Story Notes:
This story was meant to only be three chapters long, but it was going so well that I made it larger. I hope you all enjoy it.
Toil
In the morning, Moltres woke in a sweat, his restless sleep having gained him nothing but further weariness. He felt horrible, and at first couldn't remember why. Then he remembered Articuno.
He stood up and ran out of his cave, launching himself into the air. Pumping air behind him, he flew towards Lightning Island as fast as he could, working himself harder than he could remember ever having done before. He opened his mouth, a glowing sensation rising in his throat as he focused the power of fire inside him. Long, straight jets of flame burst ahead of him. The flames passed directly over Lightning Island's crater, and seconds later Zapdos rose into view from inside, perching on the edge of the stony crater wall.
Moltres approached without slowing, nearly hurting himself as he ground to a halt, perching next to Zapdos.
Zapdos looked at him side-on, the smallest prickle of worry visible in his calm expression. Moltres' distress was obvious.
"So what is the emergency?" he asked slowly, refering to the message the flames had relayed.
"Articuno's gone." Moltres replied instantly, panting. "She woke me up last night, said she was leaving, then flew off north before I could say anything."
Zapdos frowned, his eyes clouding over in thought. "North, did you say? Did she simply say she was going north, or did you watch her?"
"I watched her, of course!" Moltres answered impatiently. "Why would she have said where she was going?!"
Zapdos continued to think to himself for a few seconds, then turned back towards the inside of the crater, a tiny smile just visible on his face. "Indeed, why would she have? I suggest you don't worry about her, she will be perfectly fine. She won't be gone more than a week, at most."
Moltres blinked. "That's what she said! How did you know that? Do you know where she's gone?!" he demanded.
"I have never known you to care so much for her safety." replied Zapdos evasively. "Out of curiousity, did she say why she told you, instead of me?"
Moltres thought back to the previous night. "Yes...She said I was more 'approachable' than you."
Zapdos jumped off the crater wall without warning, gliding back down to his cave. "That's interesting. I must say I look forward to her return, but there is no rush. Calm down, and take a minute to breathe. You look tired." He began to walk slowly back into his cave.
Moltres growled. "I won't put up with this! Why can't you ever get worked up about something?! She could be hurt or lost or something! I don't want us to lose her!"
Zapdos continued into his cave, turning his head to give Moltres a considering look. "Since when do you like her enough to worry about her? You barely even talk to her."
"Well, I care now!" shouted Moltres. He spread his wings and lifted himself into the air, hovering above the crater. "I'm not going to put up with this! I'm following her!"
Zapdos stopped mid-step and whirled around, his dignified manner fading. "What do you mean by that?! You can't chase her! Just let her go, she'll be back before you even know it!"
Moltres glared down into the crater as he gained altitude. "I don't care! I'm following her! Goodbye!" he concluded angrily, and pumped his wings. He was flying away from the islands, heading north as Articuno had.
Thinking about it, he himself didn't know why he suddenly cared for Articuno's safety. Maybe he just wanted to ensure the wellbeing of the three of them? Regardless, he had to catch her. He could ask Pokemon along the way if they had seen her, or if there had being any cold weather: Rain and cold winds followed her around like bright sunlight did himself, so tracking her would be easy.
There was just one question burning a hole in the back of his mind. Where was Articuno going?
Zapdos watched Moltres fly into the distance, staring until his impulsive friend became a tiny dot on the horizon, then disappeared completely.
Maybe he should have said something? He hadn't wanted to tell Moltres where Articuno was going, but in this case, secrecy appeared to have done more harm than good. As he sat there, watching the place where Moltres had faded from view, he decided not to panic. Simply worrying about a problem had never before solved it.
In reality, the presence of Moltres at the mountain would probably have little impact on anything that occured there. The chance of violence was close to non-existent, and there was little else that could cause any serious problems.
What was curious to Zapdos was what Articuno has allegedly said about him. Why had she considered Moltres more 'approachable'? Zapdos had gone on the same trip himself a few decades ago.
Thinking about the trip brought back memories. As he thought about them, he suddenly realised the basis behind Articuno's decision. She had told Moltres in the feeble hope that he, Zapdos, wouldn't find out that she had gone. Maybe she was embarrassed about having to make the trip? Zapdos had to admit that it was a slightly unsettling expedition...
