Story Notes:
This is a story I've had on my mind for a while and couldn't skip over so, here it is. As of Chapter 3, this story is being Co-written by Catsithx.
Chapter 8
Watcher of Arceus
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Only the idea and OC's.
Author Notes:
-- This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.
xXx This will identify where each paragraph breaks.
'Character Thought'
(Pokemon speech)
Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon, never have, never will. Only the idea and OCs behind the story are mine.
Co-author: Catsithx
xXx
Chapter 8
Thomas stood still, looking at the bullet that had been caught inside the light green wall that Radara had put up. The Rocket leader fired another few shots, but unlike the first one which had been caught inside the defensive move, all of the other bullets had been stopped by the attack.
"Thomas?" Sarah shouted as she entered the chamber with Rebecca. With unexpected event drew the attention of both Thomas and Radara who looked over to see who had called out the name. Seeing his chance, the Rocket leader fired one last shot. Thomas's head turned just in time to see the bullet before it flew through his chest. It passed cleanly through his chest as Thomas looked down at the small hole.
'Thomas?!' Rebecca shouted as Thomas fell to his knees.
In retaliation to the Rocket leader's attack Radara fired another psychic blast right above the small passage that the Rockets had started to retreat down. There was a large blast as smoke and the sounds of collapsing rock filled the chamber.
'Thomas, answer me!' Rebecca shouted trying to use her aura sight to find Thomas as the rocks and dust continued to flood the chamber. Try as she might, she could not find Thomas's aura in the chamber, just her own, Sarah's and three others that mirrored each other,she also saw an aura one which she had never seen before.
A strong blast of air blew the smoke out of the chamber revealing Thomas in his kneeling position using an arm to support himself. Looking over to find the source of the wind, Sarah was shocked to find Arceus slowly walking towards them, her large golden ring almost appearing on fire. "Arceus? Here?" Sarah just couldn't believe the sight before her. Rebecca on the other hand was too focused on Thomas too notice her. Rebecca was quickly at his side helping him up. She was confused though seeing his body, but with another's aura. Sarah went to take a step closer to Arceus. Radara immediately took a space between Sarah and Arceus though.
'You may step down Radara she means me no harm. Like most, she is just surprised to see me in the flesh.' A soft voice sounded throughout the room. As this voice sounded, the flames surrounding the ring around Arceus's midsection died down some, as did the glow in Radara's eyes. Radara stumbled for a bit in the middle of the step she was taking before she recovered and took a look around.
'Sarah!' Radara turned to face Arceus and then looked over to Thomas and Rebecca before returning her gaze to Sarah.
'Thomas, please get up.' Rebecca once again tried to help Thomas up, but he didn't stay up for long.
Arceus walked over to them smiling to herself as she approached. 'Calm down little one, he will be fine.'
Rebecca was surprised by the sudden voice about her and she quickly turned around to see Arceus standing over her. 'Arceus?'
'Just relax.' Arceus moved even closer now standing over him. Thomas looked up at her as her ring light up brightly. As the ring burned brighter, small bolts of electricity began to dance over his feet and hands. The smell of burnt flesh began to drift off Thomas as his finger tips began to spark, but the small bleeding hole in his chest scabbed over and closed a bit before it stopped healing and the sparks left his body. The flames on Arceus's ring also dissipated. Thomas closed his eyes and when they opened back, they were once again his. He shook his head quickly looking to his chest moving his shirt aside to see the full extent of the damage. It wasn't until he looked up and saw Rebecca standing beside Arceus that became fully aware of what all had taken place.
"Rebecca? Sarah? What are you doing here?" Thomas half shouted as he quickly tried to get up only to fall backwards still tired from the effects of Dominion.
"Thomas, what's going on?" Sarah asked.
'Relax, my child. I do not feel threatened by her presence.' Arceus's voice filled the minds of those around her.
"Wait, child?" Sarah looked to Arceus confused by the words.
"How did you find me? I thought you were all up at the festival." Thomas asked.
"Thomas, what's going on here. You know Arceus? And what about that guy who shot you. You should be dead." Sara exclaimed.
"Arceus, can't you do something? She does not need to know about this." Thomas countered looking up to Arceus as Rebecca once again returned to his side.
'Thomas, what happened?' Rebecca demanded.
"Thomas, tell me what's going on." Sara raised her voice demanding an answer.
"Nothing that you need to know about." Thomas replied pointing to Sara.
Arceus laughed a bit seeing how quickly Thomas was trying to lead Sara away much like he had done with Diana in his previous incarnation. 'Please calm down Soular. I sense that she may be willing to help you. As the last of children, you can use the help.'
"Please don't call me that name... I no longer deserve it." Thomas quickly turned his head away with a slight look of sadness on his face.
'Why not my son. You have always accepted the name I have given you. Why do choose to deny it now in these recent incarnations.' Arceus questioned kneeling on her front legs to look Thomas in the face.
"That was the name of the child you gave birth to long ago, I am not that man." Thomas stated as his head began to pound again.
'Thomas? Thomas are you alright?' Rebecca asked as she kneeled beside Thomas as well to try and look at his face.
'You will always be Soular, the one I gave birth to many generations ago. Despite the fact that you have changed, you will always be my son.' Arceus softened her tone sensing the doubt and confusion in Thomas's mind.
'Thomas please. What happened here?' Rebecca pleaded with Thomas wanting to know what had happened.
"Rebecca, I'm fine. It was clean shot though my chest and it barely even touched my heart. It's not that serious of an injury thanks to the power of Dominion." Thomas quickly stated looking at his hands and the electrical burns on his fingers he had in a way given to himself. "I'll just need a week or two to finish healing these wounds."
"Wait, you mean you got shot through the heart?" Sarah shouted. "How are you still standing?"
"I said it barely touched my heart, it didn't go through it." Thomas countered.
'Arceus, you can't seriously be thinking that. The last time you allowed another to join us like that, they nearly sold Thomas to that group of hunters working for those religious fools who call themselves the Knights of Arceus.' Radara quickly stated.
