black darkness. If he could think straight through the coldness of this freezing water, he would’ve that that his earlier state had taken place down there, in the place of nothingness. If he swam any deeper pass the murkiness, it would’ve made more sense to have come from there rather than above in the sky, where he seemed to have fallen from. Suddenly, two eyes seemed opened in the murky darkness. They were yellow, and glinting, narrowed as slits. The eyeballs were a distinctive…..purplish color on the left, and a bright red in the right. Barry suddenly felt his heart rise, and he felt the need to breathe for air. He suddenly thrashed again, struggling to swim the surface, which seemed to be rising higher and higher every time he got closer. As Barry glanced below, the two eyes suddenly shot up, revealing the monstrous face of the pokemon that contained them. Before Barry could even see what the pokemon was, he found himself being shot up around a mass of bubbling water, and a mighty roar pierced from underneath. A magnificent Lapras shot up from the ice-cold water, letting out a horrible cry of anger. Its mouth was wide open, and its eyes narrowed like daggers. Disastrous waves splashed all around at its sudden emerge. It was probably around the size of a regular Lapras and a half. Prima Dona stepped from the trees with her Ghastleon by hr feet, and her long ice dagger in her hand. She widened her eyes. “AGHH! LAPRAS, SPIT HIM OUT!” She screamed indignantly. Lapras suddenly turned its head to face down at its trainer, with raised eyes, and then narrowed them with irritation again. obediently, it haughtily spat out a shower of water towards Prima Dona, and Barry suddenly shot out from the throat, crashing into Ghastleon. He tumbled with the ghostly pokemon and hit a tree. “Ahh!” Barry sputtered in confusion. “Was I just barfed out?!” He shot up to his feet, his eyes wide with confusion. He felt grossly soaked, and he winced as he pulled out a rotten piece of a pink fragment in his hair. Prima Dona was lying on her side, soaked as well. She immediately shot up. “UGHH! YOU OBLIVIOUS FOOL!” Barry cracked a sideways smile. She looked pretty hot with her jet-black hair all wet and glossy. But apparently, Prima Dona wasn’t humored at all. She faced the monstrous Lapras with undisguised rage of cold eyes. Lapras suddenly looked scared and backed away, and Prima Dona rose her ice spear in the air, zapping the Lapras with an electric shock that sent it crying in pain and falling over to hit the shore behind its pond. As the Lapras lay motionless, Prima Dona huffed and banged her ice spear on the ground. “There! Teach YOU to mess with your trainer—” “Whoa!” Barry hurried up to her side. “That was amazing! Is that YOUR Lapras? The thing’s huge as a ten foot building!” Prima Dona whipped her gaze to face Barry with the same glinting rage in her eyes, and she whacked her left arm to smack his forehead with a powerful blow, and he fell to the ground, feeling lightheaded and seeing stars. Ghastleon shot over to his side, hissing at him with fury. “And YOU!” Prima Dona was still screaming. “Have you no respect for this world?! How DARE you disrupt the magic of the portal!” “Ugh, what are you talking about?” Groaned Barry, rising to his feet. He had a hand over his forehead, and he was wincing with pain. He hoped a bruise wouldn’t show now that he was stuck out here with this beautiful witch. Prima Dona huffed. She suddenly gave him a sweet smile and her icy blue eyes suddenly calmed, changing into a pretty green color. Once again, Barry was captured by her beautiful gaze. “Never mind then. You really don’t understand your purpose here….yet.” Barry looked into her eyes, slowly taking off his hand from his forehead. “W-what do you mean?” “Oh, my dear boy,” she lay a cold hand on his cheek, with a wicked smile. “You will find that you have more influence in this world than you know.” “Is it…..is it because I have strong dreams from earth? Have they been brought to life in this very dimension?” “Oh, of course….they already have,” her eyes suddenly narrowed. “They will be more important to this place than you know.” She whipped her hand off his cheek, and face her Lapras again. “Lapras! C’mon! we’re leaving now!” She pointed two fingers towards the lying pokemon, and zapped it