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Chapter Text

He could feel the sweat beading against his forehead. Indeed, even his palms felt slick. But he required absolute precision in his movements and actions as he snipped some of the silver fur away with his grooming shears. This was a delicate operation, where one errant twitch could end up harming the subject.

Thankfully, the subject in question was doing an incredible job of standing still.

His fur was a glossy, bright silver, and his eyes were a subdued gray. They both had a certain sparkle of light and life to them as the boy, Goh, continued to trim his fur.

It had only been about six days since the incident that caused this creature to come into Goh’s care, and even in that time he was showing remarkable improvements, having come from a place where he was greatly neglected. Goh rescued him from that situation, but not without entwining this creature, Argent, into his own troubles. But after everything was resolved, Argent agreed to join up with Goh and come under his care, entering a red-and-white capsule called a Poké Ball.

Poké Balls were miracles of technology, able to transform creatures from their solid, flesh-and-blood selves into light and energy, enabling them to be contained, carried, and easily cared for. A single Poké Ball could easily fit into one’s pocket. And thus, the beings that originally were called magical creatures centuries ago would end up becoming known as Pocket Monsters, though they were usually called Pokémon for short.

Even the modern Poké Ball was a fairly modern invention, being completely made of metal and plastics with a computerized circuit in place for security and transportation purposes. Older Poké Balls were made of wood and stone, and some even expelled steam!

Goh’s research into the subject of Poké Balls busied his mind while his hands focused on the task of trimming Argent's overly long hair. Sitting not too far from where Argent the Silver Eevee sat was a brown Eevee. While Argent’s rigid and rough tail pattern indicated that he was a male, this brown Eevee’s tail had a swooping curved pattern, indicating that she was a female. And though their differences in color and gender may have caused them to be separate, the other Eevee sat perfectly still, mimicking Argent’s every movement from the twitch of his ears to the movements of his tail. Even when Goh had to turn Argent’s head to reach a certain part of his fur, this Eevee turned her head in the same way.

She was an incredible mimic. Even the Mr. Mime that lived and worked in the lab would have trouble with all the subtleties of her performance.

But more than anything, this female Eevee made an excellent model for Goh to see exactly how to trim Argent’s fur. While Argent came from a neglectful home, she was the very image of health and being well cared for. It made sense that she would look exactly like the image of an Eevee in the Pokédex. The girl, a close friend of Goh’s from their shared childhood, made sure that her Pokémon was well taken care of.

He gently twisted Argent’s head from side to side and picked up a brush to help remove some loose hair from his Pokémon’s body. “And… there,” he said, giving the tail one more long brush. “I think we’re done!”

“ Eiebui? ” Argent asked, tilting his head.

“ Eievui? ” the girl’s Eevee said back.

Approaching from the side were two more of Goh’s Pokémon that had taken a shine to Argent. The first was his always friendly, doting Raichu, carrying a few sweet berries in her arms and tail to give to Argent as a treat for sitting so calmly while Goh brandished the scissors. Argent and Eevee immediately approached her as she set the berries down, and they both partook of the sweet, juicy fruits. Raichu smiled at the sight, wagging her own tail with a cry of “ Rai, raichu! ”

The other Pokémon that approached was Goh’s Voltorb. Much like how Argent’s colors were silver instead of standard Eevee brown, Voltorb was a striking cobalt blue instead of the standard crimson red. The two Pokémon had struck up a camaraderie over this common uncommonality, watching out for other Pokémon at the park who may prey upon those who were different.

Having his Pokémon bond over their differences rather than being harmed because of them was one of the best things about his job as a Research Fellow.

Goh put the trimming scissors into his pocket, standing up. “Alright, why don’t we see how Chloe’s doing?” he said to them.

At the mention of the girl’s name, Eevee leapt up excitedly and began racing off towards the entrance of the large dome that was the Cerise Park.

The Cerise Park was a climate controlled environment designed by the genius Professor Raymond Cerise to house the countless Pokémon that would have to be captured for his research into the Pokémon of every region. It was the crown jewel of the Cerise Research Laboratory that opened up only several months ago in Vermilion City, the largest port town of the Kanto Region. The existence of this park was the very reason that Professor Cerise sought to expand from his original, smaller laboratory to this larger facility which used to be a mansion belonging to a wealthy merchant many, many years ago.

Goh stepped through the door, holding it open for Argent, and they went through the glass archway that connected the park to the main building, stepping inside and heading to the building’s main foyer.

Nestled behind the stairs, right next to the door that led into the kitchen, was a small, black couch with pleather cushions. It was a perfect place to be while you were staying out of the laboratory proper while you waited, and Goh found Chloe sitting there, idly stroking her braid with one hand as she leaned back, holding up a book with another. She was dressed in her school uniform, having come back from Sunset Junior High a few hours prior. Sitting by her side looking completely satisfied was the small puppy Pokémon with the brown and white fur with a fold of yellow fur around his neck. His eyes were closed but his ears twitched as Goh, Eevee, and Argent stepped closer. 

Eevee leapt onto the couch next to Yamper and began pawing at the puppy's back.  Argent stood for a few moments before sitting at Goh’s feet as Chloe set her book to the side and looked down at the silver Eevee, her eyes going wide.

"Wow…! Look at you, Argent! You're looking a ton better!"

“ Eiebui! ”

He struck a pose, sticking his chest out and his tail up while putting a confident look on his face. Even if the breeder he came from didn’t take great care of him, it’s obvious that his pedigree came with a bit of pride.

“Yeah, he’s had plenty of rest and plenty of food to eat,” Goh said, grinning as he looked at the Pokémon. “I’m sure he can help me catch some Pokémon pretty soon.”

“ Eiebui! ”

He barked out again, still in accord with Goh.

Chloe giggled. “Well, I’m glad to see Argent doing so well,” she said. “I just wish everybody was getting all the rest they needed.”

As she said that, she looked around Goh towards the closed door to the laboratory. Inside, Professor Cerise as well as his two assistants were all still scouring books looking for clues about the strange, quietly glowing feather that Goh and his friends discovered in an ancient temple. Though they were followed in by three familiar members of Team Rocket, they were able to dispatch them without too much difficulty, and they recovered this feather from the temple’s deepest room. Goh was charged by Danika of the Project Mew team to get to the bottom of this feather’s significance, and to help him, the Professor and his assistants have been researching nearly around the clock.

“He was basically in a fugue state this morning,” Goh said. “I’m surprised he could even drive the car here.”

“Mom’s been brewing his coffee in the mornings a little bit stronger each day,” Chloe said.

“I think Mr. Mime’s got the same idea for the coffee he has here.”

Both teens sighed.

“I wonder if they’ll ever get a breakthrough…” Chloe said looking down, frowning sadly. “I just want my Dad back to normal…”

“I’m sure it’ll be soon,” Goh said, trying to encourage her. Goh reached a hand out towards her shoulder to try and comfort her, but as he did, a shout came from the laboratory.

“EUREKA!”

Goh quietly retracted his hand as the two of them turned to look at the closed doors leading into the laboratory. Beyond the door they heard a mad laughter as a trio of voices howled in victory. Goh and Chloe both shot each other a glance before Goh walked over to the door and opened it, Chloe close behind.

Opening the door, Goh saw Professor Cerise, Chrysa, and Ren all holding hands in a circle jumping for joy together, celebrating. The looks on their faces, however, told them that while they were happy, they were also completely exhausted from the weeks of searching.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “D-Dad…?” she asked. “Are you feeling alright?”

He looked over to her. “Oh, Chloe! There you are! And you brought Goh!”

Chloe stepped around behind Goh, who was the one who entered the room first after all.

“Did you find something, Professor?” he asked as Yamper, Eevee, and Argent all wandered into the room.

Professor Cerise’s grin widened to an almost unsettling degree. “We did. We did! We finally found the connection we needed to be certain! We’ve discovered the secrets of the Clear Wing!”

“That’s great!” Goh shouted before pausing. “Wait, what’s the Clear Wing?”
In response to Goh’s question, Professor Cerise gestured to the container on the small table in the corner of the room. It was a glass container provided to him by Project Mew to contain the object he recovered from the mission he was assigned to investigate the temple and it currently held said object. Within the glass there was a feather that looked to be plucked from a bird that glowed with soft, gentle light. The feather itself was as white as fresh snow.

“We discovered the name in a text about the nomadic people who lived in that area of Kanto many years ago,” he explained. “And we also learned where they migrated from just before they settled in the area nearby Fuchsia City, and as luck would have it, there are ruins in that area that are similar to the temple you all discovered near Stone Town!”

Goh frowned. “Wait, hold on. I think you’re a few too many steps ahead. There were nomadic people in Kanto?”

“You mean they were kinda mean, doin’ what they had to?”

The new voice joining the conversation belonged to the other Research Fellow that lived in the Cerise Research Laboratory. Dressed as usual for travel was Ash, and his partner, the mouse Pokémon Pikachu was on his shoulder, also like usual.

On the opposite shoulder, though, was Goh’s Grookey, who had wandered off sometime while Goh was trimming Argent’s fur. The chimp hopped over to Goh’s head cheerfully, and Goh responded by scratching the back of his head.

Chloe sighed. “That’s pragmatic, Ash. Nomadic means they didn’t have a set place where they lived. They traveled all around the Kanto Region.” She turned her attention to Goh. “And if you’d been keeping up with your studies, you’d have known about them.”
Goh laughed to himself. “Yeah, well… I guess I do remember talking about how people in Kanto used to all live in their own fiefs on their own back when we were headed to Stone Town…”

“ Grooki?”

“Anyway, there were obviously certain kinds of people who wouldn’t want to live in a fief ruled by a lord, so they began travelling instead,” Chloe explained. “They traveled all across Kanto, but eventually most of the mainland was taken up by other fiefs and so, the nomads, too, had to band together and form their own fief for protection. And the city that sprung up from that ended up being the precursor to Fuchsia City today.”

Ash frowned, rubbing his chin. “Did you learn anything about ninjas bein’ part of those nomads?” he asked.

Chloe shook her head. “No, but we did learn that there are several large ranches in the area that are still handled by the families that founded them even that long ago. I guess the spirit of independence is something that’s strong in that area of Kanto.”

Ash chuckled at the mention. “Yeah, it can be pretty wild in that part…”

Goh, however, wasn’t willing to be sidetracked. “Well, Professor Cerise, where did they migrate from?”

Chrysa and Ren both returned to the computers, now filled with a new energy. The professor turned towards them. “Can you bring up a map of the northern Kanto Region?” he asked.

“At once, Professor,” Chrysa responded, typing on her keyboard.

The holographic display that Professor Cerise stood in front of sprang to life, and on its floating lights there appeared a window that opened to a map of the northern stretches of the Kanto Region. Goh saw Pewter City and Mount Moon, two landmarks, on the southern side of the image. Professor Cerise pointed in the mountains north of there. “This area is called the Raizen Mountains. Apparently the nomadic people who eventually settled near Fuchsia City originally called this area of Kanto their home. And the tallest mountain in the Raizen Mountains is called Mount Tensei. That is where the ruins that are similar to the ones found near Stone Town are.”

Ash furrowed his brow. “Tensei and Raizen, huh…? Those names sound kinda familiar…” he said. “Where’ve I heard ‘em before..?”

Goh shrugged. “Well, you have been around the block a few times,” he said. 

“Mount Raizen is the tallest mountain in Kanto,” Chloe said. “It’s not quite as tall as Mount Silver, but it’s pretty close. Mount Coronet in Sinnoh’s probably the biggest mountain in the world, though.”

Goh put his hand to his chin, thinking deeply. “So, these ruins are similar to the Stone Town Temple, huh…?”

“What are you thinking, Goh?” Chloe asked.

“Just thinking about the legend we deciphered…” he said. “I wonder how that ties in…”

Professor Cerise gave them all a wide grin. “Well, there won’t be a better place for us to find out than heading there together, don’t you think, Goh?”

Goh’s eyes went wide. “You mean it? You’re coming with us this time, Professor Cerise?”

Professor Cerise grinned with a hint of malice. “We spent way too many days cooped up in the lab reading books to not go investigate the ruins in person, don’t you think?”

Ren and Chrysa nodded in unison.

Ash pumped his fists. “Great! I guess we’ll all head there in the morning then?” he asked.

Professor Cerise nodded. “That we will, Ash. So everyone should get a good night’s sleep tonight, since we’ll be headed to the mountains first thing in the morning.”

Goh turned to Ash with his own grin. “Are you ready to uncover this mystery?” he asked.

Ash had his own toothy smile. “I’m always ready to learn somethin’ new about Pokémon!”

The two boys raised their fists into the air and shouted.

“To the Raizen Mountains! Let’s go!”

Their loud cheer was quickly cut off by an even louder shout.

“Wait, no! Hold on a sec!” Chloe shouted. “You guys can’t just go without me! That’s not fair at all!”

Goh turned to her. “Wait, you wanna go, too?” he asked. “Why?”

“I don’t need a reason to want to go, do I?” she responded, frowning. “But if you really need one, I’d like to see where this feather business ends up going. It’s thanks to me that you guys were even able to find it in the first place.”

Ash chuckled. “That’s true…” he said, already indicating his surrender.

Goh, however, had to point out the obvious. “But tomorrow’s Friday. You have school.”

“B-But not the next day,” Chloe said. “I could go up with you guys tomorrow afternoon!”

“We’d miss out on a whole day,” Goh said, crossing his arms. “You just expect us to wait for you?”

She scowled at him, like he had just shoved her back. “Yes, I do. Or do I need to remind you that you owe me, Goh. Big time.”

Goh felt his face go pale as the memories resurfaced. In the previous week, he had set Chloe up on a date with a shady guy to get a rare antique map that supposedly led to an island where one could find the Mythical Pokémon Mew. Even if the map ended up being a complete bust after they had gotten it, Chloe still did what Goh had asked her to do, and that meant he had no right to refuse her request that they stay behind.

He felt much smaller than he did when this conversation began, slumping his shoulders. “You’re right. I do. We’ll wait for you after school…” he said.

She smiled, triumphant. “That’s better.”

Ash could do little more than chuckle nervously at this exchange.

“But Professor, we’re not going to be forced to wait here, too, are we?” The question came from Ren, who turned in his chair to face Professor Cerise.

Chloe’s father scratched his own chin. “That is an issue, I suppose…” he said. “Okay, so here’s the compromise. In the morning, Chrysa, Ren, and I will head up to the ruins and set up a base camp. Goh, Ash, and Chloe will head up there after Chloe gets back from school and Ash and Goh make sure everything’s okay to run in their absence.”

Goh nodded. “Mr. Mime and Raichu can help handle food distribution and between Golurk and the other super-strong Pokémon that’ll be at the park, there should be no issues from the security side.”

“Then it sounds like we have a plan,” Professor Cerise said. “Everyone, get plenty of rest tonight and come back tomorrow ready for a weekend of camping and discovery!”

Everyone in the lab raised their arms in a cheer, excited for what the weekend would bring.

~~~

The bus came to a stop, and the three of them quickly hopped off, accompanied by three Pokémon. Chloe was first, with her Eevee in her arms, and then Ash and his Pikachu on his shoulder, leaving Goh with his Grookey for last, the chimp also holding onto his own shoulder. He didn’t feel like he could keep Argent out of his ball in the somewhat cramped bus that ran from Cerulean City to Pewter City (having already ridden the bus from Vermilion to Cerulean), so for now the silver Eevee was resting in his Poké Ball.

The evening sun was already setting behind them as the bus pulled to a stop near a dirt road that led further up into the mountains, the closest they could get it to stop on the way to the area of the ruins that Professor Cerise and the others were setting up their base camp at.

But even with the lengthy bus rides, they were definitely running late. Goh didn’t want to point fingers because he wasn’t sure how she would respond, but Chloe was quite a bit late returning to the lab after school, which made them miss the first bus they planned on taking, which threw the rest of their transit time out of whack.

Chloe was quiet, her head lowered, but no one said anything towards or against her. She was definitely doing a good enough job beating herself up at this point.

Eventually, as the three of them walked down the dirt path heading deeper into the forest at the foot of the Raizen Mountains, Goh decided it was time to clear the air. He had spent the last little while as they walked formulating this response, and he was trying his best not to come across as mean, especially since Chloe did genuinely want to come with them, and it was definitely a behavior he wanted to reward.

So he put a confident smile on his face and patted Chloe on the shoulder. “It’s alright,” he said. “It’s not like you wanted to be late, right?”

She sighed, nodding. “Yeah… Mika and Deli both practically ambushed me, saying they needed my opinion on this thing they’re doing for drama club. I gave them my best opinion and got out of there as quickly as I could but there wasn’t any way to get home faster than that…”

Mika and Deliah, the latter also called Deli by Chloe, were friends from school whom Chloe was close with, despite not sharing a class with since they were all - Goh included - in Elementary School together.

“Well, we’re here anyway,” Ash said, giving his own try at cheering Chloe up. “That’s what’s important, right? A weekend in the mountains, learnin’ cool Pokémon stuff!”

“ Pika, pikachu! ”

“ Grooki! ”

“ Eievui!”

The Pokémon they traveled with, at least, seemed inclined to agree.

This, finally, seemed to raise Chloe’s spirits. She raised her head up high. “Right! This is going to be a great weekend!”

Seeing Chloe’s bright smile in the orange rays of the sun brought a smile to Goh’s face, as well. It was certainly a good change of pace from the way things had gone in the past week. There was a certain way that her emerald eyes caught the light that he couldn’t quite describe, but before he could put much more thought into it, they heard a shouting from further down the path ahead of them.

“ Magnemite! Magne mange mite mite mite!”

The three teens stopped in their tracks. “You guys heard that, right?” Chloe asked.

The more he considered it, the more familiar the Pokémon’s voice was. “Was that Francois?” Goh asked.

“It sounds like trouble,” Ash said with a nod. “Let’s hurry!”

Not too much further into the forest, they did see a Magnemite floating over a fallen white lab coat in the forest, shouting in panic. Goh felt his stomach fill with dread at the implications of what he was seeing.

Once they got over to him, the messy blonde hair made identifying the unconscious man as Ren fairly simple. Ash and Goh crouched down by him, and turned him over so he wasn’t laying face down. Ren’s chest rose and fell with his breathing, and there didn’t seem to be any serious injuries.

“Did… did he faint?” Ash asked, furrowing his brow.

Chloe set her backpack down and began rummaging through it for the first aid kit she had jammed into her belongings back at the Cerise Laboratory. She took an antiseptic wipe from the kit and used it to wipe his face clean while Goh picked up his glasses that fell off his face nearby. “He seems okay,” Chloe said, looking him in the face. “C’mon, Ren. Can you hear me?”

After only a few moments that were filled only with the sounds of breathing, Ren’s eyes began to open. They glanced around, as though he wasn’t able to focus on anything until Goh slipped his glasses back onto his face.

“Thanks…” he said, finally sitting up. As soon as he did, Francois floated down into his view as well, and his eyes went wide. “Oh, Francois! You’re alright!”

“ Magnemite! ” Francois responded cheerfully. Goh almost felt like he saw the metallic Pokémon tear up a little.

“Ren, what happened?” he asked.

Ren finally took a moment to get his bearings, looking around at his surroundings. “Oh! Ash! Goh! Chloe! It’s awful!” he shouted. “We had just finished setting up the base camp, and Professor Cerise had just compiled a bunch of notes on the ruins we had set up near! But then, Team Rocket attacked us!”

“Team Rocket?!”

“ Pipika-chu?!”

“ Groo-Grookey? ”

“ Eivuivui-vui?!”

Everyone shouted the same thing at the same time.

“What’re those slimeballs doing here?” Goh asked, tempering his voice with anger.

Ren shook his head. “It wasn’t the three you guys usually run into,” he explained. “It was a big guy with an eyepatch, and they all wore black uniforms.” He sat up on the ground, crossing his legs. “As soon as the attack started, I ran to get help, but I guess I passed out somewhere on the way.”

Chloe looked like there was something she wanted to say, but she kept quiet as she stood back up. “We need to hurry to get to Chrysa and my Dad,” she said.

Goh took some strength in seeing Chloe’s resolve. She’d never been one to get frightened or lose her cool, even in situations like this. Even back in the temple near Stone Town, she had managed to keep her wits about her, which gave Goh the opening he needed to rescue both Ash and herself.

He gave her a smile and a nod, patting her shoulder. “Right. Let’s see how things went back at the base camp. Maybe your Dad and Chrysa can give us more information.

Chloe turned back to Ren. “Are you able to get up?” she asked.

He chuckled, standing and brushing off his shirt and pants with his open palms. “I’m fine. Let’s just hurry back and see what’s happening now.”

With that, Goh, Chloe, Ash, and Ren, alongside Grookey, Eevee, Pikachu, and Magnemite all began racing deeper into the forest, rushing closer to the Raizen Mountains.