"What? Oh no, I'm not letting another join me as a partner, not after what happened with Jane." Thomas strictly stated.
'And yet you let Diana assist you and she is still even assisting you know.' Arceus countered.
"Someone please tell me what's going on." Sara demanded.
"Diana is not my traveling companion. From what I gather, my father knew his incarnation was coming up and decided that she could help him that way since she wanted to help him so much." Thomas stated.
'Sara, I sense that you like Thomas a lot. Do you think that you could be a help to him on his journey?' Arceus turned to face a Sara.
"Help him. Help him do what?" Sara asked.
'As the last of my children, Thomas is forced to act as the protector for all the legendary pokemon much like myself.' Arceus began. 'Being the last of his kind, I feel that he could once again use some help since the attacks against us are becoming more frequent over these last few decades.'
"No. For that last time no. It's my job and not hers." Thomas stated. "She shouldn't even have been down here." Thomas fell down to one knee clutching his chest.
'Thomas?! Are you okay?' Rebecca asked.
"Healing a wounded heart is one of the most stressful and painful tasks there are. Why couldn't he have just shot me a little bit more to the right? A lung shot wouldn't have hurt this bad." Thomas stated as he backed up against the cave wall.
"How the hell are you still alive?" Sara rushed over. "You claim to have been shot in the heart, but how is that possible. You should have bled out by now."
'He is my child.' Arceus explained. 'Much like myself, you'd be surprised what we can live through. Some would say that curse however is to live with the pain of death.'
"Trust me, at times I've considered taking the option of death over some of the injuries I've taken." Thomas stated as he breathing started to relax. "Man, this is going to take a week to heal up." Thomas moved his shirt aside taking a better look at the wound. A small line of dried blood was visible leading down his chest from the entry wound, but the wound itself still looked a bit bad. Although it had completely scabbed over, the wound went straight through his body. "Damn it, I think he cracked a rib too. Radara, you were burned to bad were you?"
'I am fine.' Radara stated finally looking over her own body. Aside from a few patches of singed fur from that final electrical attack that Thomas had used while under the power of Dominion, she was in near perfect condition.
Rebecca grabbed onto Thomas's hands only to have him pull them back quickly in pain. 'Thomas? I didn't mean to hurt you.'
"It's nothing that you could have stopped." Thomas stated looking at his burned fingers. "Under the effects of Dominion, I temporally have complete access to my full range of abilities, but at this point, my body can't handle that much electricity flowing through it. My focus points discharged a lot more electricity that I could handle and this is the result. It'll be healed in just a day, maybe two. Like I told you before, flesh wounds are easy to heal up. I didn't lose any skin or really damage my cells; they'll heal up fast enough."
"Just what exactly are you?" Sara stated getting down on hr knees beside Thomas.
"Nothing that you need to know about." Thomas quickly stated.
'Soular, please. Even you have your limits. You could use the help.' Arceus continued to smile as she took a seat.
"Radara is all the help I need." Thomas stated.
'Thomas, I must agree with Arceus this time. I trust her judgment that she means us no harm. She is worried genuinely worried about you.' Radara's voice filled the room this time drawing a confused look from Sarah.
"Thomas, just what's going on? Please tell me." Sara asked again, her voice much calmer this time.
'Soular, tell her.' Arceus asked kindly knowing that he would not continue to refuse her for long.
"Fine, but please... just stop calling me by that name." Thomas replied. "I guess I can't hold anything back this time. Where should I start?"
"Thomas, what are you?" Sarah asked.
"I am a watcher, a child of Arceus. It's my job to protect the legendaries. I've been doing this for the past thousand years." Thomas replied.
"Wait, thousand years? But how can that be. We've known each other since we were little kids." Sara questioned.
"Like all the other Legendaries, I'm immortal. Every 120 years, I reincarnate into my next body to lead a new life. Radara does the same thing. What really separates my immortality from the other Legendaries though is the length of our cycles and how long we live after our new body is formed. I'll live a few days, a week at most after my new body is formed, but the other legendaries live 500 year life spans, often living several years past the creation of their new bodies to teach themselves who they are and what they are capable of." Thomas stated.
"Huh? What do you mean reincarnate? I thought immortality was the ability to live forever." Sara asked.
'Have you ever heard the saying no one lives forever. It was started by the first few generations of immortals, a reminder to our kind. Even Arceus must reincarnate, but her life span is much longer then the rest of us. Instead, our memories and mental traits are all passed down to our next body.' Radara explained. 'As a matter of fact, the blue moon that the festival above us is celebrating is actually the warning sign that someone will reincarnate soon.'
"Then you mean to tell me that one of the legendary pokemon are going to reincarnate soon. Who is it?" Sara turned towards Arceus mistaking Radara's voice for hers.
'Sara, I was talking just now. Not Arceus.' Radara stated.
"Wait, you mean to tell me that was you. You're the first psychic pokemon that has ever really talked to me." Sara turned to face Radara now.
'In most cases, the human must share a bond with their psychic pokemon before they can truly talk with each other, but I'm much more powerful then your average psychic.' Radara explained. 'As for the next one to reincarnate, that would be...'
An unexpected beeping sounded causing everyone to look towards Thomas as he pulled out his PokeNav. "Enough for now Radara, we should leave this for a later time. We need to get back to the campsite before the others come looking for us." Thomas tried to rise as if he had never been shot in the first place, but as soon as he took two steps, he collapsed over in pain. Rebecca and Sarah both rush to his side at the same time, but Rebecca helped Thomas up before Sarah could do anything however. Once more Sarah noticed how close and protective she was being with Thomas.
Then it hit her all at once how protective and close Thomas and Rebecca really were with each other. "Please Thomas tell me. I need to know." She paused knowing what the answer might be. Although the thought of a human and a pokemon sharing such a powerful relationship with each other did not exactly disgust her, after all she had a met a few people with such relationships, the thought that Thomas had fallen in love with someone else was disappointing. "Are you and Rebecca ... are you both together."