until it disappeared. Barry watched with concern. “Where’d it go?” “Hah! Kinda hard to explain….but all my pokemon rest here in this very ice spear.” She hit the ground with her tall, stick-like weapon. “And this time we have a newcomer in here.” Barry suddenly widened his eyes. “You found….” “That’s right. Chibu! Come out here!” She banged the bottom of the tall spear to the ground, and a blast of light shot out from the top of the spear. A small oval shape of a bright yellow pokemon tumbled up into the sky. the light faded away, and revealed the hovering, shocked little pokemon, Chibu. Barry felt a rush of excitement and relief. “Chibu!” He almost jumped up towards it. “It’s really alive! Man, I thought you were lost forever, and Kaira could’ve just been having mere illusions in her head…” “Chiiii!” Chibu raised its tiny arms and thrashed in the air, trying to fly away. But a veil of light, yellow light still surrounded it, coming from the top of the spear and keeping it from escaping. Prima Dona huffed in annoyance, glaring at the little pokemon. “Oh, puh-lease! Cut it out! If you won’t cooperate, then I shall send you back into the portal of space, and make sure you find your way to the dark hole!” She gave her spear another bang at the floor and the pokemon stopped, and started trembling with fear. It gazed at Barry with scared eyes, as if to say, “help me.” Barry suddenly felt the mark on his forearm throb and he winced, giving it a narrowed glance. The mark seemed to have grown darker, instead of fading away. he longed to ask Prima Dona about its purpose, but she didn’t seem to be in the right mood to explain that to him right now. she faced him with a sideways smile, and spoke in a clear tone. “Now, Barry my dear,” Barry felt a surge of giddiness run through him as she called him “dear.” “We will be heading towards the Icorous Mountain, northwest of where Chibo is headed. Instead of meeting Phandolia, the mystic legendary of the northern Spear Mountain, we will be headed a little off to the left, to MY place where I was born from.” Barry suddenly felt his heart lift and he suddenly smiled in awe up at her. “I thought you were born from dark matter,” he said calmly. “Oh, yes of course I was born from dark matter! But! The ice glaciers of the Icorous Mountains was where my spirit formed the body of what I am now, so that I can travel along this world with a real figure of a living thing.” Barry nodded with intent. A very fine form she had created also. He admired her tall, thin figure and pale white skin with eyes beautiful and sharper than daggers. “Once I reach the very heart of my birthplace….” Prima Dona was gazing out over Barry, lost in thought. “…..I shall find Ultramaur waiting for me within the depths of where I was born. Together, Ultramaur and I can find all three of these messengers of Dalyah, and bring them towards us at the very depths of the Icorous Mountain. I must bring with me, at least ONE of the messengers with me to my birthplace, where I can find the darkness to trap its soul and shatter its goodness.” Chibu looked at Prima Dona and shuddered. “That will let Ultramuar know that I am there, and I am calling him. Together, with the darkened messenger of Dalyah, we could lure the other messengers here to join it…..somehow calling them over to the Icorous mountain, thinking one of heir own needs the rest of them there. We shall banish all three at once, and then the hope of finding Dalyah or Dovanna will be hopeless.” Barry stared up into Prima Dona’s beautiful eyes. He knew she was terrible, and that if she ever got to be more powerful than she already was, the world would suffer badly for it. But his forearm stung him, and he suddenly felt no need to feel frightened. He wanted to help her…..make her achieve her goals of becoming powerful. He didn’t want to see her weakened. Prima Dona put a cold hand over Barry’s shoulder. “With you by my side, you can help me. After we get rid of those horrid little messengers, there are still those dreaded earth beings out there. Your friends will know where to find you. you could also provide a little specimen to lure them towards the mountain, towards where I shall await them and send them to their deaths. We don’t want them fulfilling anything in the messengers’ place…..whatever the prophecy