Chapter 20

The Pokemon Language is an oddity of this world. Any child can tell you that Pokemon speak using parts of their own names as the sounds; most will then easily deduce that Pokemon were originally named by the sounds they made at the humans who first met them. In fact this appears to show that Pokemon were not named by humans at all but by whatever caused them to make those sounds, presumably Alpha Pokemon Arceus. Another useful oddity is that all Pokemon can understand each other perfectly, even when speaking their own unique `languages.`

Several myths and legends seek to explain Pokemon Language. The most well-known is the Tower of Babel, supposedly built by ancient humans to reach their God. As the story goes, before the tower's construction Man and Pokemon could speak together easily and no language barriers existed between sentient beings. These ancient humans chose not to work with Pokemon in building the tower, thinking instead to be the first to reach their God, and for their selfishness they alone were stripped of their universal language. But why do Pokemon speak their own names? The second legend is that of the True Name. There is power in names, and by speaking a True Name one will be able to make use of that power. So Humans are said to have lost their True Name while Pokemon remember their own and speak them exclusively; in this way they can speak amongst themselves. It is even noted that Pokemon often utter their names when performing attacks; perhaps again the power of a True Name is what allows them to perform such obviously supernatural feats.

The devastation of Cerulean City is easily apparent as the trio appear outside Misty's demolished house; aside from the house, now only rubble, the Gym has a whole wall carved away, revealing the giant fish-tank inside, and many of the nearby buildings apparently their corners carved off. It's as if someone with a very large, very sharp knife has been running around hacking at everything around them in a rage. Trees and telephone poles have been sliced in two at odd angles, a whole house seems to be cut in half with the sides now resting slightly apart, and large violent gashes in the earth show the power of whatever caused them. Rome releases Trevi and Ripa, who take up defensive positions watching carefully in both directions, while Misty runs toward her late home. She releases her Golduck and Poliwhirl and they begin sifting through the remains along with Rae, who is now shaped like a Machamp to help move the larger beams. Rome next releases Ponte and Monti, who sink into the earth to help with the search for survivors from below.

Moments later Monti resurfaces, Daisy held close to his underbelly. Ponte goes to converse in Pokemon with the others, who stop searching; Misty slumps down next to her sister, holding her gently while carefully checking her vital signs. Golduck offers a handful of water, which Misty takes and splashes on her sister in an attempt to wake her up. Rae shifts to her human form and stands close to Misty, screwing up her face in concentration while trying to reach out telepathically to Daisy's consciousness. Daisy thrashes awake, causing Misty to hug her close. Daisy speaks, her voice slow and tenuous.

"Misty? I heard someone calling me, and … my face is all wet?"

"Daisy, you're okay! I was … I thought, when I saw the house … you're alive!" Worry quickly replacing her confusion, Daisy grabs Misty and holds her at arm's length.

"What are you doing here! You have to leave!"

"What? Why?"

"That … thing, it was looking for you! It came here to kill you! You have to leave, now!" Rome approaches at this, his eyes still scanning the surroundings as he speaks with a quiet intensity.

"What do you mean, the demon? It had a mission?"

"I don't … it was like a Scyther, but huge and … strangely shaped, sort of … human-like. A voice came from it's mouth, low and gravely, and it was intelligent, like … so it appeared in the front yard and said it was looking for you, Misty! It was here to kill you! I ran inside, and the walls just started falling down around me. I … don't remember much after that. I'm just glad Violet and Lily went shopping in Saffron …." She trails off, putting a hand to her forehead. Rome begins issuing commands.

"Regola, watch over Daisy, make sure she doesn't fall asleep, talk to her or make her laugh or scare her, whatever you have to do. Misty, we need to hunt this demon down. I've never heard of one talking, but it has to be a demon and we'll need to stick together to fight it. Release all your Pokemon and have them group up with mine in twos and threes, we'll have them roam around us in a defensive grid. If it wants you, it will have to get past them; once it's in the middle they'll attack from all directions – ."

"Hey, whoa, why should I fight this thing? That's your schtick, leave me out of it! I need to go look for more survivors, not hunt this thing out!"

"If we fight it carefully, you and your Pokemon have a better chance of survival." This hits Misty hard, and she responds in a desperate voice.