Thomas just sits there in silence as Arceus looks on with an understanding smile on her face. Her next words shared with Thomas and Thomas alone. 'I'm happy for you, my son. After all these years, you have finally found love once again. I know you have tried to shield yourself from it, because of the pain it has caused you the last time, but it was not your fault.' Still Thomas sits there knowing that he can't hide anything from her, not even the doubt he still feels even know from the memories of the reason he had cast off love and the many other possible things that could happen because of who he was. However, when she turns to face and look into Rebecca's mind, she senses nothing but concern and care for her injured mate. 'Thomas, you are lucky to have found such a caring mate. You have my blessings.' She smiled at her son. Though neither Sarah nor Rebecca could tell, both Radara and Thomas could feel the joy coming from Arcues.
Thomas looked over to Sarah. "Sarah..." Before Thomas could answer her, the group of them heard shouting from down one of the passages. Everyone immediately looked down the passage seeing a few dull lights. "We have to move." Thomas quickly rose to his feet again before once again falling down onto one knee. Rebecca went to help again, but he stood up before she had the chance, his eyes just barely giving off a dull glow as he tired to accelerate the healing process. "Any ideas on how we can get out here?" Thomas asked though clenched teeth.
Sarah was the first to say something. " Uh what do we do about Arceus? Most of these passages are too small for her."
"We have to move though. There's now way she can stay here. If that other group got out, they could make a call and have this whole mountain filled with Rockets." Thomas stated, his body still in great pain but he was determined to complete his task.
"It's not like we can just walk out of the cave with her with her in tow and not have some trainer try and capture her." Sarah just looks up at Arceus still in partial disbelief at what she is seeing. Her mother had always been a big time believer in Arceus and the direct religion that followed Arceus, which she just found out that the church had incorrectly guessed at her gender all this time mistaking her for a him. Not only that, but looking at her now, she couldn't help but think about what else the church her mother had always raised her under was wrong about. She had always had her doubts about it, but now she was standing before the real thing. Now that she was actually thinking about it, it was just too much for her take in at once.
Sensing Sarah's confusion and doubt, Arceus looks towards her again. 'They took many liberates young one, with what I have told them over the years and have twisted my words to suit there needs, though I would have liked for them to not follow my words so blindly. I tried to make sure that it was understood that I wanted humans and pokemon to live in harmony, but others wanted it to be different. It was that kind of thoughts that led to the War of Legends. Though I do have hope that one day you all will see that you have more in common then what you realize.'
Sarah simply stands there as she takes all this in. Thomas looks back at her then looks at Arcues. "You could have waited till later to explain that to her. Despite her being open minded towards things, I think that was too much for even her to take in. It's not everyday you have God tell you most of what they taught you was wrong. Her mother was very religious and tried her best to pass that on to Sarah."
Rebecca smiles a bit. 'Sorta like you Thomas never telling me what you were. Always thinking about protecting others before your self.' She looks towards his wounds even though he has been healed somewhat she can still see the scaring on his body.
Radara brings them all out of the discussion at hand though reminding them of what was going on. 'Never mind that right now, we can discuss this later. Right now we have to leave this mountain. The question is how are we going to protect you from all those trainers, we can't just simply put you into a pokeball now mind you.'
'Why not Radara?' Thomas just looks at her with a slight look of confusion. 'It's not they can really do much to me despite how much humans have advanced and how much power they have seemed to achieve with their science. I may still not have recovered completely from the war, but I am still far more powerful then many give me credit for. With each passing incarnation, I regain some of my power. They cannot hope to control me with their little toys. The would only be able to be to restrain me for a limited time. Besides, I have always wondered what it is like in such a device. I can't really see any reason why you have always hated them so much. I have been told that they aren't that bad from the others who have been caught for a short time by trainers. We have always escaped before when we did not wish to serve a human.' Arceus states looking towards Radara tilting her head just a bit. 'Your still not afraid of enclosed spaces are you? Surely after five incarnations, you must have overcome your fear by now.'
Thomas is just a bit surprised by her sudden decision. "Well, you're still weak from that battle, maybe you should think this through a bit more."
'I see no reason that it would cause me any harm.' Arceus responds calmly.
'Don't say I didn't warn you Arcues.' Radara chimes in. Walking over to Arceus, Thomas pulls out the only spare Pokeball he had and gently taps it to Arceus's body. In a bright flash of red light, Arceus vanishes as the ball closes shaking fiercely. Seconds later though, a few sparks encase the ball as Thomas quickly throws it away from the group before the device explodes and Arceus returns to standing before them. "Ok that didn't work."
'Well, that was different, a tad bit confined. I did enjoy the silence though, although it was only for a few seconds.' Arcues proudly states.
Sarah brought out her stupor by this as she quickly realized a small fact. "Thomas did you just use a regular pokeball?"
"Yea, why do ask?" Thomas asked.
"Because stupid you can only catch weak pokemon with them. I seriously doubt Arcues is that weak. Despite what you say, I think you need an ultra ball or at that a masterball to catch....I mean transport Arcues." She catches herself realizing she was going to refer to Arcues as normal pokemon. " I am so sorry about that, I do't know what came over me." She hurries up and bows.
'It is ok child I know you meant no disrespect in your words.' Her words bring great comfort to Sarah.
Sarah thinks for a minute., but comes up blank as the group hears another slightly louder shouting from down one of the halls. Then Radara presents an idea. 'Arceus, have you regained the ability to transform again?'
Arcues turns and looks at Radara for a second as she smiles at him 'Why yes child I can.'
Thomas catches something subtle from Arcues's words and how she gave him a brief look but before he can even voice his opinion or anything, she was surrounded by a bright light. Acrues quickly shrinks in size almost down to the same size as Sarah. As light fades away, Arcues is now standing before them appearing as a human. Sarah just looked on in a bit of shock at how close Arceus's human body looked like Thomas's. Standing side by side like they were, Sarah could see that they shared the same color blue eyes and black hair, and expect for the obvious gender differences, they looked like perfect twins. Arceus had even chosen to copy the same style of clothing that Thomas himself was wearing. Thomas gave a small sigh as another louder shout reminded them all of what was going on.