wants them to be up to. you would help me, wouldn’t you?” Barry turned and met Chibu’s gaze, the little pokemon shocked and scared, noticing the intrigued look in Barry’s eyes. It was waving its tiny arms at him, crying out warnings as if telling him not to fall for anything. But then Barry turned back to Prima Dona, and felt her eyes bearing into him, almost touching his heart. Her expression looked slightly weary and hopeful. “You know…” she murmured. “…..I’ve always wanted a little…..you know……partner by my side. Not just pokemon partners, even though they can do a great deal of help for me, it’s just not the same as a partner of my type, a partner I can share feelings and relations with.” Barry suddenly felt his heart pound with certainty. To be asked out by Prima Dona was like going out with the top high school queen B whom everyone respected! He suddenly felt the urge to stick with this lady, and impress her so that the time would come for her to fully accept him. “Oh yes….I mean…” he tried not to stutter. “I would love to help you.” Chibu gasped and cried. “Chiiiiiiii!” “Very well,” Prima Dona smiled with satisfaction. “On our way to the mountain, please do me a favor and keep an eye on this pokemon.” She banged her spear and Chibu shrieked. “It will have no chance to escape the light that keeps it close to my spear like a leash, but I’m not taking any chances. Sometimes I’ll have to use my spear.” “Um…sure! Of course.” Anything to please her. Ghastleon spat and snarled, rolling its eyes. Barry glanced down at it. “Um….we don’t have to have THIS guy traveling in the open with us, do we?” Prima Dona huffed. “Ghastleon hates being trapped in my spear. And anyways, it can turn invisible, and come in handy when I need it. don’t worry, if it bothers you, just let me know and I’ll give it a sharp kick.” Barry raised his eyebrows. He didn’t want any pokemon getting kicked by Prima Dona. “Now let’s go!” She shot out her spear towards the water next to her and her Lapras appeared from the water again, rising into its monstrous, tall form, looking down at both of them like a ferocious serpent. Barry stared up at the pokemon with awe. He wished normal pokemon back in his world got to be as big and powerful as this. Prima Dona…..was epic. “We shall sail the river of Pantajynn,” said Prima Dona. “It will take us further up into the tundra territories, right after we pass the Garden of Spirits.” Barry suddenly felt excited. As he climbed onto the huge Lapras with Prima Dona, Chibu eyed him nervously. In its thoughts, its mind ran back to its heart-bonded trainer. “Kaira……I’ve found Barry. And things really aren’t going well with him…..” 23. A SENSE OF FIRE “What was she doing in the house of Talia’s?” Lucas wondered, speaking to Chibo as he settled by the edge of a cliff. He didn’t know how high Auburn Leaf Town was, and that they could see a beautiful and vast, yet mysterious view of the desert terrain and cities below. It seemed lonely and independent, the cities surrounded by hilly lands and space. It was barely dawn, and the sun was just barely peaking over the horizon in the distance, barely stretching over the places below. Chibo hovered, frowning with frustration. “I really don’t know. I’ve been trying to communicate with the other messengers, Chibu and Chiba……..but apparently, I’ve gotten no signal or ability to do anything with any pokemon outside the dimension. Even if Chiba or Chibu could be right here in front of me, and only seen in another dimension, I couldn’t talk to them! I must get to Phandolia’s mountain as soon as possible.” “But Kaira!” Lucas suddenly shot up, his eyes full of shock. The image of Kaira’s shadow striking Braunn with…..sorcery and magic….the thought had stuck to his mind and bugged him. “Surely she’s no sorceress? Or a wizard? Or anyone who could use magics….” “Lucas, it could’ve been the shadow spirits tricking you,” said Chibo intently. “Shadow spirits? You mean the dark auras that wander the--” “No,” said Chibo quickly, its eyes suddenly turning wide. “The Shadow Spirits….they’re known to mess with you. They like to confuse the living of what’s going on around them. In other words, what you saw could’ve just been an act played by the Shadow Spirits, not the real Kaira.” Lucas suddenly raised his eyebrows. “How can I be sure? I