~~~

When they finally arrived at the foot of the mountain, Goh’s heart sank. There were certainly signs a base camp once existed here, yes, but it was completely destroyed. There were ripped and torn tents that looked like they weathered a terrible storm, and the computers and other electronics that they had brought with them were smashed into pieces in the dirt and rocks that were near the foot of this mountain. The satellite dish, which would have helped keep them in touch with the outside world, was crushed like an empty can of soda pop.

And most chilling of all was what seemed to be missing, as there was no sign of either Chrysa or Professor Cerise.

He could hear Chloe’s voice catch in her chest, as she quickly came to the same realization.

“Hey, Professor Cerise!” Ash called out, cupping his hands around his mouth like a megaphone. “Chrysa! Where are you guys?!”

“ Pikachu! ”

For a few moments, there was only silence.

There was movement in the destroyed tent as someone stood up in it, struggling to get the tarp off of them. Once she removed it, Chrysa got a breath of fresh air. She looked about as roughed up as Ren did, which was to say not very much at all. Her clothes and face were a bit dirty but she didn’t seem to have any obvious injuries.

There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone as they saw her emerge from the destroyed tent. “Thank goodness you’re alright, Chrysa,” Ren said. “Is Professor Cerise under there, too?”

The darkness that quickly clouded Chrysa’s expression told the tale far better than her words could have. “While Team Rocket was ransacking the site, Professor Cerise hid me in the tent,” she said. “I guess they never found me, since they stopped trying to look for me after he surrendered himself to them.”

Goh gasped, not quite believing what Chrysa had just said. “P-Professor Cerise-”

“-surrendered?!” Ash’s tone was filled with anger, and he clenched his fists tightly.

“ Pika… ” Pikachu growled

“D-Dad…?”

Chloe’s voice was hollow, like all the confidence she had displayed before heading to the base camp had evaporated like a Water Gun on a hot summer day.

Goh turned to Chrysa. “Can you tell us everything that happened?”

She nodded. “We’d been here a few hours and we were waiting for you guys to show up,” she explained. “I think we expected you all to show up just around the time of the attack, actually.”

Goh silently thanked fate for the favor that they weren’t all ambushed at the same time.

“Just then, several Pokémon all came out at once.Their Pokémon weren’t ones you’d expect Kanto trainers to have. You know, like Golbat and Raticate. And their leader even had an Aggron.”

“An Aggron, huh?” Ash said, frowning at the news.

Goh took his phone out. “Rotom, what can you tell me about Aggron?”

His phone lit up and opened the Pokédex application, displaying the image of the grey and slate colored creature with the piercing blue eyes. It had three sharp horns on its head, and jagged, razor sharp looking teeth.

“Aggron, the Iron Armor Pokémon,” the Pokédex recited. “A Steel- and Rock-type. Aggron has horns sharp enough to perforate thick iron sheets. It brings down its opponents by ramming into them horns first.”

Goh grimaced. “It looks really strong…” he said.

“As soon as the attack started, that’s when Ren ran off,” Chrysa continued. “Professor Cerise sent him to run for help, and he stashed me in the tent along with print outs of all the research we had compiled since we got here this morning. Team Rocket was about to chase down Ren from what I heard, but Professor Cerise said that they could do what they wanted with him as long as they left Ren alone, and so they ended up taking him, too.”

“At least you’re safe,” Goh said, trying to put a positive spin on the situation. “Did you hear anything else?”

“Only the sounds of them breaking more stuff. It sounded like…” She turned towards the path that led up the mountain and gasped as her eyes settled on a pile of stones by the pathway. “Oh, no, they destroyed it…!”

Ash’s eyes went wide. “Wait, that used to be something?”

“That was a statue that had a map inscribed on it. It pointed to several other locations that seemed higher and higher up the mountain trail, and we were going to investigate them… But now the map is lost for good…”

Before the mood could drop at this terrible bit of news, Ren raised an eyebrow. ‘Wait, that map? There should be a copy of it in the research paperwork, right? I spent an hour drawing it back on the computer and printing it out while you and the Professor got started setting up the tents and stuff!”

“Then…” Chrysa said, covering her hands with her mouth.

Goh grinned. “Then there’s a chance that we can stop Team Rocket from getting their dirty hands on whatever it is they came looking for,” he said.

“But what’s Team Rocket even out here for?” Ash asked. “Do you think it has something to do with the reason they were at the temple in Stone Town?”

“I think there’s only one way to find out,” Goh said. “And besides, we definitely have something they don’t that may be the key to all of this.”

“What’s that?” Ren asked.

Goh took off his backpack and opened it, taking out the glass container that contained the gently glowing Clear Wing in it.

“If my hunch is correct, the reason they came here was to get this, not to just kidnap the Professor. They may think their sneak attack gave them the edge, but we still hold quite a few aces up our sleeve. With the Professor’s research and this feather, we’ll definitely find what Team Rocket wants before they can get it, and we’ll stop ‘em!”

Chloe’s voice was hesitant. “We’ll save my Dad, too, right?” she asked.

Goh turned to her, and he saw how downcast her eyes were, dim as the last moments of sunlight seemed to fade over the horizon. He gave her the most confident smile he could and clapped his hand against her shoulder. “No doubt about it. We’ll beat them to the punch and save your Dad. I promise, Chloe.”

A small, hopeful smile grew on her features. “Thanks, Goh.”

“It looks like it’s going to be dark soon,” Chrysa said, also noticing the quickly fading daylight. “We should set up camp as best we can and make sure we have a plan for our next move.”

Everyone’s voices came together in agreement, even before Ash’s stomach could growl or the first stars could begin twinkling in the sky.

Chapter Text

After night fell on the ruined camp, there were a great many sounds that filled the air. The most impossible to ignore was the crackling of the campfire. Ash had spent a great deal of time gathering firewood for use in cooking for the five of them, plus all the Pokémon they had brought with them. He’d also had his own Pokémon fell a tree, which Sirfetch’d then sliced into pieces that could be used as seats as they sat around the campfire.

The three of them sitting around the campfire brought another sound to Goh’s attention, that of spoons scraping against the bottom of plates as Ash ate his fill of the curry Chloe made. It was done on short notice, with only what they had brought with them, but thankfully an experience in the Galar region’s Wild Area had prepared Chloe for this solo cooking duty.

The closest sound to Goh’s ears was the sound of papers as he continued to go through Professor Cerise’s research notes in his absence. There was a lot to go through, but thankfully Chrysa’s detailed-oriented note-taking meant it was very well organized. He continued to scan through, and the more he read, the more the picture of what had been uncovered here came into focus. Goh didn’t bother to stop and explain every revelation that he was coming across in the professor’s documents. He would have to explain everything soon enough.

The furthest sound from his ears was of Ren struggling to put the remains of the tents together in such a way there was enough sleeping space for the five of them, split off between space for Ren himself along with Ash and Goh and a space big enough for Chrysa and Chloe. Chrysa was attempting to help Ren from a distance, clearly flexing her status as his superior, but perhaps she was only trying to restore the sense of normalcy that had been shattered by Team Rocket’s attack and the Professor’s abduction. Goh couldn’t blame her for trying, at least.

The sound, however, that captured his attention most clearly, was hardly a sound at all. It was the sound of Chloe running her fingers through Eevee and Argent’s fur, both of the Pokémon sitting by her side in an effort to comfort her. She seemed to have long since given up on eating much; her own plate of curry was only really picked through. Despite cooking for the rest of them, she didn’t seem to have much of an appetite herself, not that Goh could blame her. As he glanced up from the papers, he could see the campfire reflected into her eyes, but the spark of fire he would often see there was completely absent.

In times of crisis, Chloe was not one who became frightened or panicked. Goh knew this better than anyone, he presumed. But what she would do no matter the situation was worry, and she would worry especially if there wasn’t any impact she could make on the situation alone.

This just drove Goh to search the papers faster for any and all information he could use. He promised her that they would find the villains who took her father and save him from their clutches, and he intended on doing just that.

Grookey patted the side of Goh’s head. While he doubted the chimp could read the papers he was reading by firelight, he was glad to have the Grass-type’s support.

His eyes widened. It was the piece of information that put everything together.

“...now it makes sense why Team Rocket’s interested in this stuff.”

“Goh?”

He looked up, seeing Chloe look at him. Her eyes were hopeful that he would have some information for them.

He cracked a smile at her. He might have to spin things a bit to truly inspire confidence, but there was a battle plan here. They would just have to execute on it.

“Let me start with the ending,” Goh said. “The reason we’re here is because of Ho-Oh.”
“Ho-Oh…?” Chloe blinked. “You don’t mean…”

He nodded. “Yes, I do. It’s the Legendary Pokémon.”

Ash sat down his plate and spoon with a clatter. “Wait, Ho-Oh? What’s Ho-Oh have to do with everything that’s going on here?”

“ Pikachu… ” his partner chimed in.

“According to Professor Cerise’s research,” Goh explained, “the nomadic people that settled near Fuchsia had originally come from this area, and so we’d expect to see similarities in their beliefs and culture. And heading up the path up the mountain from this point are four small shrines. One each to the Morning Star, the Sparkling Comet, and the Aether. At the top is a shrine that is supposed to let one meet a god.”

“Meet a god…?” Ash repeated the words, his eyes going wide.

“The legend… the legend we read in the temple…”

Goh nodded at Chloe’s words and then began to recite the legend himself.

“The hidden secrets shall be uncovered by trials of Fire, Lightning, and Water. 

The treasure within shall be blessed by the powers of Fire, Lightning, and Water and be purified.

It will be called the One who Chases the Rainbow, most beloved by the gods.

Offer your prayers at the foot of the Rainbow.

And God will descend.”

“Wait, Goh,” Chloe said, continuing to pet Eevee and Argent with her free hands, “are you telling me that these people thought Ho-Oh was a god?”

Goh took out his phone and held it up. “Listen to how the Pokédex even now describes Ho-Oh. It’ll definitely sway you.”

The phone sprang to life, the Pokédex application opening. On the screen there was a large bird with their wings spread wide with an aggressive appearance. “Ho-Oh,” the Rotom within the phone spoke. “The Rainbow Pokémon. A Fire- and Flying-type. Ho-Oh’s feathers glow in seven colors depending on the angle at which they are struck by light. These feathers are said to bring happiness to the bearers. This Pokémon is said to lie at the foot of a rainbow.”

“A Pokémon who glows with every color and grants happiness?” Goh asked rhetorically. “That sounds pretty god-like to me.”

Goh knew Chloe had a hard time believing in the supernatural, so he was pretty sure she would object to the notion, but instead she just looked disheartened and said nothing.

Instead, Ash was the next to speak. “But wait, how are they gonna call Ho-Oh?” he asked. “I doubt they just show up just because someone goes there and wants to see them. Even the stories say you’ve gotta meet them at the foot of a rainbow, right?”

Goh looked across the fires at Ash, his eyes deadly serious.

“What if you can make a rainbow?”

Ash and Chloe both looked at each other before looking back at Goh. “Make a rainbow? Like, what, by spraying water through the air or something?”

Goh shook his head at Ash’s question. “No, we can make a special rainbow. One that’s supposed to be able to call Ho-Oh to this very shrine made in their honor.

Both of his friends seemed confused, until Goh reached behind him and brought over the glass container he had brought with him this evening.

“The Clear Wing…?” Chloe gasped, her eyes going wide. Ash merely gasped.

Goh smiled, his eyes narrowing. “That legend we read… it wasn't about the temple we were standing in. They were instructions on how to prepare the Clear Wing.”

“So if we do what the legend says, we can prepare the Clear Wing and then use it to call Ho-Oh?” Ash asked.

“At the very least, this is what Team Rocket will be attempting to do. Perhaps they have another Clear Wing, or they thought Professor Cerise had the Clear Wing when he came here. The very fact that we have it now is a lucky break.”

Ash sat up straight, a serious look on his face. “So what’s the plan, then, Goh?”

“ Pikapika Ka pika pika? ”

“If I’m correct, then it’s possible Team Rocket will be heading to these shrines to receive the ‘blessing’, even without the Clear Wing, and they’ll hope that can still lead them to Ho-Oh anyway,” Goh said. “So we’ll check the shrines for signs of them on our way to the top. Once we find them, we’ll find Professor Cerise.”

Ash pumped his fist. “And then we just smash their plans and rescue the Professor!”

“ Pikachu! ”

Goh smiled. Ash seemed convinced, even if there was a big hole in Goh’s reasoning. He looked over to Chloe, but instead of seeing the hopeful look he wanted, he only saw her emerald green eyes clouded with doubt.

“But Goh,” she said, “how do we know Team Rocket will even be there? Once they realize they don’t have the feather, won’t they just…”

She went quiet, looking down at her feet. She didn’t need to finish her sentence for him to catch the meaning. Clearly, a group as nefarious as Team Rocket would have little use for a man whom they kidnapped once his usefulness was at an end.

It was also the point Goh was worried he’d have to smooth over once he’d read the notes and come up with their plan of attack. And so, Goh put on his best, most confident smile. He got up off his log and moved to the one Chloe, Eevee, and Argent sat on. Argent hopped out of the way so that Goh could sit next to Chloe, and he put a hand on her shoulder. 

“I know you’re worried about your Dad, but we both know he’s definitely a lot smarter than some Team Rocket goons. He’d know his best chance at getting rescued would be to keep them in the area so that we can find and rescue him. He might just lie to them and tell them the Clear Wing isn’t necessary and so they’ll approach the shrines anyway.”

Chloe did crack a smile at that. “You’re right,” she said with a shallow nod. “Dad’s always pulling these crazy ideas out of nowhere. I’m sure we’ll be able to find him if we work together.”

Goh moved his hand from her shoulder to her hand. As he held it, he hopped off the log and crouched in the dirt and gestured Ash over with his other hand.

Chloe’s hand felt frail, small, and cold in the moment, but he was sure with his and Ash’s on top of it, it would warm up quickly.

Ash came over and put his hand on top of Goh’s, and Grookey and Pikachu crawled down their trainer’s arms, putting their own hands into the mix. Eevee and Argent hopped back up and into Chloe’s lap so they could reach everyone’s hands covering hers, supporting her.

“That’s right. We’re going to do this all together, and save Professor Cerise. I promise, Chloe. With everyone here, there’s no way we can fail.”

“ Grooki! ”

“ Eievui! ”

“ Pika! ”

“ Eiebui! ”

Chloe’s eyes seemed to be shimmering in the campfire light, and her face held the first full smile since they had arrived at the foot of the Raizen Mountains that evening. “Thank you, Ash, Goh,” she said, smiling at them.

The next day brought overcast skies to the foot of the Raizen Mountains, and a breakfast of hot rice porridge cooked by Chrysa. Goh shot a glance towards Ash. “Are you sure you’re alright dressed like that?” he asked.

Ash looked at Goh, frowning. “Well, it is a bit chilly, huh? But as long as I put on a jacket, it should be fine! I’ll just dress in layers!”

Goh shrugged. “Right, layers.” He wasn’t going to point out that Ash was still wearing shorts, perhaps it wouldn’t get that cold. Still, it was a brisk autumn morning, and Goh could see patches of frost clinging to the grass and trees around the campsite this morning. He, himself, felt fine with his own layers. He would have to be, given that he didn't have his good, heavy winter jacket with him. It was still a month or so too early for that

Chloe was at a table positioned behind the logs that they sat around the night before, wrapping up packages that were clearly the lunches they were taking with them on the road up the mountain. She was dressed in her yellow overalls and her long-sleeved grey blouse that she usually wore on adventures like this, likely leaving her school uniform in the tent she shared with Chrysa. Always practical and rational, she carried the lunches over to Goh and Ash, handing them to the boys. “Here,” she said. “We’ll probably need the extra energy as we get up the mountain.”

Ash accepted the boxed lunch with a grin. “Thanks,” he said before shifting his gaze to Goh. “Where’re we headed?” he asked.

Goh pulled out the map made by Ren. “There’s a path that we’re supposed to take that starts from here,” he said. “Going by the legend, we need to take them in the order of Morning Star, Sparkling Comet, and Aether. So there’s one best path we should take. And knowing Professor Cerise, he’ll probably have Team Rocket take him to the shrines in that order, too.”

Ash placed his lunch into his backpack before putting it back on. “I guess we’ve got some mountain climbing to do, huh?”

At his words, Pikachu leapt from the ground to his partner’s shoulder. He raised his fist in a cheer. “ Pikapika! ”

“Next stop, the Morning Star Shrine!” Goh cheered, full of confidence.

Grookey hopped onto his shoulder, thrusting his arm into the air as well. “ Grooki! ”

“Right! Let’s go!” Chloe shouted.

“ Eievui! ”

Argent, Goh, reminded himself, was tucked safely away into his Poké Ball.

With the rallying cries resolved the three teens began their long trek up the trail to the mountains. The sun was just beginning to peek over the trees and Mount Moon to the east. While Ash was able to appreciate the beautiful view, Goh’s nose was buried in the map, copied from the ruins by Ren before their destruction. The map indicated a swooping path that led first towards the east that would lead them partially to the top of one of the smaller mountains in the Raizen mountain range.

From the chittering of Grookey and Chloe’s Eevee, Goh heard Pokémon watching them from the growth, but he resisted his urge to investigate and catch a new Pokémon. More likely than not they would simply be common Pokémon found elsewhere in Kanto, or even more likely, ones he’d already registered in his Pokédex. His energies were better devoted to navigating the path up the mountain, and so that’s what he focused on.

“ Grooki ,” his chimp said, tapping him on the side of his face.

Goh looked up and saw that the path forked ahead of them. According to the map, they were relatively close to where the Morning Star shrine was supposed to be, and the map didn’t indicate a branch in the path before then, even given its limited details.

“Aw, man, which way?” Ash asked, scratching his head.

“It’s… it’s the left path, right?” Chloe asked, hesitantly.

Her Eevee, carried comfortably in her arms, blinked. “ Vui? ”

Goh frowned, scratching his chin with his fingers. “We don’t have time to guess wrong. If only there was a way…”

“ Ki! Kiki grooki! ”

“Huh? Grookey?”
Completely unprompted, Grookey began unzipping Goh’s backpack. He reached inside and pulled out the glass container holding the Clear Wing, holding it up to Goh’s face.

At first, he was confused as to what the Pokémon was trying to show him, but his eyes went wide as he realized what he was seeing before his own eyes. The feather seemed to be moving inside the glass jar of its own accord.

“Grookey, you’re amazing…!” Goh said, quickly unscrewing the cap and taking the feather into his hand.

“Wait, how?”

Cherily, Goh grinned right in Chloe’s face. “Grookey must have heard the feather moving around since he’s so close to my backpack. Pokémon have much better hearing than humans, after all.”

“ Grooki! ”

The chimp seemed rather pleased as well.

“And since the feather was trying to move…” he said, “it might point us in the right direction.”

Holding it up, it seemed to glow and vibrate in his hand, pulsing with an otherworldly power. He held the feather very gently, waving it first towards the path that seemed to go right and then up, and then towards the path that went towards the left and then declined. The feather’s gentle glowing seemed to intensify, and it felt as though it was being gently pulled in the direction of the left path.

It seemed that Chloe’s intuition was correct.

“It’s this way,” Goh said, holding the feather in his hand, taking a step down the left-hand path. 

“Really?” Chloe said, confusion clouding her eyes. “We’re just going to trust the magic feather.”

Ash smirked and gave her a friendly slap on the back. “Sure are! Good goin’, Goh!”

