Forum Thread

"Tell me again why you dragged me out here at five in the morning?" Toka yawned, coiling up under one of the seats of the little sailboat, the S.S Laplace.

"Oak wants me to come to the mainland ASAP for some reason," Mira explained, biting back a yawn herself, and straining to see anything in the foggy ocean beyond her. "Not sure why--especially knowing the fact that he's aware that I hate sailing in this kind of weather."

"Turn back, then. Three Island is right there," The Dragonair pointed her tail to the silhouette of an island behind them. Mira shook her head.

"He doesn't call me in unless it's really important," She pointed out, petting Toka. "I can't help but wonder."

Toka nodded and closed her eyes. "Oh come on. If I stay up, you stay up."

"I'm not sailing the boat."

Mira huffed and turned her gaze back to the ocean in front of her, the little light on the front of the boat doing little in the heavy fog. She relied more on the map of her pokedex to guide her.

As she passed One Island, a wingull squawked above her. She glanced upwards, welcoming the noise, and yawned. "What was that?" Toka blinked her eyes open.

"Just a wingull. Go back to sleep."

Toka, instead, slithered out from under the seat and onto the seat next to Mira. "No, not that," She mumbled, looking in front of them. Mira followed her gaze, curious, but said nothing.

Whoosh... Whoosh...

"Another boat? In this weather?" Mira whispered. Toka coiled, tense, and didn't reply. The wingull flew down and landed in Mira's boat, much to the two's surprise. It was shivering.

And, just like that, she knew.

"Go, go, GO GO!" Toka screeched, but Mira was already on it. She pulled the rope to tighten the sail and took off, veering to the left slightly to go around the boat that she knew was right in front of her.

The ship--and it was a ship, not a little sailboat like Mira's--came into full view as she passed. It was black (that much was clear in the thick fog) and tall. Though she wasn't sure how many people were on the boat, it was probably around six or seven based on the size.

A crowbat swooped down from the deck, aiming for the sail. "Toka! Aqua tail!" Mira called, head whipping around. Toka hissed and jumped up, tail glowing an intense blue, and slammed the pokemon out of the air. Wingull flew away, towards the mainland, squawking an alarm call. They aren't native here. That must have been Oak's.

She ignored the thought and sailed more off to the left, not tearing her eyes off of the boat. "It has a motor!" Toka reported, wrapping herself around the mast to get a better vantage point.

"Not good, not good!" Mira grunted, ducking the swoop from a Golbat. "Toka-"

"MIRA!"

She looked back to Toka only to find her pokemon suddenly cowering behind her. In her place was a shadow in the fog.

Articuno.

"HOLY SH-"

"SCREE!" Articuno cried out, making Mira stop talking and cover her ears. An ice beam sliced through the water next to the boat, making Mira slam into a strip of ice.

"Why is he attacking?!" She called to Toka, ears now ringing.

"I DON'T KNOW BUT DO NOT STOP!" Her pokemon screamed back, diving under the seat once more. Normally, Mira would think to herself what a coward, but Toka was weak to ice-types. And, though she hated to admit it, Mira wanted to dive under the seat as well.

Another ice beam froze another section of water which she very narrowly escaped impact with. Heart pounding and wind slapping her in the face, she glanced back at the pokemon which was giving chase.

Soon, she passed the Seafoam Islands. Mira half-expected Articuno to stop, seeing as the legendary resided there, but the chase continued. Ice beam after ice beam Mira dodged, the rocks in the water not being of much help.

With Cinnabar Island in her sights, Mira let the smile return to her face. But it disappeared as quickly as it surfaced; her boat slammed into a barrier of ice, sending her flying forward and onto the ice. The ice cold water was inches from her face and she slammed her palms down, trying to keep herself from slipping in. Something wrapped around her foot and pulled her back.

Toka pulled her back on deck and shoved Mira out of the way of another ice beam. "Go go!" She squeaked, ducking under the seat again.

"I need to stop at Cinnabar!" Mira called, standing up once more and steering around the ice. "The boat has two holes in it!"

She ignored how the boat was very slowly sinking into the water and dodged another few ice beams. At the dock on Cinnabar, she practically jumped out and fell onto the docks, but pushed herself up quickly and sprinted into the Pokemon Center.

"Oak has some explaining to do," Mira growled, letting Toka coil up on her shoulder. The Dragonair kept looking behind them nervously, as though Articuno would follow them inside. No one was there. It was as though nothing happened.

Mira stomped over to the PC and started a video call with Oak. The Professor appeared almost immediately, with Wingull on his shoulder. "Professor, can you please explain to me what just happened?!" She snapped.

