Pokémon Heroes of Johto

Parting Ways

It felt like we had sat there forever when a bright ray of sunlight fell upon us. I slid out of Silver's embrace and we both gazed up to see the cause of the light. A large silhouette flew above us, seemingly flying right in front of the sun. It cried out, staring down at us from above. Lugia flew beside it and cried out as well. Entei, Raiku, and Suicune stood below Lugia and the silhouette, mimicking their cries out to us. I didn't understand what was happening, so I stared in awe. Suddenly, a rainbow appeared in a complete circle around them. It radiated down towards us and began engulfing Typhlosion. I turned my attention to it, unsure what to think.
Typhlosion's ears and eyes twitched, finally opening them and staring up at us with lost, tired eyes.
My eyes widened in shock, tears of joy beginning to come down. "Typhlo!!" I cried out happily, throwing my arms around its neck. Silver mimicked my action, a large smile on his face as he embraced my partner. Gold and Crystal joined in afterwards, and before I knew it, everyone was gathered around Typhlo for a loving embrace. Typhlosion's eyes grew wide for a moment before it lovingly returned the embrace.
When the tears of joy, laughter, and tight hugs seized, I gazed in Lugia's direction. The silhouette landed beside Lugia on the street, revealing itself to me. I had never seen a Pokémon like it before, but I already knew who it was somehow. It was the Legendary Rainbow Pokémon.......
"Ho-oh..... that's who you are, right? You saved Typhlosion for me...... thank you.... thank you so very much!" I called softly, smiling up at the beautiful bird Pokémon. It nodded gently, a soft stare in its eyes.
I got to my feet, my eyes suddenly filled with determination. I glared at the four Team Rocket Executives and the large crowd of Rocket Grunts who had gathered around us thinking they had won.
"Team Rocket!! Let this be the last time you ever think about committing an evil deed, especially something like what you did to my partner!!" I cried out.
"Yeah! And Goldenrod is our city!! We've had lots of memories here!!" Gold called.
"And we will defend it at all costs!" Crystal added on determinedly.
"Don't forget about us!" a familiar voice called. We looked up to see Falkner flying down on the back of Pidgeot. Bugsy was behind Falkner, Scizor carrying him by the shoulders. Whitney stood behind me and smirked. Morty placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled down at me gently. Falkner stood beside Silver and I, and Bugsy stood beside Gold and Crystal.
"As Gym Leaders, it's out duty to protect the people!" Bugsy exclaimed.
"And defend our fellow Gym Leaders!" Falkner added, glancing at Whitney, who blushed shyly a bit in response.
"Not to mention our friends! So if you think you can just tear up Goldenrod, you've got another thing coming!" Morty exclaimed, glancing at Silver and I when he mentioned his friends.
"Yeah, we don't let anybody cause trouble in our cities!" Chuck, who practically came from nowhere, stated.
"Especially low life criminals who hurt others just to make a living!" Jasmine exclaimed as loud as her soft voice could. Where these people came from was beyond me, but it didn't matter at the moment. I was just happy that they were here to help us.
"Right! Silver and I might not be from Johto, but Goldenrod City holds a special place in our hearts! Wether we live here or not, this is our city!" I exclaimed.
"And no matter what will happen..." Gold called.
"We will defend it!" Crystal added.
"With all our strength!!" Silver cried, finishing the statement.
"Pidgeot, Aerial Ace!!"
"Scizor, Metal Claw!!
"Miltank, Rollout!!"
"Gengar, Shadow Ball!!"
"Steelix, Iron Head!!"
"Primeape, Thunder Punch!!"
"Meganium, Solar Beam!!"
"Feraligatr, Hydro Pump!!"
"Pichu, Thunderbolt!!"
"Typhlosion, Flamethrower!! Ho-oh, Lugia, Sacred Fire and Aero Blast!! Everyone else, give it your all!!"
The array of attacks dashed straight towards the four Executives, the Rocket Grunts, and their Pokémon. They caused a large explosion and we had to wait out the smoke to see the results.
Team Rocket was nowhere to be found, gone without a single trace. Silver searched around for them, his guard still up.