"They're almost here. Come on and let's get going." Sarah says with urgency.
Rebecca tries to help Thomas once more as he tries to stand on his own and still stumbles a bit. She growls at his stubbornness and goes to try to pick him up to just carry, but before she can, his eyes give off a powerful glow. Arceus quickly takes note of the soft glow around his legs. 'Is that, Psychic? Quiet an interesting use of the attack.' She states.
"Come on. Living as long as we have, you should know that I've learned a few tricks." Thomas stated. "Learning to use Psychic to increase my own physical abilities may have taken a while, but it has served its purpose well." Thomas explained.
'You do know-' Arceus started.
"That this will hit me hard later? Yea, I figured that one out when I was still perfecting the use of it." Thomas finished as he stumbled just a bit before he stood up straight. "Come on, let's go."
They hear some shouts and harsh language behind them as they venture father into the cave. After a few wrong turns and dead ends they finaly get out of the caves but not where they wanted to be.
"Great." Sarah looks over the edge of the cliff they found themselves standing at as the shouting once again starts to grow louder behind them. "Are we suppose to climb down or what?"
"Not in my condition. I'm pushing my limits just walking right now." Thomas states. "And I don't that Radara could teleport us all down there before our friends arrive."
As a small argument breaks out about how to get down, Arcues simply looks to the sky and smiles. The sound of wings fills the air as a large flock of various flying pokemon rise up from the trees around the mountain towards the cliff. Thomas passes Arcues a quick look. Arcues smiles at them. 'I asked them if they would mind assisting us get down safely. They're more than willing to help.'
A pair of large Fearow each held out their legs as they held their position letting Thomas and Sarah grab on while a Pidgeot came down and let Arceus take hold in the same manor. A pair of Pidgeotto came down and helped Rebecca down while a Spearow assisted Radara. Once they lot of them had been safely let down on the ground, the group thanked the birds for their help before they flew off to return to their nests.
'Well, I think I should be getting along. I promised Ho-oh that I would be there to watch the up coming meteor shower with her.' Arceus stated as she took a few steps back. 'I do hope that you will help my son with his quest Sarah. And Thomas, try to treat her kindly.'
"Hey wait." Before Thomas had a reach chance to voice his opinions however, Arceus's body gave off a massive flash as she returned to her natural body and then vanished.
Thomas just looked down at Radara. "There's no avoiding this is their?" Thomas asked.
'I'm quiet sure that your mother just indirectly told you to let her travel with us.' Radara replied.
"So Thomas, where are we headed next?" Sarah smiled at Radara's words.
"I guess we're camping down here for the night." Thomas stated. "There's no way I'm making it back up that mountain." Thomas walked to a large fallen tree and took a seat as his eyes stopped glowing. Rebecca was quickly able to see the sudden shift in his aura knowing that he was once again in pain.
"Camping here? But all of our things are up on the summit?" Sarah questioned.
"Radara, think you can get our things back without drawing attention?" Thomas asked.
'We set up camp far enough back that it shouldn't be a problem. I'll be able to bring back our things, but I don't think that I can teleport Juno back with me.' Radara informed then.
"And what about my friends. They'll notice that we've disappeared." Sarah stated.
'In a celebration as large as this, you would be surprised how easily minds can be influenced. Very few people will be truly concerned with trying to shield their thoughts with so many fun things around them.' Radara explained. 'The simple thought that family issues have come up is easily accepted by many and should be enough to convince them of our early retreat from the celebration.'
"She does have a point. The trick to influencing others at times like this is to give vague, easily accepted excuses. As distracted as they will be with the celebration, they should hopefully readily accept the thought as truth." Thomas stated.
"I hope you're right." Sarah stated.
"As for Juno, we both know that she enjoys mountain climbing. Just let her make her own way down the mountain, but be sure she knows that we'll be leaving in around midday tomorrow. The sooner I head to a hospital for a quick check up, the better." Thomas said as Radara prepared to teleport up the mountain.
"I'll be sure to let her know." Radara replied just before she vanished.
"So, Thomas, tell me more about what you are." Sarah asked.
"Fine. What do you want to know?" Thomas replied finally starting to accept the fact that he would have a new traveling companion for a long while.
"Let's start with just what all you can do." Sarah stated as she took a seat beside Thomas. With nothing else to really do while he waited for Radara to return, Thomas began explaining what all he was and just what all he could do to Sarah. Rebecca also leaned in to listen since Thomas had not explained everything to her yet either.
xXx
Some where near Mount Moon, sunset...
"Lord Luis. I have great news. Dex's hunch was right. The boy was at the festival." A man came running up to a clearing that held a campsite in the forest just south of Mount Moon, the campfire just barely providing enough light.
"You confirmed that is the Jackson then." A larger man stood up, a massive blue cloak covered most of his body as well as hiding his face.
"Yes we have. I was easily able to identify the Ninetales that the records spoke of, it had the same scar on its stomach that the picture of them had. He seems to have picked up a few more friends as well. I've sent James to keep an eye on him, but I haven't heard from him since he followed Jackson down the mountain and into the cave system." The first man stated.
"We should attack him now, before he has the chance to disappear again." A woman stood up wearing a similar cloak as the larger of the two men.
"No, we have no way to tell if he has reached his full abilities yet. We'll call forth the others and then with the full power of the knights, we shall be rid of this scum." The larger man stated. "Send the call out. And make sure we have enough of the poison to coat all of our weapons this time. It may be the only way to weaken him if he has reached his full power."
"I noticed that one of the people he arrived seemed to have a strong dislike towards him. It would appear that Jackson has influenced a girl that this young man has taken an interest in. Shall I track him down and bring him here." The smaller man asked.
"Yes, we will need as much information about Jackson as we can get. Perhaps this young man may know something we can use." The larger man stated.
"I shall track him down at once." The smaller man bowed before running back towards Mount Moon.
"If he has influenced others, we will to be prepared to subdue them or in a worst case scenario, be prepared to kill if their minds are too far gone." The woman stated.