Zapdos shook his head, clearing it of both his thoughts of Articuno's choices, and the indecent recollections of his own trip. Gliding down to his cave, he chuckled at the thought that, when Moltres was eventually required to make the trip himself, there would at least be some amusing memories to revive from this coming week.
Two mornings later, Moltres was concerned about whether to set off for another day of flight. He had slept extremely little over the past days, only a couple of hours each night, and had spent the rest of each day flying. His wings felt ready to simply drop off, his throat was dry and sore, and his stomach was constantly growling, sending painful jabs through him every time it did. While he really didn't want to slow down, he knew that he would have to take a few hours to regain some of his strength and go hunting, or he would arrive at his destination dead.
Not that he had any idea where his destination was. He had no doubt he was still on the right track: Any Pokemon who knew who Moltres would tend to practically fall over themselves trying to help him, and those who didn't know him were generally too afraid to refuse anything he requested.
Moltres straightened, wincing from his aching diaphragm, and looked out of the small hillside cave at the surrounding landscape. There was a single, large mountain in the distance, rising high and straight, and surrounded by a small, ring-shaped forest. The hill he was currently on was the only other raised land in view. There were plenty of small woodland and forest Pokemon about, and no humans. Moltres had to admit that, all things considered, it was very a nice place.
Wincing again, he slowly stepped forth from the cave, carefully spreading his wings and adjusting the height of his body-flames. He wasn't in the best of conditions, but he was as ready to hunt as he would ever be.
Articuno sighed unhappily, looking out across the forest that surrounded the mountain. Normally, she would have enjoyed such beautiful scenery, but today, she was hating simply being here. Her reasons for staying here were positively unsettling.
She had to grudgingly admit that this mountain was nearly perfect for its purpose. The top of the mountain was nearly inaccessible unless you had wings. Close to the summit, there were several large caves that opened up into caverns, in a fashion that resembled walking into a tiny, enclosed arena.
She had only arrived late last night, having removed the need to eat on the trip by feasting the evening before she set off from Ice Island. Unable to sleep comfortably from overtiredness, she had spent a few late hours of the night asking some of the resident Pokemon about the mountain, and what she found out had been interesting. Apparently, no other Pokemon ever came up here, as all considered the summit to be cursed. Many, many years ago, some small woodland Pokemon had claimed to have seen something large fly into the caverns. Blinded by curiosity, they had spent many difficult hours scaling the mountain in an attempt to prove what they said. Soon afterwards, the mountain was said to have been enshrouded by lightning, and the bodies of the unfortunate Pokemon were found at the base of the mountain, charred and torn into gorey pieces. Articuno suspected that the very Zapdos she knew was responsible, though she didn't think she would ever ask him about it. Regardless of who was responsible, the mountain was thereafter seen as suicidal to approach. No Pokemon ever went near it, ensuring complete privacy for those who were blessed with more accurate knowledge of the mount.
Articuno smiled to herself, somewhat glad for the privacy. She began to wonder when she would begin to have company: There was obviously no point in her being here alone. She turned into the cave, walking slowly into the round cavern. Her mind began to wander, as it had several times in the preceding hours. Within a mere day or so, in this very room, she and one of the few males of her species would begin mating. Articuno still didn't want to refer to the mating as 'sex', as she was still too uncomfortable with the idea of being here. The idea of mating with someone she had never met before, someone she might not even like, was scary to her, especially as she had never done it before.
Articuno stopped herself from thinking any more about the topic. She was uncomfortable enough without having to make herself feel worse.
Her mind wandering again, she instead thought about Moltres and Zapdos. She felt guilty for leaving so suddenly, but she had been so embarrassed about leaving that she had waited until the last minute before saying anything. Moltres was probably still clueless, with not a worry in his mind. Zapdos, who was far older than both of them, had taken this trip already long ago. He never spoke of it, though, leaving Articuno to wonder if he had felt this uncomfortable when he was standing on this very spot. It annoyed her that Zapdos had probably retained his pompous dignity throughout the entire event.
