Twisted Paths, Forgotten Pasts

Chapter 19

--About a month since Michi's been with TR--

"Where are we going?" Michi asked James, latched onto his arm. "We never go anywhere in the Headquarters..."

Jessie looked at James and shrugged.

"Well," James replied. "we don't really know... The Boss just told us to take you there." He replied.

"And we do what the boss says," the persian added.

"I don't get it though..." Michi replied, looking at the pokemon with her violet eyes. "You three don't really seem to like what you do all that much... Last time, when you spoke about the incident where Team Rocket bombed that police office, you didn't seem all that pleased."

"It's what we do Michi," Jessie said, her tone implying that she was a bit tired of that topic.

Sighing, the girl shrugged. "The time will come when you will see the light," she said.

The trio looked at each other, but decided to pass it off as one of the strange girl's little quirks.

"Well, here we are." James said as they stopped at a door. "We have to leave you hear, but we'll be back in ten minutes."

The girl tightened her grasp on James' arm. "I don't like the aura of this place..."

He blinked. "Michi, they wont hurt you." He pried her off. "Be a good girl, okay?"

For a moment, she glared back defiantly at him, but then gave in. "Fine. Only ten minutes, right?"

"Right." James replied. "Cya!"

"Bye," she mumbled, stepping through the doors cautiously. "Hello?" She called out, looking around. It was a dark hall, though there seemed to be light around the corner. Timidly, she walked forward, peeking around the corner. "Hello?" She called out again.

Startling the girl and causing her to jump, a loud cry echoed through wherever it was that the girl was. Shaking in fear, she walked forward, knowing that Jessie, James, and Persian would not put her in a dangerous situation. The room was strange, with clean walls, most likely freshly painted. But there was nothing in it except for several seemingly empty boxes in a corner.

Deciding that the boxes had to be where the cry originated from, Michi ventured forward, walking over to them. "My name's Michi." She said softly, in as non-threatening a voice as she could manage. "Who are you?"

The boxes shifted a little, and she heard a whimper.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I couldn't hurt you."

There was silence for a little while, then finally, the boxes scattered, and a head peeked out. It was a boy, maybe around sixteen. He had pale brown skin and straight, medium length black hair, with equally ebony eyes. Yet they seemed devoid of the normal look of a young teenager, rather, they seemed not quite more intelligent, but more experienced. He stood, and Michi gasped, taking a step back. He was clad in a pair of black jeans, yes, but instead of feet he had hooves, and from his back sprouted a pair of stunningly white wings. She was sure that was a tail she spotted. Turning her attention back to his face, she realized that he his ears were more elongated than that of a normal human, and they were slightly pointed.

"What are you?" Michi asked, feeling somewhat drawn to this... creature?

He did not reply immediately, but walked up to her. For a moment, she considered running, but she was too frightened to move. When he was just about a foot away from her, he kneeled, bowing his head down. "I am yours," he said in a crystal clear voice.

Michi blinked and knelt in front of him so that she could look at his black eyes. "Mine or not, it might be a good idea for you to get up. You're dragging your wings on the ground, and it's a bit dusty..."

He looked at her, shocked for a moment, but then smiled a little and stood. "They have been keeping me here so that I could not find you."

"Team Rocket?" Michi sighed, a slightly frustrated look on her face. "I have a bone to pick with them..."

"Do you want me to destroy them? They caught me while I was still weak, but now I am stronger."

Michi blinked again, searching her mind for something to say. "Uh, no. I think we'll be fine. That's not quite how I wanted to get rid of Team Rocket..."

"Oh." He shifted his weight on his feet, looking around. "So what do you want me to do?"

Michi winced, realizing that he might look about sixteen, but that he was probably pretty new to the world. "What's your name?"

"I do not have one."

"Oh, I'll have to find one for you then..." Michi looked around uncomfortably, unsure what to do next. "Well, what about Takith?"

"Takith's fine."

"Cool." She twirled a lock of her white hair on a finger, debating what to do next. /Looks like I have my partner... Now what do I do next? I think I've shaken up Jessie and James a bit, maybe it's time.../ She looked at Takith, noted that he probably was not at full strength, but then, now that Team Rocket had put them together, they were not going to let Michi out again, were they? They probably want to keep the two of them confined...