"Not over video call. It's not safe enough, Mira, you know this," Oak sighed. "Why didn't you come straight to Pallet Town? You're in Cinnabar; those grunts should have stopped chasing you."

"Gee, I don't know, maybe I stopped in Cinnabar because one of the legendary birds just freaking attacked me. Something like that might hold me up a little bit," Mira hissed. Oak blinked and glanced at Wingull, who squawked an apology.

"Wingull flew away before that," Oak said halfway to himself. He looked at Mira carefully. "Is there any way you can get to Pallet Town soon?"

"Possibly, if Articuno still isn't outside," Mira mumbled in reply, turning around to look outside. "...He's gone. I'm on my way. Then can I get an explanation?"

"The best one I can give," Oak promised, and shut the call off. Mira and Toka shared a confused glance before turning and exiting the Pokemon Center.

*~*~*~*

A few boat repairs later, Mira pulled into Pallet Town. "What do you think is going on?" She asked Toka.

"Something not good," She answered.

"How specific of you."

"I'm serious! We haven't had a morning that action-packed since Alola."

Mira gave a huff of laughter and walked into the lab. "Professor Oak!" She called out, shutting the door.

"Over here!" Oak called from from behind the row of bookshelves. Mira ran over, nodding a few greetings to the lab assistants. "So. Where should I begin?" He asked, looking up from tending to Wingull.

"Articuno," Mira replied immediately. Toka nodded. Oak sighed.

"Rocket launched a coordinated attack on the Power Plant, the Seafoam Islands, and Victory Road. The legendary birds were captured," He explained quietly. Mira's eyes widened.

"No wonder Articuno didn't stop at the Seafoam Islands as I passed them," She blinked, nodding. "What does this mean? What are they planning to do with them?"

"I'd rather not find out. But it's obvious that they cannot remain captured. Without them, there is no one to keep balance in Kanto. With them in this state, it's even more disrupted," Oak went on, and shivered visibly. Mira thought for a moment.

"So. I'm after Rocket again."

"Afraid so. Are you...?"

"Definitely," She smirked. "Toka and I still have some things to settle."

"Glad to hear it. That's why I called you over," Oak sighed in relief. "You remember where the base is?"

"All too well. I'll head to Vermilion and go to Celadon from there," Mira nodded, and shifted her bag on her shoulder. "I'll be off."

"Good luck, Mira!" Oak called as she headed out the door.

*~*~*~*

"The Rocket hideout is in the Game Center," Mira noted, docking at Vermilion. "The switch is under a poster. Hit the switch, sneak in, find the legendary trio, sneak out."

"You say that like Rocket isn't clever enough to mix things up on you," Toka grumbled. "Or that you haven't tried this before with Tira."

"This is different," Mira said through grit teeth. "These are legendaries we're talking about."

Toka nodded. "...You're going to look for her in there again, aren't you."

"If I find myself in the position to do so, yes," Mira casted a sideways glance at her pokemon, who grinned confidently.

Celadon was a relatively big city. Small compared to its neighbor, Saffron, which you have to pass through on the way there, but large nonetheless. It had a beautiful shopping mall in the town square, which made it popular to tourists.

But Mira wasn't here to shop.

Next to the quiet little cafe was a bustling game center--the only one in Kanto. Inside, gamblers chortled and blaring music played. "They must know that half of these systems are rigged," Toka whispered.

"I don't think so," Mira replied, raising her eyebrows at one of the gamblers who was consistently getting three pikachus at the machine he was at, but kept putting chips in.

She went over to the poster on the wall and reached under, pressing the switch to reveal the stairway down to the Rocket hideout.

Now, she was more careful. She snuck down the staircase and stopped at the bottom, peering around the corner to ensure that no one was around before she continued. Starting a fight with one of the grunts was unwise, as doing so would alert the entire base to her presence. Giovanni's office is more than likely where I need to go, and there's no doubt in my mind that I'll run into trouble on the way there.

A few grunts were strolling the halls to get where they needed to go. They used those strange spin pads that launched you across the room. Mira could never figure out why Rocket still used them, since the grunts had a very foggy idea where each one led. If she timed it right, she could sprint down the hall and make that quick left to Giovanni's office without being caught.

She put one foot behind her, ready to sprint down the hall. As soon as this grunt turned around...

Go.

She took off, feet barely scraping the ground. Down the hall, quick left, and--Rocket. Lots and lots of Rocket. "Hello, Mira," Giovanni growled coolly as she skidded to a sharp halt.

