Pokemon Conclave Part 30: Tread Lightly in the House of God © 1999-2000 Willow McCall    “Creepy,” Aoife said, shivering as she heard the plip, plop of water dripping from the roof of the cave onto the floor.  The steps they were descending were obviously manmade, but it appeared to be a natural cave, just with a few human improvements here and there, including the use of a few lanterns sharing their sparse light with the cave.  After walking down what was seemingly a hundred steps, they came to a spacious underground lake, with a giant blue pearl floating in the middle, a few feet above the water.  The fourteen eyes of the group became significantly larger than they already were as they saw many water Pokemon swimming in the lake.  They saw Golduck, Seel, Dewgong, Staryu, Starmie, Dratini, and even a few they didn’t recognize.  “Hey!” Ruari said, spotting a Dratini gliding across the lake.  “It’s a relative of mine!”  “What’s that?” Aoife asked, pointing to a rubbery-skinned platypus-like creature with her Pokedex.  “Sunner,” Dexter answered.  “The sunbathing Pokemon.  It, like Slowpoke, is very lazy and likes to sit on rocks in the sun.  It is psychic and water type.”  “Never seen that before,” Ferio said, “and that’s quite a statement as I’ve seen practically everything there is to see in the Pokemon world.”  “Sunners,” Dexter continued, “live only on one island: Cyan Island in the Seafoam Archipelago.”  “Well, that explains it,” Ferio said, feeling slightly humbled.  “How about that?”  She nodded towards a Pokemon that looked like a whale, except with a hump on its back, two prongs on the side of its body, just beside its fins, pointing forward, and strange lidded eyes.  “Whark,” Dexter said.  “The violent whale Pokemon.  It is normally calm, but when annoyed or pestered it becomes aggressive.  This Pokemon is also native to Cyan Island.”  “Violent whale?” Sora repeated, giggling.  “Sounds like the name of a band.  The Violent Whales.  Couldn’t you just imagine it?”  “The Violent Whales, live in concert.”  Ruari got in on the act.  “The Violent Whales and their self-titled debut album.”  “Wuh,” the Whark grunted, its peculiar eyes slanting at Ruari and Sora.  “Don’t make it mad,” Aidan practically squeaked.  “You heard what Dexter said!”  “Yeah, it’s a violent whale,” Ruari said, causing herself and Sora to break into giggles again.  “I fail to see what is so funny about the Whark’s classification,” Ferio said.  “What’s the Whark’s element type?” Aoife asked, punching a few buttons on her Pokedex.  “The Whark belongs to two element groups: water and fighting.”  “Interesting,” Ferio said.  “Never seen that combination before.  Wonder if I should catch it…?”  “Sure, give it a try,” Aidan said.  “But, uh, try not to let it attack us, okay?”  Ferio rolled her eyes, then sent out Hitmonchan.  “Hitmonchan, Thunder Punch!”  “Hitmon…” her Pokemon said, gearing up for its attack, until…  “Stop.”  A single word, a mental command, coming from a telepathic female voice.  Hitmonchan was unable to resist, recognizing whatever gave the command as its superior.  “What the…” Aoife said, but Sora already had an idea of what it was.  “It can’t be…but it must be…that blue thing…” she thought, bouncing up and down with excitement as the huge blue bauble in the middle of the underground lake began to glow, lighting up the whole area.  The blue thing, as Sora predicted, unfolded itself, wings first, then its head came up, then it stretched its feet, and the magnificent crest on its head unfurled proudly.  Everyone’s eyes were shining as they witnessed this great, almost royal Pokemon reveal itself.  “That’s…it’s…” Sora whispered.  “Articuno,” the other five finished her sentence for her.  It was indeed Articuno, the legendary bird of ice, and it landed on a chunk of ice in the middle of the lake, which none of the other Pokemon in the lake had gone near, knowing it was reserved for their queen.  “I only ask that you do not catch these Pokemon,” Articuno’s telepathic voice said, in a motherly tone.  “Particularly not the Whark, the Sunner, or the Ytram, as they belong here.  They are creatures from another world, and it might not be safe for them here.”  “Another world?” Ferio said, being the only one who dared to speak to the legend.  “Which world?  How did they get here?  And what’s the Ytram?”  “Oh, I see,” Articuno said.  “You have not yet met the Ytram.  It is a frog, and it is of the elements of fire and poison.”   Articuno spread her wings, and called, “Ytram, come forth!”  A frog hopped out of the water, its skin colored black fading to orange fading to yellow.  Its vivid throat pouch expanded as it chirped. Articuno smiled, then went on.  “In order for you to understand the world that these Pokemon came from, you must hear the story of the island.”  “The…story of the island?” Petra was the next to speak.  “Does that have anything to do with the hollow tree, and the ship, and the cabin, and the device that opened this cave?”  “It has everything to do with those things,” Articuno said.  “But first, I must know who you are.”  “Well, um…” Aoife stepped forward.  “I’m Aoife Ketchum, from Pallet Town.  These are my friends, and we were just exploring, we didn’t really mean to disturb you.”  “I’m Ferio Crawford,” Ferio said.  “I apologize for attempting to catch your Whark.  I didn’t realize they were protected.”  “Think nothing of it,” Articuno said.  “I’m Petra Stone, from Pewter City,” Petra said.  Aidan, who was the next in line, just sat there.  Petra poked him.  “Um, Aid?”  “Oh, sorry,” Aidan blushed, or at least that’s what it looked like, but in the minimal light it was hard to tell.  “I’m, uh, Aidan Specter, Lavender Town.”  It came to Sora’s turn to introduce herself, and she bowed.  “I am Sora Starling, from Azure City.  I train flying Pokemon, and it is my dream to meet all of you, the Legendary Birds.  I’ve already met Zapdos, and now I am deeply honored to meet you, Articuno.”  “Wow,” Ferio thought, watching Sora.  “This is as serious as I’ve seen her…wonder if she was all reverent like this with Zapdos too?”  “The honor is mine,” Articuno said.  “And the last human?”  “I’m Ruari Dragyn,” Ruari said.  “Gym leader of Chartreuse Island, and I can’t believe one of the Legendary Birds has been living so close to me and I haven’t seen it.”  “Very well, then,” Articuno finally decided.  “You all seem like decent, honest people, so I can tell you the story of the island now.  I must first request, though, that not a word of this is repeated to any other person, particularly not my whereabouts, otherwise people will be coming from all over to try to catch me.  Will you promise me that?”  “Of course,” Sora said.  The others nodded their compliance.  “Thank you,” Articuno said.  “Now I will tell you.  A long time ago, a man and a woman came to this island from another world, I know not how.  They are the ones who built that cabin, and the locking device on the cave, and they are the ones who carved out the hollow in the tree and carved therein the clue to opening the cave.  But it was I who carved out this cave for myself to live, and the steps and the lights so it would be easier for other Pokemon to access the cave.  Actually, Moltres and Zapdos created the lights…back when I was still speaking to them.”  Articuno looked wistful for a moment, if it was possible for a bird’s face to have that expression, and her voice took on that emotion.  “The couple from the other world left this place, and said that they would return.  They said something about creating other worlds of their own to live in, with their sons.  I believe they were both some sort of gods, and some of my Pokemon here believe they created this world, but I do not hold to that.”  “But if that is true,” Sora said.  “I don’t mean to question your beliefs, Articuno, I’m just speculating—if that’s true, then…God once lived here.  Our world began here.”  “You’re right,” Articuno said.  “I know you mean no disrespect.  These people…no, these gods, they brought with them the Sunners, Wharks, and Ytram, from their world.  But even though they are not of the Pokemon world, scientists have been able to trap them within Pokeballs and study and classify them as Pokemon.  Many have been taken for study already, and as there are a limited number of them I wish that no more be removed.”  “However.”  The twelve eyes lit up with hope, that they would get to take away from the island a Pokemon of their own.  “I believe you six to be a special group of people.  There is a reward for those that have solved the puzzle and entered this cave, and you deserve it.  Therefore, I will give you one of my Pokemon from the other world, the world of the gods.  You must share it between you, and you can only have one kind.  Which will you choose?”  The six exchanged glances, each wanting a different Pokemon out of the three.  “We’ll have to decide this amongst ourselves,” Sora said to Articuno, and the group got into a huddle like a football team planning a strategy.  “I want Ytram,” Aoife said.  “Fire and poison!  What a cool combination!  It’s cute too.”  “Who cares if it’s cute?” Ferio sneered.  “This is a Pokemon that might come from, as Articuno said, ‘the world of the gods.’  Although I’m skeptical of that story, and I don’t think those people really were gods—I don’t believe in that kind of thing.  Still, these are important Pokemon.  I say we take the Whark.  I don’t want a Ytram anyway, I’ve already got a fire Pokemon.”  Aoife looked blank.  “You do?”  “My Eevee, remember?” Ferio said.  “Oh yeah.”  “I’d tend to go for the Whark too,” Petra said, nodding in agreement.  “It seems like the most powerful.”  “I’m with Aoife on this one,” Sora said.  “Sorry, Ferio.  But out of the three, frogs are the most closely related to birds so I’d have to go with the Ytram.”  “Me too,” Aidan said.  “I’ve decided to expand my Pokemon’s elements a little beyond ghost, as you probably noticed with my Eevee choice.”  “Ruari?”  Petra looked to her girlfriend.  “’S up to you now.”  “Oh, so I’m the ONLY one who wants the Sunner?” Ruari said.  “Oh well, I always end up voting for things that have no chance of winning.  Guess I’ll go with the Ytram as my second choice.”  “Okay, then,” Sora said.  “It’s three for the Ytram, two for the Whark, and one for the…er, Sunner/Ytram.”  “Never mind the Sunner, just make it the Ytram,” Ruari said.  “Right,” Sora said.  “Four for the Ytram against two for the Whark.”  She looked at Ferio and Petra, her eyes apologizing.  “Guys?  Would you, like, mind terribly if we were to go with the Ytram?”  “Nah,” Petra said.  “I don’t care really.  Well, I do, but I don’t mind if we take the Ytram.”  “Me neither,” Ferio said.  “It wouldn’t be a big grievance to me if we took Ytram.  