"I understand this, but he is the last of his kind. By killing him, we will have rid the world of those traitors at last." The large man smiled.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Only the idea and OC's.
Author Notes:
-- This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.
xXx This will identify where each paragraph breaks.
'Character Thought'
(Pokemon speech)
Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon, never have, never will. Only the idea and OCs behind the story are mine.
Co-author: Catsithx
xXx
Chapter 8
Thomas stood still, looking at the bullet that had been caught inside the light green wall that Radara had put up. The Rocket leader fired another few shots, but unlike the first one which had been caught inside the defensive move, all of the other bullets had been stopped by the attack.
"Thomas?" Sarah shouted as she entered the chamber with Rebecca. With unexpected event drew the attention of both Thomas and Radara who looked over to see who had called out the name. Seeing his chance, the Rocket leader fired one last shot. Thomas's head turned just in time to see the bullet before it flew through his chest. It passed cleanly through his chest as Thomas looked down at the small hole.
'Thomas?!' Rebecca shouted as Thomas fell to his knees.
In retaliation to the Rocket leader's attack Radara fired another psychic blast right above the small passage that the Rockets had started to retreat down. There was a large blast as smoke and the sounds of collapsing rock filled the chamber.
'Thomas, answer me!' Rebecca shouted trying to use her aura sight to find Thomas as the rocks and dust continued to flood the chamber. Try as she might, she could not find Thomas's aura in the chamber, just her own, Sarah's and three others that mirrored each other,she also saw an aura one which she had never seen before.
A strong blast of air blew the smoke out of the chamber revealing Thomas in his kneeling position using an arm to support himself. Looking over to find the source of the wind, Sarah was shocked to find Arceus slowly walking towards them, her large golden ring almost appearing on fire. "Arceus? Here?" Sarah just couldn't believe the sight before her. Rebecca on the other hand was too focused on Thomas too notice her. Rebecca was quickly at his side helping him up. She was confused though seeing his body, but with another's aura. Sarah went to take a step closer to Arceus. Radara immediately took a space between Sarah and Arceus though.
'You may step down Radara she means me no harm. Like most, she is just surprised to see me in the flesh.' A soft voice sounded throughout the room. As this voice sounded, the flames surrounding the ring around Arceus's midsection died down some, as did the glow in Radara's eyes. Radara stumbled for a bit in the middle of the step she was taking before she recovered and took a look around.
'Sarah!' Radara turned to face Arceus and then looked over to Thomas and Rebecca before returning her gaze to Sarah.
'Thomas, please get up.' Rebecca once again tried to help Thomas up, but he didn't stay up for long.
Arceus walked over to them smiling to herself as she approached. 'Calm down little one, he will be fine.'
Rebecca was surprised by the sudden voice about her and she quickly turned around to see Arceus standing over her. 'Arceus?'
'Just relax.' Arceus moved even closer now standing over him. Thomas looked up at her as her ring light up brightly. As the ring burned brighter, small bolts of electricity began to dance over his feet and hands. The smell of burnt flesh began to drift off Thomas as his finger tips began to spark, but the small bleeding hole in his chest scabbed over and closed a bit before it stopped healing and the sparks left his body. The flames on Arceus's ring also dissipated. Thomas closed his eyes and when they opened back, they were once again his. He shook his head quickly looking to his chest moving his shirt aside to see the full extent of the damage. It wasn't until he looked up and saw Rebecca standing beside Arceus that became fully aware of what all had taken place.
"Rebecca? Sarah? What are you doing here?" Thomas half shouted as he quickly tried to get up only to fall backwards still tired from the effects of Dominion.
"Thomas, what's going on?" Sarah asked.
'Relax, my child. I do not feel threatened by her presence.' Arceus's voice filled the minds of those around her.
"Wait, child?" Sarah looked to Arceus confused by the words.
"How did you find me? I thought you were all up at the festival." Thomas asked.
"Thomas, what's going on here. You know Arceus? And what about that guy who shot you. You should be dead." Sara exclaimed.
"Arceus, can't you do something? She does not need to know about this." Thomas countered looking up to Arceus as Rebecca once again returned to his side.
'Thomas, what happened?' Rebecca demanded.
"Thomas, tell me what's going on." Sara raised her voice demanding an answer.
"Nothing that you need to know about." Thomas replied pointing to Sara.
Arceus laughed a bit seeing how quickly Thomas was trying to lead Sara away much like he had done with Diana in his previous incarnation. 'Please calm down Soular. I sense that she may be willing to help you. As the last of children, you can use the help.'
"Please don't call me that name... I no longer deserve it." Thomas quickly turned his head away with a slight look of sadness on his face.
'Why not my son. You have always accepted the name I have given you. Why do choose to deny it now in these recent incarnations.' Arceus questioned kneeling on her front legs to look Thomas in the face.
"That was the name of the child you gave birth to long ago, I am not that man." Thomas stated as his head began to pound again.
'Thomas? Thomas are you alright?' Rebecca asked as she kneeled beside Thomas as well to try and look at his face.
'You will always be Soular, the one I gave birth to many generations ago. Despite the fact that you have changed, you will always be my son.' Arceus softened her tone sensing the doubt and confusion in Thomas's mind.
'Thomas please. What happened here?' Rebecca pleaded with Thomas wanting to know what had happened.
"Rebecca, I'm fine. It was clean shot though my chest and it barely even touched my heart. It's not that serious of an injury thanks to the power of Dominion." Thomas quickly stated looking at his hands and the electrical burns on his fingers he had in a way given to himself. "I'll just need a week or two to finish healing these wounds."
"Wait, you mean you got shot through the heart?" Sarah shouted. "How are you still standing?"
"I said it barely touched my heart, it didn't go through it." Thomas countered.
'Arceus, you can't seriously be thinking that. The last time you allowed another to join us like that, they nearly sold Thomas to that group of hunters working for those religious fools who call themselves the Knights of Arceus.' Radara quickly stated.
"What? Oh no, I'm not letting another join me as a partner, not after what happened with Jane." Thomas strictly stated.