They both heard the sound of a door opening, and Takith immediately stood in front of Michi, shielding her with his body, though she peeked from behind him. It was Jessie, Persian and James, but Takith did not know them.

He held his hands out in front of his body and they started glowing as he gathered energy for an attack.

"Stop it Takith, they're friends." Michi informed him.

"Oh." He lowered his hands.

The Team Rocket trio was frozen where they stood, staring at Takith in awe.

"Umm, meet Takith!" Michi said brightly, grabbing his hand and leading him over to the others. "He's my partner."

"P...partner?" James stuttered.

"Yeah. I'd call him my guardian but that's not quite right, so partner. I've been waiting for him. Seems like Team Rocket's been keeping him..." A slightly dark look swept across her face, but then she just sighed. "Look, Jessie, James, Persian, I really like you three, you have good hearts... But I need to leave. Takith and I are in danger around Team Rocket. They will either kill us, or prevent us from doing what we need to do. Either fate is bad. So you're either going to help us leave, or you'll step aside."

"Michi, you can't just do that... They'll hunt you down!" Jessie reminded her.

"We'll get them first." The girl replied.

Takith picked her slight frame up effortlessly, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Your third choice is to have me kill you, friends of hers or not."

Persian looked frantically at Jessie and James. "I don't know about you two, but I'd rather not have rapidash-man over there kill me. I have a feeling it would hurt a lot..."

"So would the boss..." James muttered.

Jessie looked at Michi, then at her group. "Look, what else can we do guys? Either way we'll probably get killed. Just for the heck of it, let's go with the kid."

"Well, when you put it that way..." James shrugged. "What do you want us to do?" He asked Michi.

"Get us out of here." She said simply. "Where's the nearest window or something?"

"There's one just outside of here." Persian informed her.

"Great, now you guys go out, and-"

There was a crashing sound as the door was obviously opened with force, and Team Rocket members armed with guns and dragonites entered.

"Change of plans." Michi chirped, looking around and noticing the cameras placed in the room. She shouldve known they would have been monitoring her. Whispering a quick spell, she formed a force field around the group. "Okay, Takith, we're going to blast our way out of her, kay?"

He nodded.

"What about us?" James asked, completely pale.

"Ooh, good question." Michi looked around again. "Takith, you don't think you could carry them, could you?"

Taith looked at Jessie and James, sizing them up. "I could."

"Good. Put me down."

Reluctantly, he set the girl down.

"Now," She looked randomly at the white walls. "Blast that one!" She pointed, and Takith sent a huge fireball of energy crashing toward it, breaking through the cement. "I'll hold the force field, you fly Jessie, James, and Persian down. Oh, guys?" She looked at the Team Rocket trio, "Head straight for your apartment and start packing, we'll meet you there."

Immediately, Takith set to work, and Michi concentrated on absorbing the attacks of the pokemon through the force field. It was not fun knowing that one slip of her mind, and she'd have several full grown men and pokemon after her...

Takith finished quickly, and returned, picking Michi back up and flying out. "Where do you want us to go?" He asked.

"Somewhere not here... We need to hide for a little while... Fly higher."

He obeyed instantly, then spotted an abandoned building in the city. "There?"

"That'd be fine."

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"This is crazy James... It's insane... I can't believe we're doing this!" Jessie exclaimed, throwing stuff into a small duffel bag.

"I can't believe it either Jessie, but we're doing it." He paused, looking up at her. "How many times have we dreamed of leaving Team Rocket Jess?"

"Many times..." She smiled, closing her duffel bag. "I get your point." She looked at his bag. "Aren't you done yet?"

"I'm packing for Persian too!" James protested. "Persian, you need your collar!" He yelled.

"Coming!" The persian yelled back. A few seconds later, he trotted in with two collars in his mouth. "Black or blue?" He managed to ask.

"Both." James replied, grabbing them and packing them. "I think we're done..."

There was a knock on the door.

"That's them. Great timing..." Jessie remarked, going to the door and opening it. "We're ready."

"Great!" Michi exclaimed as Takith set her down. "Umm, James, you wouldn't have anything that might fit him, would? Say, a shirt and a long trench coat? Maybe a hat too? And..." She glanced at his hooves. "Something for his feet?"

