The pair of Trainer and Pokemon walked down the mountain. Back down the path until they crossed a bridge. Joe quickly when down the bank. Grabbed his coat. Considered patching it up. Decided to hand it off to a charity shop. They could fix it or use it for parts.

Joe and Absol reached the outskirts of town. At one point Absol was drawn to Joe's shadow. Wondered if that was the reason Joe had survived the fall. It didn't seem evil, at least.

They passed Joe's flexing Feraligatr friend at the cabin. Joe figured he'd explain himself. "Tomorrow we'll visit Professor Elm. He lives in this town. We can get information from him, and some help. After that… We'll figure it out."

Joe wanted to grab a PokeDex. He knew of them from school. They contained infinite knowledge about every known species of Pokemon. It would be invaluable to Joe.

They reached the town center. Joe caught people's attention as he walked. Maybe because he had taken a dunk in a river. Joe went into a clothes store. Grabbed some for now and tomorrow. They didn't have many items in his size, but at least they had his preferred casual style. He also found some deodorant and simple cologne in the clothes store. The only downside of being out in nature with no rivers was that Joe hadn't been able to freshen up. He bought the clothes and put them on in a changing room. Sprayed deodorant. At least now he smelled decent.

They passed a phone store. It made Joe think. He pulled out his smartphone. It was dead. Not surprising. Joe believed a phone was for two things. Calls and texts. He bought cheap. They had no waterproofing. He sighed. Went inside. Absol waited outside, by the windows. Absol yawned as the salesman tried to get Joe to sign up to a contract he didn't want.

Joe walked outside, tired from having his ear talked off for half an hour. Checked his new phone. Had his old number put on it. He'd rushed through the settings while half-listening to the salesman, so his phone was done booting up. No calls or texts came through. Good. That meant everyone important in Joe's life was okay.

All Joe's other tasks could wait. He had to buy all new hiking gear. Visit Professor Elm. He also had to go to the bank. He thought he was smart for having cash on hand. Now it was ruined. He needed to exchange it. Just another task for tomorrow.

Silver lining. At least he was safe. Needing to complete numerous mundane tasks is preferable to being in hospital, or worse.

Joe walked to the sea. Found a hotel. Decent room for the price. He freshened up, which included shaving his growing beard. Face-planted the bed. Absol had already curled up on the rug in the center of the room.

"Oh. How could I forget." Joe rolled over. Absol opened an eye and looked at the bed. "I'm Joe. Nice to meet you." Absol barked. Joe closed his eyes. The sun was still up but it didn't matter. They both fell asleep.

* * * * *

Joe had the weirdest dream that night. He watched two familiar faces from up close. Two legends.

Raikou raced through the Sterling mountain range. Despite its speed boosted via electricity, Ho-oh kept up. Any attacks Raikou sent the bird's way were simply dodged. Ho-oh was agile. The bird retaliated in kind. Raikou was fast so the bird's attacks were easily avoided too.

Ho-oh could end this fight now, but it wanted information. It did not know this Beast. That Raikou was long gone. As the legend went, Ho-oh reincarnated a trio of Pokemon into Beasts. Ho-oh remembered it. A few centuries ago. But those were not the first nor the last Beasts. Ho-oh had reincarnated those three using the image of a species it knew.

They travelled North. Passed half a dozen mountains. Ho-oh rounded the corner of a cliff. Something was there, and it was close. So it was a trap. Ho-oh instinctively let out as much fire as it could. It used Overheat. Similar to Shockwave, immense fire spawned in a sphere around the bird. They spread and circled Ho-oh, reaching out a couple dozen meters. Scorched everything in range.

A device was launched. Multiple metal cubes the size of an adult's fist. They were melted before achieving whatever they were made for. Globs of metal fell to the ground. Ho-oh hovered. Looked at its new foe. A group of humans. They had some steel machines, some bigger than the trucks that transported them here.

Ho-oh observed the people. Mainly men. All shapes and sizes. Missing teeth. Poorly cut beards. Simple leather clothes. They looked like ruffians. All except one. He wore a white business suit. Had perfectly kept combed blue hair. He eyed Ho-oh with interest. Ho-oh was not part of the plan, but they'll take it.

In their dreams. Ho-oh was a phoenix. With every reincarnation, its flames grew hotter. This Ho-oh had been around for a long, long time. It had lost track of its reincarnations.