MUST know. I can’t go on trusting Kaira now that I’ve seen…..” “Unfortunately, you can’t tell,” said Chibo, frowning again. “I couldn’t tell since I wasn’t all the way over there. But the Shadow Spirits have always been mischievous. They wander the world as living matter, rather than live beings. They aren’t ghosts or living souls that inhabits the planet. They’re just mere reflections of the real living, and they can be mischievous when they wanna be.” Lucas winced. “I don’t get it. is Kaira’s shadow alive and just tricking me by doing something she herself didn’t really do??” “It’s possible. Each of us have shadows, right? Well, if we’re not watchful, our shadows can do some extraordinary things when we’re not looking. They can actually escape our position and try to make it look like we’re moving a certain way, when we really aren’t, as if they have a mind of their own.” Lucas suddenly looked at his shadow, which was barely visible in the pale light that barely reached the sky. he suddenly became nervous around it, aware of his shadow suddenly coming to life and running away. He took two steps towards the shadows beneath the trees behind, making sure his shadow blended in as well. Chibo chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’m watching everything. The shadows don’t usually toy with you unless you’re nearby a certain spirit.” Lucas sighed. “I’m still lost in this world. I just wanna turn back into a human again as soon as I can. Phandolia can do that, can’t it?” Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes. Lucas and Chibo turned behind. Lucas braced himself for a pokemon, or anything else that lived in this strange place. He breathed a smoke of fire, ready for his first pokemon battle—as a pokemon himself. A bright fiery shape suddenly leaped out, rolling in front of them. Lucas gasped and stared down at the pokemon in front of him. “Chimchar!” Paul trudged through the strange forest around him with a small group of Team Solar grunts. They were just by the borders of Auburn Leaf City, patrolling the strange blue light that one of them had spotted. “Too bad Dionza isnt here,” Paul thought, feeling alone. She had stayed behind to assign leagues of grunts to head over to different parts of the area, and dealing with what some of them could’ve seen. She had sent him and a small squad back to the forest by Auburn Leaf, checking out for the possible blue light of Chibo. If only he had his pokemon with him right now. he wondered with a sinking feeling what Prima Dona could be doing to them right now. He sighed and let himself trail behind the group when no one was looking. He couldn’t hear himself think through all the obnoxious laughter and loud voices of the Solar grunts. He felt he was surrounded by talking dark air. It was hard to believe that most of them were made from pure darkness and matter, formed into live forms by Prima Dona. The pirates he and Dionza had met had all come back to their hideout in the Caravel desert trail. Dionza had told Paul that they would be the next big thing to help them with their plot. From the looks of each of them, Paul guessed that they weren’t real humans either, even though they actually were. They were the grossest, obstinate crew of people Paul had ever met. And to think one of them was actually Dionza’s ex-boyfriend! Suddenly, there was a rustle from behind, and Paul stopped to narrow his eyes at a strangely shaped tall, curvy plant. He thought he had seen two pairs of long antennas behind it. Curiously, Paul stepped towards it, and tried to make his way through. He winced. Strange plants sure seemed common around this forest. Something rustled away, as if running from his arrival. Paul followed it. Suddenly, there was a squashing noise from under his feet. He looked down, and cursed with irritation. He had stepped into gooey, greenish brown slimy stuff that looked like a giant snail had been crushed. Paul winced. “Dammit,” he muttered, struggling to lift his foot off. But he was hopelessly stuck. He winced as he followed the strange gooey trail as it led to the bottom of a plant’s stem. He was surrounded by tall plants that resembled fly-trappers. His gaze faltered. Their heads seemed to be drooping, and one shifted as he tried to lift his foot from the goo. Something appeared from the bushes