Don’t worry about me, I’m used to compromising.”  “All right, Articuno,” Sora said, breaking the huddle and turning back to the bird.  “We have our answer.”  Articuno leaned forward in expectation.  “We’re going to take…the Ytram.”  “As you wish,” Articuno said.  A Pokeball floated up from the water and released its contents onto the shore in front of Aoife and the other five.  The ball flew into Sora’s hands, and Sora looked up to Articuno with surprise and puzzlement.   “You, Sora,” Articuno said, “seem like the most worthy to take responsibility for the Pokeball.  You will have the main custody over your new Ytram, but the other five may use it.  But no one else.  I would like for you to never trade your Ytram, but I suppose you can do with it what you will.  And if anyone asks where you got this Pokemon, do not mention this island.  Tell them you traded with a stranger from a foreign land.  Because that, in essence, is what you’re doing.  Trading with the gods from another world.”  A shiver ran up and down Sora’s spine.  Trading with the gods…  “Thank you very much, Articuno,” Sora said, bowing again.  “We promise we will take care of Ytram.”  “You’re welcome,” Articuno said.  “Now you may leave this island, if you wish.  The cave will close up again once all of you have left, so it will be a puzzle for the next person to come here as well.”  The group bid their goodbye to Articuno and were about to leave, but Ruari remembered something that she wanted to ask.  She turned around.  “Articuno?”  “Yes?”  The others hung back to hear Ruari’s inquiry.  “The reason we’re here is because we were on a ship, and it was sunk by a strange Pokemon.  The Pokemon was on the shore of Turquoise Island, and it used what appeared to be Hyper Beam to sink the boat.  I believe it’s psychic, because it gave off a glow, and I think it must have teleported because when we landed on the island we didn’t see it anywhere.”  “Maybe that’s because you were too busy…” Ferio muttered, her last few words being unrepeatable things that made Petra turn a glowing scarlet shade.  No one else heard, though.  “Do you know what that Pokemon could possibly be?” Ruari asked.  Articuno’s eyes darkened.  “I know not.  It might be Mewtwo, but I think that since Mewtwo disappeared it has changed its ways, and wouldn’t attack anyone like that, not without reason.  It could be another Pokemon, one that I’ve seen around here recently, an angry Pokemon who has talked about chasing its enemies around the Indigo League area, but it never can find them.  This Pokemon might have thought its enemies were on the ship, and it sank it in an attempt to kill its enemies, the ones who have caused it such suffering.”  “Oh,” Ruari said, looking shaken up at this recounting.  “Oh.  Well, thank you, Articuno.  Goodbye.”   ***    “Would you look at this!” Aoife said for about the eighth time since their meeting with Articuno.  She was holding Ytram’s Pokeball up (Sora had let her borrow it) and polishing it.  From her seat on Lapras’s back, with Ruari and Petra, she called up to Sora on Pidgeotto.  “Sora!  Can I let Ytram out for a minute, please?”  “Not now,” Sora replied.  “When we get to Chartreuse maybe.  But if you let it out now it might fall in the water and get hurt.”  She too was very protective of Ytram, as it was a gift from a Legendary Bird and Articuno had chosen HER, of all six of them, to be responsible for it.  Ruari or Aidan would react the same way if they had been given a Pokemon by Bill and he had chosen them over all the others to take care of it.  “Hey, Ruari,” Petra, who was sitting directly behind Ruari, leaned forward and whispered in Ruari’s ear.  “We still haven’t told them yet…”  “That can wait,” Ruari said, smiling secretively.  “Once we land we’ll tell them.  I’m afraid if we do it now Sora be so shocked she’ll crash Pidgeotto.”   They both laughed, and Petra slipped her arm around Ruari’s waist and took her hand, pretending to be holding on so she wouldn’t fall off of Lapras.  Aoife didn’t notice, only Ferio spotted them from above.  “Girls, girls, you can get a room once we get to Chartreuse,” she thought admonishingly, but smiling fondly all the same.     Author's Notes I rather liked this episode...aww, look, a sweet little coupley moment at the end.  This is a slight crossover with Riven and Myst in that the people Articuno described are, of course, Atrus and Catherine.  Although I think once they went to Myst they pretty much stayed there, they didn't leave, but if they were still there at the time that Aoife and everyone were, the library and everything would be there too.  And wouldn't the people of the neighboring islands get suspicious if a library and all that other stuff suddenly sprung up on the island?  And yeah, I know Myst is surrounded by water in the game and there aren't any islands nearby, but crossovers have to bend the rules a little bit.  And as I stated on the New Pokemon page, neither of the three "Pokemon of the world of the gods" are mine.  They are all from Riven, therefore I don't own the copyright to them, therefore, um, don't sue me, Rand and Robyn! *cries* Okay now...if you wanna see pictures of them go here for the Whark, here for the Sunner, and here for the Ytram.  I'll be making my own images later, so they look more Pokemon-like, and those will go up on the New Pokemon page soon.   back