Goh laughed nervously to himself, and Chloe and Ash followed close behind. 

The path along the side of this mountain wasn’t as overgrown and difficult to navigate as the path up the side of Evolution Mountain, Goh noticed, even though this was a much more remote location than just outside of Stone Town was. He pondered why this could be the case, if humans weren’t in the area making paths. Surely Pokémon wouldn’t need a clear pathway, right? Perhaps the path was cut long ago, and something stopped it from getting overgrown by foliage. Or perhaps the slant of the mountains just discouraged plants from growing through the rocks. Goh wasn’t sure, himself.

But he did begin to hear something up ahead of him on the path. He stopped and held up a hand, signaling Chloe and Ash to stop as well. “We’re close,” he said. “There’s someone up ahead, too. Let’s crawl through the brush a bit and observe to make sure we don’t rush into a trap.”

Chloe and Ash quietly nodded, and they entered the brush, approaching the sounds coming from the end of the path.

As they watched from a distance, they caught sight of three men and a woman dressed in black clothes, wearing hats that seemed to obscure their faces with shadow. Completely unobscured were the front of these outfits, bearing a large crimson R boldly to the world, marking them as members of Team Rocket. The only difference in their uniforms seemed to be that the woman was wearing a skirt and boots that went up higher on her legs, but they were all a dull gray color that Goh thought certainly fit their shady dealings.

Looking ahead of them, they seemed to be all staring at an engraved stone situated in the wall, discussing something to their frustration, though they were currently too far away from the Team Rocket grunts to hear.

Standing watch, looking in the direction of the path were four Pokémon: a Skuntank, a Toxicroak, a Purugly, and a Rhyperior. None of them were the more common Pokémon one would expect to belong to a Kanto-based criminal syndicate which to Goh could only really mean one thing: This operation was a very big deal. These were no low-level grunts.

Goh turned to Ash and whispered. “I think a surprise attack to take ‘em all out is our best chance.”

Ash nodded, already reaching for a Poké Ball. “Got it.”

“Chloe, you and Eevee sit back,” he said, turning to her next. “Let us handle this, okay?”

Goh’s recommendation was met with a nod. “Right. If I see an opening I’ll jump in, but you guys go first.”

Goh took a moment to place the Clear Wing back in the glass case and put it back in his backpack. He turned back to the Rockets, his gaze narrowing. “Alright… in one fell swoop. Three… two… one… GO!”
On the signal, both Goh and Ash leapt from the bushes, each throwing out a Poké Ball. Ash’s ball snapped open, and in a flash of light appeared a pale purple shadow with blood-red eyes with a wide, toothy grin, ready to fly into battle.

From Goh’s came the sparkling silver Argent, his gray eyes glaring forward as he whipped his tail to and fro.

“Gengar, use Psychic!”

“Argent, use Hyper Voice!”

Ash’s Gengar created a swirl of telekinetic energy before sending a wave of it washing forward over Team Rocket’s four Pokémon. All of them except the Dark-type Skuntank were lifted off the ground, but even Skuntank was surprised, turning his head to see the next attack incoming.

Argent opened his mouth wide and shouted out an explosive “ Bui! ” that echoed across the Raizen Mountains. The blast of sound sent the four Rocket Pokémon backwards, with the ones that were levitated flung back even further than Skuntank was.

Inevitably by this point, the Rockets themselves turned to see Ash and Goh standing with their Pokémon, ready for another round of attacks.

“Intruders!” the woman shouted.

“Just like Gozu said there would be!” one of the men responded. “Let’s handle these brats! Rhyperior, Stone Edge!”

“Purugly, Slash!”

“Toxicroak, Sludge Bomb!”

“Skuntank, Flamethrower!”

Ash and Goh locked eyes with each other before facing their opponents again. “Argent, underground!”

“Gengar, rush in with Ice Punch to block the Flamethrower!”

Rhyperior shouted, bringing one of his large fists to the ground, creating a line of sharp stones that crossed the clearing heading towards Argent. Goh’s silver Eevee leapt into the dirt, disappearing underground. The sharp spike pierced the ground where Argent could have been, but no Pokémon was unearthed when the attack struck.

Gengar rushed forward, diving straight through razor-sharp claws of Purugly as they sliced harmlessly through his permeable form. He held out a fist in front of him that cloaked itself with frigid power. Though it looked like a punch, Gengar used the move as a shield, pushing through the gout of flames sprayed from Skuntank’s tail.

“Now, use Night Shade!” Ash shouted.

From his eyes, Ash’s phantom fired a blast of necrotic energy, zapping Skuntank and sending it skidding back across the ground.

“Rhyperior, use Rock Wrecker!”

The massive Rock-and Ground-type put his arms forward, forming a large, glowing stone that it prepared to aim and launch towards Ash’s Gengar. Only the chance to do so would never come as the ground beneath Rhyperior’s feet crumbled, and the Drill Pokémon tilted backwards, sending the glowing stone flying wide and over the cliff, shattering somewhere out of view. Out of the hole jumped Argent, crashing his small body into the already off-balance Rhyperior, knocking him over.

The tides of battle had already turned sharply against Team Rocket. But they were far from through.

The woman gestured forward, right towards Ash and Goh. “Purugly, get those brats with your Fury Swipes! Attack them!”

With no Gengar to block her attack, Purugly charged forward with surprising speed for such a rotund Pokémon. She leapt into the air, bringing her claw to bear against Ash and Goh.

“Eevee, Tackle!”

But as Purugly attempted to strike, like a swift brown arrow fired from a bow, Chloe’s Eevee darted out of the brush and rammed her body into the wide face of the tiger cat. The cat tumbled to the ground, with Eevee landing defiantly in front of Ash and Goh.

“Goh! Ash! Are you guys alright?”

Chloe called to them from the bushes, still staying where she said she would, but her Eevee stood confidently in front of them, her tail raised in the air.

“Toxicroak, use Sludge Bomb again!”

The last Rocket Grunt’s Pokémon still on their feet stood and took in a breath before hurling a rapid-fire stream of chunky globs of putrid sludge. Argent leapt backwards, and Ash’s Gengar took the part of the attacks intended for Chloe’s Eevee, shrugging off the damage with a gleeful cackle.

“Let’s wrap this up, everyone!” Ash called, raising his hand into the air. “Gengar, use Shadow Ball!”
Goh thrusted his fist forward. “Argent, you use Shadow Ball, too!”

“Let’s make it a triple Shadow Ball!” Chloe shouted.

While Gengar and Argent began drawing necrotic power to themselves, each forming a sphere of the energy, Chloe’s Eevee first began to glow with a similar ghastly purple shade before forming the Shadow Ball on her own. Argent and Eevee fired first, both spheres spinning towards the group of Team Rocket’s Pokémon. Gengar grew his Shadow Ball a bit larger before chucking it with a curve, causing it to spin and land right in the middle of Argent and Eevee’s. Gengar’s Shadow Ball exploded, and that caused the other two Shadow Balls to burst as well.

A cloud of dust, still crackling with the necrotic energy, choked the air in front of Goh and his friends. “Did we get ‘em?” he asked.

He was soon answered, but not in the way he expected.

A sound like a great blade slicing through the air rose over the edge of the cliff, still obscured by the smoke, but not for long. The spinning of the rotor blade created a gust of wind that blew the smoke away, and revealed a jet black helicopter rising over the edge of the ridge. The side of the helicopter was emblazoned with the same crimson R that the grunts' uniforms bore.

The door to the helicopter flew open, and standing in the doorway was a giant of a man wearing an eyepatch over his eye. He wore a military-style beret, but otherwise his uniform looked the same as the grunts, complete with the R. The other difference between the grunts and this man was his imposing size. He towered over Goh’s admittedly slender form.

The helicopter landed, and the man hopped out. Goh wanted to focus on the man, whom he realized was the leader of the attack on the camp at the bottom of the mountain, but his eyes went wide as he looked into the helicopter behind him.

Tied up, sitting inside, was Professor Cerise.

“D-Dad!”

Chloe shouted, rushing from the brush. She must have seen him, as well, Goh thought. As she tried to run past, Goh grabbed her wrist and held her back, turning his attention to the man walking before them.

“Well well…” he said, a confident smirk on his face. “I figured that the Professor’s little helpers would be coming to save him. I didn’t expect a couple of lousy brats.”

Pikachu leapt from Ash’s shoulder, snarling as his cheeks sparked. “ Pipikachu…!”

“You give back Professor Cerise right now!” Ash shouted, pointing at him.

Goh narrowed his gaze. “Who are you? And why do you need the Professor?”

The man chuckled. “Well now… I’m not often asked for my name. You can call me Gozu. And I’m an Elite Officer.”

“Gozu…”

Goh repeated the name, keeping his eyes on the man.

Not concerned with Goh or his friends, Gozu turned to the defeated grunts. “Alright, you worthless little Wurmple! Back in the copter! Now!”

At Gozu’s order, the grunts all held up their Poké Balls and recalled their defeated Pokémon before hopping onto the Helicopter still hovering over the edge of the cliffside.

“Hey, wait!” Ash shouted. “Where do you guys think you’re going?!”

Gozu looked at Ash like he was talking down to a child. “What are you talking about? You beat us here so we’re retreating,” he said. “I’m not running head first into a three-on-one battle when you already took down four of my troops. I didn’t get to be an elite by taking undue risks.”

He turned to the helicopter and hopped back on to it, making it sway under his weight. “You brats had better stay out of our way, though, unless you want the Professor to get hurt!” The smirk on his lips was salt in the wound. Goh wanted to rush in, but they had an important hostage.

Ash gestured forward, regardless. Already sensing his partner’s motive, Pikachu’s cheeks began to crackle and snap with electricity. “Pikachu, use-”

“Wait!” Goh shouted, putting an arm up in front of him. “If Pikachu knocks down the helicopter, then the Professor could be hurt, too!”

Chloe’s eyes went wide with shock. Ash’s outstretched hand clenched into a fist as he brought it roughly back to his side. The helicopter rose higher into the air before flying off somewhere, leaving the three of them in silence.

Team Rocket was gone, and their only glimpse of Professor Cerise with them.

Chloe looked down at the dirt where Eevee stood, her bright eyes dimming. “Dad…”

Ash, meanwhile, was just frustrated. “Augh, those guys…! I can’t believe they ran away…!”

For his part, Goh did his best to conceal his frustration. He felt for Chloe in her despair, seeing her father for a moment only to have him ripped away again. He empathized with Ash’s righteous anger, wanting to strike back against the villains. But rather than focusing on those things, which he couldn’t help at the moment, he began to puzzle over the thing he could and turned to the engraving on the wall.

As he stepped closer to the engraving, he saw that it was very similar to the first door from the temple near Stone Town. It was engraved with symbols that looked like fire, though if there were any words engraved, they had been worn away by the march of time.

He stroked his chin, focusing all his brain power onto it. Unlike the door in the temple, there were no handles, and unlike the other door, there wasn’t an obvious mechanism, either. “How can we get this to open up…?” he muttered to himself.

He soon found Chloe and Ash at his side, both also looking at it. “Maybe if we use Fire on the door it’ll open?” Ash asked.

Goh frowned. “I’m not so sure…” he said. “The last time, there were mechanisms we could press or machines we could manipulate that used fire. Here, there’s just a wall…”

Chloe stepped closer to the door. “Well, remember the last time the main door to the temple was ruined and rusted, right? It’s possible that even if there’s a mechanism, it may not work.”

The three of them crossed their arms and went deep into thought. In Goh’s mind, he went back to the legend.

“The hidden secrets shall be uncovered by trials of Fire, Lightning, and Water…”

What around here could constitute a trial of fire?

Goh stepped closer to the door, and pressed his hand against the cold stone. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something, anything that could work.

He felt something moving in his backpack.

“Grookey, can you get out the Clear Wing?” he asked.

The chimp obliged, unzipping his backpack and taking the glass container out. The feather was stuck to the side of the container on the side closest to the door.

Chloe and Ash looked at the container as well. “The feather’s moving on its own…” Chloe gasped, disbelieving what was before her eyes. “Is it trying to reach the door?” she asked.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Goh said as he began twisting the lid off the container.

As soon as the container was opened, the feather flew out, bony end first, and flew to the door.

The Clear Wing oriented itself so that it was pointed to the door as though it were a key before turning. When the feather finished a quarter-rotation, the stone door began to shake as the door seemed to split in two down the middle, revealing a small chamber.

Within the chamber was a stone statue that seemed to be carved from a volcanic rock. It appeared to be a Pokémon with long, majestic fur and a serious, ferocious visage. It seemed like there was a long mane that billowed down its back and it stood on four thick legs. In the creature’s mouth was an orb made of glass that seemed to have a flickering flame inside of it.

The feather’s bony end hovered through the air, snapping against the glass before it seemed to pierce it.  The flame inside the orb seemed to burn larger and hotter before escaping the small hole the Clear Wing made, shooting out of it and past Goh, Ash, and Chloe.

Goh felt the heat of the flames as it shot by, and he turned to see where they landed.

The flame seemed to grow and expand from the ground where they hit. The flames seemed to burn in a bright crimson shade as they expanded, and concealed in the flames, there looked to be a beast that resembled the statue.

Chloe took a step back. “Is that.. A Pokémon?”

“Entei…” Ash said, taking a step closer. There was a spark of familiarity in the teen’s eyes as he took a few more steps towards it. “Entei, are you here because of Team Rocket?”

Goh took out his phone and raised it to the burning creature. The phone once more opened the Pokédex app, showing the Pokémon that stood before them on its screen. “Entei, the Volcano Pokémon. A Fire-type. Entei embodies the passion of magma. This Pokémon is thought to have been born in the eruption of a volcano. It sends up massive bursts of fire that utterly consume all they touch.”

The flames around Entei scattered, leaving something that reminded Goh more of a spirit or a ghost than a real Pokémon. While the image in the Pokédex seemed hard and solid, this Entei was translucent and see-through.

Still, he might as well take a chance. He pulled a Poké Ball from his pocket and expanded it. “Poké Ball, go!”

He flung the ball with as much force as he could muster. It zipped and curved through the air, passing through Entei as though it wasn’t actually there before sailing over the edge of the cliff and falling down the mountain.

“Is it an illusion?” Chloe asked.

As if in response to the girl’s question, the specter of Entei opened its mouth and unleashed a gout of crimson flames in her direction.

Goh found himself moving before his mind could fully register his actions, tackling Chloe to the ground before the flames could consume her. The fire passed right over Goh’s back and was no illusion. He could feel the heat surge past him, but he kept his focus on Chloe.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

Chloe’s face seemed to have gained some redness, though whether that was from the heat of the Flamethrower or the chill of the mountain air, Goh wasn’t sure. She nodded, looking up at him. “Yeah…”

He turned his attention back to the false Entei. “Well, if it’s a trial we have to pass, then let’s go ahead and pass it.” He stood up and took another ball from his pocket. “Inteleon, go!”

Ash reached into his pocket and did likewise. “Dracovish, I choose you!”

The two balls snapped open, and Goh’s Water-type Agent Pokémon appeared next to Ash’s Water- and Dragon-type Fossil. Despite the strange circumstances, the two Water-types seemed ready to face off against the illusion.

“Snipe Shot, go!”

“Dracovish, Water Gun!”

Goh’s partner moved first, firing a quick shot from his fingers towards Entei, who leapt aside. The slower Dracovish turned and aimed for where Entei was now standing. The spirit of the great beast leapt away again, still standing away from the humans and their Pokémon.

It glared at them intensely, waiting for them to make their next move.

“We have to coordinate our moves,” Goh said. “If we can’t hit it, we’ll never defeat it.”

“Do you think you have to beat it in a battle?” Chloe asked, standing and dusting herself off.

“Why else would it be attacking us?’ Ash countered.

Goh had to admit that he had a point. In the temple, the ‘trials’ seemed to be puzzles, but here, it appeared to be trial by combat.

“Wait…” he said. “What if this is a puzzle, too?”

“A puzzle?” Ash asked, turning his attention away for a moment.

Chloe kept her eyes on Entei, who seemed content to watch them.

“Remember the trials we did in the temple? It wasn’t something we could brute force our way through. We had to solve a puzzle each time we wanted to progress. We used the aeolipile and the lightning rod. What if… we need to do something with this phantom to pass the trial?”

Ash grinned. “I know you’re already coming up with a plan, so let’s hear it, Goh.”

He hadn’t quite come up with something yet, but he wracked his brain for some sort of answer.

He thought about the temple, the doors, and the trials hidden beneath the temple. Fire, Lightning, Water. Even the legend seemed to have everything situated in that exact order. Did it mean something? Was the order significant? It would at least be worth a try.

“Ash, use Pikachu instead,” he said. “ Entei already represents Fire. I think if we use lightning - that is, Electric-type moves - before we use Water-type moves, that may be the key.”

Ash frowned for a moment, and then nodded. “Got it. Return, Dracovish.” He held up the ball and turned the fossil Pokémon back into light and energy before recalling them into the ball. “You’re up, buddy,” he said, holding his arm out.

Pikachu leapt from Ash’s shoulder to stand next to Inteleon, his tail raised into the air with the tip as well as his cheeks sparking. “ Pika! ”

The phantom Entei roared at them in challenge, as if asking them to clear the trial they seemed to be faced with. Goh turned to Ash. “Go for it!”

Ash punched forward. “Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!”

Pikachu leapt forward, slapping his sparking cheeks. With a mighty shout of “ Piiikaaachuuu! ”, he discharged a bolt of electricity from his small body with enough force to tear apart the ground. When the blow came into contact with the spectral Entei. The beast roared out in pain as the electricity coursed through it, enduring Pikachu’s attack. Once the bolt passed through it, it stood there, electricity crackling through its fur, waiting.

“Now, Goh!” Ash called out.

“Inteleon, use Snipe Shot! Full power!”

Inteleon crouched down and focused all his might into his arm, membranes coming down over his eyes to assist in aiming. With a flick of the wrist, the quick blast of water shot out from Inteleon’s index finger, hitting the Entei shade right between the eyes.

In that moment, the shade cloaked itself in crimson flames before charging forward. Ash and Goh both called for their Pokémon to dodge, which they did easily as the phantom Entei rushed past them.

Goh’s eyes went wide. It wasn’t aiming for them. The three of them all scrambled out of the way as the flaming creature crashed into the statue of itself, the entire thing erupting into flames. Goh felt his heart sink, reaching towards the now burning statue, his eyes locked onto the Clear Wing.

He was sure it was lost to the flames, after coming all this way. But he could have never expected what happened next.

Instead of being consumed by the flames, the fire seemed to be absorbed into the feather. It changed from a pure, clean white into an almost blood red crimson before the flames disappeared. The feather then seemed to dislodge itself from the orb in the statue’s mouth and gently fell to the ground.

Goh, Ash, and Chloe all looked at each other in silence for a moment. Goh walked over to the feather, lying in the dirt and picked it up.

The feather seemed transformed in more than just color. There was a warmth to it, and a subtle feeling of power to it. It no longer felt weightless like it did before, instead it seemed filled with a focused, determined strength.

Chloe and Ash stepped around him as Goh held onto the feather. “It’s… changed,” Chloe said, blinking in his direction.

“That’s so cool…!” Ash said, grinning. “I guess this is what it meant by receiving the blessing of fire, right?”

 Goh gasped, his mind finally catching up to where Ash’s had already seemed to reach. “‘The treasure within shall be blessed by the powers of Fire, Lightning, and Water and be purified…!’” he said excitedly. “That means, if we are able to gain all three of the blessings, the feather should become a purified final form…!”

“And maybe if we get it there,” Ash said, “we can use it against Team Rocket!”

Chloe nodded at Ash’s words. “And then we can save my Dad!”

“Our course is clear,” Goh said. “Let’s head to the Sparkling Comet Shrine and receive the blessing of lightning!”

Chapter Text

Even though it was still in many ways the same object, the Clear Wing’s new red color drew Goh’s attention as they walked up the mountain. He held the warm feather in his hands, opting to carry it instead of placing it back in the glass container. It still seemed to quietly shed light, though it was red now instead of the gentle white glow from before.