Images of Zapdos in his full male glory, parading and presenting himself to her, floated through her mind. She smiled, feeling slightly ashamed, but soon stopped thinking about him as she concluded the images were not particularly interesting. Still trying to distract herself, she instead thought of Moltres and his ignorance of the nature of her trip. One day, he would certainly make this journey himself, and perhaps be as embarrassed and self-conscious about it as she currently was.
The mental pictures of Zapdos were suddenly replaced by similar ones of Moltres, even more passionate and direct. Articuno laid out on her back on the the rocky ground of the cavern, shutting her eyes, enjoying the fantasies of Moltres caressing her, softly stroking down her chest with his warm, flame-bound wings...
Slowly, her lack of rest caught up with her, and her breathing grew soft and deep as she began to sleep. She sighed happily and shifted about on the rocks, her dreams filled with the warm embrace of Moltres' body.
Moltres stretched his wings, feeling the life flow back into him, his stomach no longer paining him. He sighed happily as the meal filled his insides, revitalising him. He wiped his bloody beak through some long grass, and flew out of the clearing again, returning slowly and calmly to the small hillside cave. He was nearly ready to move onwards and continue chasing Articuno, wherever she may be, but first he needed to rest. He was still too tired to continue onward for any decent period of time. Walking into the cave, he dispensed with his dignity, physically lying down on the rocky ground. He had little need to be worried about Articuno getting ahead of him. She must surely be just as tired as he.
He shut his eyes. Within minutes he was happily asleep, and a familiar dream greeted him.
Some distance away, two humanoid figures crept quietly through the forest growth. They were wearing matching uniforms, with a large red 'R' emblazened on the front of each. Small forest Pokemon scattered as they passed, spooked by the human intruders. Sneaking almost silently through the trees, one of them seemed very confident, wearing a belt equipped with numerous metallic devices. The other, howver, was trailing behind, simply following the other.
"Hey, here's a crazy thought." grumbled the second. "Why don't you, just for something different, actually tell me what we're doing here?"
"Stolid, you've done nothing but whine since we got here," growled the female voice of the first. "Would it kill you to shut your mouth for two minutes?"
The man named Stolid raised his voice, straightening. "Tracey, I've been following you around this region for a week, and you still haven't told me a single thing. You told me something about birds gathering, and then you just dragged me off to the middle of nowhere! We're supposed to be partners, so spill some beans and let me assist you like I'm actually supposed to!"
Tracey growled angrily again and turned. "Okay, fine, I'll tell you. Now listen, because I'm only going to tell you this once. Over the last several hundred years, there have been many reports of legendary bird Pokemon being seen by various types of people. Most people would think it was just bragging or attention seeking. However, when one of our top agents saw one with his own eyes some years ago, we started looking deeper into the matter. We connected the alleged travel paths of the birds, and they all met at exactly the same point: That mountain."
She pointed, and Stolid followed her finger, peering through the undergrowth. The mountain she was indicating to was tall and straight, the walls featureless and probably impossible to scale. "Alright, that just leaves two questions. Why are we here now of all times, and why are we currently trekking through the undergrowth with all of our best equipment back at the choppers?"
Tracey rolled her eyes, running her fingers through her curled black hair impatiently. "One of our other agents saw an Articuno high up in the sky not too long ago. It was heading in this direction. We were dispatched to capture it. And we're walking through the forest like this because I know that I saw a large Pokemon somewhere in the sky around here, and I'm not taking the chance that it wasn't the Articuno we're looking for. We're walking because the noise of the chopper would scare it off."
Stolid grinned. "Ah, I see. It all makes sense now. So, shall we go nab ourselves a birdie?"
Tracey turned forward again, nodding, a tiny smile creeping onto her face. "That we shall do." She began to walk forward again. "I've got a rather straight-forward plan. There's a clearing right here. From here, we'll watch- Oh, wow, look at that!"
Stolid stepped up alonside her, looking at her amused expression before following her gaze down to the grass ahead. In the middle of the clearing was a gorey mess of flesh and fur, the ground around it soaked red with blood. "Wow, that's fairly disgusting. What do you think it was?"