'And yet you let Diana assist you and she is still even assisting you know.' Arceus countered.
"Someone please tell me what's going on." Sara demanded.
"Diana is not my traveling companion. From what I gather, my father knew his incarnation was coming up and decided that she could help him that way since she wanted to help him so much." Thomas stated.
'Sara, I sense that you like Thomas a lot. Do you think that you could be a help to him on his journey?' Arceus turned to face a Sara.
"Help him. Help him do what?" Sara asked.
'As the last of my children, Thomas is forced to act as the protector for all the legendary pokemon much like myself.' Arceus began. 'Being the last of his kind, I feel that he could once again use some help since the attacks against us are becoming more frequent over these last few decades.'
"No. For that last time no. It's my job and not hers." Thomas stated. "She shouldn't even have been down here." Thomas fell down to one knee clutching his chest.
'Thomas?! Are you okay?' Rebecca asked.
"Healing a wounded heart is one of the most stressful and painful tasks there are. Why couldn't he have just shot me a little bit more to the right? A lung shot wouldn't have hurt this bad." Thomas stated as he backed up against the cave wall.
"How the hell are you still alive?" Sara rushed over. "You claim to have been shot in the heart, but how is that possible. You should have bled out by now."
'He is my child.' Arceus explained. 'Much like myself, you'd be surprised what we can live through. Some would say that curse however is to live with the pain of death.'
"Trust me, at times I've considered taking the option of death over some of the injuries I've taken." Thomas stated as he breathing started to relax. "Man, this is going to take a week to heal up." Thomas moved his shirt aside taking a better look at the wound. A small line of dried blood was visible leading down his chest from the entry wound, but the wound itself still looked a bit bad. Although it had completely scabbed over, the wound went straight through his body. "Damn it, I think he cracked a rib too. Radara, you were burned to bad were you?"
'I am fine.' Radara stated finally looking over her own body. Aside from a few patches of singed fur from that final electrical attack that Thomas had used while under the power of Dominion, she was in near perfect condition.
Rebecca grabbed onto Thomas's hands only to have him pull them back quickly in pain. 'Thomas? I didn't mean to hurt you.'
"It's nothing that you could have stopped." Thomas stated looking at his burned fingers. "Under the effects of Dominion, I temporally have complete access to my full range of abilities, but at this point, my body can't handle that much electricity flowing through it. My focus points discharged a lot more electricity that I could handle and this is the result. It'll be healed in just a day, maybe two. Like I told you before, flesh wounds are easy to heal up. I didn't lose any skin or really damage my cells; they'll heal up fast enough."
"Just what exactly are you?" Sara stated getting down on hr knees beside Thomas.
"Nothing that you need to know about." Thomas quickly stated.
'Soular, please. Even you have your limits. You could use the help.' Arceus continued to smile as she took a seat.
"Radara is all the help I need." Thomas stated.
'Thomas, I must agree with Arceus this time. I trust her judgment that she means us no harm. She is worried genuinely worried about you.' Radara's voice filled the room this time drawing a confused look from Sarah.
"Thomas, just what's going on? Please tell me." Sara asked again, her voice much calmer this time.
'Soular, tell her.' Arceus asked kindly knowing that he would not continue to refuse her for long.
"Fine, but please... just stop calling me by that name." Thomas replied. "I guess I can't hold anything back this time. Where should I start?"
"Thomas, what are you?" Sarah asked.
"I am a watcher, a child of Arceus. It's my job to protect the legendaries. I've been doing this for the past thousand years." Thomas replied.
"Wait, thousand years? But how can that be. We've known each other since we were little kids." Sara questioned.
"Like all the other Legendaries, I'm immortal. Every 120 years, I reincarnate into my next body to lead a new life. Radara does the same thing. What really separates my immortality from the other Legendaries though is the length of our cycles and how long we live after our new body is formed. I'll live a few days, a week at most after my new body is formed, but the other legendaries live 500 year life spans, often living several years past the creation of their new bodies to teach themselves who they are and what they are capable of." Thomas stated.
"Huh? What do you mean reincarnate? I thought immortality was the ability to live forever." Sara asked.
'Have you ever heard the saying no one lives forever. It was started by the first few generations of immortals, a reminder to our kind. Even Arceus must reincarnate, but her life span is much longer then the rest of us. Instead, our memories and mental traits are all passed down to our next body.' Radara explained. 'As a matter of fact, the blue moon that the festival above us is celebrating is actually the warning sign that someone will reincarnate soon.'
"Then you mean to tell me that one of the legendary pokemon are going to reincarnate soon. Who is it?" Sara turned towards Arceus mistaking Radara's voice for hers.
'Sara, I was talking just now. Not Arceus.' Radara stated.
"Wait, you mean to tell me that was you. You're the first psychic pokemon that has ever really talked to me." Sara turned to face Radara now.
'In most cases, the human must share a bond with their psychic pokemon before they can truly talk with each other, but I'm much more powerful then your average psychic.' Radara explained. 'As for the next one to reincarnate, that would be...'
An unexpected beeping sounded causing everyone to look towards Thomas as he pulled out his PokeNav. "Enough for now Radara, we should leave this for a later time. We need to get back to the campsite before the others come looking for us." Thomas tried to rise as if he had never been shot in the first place, but as soon as he took two steps, he collapsed over in pain. Rebecca and Sarah both rush to his side at the same time, but Rebecca helped Thomas up before Sarah could do anything however. Once more Sarah noticed how close and protective she was being with Thomas.
Then it hit her all at once how protective and close Thomas and Rebecca really were with each other. "Please Thomas tell me. I need to know." She paused knowing what the answer might be. Although the thought of a human and a pokemon sharing such a powerful relationship with each other did not exactly disgust her, after all she had a met a few people with such relationships, the thought that Thomas had fallen in love with someone else was disappointing. "Are you and Rebecca ... are you both together."