“You know,” he said, “calling it the Clear Wing doesn’t feel quite right now.”

“Do you think we should call it the Red Wing?” Ash asked, looking at it as the trio walked.

“ Pikachu… ” the mouse cooed, looking at it with wide eyes.

Chloe snorted out a laugh. “That’s not a very creative name, you know?”

“Well, what would you call it?” he asked back.

“I’d call it the Crimson Wing.”

Now Ash was laughing. “Isn’t that just another word for red?” he asked.

Chloe crossed her arms, frowning. “Well, it just sounds better, you know?”

“ Eievui? ” her Pokémon asked, walking quickly behind her.

“Crimson Wing…” Goh muttered to himself. “Yeah… that sounds pretty good, actually.”

“ Grooki! ”

Even his Pokémon agreed.

“Seriously?” Ash asked, slumping his shoulders. “It’s not that different from mine, though.”

“ Pikapikachu," his partner said, patting him on the face from his shoulder. He was sympathetic that his choice was overlooked.

Chloe merely giggled, but her expression quickly faded, her thoughts drifting elsewhere. 

Goh noticed her faltering and knew almost immediately what the root cause was.  Despite their further unraveling of the mystery of the Clear Feather, her mind was clearly still with her father, still in Team Rocket’s clutches.

Her sadness tugged at him, as well, and so he reached out a hand and touched her arm. “Don’t worry. We’ll save him. The closer we get to solving this mystery, the more Team Rocket we’re going to run into, and we’ll make them give the Professor back. I promise.”

Chloe gave Goh a smile, though her heart still wasn’t quite into it. “Thank you, Goh,” she said. “I know you guys are trying your hardest, and that this is the best way for us to go. But I can’t help but worry, you know?”

“I know,” he said. “You’ve always loved your dad a lot, even when he was trying to push you into Pokémon related things.”

“I mean…” She stopped and looked at her feet. Eevee softly walked between her legs and looked up at her, brown eyes sparkling in the light. She crouched down and picked up the fluffy Pokémon, hugging her closely. “…there were times I wasn’t always on the same page as Dad and you were, but I’ve always loved him. I know Mom and Parker would be having a fit if they knew he was in danger…”

“And we’re going to get him out of that danger.” Goh’s tone was firm and confident, but soft. “So chin up, okay?”

She smiled back, nodding. “Thanks, Goh. You’ve gotten really mature after all this time, haven’t you?”

Goh chuckled, his own pride swelling. “Well, I have been working really hard lately taking care of Argent.”

Chloe’s gentle smile quickly morphed into a more teasing one. “As soon as you get praised, you suddenly turn uncool.” She walked ahead of Goh, further ahead on the path they were on.

As much as he wanted to be mad about her teasing him, he couldn’t ignore that if she was teasing him, she must have felt at least a little better. The path the three of them were on seemed to have only one path ahead. Goh quickly spun the feather in his fingers, looking at it from all sides, his mind quickly getting wrapped back into the mystery.

While he hadn’t expected the color of the feather to change so drastically as it was prepared for the ritual to call Ho-Oh, he had to admit that an item meant to call the Rainbow Pokémon changing colors made more than a little sense.

“I wonder if it’ll keep changing colors…” he asked idly as Ash leaned over. 

“You think it’ll get like a yellow stripe when Raikou blesses it?” Ash asked.

Goh put a hand to his chin, thinking as he looked at the Crimson Wing. “We are headed to the Sparkling Comet shrine… and if the order of everything seems to be repeating, then logically the Lightning-themed shrine should be next…”

He briefly imagined the feather with the left side red and the right side yellow.

As he was considering that image, he began to feel the feather warm up and pull against his fingers holding it tightly. Looking ahead, he saw Chloe standing at another fork in the mountain pathways. As he approached, he saw the frown on her face as she tried to determine the correct direction to head.

Much like in the earlier fork in the path, holding up the feather towards it caused something curious to happen. While before the pure white feather glowed gently and only seemed to exude a power when it was pointed in the proper direction, now that the Crimson Wing had been blessed by Entei, it surged with a heat that threatened to burn Goh’s hand. He hissed at the pain, but resolving not to drop it, only gripped the bony part of the feather more tightly. The feather seemed to indicate to him that the right path was the correct one to take this time, so he quickly turned the feather away, causing it to cool just as fast.

“It’s this way,” he said, pointing to the right path as he stepped past Chloe. He didn’t meet her eyes as he did, but he could feel her concern as her emerald eyes followed him as he forged ahead.

As long as I keep the feather pointed in the wrong way, it won’t burn me, he thought.

The further they went up the mountainside, the steeper the climb was becoming. What had started as merely an uphill climb was now ramping up to the point where Goh felt his legs burn from the walking. A glance over his shoulder told him that Chloe was much in the same boat. She had let Eevee down to walk on her own, but it was clear that fatigue had already set in. Ash, for his part, seemed to be walking up the hill without complaint, but this again was no surprise to Goh, knowing what he did about the Palletonian.

The trees up this high were becoming shorter and stouter, probably to better deal with the strong winds that could occur at high altitudes. As a result, there wasn’t much brush or foliage covering the path as there was before, only dirt and stone.

It was while Goh was making this observation that his hand suddenly began burning once more as the Crimson Wing lit up like a torch. It seemed like it was almost hissing with power as the flames seared Goh’s hand. In reflex to the pain, he dropped the feather, but it didn’t fall to the ground. The same mysterious power that had lifted it out of his hands before seemed to once more take hold of it as it turned in the air with the bony end pointing forward. Without much warning, it began zipping through the air, looking like a ball of fire flung from a slingshot. Steeling himself, Goh rush ahead, chasing after the feather, even as his legs burned as he ran up the hill as quickly as he could.

Beside him, he saw Pikachu and Eevee rushing up, climbing the hill on all fours. Grookey quickly jumped from Goh’s shoulder to join them as they raced to the feather’s destination.

Finally, the ground ahead seemed to flatten, which would give them a chance to rest, among other things. Goh rushed up to see who was waiting for them, however, since the last time they came upon a place like this, Team Rocket was already there, trying to figure out how to open the door. Fortunately for him as he quickly scanned this area, he saw no signs of human activity. Just a rock wall with a carved door on the side of it, with symbols of lightning and storm clouds engraved in the door itself.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed like his tired legs would not be getting a chance to rest, as the Crimson Wing stabbed into the door and turned like a key, causing the stone panels to slide open already. He heaved, his lungs desperate for oxygen and finding it thinning the further up they climbed.

Ash had caught up and patted Goh on the back to encourage him. Grookey did the same, having turned and seen his trainer struggling. Chloe all but collapsed as she reached where the ground was level, gasping for air.

As Goh looked at the door opening wider, he saw a statue of a beast with large, razor-sharp fangs and what looked like a curling cape billowing off its back. At the end of each of its legs were a large, sharp looking claw, and in the beast’s mouth was a sphere that seemed to contain a crackling lightning bolt.

Goh only had a few moments to marvel at the statue before the hovering Crimson Wing pierced the sphere with the now red-hot bony end. And in an instant, the area lit up with a bright light as the lightning escaped the orb, landing with a thunderous crash directly between Goh and where the feather remained, hanging off the orb.

The lightning took the form of the Pokémon depicted in the statue, though much like the Entei before, it didn’t seem to have a physical form, merely being a spirit of the Legendary Pokémon that seemed to be the guardian of the trial they now faced.

“Raikou…” Goh muttered.

His utterance must have been loud enough for Chloe to hear, since she raised her phone towards it, repeating the name Goh had said. Her phone spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“Raikou, the Thunder Pokémon. An Electric-type. Raikou embodies the speed of lightning. The roars of this Pokémon send shockwaves shuddering through the air and shake the ground as if lightning bolts had come crashing down.”

Goh’s mind went to the puzzle they had to solve to pass by Entei. “We had to hit it with an Electric-type move and then a Water-type move… so this time…?”

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of helicopter blades.

His mouth agape, Goh looked skyward, and the gray, overcast sky was once more broken up by the black steel of Team Rocket’s helicopter.

It hovered nearby before the side opened up. From its angle above them, he couldn’t see inside of it this time, but he did see someone hopping out of it, gripping a line that quickly but safely lowered him to the ground.

His large frame, military beret, and eye patch quickly identified him as Gozu, the leader of the Team Rocket group in this area, but strangely enough he descended alone. His gray boots hit the ground a distance from both the spectral Raikou and Goh, setting the three in a sort of triangle where attacking one side would leave one vulnerable to the other.

It also meant that Gozu was just as close to the Crimson Wing as Goh was.

Gozu smirked. “Well, I should have figured when we saw that giant lightning bolt that you brats were still in the area,” he said. “And it looks like you brought the feather we’d heard about, as well. This makes things a lot easier for us.”

“You’re not getting your hands on the feather,” Goh shouted. “And you’re not going to keep Professor Cerise, either!”

“ Grooki grooki! ”

“ Pika! ”

Ash stepped up next to Goh. “That’s right. We’re taking the Professor back and you guys aren’t gonna stop us!”

Gozu smirked. “Maybe, but I think you’ve also gotta worry about that thing,” he said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder towards the illusory Raikou.

The illusory Raikou wasn’t waiting for them to continue their discussion as it launched a bolt from the cloud on its back, towards Gozu first. The elite showed his capability in situations like this one as he leapt out of the way as Raikou turned its gaze toward Goh and the others.

Though its body may have been an illusion, the power Raikou wielded was anything but. With a mighty roar that echoed off the sides of the Raizen Mountains like rolling thunder, Raikou bursted with electricity, discharging the blast over Grookey and Pikachu that threatened to connect with the three teens behind the Pokémon line.

Pikachu leapt up, raising his tail to direct most of the blast towards him, protecting Grookey, Goh, and Ash. Gozu himself leapt backwards just as Raikou turned its attack back towards him, deftly dodging the arc of electricity that would have blackened his already dark clothes further..

As Pikachu landed and shrugged off the electricity he absorbed, Goh’s mind began to race. “We can’t fight Raikou or Gozu will steal the feather, and if we fight Gozu, Raikou could overwhelm us…” He turned to Ash. “We’ve gotta take ‘em both down at once!”

Ash smirked, nodding. “That’s my kinda plan! We’ll take on Gozu! You handle solvin’ the puzzle and gettin’ Raikou out of the way.”

“Got it.”

Standing side by side with Ash, hashing out even this quick and undetailed plan, helped bolster Goh’s spirits. Facing down Raikou by itself would have given Goh pause, but having his friend here at his back helped him relax and focus on the task he had in front of him.

Gozu was unperturbed by his opponents openly plotting in front of him and merely gestured further up the mountain with his hand. At his motion, the helicopter began flying away and heading further into the mountains.

“D-Do you think they’re…?”

Chloe didn’t finish her sentence before Gozu took out a Poké Ball, tossing it ahead. In a flash of light appeared a gray-colored Pokémon with bright, silvery armor and a lead-colored underbelly. His piercing blue-eyes seemed devoid of any mercy as he stepped forward with a roar.

Goh grimaced at the sight of the creature, but Chloe was the one who took her phone from her pocket and scanned him. The Rotom in her phone spoke loudly enough that everyone present could hear. “Aggron, the Iron Armor Pokémon. A Steel-and Rock-type. Aggron’s horn is sharp enough to even pierce thick steel. It carefully patrols its mountain home and aggressively fights off any intruders.”

A wry smile crossed the face of the man with the eyepatch. “You’d best pay attention to your Pokédex,” Gozu warned. “If this horn can puncture steel, just imagine what it could do to your body. Of course, if you wanted to let me have that little feather without a fight, I'm sure you won’t have to learn what that’s like.”

Goh felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as his mind registered the threat. He heard Chloe audibly shiver, and that was as much of an answer as he needed to know that there was no way he would allow that man to take one step towards Chloe or her Pokémon.

Ash seemed completely unperturbed. “You don’t scare us,” he said. “If you want to battle, then you should just ask!” He punctuated his boast with a toss of one of his Poké Balls, and in a bright flash of light appeared the blue canine Pokémon under Ash’s command. With a pulse that came from his body like a warm wind, Lucario stood just as defiant as Ash himself, holding a paw out towards Gozu and Aggron in challenge.

“Don’t forget, Goh,” Ash said. “I’ll handle this guy. You handle Raikou!”

Goh turned his attention back to the phantom beast, standing now in front of the statue bearing its likeness. He silently wished for some of Ash’s boundless positivity and confidence as his mind went back to the puzzle placed before him. Raikou was the embodiment of lightning, and in the temple back in Stone town, lightning was followed by water and preceded by fire. But in this case, lightning was already before him. It couldn’t be as easy as just spraying Raikou with water. “So how…?”

For now, though, he needed to buy some time. “Grookey, I need your help with this! Do you think you can manage while I think of a plan?”

Grookey turned to Goh and gave a confident nod, taking his stick out of his fur and slapping it against the rocky ground. “ Grooki!”

“Aggron, go get that feather! These kids won’t stop us.”

At Gozu’s command, his Aggron began stomping in Raikou’s direction, dragging his thick tail through the dirt. His cold, blue eyes stared past Raikou and to the Crimson Wing, still lodged into the orb.

“Aura Sphere!”

Ash punched forward with a closed fist, and Lucario followed the command by forming a sphere of the same force that pulsed over Goh and the others when he appeared: the Aura that was composed of Lucario’s life force. Lucario threw the sphere forward, crashing into the ground just before Aggron, throwing up an explosion of dirt and dust. Lucario rushed forward, chasing after his own attack. He stopped in Aggron’s face, growling defiantly at the larger Pokémon.

Goh turned his attention back to Raikou. “Grookey, use Branch Poke!”

Grookey rushed forward, wielding his stick like a club. He leapt, bringing the small wooden stick to bear against the spectral Raikou.

And he passed cleanly through it.

As Grookey tumbled through the dirt, Goh grimaced. “So not just Poké Balls and other objects, but even moves can’t hit it…?”

But that wasn’t what had happened so many hours ago with Entei, right?

Goh recalled that it was electricity that struck Entei first, and then the water snuffed it out. 

As he was lost in thought, Raikou turned to Grookey and smacked him with an electrically charged paw, shocking him and knocking him back towards Goh.

“Grookey!” Goh shouted, rushing to where the chimp had fallen. Even one hit like that was enough to knock Grookey for a loop. And now it was turning its sparking gaze back towards him.

Goh picked up the chimp and quickly ran through everything he knew about the temple once more. The elements went from fire, to lightning, and to water. Raikou was lightning, but Entei took both an Electric-type move as well as a Water-type move. So with Raikou…

His eyes went wide, and in his mind’s eye came the door to the temple itself. The symbol was also in the Professor’s notes, but he had dismissed it as a hint at the time.

It wasn’t just the sequence that was important. It was also the way the door had them patterned, forming a circle between the three. And a circle meant there was no beginning or ending.

He reached into his pockets and pulled out two Poké Balls containing his two partners, opening them both in his grip. Between him and Raikou appeared his ever reliable Striker Pokémon Cinderace and the skillful, adaptable Agent Pokémon Inteleon.

“Alright, Inteleon!” he called. “You need to douse Raikou with your Snipe Shot! Cinderace, get ready, ‘cause as soon as he’s hit, you’ll need to use Pyro Ball, got it?”

“ Intel!”

“ Cinder! ”

Meanwhile, Goh glanced over at Ash’s ongoing battle against Aggron, who was putting up a fight against Lucario before sliding backwards away from Raikou. 

Gozu, for his part, was keeping a close eye on both battles.“I’m not about to let some brats get the jump over on me,” Gozu challenged. “Aggron, block the Snipe Shot with your Flash Cannon!”

“Lucario, use Double Team! Get in the way!”

As Aggron began forming the flashing light in his mouth, Ash’s Lucario seemingly split into three, and then each of those Lucario split again and again until Aggron was surrounded by the Aura Pokémon. Startled by the development, Aggron let the Flash Cannon fly early, the sparkling light cutting through several of the illusory duplicates and even ineffectually hitting Raikou, but it failed to block the yet-to-be-fired Snipe Shot as well as hurt the interfering Lucario.

Goh’s Water-type lowered the membrane used for aiming and took aim at the Lightning Pokémon. In response to the attack from Gozu’s Aggron, Raikou began to spark and crackle with electricity once more, preparing to launch a powerful assault on everyone present.

Goh had to act quickly. “Inteleon, now! You can short out the electricity with some well-placed shots!”

Inteleon’s eyes quickly took aim, and from his finger, he quickly shot several high-pressure shots of water, aimed at Raikou’s legs as well as their face and the cloud on their back. Though fired in sequence at the targets, the shots were fired so quickly as to appear that they all hit at once.

Raikou roared at the hit like the peel of thunder itself. The electricity they were building up discharged through the water Inteleon just tagged them with, rather than along the course Raikou seemed to intend. The misaimed electricity seemed to surge through Raikou like a smartphone dropped in water, shorting out the attack.”

“Cinderace!”

The only command Goh needed to give now was a shout of his partner Pokémon’s name.

“Aggron, use Heavy Slam! Stop them!”

“Lucario!”

Ash seemingly thought the same thing, only gesturing forward.

Aggron leapt up, attempting to bring his weight down upon Cinderace, but Lucario intercepted the attack, holding the entire weight of the Iron Armor Pokémon off of Cinderace as the rabbit began to kick and bounce a pebble.

The pebble bounced and quickly grew red hot, a sphere of flames growing around it as it was bounced off of Cinderace’s chest and off the ground by his large feet until it was about the size of a football.

“GO!”

With Goh’s encouraging shout behind him, Cinderace bounced the ball up one more time before leaping and kicking it with all the force his leg could muster. The flying, spinning fireball smashed into Raikou, who was still stunned by the Snipe Shot. The Pyro Ball seemed to shatter Raikou into sparks of light, completely destroying the phantom. The electricity seemed to cling and spark to the ground before arcing through the air back towards the Crimson Wing as though it was a lightning rod.

Much like before, the Crimson Wing wasn’t damaged by the surge of electricity now coursing through it. Instead, it seemed to be consuming it, and the bone that still stuck in the orb began glowing yellow as the feather seemed to change. From the now glowing boney rachis in the middle of the feather, the electric power seemed to leak out into the fluttery barbs, making the formerly crimson feather now remind Goh of a sunset with the colors mixing.

And also like before, its transformation completed, the feather separated itself from the orb and began gently falling to the ground.

Aggron, who had been thrown back by Lucario, turned to Gozu and nodded before turning all the way around and rushing towards the feather.

“Lucario, Double Team again!” Ash called. The Aura Pokémon complied, duplicating himself until he stood between Aggron and the feather again.

“You brat!” Gozu shouted, gritting his teeth. “Aggron, use Thunder Punch!”

“You use Reversal!”

Lucario’s paws all began to glow with the amber energy of his technique to turn all the pain he had endured into power to fight back. He brought his paw up against Aggron’s dangerously sparking claw, holding back the weightier Pokémon’s might with a blow that matched his power.

“Goh, you and Chloe take the feather and get it away from this guy!” Ash shouted. “We don’t know where those other guys have gone! And findin’ the Professor’s the most important thing, right?”

Ash’s clear thinking in this situation couldn’t be denied. “You’re right. We need to grab that feather!”

“You’re not gonna get past my Aggron that easily!” Gozu shouted. “Use Flash Cannon!”

“Aura Sphere!”

Aggron formed the bright Flash Cannon in his mouth once more, preparing to fire it down onto the nearby Lucario, but in his free palm, Lucario formed his own attack, using it to block the cutting laser shot from the Steel- and Rock-type’s mouth.

The grin Ash had on his face reminded Goh of Gengar’s most malicious grins. “Your battle is right here with me,” he said, his confidence enough to even stun Goh.

Chloe, who had been standing back during the more intense fighting, gestured forward, and Eevee darted forward on her short legs. She dove through the small space between Lucario and Aggron, narrowly avoiding getting stepped on by the latter, and she grabbed the feather in her mouth, turning back towards Chloe before rushing back out.

Goh recalled Cinderace and Inteleon before giving them both a word of thanks as he slipped the balls back into his pockets. “Chloe!” he called.