"Sorry, wrong-" She turned around. More Rocket on all sides. "Way."

"Mira, you realize we put cameras in since your last visit, right?" Giovanni asked, approaching her. "The game center has been doing really well to aid our recovery."

"Oh shut it, will you? I get it, I get it," Mira rolled her eyes. Toka hissed. "Where's the bird trio?"

"Like I would tell you! Besides, aren't you more interested in-"

"Not today, Gio," She cut Giovanni off. "I don't fall for that trick anymore. She might not even be in Kanto by this point."

"Oh, but she is! Come on, Meer. Let's go look, shall we?"

Mira and Giovanni shared a glare. "Two grunts behind us," Toka whispered. Mira gave a tiny nod.

"Let's," Mira growled back at Giovanni. "Toka. Twister."

Toka leapt off of her shoulder, spinning, and went around the circle of grunts as quickly as she could, leaving them sprawled out all across the hallway. Mira, meanwhile, had socked Giovanni in the nose, stunning him as well.

Mira sprinted off, closely followed by Toka. "After her!" Giovanni called from behind her. Mira didn't stop, only dodged a few quick swipes from the grunts lining the hallway. Toka was attacking every grunt they came across until they got to Giovanni's office. She peered into the window on the door.

The rocketballs were not there.

Mira whispered a curse under her breath and turned around, now officially cornered.

Toka, meanwhile, stood defensively in front of Mira, hissing and rattling her tail, as the grunts caught up to them. "Please tell me you have a plan."

"Working on it," Mira replied, pressing herself against the wall.

Giovanni pushed his way to the front, holding his nose. "You little brat. You actually thought you'd find them in there? I'll never let anyone find them."

Mira glared at him. "You're right. That's why I thought ahead."

With one quick movement, she returned Toka and slipped through the door, slamming it behind her and locking it. "Okay okay... Vent," She mumbled, jumping up and tearing the vent cover off before climbing in.

The vent shafts were small, but wide enough for someone as small as Mira to crawl around in. It was a tight squeeze, but manageable. If I were Giovanni, where would I hide the legendaries... She thought.

She heard movement below her. They had broken into the office. Thankfully, she had snapped the vent cover on just before they had done so, and that left her practically invisible to any of the grunts. Mira had, at best, ten minutes before they figured it out.

She thought back to this morning on the sea. Articuno was with the grunts on a boat, meaning that one of them had his rocketball. If I find one of them, I find all of them.

Articuno first.

She crawled through the vent, glancing down as she went into the covers. She was looking for something now, something she had only seen a glimpse of in past raids. A pool. They kept their ships in a pool. Find the pool, find Articuno. Mira thought, stopping once again.

She had found it alright. The vent was right above the water, next to the ship. It was nearly impossible to drop without falling into the water. Nearly.

She grabbed Toka's pokeball yet again and let the pokemon out on the other side of the vent. "Glad you thought of a plan," She greeted, looking down.

"Ready to go swimming?"

"You know it."

Mira and Toka shared a smile and Mira punched the vent open. Toka dove down first and landed into the water with a small splash. Mira followed, and plopped down at an awkward angle that was less of a dive and more of a flop. She rose to the surface to see the faces of several surprised grunts who were already being attacked by Toka the water dragon.

Mira swam to the edge of the pool. "Toka, dragon rage!" She shouted. Her pokemon leapt out of the water, purple flames enveloping her as she slammed into grunt after grunt. They all fell to the ground. "You know, I just realized something."

"What?" Toka stopped the move as soon as they were all unconscious on the ground.

"They have nothing but rocketballs. We're going to have to release all of their pokemon."

"Er. No. I don't think so. Does any one of them look like a higher rank?" Toka raised her eyebrows.

"No. All Rocket ranks look the same as far as I can tell."

They both sighed and started on the search to find the correct pokeball. In total, they released two zubats, three mankeys, a poochyena, and a pidgeotto before finding the correct ball.

"Eighth one's the charm," Mira sighed, throwing one of the last pokeballs. Articuno appeared with a screech but went silent as Mira crushed the ball. "YES! THE EIGHTH ONE WAS THE CHARM!"

"What happened?" Articuno looked around, frightened, until his gaze locked on Mira and Toka. "Who are you two?"

"I'm Mira. That's Toka. We need your help," She explained quickly. "Rocket still has your brothers."

Articuno considered this. "I feel their presence," He said simply. "They're near. We're in Team Rocket's hideout, you say?"

"...I didn't say that, but I suppose it's implied, so yes," Mira nodded. Articuno looked to the door.