James looked down at the somewhat shorter male. "I think I could find something....

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Fifteen minutes later, Takith looked pretty much normal, and they were in a train, going as far as they could away from the Team Rocket headquarters. Michi was a little surpised at that day's events. Things had not gone as smoothly as she had pictured they would go, and everything seemed impromptu... Yet she had Takith now, and that was all that really mattered to her. Her partner was her other half. She had the heart, and he had the soul.

Her head on Takith's lap, Michi slowly fell asleep, but no sweet dreams awaited her, rather, the visions that had been haunting her, the visions of that battle, with Kiajis, Gilisia, and a few others she could finally pick out, and with the dead pokemon... But it seemed to be changed again. Was it going to be a human this time? The paths kept changing destinations...

With a soft expression on his face, Takith watched the little girl. Finally, they were together. It felt right, and it was right. Deciding that they were out of harms way, he closed his black eyes and fell asleep.

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The wind rustled the leaves of the tree by the window of Akira's hotel room, and the mother of all dragon types turned her head to stare out into the darkness of the night. Her blue eyes could barely make out anything beyond the faint outline of the tree. Other than that, she saw black.

Her tired mind started to hallucinate, and for a second Akira thought she saw Calisin's face in dark window. His strong, handsome facial shape, beautiful golden eyes, short black hair, and overall regal aura.

Even as the image faded, Kira felt a strange tightening in her chest and a strong sense of longing. "My love..." She whispered, her eyes slightly glazed over as they watered, slowly giving way to the tears that forced their way down her cheeks.

Sarina, who had been reading a book she had picked up a few days ago, walked up to Akira and sat be her on her bed. "I remember." She said, reaching out to her sister and wiping away some of her tears. "You do too, don't you?"

Kira nodded dumbly, still gazing out the window. "It was horrible." The navy blue haired girl finally said, tearing her gaze away from the far-reaching darkness of the night and to the comforting sight of her twin sister. "Why did it happen?"

"We were being manipulated, and we were driven by hatred, a hatred so strong that it tore apart love."

"But I... Oh Goddess, Calisin!" Akira started crying freely now, choked sobs escaping her mouth even though she tried to keep quiet. Sarina shifted closer to her and hugged her tight, letting her cry into her shoulder. "I killed him, Rina." Kira said in-between her sobs. "I killed the man I love."

Sarina hushed her, stroking her sister's hair and rocking her gently. "It was not your fault Kira-ki." Rina used her old pet name for her sister, finding it somehow fit for the situation. "It was Catalyst's fault."

Kira sniffled, then wiped her own tears away. She looked up at her sister, blood-shot navy blue eyes blazing. "Catalyst... That bastard didn't die, did he? He's the one causing all this!"

Rina blinked and then stared at Akira. "Well paint me yellow and call me psyduck, I think you're right! Who else could be orchestrating such an absurd turn of events? Nothing's been going as planned for a while. The prophecies are gone, me and you didn't get our memories back for way too long, Jyp was nearly killed..."

Kira pulled herself out of her sister's embrace and stood, then walked over to a mirror and started to fix her hair and tried to make it look like she had not been crying. "We need to call a meeting."

Sarina nodded. "I'll call everyone." And she did.

Rika, however, slid over to her mother. /I feel...strange.../ The dratini told Kira, right before fainting on the floor as a golden light encased her. Right before Akira's eyes the dratini grew a lot longer, and little white wings appeared by her ear holes. Two dark blue orbs were on her tail, and another on her neck, just a little below her chin. Last of all, a horn sprouted from her forehead, and then the glow disappeared.

Rika's eyes opened slowly, and she lifted her head gracefully from the floor to regard her mother with wise black eyes. No longer was she a cute, baby dratini, but an elegant dragonair, rumored to be able to control the weather.

Akira knelt beside her daughter, lifting up her head to look at her on the same level. "You're beautiful."

The dragonair blushed, her light blue underside turning a rosy red.

"Well you are. The delicate wings," Akira touched them lightly, smiling as Rika's belly turned a darker red, "the dark blue orbs... And just your overall color. You've retained the swirly light blue and dark blue you were born with, and you're just... gorgeous." Now Kira grinned. "Of course, with me as your mother, nothing less could be expected."