Thomas just sits there in silence as Arceus looks on with an understanding smile on her face. Her next words shared with Thomas and Thomas alone. 'I'm happy for you, my son. After all these years, you have finally found love once again. I know you have tried to shield yourself from it, because of the pain it has caused you the last time, but it was not your fault.' Still Thomas sits there knowing that he can't hide anything from her, not even the doubt he still feels even know from the memories of the reason he had cast off love and the many other possible things that could happen because of who he was. However, when she turns to face and look into Rebecca's mind, she senses nothing but concern and care for her injured mate. 'Thomas, you are lucky to have found such a caring mate. You have my blessings.' She smiled at her son. Though neither Sarah nor Rebecca could tell, both Radara and Thomas could feel the joy coming from Arcues.
Thomas looked over to Sarah. "Sarah..." Before Thomas could answer her, the group of them heard shouting from down one of the passages. Everyone immediately looked down the passage seeing a few dull lights. "We have to move." Thomas quickly rose to his feet again before once again falling down onto one knee. Rebecca went to help again, but he stood up before she had the chance, his eyes just barely giving off a dull glow as he tired to accelerate the healing process. "Any ideas on how we can get out here?" Thomas asked though clenched teeth.
Sarah was the first to say something. " Uh what do we do about Arceus? Most of these passages are too small for her."
"We have to move though. There's now way she can stay here. If that other group got out, they could make a call and have this whole mountain filled with Rockets." Thomas stated, his body still in great pain but he was determined to complete his task.
"It's not like we can just walk out of the cave with her with her in tow and not have some trainer try and capture her." Sarah just looks up at Arceus still in partial disbelief at what she is seeing. Her mother had always been a big time believer in Arceus and the direct religion that followed Arceus, which she just found out that the church had incorrectly guessed at her gender all this time mistaking her for a him. Not only that, but looking at her now, she couldn't help but think about what else the church her mother had always raised her under was wrong about. She had always had her doubts about it, but now she was standing before the real thing. Now that she was actually thinking about it, it was just too much for her take in at once.
Sensing Sarah's confusion and doubt, Arceus looks towards her again. 'They took many liberates young one, with what I have told them over the years and have twisted my words to suit there needs, though I would have liked for them to not follow my words so blindly. I tried to make sure that it was understood that I wanted humans and pokemon to live in harmony, but others wanted it to be different. It was that kind of thoughts that led to the War of Legends. Though I do have hope that one day you all will see that you have more in common then what you realize.'
Sarah simply stands there as she takes all this in. Thomas looks back at her then looks at Arcues. "You could have waited till later to explain that to her. Despite her being open minded towards things, I think that was too much for even her to take in. It's not everyday you have God tell you most of what they taught you was wrong. Her mother was very religious and tried her best to pass that on to Sarah."
Rebecca smiles a bit. 'Sorta like you Thomas never telling me what you were. Always thinking about protecting others before your self.' She looks towards his wounds even though he has been healed somewhat she can still see the scaring on his body.
Radara brings them all out of the discussion at hand though reminding them of what was going on. 'Never mind that right now, we can discuss this later. Right now we have to leave this mountain. The question is how are we going to protect you from all those trainers, we can't just simply put you into a pokeball now mind you.'
'Why not Radara?' Thomas just looks at her with a slight look of confusion. 'It's not they can really do much to me despite how much humans have advanced and how much power they have seemed to achieve with their science. I may still not have recovered completely from the war, but I am still far more powerful then many give me credit for. With each passing incarnation, I regain some of my power. They cannot hope to control me with their little toys. The would only be able to be to restrain me for a limited time. Besides, I have always wondered what it is like in such a device. I can't really see any reason why you have always hated them so much. I have been told that they aren't that bad from the others who have been caught for a short time by trainers. We have always escaped before when we did not wish to serve a human.' Arceus states looking towards Radara tilting her head just a bit. 'Your still not afraid of enclosed spaces are you? Surely after five incarnations, you must have overcome your fear by now.'
Thomas is just a bit surprised by her sudden decision. "Well, you're still weak from that battle, maybe you should think this through a bit more."
'I see no reason that it would cause me any harm.' Arceus responds calmly.
'Don't say I didn't warn you Arcues.' Radara chimes in. Walking over to Arceus, Thomas pulls out the only spare Pokeball he had and gently taps it to Arceus's body. In a bright flash of red light, Arceus vanishes as the ball closes shaking fiercely. Seconds later though, a few sparks encase the ball as Thomas quickly throws it away from the group before the device explodes and Arceus returns to standing before them. "Ok that didn't work."
'Well, that was different, a tad bit confined. I did enjoy the silence though, although it was only for a few seconds.' Arcues proudly states.
Sarah brought out her stupor by this as she quickly realized a small fact. "Thomas did you just use a regular pokeball?"
"Yea, why do ask?" Thomas asked.
"Because stupid you can only catch weak pokemon with them. I seriously doubt Arcues is that weak. Despite what you say, I think you need an ultra ball or at that a masterball to catch....I mean transport Arcues." She catches herself realizing she was going to refer to Arcues as normal pokemon. " I am so sorry about that, I do't know what came over me." She hurries up and bows.
'It is ok child I know you meant no disrespect in your words.' Her words bring great comfort to Sarah.
Sarah thinks for a minute., but comes up blank as the group hears another slightly louder shouting from down one of the halls. Then Radara presents an idea. 'Arceus, have you regained the ability to transform again?'
Arcues turns and looks at Radara for a second as she smiles at him 'Why yes child I can.'
Thomas catches something subtle from Arcues's words and how she gave him a brief look but before he can even voice his opinion or anything, she was surrounded by a bright light. Acrues quickly shrinks in size almost down to the same size as Sarah. As light fades away, Arcues is now standing before them appearing as a human. Sarah just looked on in a bit of shock at how close Arceus's human body looked like Thomas's. Standing side by side like they were, Sarah could see that they shared the same color blue eyes and black hair, and expect for the obvious gender differences, they looked like perfect twins. Arceus had even chosen to copy the same style of clothing that Thomas himself was wearing. Thomas gave a small sigh as another louder shout reminded them all of what was going on.
"They're almost here. Come on and let's get going." Sarah says with urgency.