"Who said I was thinking about that?"

"It's all I could think about after Celio died, when I found my next demon. `Another might die, why am I doing this? I have to get away, I shouldn't confront it.` Those thoughts are useless, especially here and now."

"So it's after me; all we need to do is teleport out of here. If it wants to kill me, there's no sane reason why I should stay."

"If you run, it will follow you and do this to another town," Rome says while gesturing around them. "Unless running could lure it to a better place to fight it, we should end this here. Having a demon chasing you around is no way to live. You know that first hand, don't you?" Again Misty recoils as if physically hit by Rome's words.

"I can't fight it! I don't have your experience, I don't know what to do!"

"We can fight it, together. I've never heard of a demon talking, this one may be stronger than or different in some way from a normal demon. I need your help Misty, this demon may be too much for either of us individually." Misty shakes a little, then looks to her older sister. Daisy is leaning against a tree stump, with Rae talking to her animatedly while fussing over her. Misty puts a hand to the Pokeballs at her side, then to the spot where her Gyarados' once sat. Looking at Rome she sighs and releases the rest of her Pokemon, gesturing to Rome to move ahead with his plan. He releases Borgo and groups the Pokemon into teams: Monti and Trevi with Corsola, Ponte with Golduck, Ripa with Starmie and Poliwhirl, and Borgo with Sealeo. With the groups spread out and circling around Rome and Misty in a close proximity, they set out into the city.

Elsewhere the damage to buildings and nature is consistent, gashes and things split in two. Nothing is as completely destroyed as Misty's house was, but the blind rage evident in what has been broken is considerable. The wind whistles through those those new holes and gaps, creating an eerie tune amidst the wreckage. Misty watches the sky above while Rome, who is looking more anxious by the minute, carefully scans the buildings around them. Frowning a little, Misty turns to Rome.

"Why did you mix our Pokemon – ?"

"Quiet. This is bad, I think it may be watching us. On the count of three, pretend to stumble and fall to the ground." Rome gestures in a sort of sign language to Monti, who plants a foot into the ground. "One, two … three." Misty acts like she has tripped and falls to land on her hands, as a brilliant crescent of wind comes down from the sky above. It breaks upon a shield of earth that builds up over Misty as a shrill scream of pain is heard from Poliwhirl, who has has caught between his large mitten-like hands the bladed arm of a creature about to strike Ripa. It looks like a Scyther but is nearly fifteen feet tall, extremely gangly and absolutely silent. Rome returns Ripa and the demon disappears as quickly as it arrived; another cry is heard, this time from Corsola, as the demon attempts to make off with it. "Fire spikes in all directions!" Rome's shout reaches the caught-off-guard Corsola as it is already nearly at the edge of the street, carried in the hands of the demon; Corsola spreads its spiny surface and fires off coral needles in every direction. The demon disappears before they can hit, and Trevi retrieves the confused Corsola, putting it safely on Monti's back, who pulls its foot out of the ground as the rocky cover retracts from above Misty.

"What the hell just happened? Why did … Poliwhirl!" Misty runs to Poliwhirl and helps it clean up the blueish blood coming from matching cuts in its hands. The rest of the Pokemon take up their defensive positions again, more watchful than before.

"It was a test. I thought the demon was listening to us, and I was right. It's probably listening to every word, so watch what you say. But more than that, it's intelligent, it understands type advantage. It tried to take out Ripa quickly with a single Bug attack, then when that failed tried to take Corsola away. It knows that her Rock attacks are going to be the strongest weapon we have against it, so it tried to remove her from the equation. It also knew that you falling was a ploy, but it followed up on it so we would be distracted when it really attacked us."

"What are you saying?"

"This is no normal demon. I'm tempted to say it's not a demon at all; it's intelligent, I've never seen that before. And there's something else, it looked different from a normal Scyther. Like Daisy said, it looks … partially human."

"Not partial, I am fully human." The voice, like a deep whisper across a gravel road, comes from all around. "And fully Pokemon. I am a paradox, an enigma you will not unravel in this life. Give Misty to me, and the rest of you may leave. The Professor has consented to let her live, if she remains at the side of Red, but if she will not – ."