Chloe scooped Eevee up into her arms before taking the feather back from her Pokémon. “Goh!”

“Chloe, let’s get out of here! Ash can handle this bozo but we need to find your dad.”

Resolute, Chloe nodded, turning to Ash to give him a wish of good luck. She carried Eevee and the feather over to Goh before the feather began sparkling and glowing with heat in her hands. She yelped, nearly dropping it before Goh took it from her hand. He, in turn, felt the numbing sensation of the electricity as well as the growing heat, so he quickly tilted the feather away, throwing off its compass-like directing and causing it to go cold again.

“Goh, are you okay?” she asked.

He said nothing, only reaching over and grabbing her by the hand.

“Let’s go! Now!”

Goh turned to leave, but not before sharing one last confident grin with Ash. The assurance in his friend’s eyes was rock-solid, and helped fill Goh with his own resolve.

Tightening his grip on Chloe’s hand, he pulled her and Eevee away from the battle, and back into the mountain paths that criss-crossed the Raizen Mountains, putting Ash and Gozu behind them.

Chapter Text

He wasn’t sure quite how far they had run, but Goh was doing his best to use the now red and yellow feather to lead him in the direction of the third shrine, listed in Professor Cerise’s notes as the Aether Shrine. It was a delicate balancing act, keeping the feather from injuring him while safely leading Chloe up the mountain path as quickly as they could.

He spared a thought for Ash, battling the Team Rocket Elite back there, but this sort of divide and conquer approach had worked well for the two of them in the past, and so Goh reminded himself of the resolve he felt with his friend at his side. He wouldn’t allow himself to fail. Professor Cerise and Chloe were counting on him.

He felt Chloe’s fingers tighten around his hand, though he didn’t consider if it was her fear or worry that kept her holding onto him. Surely Chloe was filled with the same resolve Goh was steeling himself with now. And the professor’s daughter was never afraid, even as her kind heart turned to worrying about her father or Eevee, or even Goh himself.

He felt the sharp sting of the electricity now imbued in the feather jolt through his arm, and he dropped it in reflex, hissing in pain as he did. Unlike the previous time, the feather didn’t seem to take on a mind of its own and fly through the air, merely falling to Goh’s feet. Grookey hopped off of Goh’s shoulder to stand in front of the feather, poking it gently with his stick, being careful not to make it move.

As Goh shook the numbness out of his fingers, Chloe finally released his other hand. She dropped Eevee to the ground, and the Evolution Pokémon stood staring again at the feather, wagging her tail gently with a blank smile on her face as she greeted Grookey. The chimp smiled back before both Pokémon turned their attention back to the feather.

 “Goh, are you okay?” Chloe asked, taking his hurt hand into both of hers, looking over his hand carefully with her emerald eyes.

“It’s fine,” he said, looking away from her. “Just a jolt and a little extra heat. It hurts but it's not like it’s killing me.”

Chloe nodded, agreeing with his assessment at least in part. “Yeah, I’d definitely say Felix gave you a much worse time of it,” she said with a teasing smile. “It looks alright for now.” She turned her attention to the feather at Goh’s feet with a frown on her lips and a serious look in her eyes. “Still, there has to be an easier way to use the Evening Wing than this.”

Goh frowned, raising an eyebrow. “‘Evening Wing’?”

Chloe looked back up at him, her eyes holding a look of innocent surprise. “I-uh, thought it was a better name for it than Crimson Wing since it’s not just red anymore, and it kind of reminds me of a sunset, you know?”

Now it was his turn to tease her. “Who’d have known you’d have such an eye for art? Are you and Eevee going to take up painting?”

Chloe lowered her eyebrows in feigned annoyance. “Yeah, she’ll use her tail as a brush and we’ll paint a big, bright picture for you.”

“ Vui? ” Eevee looked up from Chloe’s feet upon hearing her name.

Goh decided to flex his knowledge. “Well, you know there is a Pokémon out there that does paint with its tail. It’s called Smeargle, and you can always tell when you enter their territory from the marks they paint on rocks and trees!”

Chloe grimaced. “Thanks for the lesson, Professor Goh,” she said with a sigh as she shrugged off her backpack. Chloe reached in and brought out a pair of thick gloves, sliding them over her hands before picking the feather up.

“Wait, is that safe?” Goh asked, reaching out towards her with his completely unprotected hand.

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Yes? These are safety gloves, Goh, not ‘make-it-more-dangerous’ gloves. This should insulate my hand from both the heat and electricity, making it perfectly safe to carry.”

As though to prove her point, she held the feather up, moving it around, and it indeed flared up and crackled in her hand, but the deadpan expression on her face never faltered or betrayed any hint of feeling pain.

Goh had to admit, he was impressed with her ingenuity, “That’s… really smart, Chloe. You’re really prepared for being out here.”

“Unlike some people, I can’t rely on my Pokémon to handle everything,” she said. As soon as the words left her mouth, she paused, frowning. Her lips looked like she had just put something disgusting in her mouth, but knowing her as well as he did, Goh understood that it wasn’t what had gone in as much as it was what had just left it. “I’m sorry, Goh. I didn’t mean it like that.”

He shrugged. “It’s alright. I get what you mean.” This didn’t seem to be a time to tease her further, so he let off for a moment.

“Eevee is really smart and curious, but at the same time, I only have her, and there might be situations I can’t rely on her in. I wanted to be prepared so I could best support her. And you. And Ash.”

Regardless of how much teasing he put her through, Goh could always rely on Chloe’s true, kind-hearted nature to shine through. She might not be as strong as Ash was (and really, who did Goh know that could be counted as strong as someone that could go toe to toe with regional champions and win?), but having Chloe with him did inspire a certain amount of confidence, as well. It wasn't the same as the burning confidence that having Ash at his side gave him, but his friendship with Ash also felt like they got along like a house on fire at times. The friendship between himself and Chloe felt more mysterious, but it was still present, for as long as she had been with him.

Which felt like forever.

Sighing, Goh, refocused his thoughts on the matter closer to hand.

After all, his relationship with Chloe wasn’t something he could put into words.

Putting a compliment into words, however, was simple enough. “You’re always three steps ahead from what I can tell,” he said with a smile. “Ash had better watch out or you’ll take his job as a research fellow. If you want to, that is.”

Chloe chuckled to herself. “Well, he can rest assured that I’m not interested in putting him out of a job,” she said. “But… thanks, Goh.”

Talking about Ash of course brought his friend to mind. Goh looked back on the path they had traveled to reach this point. “I wonder how Ash’ll try to catch back up with us. I guess he can just fly on Dragonite.”

“Not likely,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “The higher up we get, the stronger the winds are going to get and the harder it’ll be to fly around. He’ll probably end up rushing along behind us.”

Frowning, Goh crossed his arms. “Yeah, you’re probably right. You’d need some heavy duty machinery like Team Rocket’s helicopter to get anywhere up here.”

“ Grooki …” The chimp added, hopping back on Goh’s shoulder.

Chloe turned her attention back to the Evening Wing. “And on that note, we better hurry. It’s not like we can take all the time we'd like to get there. Team Rocket could be doing who knows what to that place. Let’s hurry.”

There wasn’t any way for Goh to respond to that other than agreement, so he simply nodded and let Chloe take the lead as they once more began forging up the path higher into the mountains.

The higher and higher the two of them climbed, the colder the winds that occasionally assailed them were. Goh was walking with his hands stuffed into the pocket of his sweatshirt, while Grookey had climbed all the way inside, poking his head out just under Goh’s. Chloe had picked up Eevee and was using the warm, fluffy fur of the Pokémon to help warm herself up.

He was quietly cursing the fact that he left his thick coat at home rather than packing it with him, but the need to travel light, as well as not being quite sure of the direction meant that he couldn’t have predicted the weather, either.

They hadn’t spoken much since Chloe had begun leading, but it wasn’t for any reason other than a lack of anything to say. And, perhaps, the welcoming of one distraction over another.

As long as Chloe was focused on feeling the vibrations and heat of the Evening Wing, after all, she wouldn’t have time to worry about her father, Goh thought.

At least, that’s what he thought until he saw how small her shoulders looked walking ahead of him. Even as she supported Eevee’s weight on one arm, Goh could see that the current whereabouts of her father were heavier on her than Eevee’s small form ever could.

He could feel his heart sink lower and lower the more he watched her. He had to do something. Say something. Anything at all. He knew the best way to raise her spirits would be if he could just make her father appear safe and sound, but could he even say anything like that without being patronizing?

She just seemed so small in his eyes. He wanted to find a way to protect her.

Grookey looked up at him from inside his sweatshirt, blinking. “ Grookiki? ” he asked.

Goh looked down at the chimp, and though he didn’t understand the question, he knew that there was a connection between himself and Grookey. They were assuredly on the same wavelength, and his Pokémon must have wanted to help Chloe as well.

He took off his sweatshirt and was immediately greeted with the cold autumn mountain air. Resisting the urge to chatter his teeth, he quickly stepped up to Chloe and handed it to her. “Here,” he said, trying his best to smile. “We can’t have our navigator getting cold up here, can we?”

Chloe looked at him and then at his sweatshirt. “G-Goh…” she stammered. Her cheeks were pink and warm, and Eevee seemed to turn and sniff in the direction of Goh’s offering. “W-Won’t you be cold?” she asked.

He gave her the most confident grin he had, even if it felt a bit empty on his part. “If Ash can be up in the mountains in shorts, I’m sure I’ll be fine,” he said. To illustrate this point, he put his right hand on his left shoulder before spinning his left arm around energetically. 

Grookey joined in, hopping onto Goh’s head and waving his stick around. “ Kiki grooki! ”   

“I’ll be fine, but you look like you could use something to help you keep warm.”

Chloe lowered her head, nodding. “Thank you.” She began slipping it on over her overalls and grey-striped blouse, with Eevee crawling in, as well. After she popped her head out of the top, Eevee did something similar to what Grookey had been doing, her ears popping out of the neck of the sweatshirt.

“It’s warm…” she said, the words barely above a whisper.

Goh chuckled. “What are you talking about? Of course it is, with you and Eevee both in there.”

Chloe’s eyes went wide, as though she didn’t think she’d get heard. She locked eyes with Goh for a moment before giggling and taking the Evening wing back into her gloved hand. “C’mon, let’s keep moving.”

“Right,” he said, letting Chloe take the lead. There was a more joyous spring in her step now, and even if the act had left Goh contending with the cold, there was a warmth he felt in his chest that helped keep him trudging up the path.

To distract himself from the cold, he began focusing on what was ahead of them. The third shrine was called the Aether Shrine, and given that the previous two held statues that honored Entei and Raikou, it only made sense to Goh that this third one would contain a statue of Suicune, the Aurora Pokémon.  Following the pattern, they would use the feather to unlock the door and pierce the sphere that would contain some sort of essence that would take the form of Suicune, and then they would need to tag that illusion with fire, and then electricity in turn. For fire, he always had his reliable Cinderace. For electricity-

He felt his blood run cold. He hadn’t brought any Electric-type Pokémon with him, much less ones who could use Electric-type moves. He had assumed that Ash and Pikachu would always be on hand should the need arise, and there was no way he could have planned for a series of spectral locks in the forms of illusory Pokémon.

“We might be in trouble.”

Chloe stopped and looked back. “What’s wrong?”

“If we end up facing another of those illusionary Legendary Pokémon, we might need an Electric-type move to dispel it and I didn’t bring any Pokémon with me that can use them. I guess I could try and find a Pokémon I could catch…”

“That won’t be necessary.”

He raised an eyebrow at Chloe. “And why not? You saw how we needed electricity and water for Entei, and then water and fire for Raikou.”

She smiled confidently. “Because we have Electric-type moves covered, right, Eevee?”

“ Vui! ” she cheerfully responded.

Goh furrowed a brow. “Wait, Eevee can use one?”

“Well sure!” she said. “Eevee’s spent a lot of time hanging out with Yamper, hasn’t she? She’s copied his Spark attack a bunch of times, so she should be able to do it again here.”

Eevee smiled widely, and Goh could see the cream-colored tip of her tail poking out from the bottom of his sweatshirt as she wagged it back and forth. It felt a bit convenient that Eevee would be able to use those moves she’d copied without having seen them recently, but if Chloe was going to believe, he’d feel like a hypocrite if he didn’t also believe that it’d be possible. And so he let out a sigh of relief. 

They could do this without having to wait for Ash, after all.

“Still… it’s really weird, isn’t it?”

Goh raised an eyebrow. “Eevee copying moves?”

Chloe shook her head. “No, just… all of this stuff going on.”

“What do you mean?”

She looked not at Goh, but at the feather she held in her hand. “We found this thing sealed in a temple half a region away, and we’ve been taking it to these shrines and it’s been reacting to them! It’s made these spirits come out, and it’s changed colors and it’s like…”

Chloe’s words trailed off, but Goh read her lips form the word ‘magic’ breathlessly.

“And you don’t think something supernatural like that should be able to happen, right?”

Her expression darkened, her eyes dimming. “Well, yeah. This isn’t like anything I’ve learned in school, and it doesn’t make any sense. There’s usually a reason for things, and we can explain even stuff that seems like magic. But in this case, it feels like there’s no explanation at all. And it feels… weird. Wrong, almost.”

There was a gap between how Chloe saw this situation and how he saw it, Goh thought. No doubt Chloe’s own impressions were being colored by her worry for her father, but even back in Stone Town, she had been disdainful of legends and myths that relied on magic and miracles.

Sensing an opportunity for Chloe to at least entertain his perspective, even if she would end up rejecting it again, Goh began to speak, wanting to explain more of how he saw things..

“I mean… it just makes it more exciting, doesn’t it?” he asked, stepping closer.

Chloe watched him with her eyes, but said nothing.

“It’s something that no one has seen in hundreds or thousands of years. The way it works is a mystery. But you see it happen right in front of your eyes, so you know it’s real. Doesn’t that excite you? Doesn’t that make you want to know why it happened like that? Try to learn how it happened? A brand new discovery that could change the world could be waiting. Don’t you want to see it for yourself?”

Chloe frowned, clutching Eevee closer to her chest. “Is that how you see it?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. I mean, of course there are some things that are really impossible out there. But unless we know how everything works, then we should at least leave a little room for there to be open to something we couldn’t ever guess happening. It makes the world a much bigger, more exciting place to explore when you think of it like that, doesn’t it?”

Her frown was quickly replaced by a giggle, which put a smile on Goh’s face. “You know, you sound a lot like my Dad when you talk like that.”

Goh felt his heart sink. He didn’t want to remind Chloe of her father! Especially not now! She seemed so happy just a few moments ago. He mentally kicked himself for acting like that.

But when he looked back up at Chloe, he still saw her smiling, not dwelling on her father’s kidnapping. So he allowed himself to relax.

“Well, I guess that’s okay,” he said, somewhat embarrassed at the comparison. “I just want to show you the same world that I see. Sometimes it feels like you’re the one closed off from everything instead of me.”

He felt a sharp pain as Chloe flicked him in the forehead. He winced, covered his forehead with his hand as he looked up at her. She smiled mischievously at him. “I guess all this traveling you’ve done makes up for all the time you stayed in your room instead of coming to school, right?”

Goh rubbed his smarting head. “You don’t have to tease me about it…”

Giggling, Chloe turned around and held up the feather again. “Well, according to this magical feather, the next shrine should be just up ahead. So come on, Goh.”

Somehow he was unable to keep a frown on his face at hearing her light-hearted giggling. The two of them trudged the rest of the way up the path, where it seemed the mountain was leveling out again.

Goh took a moment to look over the surrounding area. It was almost like a hole had been carved into the side of the mountain. Not quite a cave, but a large rocky overhang that provided some amount of shelter from the wind and the weather. It was bare up here, with Goh seeing no hiding places.

He turned to the path behind him, and looked out over the horizon. They were so far up, he could see a few small buildings on the horizon towards the west. Was that Pewter City…?

Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, Goh began scanning the walls for the door engraved with the markings of water. But as his eyes took in the situation around him, he began to have an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

There was no sign of the door.

“Wait, are we in the wrong place…?” he asked.

Chloe held the feather out, and it did seem to be leading her towards the wall here, but in front of her was only a menagerie of smashed stones. Some of them looked like the same stone of the mountain, but others were a sharp, gleaming obsidian.

“...!”

As the pieces began to fit together in his mind, Goh rushed ahead of Chloe to the pile of stones lying there against the wall. He got down on his hands and knees and began picking through the rubble. Grookey hopped off his shoulder as well and began helping Goh sift through the rocks.

“No… No no no…”

“G-Goh… This is…”

Chloe stood next to him, holding the feather as it burned and crackled intensely, reminding Goh of a marshmallow caught on fire. The intensity of the burning told Goh that they were, indeed, in the right place.

This pile of rubble used to be the Aether Shrine.

Chloe dropped to her knees as she began doing her best to help paw through the rocks, looking for some sign, something that would cause the feather to fly out and spark to life.

Goh heard the sickening crunch of shatter glass as one of the stones shifted. “N-No…”

The feather, once roaring, fell quiet.

Chloe held her breath as Goh and Grookey shifted the stone aside. Beneath it was a pile of shattered glass, the same sort as the orbs in the other statues were. Only there was no specter here. No spiritual power for them to harness.

They were too late.

Goh clinched his hand into a fist and was about to punch into the ground in frustration, but he stopped as he heard the sound of footprints in the gravel behind them.

He stood and turned, hoping to see Ash rushing up, but it wasn’t his friend sneaking up on them.

Walking casually up the path, each with a big smirk on their faces, were the Team Rocket grunts that he and Ash had previously dispatched at the Morning Star Shrine. They were walking up with a confident swagger as they approached Goh and Chloe. Goh stood up, glaring angrily at them. He put an arm in front of Chloe as he stepped forward.

Before he got a chance to speak, one of the three men spoke up with a wicked sneer. “Hey kid. Didja lose something?”

The rest of his comrades laughed at the joke, but it only infuriated Goh further.

“You guys…” he said through clenched teeth. “Did you do this?!”

“You bet we did,” the woman among the Rockets said. “We figured that no matter what you brats were up to, if we stopped you from using this place, there’d be no way you could finish up your plan. And now you’ve brought that feather that our leader wants right to us. Such a kind boy you are.”

Chloe held the feather defensively behind Goh. He stepped forward, confident in challenging them. “You won’t lay your hands on it as long as I’m here!” Goh shouted.

“Aw, the kid wants to party? Why don’t we throw him one?” one of the Rockets said.

“Yeah,” another laughed. “Throw him right off the mountain!”

Goh looked over to Chloe, and he saw the fire in her eyes, the will to fight back. “Hold on,” he warned. “You should leave this to me.”

Chloe balked. “Leave it to you? Why?”

“If Eevee gets hurt to the point that she can’t use an Electric-type move, then if Suicune appears, we’re stuck. I’ll hold back Cinderace for the same reason. But I’ve still got some Pokémon that can fight!”

The Rockets all threw out their Pokémon, and it was the same four as before: Skuntank, Toxicroak, Purugly, and Rhyperior. Goh reached into his pockets and tossed two balls forward. “Inteleon and Argent, go!”

In a flash, standing against Team Rocket’s Pokémon were Goh’s Water-type and his small, silver Normal-type. Four on two was still not the best odds, he knew, but with how quickly they defeated Team Rocket last time, he was confident he would force them back.

He had to protect Chloe and the feather.

“Rhyperior, use Rock Wrecker!”

“Toxicroak, Sludge Bomb!”

“Purugly, Fury Swipes!”

“Skuntank, Flamethrower!”

The Rockets all shouted out their commands simultaneously and over each other, but their Pokémon were trained and ready to execute these familiar commands.

“Inteleon, use Snipe Shot on Rhyperior and then Suntank! Argent, use Hyper Voice on Toxicroak and Purugly!”

Rhyperior began forming the large stone in his claws that he would throw towards Goh’s Pokémon, but Inteleon’s sharp shooting from his fingertips sliced through the rock, hitting Rhyperior square in the face. The Rock-and Ground-type howled in pain, stumbling backwards, and Inteleon turned his sights to the incoming Flamethrower. Inteleon brought down the membranes over his eyes and aimed true, firing his Snipe Shot straight through the flames and dowsing Skuntank’s tail.