"Think they escaped?" he asked cautiously.
"Most likely. speaking from experience, they're really only good for running away." Gold stated, crossing his arms in  slight disappointment.
"Who cares if they got away?"  Crystal asked, gaining everyone's attention. "Goldenrod City is safe once again, so we did what we came here to do, right? That's what really counts!" Crystal exclaimed cheerfully.
"Right. Team Rocket's gone..... Goldenrod City is at peace.... and I've got my partner back." I stated softly, throwing an arm around Typhlosion. I gazed back at Ho-oh as it landed before me. Morty slowly came to my side, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.
"Ho-oh was said to only return to Johto once the hearts of trainer and Pokémon became one. It is said to be that Raiku, Entei, and Suicune search the world for that bond, so that Ho-oh would return. I believe that, in that moment, they felt the bond that you and Typhlosion share and they summoned Ho-oh to show it what they had found. A trainer whose love for her Pokémon is deeper than the love of her own self. That's you, Fire." Morty stated softly. I smiled up at him, giving a soft nod to say thanks.
"Ho-oh.... whatever the reason is that you search for that bond, know that I, along with everyone here, will always have it. Deep in our hearts, we all love our Pokémon! You can count on us to always love them!" I exclaimed. Ho-oh nodded softly, placing something gently in my hand with its beak. It smiled back at us and began to fly off towards the sun with one last cry. Entei, Raiku, and Suicune stood before us, staring at us softly.
"Guess this is goodbye, huh?" Silver asked Entei with a sad smile. Entei nodded softly, giving Silver a sympathetic look.
"We'll see you around, won't we?" Gold asked, gently patting Raiku's head. Raiku stared back at Gold, happily crying out.
"Remember, you can always call on us if you need anything at all." Crystal stated cheerfully. Suicune smiled back, suddenly turning to me and nuzzling my cheek. I chuckled as I pet it lightly.
"I like you too, Suicune! You take care, okay?" I called as it began to bound off. It nodded back at me and with one final look, the Three Beasts bounded off in different directions.
Lugia was the last Legendary here. It lowered its head to see me at eye level. I understood what it meant and gently placed a hand on its forehead. It closed its eyes, as did I, and we spoke telepathically. When we opened our eyes, Lugia gave a soft nod and slowly lifted its head.
"Take care Lugia.... I'll be sure to remember that..... thanks for all your help." I stated peacefully. Lugia nodded, and gently nudged my hand. With that it flew off towards the Whirl Islands, ready to return home.
"What was that about?" Gold asked.
"Yeah, and what was it trying to say?" Crystal added on.
"Ho-oh gave me the Clear Bell and a Rainbow Wing... Lugia said I could call to Ho-oh with them if I needed to, and to use the Silver Wing and Tidal Bell if I needed help from Lugia." I said softly, staring at the items in my hand. The Rainbow Wing glowed a soft silvery color for a moment, before it faded away. "Oh right, here Morty." I called softly as I took his scarf off of my neck and handed it to him.
"Thank you. Maybe you should get a scarf of your own, they suit you." Morty joked. I giggled, looking over my shoulder and spotting Falkner and Bugsy in the distance.
"Hey, Falkner! Bugsy!" I called out, dashing to their side.
"Oh, Fire. It's been a while, nice to see you again." Falkner stated cheerfully.
"Yeah, it sure has! I see Pidgeoto evolved now, that's really cool, Falkner!" I exclaimed cheerfully, petting his partner.
"Thanks! Ever since you guys beat me, I've been training really hard. Hopefully I'll be strong enough to challenge you again someday." Falkner stated softly.
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it! Bugsy, I see Scyther evolved too. Have you been training as well?" I asked as I examined Scizor.
"Yep! Now we won't ever get beaten three times in a row again!" Bugsy joked. I chuckled at him, waving goodbye as Falkner and Bugsy headed back south to Azalea Town and Violet City. Whitney headed back to her Gym afterwards, waving goodbye as she ran off.
Once the civilians realized it was safe, they rejoiced, cheering and clapping as they came out of hiding.