"...Well come on! I'm not going through here alone," He urged, and disappeared. Mira and Toka shared an excited glance.

They exited the pool area to find a hallway filled to the brim with grunts. At least one hundred of them were crammed into this tiny intersection. "O-kay. Er. Not good."

Articuno appeared once more and screeched. The grunts gasped almost in unison and at least twenty of them took off, running away. "Does that help?" Articuno asked.

"Much. Thank you," Mira nodded, and let out the other pokemon of her team; Char (the Arcanine) and Kingdra. "This is more manageable."

Articuno screeched again and used an ice beam, sending a few more grunts running for dear life. The numbers were now to about twenty. "Char, flame wheel!" Mira called out. Char barked happily and rolled into a ball, rolling into a few grunts.

Mira suddenly found herself ducking a swipe from a Sandslash. "Kingdra! Water pulse!" She called. Kingdra blasted the pokemon away with the move. "Ouch!" A rattata bit onto her arm. "Really?"

She simply pried it off and tossed it away (albeit gently). The numbers of grunts actually stupidly brave enough to stick around was dwindling; many of them were now frozen or running away. "We're good! Just power through!" Mira called, suddenly pushing through a few to break out of the chaos. Her pokemon followed much more slowly, as the pokemon of the grunts were still attacking.

Articuno flew ahead. "This way!" He directed, making a few turns. Suddenly, he was out of sight.

"Where did-" Mira cut herself off after hearing a high-pitched scream down the hallway.

"Over there," Toka snickered, slithering towards the noise.

"I wish Amana were here. That would have been A LOT easier with him," Kingdra grumbled under his breath, following.

Mira nodded in silent agreement and stumbled upon the scene of Articuno holding a grunt up by his arms. "Third pokeball on the belt is Moltres," He cooed, holding the shaking grunt steadily.

"Oh calm down, will you? I thought you were a woman by that scream," Mira chuckled at the grunt, who glared at her in return. She took the rocketball off of his belt just before Articuno threw him against the wall.

Mira let out Moltres and broke the pokeball. "Where's Zapdos?" Mira asked the two. Moltres shook his head to get his bearings and looked around, memory slowly returning.

"I sense him, but it's more faint," Articuno mumbled.

"I saw him earlier. I... Can't remember where," Moltres added. Mira looked behind her to her team.

"Char, find Giovanni. He'll know," She ordered.

"Okay!" Char nodded, and put her nose to the ground. "Wait, he's right around this corner."

"Oh. Well, that makes things easier," Mira blinked.

"He won't listen!" Toka tilted her head at her trainer. "It's Giovanni for pete's sake."

"He'd be idiotic not to listen to two angry legendaries," Mira pointed out, glancing to Articuno and Moltres behind her.

"I'll scorch him on sight," Moltres screeched.

"Cool it. We need him right now," Articuno said much more gently. Moltres huffed, but didn't say anything more.

Giovanni appeared but froze at the sight of the two legendary birds. He sneered. "Couldn't find numero dos, could we?" He greeted coolly. Mira grit her teeth.

"Zip it. Where is he?" She snarled. "...Or would you rather be attacked by Moltres and Articuno?"

"We'd be happy to!" Moltres threatened. Giovanni chuckled.

"What made you think that they were all here?" He jeered, making Mira's eyes widen. "We're currently using him for something."

Articuno and Moltres both flapped their wings, angered, and showered Mira with embers and snowflakes. Mira stepped forward to avoid them as best she could. “Tell me where.”

Giovanni turned his head away. “Fine, if you want to burn alive after getting hypothermia…”

“The power plant,” He finally grumbled under his breath, much to Mira’s surprise. “It will be fun hearing the reports from the grunts there after you go.”

Mira growled. “This isn’t over,” She hissed, turning to sprint away to the exit. She suddenly found two icy talons on her arms and she was lifted off of the ground, flying at an immense speed through the base. She barely found the time to return her pokemon before they started to move.

Up the staircase and into the game center, Mira flew with Articuno out the door and high into the sky. Moltres was beside them. The three dove down, across Celadon, to Route 10. The Kanto Power Plant stood operational for the first time in over fifteen years.

A red flag went up immediately for Mira.

The birds flew down and dropped Mira off on the roof. A ventilation shaft led out here which she instantly crawled into.

After a short drop, she quite literally broke the vent and fell through the ceiling onto the main floor. She winced, sprawled out on the floor, and sat up. “I forgot this place is coming apart,” She muttered, rubbing her back.

Getting up slowly, Mira looked around. A low humming noise could be heard down the hall and she sprinted towards it, bursting through a door where it seemed louder.