in front of him. He faced it, almost thinking it was nothing but the tree branches starting to move, but then he widened his eyes in horror. In front of him stood a bug pokemon exactly his height, with large, beady eyes of a fly. Two antennas stuck from behind the eyes, with a small scissor-like mouth under the eyes. Its body was an absolute stick-bug’s, like a giant praying mantis. And in its front legs, it held Dawn’s hat, drooled on with its blue saliva. Lucas immediately grabbed Chimchar and held the pokemon in his Infernape hands. Chimchar spread out its arms and looked delighted to see Lucas. “Lucas!” It’s voice sounded almost exactly like the tone of its cry, and Lucas felt his heart rise, remembering that he could communicate with almost any pokemon related to his species. Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. At least Chimchar recognized him. “How do you know it was me?” He set Chimchar down. Chimchar narrowed its eyes up at him and its tail burned. “Well, of course I can tell the difference between pokemon of my type,” it had a feisty, small tone to its voice as it spoke. “You, apparently, look a lot more like Lucas than you think.” Lucas gasped. “I havent even seen myself yet. I need a mirror. Hey, Chibo, do you think--” Lucas’s gaze suddenly faltered. As he looked to his left where Chibo had been hovering, he realized that the blue football-shpaed pokemon was gone, and he saw a twinkle in the distance behind the faraway trees. Lucas huffed. “Dang it! man, I should’ve caught the thing while I had the chance! I could’ve brought it to Dawn and Kaira! Show them that it’s really me!” “I doubt it would’ve let you anyway,” said Chimchar, rolling its eyes. “Trust me. Of all the messengers, that one seems the least friendly. It’s way too shy, and I’m surprised it even took its time to talk to you.” “Hey…” Lucas looked down fondly at Chimchar. “How do you know the messengers so well? I thought they were legendaries—or at least they stick with the legendaries—and that they are never seen by any pokemon but the ones they guard.” Chimchar suddenly looked stiff. “Uh—that doesn’t matter.” He suddenly spoke up and looked urgent. “What matters is that I’m here to look for you guys! First you were lost, and then the other night, I couldn’t find Kaira or Dawn sleeping by the Auburn Leaf Gym! I was searching all night! And then I come here and see that you’re a POKEMON!” Chimchar’s eyes were wide, as if just realizing that Lucas himself was actually an Infernape. He bounced around him, looking at him from side to side. “How strong are you? what moves can you do? I can’t believe you’re actually an Infernape! I knew it was you when I sensed your presence by the road to Talia’s house!” “Talia’s house!” Lucas suddenly felt dazed. So his fire really had been where he was spying….on Kaira. “Wait, you said that Kaira and Dawn were missing too?” Chimchar nodded. “Last night,” it replied quickly, its tail flaming with intent. “I thought I saw Kaira headed towards the house of Talia, and I followed her. But then I got distracted and lost my way when I scented where fire had been—where YOUR fire had actually been! Wow! I can’t believe you’re actually an Infernape! Lucas, this must be the blessing of the element of fire that has touched you!” Lucas sighed and closed his eyes. “This is no blessing. I see no use out of this state. I just wanna be a human again. But listen,” Lucas suddenly looked down at Chimchar and took his hand, dashing into the forest. “Come on, we have to go towards Talia’s house. Kaira really was there, and we must find her.” And to think Dawn had gone missing too…….Lucas hoped that it certainly had nothing to do with Kaira’s possible power of sorcery. If she was what Lucas thought she was, then she couldn’t be trusted over anything. Chimchar huffed and yanked his arm away from Lucas, wincing up at him as he kept up by his side. “Hey! If you really were by the road to Talia’s house all the way back here, what the heck were you doing all the way back there at the edge of the cliff?” Lucas sighed, keeping his pace. “I don’t know.” He didn’t want to talk about what he had witnessed her do. “I’ll explain later.” He spotted a short downhill side of the trail. “There’s Talia’s house. We’ll see if anyone’s there.” CONTINUE ON TO PART 2 ---------->