the clouds, swirling above, below, around him. The way all the dark colors blended into

a complete, moonless night. But this was not a night; it was not even outside.

He was expecting the mass that could, and couldn’t be seen. And it appeared, as

always, in the deep green cloak, motionless.

"The Mystic’s sword Gassiter is hidden below. Where, only I know." He said,

deep voice flowing. Erik looked down towards a growing brightness. The first clue he

had found was glowing, and seeping into the empty space next to it, filling it until both

parts were filled with a blinding whiteness.

"Who am I? What do I do?" the figure continued. "You’ll find out once you get

all ten clues."

Erik was still watching the medallion, which seemed weightless, pulsing with

energy. It seemed to try to pull away as the second clue glowed, just as the first, and

filled the empty space next to it. He noticed, for the first time, how all four clues were

separated.

"When long ago this clue was buried," the soothing voice said as the third clue

glowed and filled yet another empty space. "a cloud of suckers caused great hurry."

Erik could not look at the form from which the voice was coming from, as the

medallion was starting to drift and float upwards, facing him, six of nine places glowing

bright white, almost green. Finally, the last clue started to glow, and the figure spoke

again.

"You have come very far on your way." He said, pausing as the empty space

filled, a full circle surrounding a central core, save for one slot left for the last clue, the

final one. The medallion hovered inches from Erik’s face. He could feel the sheer power

of it, and something deeper, as if a voice, too familiar, were speaking to him, a voice that

could only be heard when all was quiet, and not even the silence dared to be known.

Finally, the figure finished the fourth clue’s verse. "Complete the circle," he

paused. "Complete the circle, and learn the plays."

Erik understood now.

"Erik!"

"What!?" Erik yelled, jumping, being ripped away from the world that had made

so much clear to him. Instinctively he grabbed his medallion; there were only four pieces

of metal there.

"Gosh! I’ve been trying to wake you up for the past ten minutes! If you hadn’t

been breathing and murmuring I would have thought you were dead!" Matt said, concern

overtaking his anger.

"Sorry." Erik said. "I was…somewhere else."

"That’s for sure." Josh put in. "C’mon. Let’s get going."

<><><>

They headed for the east side of Cerulean. Josh said he had something from

Lavender Town that he needed to pick up, and everyone agreed to help him. The only

challenge was Rock Tunnel, a long network of caves that were the only route to

Lavender, besides passing through Saffron City. But Josh said he didn’t care much for

large cities and besides, there were fighting Pokémon to be found in Rock Tunnel.

The group was strangely quiet, as if the overcast sky had done the same to their

mouths. Still, Erik enjoyed the crisp air, and the sea breeze coming from the north.

Their path to the caves was blocked by trees again, but Rachel was ready with

her newly evolved Charmeleon.

"Watch out," Josh cautioned. "This path is riddled with trainers looking for

battles."

"Hey!" said a girl, running up to Josh. As if to illustrate his point, she asked,

"You wanna battle?"

Several battles later, they made it into the cave, to another problem: It was pitch

black. Rachel again solved this problem with Charmeleon; the light from its burning tail

lit their way.

Erik was still immersed in his dream, thinking about what it meant. He chided

himself; he knew what it meant. Only one spot was left, and he had been told to

complete the circle, which meant what he had been doing: find the next piece.

"Hey, what’s that?" Isako said. She turned and looked at Erik, walking

backwards.

"What?" Erik was lost for a second. "Oh, this. It’s something I’ve had for a

while. You’re telling me you didn’t notice it with the Zubat?" he said. He had not

noticed that he was fingering the medallion.

"That was the medallion? I thought it was you." She said. She suddenly tripped

over a rock and fell into Josh, who was in the lead. They both fell, knocking Matt down

as well. Rachel darted forward to avoid falling.

They laughed, until Isako groaned, holding her leg.

"What is it?" Josh asked, his face betraying his hidden concern

"Some stupid piece of metal. Probably rusted or something. Bet I’ll have to get a

Tetanus shot." She twisted up her face and thrust the small piece of metal past Erik. A

familiar glint, something in the color, or perhaps even instinct, caused him to suddenly

grab out and catch it.

"What?" Isako asked.

"It might—" Matt began, looking at the piece, then at Erik’s medallion.

"I don’t know. Maybe it’ll come in handy." Erik interrupted quickly. He stuffed

it into his pocket, then gave Matt and Josh a pointed glance. This was not the place to

finish it; he knew, he felt it. Erik blinked, realizing that it might seem as if he was

prejudice, against the girls.

He smiled. "Let’s go."

And they walked, Josh leading the way, telling Charmeleon which way was the

right turn, or which rock to crawl behind. Finally, Isako gave up protesting and simply

followed Josh.