Toxicroak fired off the burning, foul smelling hunks of sludge from his mouth towards Argent. The Eevee leapt up and backwards, and the acrid stench quickly filled the air. Using this attack as cover, Purugly leapt forward, brandishing her claws as she attempted to bring them down onto Argent. The Eevee looked up and took in a deep breath before shouting out with a loud “ Bui! ” The explosive soundwave knocked Purugly backwards out of the air, the sound of which echoed over the mountains, and she skidded to a stop on her feet next to Toxicroak.

Goh glanced around the field. He was holding his own, but Team Rocket’s Pokémon were spreading out more, and they controlled more of the area under the large rock overhead. “We can’t let them corner us,” Goh said. “We have to move or we’ll be trapped against the wall!” He could feel the sweat begin to bead on his forehead. This was much easier with Ash helping him before.

“Let me help, Goh,” Chloe said. “If we can’t make it out of here, then it doesn’t matter if Eevee can fight or not, right?”

Her logic was undeniable, as was her courage. He nodded. “Alright. We’ll work together then!”

Chloe gestured forward. “Go, Eevee!”

“ Vui! ” she shouted, rushing out to stand alongside Argent and Inteleon.

“Eevee, use Hyper Voice!”

“Inteleon, use Liquidation! Argent, use Shadow Ball!”

The man who seemed to be the internal leader for this group roared out. “Don’t let these brats get away! Rhyperior, use Stone Edge!”

“Purugly, Slash!”

“Toxicroak, use Poison Jab!”

“Skuntank, Acid Spray!”

While all the commands were being given out, Chloe’s Eevee began to glow with a mysterious power, cloaking herself with a gentle aura. She opened her mouth and shouted a loud “ VUUIII! ” at Team Rocket. It had the same explosive force as Argent’s attack, pushing the Rockets back and around, away from the path Goh and Chloe took to this area.

Purugly leapt forward towards Argent as he formed the orb of necrotic energy in his mouth before firing it right at her. The Shadow Ball passed harmlessly through Purugly, and she slashed Argent with her claws, raking them across the small Pokémon’s body.

“You missed!” mocked Purguly’s trainer, smugly.

Goh smirked back at her. “Oh, did I?”

An explosion behind Purugly caught both of their attention as Skuntank was hit by the unexpected move, launching the skunk into the air and laying him flat on his back.

“S-Skuntank!”

Inteleon’s arms and legs became coated in water as he leapt into action. Rhyperior smashed his fists into the ground, causing jagged stones to rise up from the ground, headed in his direction. Inteleon punched and kicked through the stones as they came up, making his way closer to Rhyperior. Toxicroak leapt over the stones, the claw at the end of his arm glistening with poison. He thrust his arm down towards Inteleon, jabbing into the water lizard, sending him skidding back.

“Inteleon, are you okay?”

Inteleon shrugged off the pain, having avoided getting poisoned by the attack. “ Leon.”

While Inteleon had taken the hit, he had kept them just far enough back that Eevee and Argent’s efforts hadn’t been negated. “Alright, now’s our chance! Use Snipe Shot on the ceiling!”

The Rockets and their Pokémon all looked up, finding themselves under the overhang that Goh and Chloe had approached to look for the Suicune statue. With the flick of a finger, Inteleon fired a pressurized blast of water, knocking a few stones loose. It wasn’t enough to block their way, but it did make Team Rocket flinch, holding their arms over their heads to stop themselves from getting hit over the head with a loose rock.

And that would be their way out.

With a window for escape opened in front of them, Goh turned to Chloe. “Let’s get out of here and try to rendezvous with Ash!”

“Right!”

The two of them, with their Pokémon watching Team Rocket’s forces to make sure they didn’t try to advance, began moving towards the path back down the mountain where they had left Ash.

But just as they approached the side of the path down, right near the edge of the cliff, Goh caught the sight of another member of Team Rocket trekking up the path. The man wore a now-familiar beret and eye patch, and beside him was his tall, powerful Aggron.

“Oh no…” Goh gasped. “That’s their leader, Gozu…!”

Chloe’s eyes went wide. “B-But wait…? Where’s Ash?”

The Rocket Commander known as Gozu looked up to see Goh and Chloe now cornered at the edge of the cliff as he approached. He held up his hand for the grunts to stand down until he stood on the opposite side of the cliff where the two teens were trapped. Gozu’s Aggron stood by his trainer’s side, tacitly watching Goh, Chloe, and their Pokémon.

“Ash, huh? That’s your friend’s name? I left him back near that Raikou statue, wallowing in his defeat.” The confidence on Gozu’s face was sickening, but Goh couldn’t believe his ears.

Ash lost to him ?

“There’s no way Ash lost to you…!” Goh shot back.

“Then where is he, kid?” Gozu asked, gesturing around. “Seems to me that your little pal couldn’t handle a Rocket Commander. Not many could.”

“Then… where are his Pokémon?” Goh shouted, becoming increasingly upset. “Did you take Pikachu and Lucario?!”

Gozu waved his hand dismissively. “I didn’t steal some kid’s Pokémon. That’s not my mission. I could have, but I’m a reasonable man. I left the brat where he lost.”

“Reasonable, huh…?” Goh asked, venomously. “So what’s a reasonable guy like you doing all the way up into the Raizen Mountains for?”

Commander Gozu pointed behind Goh to Chloe. More specifically, to the feather she still held in her hand. “I’ve come for that, and more to the point, I’ve come to bargain.”

“Bargain…?” Goh and Chloe spoke the word simultaneously.

Gozu ignored them and turned to his grunts. “You guys! Go get that old man and bring him here!” he barked. Two of the men, the trainers of Skuntank and Toxicroak, responded with a salute and rushed off down the path.

Goh gestured towards them. “Inteleon, use-”
Aggron fired a Flash Cannon from his mouth towards where Goh and Chloe were standing. The ground beneath them shuddered, and everyone went still except for the two Rockets still rushing down and away from the path Goh and Chloe took to get here.

“You kids better stay put, unless you’d like to battle anyway. But then I can’t guarantee what’ll happen to him.”

“Him…?”

“D-Dad!”

Goh and Chloe’s eyes were drawn to the two Rockets rushing back up. Each had the arm of Professor Cerise, pulling him up the mountain. His hands were bound behind his back, and he had a gag around his mouth, preventing him from talking. His eyes went wide at the sight of Goh and Chloe, but Goh could already tell he was wondering where Ash was.

“Professor Cerise…! You’re okay!” Goh exhaled a breath. “Thank goodness.”

Chloe’s eyes moved between Gozu and her bound father. Professor Cerise was taken to Gozu’s side and sat next to the Rocket Commander and his Aggron. “S-So… so you want to bargain?”

“That’s right, little lady,” Gozu said. “I know how much a girl loves her father, so if you bring the feather in your hand to me, I’ll let your father go.”

“The feather…” Goh said, clenching his fists.

It was a difficult trade to accept. This feather represented a lot. The mystery tied to Pokémon it was part of. The hard work of the very Professor they wanted to save. Not to mention the benefits that unraveling the mystery could have for Stone Town and Project Mew.

But could Goh put all of those above Chloe’s happiness?

He narrowed his gaze. “How do we know this isn’t a trick?” he asked. “You guys could just attack us with all your Pokémon all at once.”

Gozu shook his head. “No trick. I beat your friend fair and square, so you know you can’t win. And I’m not here to bully children. In fact-” He turned to his underlings “-recall your Pokémon. In negotiation, everyone has to compromise.”

The Rocket grunts all looked at him like he was insane, but none of them had the courage to step out of line, so they held up their Poké Balls and recalled Rhyperior, Toxicroak, Purugly, and Skuntank.

“You kids bring your little fighters back, too,” Gozu ordered. “It’d be a shame if you tried to fight now, only for Professor Daddy to get caught up in crossfire, right?”

Goh clenched his teeth, feeling the sweat roll down his face even as cold as it was up here. But with a cliff behind him and Professor Cerise in their hands, he didn’t have much of a choice. “Alright,” he said. “Return, Inteleon and Argent.” He held up the two balls, recalling his Pokémon before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a third. “You, too, Grookey.”

“ Grooki…” he said sadly as he was pulled inside.

“Sorry, Eevee,” Chloe said, holding up her Poké Ball as well, recalling Eevee inside.

Goh felt the wind much more keenly without Grookey on his shoulder. He looked to Chloe, who was still staring ahead at her father, the Evening Wing in her hand. He could see the nervousness in her eyes as well. She glanced at Goh, and their eyes met.

It was as if she was asking him ‘Do we cooperate…?’

Goh nodded. “I don’t know why Team Rocket wants this feather. Maybe they just wanna sell it, or maybe they’ve got bigger plans. I don’t know. But what I do know is that the Lab needs Professor Cerise, and you need your Dad back.”

Chloe let go of the breath she was holding onto, and a small but nervous smile rose on her lips. “Goh… thank you.”

“Wise words, coming from such a young kid,” Gozu said with a chuckle.

Goh looked up at him defiantly. “I’m fourteen. I’m not some snot-nosed kid you can keep making fun of.”

To that, Gozu laughed out loud. “Sorry, Mister Teenager. I look at kids like you and I can’t decide if you’re ten or fifteen. You all kind of look alike to someone as old as I am. But you do have a good head on your shoulders. Maybe there’s a spot for someone as smart as you in Team Rocket.”

“Not on your life,” he shot back, glaring intensely. “We’re just going to trade this feather for Professor Cerise. That’s all.”

“Right,” Chloe said, with a nod.

She took her first hesitant step away from Goh’s side, holding the Evening Wing in her hand. The air was tense, and the only things breaking the silence was the sound of Chloe’s steps and the wind blowing around the mountains.

For a moment, Goh thought he heard a howl of some huge Pokémon mixed with the wind.

Chloe arrived at the other side, holding the feather up to Gozu. With a wicked grin, he took the feather from her hands and examined it. “Very nice. Our leader will be very pleased. Thank you for your cooperation.”

With a swift move of his other hand, Gozu sucker punched Chloe in the stomach, knocking the air out of her. She fell over onto the ground, clutching her stomach in pain.

Goh felt his blood run colder than even the chillest winds on this mountain.

“Tie this one up, too,” Gozu said before cackling as he turned away from Goh. 

As the Rockets descended upon Chloe with rope, Goh stepped forward, roaring in anger. “You liar!”

Gozu snorted in his direction. “What are you, stupid? Of course I was going to lie. We still need the Professor to help us use the feather, and having your little girlfriend here will give us some extra leverage.”

Goh ignored the ‘girlfriend’ crack. “Do you think I’m going to let you get away with this?!” he shouted, reaching into his pockets for a Poké Ball. “Cinderace-”

“Aggron, Flash Cannon!”

Before the ball could slip from Goh’s fingers, Aggron fired another laser of glittering light from his mouth, slicing at the cliff where he stood. The ground exploded beneath him, sending him flying backwards over the edge.

He couldn’t see her anymore, but he heard Chloe’s panicked shouting of his name as he fell over the edge.

He suddenly felt very cold and tired, and he felt the wind blowing all around him as he blacked out.

Chapter Text

The first sensation he felt upon his consciousness returning to him was that of a cool breeze gently wafting around him. As his mind began to fire into gear, Goh began connecting the events he had experienced to that in his memories. He remembered the mountains, and encountering Team Rocket, but the warm softness beneath him attempted to draw him back beneath the waves of slumber.

It was remembering Chloe’s voice shouting his name that made his eyes snap open.

He sat up, looking around. “W..Where am I?” Before that could be answered, though, another question quickly presented itself.

He was currently on the back of some sort of Pokemon, one with light blue fur patterned with white diamond shapes. From the head of this creature flowed a beautiful mane of purple hair, crowned with a large, crystalline horn. Noticing Goh stirring, the creature turned their head to face him, their red eyes meeting Goh’s and flooding the boy with familiarity.

“Suicune…”

The Legendary Pokemon nodded, lying calmly on the ground. Goh slipped off of Suicune’s back and tried to gather his bearings.

Looking up, Goh saw the Raizen Mountains and the trees of the forest surrounding them looming over his head. He couldn’t even pick the place he had fallen from at this point. He was practically back where he started, if he wasn’t completely lost. At least he had his life, and his Pokemon.

“...!”

Goh began searching his person for his Poke Balls. He pulled out only three and his heart began to pound. “Wait… I had Cinderace in my hand just as we fell…!”

He heard Suicune smack something with one of their paws, and a red and white ball rolled towards where he was standing. It stopped part way before snapping open, and in a flash of light, Goh’s first Pokemon stood, shaking off the cramped feeling of being inside the ball. “ Cinderace, ” he said, looking around before seeing Suicune and taking a step back.” Cinderace?! ”

Goh put his arms around his Pokemon’s shoulders, hugging him tightly. “You’re alright…!” Tears pooled at the corners of his eyes.

Cinderace smiled, patting Goh on the back with his own hug. “ Cin der!”

Goh wiped his tears off on Cinderace’s arms before looking back at Suicune. “Thank you for saving us, Suicune. But what are you doing here? I thought you’d be off purifying water around the world?”

Suicune stood up and approached Goh, their red eyes intensely focused on the boy. The twin, ribbon-like tails on Suicune’s back that normally waved in an even rhythm twisted and zigzagged, like a lightning bolt.

“Raikou…” Goh muttered, reaching the conclusion being presented before him. “So wait, you sensed what was happening with these shrines, and you came to help?”

Suicune nodded, keeping their glare on Goh

“I guess the reason you were that close was because Team Rocket wrecked the Aether Shrine, the one to you…” he said, frowning. “And then…”

They took Chloe and the feather, and then tried to kill him.

Goh felt his shoulders slump, and he found his gaze locked on the ground. He couldn’t meet the intensity in Suicune’s eyes.

“...so what, you’re saying you want to fight them?” he asked.

“ Grtch ,” Suicune uttered, more of a growl than anything else, though Goh understood that it was saying ‘Yes’. 

“But Suicune,” he said, looking up at the Pokémon, “those guys are on another level! Their leader took out Ash, and Ash’s like so strong, he’s like the 36th strongest guy in the World Coronation Series!”

Suicune tilted their head, a questioning look on their stoic face. They seemed to be asking ‘And haven’t you stood side by side with Ash before?’

“I have fought at Ash’s side,” Goh said, “but that’s not the only thing that’s different. Maybe if he were here with us, we could form a plan or something but we don’t even have any idea where Ash could be.”

The inscrutable face of the Pokémon in front of him stared with their crimson eyes. It was similar to the look Suicune had given Goh on the day they had met.

While investigating appearances of Suicune with Ash in the Johto Region, the two boys encountered Suicune under attack by poachers, who were deliberately weakening and luring Suicune to the area by poisoning the water supply. Goh managed to catch Suicune to rescue them out of their grasp, and then he had to rely on his skills and intelligence to find a way to protect Suicune and help them restore their strength. In the end, Goh successfully protected Suicune, and they chose to stay with Goh. At least, in spirit. Suicune left Cerise Park to continue purifying water around the world, and Goh was sure that the Suicune in front of him was that friend he had made that day.

In fact, up until now, he hadn’t even thought to question that fact.

But in recounting his own memories, Goh realized the truth of what Suicune was impressing upon him. “...I did make that plan to help keep you safe before,” he said. “...and I also came up with the plan to help Ash and Chloe when they were captured in Stone Town…”

If he had done so many great things, why was he still doubting himself, the look in Suicune’s eyes seemed to ask. It wasn’t an answer Goh had at the ready, so he just shrugged.

“ Cinderace, ” his Pokémon said, putting a paw on his shoulder. “ Cin der derace dace ace cin! ”

Goh couldn’t help but smile. Even his partner Pokémon was trying to raise his spirits now.

“...But they have Chloe and Professor Cerise as hostages,” he said. “If we don’t plan things out carefully, they could get hurt if we try to interfere.” His mind returned to that feeling of wanting to keep Chloe safe and protected. The thought of anything he did putting her in more danger left a bitter taste in his mouth.

A Poké Ball in his pocket snapped open, and Grookey appeared next to Cinderace. Unlike the larger, calmer Pokémon, Grookey was taking his stick and smacking it against the ground before taking it to Goh’s leg, smacking him around as the chimp climbed up his side until Grookey was smacking Goh in the face.

“Ow! Hey! Ouch! Grookey, what are you doing?!” Goh shouted, lifting Grookey off of his face. “What’s gotten into you?”

“ Cinderace cinderace, ” the striker explained, noting that Goh’s self-defeating attitude must have been felt even inside the Poké Ball.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Goh shot back. “Are you saying I don’t want to help Chloe and the Professor?”

“Grooki! Grooki!”
The waving of the stick in his face by the small chimp could only be taken as a yes.

His glare hardened on Grookey. “Of course I want to help Chloe and the Professor! Who knows what they’ll do with either of them once they’ve gotten what they came here for? But… But I’m afraid, too, you know? Up until now, we’ve only had to deal with people who weren’t that dangerous, or we had back-up coming. We don’t even know if Ash is still in the mountains. He might have run back to the base camp after losing… What chance do you think we have alone?”

As Goh vented his insecurities to Cinderace and Grookey, Suicune stepped around behind him. The great beast nipped at his backside, causing Goh to jump and turn around. “Hey! What are you doing?!”

When Suicune raised their head back up, Goh saw that the Pokémon had something in their mouth. It only took him a moment to recognize it.

His hand went to his back pocket, and sure enough it was missing from where he normally carried it.

Suicune held between their teeth the blue handkerchief he had received from Chloe.

Of course, Suicune knew the handkerchief was kept there since he had tended to Suicune’s wounds with it on the day they met, and Grookey and Cinderace had seen it on other occasions besides that one. But the sight of the handkerchief made Goh feel like time was running backwards. He remembered the feeling of Chloe wiping his face clean, and the look of concern and care in her eyes. She had always been there for him when he found himself in a bad situation or in need of her support.

The feeling of wanting to protect her grew even stronger, and his heart felt like it was pounding in his chest. Goh ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m such an idiot, huh?”

While Grookey and Cinderace disagreed, he knew that if Chloe was there to chastise him, she’d be pointing out everything he’d done up until now, for sure. He was more than capable of doing this, of rescuing Chloe and her father. Because, after all, he wasn’t alone.

He could almost hear Ash’s words, as well. “I’m not alone as long as I’ve got Pokémon by my side,” he said, repeating the words that seemed to echo in his ear. “And with my Pokémon - with my friends - I can do anything. I can protect the future I’m holding in the palm of my hand.”

Goh snorted, turning to Grookey and Cinderace. “You two are with me, right?”

“ Cin! ”

“ Key! ”

Goh turned from his current partners to the one who had saved him from the deadly fall. “Suicune, can we make use of your power, too? I don’t think we’ll be able to save Chloe and Professor Cerise in time without your help.”

Suicune gave a deep nod before lowering themself to the ground, as though to say ‘get on’. Goh took Cinderace’s ball and recalled his reliable Striker, since Cinderace was too big for the two of them to ride Suicune comfortably together. Grookey took his place on Goh’s shoulder, and Goh mounted himself onto Suicune’s back, taking a firm grip of the fur there.

He gave a nod, and Suicune began leaping up the cliff face, heading towards the tallest mountain in the Raizen Mountains - Mount Tensei. But neither Goh nor Suicune communicated this directly with each other. Goh simply put his trust in the Aurora Pokémon, and Suicune responded to the wish in Goh’s heart.

After all, there were some things in this world that couldn’t be expressed with words.

The chilling winds of the Raizen Mountains continued to cut at Goh’s sides. Grookey did his best from Goh’s shoulder, but the small Grass-type chimp could only do so much.

Still, ever since climbing onto Suicune’s back, it felt like the winds were only blowing from behind them now, giving Suicune an extra boost as they leapt from cliff to cliff and raced along the narrow pathways, heading toward the tallest mountain in the range. It loomed over even Mount Moon. Over his shoulder, he could see the famous moon-viewing mountain looking small behind him.

