Authors Notes: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! Yay and thank you to everyone who is supporting me and reading this fiction! Thank you!!! ^__^
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Slowly, Sephia woke up. Her head hurt pretty much and when she finally dared to open her eyes the first things she saw was the face of Prof. Oak.
"Hm?", she mumbled, searching for the memories. Why wasn't she in the forest where they had trained for fighting Lugia?
Then, the memory struck her.
"My Pok�mon!", she shouted and sat up just to feel dizzy and falling back into the pillows.
"They are safe, you are at the Pok�mon Centre, Nurse Joy is taking care of them", the professor explained. Sephia sighed relieved - just to look worried again. Panicking, she looked around and searched her clothes. Nowhere.
"Are you searching this?" Prof. Oak handed her the Mystery badge. Sephia smiled and took it.
"Don't scare me like that, professor. I thought I had lost it." She tried to sit up again, this time more slowly.
"Don't overdo it", the professor suggested concerned.
"Oh, I'm not hurt or anything. I was just plain tired and exhausted", Sephia said. "I am wondering that you aren't asking me about Lugia."
Professor Oak started to smile nervously. "Well...yeah...I really want to know, but well...um...oh, please tell! Please! Please!"
Sephia watched the excited professor with the thought that he would go insane if she wouldn't tell him something, but was it alright if she talked about everything? She was sure that Lugia would never want that. "Well...I can't tell you much. It's kind of a secret, you know. I just can tell you that Lugia isn't a water Pok�mon." Since Lugia told her that before the fight, Sephia was sure that this was something she could tell, just as well as..."and - strangely - she knows more than four attacks."
"What? Not a water Pok�mon? More than four attacks?", the professor repeated, completely thrilled like a child who was visiting a toy shop for the first time. "What else?"
"Sorry, but I think that's all I can say."
"Pleeeease!", Prof. Oak squeaked in vain.
This was when Sephia decided to leave the annoying professor, even if every part of her body was still aching. Walking out of the room and closing the door before Prof. Oak could follow her, she went looking for Nurse Joy.
She wasn't searching for long when she spotted a Chaneira who was running around, excited. Sephia asked about her Pok�mon and the pink Pok�mon jumped and pointed towards a door. Sephia nodded her thanks and entered.
Behind the door, she found her Pok�mon. All of them were bandaged, but awake. Nurse Joy was there, too, using a Hyper Potion on Articuno. When the Pok�mon spotted their trainer, all of them tried to stand up which caused Nurse Joy to run around and shouting about "being so unreasonably". Sephia laughed and hugged each of her Pok�mon before sitting down next to Mew.
"Is everyone alright?", she asked.
The Pok�mon nodded. 'And what's with you?', Zapdos asked.
"Oh, just a few scratches. Will be healed in no time!", Sephia laughed.
'Mewtwo told us that we've won!', Moltres smiled.
"Yep!" Sephia handed the badge round. The Pok�mon looked at it with awe.
"Great job, Mew!", Suicune said to the small Pok�mon. Mew squeaked.
Sephia nuzzled her little friend. "All of you did a great job", she said. "Mew could do it because Lugia was already very tired."
"And because of you", Mewtwo smiled. "Without you we would have failed. You trained us just perfect. Remember what Prof. Oak said about Alliance? That it's possible because you are training with us, because we are friends."
The other Pok�mon nodded. Sephia smiled, a little embarrassed. Such words from Mewtwo were even more precious than the badge.
Suddenly, Prof. Oak entered the room. "Sephia, why did you go? That wasn't nice of you!"
"Sorry, professor", the girl laughed, "but you were really annoying."
The professor mumbled something, but sighed then and began pacing through the room.
"So, what will you do now?", Prof. Oak asked. The Pok�mon looked at Sephia.
"Well...", she started, "we have to find out where we can find Ho-oh first." Her friends nodded.
"Tin Tower!"
"Huh?!" Everyone turned to Nurse Joy. Sephia started to panic. She had completely forgotten about her - what if she would tell the press?
"Ho-oh was last seen at the Tin Tower, in Teak City", Joy repeated. "But this was many years ago. I read it in a book once. So you want to catch him? Really, you have enough rare Pok�mon!"
Sephia sighed relieved. Joy didn't know! "Oh, we just...er...wanna meet him. Nothing, really. But I guess Tin Tower is our best guess then. Thanks a lot, Nurse Joy!"