The dragonair grinned too, for this was one of the very few times that Kira truly acknowledged the pokemon as her daughter. /I love you mother./

"I love you too, my daughter."

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Calisin too had been gazing out the window of his hotel room, except he was not greeted with the site of pure darkness, but of a gorgeous night blue sky littered with sparkling stars hanging over a beautiful town where people went about their perfect little lives.

He wanted a life like that. A life away from the responsibilities and killing. He did not want to go on with this, it was foolish. They had died before, why did they have to do it again?

The father of all dragons turned his head to look at his dragonair son and he felt something awaken in him. "Silac..." He reached out and gently stroked the pokemon's cheek. "My son."

The dragonair smiled and lifted his head. His father was possibly breaking lose from Catalyst's hold. Silac himself had not been controlled, but he could only sit back and watch as his father was, for he was not powerful enough to help.

Calisin looked over and Firais, and he felt a sharp pain in his chest. How could he do that to his sister. He walked over to her, and inwardly winced at the way she curled up tighter as he approached. She was scared of him...

"I'm going to let you go." He said. "I'll tell them that I was distracted and you attacked me then jumped out the window. We're only on the second floor and I believe you can make the jump."

She looked like she was going to say something but he shook his head and continued speaking. "I'm going to turn my back, and then you're going to hit me with your best attack, enough to knock me out for a few seconds, then jump out the window. Just do it, I might change my mind." Calisin rubbed his temples, trying to get rid of the headache that was forming because Catalyst was trying to re-enter his mind.

He stood, then walked a few steps forward. "Do it."

Firais, still a bit dazed as to her brother's change of heart, gathered a large ball of fire energy, then threw it at her brother, hitting him in the back of the neck and causing him to fall over, knocked out temporarily.

She looked around the hotel room and grabbed a chair, throwing it through the window. She looked out, braced herself, and then jumped, falling into a roll. Firais got a few cuts from broken glass shards, and bruises from the fall, but despite that she got back up to her feet and started running. She had no idea where she was going, but she needed to get away from them.

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"You traitor! Is this how you repay me for centuries devoted to you? You had my own daughter kill me, was that not enough? I am going to my group, and you're not going to stop me." The mother of all Ground types glared defiantly at her male counterpart.

"Terra, did you hear what I said?" He raised his eyebrows, advancing toward her. "I said you're not going."

She backed away. "You can't stop me."

"Oh really?" He lifted one of his hands to about chest level, palm facing up. "What if I used a water attack?" There was a small blue orb in his hand, one that Terra recognized as a capturing attack.

Her eyes widened in fear, and immediately she started running. It was night, therefore it was dark, but there were few trees for this was a mostly grassy, flat area. Nowhere to hide, she kept running, but her attempt to escape was useless, and she was hit by a ball of water energy that immediately weakened her and expanded around her, capturing her in a blue bubble.

The father of all ground types walked over to her, a proud expression on his face. "I win again, Terra." He looked down to his son, a sandslash. "Be a good boy Roux and join your mother."

The sandslash hissed at his father, but knew that attacking was not an option, nor was drilling in to the ground. His father would find him. So Roux stepped in to the bubble with his mother, soundlessly screaming as soon as he came in to contact with the strong energy.

"Good job Rin." Ivan stepped out from the cover of a tree, his partner Ivena right by his side. "We'll be taking her from here. You just find the rest that are in the group while we secure the captives."

Rin bowed respectfully then walked off into the plains. His current hideout was less than a mile away.

Ivena looked at Terra, smirking at how helpless the mother of all ground types looked. "I'm beginning to like how this Catalyst being works."

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Akira looked at Ash, then smiled and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. The surprised guardian widened his eyes in surprise, then hugged her back tentatively.

"You remind me so much of Lial." She said, pinching his cheek playfully and then giggling. "Stubborn, and dense, but loyal."

"Hey!" Ash scowled. "I am not dense."

Gary immediately burst out into laughter, earning a glare from Ash.

Akira walked over to him and patted him on the head, earning a scowl from Gary too because he hated to have his hair messed with. "I remember your ancestor too, Gary. Arrogant, cynical, yet also, like Lial, loyal."

Gary folded his arms across his chest. "I am not arrogant."