Suicune’s approach wasn’t even slowed by the increasingly difficult climbing conditions, and so Goh turned his focus back forward. He was filled with conviction, thanks to Suicune and his Pokémon. He would save Chloe and Professor Cerise, reclaim the Evening Wing, and even avenge Ash’s defeat.

As he considered how his powerful friend could be defeated, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. After looking for a few moments, he gasped and pulled on Suicune’s mane. “Suicune! Wait!”

Suicune stopped immediately on the path they were racing up and looked skyward as well.

Goh saw the orange form of a familiar Dragonite struggling with the high winds of the mountains above him. And on that Dragonite’s back was the familiar form of his cap wearing friend. Goh cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted. “Hey, Ash! Down here!”

“ Grooki! ”

Suicune raised their mouth towards the sky and shot out a pressurized Hydro Pump that soared in the air to Dragonite’s height before dissipating. It seemed that the attack was what caught Dragonite and Ash’s attention as they both looked down before waving and beginning to descend.

As Ash came closer, Goh let out a sigh of relief that Pikachu was still on his shoulder. He slipped off Suicune’s back to meet Ash as he landed.

“Goh!” Ash shouted as Dragonite’s massive paws landed on the path. “There you are! I was lookin’ everywhere for you and Chloe!” He paused. “Wait, where’s Chloe? And is that Suicune?!”

Goh chuckled. “Yeah, this is my friend. The same one we made that day in Johto, remember?”

Ash nodded. “That’s awesome,” he said, grinning. “But what about Chloe? Did you guys find Professor Cerise?”

“No,” Goh said, shaking his head. “Instead, we got ambushed at the last shrine after Team Rocket destroyed it. That Gozu guy that beat you came up and tricked us into handing the feather over to him, and he took Chloe and the Professor as hostages, too!”

Ash frowned. “Wait, he beat me?!” he exclaimed.

Goh chuckled. “Ash, now’s not the time to get stuck on that part…” he said.

Shaking his head, Ash growled. “No, it’s totally that time!” he shouted, angry. “That guy lied ! He didn’t beat me! He ran away!”

Goh felt his jaw fall open before his lips curled into a smile. “Wait, you didn’t lose to that guy’s Aggron?”

“Of course not!” Ash replied. “Lucario and I battled that guy for a while after you guys ran ahead, and we were about to put the finishing blow on him, but he threw a smoke grenade and ran away! And now he’s goin’ around tellin’ people that he won?!”

Of course, now with the facts in front of him, Goh realized that with Gozu’s penchant for lying, him lying about beating Ash in a battle shouldn’t come as a surprise. Especially after he had lied to take the feather and kidnap Chloe in one fell swoop. Ash almost seemed angrier about his made up loss than about the Professor and Chloe getting kidnapped. Almost .

“We’ve gotta get to those guys and save Chloe and Professor Cerise,” he said, pumping his fist. “Then we’ll show Team Rocket who’s boss!”

He held out a fist to Goh, who quickly met it with his own. “Right! We won’t let them get away with whatever evil plan they’ve cooked up. We’ll save the day and put an end to this!”

“ Pikapika! ” Pikachu said, crawling across Ash’s arm, offering a paw to Grookey.

Grookey crawled across Goh’s arm, meeting Pikachu in the middle. “ Grooki! ”

As they lowered their arms and their Pokémon returned to their shoulders, Goh turned his eyes skyward. “Can you guys keep up with Suicune by flying?” he asked.

Ash scratched the back of his head, thinking. “The winds are too strong,” he said, giving an honest assessment. “Dragonite can stay flying up there, but fightin’ with them means we can’t cover THAT much ground.”

“ Krun,” Suicune barked. As though on command, a gust of wind blew out from behind Suicune towards Goh and Ash.

The thought clicked in Goh’s mind immediately. “Wait, Suicune is supposed to be the embodiment of the north wind, right? Does that mean you can use the wind to give us a boost?”

“ Kun,” Suicune nodded before turning their back to the two of them. The wind that seemed to blow from behind Suicune was now blowing in their favor.

Dragonite gave a test of the wind flow with her wings before looking down at Ash. “ Buoh,” she said, giving Ash a smile and a nod.

“Seems like Dragonite’s ready to go, too!” he said, cracking his wry grin. “With a tailwind like this, flyin’ should be a snap!”

“ Bwa! ” Dragonite called in agreement.

Goh turned back towards Suicune. “Then let’s get to the top of this mountain!” He got once more on Suicune’s back as Ash climbed back on Dragonite’s.

Suicune roared loudly, as if shouting the wind into compliance with their wishes. A fresh new tailwind blew behind them, and Dragonite took to wing quickly, rising up high into the sky, speeding towards the summit.

Goh patted Suicune on the side and nodded. Suicune began dashing across the rocks and leaping up the cliffs as they kept pace with Ash and Dragonite. Goh gestured forward with a fist, shouting “Let’s go!”

Riding the winds called by Suicune, Goh and Ash quickly ascended the cliffs.

“I see them!” Ash shouted from his higher vantage point. Goh locked his eyes forward on the scene quickly coming into view as they climbed atop the summit of Mount Tensei.

Carved in the ground up here on the peak, there seemed to be a strange altar with a stone tablet in front of it. Flanking the tablet were two sets of stairs that both lead onto the altar proper, with a raised platform in the middle where an offering would be placed. The tablet seemed to have the same writing as they’ve come to expect from these ruins, but it wasn’t the words that caught Goh’s attention.

Standing on the altar, Gozu was swinging the Evening Wing about in frustration. Down near the helicopter landed just at the foot of the altar were the four Team Rocket Grunts and the restrained Chloe and Professor Cerise.

“We can protect them,” Goh said to Suicune, Grookey, and himself. “We can save them! Let’s go!”

Suicune formed a Hydro Pump in their throat and launched the attack straight ahead, sending one of the Rocket Grunts spinning across the ground.

Even if a more proper sneak attack would have given them a bigger advantage, Goh knew he couldn’t hold himself back here. His chest was thudding with the feeling of wanting to protect Chloe. It felt like a torrent of water surging all through his veins.

Suicune seemed to feel the same way as they stared down the grunts. Goh slipped off of the legend’s back and stood defiantly. “Team Rocket!” he shouted. “We’re here for our friends!”

“ Grooki! ”

Gozu’s one uncovered eye went to Goh and then to Suicune. “That brat brought with him a super-rare Pokémon! Get it!”

The woman among them did a similar double-take, but she ended up looking back at her leader. “But Gozu…! That thing’s so strong!”

“I don’t care! You four, stop that brat!”

A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, barely missing Gozu and avoiding striking the altar. Looking up, Goh saw Ash and Pikachu falling to the ground after they leapt off of Dragonite’s back. Ash landed with a pose befitting a hero before looking up and locking eyes with the commander of the grunts. “We still have a battle we haven’t finished!” he said, flashing his teeth like they were the sharpest fangs amongst all Pokémon.

“This brat’s here, too!?” Gozu shouted. He hopped off the altar and threw his Poké Ball, containing Aggron. The rest of the Rocket Grunts threw their balls as well, sending out the familiar Rhyperior, Purugly, Toxicroak, and Skuntank.

Goh reached into his pockets. “Go!”

He threw three balls of his own, sending out Cinderace, Inteleon, and Argent to stand alongside Suicune.

“ Cinderace! ”

“ Intel.”

“Bui bui! ”

Goh clinched his hand into a fist. “Ash, you handle Gozu and get the feather back!” he shouted. “I’ll save Chloe and the Professor!”

“Got it, Goh!” Ash replied. “Lucario, I choose you!”

Once more, Ash’s blue canine Pokémon stood at his side, ready to do battle with Team Rocket’s evil doers. Lucario leapt into the fray, swinging his arms into Aggron’s block, but Goh couldn’t focus on that battle while he had his own. 

The Rocket Grunts barred the way, each gesturing forward. “We stopped you before, punk, and we’ll stop you again! Rhyperior, Stone Edge!”

“Purugly, Fury Swipes!”

“Toxicroak, Sludge Bomb!”

“Skuntank, Flamethrower!”

Goh saw all of their Pokémon begin to read their attacks, and his mind worked quickly. He would have to tear down their offensive one piece at a time. “Suicune, use Ice Beam! Argent, Dig! Cinderace, Pyro Ball! Inteleon, Snipe Shot!”

Rhyperior brought his fists into the ground, causing the sharp stone pillars to rise up from the ground, headed towards Goh’s party. Suicune stepped up first and built their own energy. The crystal crown on their head began to glow with a cryogenic power and Suicune unleashed a blinding, freezing beam, raking it across the Stone Edge, freezing it in its tracks as they raked the beam upwards and over Rhyperior’s face.

Argent charged towards Purugly straight ahead, but as the tiger cat wound up her slice, the silver Pokémon dove into the dirt, disappearing from view, causing her to slice into nothing but dirt. Purugly turned her attention to Goh, and with a wicked gleam seemed to be planning a direct attack, but Argent leapt from the dirt in just the nick of time to tackle her to the ground.

  Cinderace kicked up a pebble, high into the air, only to leap up after it to avoid the acrid balls of sludge being shot from Toxicroak’s mouth. With a flip in the air, he brought his foot back into contact with the pebble, which bloomed into a roaring ball of flames. Cinderace kicked it down, striking Toxicroak like a meteor from the sky, and once the smoke cleared, Toxicroak’s defeated body could be seen lying in the dirt.

“Awesome job, Cinderace!” Goh shouted. “That’s one down!”

“ Dace cinderace! ” he cheered back.

Inteleon crouched into position before aiming forward with his fingertips. The shots once again fired right through the quickly approaching Flamethrower, dousing the Pokémon’s tail in water, cutting the attack off at the source.

“Great, Inteleon! Now use Liquidation!”

“Use Acid Spray!”

With a speed and grace only the most agile of combatants could match, Inteleon leapt across the battlefield towards Skuntank. The skunk raised his tail and fired bursts of acid from it towards the agent, but Inteleon went low, sliding on his water-coated feet just below the acid and avoiding the hit. He brought his fist around, socking Skuntank in the nose with a left before uppercutting him into the air with a right. As the skunk fell, Inteleon spun and kicked him back across the ground. The Poison- and Dark-type struggled to stand, but ended up collapsing, unable to support his own weight.

“Nice job, Inteleon!”

The Grunts remaining in the fight weren’t about to take that lying down. “Rhyperior, get in close with Drill Run!”

“Purugly, slice that freak of an Eevee to ribbons with Slash!”

Goh gestured back. “Suicune, Ice Beam on the ground to make an ice slick! Argent, use Hyper Voice!”

While the Rocket Pokémon rushed in, Goh’s Pokémon stood their ground and unleashed their moves. First, Suicune once more channeled the freezing power and fired an Ice Beam, but instead of breaking through the move used by Rhyperior like before, it instead hit the ground, dispersing the power and causing the ground between Goh and the Rockets to become coated in ice. Meanwhile, Argent shouted with a thunderous “ Bui! ”. The force of the noise exploded outward, sending Purugly back, but not out of the fight quite yet.

“Don’t let it stop you like that!” The lady Rocket shouted. “Use Body Slam!”

Goh glanced across the battlefield targets, seeing a strategy appear before his eyes. “Argent, use Dig again!”

“ Bui, ” he replied, digging back into the dirt beneath him as Purugly landed just above the hole he had disappeared into.

On the other part of the field, Rhyperior was trying hard to find his footing in the ice, giving Suicune a free moment. “Suicune, Hydro Pump on Purugly!”

Suicune roared out a torrent of water, catching the cat off-guard and washing her out and away towards the altar, lying dazed and knocked out.

“Rhyperior, use Rock Wrecker!”

Though his stance was shaky, the Drill Pokémon managed to aim his arms towards Suicune and formed a large boulder between them. With a loud grunt, Rhyperior threw the boulder at Suicune. Despite the large Rock- and Ground-type’s unsure footing, the boulder did crash into Suicune’s side, knocking the legend off their feet. Rhyperior itself was tipsy, though, and the ground beneath it began to buckle as Argent smashed through the surface, knocking Rhyperior over and and down, landing on the chest of the Pokémon easily multiple times his own small size, though Rhyperior made no efforts to stand up, too worn out from all the battles that they had to deal with over the course of this very long day.

“And that makes four,” Goh said with a nod. He turned to Suicune and saw the injury from the Rock Wrecker. Suicune stood up, but their legs were looking a bit shaky, so Goh turned his attention to Argent. “Argent, use Wish on Suicune!”

“ Eiebui! ” he affirmed, leaping off of Rhyperior and sliding across the ice towards where Suicune stood. Argent closed his eyes and the mysterious twinkling stars appeared over his head, enveloping his body with their gentle glow. He slid under Suicune’s lithe and muscular form as the stars began to coalesce into a teardrop that splashed down onto Suicune, enveloping the legend with a gentle glow that healed their wounds.

The four rocket grunts all took a few steps back as Goh rushed across the battlefield to where Chloe and her father remained tied up.

“Goh…!”

Chloe’s voice was like music to his ears. She sat up and he moved behind her, working to quickly untie the rope that kept her bound.

“Sorry I got you into this mess,” he said as he pulled at the ropes. “I promise, I won’t let this happen again.”

She could only smile happily at him. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s Team Rocket who started all of this.”

Goh grinned, his self-confidence restored, and he finished untying the rope binding Chloe before moving over to the one tying up Professor Cerise.

While Goh worked to quickly undo his binding, Chloe removed the gag around his mouth. The first thing Professor Cerise did when he could breathe through his mouth was to take a breath of the cool mountain air. The second was to look at his daughter and give a relieved smile. “I’m so glad you’re alright,” he said.

“Dad…!”

Chloe put her arms around her father just as Goh released the Professor’s arms, and so father and daughter could embrace each other.

Goh took a few steps back, grinning. “I guess we’ve just about got all this wrapped up, don’t we?” he said, turning his attention back to Ash’s battle with Gozu.

It was going just as he expected.

“Lucario, use Reversal!”

The agile canid leapt up, narrowly ducking a Thunder Punch as he brought his glowing fist right into Aggron’s jaw, knocking the titanic Pokémon backwards into Gozu. The impact of which caused him to drop Evening Wing.

He reached out his large hand, swiping at the feather to reclaim it. “N-No!”

“Grookey, go get it! Goh shouted, and his shoulder-bound companion leapt into action. The chimp grabbed the feather out of the air, wrapping his tail around the bony end before flicking it over to Goh.

Goh reached his hand out and caught it. It felt cold and powerless, though given how he assumed the feather functioned, this made sense; the Aether Shrine had been destroyed, after all.

“Awesome job, Goh!” Ash shouted. “We’ve got it back!”

Goh turned to Gozu. “And that brings us to the finale” he said, grinning confidently as he held the feather towards commander.

Gozu snarled. “Do you brats think you’ve won?!” he asked, stepping off the altar. “I haven’t even begun to use my full power.”

“Well, yeah, neither have we!” Goh shouted back. “If this feather needs the blessing of water to reach its true form… then we have just the Pokémon to help.”

He turned across the battlefield to where Suicune stood.

“Suicune, please! Lend us your power so that we can create the Rainbow Wing!”

“ Kuuuun! ”

Suicune’s roar echoed across the Raizen Mountains, and clouds began to gather overhead. After only a few moments, rain began to fall on the peak of this mountain.

As the rain splashed around him, the feather in Goh’s hands began to glow with a pale blue light, as if absorbing the very water falling on and around him into itself. The very middle of the feather began to glow blue, and the yellow expanded outward, pushing the red to the very edges.

But it didn’t stop there.

The blue in the middle pushed out, with red appearing in the middle as it was pushed off the edges by the yellow. Then yellow in turn was pushed off and appeared in the middle again, causing the feather to be colored all three shades at once as they all rolled over each other. As the rolling continued to build up speed, the feather seemed to hum with power and purpose. Unlike when he picked up a nearly weightless feather in the temple, this feather felt heavy, the weight of the might gained through the trials making it a bit difficult to lift.

It did not look like the Rainbow Wing that he had seen in Johto under the ownership of Chad and his grandfather. It looked like a prism of colors all throbbing together in harmony.

In his mind, Goh remembered the legend.

He began rushing to the altar, up the short stairs past Ash and Lucario until he stood on the raised platform where the offering would be.

“It’ll be called the One who Chases the Rainbow. Offer your prayers at the foot of the rainbow and God will descend!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Goh as he held the glowing feather in his hand.

“If Team Rocket’s so interested in meeting Ho-Oh, why don’t we give them a taste? They’re in no condition to catch a God, but they’re in just the right spot to appreciate a God’s anger!”

Goh's words carried over the rain as he held the prismatic feather with all three colors in balance above his head.

“Ho-Oh! I summon you!”

Chapter Text

“Ho-Oh! I summon you!”

The air all around the altair was deadly silent, and the clouds called by Suicune evaporated. The sun setting over the mountains dyed the entire scene orange in the light as it began disappearing over the horizon. Everything was still, even the wind itself had stopped blowing.

For a moment, Goh thought that time had been frozen as soon as he shouted those words.

But time, like many other things, obeyed certain natural laws, and so the shadows growing across the ground told him all he needed to know.

No one was coming.

Goh looked at the feather, and it still glowed with a mighty power. He almost felt like he could swing it like a sword and cut Team Rocket’s helicopter in half with it. But there was no appearance of the Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh. There was no God approaching the end of this particular rainbow.

“I wonder what was wrong…” he thought. “The feather received all the powers, right…? Then I wonder what we’re missing…” He began running through the legend again in his mind until-

“Goh!”

Ash’s shout brought him out of his thoughts and he returned his attention to Team Rocket. The grunts were in the process of recalling their Pokémon, but Gozu and his Aggron were still standing. Ash had already stepped off the altar, Lucario ready to continue the battle that they had already started.

Glancing further, he saw that Chloe and Professor Cerise were behind Goh’s Pokémon, who were forming a defensive wall around them.

“Got it,” said Goh, stepping around. “Between the two of us, this should be a piece of cake!”

Gozu practically growled at them. “I don’t understand how two brats like you could be giving us so much trouble, but I cannot leave without that feather. I didn’t want to do this to you both, but you leave me no choice!” The commander reached into his uniform and pulled out his identification tags. Only Goh saw something strange on one of them. An iridescent stone that seemed to glow with the colors of the rainbow was attached to one of them, and Gozu took it into his hand with a wicked grin.

“Aggron, Mega Evolve!”

Gozu’s other hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a glittering, silver-colored jewel before lobbing it at Aggron. As soon as the sphere touched Aggron’s head, it burst into a brilliant light just as a similar light exploded from the iridescent stone in Gozu’s grip.

“A Key Stone…” Goh muttered.

“...and a Mega Stone.” Ash said, finishing the thought.

Cloaked in the power of Mega Evolution, Aggron began to change shape and size. The parts of the body that looked to be made of a shale or obsidian were quickly hardening into a solid metal, and the parts of the body that were already made of metal grew that much larger. His claws became longer and sharper, and the horn on his head combined with the armor to become a shape that reminded Goh of a battle ax.

The light burst forth, and the newly Mega Evolved Mega Aggron roared with a cry that sounded like grinding metal. The force of the Mega Evolution completing sent a shockwave of wind and pressure out, pushing against Goh, Ash, and Lucario, but not threatening to knock them over.

“Heh, I could tell you were holdin’ back,” Ash said, grinning wildly. “Now I know just what you can do.”

He jammed his hand into one of his pockets and pulled it out, stretching a black glove over his once bare hand. On the back of the glove was another of those mysteriously glowing, iridescent stones - a Key Stone.

“We’ll show you just how strong our bond can be! Lucario, Mega Evolve!”

Pikachu reached into Ash’s backpack and pulled out an orange and blue jewel before slapping it over to Lucario with his tail. The canid caught the sphere in one paw, and then a similar metamorphosis began as the light from Ash’s Key Stone joined with the Mega Stone he now held. While cloaked in the transformative light, Lucario’s body began changing. His tail bristled out and his arms, legs, and shoulders grew additional metal spikes. The organs on the back of Lucario’s head that allowed him to sense Aura also grew, and there were now splashes of red on his appendages. Mega Lucario let out a roar of his own once the process completed, though for Ash’s Pokémon it was joined with a powerful shockwave of Aura, blowing all the dust off the mountain peak.