The nurse nodded. "You're welcome. And I bet you don't want me to tell something about your Pok�mon, right?"
Sephia smiled. "Yes, thank you."
Joy winked at her and left the room.
'Whoa, I thought she knew about the badges!', Moltres sighed. Sephia just nodded.
"So, will we search Ho-oh now or later?", Mewtwo asked.
'Why later?', Articuno asked.
'Lugia said we are too weak for Ho-oh!', Mew squeaked.
"She said?", Suicune asked.
Mewtwo nodded. "Yeah. And since it was really, really close when we battled Lugia, we will most likely lose if we battle Ho-oh now."
'Wow, Mewtwo, I thought YOU are the worlds strongest Pok�mon', Articuno joked. Everyone laughed and Mewtwo blushed.
"Well, I AM, they are just no normal Pok�mon, they are guardians, right?", he growled, "but honestly, we need to be better than before. We need Alliance."
Everyone got quiet.
"Eh?" Professor Oak was the first one who said something. Mewtwo quickly told him what happened and the professor told them about the pillar of light he had seen.
'Alliance is great!', Mew squeaked happily.
'I really want to experience it, too', Articuno said. Sephia smiled. Each Alliance was something special, something different and it had been a wonderful feeling to experience it again since the battle with Misty had been many months ago. She sighed.
"Professor Oak told us once that Alliance may be a result of training together, right?", she asked.
"Well, a book said something like this", the professor corrected.
"Anyway, Mewtwo is right, we need it. So far, we have just experienced it when we were very close to losing or in a dangerous situation. Each time I was desperate because one of you was in danger." She blushed and the Pok�mon smiled. "Moltres, Zapdos, Mew, what have you been thinking and feeling just before the alliance?"
'I wanted to save Mewtwo because if I had agreed to fight before he wouldn't have been in the bad condition. I wanted to win for you and Mewtwo and the others', Mew said. Mewtwo nuzzled his friend.
"No, Mew, it was your free choice to fight or not to fight. It was your good right to say no", Sephia smiled. The other Pok�mon agreed. Mew squeaked happily.
'Well, I wanted to win, too. I wanted you to be proud of me', Moltres said.
'Same here', Zapdos added.
Sephia smiled and hugged her friends. "So we were thinking about each other. Ok, then it's clear how we have to train!"
The Pok�mon looked at her, confused.
"Well, I was thinking about it for quite some time now. And now, after the battle with Lugia, it's perfect. I hope that Prof. Oak will help us."
"Oh, of course, if I can", the professor smiled.
"Perfect. Let's do some survival training then."
'Survival training? What do you want us to do?', Zapdos asked.
"Well, Zapdos, for you it means spending some time in a not very big cave", Sephia smiled and patted her friend who looked positively shocked. "And since all of you fear different things and have other weak points, it means that each of you will train alone with me. So we can intensify the training together and thinking about each other and learning how the other one thinks. I thought about 3 days for each of you. This means that the rest of you is kinda without me, but I guess that you know our training pattern yet. Still, after Lugia, you can also relax a little bit more. Prof. Oak, that's why I'm asking you if the other five Pok�mon could live and train in your territory for the time of the survival training."
Prof. Oak looked really impressed and nodded. "Really, I could never invent something like that. You are brilliant, Sephia", he said.
"We'll just do it if the others want it", the trainer answered.
'Well, I don't like the idea of being in a cave, but I guess it'll help me to get stronger. I agree', Zapdos said. The others nodded. Sephia hugged them.
"Great! Ok, first your wounds have to heal. Then we'll all go to Pallet Town where we will discuss everything needed. I trust you that the five of you who aren't on survival training will still train singing and dancing and all. After all survival training, we'll train together again, trying to understand and perform Alliance - if I don't need a big holiday then. Agreed?"
Everyone nodded.
"Yay! So let's rest now until everyone feels ready to train again. You all deserve some rest. You were all great!" Sephia stood up and looked around. "Ok, is there something else important to discuss now?"
'Yeah! Here! Here!' Mew waved her hand.
"Ok, Mew! So what's wrong?", Sephia asked and patted her friend.
Mew squeaked happily. 'When will I get my cookies?!'
To be continued...
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Please review! Thanks!
~Faria ([email protected])