"The Professor!?" Rome's shout cuts across the resounding whisper of a voice, and his face is suddenly creased in a snarl of fury. "Is that the name of the one who creates demons?!" Rome's hair seems to bristle and stand on end as he stares at the surrounding scenery.

"Is that what you call the Risen? Such an odd name. Yes, my teacher is the one who discovered how to raise a Pokemon to its full potential. Are you the one who has somehow captured or killed so many of his early experiments? Wonderful, you are another of my targets. Come with me or die by – ."

"Monti, full water attack!" Rome points roughly due south, and Monti opens its mouth to fire a pulse of water strong enough to cut through stone. The attack bursts through trees and everything else in its path, as the Scyther-like demon flies up out of the tree cover to escape the blast. The wind carries its voice down to the group as it hovers above, still sounding like it comes from all directions at once.

"A good guess? No, you knew where I was."

"I didn't. I just had Monti fire down-wind, the most-likely place for you to be hiding. But now that you're here – Borgo and Starmie, engage it, Ponte, wind room ASAP." The demon disappears again but so do Borgo and Misty's Starmie, while Ponte slips out of sight like smoke dissipating. Her grin is the last to vanish, and high above things seem to flit across the vision as the Pokemon fight a high-speed aerial battle. Misty stands and looks to Rome.

"What can I do to help?"

"If I tell you, he'll hear it. I believe he's using the wind to carry everything we say to his ears, in the same way he was using it to carry everything he said to us. You'll have to trust me." Rome is watching the battle, or at least trying to follow it, and Misty puts one hand over her other arm in loss at what to do. Thinking of something, she speaks quietly to Rome.

"You got mad, when he mentioned that Professor person. I … I thought you didn't get mad." Rome replies without looking away from the battle above.

"Like fear, anger is something we can't escape. So I channel it, like with fear, into motivation. In times of stress it keeps me focused on the problem at hand, stimulating chemicals in my brain that heighten my senses and reflexes. My blood pumps faster and my thoughts come a little faster as a result. It's still an evil, the sin of wrath, but properly harnessed it becomes a useful strength."

"Ash's Primape was angry and you called it crazy."

"That creature was ruled by its anger, it was uninhibited, like Ash. I'm not saying I let the anger consume me, I just make use of it." Above, an area of the sky turns a simple shade of purple. "There, we're safe."

"What?"

"I had Ponte create a space like the one when we fought the Pichu demons, but from inside it will look like nothing has changed. She'll continue to surround it, even if it comes down to the ground, and the wind will no longer carry our words to it. This thing fights with its brain, so a trick like that will be all the more effective against it. The worry is that it might notice it can no longer hear us; as long as it's within that purple haze it won't be able to see the real surroundings, but Ponte will only be able to fool it for so long."

"So we ready an attack during that time."

"Exactly. That Sealeo, it can make ice?"

"A lot or a little, depending on the time available."

"Have it ready the biggest ice attack it can do, with all of your Pokemon helping except for Corsola; I'm going to borrow her for another idea I have." Misty nods, and directs Poliwhirl and Sealeo to begin spraying water into the air, then having Golduck catch the water with its psychic power to begin forming a large globe in the air. Rome turns to Monti. "Begin Equilibrium preparation but keep it subtle, go with a Slaking." Monti nods, and sinks into the earth; Rome next looks at Trevi. "You too, we may need your help to prolong the battle above." Rome approaches Corsola as Trevi warms up. "Can you grow your spines together and get much bigger, like a big stone lance?" Corsola nods, and with a concentrated effort begins to grow in size.

Starmie crashes to the earth, the jewel at its center glowing a dull red. Misty returns it and anxiously watches the light on the Pokeball's side, which soon glows a similar red color. She returns it to her side thankfully and turns back to her other Pokemon. The suspended water globe is getting quite large, and she orders Poliwhirl and Sealeo to stop adding to it as Golduck begins twirling it in the air, making a sort of mid-air water twister. Golduck lowers the water to just above Sealeo, whose eyes glow a brilliant blue before reaching up with a paw and instantly freezing the water into a giant icicle. Misty grins at Rome.

"Ready."

"So are we." Rome is standing next to a huge earthen-colored Slaking, which is holding a pink rocky spear almost the same size; Corsola's face near the base of the spear is panting with exhaustion at holding the form.