He immediately wished he hadn't asked. As if it were just a random piece of garbage on the ground, Tracey stepped forward into the clearing and knelt down, scooping up a small handful of fur and gore at if it was nothing. Stolid felt slightly sick.
"I think it used to be a Raticate. It's being eaten by something very large and very strong. Rather fits the bill of what we're after, doesn't it?" She put the hunk of flesh down, and started to wipe her hand on some nearby grass. As she did so, she grinned again. "And it seems our target is intelligent, it had the same idea I did. Check it out!"
She gestured to the grass she was wiping her hand with, and Stolid noticed a second patch of blood next to her hand. She was right: Evidently Tracey wasn't the first to use the grass as a towel.
"Alright, I'm convinced." Stolid sighed. "So where is this bird?"
Tracey hummed, straightening her legs and looking across the top of the clearing. She grinned and pointed yet again. "Look there. You can see the top of that hill from here. It couldn't have come from the main mountain, because that's too far, and we would have seen it if it had. So it's probably in a cave on that hill."
Once again following her finger, Stolid looked through the gap in the trees, and nodded. "Nice deduction. Okay, let's go!" He started out of the clearing, and Tracey laughed, running after him.
Moltres could easily tell he was dreaming. After seeing this dream twice before, he had come to recognise it. The sun, despite still casting its golden rays upon him, was now more than halfway to its midday position. The landscape was slightly different as well. There were several shades of bright blue and white among the usual green, giving the illusion of large amounts of water on the passing ground.
Looking ahead, Moltres saw something very new. While the dot was still there, and still had the banner trailing behind it, it was now part of a much larger picture. It was swinging back and forth inside a huge, draping aurora, which shone with more colours than Moltres knew existed. It was a brilliant thing to watch, waving back and forth like gigantic curtains hanging down from the sky. As he watched the curtains, they changed their shape, going from their original shape to something more resembling great waves of coloured light, crashing across the sky like a floating ocean. The lights continued to change, moving and shifting, each shape as spectacular and colourful as the last. A huge cloud, a second sun... Finally, the lights became focused, and rotated in the air, until it all became a shining, billowing pathway, snaking ahead with every colour imaginable. Moltres flew forward, eager to follow the path before him...
The dream shattered, like glass being hit with a sledgehammer. Moltres woke with a start, inhaling loudly and his eyes ripping open. The collapse of the dream had been so sudden and unexpected that it frightened him.
Moltres knew that something must have woken him up. He wriggled on the ground, lifting himself into a standing position, and turned his head to face the entrance, listening hard. He heard a soft, whispering voice which he instantly identified as human.
"But then how do you know how much to use?" asked the male voice.
"I don't. I just empty a full load. If these needles can stop a rampaging Tauros, it can stop a stupid bird." a second voice responded simply.
The first voice spoke again, panicked. "But then what if you kill it?!"
"Then we're no worse off than we are now. Now shut up before you wake it up."
Moltres realised in terror that the figures were talking about him. Cornered in the cave, he stepped forward carefully, readying a Flamethrower attack deep in his throat, his heart pounding in his chest.
"It's moving! You woke it up!" cried the second voice, which Moltres identified as female. He took another careful step forward.
Without warning, the female human rolled across the ground in front of him, a metallic object in her hand. Her clothes were pure black, apart from a red emblem on her chest. Before Moltres could react, she braced herself on one knee and pointed the object, which Moltres recognised as a gun, straight at his chest. Moltres stood frozen with terror. The female pulled the trigger, and Moltres shut his eyes, waiting for the painful embrace of death.
After a couple of seconds, Moltres realised he was still alive. He had heard no gunshot and his body was still intact. There was nothing wrong but a soft pain in his chest. Nothing other problems at all. In fact, he felt...calm.
The world began to swirl in front of him, the walls of the cave heaving from side to side. He held himself still, trying to steady his feet as they suddenly began to weaken under his weight. Black shadows were swirling around him, moving closer, pulling his feet out from under him. He saw the ground come up to meet up, but he felt no pain, his vision fading amongst the blackness before his head hit the rocks. His eyes closed involuntarily. He was falling again, plummeting down into an endless abyss. He was trapped, tumbling end-over-end down a pit of blackness, a whirlpool of darkness...Somewhere far off, he heard a voice, distorted and broken, impossible to understand...Then there was nothing. He heard nothing, he felt nothing. There was nothing there.