<><><>

"Um…Maybe this is a good time to tell you I don’t exactly remember the way…"

Josh said.

They had been walking for three times as long as it should have been and had just

recently gotten out of the cave. The only problem was that they were a little too high;

they were on top of the mountain, surrounded by foliage.

"Now is not a good time!" Rachel yelled. "A ‘good’ time would have been before

we went inside!"

"Calm down." Matt said, and Rachel immediately sighed.

"Sorry Josh."

"Forget it. Uh Erik…"

Erik stood off to the side as Josh idled up next to him.

"When are you gonna put that piece in? Is a piece, right?"

"Yeah." Erik sighed, pulling out the fifth clue. "The thing is, I don’t think it is,

but I do at the same time."

"What do you mean?"

"All the other times, a Pokémon found the clue, and some verse went with it, but

they either told me or someone else did. This time…"

"There wasn’t anyone telling you anything, and none of your Pokémon found it."

Josh said. "Well, try it on anyway. If it is the clue, great. If not, nothing should

happen."

"I guess you’re right."

"I’m always right."

Erik swallowed, then pulled out his medallion. Slowly, he moved the piece to the

slot it fit. And he put it in, a perfect fit.

His friends cried out in amazement, gathering around him and staring at the

medallion, floating in the air, the parts in it glowing a fierce white-green. Erik could feel

the trees and the life of the nature stronger than he had ever felt them before. The first

part glowed into the empty one next to it, away from the fifth. Slowly, the empty parts

were filled in around the circle.

As the last part filled in, they began to glow too bright to look at. His friends

were silent, but Erik still stared at the medallion. A silent voice filled his head,

dominating his thoughts. It was not Laury’s.

"Now know this: You alone are worthy of Gassiter. Half is whole; there are no

more parts."

The medallion grew ever brighter, until all the light seemed to converge into the

center, where a crystal formed, bright green, dark green, and greens of all types swirled

and converged endlessly.

A sudden, shining sort of the light penetrated outwards, forming beams in all

directions, traveling along the medallion’s cord, turning it into a chain, until it reached

him.

He felt nothing; only saw brightness. He felt a strong tingling of his skin, felt his

clothes disappear and reappear, forming into new garments. He felt a weight put all

around his body, felt the softest feel of the grass, felt the air and scent of pine blow

upwards from the front, felt a connection to Nature, as if it were a feasible, tangible thing.

And when his sight faded back, before then even, he tested it, and indeed it was a

tangible thing; he could warp it, twist it, use it, cause some energy from all throughout to

form into something else here, or there, and maybe both places.

He looked at his friends, saw them looking at him. Rachel wore a bright red shirt,

as well as bright red pants. The wind blew the a cloak, fiery red to match her hair.

Josh wore a mahogany cloak as well, mahogany shirt, sleeveless, and mahogany

brown pants.

Matt sported a sky blue cloak, not to be confused with a sea-green or ice-blue, as

well as a blue shirt and pants that seemed to match the bright, sunny sky above.

Isako, last in line, wore a deep purple shirt and pants. Her set of color-coded wear

was finished by a cloak as well, the same shape of mind perplexing purple.

Erik gaped at them, and gaped, finally, at himself.

The weight he had felt was a black cloak that was forest green at the same time.

He wore long green pants, as well as a long-sleeved green shirt.

They all seemed to have aged. Matt and Rachel looked the same, about fifteen,

but Josh and Isako looked as if they had suddenly grown to that age as well. Erik

guessed that he looked older too. He felt taller, and more mature.

Silently, he matched colors with types, elements, of Pokémon. Red, Fire.

Mahogany, Fighting. Sky blue, Flying. Purple, Psychic. And, green, Grass.

Finally, he noticed them gaping past him. He looked behind him, and backed up,

friend on either side of him, cloaks forming a rainbow of color to match the rainbow of

color facing them.

Across from Isako, a bright orange cloak signified the Bug element, strong against

the Psychic Element. Across from Matt, a sun yellow cloak flapped in the strong wind.

Electric, strong against Flying.

For Josh, it was a lighter purple than Isako’s cloak. Poison. For Rachel, that

special sea-green that showed Water.

And finally, for Erik, a definite, bright green. Dragon, the only type that had one

main weakness: Ice. And as far as he knew, no one on Erik’s team had Ice Pokémon.

Cloaks flapped in a wind that seemed to get stronger by the minute. And, silently,

Erik found the one thing he had been searching for, the one key to the final chapter.

A green mist swirled from underground, seeping in a column upwards, solidifying

into a oaken staff, which flashed brightly, then changed into a double-bladed sword that

had room for one hand. The handle spread, with the blades, for two hands.

Gassiter was released.