I approached Gold, Crystal, and Silver, who had gathered together at a corner of the town square.
"Ready to hit the road?" I asked with a grin. They all smiled back at me strangely. I titled my head and stared back, dumbfounded by their looks. "What?..... What?!" I snapped, getting nervous because of their stares. I felt something soft slip off my shoulder and glanced down. I squealed upon realization. "My hair!!" I exclaimed fretfully. I frantically tried to pick it up, not wanting anyone to see me with my hair down. Silver grabbed one of my wrists and I froze, staring him in the eye. I could tell he felt a little taken aback by his own action, but he kept his hand placed firmly. Normally he'd release me instantly upon realization of his actions. He really was changing...
"No, no! Don't pick it up. It's fine how it is." Silver stated, smiling gently at me. I slowly lowered my hands, but when I felt the heat rushing to my face, I snatched my hand away, turning my head opposite of Silver to hide it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a hurt expression that quickly changed to a "what am I going to do with you?" smirk. I smiled back nervously, not knowing what to say.
"Excuse me, you're the wonderful trainers who saved our city, aren't you? Can I get an interview?!" A news reporter asked excitedly. I stared at her for a moment as she beamed at me, her camera man close behind.
"Uh, sorry. I'm a bit camera shy. I don't do interviews." I stated nervously.
"Oh..... Well then can we at least get a picture for the newspaper? We'd be so grateful if you would!" she exclaimed. I glanced back at Gold, Silver and Crystal, who all shrugged in response. We took our places, Gold stood beside Crys with an arm around her shoulder, Silver stood beside me and kept his hands in his pockets calmly, and I stood a little in front of him, throwing a peace sign up with a wink. They wanted our partners in it to, so Typhlosion lied in front of us, mimicking my peace sign and wink, Pichu sat on Crystal's head, beaming at the camera, Meganium leaned over Gold's shoulder, and Feraligatr stared blankly at the camera. After the picture, she said we'd probably be more well known to people now and wished us luck on our travels.
Afterwards, Morty, Jasmine, and Chuck traveled with us back to Ecruteak City. When we arrived, we prepared to say our goodbyes, to my disliking. I guess times like these always come around though.
"So, I guess this is goodbye for now, huh?" I asked, a sad smile on my face.
"Yeah, Crys and I haven't gotten our Storm Badges yet, so we're going back to Cianwood City with Chuck to do that first." Gold stated.
"That reminds me, Silver did you get your Storm Badge?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah, when you and Crys went out Suicune hunting." Silver stated half jokingly.
"So, since we're splitting up now... we should exchange Pokégear numbers, so we can meet up once we all get our Badges." Crystal stated. We all agreed and exchanged our numbers to keep in touch.
"Bye!" Crystal and Gold called out together, leaving with Jasmine and Chuck. We waved them off until we couldn't see them anymore.
"Well, it was really nice to see you both again. Just wish it wasn't because of a crisis... Next time we meet, let's hope it's for casualties, okay?" Morty stated softly, kindly grinning at us.
"Yeah, it'd be really great to just sit down with you and the other Gym Leaders." I stated happily.
"Agreed. Well.... I'll be seeing you. And I'll be waiting to hear that one of you became Johto Champion!" Morty exclaimed, waving us off as he headed home.
I grinned at Silver as we made our way back to Mahogany Town. Although everything wasn't exactly how it used to be, all was well.

And when you think about it, that's a pretty good feeling.

(??? POV)

The harsh wind carried a newspaper all the way to me. Unfazed, I picked it up, staring down at the tagline.

"THE HEROES OF JOHTO SAVE GOLDENROD!!"

I stared at the picture of the trainers, recognizing one of them. ...Who was she again? I knew I've seen her somewhere. I clutched the paper in my hand.

Where.... where did I see her?

In my distant memory.... I know you.... but... why don't I know you now?