Nothing but the falling...
He stood up and ran out of his cave, launching himself into the air. Pumping air behind him, he flew towards Lightning Island as fast as he could, working himself harder than he could remember ever having done before. He opened his mouth, a glowing sensation rising in his throat as he focused the power of fire inside him. Long, straight jets of flame burst ahead of him. The flames passed directly over Lightning Island's crater, and seconds later Zapdos rose into view from inside, perching on the edge of the stony crater wall.
Moltres approached without slowing, nearly hurting himself as he ground to a halt, perching next to Zapdos.
Zapdos looked at him side-on, the smallest prickle of worry visible in his calm expression. Moltres' distress was obvious.
"So what is the emergency?" he asked slowly, refering to the message the flames had relayed.
"Articuno's gone." Moltres replied instantly, panting. "She woke me up last night, said she was leaving, then flew off north before I could say anything."
Zapdos frowned, his eyes clouding over in thought. "North, did you say? Did she simply say she was going north, or did you watch her?"
"I watched her, of course!" Moltres answered impatiently. "Why would she have said where she was going?!"
Zapdos continued to think to himself for a few seconds, then turned back towards the inside of the crater, a tiny smile just visible on his face. "Indeed, why would she have? I suggest you don't worry about her, she will be perfectly fine. She won't be gone more than a week, at most."
Moltres blinked. "That's what she said! How did you know that? Do you know where she's gone?!" he demanded.
"I have never known you to care so much for her safety." replied Zapdos evasively. "Out of curiousity, did she say why she told you, instead of me?"
Moltres thought back to the previous night. "Yes...She said I was more 'approachable' than you."
Zapdos jumped off the crater wall without warning, gliding back down to his cave. "That's interesting. I must say I look forward to her return, but there is no rush. Calm down, and take a minute to breathe. You look tired." He began to walk slowly back into his cave.
Moltres growled. "I won't put up with this! Why can't you ever get worked up about something?! She could be hurt or lost or something! I don't want us to lose her!"
Zapdos continued into his cave, turning his head to give Moltres a considering look. "Since when do you like her enough to worry about her? You barely even talk to her."
"Well, I care now!" shouted Moltres. He spread his wings and lifted himself into the air, hovering above the crater. "I'm not going to put up with this! I'm following her!"
Zapdos stopped mid-step and whirled around, his dignified manner fading. "What do you mean by that?! You can't chase her! Just let her go, she'll be back before you even know it!"
Moltres glared down into the crater as he gained altitude. "I don't care! I'm following her! Goodbye!" he concluded angrily, and pumped his wings. He was flying away from the islands, heading north as Articuno had.
Thinking about it, he himself didn't know why he suddenly cared for Articuno's safety. Maybe he just wanted to ensure the wellbeing of the three of them? Regardless, he had to catch her. He could ask Pokemon along the way if they had seen her, or if there had being any cold weather: Rain and cold winds followed her around like bright sunlight did himself, so tracking her would be easy.
There was just one question burning a hole in the back of his mind. Where was Articuno going?
Zapdos watched Moltres fly into the distance, staring until his impulsive friend became a tiny dot on the horizon, then disappeared completely.
Maybe he should have said something? He hadn't wanted to tell Moltres where Articuno was going, but in this case, secrecy appeared to have done more harm than good. As he sat there, watching the place where Moltres had faded from view, he decided not to panic. Simply worrying about a problem had never before solved it.
In reality, the presence of Moltres at the mountain would probably have little impact on anything that occured there. The chance of violence was close to non-existent, and there was little else that could cause any serious problems.
What was curious to Zapdos was what Articuno has allegedly said about him. Why had she considered Moltres more 'approachable'? Zapdos had gone on the same trip himself a few decades ago.
Thinking about the trip brought back memories. As he thought about them, he suddenly realised the basis behind Articuno's decision. She had told Moltres in the feeble hope that he, Zapdos, wouldn't find out that she had gone. Maybe she was embarrassed about having to make the trip? Zapdos had to admit that it was a slightly unsettling expedition...