The group of ruffians released Pokemon from Pokeballs. Probably wanted to weaken Ho-oh before forcefully capturing it. That was fine with Ho-oh. It'd been a while since it got into a good fight. Raikou hadn't been enough to get the bird's blood pumping.

Speaking of, Raikou stood on the sidelines. Waiting. This confirmed Ho-oh's suspicions. These people were controlling Raikou. Ho-oh could sense another energy signature. A psychic one. It came from the back of Raikou's neck. That was the how, at least. Useful information.

Raikou made the first move. It glowed white and gold as it pounced. The ground under it was demolished. It moved fast. Extreme Speed. Ho-oh reacted just in time. Its claws glowed brown with energy. Caught Raikou. Spun and threw the Beast into the ground. The size and power difference was too much. It didn't matter that Raikou had a type advantage. The Beast hit the ground. It lay in the center of a crater.

Ho-oh's instincts kicked in again. It flapped its heavy wings. Moved left. Saw a long pink tongue. Turned around. A big lizard with a tongue that can stretch fifty meters. Lickitung. Ho-oh wrapped itself in blue fire. Brave Bird. The bird dive bombed Lickitung. Hit it like a train hitting a car. Created a massive crater. Gave a strong flap of its wings to clear the air. Lickitung had been instantly knocked out. It rested under Ho-oh, seeing stars.

The bird saw its next foe step into the arena. A big fellow with blue legs, a hairless head, and big orange hands. Hariyama. It seemed much bigger than normal. An Alpha.

Ho-oh dug its front talons under Lickitung. Kicked it away. Met Hariyama in fair combat. Ho-oh flicked its wings. They glowed white. Hariyama held its hands in front of its body in a karate stance. Bright orange energy ran across the sides of its hands. Wing Attack vs Cross Chop. Ho-oh parried hand with wing. Brushed a hand aside and struck with the tip of its other wing. Hariyama was sturdy. Took the hit. Retaliated thrusting its palms. Ho-oh dipped its wings inside Hariyama's range. Pushed Hariyama's hands outwards. Kicked out with a claw enhanced by Superpower. Blasted Hariyama away.

There was one Ho-oh forgot. A lanky blue and black water chameleon. Inteleon. It had blended into its surroundings. Waited patiently for the right time to strike. The time was now. A powerful beam of water, Snipe Shot, left Inteleon's pointer finger. Raced towards Ho-oh. Ho-oh twisted its head last second. High pressure water grazed the bird's cheek. Took out a few feathers. Inteleon blended in again. It essentially turned invisible. It appeared behind Ho-oh, its tail engulfed by water. It swung Aqua Tail.

In the same moment, Raikou had recovered. The Beast was rushing in with an electrically charged Extreme Speed. A pincer attack of super effective moves. Not like they mattered to a legend of Ho-oh's calibre. It pumped out as much fire as it could. Overheat again. It blasted once. The water on Inteleon's tail turned to steam and drifted on the wind. Inteleon was blasted away from the force. Raikou managed to stand its ground but couldn't advance. Ho-oh blasted Overheat twice. Walked to Raikou who was somehow still standing. Ho-oh pushed Raikou down with a claw. Blasted Overheat for a third time.

The rock in the crater was close to its melting point. Everyone was taken out of the fight. Raikou's blood had boiled. Ho-oh took off into the sky with Raikou in its claw. Tossed the Beast at the humans. Let out a might caw. The humans had already retrieved their Pokemon. They retreated. On foot. Ho-oh looked around. Its Overheat had destroyed all the equipment and vehicles. It huffed in triumph. Flew away. It was satisfied with the look of annoyance on the faces of the humans. They got what they deserved.

Ho-oh decided this was enough. The tradeoff for the immense power of Legendary Pokemon compared to regular Pokemon was that it took longer to recover. Raikou would fall ill from the boiled blood. It would be out of the fight for weeks.

This information would be communicated to the man from the mountain. Joe. He was not a chosen warrior. Just a witness to what Ho-oh saw for a time. All Joe had to do was tell someone. Let the information travel until someone capable decided to fight these criminals. Ho-oh had used the power of Aura. Tapped into Joe's soul using its embers. Showed him what had happened. It was up to humans to deal with this problem. Ho-oh might be seen as callous, but it believed that humans should solve as many problems as they could. Ho-oh wanted people to grow. That couldn't happen if legends like Ho-oh coddled them and solved all their problems for them. Ho-oh looked forward to seeing humans succeed.