This had both Akira and Sarina laughing, and Ash simply stuck his tongue out at the other pokemon master.

/Mother, everyone's coming./ The dragonair announced, coiling up in a corner. As a dratini she had been about six feet long, and too heavy for Kira's neck, but now, as a dragonair, she was fourteen feet, and it wouldn't do to have people tripping over her or stepping on her.

One by one the rest of the group entered, and each of them realized the significance of Rika's evolution. Akira and Sarinia had remembered the past. They all planted themselves down in various places, on the bed the girls shared, on the rugs, and the chairs.

"It's Catalyst, isn't it?" Sajoya asked, and Akira did not even have to answer. The mysterious woman slammed her fist down into a pillow, then stood up and started pacing the room, muttering under her breath.

/Didn't they kill Catalyst?/ Jyp asked Jay.

/I guess not.../ Jay replied, watching Sajoya closely. /Though I'm guessing that his being alive is a very bad thing judging by Sajoya's reaction./

/That goes beyond being an understatement./

/True./ Jay cleared his throat. "So, what do we do about him?"

Sajoya stopped pacing in front of Jay and looked down at him. "There's nothing we can do, really. However we're going to have to cut our journey short. I know you guys were looking forward to our next destination, but I fear that the wisest path to take at this moment is to go to Pokemon Island."

Garis blinked. "But what about the others?"

Sajoya looked at him and sighed. "They will find us."

Taie petted Tilae, now a beautiful pidgeotto, and frowned slightly. "I don't like the sound of this..."

"I don't either, but it's what we have to do. We have no real prophecies to guide us, this is our only choice."

Akira stood up and walked over to the window. So dark outside... They could not let darkness win this battle. She turned her head to look at everyone, a more confident air to her. "We are going to Pokemon Island." She said in a tone that meant 'end of discussion'.

And not a word was said against the trip.

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"Hey May!"

The young woman stood up from her current examination of a fossil that had been brought it the previous day. A mining company had stumbled across an underground cave, and she had been put in charge of the excavation of the beautiful area.

"Got something new for me Neil?" May asked, grinning.

"Oh yeah!" The blonde excavation worker walked in and set down a smallish chest on her desk. May gasped and ran her hands other it gently, examining it, trying to find out why it was still in such good condition. It seemed to be made of wood and plated with some sort of metal... There was a beautiful, complicated design all over it, with dragons and fire and water and lightning. In fact, it had all the pokemon elements on it.

"Neil, do you believe in the Firsts?" May asked, her eyes sparkling as she got ready to open the chest.

"Well, sort of. I kinda believe in the legendary birds too. What's that got to do with this?"

"I think we discovered one of the Firsts' lairs." She giggled nervously. The Firsts had always been one of May's favorite legends, though she had never believed it was a legend. She believed it was true, especially with all the goings on lately. The Firsts was a constant topic on the news, and some even believed it had to do with the thefts of pokemon of certain types.

"Are you gonna open it or not May?"

She blinked, snapping out of her thoughts, then opened the chest. "Beautiful..." Nestled on a large piece of black silk were six crystals. Two gold, two blue and two red. "I think these are the stones of the dragon family..."

"Dragon family?" Neil stood beside her and looked at the stones.

"Fire, Water, and Dragon types are related, and called the Dragon Family by some..." She set the stones down on the table, arranging them by their pairs in two lines. No sooner than she had put the Fire Stones together at the end, than they all started to glow, and both her and Neil backed off a little, watching with wide eyes as the stone rose three feet into the air each shining a ray of light the same color as itself. The stones started to fly in a small circle, creating a beautiful show as their six rays of light crossed every now and then, and never stayed in one place. They were like little colored searchlights.

May felt happy beyond belief, and happy tears started to run down her smooth cheeks. She did not bother to wipe them away, for she was too busy hugging Neil now. "They're real... The Firsts are real. I know it." She felt like a little girl whos dreams had come true, who had learn that clefairies really existed.

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"Why are you guys just sitting there?" Terra asked the three Firsts who sat along the cave wall. "You could at least help us a little."

"Yeah." Kit said, blasting the psychic barrier that kept them locked in with a powerful electric attack at the same time Lit, his partner, used a similar attack. Both bolts of electricity were simply absorbed.

Lit sighed, wiping sweat off