Zapdos shook his head, clearing it of both his thoughts of Articuno's choices, and the indecent recollections of his own trip. Gliding down to his cave, he chuckled at the thought that, when Moltres was eventually required to make the trip himself, there would at least be some amusing memories to revive from this coming week.
Two mornings later, Moltres was concerned about whether to set off for another day of flight. He had slept extremely little over the past days, only a couple of hours each night, and had spent the rest of each day flying. His wings felt ready to simply drop off, his throat was dry and sore, and his stomach was constantly growling, sending painful jabs through him every time it did. While he really didn't want to slow down, he knew that he would have to take a few hours to regain some of his strength and go hunting, or he would arrive at his destination dead.
Not that he had any idea where his destination was. He had no doubt he was still on the right track: Any Pokemon who knew who Moltres would tend to practically fall over themselves trying to help him, and those who didn't know him were generally too afraid to refuse anything he requested.
Moltres straightened, wincing from his aching diaphragm, and looked out of the small hillside cave at the surrounding landscape. There was a single, large mountain in the distance, rising high and straight, and surrounded by a small, ring-shaped forest. The hill he was currently on was the only other raised land in view. There were plenty of small woodland and forest Pokemon about, and no humans. Moltres had to admit that, all things considered, it was very a nice place.
Wincing again, he slowly stepped forth from the cave, carefully spreading his wings and adjusting the height of his body-flames. He wasn't in the best of conditions, but he was as ready to hunt as he would ever be.
Articuno sighed unhappily, looking out across the forest that surrounded the mountain. Normally, she would have enjoyed such beautiful scenery, but today, she was hating simply being here. Her reasons for staying here were positively unsettling.
She had to grudgingly admit that this mountain was nearly perfect for its purpose. The top of the mountain was nearly inaccessible unless you had wings. Close to the summit, there were several large caves that opened up into caverns, in a fashion that resembled walking into a tiny, enclosed arena.
She had only arrived late last night, having removed the need to eat on the trip by feasting the evening before she set off from Ice Island. Unable to sleep comfortably from overtiredness, she had spent a few late hours of the night asking some of the resident Pokemon about the mountain, and what she found out had been interesting. Apparently, no other Pokemon ever came up here, as all considered the summit to be cursed. Many, many years ago, some small woodland Pokemon had claimed to have seen something large fly into the caverns. Blinded by curiosity, they had spent many difficult hours scaling the mountain in an attempt to prove what they said. Soon afterwards, the mountain was said to have been enshrouded by lightning, and the bodies of the unfortunate Pokemon were found at the base of the mountain, charred and torn into gorey pieces. Articuno suspected that the very Zapdos she knew was responsible, though she didn't think she would ever ask him about it. Regardless of who was responsible, the mountain was thereafter seen as suicidal to approach. No Pokemon ever went near it, ensuring complete privacy for those who were blessed with more accurate knowledge of the mount.
Articuno smiled to herself, somewhat glad for the privacy. She began to wonder when she would begin to have company: There was obviously no point in her being here alone. She turned into the cave, walking slowly into the round cavern. Her mind began to wander, as it had several times in the preceding hours. Within a mere day or so, in this very room, she and one of the few males of her species would begin mating. Articuno still didn't want to refer to the mating as 'sex', as she was still too uncomfortable with the idea of being here. The idea of mating with someone she had never met before, someone she might not even like, was scary to her, especially as she had never done it before.
Articuno stopped herself from thinking any more about the topic. She was uncomfortable enough without having to make herself feel worse.
Her mind wandering again, she instead thought about Moltres and Zapdos. She felt guilty for leaving so suddenly, but she had been so embarrassed about leaving that she had waited until the last minute before saying anything. Moltres was probably still clueless, with not a worry in his mind. Zapdos, who was far older than both of them, had taken this trip already long ago. He never spoke of it, though, leaving Articuno to wonder if he had felt this uncomfortable when he was standing on this very spot. It annoyed her that Zapdos had probably retained his pompous dignity throughout the entire event.