Grunts’ gazes immediately turned to her, feeling hot and crowded as there were so many. They didn’t attack, seeing how Mira was unable to with the shock of what she saw at the center of the room.

Zapdos wasn’t caught. He wasn’t even in a pokeball. He was in a glass sphere in the middle of the room, barely visible with the electricity sparking off of him, enveloping the sphere. What it was powering, Mira didn’t know.

The two legendary birds appeared behind Mira and were equally as shocked, if a bit more furious. Mira sprinted forward as the birds battled, looking for a switch to release Zapdos. Alas, she couldn’t find any controls.

The cords from the enclosure led to a control panel on the wall, which Mira pushed two grunts out of the way of to get to. The panel showed a camera of a laser somewhere in the ocean, pointing at the sky. She instantly recognized it as a gun to forcefully create a portal to the distortion world; she had seen a brief glimpse of blueprints for this device during her last raid of the Rocket base.

She scanned the control panel for a switch, a button, anything to turn off the energy. Her eyes locked on a lever and she pulled it without thinking.

The humming noise died out and as Mira turned around, she saw Zapdos collapse within the containment.

Mira let out her breath. The Rocket grunts around them froze up and looked at one another, as Articuno and Moltres had stopped fighting as well. Zapdos very slowly got up and extended his wings.

Mira’s heart sank as the bird broke out, infuriated, and sent a lightning storm surging down onto all of the grunts and herself.

Lightning struck her and all was black.

*~*~*~*

”Do you think she’s…?”

”No. You didn’t hit her THAT hard.”

The murmuring of the legendary birds woke her up. Nothing hurt. Nothing was numb, nothing ached, and everything moved the way it was supposed to. Mira at least expected her hair to be singed from a blast of lightning.

Mira blinked her eyes open and felt the cold cave floor beneath her, getting up without a problem. ”Ah. She’s awake,” Articuno greeted.

“Where am I?” Mira asked, looking around at the absolute darkness around her.

”Ah. My apologies, it slipped my mind that mortals cannot see in this darkness,” A new voice said. A flash lit up the room and Mira squinted her eyes up against the harsh new lighting.

In front of her was Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, Mewtwo, and Mew. Mira’s eyes widened and she took a step back. ”Do not be alarmed,” Mewtwo went on, looking at the other legends. ”...Are you sure?”

”She holds the GS Ball,” Articuno pointed out. ”Celebi trusts her.”

”She did save us!” Zapdos added cheerfully. ”I still have to thank you for that.”

”But… She’s so young!” Moltres grumbled, eying Mira carefully.

“I’m not quite sure what’s happening, but I think I’m dead,” She finally piped up.

”No, no! Quite the difference. Mew here healed you up as soon as these three brought you in,” Mewtwo explained, motioning to the much smaller pink pokemon. Mew bowed and waved. ”You are in Cerulean Cave.”

“Okay,” Mira nodded very slowly, surveying her surroundings more.

”...I say she’s a good pick,” Zapdos nodded, looking at the other legendaries. Mewtwo, Mew, and Articuno both nodded instantly in agreement, while Moltres hesitated for a moment or two.

“Good pick for what?”

”The Guardian of Kanto,” Mewtwo explained. ”They are a being to survey the region and those who protect it. Every region has a Guardian to protect the legendaries. Kanto’s has fallen due to old age.”

”That is why Rocket overthrew us. The Guardian fell yesterday, and was not able to defend Victory Road as it was attacked or save the rest of us,” Moltres added. ”Legendaries cannot hold balance without a Guardian.”

“...You want me to be the new Guardian?” Mira’s eyes widened. “I- Uh-”

”I know it sounds like a lot,” Articuno said gently. ”But you are a strong, experienced trainer who already has the trust of a Johto legend. You’ve saved us once already without even being formally inducted.”

Mira was left in silence as the Kantonian legends waited for her reply. The GS Ball wiggled in her bag. You think I can do it, Celebi? She thought, one hand on the ball. It shook. She took a deep breath. “I accept.”

”Then I, the power over Frost-”

”And I, the power over Fire-”

”And I, the power over Storm-”

”And we, the the First pokemon and his Voice-”

”Declare you Guardian of Kanto and Protector of Legend,” They spoke together and in a flash a pin appeared on her bag beside her other ones; a ribbon, streaked in yellow, blue, red, and pink, with the pin itself being an aerial view of Kanto and the Sevii islands.

Mira looked up to thank the legends only to find them gone. Darkness surrounded her and in the blink of an eye, she was back in Vermilion docks, the moon rising over the ocean.

---