"How's this going to work?"

"On the signal of `demon,` fire the ice from one direction and Monti will come at it with Corsola from the other. Don't worry about Ponte; these physical attacks will just pass right through her. Wait for the signal, I'll have Trevi restrain it. Right on time." The purple haze is descending along with the Scyther-demon, a battered Borgo in one clawed foot. It hovers above the ground and drops Borgo; other than looking a little winded the demon is uninjured. Rome passes through the purple barrier with a slight push of his shoulders to join it. Inside, the surroundings really do look the same, except that the other Pokemon seem to have been returned to their balls.

"A Metapod hanging from a branch several hundred feet south of here vanished from my sight while playing with those two in the sky. Care to explain?"

"I will, if you answer my question. Why were you sent after Misty?" Rome returns Borgo as if on an afterthought, glancing down to see the dull red light on the side.

"Simple enough. She knows the true identity of Red, he foolishly revealed himself and now she must join us or die. Red is to be punished as well for his loose tongue."

"You're being pretty loose-lipped as well, I suppose now you'll be punished?"

"For talking to a dead man? I think not. But that was two questions, now answer mine. Why can I no longer hear the grass rustling in the breeze?"

"It's a sort of trick. I've learned to never fight fair against a demon." Trevi appears behind the demon and stabs his arm blades forward, just in front of its waist, then retracts them slightly; as he does so, the back halves of the blades vanish and reappear just above the front halves to enclose the demon at its waist. The world seems to lurch, then spin around like the insides of a theme park ride. A stone spear erupts from one side as if from nowhere while the giant icicle comes shooting in from the other. The demon sighs and raises its own arm blades, to catch the two attacks and direct them down and backwards toward the vulnerable Trevi.

A shining Aerodactyl appears above the demon, flapping gossamer wings; its body appears thin and translucent, as if made of light. The beak opens to let out a sub-sonic cry, causing the demon to instinctively hold its arm blades to its ears to protect against a sound only it can hear. Stone spear and icicle pierce the demon's chest and meet halfway, shattering both and causing shards to protrude from the body. One must have reached the demon's brain; it slumps over, dead before it could understand what happened. The Aerodactyl is already gone, only a brilliant after-image remaining.

"We did it!" Misty cheers as the mist coalesces into a much-smaller Ponte. "It took a lucky save by Rae but we did it! I thought we were – !"

"That wasn't Regola." Rome's voice is weak, but the utter confusion in it causes Misty to pause and listen. "That was … I think that was Celio."

"The … real one?"

"I buried her … I saw her grave today … but that was her. That was definitely Celio."

"What was?" Rae's voice surprises everyone; turning as one, they see her approaching with Daisy, who is leaning against the child like a crutch. Rae stops under their combined scrutiny, stammering out, "I, I thought I heard, well, it sounded like Cel. There was this cry, and, and it was like her cry."

Rome stares up at the sky as Misty barks out a forced laugh of disbelief. She approaches the dead demon carefully, watching Corsola retract its spines and returning her other Pokemon. While returning Corsola she seems to notice something.

"Hey, Rome, help me turn this thing over." Rome looks over, his expression still dazed, so Misty turns to Monti, now himself again. "You, get this thing over." Monti stomps the earth and a wall rises and then retracts after flopping the demon on to its front. A small green satchel is on the creature's back, hidden among its wings. Misty gingerly unties it and reaches inside, pulling out a sketchbook. Flipping through the pages, a multitude of quick yet detailed drawings of various Pokemon litter the pages, until the back half of the book where they suddenly become course and unrefined. Moving to the front she finds a simple page where the artist has written, `Property of Tracey S. Please return to Oak's lab in Pallet Town.`

Suddenly pointing at Monti again, Misty exclaims "Turn it over again!" Monti lets out a low rumbling growl but does so. Misty checks the demon's face, peering carefully at the almost-human shape and features. Slowly now, she turns to Rome. "We need to go to Pallet Town." Rome doesn't say anything, but he does begin returning his Pokemon. "Well Saffron first, to drop Daisy off the hospital and visit the Pokecenter, but after that Pallet, as quickly as possible."