Images of Zapdos in his full male glory, parading and presenting himself to her, floated through her mind. She smiled, feeling slightly ashamed, but soon stopped thinking about him as she concluded the images were not particularly interesting. Still trying to distract herself, she instead thought of Moltres and his ignorance of the nature of her trip. One day, he would certainly make this journey himself, and perhaps be as embarrassed and self-conscious about it as she currently was.
The mental pictures of Zapdos were suddenly replaced by similar ones of Moltres, even more passionate and direct. Articuno laid out on her back on the the rocky ground of the cavern, shutting her eyes, enjoying the fantasies of Moltres caressing her, softly stroking down her chest with his warm, flame-bound wings...
Slowly, her lack of rest caught up with her, and her breathing grew soft and deep as she began to sleep. She sighed happily and shifted about on the rocks, her dreams filled with the warm embrace of Moltres' body.
Moltres stretched his wings, feeling the life flow back into him, his stomach no longer paining him. He sighed happily as the meal filled his insides, revitalising him. He wiped his bloody beak through some long grass, and flew out of the clearing again, returning slowly and calmly to the small hillside cave. He was nearly ready to move onwards and continue chasing Articuno, wherever she may be, but first he needed to rest. He was still too tired to continue onward for any decent period of time. Walking into the cave, he dispensed with his dignity, physically lying down on the rocky ground. He had little need to be worried about Articuno getting ahead of him. She must surely be just as tired as he.
He shut his eyes. Within minutes he was happily asleep, and a familiar dream greeted him.
Some distance away, two humanoid figures crept quietly through the forest growth. They were wearing matching uniforms, with a large red 'R' emblazened on the front of each. Small forest Pokemon scattered as they passed, spooked by the human intruders. Sneaking almost silently through the trees, one of them seemed very confident, wearing a belt equipped with numerous metallic devices. The other, howver, was trailing behind, simply following the other.
"Hey, here's a crazy thought." grumbled the second. "Why don't you, just for something different, actually tell me what we're doing here?"
"Stolid, you've done nothing but whine since we got here," growled the female voice of the first. "Would it kill you to shut your mouth for two minutes?"
The man named Stolid raised his voice, straightening. "Tracey, I've been following you around this region for a week, and you still haven't told me a single thing. You told me something about birds gathering, and then you just dragged me off to the middle of nowhere! We're supposed to be partners, so spill some beans and let me assist you like I'm actually supposed to!"
Tracey growled angrily again and turned. "Okay, fine, I'll tell you. Now listen, because I'm only going to tell you this once. Over the last several hundred years, there have been many reports of legendary bird Pokemon being seen by various types of people. Most people would think it was just bragging or attention seeking. However, when one of our top agents saw one with his own eyes some years ago, we started looking deeper into the matter. We connected the alleged travel paths of the birds, and they all met at exactly the same point: That mountain."
She pointed, and Stolid followed her finger, peering through the undergrowth. The mountain she was indicating to was tall and straight, the walls featureless and probably impossible to scale. "Alright, that just leaves two questions. Why are we here now of all times, and why are we currently trekking through the undergrowth with all of our best equipment back at the choppers?"
Tracey rolled her eyes, running her fingers through her curled black hair impatiently. "One of our other agents saw an Articuno high up in the sky not too long ago. It was heading in this direction. We were dispatched to capture it. And we're walking through the forest like this because I know that I saw a large Pokemon somewhere in the sky around here, and I'm not taking the chance that it wasn't the Articuno we're looking for. We're walking because the noise of the chopper would scare it off."
Stolid grinned. "Ah, I see. It all makes sense now. So, shall we go nab ourselves a birdie?"
Tracey turned forward again, nodding, a tiny smile creeping onto her face. "That we shall do." She began to walk forward again. "I've got a rather straight-forward plan. There's a clearing right here. From here, we'll watch- Oh, wow, look at that!"
Stolid stepped up alonside her, looking at her amused expression before following her gaze down to the grass ahead. In the middle of the clearing was a gorey mess of flesh and fur, the ground around it soaked red with blood. "Wow, that's fairly disgusting. What do you think it was?"
He immediately wished he hadn't asked. As if it were just a random piece of garbage on the ground, Tracey stepped forward into the clearing and knelt down, scooping up a small handful of fur and gore at if it was nothing. Stolid felt slightly sick.