Rebecca tries to help Thomas once more as he tries to stand on his own and still stumbles a bit. She growls at his stubbornness and goes to try to pick him up to just carry, but before she can, his eyes give off a powerful glow. Arceus quickly takes note of the soft glow around his legs. 'Is that, Psychic? Quiet an interesting use of the attack.' She states.
"Come on. Living as long as we have, you should know that I've learned a few tricks." Thomas stated. "Learning to use Psychic to increase my own physical abilities may have taken a while, but it has served its purpose well." Thomas explained.
'You do know-' Arceus started.
"That this will hit me hard later? Yea, I figured that one out when I was still perfecting the use of it." Thomas finished as he stumbled just a bit before he stood up straight. "Come on, let's go."
They hear some shouts and harsh language behind them as they venture father into the cave. After a few wrong turns and dead ends they finaly get out of the caves but not where they wanted to be.
"Great." Sarah looks over the edge of the cliff they found themselves standing at as the shouting once again starts to grow louder behind them. "Are we suppose to climb down or what?"
"Not in my condition. I'm pushing my limits just walking right now." Thomas states. "And I don't that Radara could teleport us all down there before our friends arrive."
As a small argument breaks out about how to get down, Arcues simply looks to the sky and smiles. The sound of wings fills the air as a large flock of various flying pokemon rise up from the trees around the mountain towards the cliff. Thomas passes Arcues a quick look. Arcues smiles at them. 'I asked them if they would mind assisting us get down safely. They're more than willing to help.'
A pair of large Fearow each held out their legs as they held their position letting Thomas and Sarah grab on while a Pidgeot came down and let Arceus take hold in the same manor. A pair of Pidgeotto came down and helped Rebecca down while a Spearow assisted Radara. Once they lot of them had been safely let down on the ground, the group thanked the birds for their help before they flew off to return to their nests.
'Well, I think I should be getting along. I promised Ho-oh that I would be there to watch the up coming meteor shower with her.' Arceus stated as she took a few steps back. 'I do hope that you will help my son with his quest Sarah. And Thomas, try to treat her kindly.'
"Hey wait." Before Thomas had a reach chance to voice his opinions however, Arceus's body gave off a massive flash as she returned to her natural body and then vanished.
Thomas just looked down at Radara. "There's no avoiding this is their?" Thomas asked.
'I'm quiet sure that your mother just indirectly told you to let her travel with us.' Radara replied.
"So Thomas, where are we headed next?" Sarah smiled at Radara's words.
"I guess we're camping down here for the night." Thomas stated. "There's no way I'm making it back up that mountain." Thomas walked to a large fallen tree and took a seat as his eyes stopped glowing. Rebecca was quickly able to see the sudden shift in his aura knowing that he was once again in pain.
"Camping here? But all of our things are up on the summit?" Sarah questioned.
"Radara, think you can get our things back without drawing attention?" Thomas asked.
'We set up camp far enough back that it shouldn't be a problem. I'll be able to bring back our things, but I don't think that I can teleport Juno back with me.' Radara informed then.
"And what about my friends. They'll notice that we've disappeared." Sarah stated.
'In a celebration as large as this, you would be surprised how easily minds can be influenced. Very few people will be truly concerned with trying to shield their thoughts with so many fun things around them.' Radara explained. 'The simple thought that family issues have come up is easily accepted by many and should be enough to convince them of our early retreat from the celebration.'
"She does have a point. The trick to influencing others at times like this is to give vague, easily accepted excuses. As distracted as they will be with the celebration, they should hopefully readily accept the thought as truth." Thomas stated.
"I hope you're right." Sarah stated.
"As for Juno, we both know that she enjoys mountain climbing. Just let her make her own way down the mountain, but be sure she knows that we'll be leaving in around midday tomorrow. The sooner I head to a hospital for a quick check up, the better." Thomas said as Radara prepared to teleport up the mountain.
"I'll be sure to let her know." Radara replied just before she vanished.
"So, Thomas, tell me more about what you are." Sarah asked.
"Fine. What do you want to know?" Thomas replied finally starting to accept the fact that he would have a new traveling companion for a long while.
"Let's start with just what all you can do." Sarah stated as she took a seat beside Thomas. With nothing else to really do while he waited for Radara to return, Thomas began explaining what all he was and just what all he could do to Sarah. Rebecca also leaned in to listen since Thomas had not explained everything to her yet either.
xXx
Some where near Mount Moon, sunset...
"Lord Luis. I have great news. Dex's hunch was right. The boy was at the festival." A man came running up to a clearing that held a campsite in the forest just south of Mount Moon, the campfire just barely providing enough light.
"You confirmed that is the Jackson then." A larger man stood up, a massive blue cloak covered most of his body as well as hiding his face.
"Yes we have. I was easily able to identify the Ninetales that the records spoke of, it had the same scar on its stomach that the picture of them had. He seems to have picked up a few more friends as well. I've sent James to keep an eye on him, but I haven't heard from him since he followed Jackson down the mountain and into the cave system." The first man stated.
"We should attack him now, before he has the chance to disappear again." A woman stood up wearing a similar cloak as the larger of the two men.
"No, we have no way to tell if he has reached his full abilities yet. We'll call forth the others and then with the full power of the knights, we shall be rid of this scum." The larger man stated. "Send the call out. And make sure we have enough of the poison to coat all of our weapons this time. It may be the only way to weaken him if he has reached his full power."
"I noticed that one of the people he arrived seemed to have a strong dislike towards him. It would appear that Jackson has influenced a girl that this young man has taken an interest in. Shall I track him down and bring him here." The smaller man asked.
"Yes, we will need as much information about Jackson as we can get. Perhaps this young man may know something we can use." The larger man stated.
"I shall track him down at once." The smaller man bowed before running back towards Mount Moon.
"If he has influenced others, we will to be prepared to subdue them or in a worst case scenario, be prepared to kill if their minds are too far gone." The woman stated.
"I understand this, but he is the last of his kind. By killing him, we will have rid the world of those traitors at last." The large man smiled.