Gozu put on a brave face, but Goh could see the twitching in his eye - he hadn’t expected Ash to be capable of the same ability to quickly close the gap between them. “Even so,” he said, stepping up beside Ash. “We’ll fight, too! To protect everyone! Besides, Suicune hasn’t had a chance to pay you guys back in full for wrecking that statue!”

With a single leap, Suicune sailed high through the air, over the peak, landing next to Mega Lucario. They turned their snarling visage against Aggron and Gozu. He might not have the same bond with Suicune as Ash did with Lucario, but Goh understood the Aurora Pokémon well enough to know that their heart burned for justice as well.

“Aggron, use Heavy Slam again on Suicune!”

“Suicune, jump back and use Ice Beam!”

“Lucario, Aura Sphere!”

Despite his massive size and weight, Aggron leapt high into the air, somersaulting with the intent to crush Suicune beneath his massive body. The legendary beast leapt back out of Aggron’s trajectory, and for good measure, Lucario used his enhanced Aura powers to form a sphere of concentrated energy before lobbing it at the airborne metal monster.

The Aura Sphere collided with Aggron’s body, but it seemed to have little effect, not pushing him around nor changing his path. Aggron’s body crashed into the ground, shattering and splintering the solid rock where Suicune had been standing. And with not a scratch yet on him, he stood up and grinned menacingly at Ash and Goh’s Pokémon.

It was here that Suicune channeled the cryogenic energy from their crown through their mouth, firing a blast of freezing force out at Aggron. The beam chilled the beast, and large ice crystals began to form around his body, but Aggron flexed his metal form, smashing through the ice with ease.

“Now, Aggron, Body Press!”

“Suicune, use Hydro Pump!”

“Lucario, Double Team!”

Ash’s Lucario was the first to move, splitting into three, then six, then twelve doubles  standing around Mega Aggron. The powerful Steel-type took this in stride and leapt to the side with his entire body glowing with an amber force. The blow collided with the true Lucario, knocking him back and across the ground, tumbling before the metal spikes in his paws found purchase and helped him right himself.

Suicune opened their mouth again, only this time, they channeled the pure power of water, firing a blast of pressurized liquid from their mouth into Aggron’s back. The Hydro Pump hit its mark, but other than slightly knocking Aggron off balance, it didn’t seem like the move did appreciable damage.

“This isn’t good…” Goh said, feeling the familiar bead of sweat roll down his forehead. Even with a Mega Evolved Pokémon and a Legendary Pokémon, Mega Aggron seemed unstoppable.

“What was that move…?” Ash asked, his eyes following Lucario as his canine stood up once more.

“Body Press is a move that uses your defense as your offense, so when it’s used by someone like Mega Aggron, it’s really powerful. As well, since it’s a Fighting-type move, it hits Lucario for super-effective damage against his Steel-type body.

Ash almost seemed to be chewing on the words Goh shared with him. “So we’ll need another way to beat this guy… If only we could find a break in the armor…”

Goh wracked his brain for some way they could punch a way through this iron wall threatening to crush them. He thought over Suicune and Lucario’s moves as well as what they’d seemed to have done up until this point.

Then, like pieces of a puzzle fitting together, he formed his plan.

“I’ve got it!”

Ash smiled. “Awesome! What’s the first step, Goh?”

Goh spoke in a hushed tone. “We need to freeze Aggron’s body, but to do that, we’ll need to keep him from moving. In all the time you’ve seen him battle, is there a time where Aggron has stood still?”

Ash ran through his memories at lightning speed. “...whenever he uses Flash Cannon, he seems like he’s gotta focus on it. That’s our chance to strike.”

“Then we’ve gotta fight him and try to get him to use that move again,” Goh said. He gestured forward. “Get ready, Suicune!”

“ Kuuun! ”

“Lucario, let’s show him what we’ve got!”

“ Crah! ”

Both Suicune and Lucario were ready to keep fighting.

Gozu smirked, shaking his head. “I don’t know what you brats are planning, but there’s no way you’re taking down Aggron! Use Heavy Slam!”

Aggron leapt upwards again, only this time he seemed to be aiming his body towards Lucario this time.

Goh was the first to react. “Suicune, use Tailwind!”

With a mighty shout, the calm air around them broke, and a gust of wind pushed both Suicune and Lucario forward.

Ash grinned at the support and made his own move. “Lucario, dodge and use Aura Sphere!”

With the Tailwind at his back, Lucario all but vanished from under Aggron’s trajectory, leaping above the goliath while forming an Aura Sphere in his own paws. He pulsed the Aura around him outwards, and with each warm wave, the Aura Sphere grew larger and larger until he flipped and dunked it onto Aggron’s ax blade-like face. Lucario leapt off and the sphere exploded into force and smoke, but the thrashing Aggron was still standing strong, standing up from the landing.

“Use Thunder Punch!” Gozu commanded.

Aggron turned to where Suicune was standing and pulled back his claw. The end of his arm began to crackle and spark with electricity. The armored Pokémon threw the punch with surprising speed, crashing his fist into Suicune’s crown, knocking the legendary beast backwards.

Goh felt his eyes go wide. “Suicune! Are you alright?!”

Suicune stood, glaring out at Aggron with their red eyes, but then flinched as sparks danced upon their fur and through their mane.

“That punch must have paralyzed them…” Goh muttered.

“Lucario, use Reversal!” Ash called.

At the call, Lucario cloaked himself with amber energy, pooling around his paws as he leapt forward, swinging with the might of all his pain turned into power.

“Body Press!”

Aggron and Gozu were not deterred, however, and the same Fighting-type power that was around Lucario’s hands grew around Aggron’s entire body. The Iron Armor Pokémon rushed forward, crashing through Lucario’s attack and sending the canine rolling across the ground.

“Lucario!” Ash shouted, eyes wide with concern. “Can you keep going?!”

The Aura Pokémon punched at the ground, rising up to one knee in defiance of his opponent. He snarled at Aggron, ready to continue fighting.

Gozu smirked, clearly ready to put an end to this once and for all. “Aggron, Flash Cannon!”

Ash and Goh’s eyes both went wide. This was their chance.

“Lucario, counter with Steel Beam!”

Aggron formed the glittering, sparkling laser in his mouth once more, but even on one knee, Lucario raised a paw to fight back. From his own paw, he began pooling his energy, launching a blast fueled by all the metal in his body. Aggron’s laser of light met this energy blast in the air, and both Pokémon began pouring their all into attempting to overwhelm the other.

And just like Ash stated, Aggron was completely immobile while firing it.

“Now’s our chance, Suicune!” Goh shouted. “Use Ice Beam!”

Struggling to stand strong, Suicune began channeling the chilling power they held in their crystal crown. Even with the paralyzing electricity continuing to crackle over them, Suicune’s resolve held firm and they fired the Ice Beam towards Aggron.

Aggron and Gozu’s eyes both went wide from surprise as they realized what was happening.

“Let’s go!”

Goh shouted the encouragement with all his might as Suicune poured the cryonic energy all over Aggron. The moisture still in the air from the rain began to coalesce and freeze into large crystals, surrounding Aggron and keeping him in place.

“Now, Lucario, jump over Aggron!”

On the command, Lucario dropped the Steel Beam, and the Flash Cannon began zooming towards him. He felt the tailwind still at his back, though, and so he leapt over the frozen form of Aggron, landing beside Suicune. Lucario was clearly exhausted, but the resolve etched into his face said that he was ready to finish this battle once and for all.

“Ash, since Aggron’s frozen, that means its body can’t bend under pressure,” Goh said, finally revealing the rest of this plan. “That means if we strike now with everything we’ve got, we should be able to finish this with one blow!”

Ash pumped his fists. “That means it’s all or nothing now! Reversal!”

Lucario roared, the energy within his body coming to life. The energy from the Reversal formed on Lucario’s legs as well as his paws, and he kicked off the ground, leaping forward towards Aggron.

“Don’t let them do this, Aggron!” Gozu shouted. “Break free!”

Even as fast as Lucario was moving, Aggron’s body began to shift, making the ice sealing him splinter and break off. Goh could see their window of opportunity closing. He would have to take drastic measures. “Suicune, use Hydro Pump to give Lucario a boost!”

Suicune’s fury was made real as they launched the torrent of pressurized water at Lucario’s backside. 

“Ride it, Lucario!”

Trusting Ash’s command, Lucario jumped to lift his feet off the ground as the Hydro Pump crashed into his back, pushing him forward even faster than before.

“Aggron, hurry!”

Ash and Goh punched forward, Goh’s left hand tapping the side of Ash’s right hand.

“GO!”

Their combined shout matched Lucario punching forward with Reversal, smashing through the ice, shattering it in an instant. The force of the blow rippled through Mega Aggron’s body, sending the massive Pokémon careening over the ground before landing face down in a hole created by his own impact.

And then the light twinkled around it, and Aggron returned to his regular form, the Mega Evolution ending.

“Aggron…!” Gozu shouted. “No!”

“We did it!”

“We sure did!”

Goh’s words were joined with Ash’s and the two laughed happily. Ash looked at his Pokémon, and though Lucario stood triumphant, his Mega Evolution ended, too, and he fell backwards onto the ground, only stopped by Ash rushing up and supporting his body.

As Ash began praising Lucario’s ability, Goh turned his attention back to Team Rocket. Gozu recalled his Aggron and rushed to the helicopter where the grunts he brought with him were already waiting, helping pull him on board.

“She won’t be happy hearing we’re coming back empty handed,” one of the grunts said to Gozu as the helicopter started back up.

“She’ll be even more unhappy if we’re arrested or killed,” Gozu said. “I didn’t get to become an elite by taking undue risks.”

“We’ve gotta stop ‘em!” Ash shouted. ‘Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!”

Pikachu leapt from Ash’s shoulder, his cheeks sparking as he unleashed the blast of electricity at Team Rocket’s helicopter. The blast struck the vehicle, but it continued flying away from them regardless.

“Inteleon! Cinderace! Argent! Suicune!”

As Goh rattled off the list of names, all of his Pokémon prepared and fired their moves, though none of them were able to make much contact with the helicopter. Hyper Voice only made it shift in the air a bit as the shockwave passed over it, and Suicune failed to act entirely, falling to the ground as the paralysis took hold.

Goh, Ash, and the others simply watched Team Rocket fly away, defeated.

“So this is the altar at the top of Mount Tensei…”

Professor Cerise’s voice was tinged with awe and wonder. “And that is the true form of the Clear Wing?”

Goh held up the feather, still humming with a power he didn’t quite understand. “Yeah,” he said, “but this didn’t end up calling Ho-Oh when I summoned it. Is it really a Rainbow Wing…?”

“Doesn’t look like the one we’ve seen,” Ash said, crossing his arms.

Professor Cerise smiled. “It’s possible that the ones we’ve seen aren’t exactly made like this one. I’m sure an expert on legends about Ho-Oh will absolutely be able to tell us more! And you know what that means!”

“More research?” asked Chloe in her somewhat sarcastic, deadpan tone. Her arms were crossed, still wearing Goh’s sweatshirt over her clothes.

The professor’s grin had to be seen to be believed, Goh thought.

“Of course!” Professor Cerise responded to his daughter. “I’m looking forward to investigating this new mystery!”

She rolled her eyes. “Dad, can’t you take things seriously for once? You were kidnapped for just about a day, and you could have gotten seriously hurt, or worse! Can’t you for once just act like all of this is affecting you on more than a surface level?”

Professor Cerise chuckled. “Sorry…” he said somewhat sheepishly. “I know I must have worried you, Chloe. I’ll try and take things easy for a bit now, okay?”

“You’re lucky we have no phone reception out here, or Mom would be going ballistic,” she shot back. “And Parker would probably be worried sick, too! Not to mention Chrysa and Ren, too!”

“S-Sorry…” he said, now cowed by her. “Let me get just a few more pictures of the altar, and then we’ll focus on getting back to the base camp, okay? How does that sound?”

“Ugh, fine,” Chloe said, uncrossing her arms. Her father took the opportunity to turn back to the altar with his own phone, and he began snapping a few more pictures, including the stone tablet on the front.

Ash elbowed Goh gently and leaned in. “Man, sometimes it feels like Chloe’s the adult and the Professor’s the kid.”

“ Pikachu… ”

Goh chuckled gently at Ash’s joke, lest they get overheard. “She does have a bit of a bossy streak. But it’s something you get used to.”

As Professor Cerise finished taking his pictures of the altar, Chloe stepped closer to Goh, Ash, and their Pokémon. “Hey, you guys?” she asked, sounding like a shy schoolgirl, an almost completely different tone from the commanding one she took with her father. 

Goh and Ash turned to face her, curiosity on their faces. “What’s up, Chloe?” Goh asked. “What’ve you got on your mind?”

She was digging the toe of her shoe into the stone surface of the summit. “I… just wanted to thank you guys for diving into danger to rescue my dad and I,” she said, not looking up at them. “I can only imagine how scary and dangerous it must have felt, but I really appreciate it.”

She bowed her head to them in thanks, a gesture Ash was quick to wave off. “Hey, c’mon! It’s no big deal! Of course we came t’ save you!” he said. “Right, Goh?”

Goh nodded, smiling. “Of course. We wouldn’t let Team Rocket get away with what they did to you or the Professor!”

Ash chuckled. “Honestly, Goh did most of the work today,” he admitted. “He was rushing ahead the entire time to save you guys, Chloe!”

Chloe’s eyes went wide and her hands went over her mouth in surprise. “Goh, were you really just rushing into danger?”

Now it was Goh’s turn to keep from meeting anyone else’s eyes. It felt embarrassing, somehow, to have it pointed out, but he couldn’t deny his single-minded motivation to rescue Chloe, especially after Suicune helped bolster his resolve by reminding him of just what he had to protect.

But he couldn’t say something embarrassing like that with Chloe’s emerald eyes looking right at him. Admitting that he wanted to save her most of all would do nothing but give her ammunition to tease him with - he knew this because if the situation was reversed, he’d probably do the same thing. So he decided to latch onto the closest thing he had.

“H-Hey, Suicune did a lot of the work, too! They were basically the hero of this whole thing!” His reddening cheeks betrayed him, but it was cold and he was without his sweatshirt, so perhaps it could be blamed on something else.

But just as Goh turned to point out the Legendary Pokémon, the beast seemed to have vanished. Goh blinked in surprise, his mouth falling open. “Suicune…” The name came out in a whisper. “Thank you.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, stepping close to him. She gently put a hand on his shoulder, making him look up at her. In the evening sunlight still streaming over the mountains to the west, her emerald eyes seemed to glitter even more brilliantly than usual. He felt like a Pokémon about to be captured.

“I know you worked hard to rescue me, so I won’t turn this into something it’s not. The hero doesn’t deserve to get teased for being the hero after all.” She gently squeezed his shoulders with her hands. “This is the second time you managed to save me, and so… Thank you, Goh. Any debt you owed to me, consider it repaid.”

“Chloe…”

Her name was on his lips, and her face was close enough that he could feel her breath on his face.

She smiled quietly and released him, and his shoulders felt much colder afterwards as she stepped back.

Chloe turned away from him, looking out towards the sun setting over the horizon. . “You know, it’s kinda funny, Goh. I can see it now.”

He blinked, stepping closer to her. “See what?”

“I see how you see things. You were talking about how, since there’s things we can’t explain yet, getting the chance to explore them is exciting. And how we should be open to letting things we couldn’t even guess to happen.”

Goh grinned. “Yeah. Getting the chance to see and understand new things is really exciting, isn’t it?”

She drew closer to him once more. “Yeah, it is. And I’m going to look forward to really trying to explore and understand this, now.”

Goh raised an eyebrow. “Wait, ‘this’? What are you talking about?”

She giggled and stepped back from him. “It’s alright, Goh,” she said, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “It’s not something I can explain with words.”

With that, she pulled off his sweatshirt and tossed it to him, which he caught. She giggled and stepped around him, Ash, and the Pokémon all playing together, heading towards the pathway that led down the mountain. 

Gou quickly put his sweatshirt back on.

“...it’s warm.”

His words, while whispered, still caught Ash’s attention, who looked over at him curiously. “I was meanin’ to ask about that,” he said.

Goh smiled gently, watching Chloe walk away, enjoying the warmth of his clothes.

“I’ll tell you on the way,” he said.

Ash turned back over his shoulder. “Hey, Professor! I think we should get going before it gets too dark!”

Professor Cerise practically jumped at Ash’s words, and quickly began to finish up.

“That’s quite the tale!”

Chrysa spooned another helping of stew into Goh’s bowl. He was on his third, while Ash was on his fifth. Somehow he didn’t feel like he’d be able to catch up to him at this rate.

Having made it back to the base camp well after dark, they decided to just cook and camp out at the foot of the Raizen Mountains tonight. Chrysa and Ren prepared a nice hot stew for them after they had a chance to reunite with Professor Cerise. They were all seated around the campfire eating as Ash and Goh told the story of what happened from their perspectives.

Goh couldn’t help but notice that Chloe was being very quiet as he’d catch her looking over at the Pokémon as they all got to eat their fill as well, but he decided against pressing the issue. She’d been through enough for one Saturday and could use the time to rest, so he just let her sit next to him and take it easy as he and Ash explained what happened.

Ren nodded to Chrysa’s words. “Yeah, it’s pretty crazy to think that Team Rocket came all the way out here just to swipe that feather, you know?”

The Rainbow Feather, though it only glowed in three colors and not seven, was returned to its glass case beside the log Goh was seated on.

“I wonder how they learned about it in the first place,” Goh wondered out loud. “We even had to deal with those three Team Rocket guys at the temple, so it’s clear that this is something they’re actively pursuing.”

Professor Cerise sat his bowl in his lap and scratched his chin. “I wonder… perhaps Team Rocket knows more about this feather than they’re letting on… It does seem that they are quite desperate to get their hands on it.”

Ash pumped his fist. “Well, no matter what, we’re not going to let them get their hands on it, right, buddy?”

Pikachu raised a fist from where he and the rest of the Pokémon were all eating together. “ Pikachu! ”

“If we had a better idea of their goals,” Goh said, “we’d be better able to stop them before they could get away with it. But the only clue we have is the feather itself, as well as the legend in the temple.

Professor Cerise grinned confidently. “Oh, we do have something a bit more interesting than just that,” he said.

Everyone turned their attention to Chloe’s father. Goh saw the wily confidence on the man’s face and felt a measure of awe at the Genius Professor.

He took out his phone and held it up, the bright screen illuminated further by the firelight. “You see, the altar at the top of Mount Tensei had a tablet with writing on it. And while much of it is definitely worn away by time and weathering, if we take these pictures back to the lab, we might be able to restore them into something that can help us continue to pursue this mystery!”

Goh felt his mouth fall open and his eyes go wide. Ash managed to find his words, with his eyes sparkling. “Professor, that’s awesome!”

Even Chloe had to comment. “Hey, way to go, Dad!”

Ren found himself chuckling. “I’m just hoping that this is easier to research than the feather itself was…”

“Late nights can be pretty rough,” Chrysa said, laughing as well.

Goh picked up the glass container holding the Rainbow Wing. “It feels like we get more questions and answers the further we go.”

“Exciting, isn’t it?” Professor Cerise asked, smiling. “I can’t wait to take another crack at this now that we have the completed feather with us!”

Goh felt his own excitement rise at the prospect of seeing something no one else had seen before. “I almost want to head back to the lab right now and take a look at it!”
“Me, too!” Ash added. “This could help us meet so many cool Pokémon, I can’t stand it! I feel like I’m gonna go bla-blam!”

Chloe sighed. “You guys should make sure to get plenty of rest tonight. We have a long walk to the bus stop with all this equipment.”

Goh, Ash, and Professor Cerise all lowered their heads sadly.

“Right,” they all responded simultaneously.

Goh returned to quietly eating his soup, though he kept the glowing feather in the corner of his eye. The mystery it was involved in seemed to be growing deeper and deeper, but for Goh, that was quite alright. The future that he sought seemed to be growing closer and closer, and he intended to hold it in his hands as soon as he could.

The autumn night was quite warm, indeed.