"I think it used to be a Raticate. It's being eaten by something very large and very strong. Rather fits the bill of what we're after, doesn't it?" She put the hunk of flesh down, and started to wipe her hand on some nearby grass. As she did so, she grinned again. "And it seems our target is intelligent, it had the same idea I did. Check it out!"
She gestured to the grass she was wiping her hand with, and Stolid noticed a second patch of blood next to her hand. She was right: Evidently Tracey wasn't the first to use the grass as a towel.
"Alright, I'm convinced." Stolid sighed. "So where is this bird?"
Tracey hummed, straightening her legs and looking across the top of the clearing. She grinned and pointed yet again. "Look there. You can see the top of that hill from here. It couldn't have come from the main mountain, because that's too far, and we would have seen it if it had. So it's probably in a cave on that hill."
Once again following her finger, Stolid looked through the gap in the trees, and nodded. "Nice deduction. Okay, let's go!" He started out of the clearing, and Tracey laughed, running after him.
Moltres could easily tell he was dreaming. After seeing this dream twice before, he had come to recognise it. The sun, despite still casting its golden rays upon him, was now more than halfway to its midday position. The landscape was slightly different as well. There were several shades of bright blue and white among the usual green, giving the illusion of large amounts of water on the passing ground.
Looking ahead, Moltres saw something very new. While the dot was still there, and still had the banner trailing behind it, it was now part of a much larger picture. It was swinging back and forth inside a huge, draping aurora, which shone with more colours than Moltres knew existed. It was a brilliant thing to watch, waving back and forth like gigantic curtains hanging down from the sky. As he watched the curtains, they changed their shape, going from their original shape to something more resembling great waves of coloured light, crashing across the sky like a floating ocean. The lights continued to change, moving and shifting, each shape as spectacular and colourful as the last. A huge cloud, a second sun... Finally, the lights became focused, and rotated in the air, until it all became a shining, billowing pathway, snaking ahead with every colour imaginable. Moltres flew forward, eager to follow the path before him...
The dream shattered, like glass being hit with a sledgehammer. Moltres woke with a start, inhaling loudly and his eyes ripping open. The collapse of the dream had been so sudden and unexpected that it frightened him.
Moltres knew that something must have woken him up. He wriggled on the ground, lifting himself into a standing position, and turned his head to face the entrance, listening hard. He heard a soft, whispering voice which he instantly identified as human.
"But then how do you know how much to use?" asked the male voice.
"I don't. I just empty a full load. If these needles can stop a rampaging Tauros, it can stop a stupid bird." a second voice responded simply.
The first voice spoke again, panicked. "But then what if you kill it?!"
"Then we're no worse off than we are now. Now shut up before you wake it up."
Moltres realised in terror that the figures were talking about him. Cornered in the cave, he stepped forward carefully, readying a Flamethrower attack deep in his throat, his heart pounding in his chest.
"It's moving! You woke it up!" cried the second voice, which Moltres identified as female. He took another careful step forward.
Without warning, the female human rolled across the ground in front of him, a metallic object in her hand. Her clothes were pure black, apart from a red emblem on her chest. Before Moltres could react, she braced herself on one knee and pointed the object, which Moltres recognised as a gun, straight at his chest. Moltres stood frozen with terror. The female pulled the trigger, and Moltres shut his eyes, waiting for the painful embrace of death.
After a couple of seconds, Moltres realised he was still alive. He had heard no gunshot and his body was still intact. There was nothing wrong but a soft pain in his chest. Nothing other problems at all. In fact, he felt...calm.
The world began to swirl in front of him, the walls of the cave heaving from side to side. He held himself still, trying to steady his feet as they suddenly began to weaken under his weight. Black shadows were swirling around him, moving closer, pulling his feet out from under him. He saw the ground come up to meet up, but he felt no pain, his vision fading amongst the blackness before his head hit the rocks. His eyes closed involuntarily. He was falling again, plummeting down into an endless abyss. He was trapped, tumbling end-over-end down a pit of blackness, a whirlpool of darkness...Somewhere far off, he heard a voice, distorted and broken, impossible to understand...Then there was nothing. He heard nothing, he felt nothing. There was nothing there.
Nothing but the falling...