Chapter 9: White Dragon Path
Only hours after raiding the base of Team Plasma, the Team Rocket airship had landed in an area near the Giant Chasm. Several teams had already fanned out to locate Kyurem. Meanwhile, Noir Mask and Calvin were staying at the temporary base camp set up inside a small cave. Noir Mask was standing in the mouth of the cave admiring the frozen wasteland. She had switched to a warmer fur-lined version of her usual customized Team Rocket uniform.
“I apologize that this mission has brought you to such an unpleasant climate.” Calvin said a he suddenly joined Noir Mask. “Perhaps after this is over I could talk to Giovanni about letting you take a vacation in a more tropical environment.”
“…Actually I like this weather.” Noir Mask told him. “I spent a long time in a place that was as hot as hell, so I’ve really grown to enjoy the cold.”
“How interesting.” Calvin commented. “My daughter is the exact opposite. She absolutely cannot stand the cold. Her mother was the same way.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, why did you have Mr. Blaze put into Team Rocket’s special program?” Noir Mask inquired.
“I suppose you do have a right to know since you spent time chasing after him.” Calvin chuckled. “The short answer is I did it to keep him away from my daughter. A common street urchin like him had no business seeing her.”
“All that because you didn’t like that he was dating your daughter?” Noir Mask asked in a rather surprised tone.
“I had thought about having him killed, but I decided to be merciful.” Calvin replied. “Either way it was a simple matter for me to get rid of Blaze. Just as it has been easy to remove those who have gotten in my way.”
“…You disgust me.” Noir Mask said coldly, causing Calvin to give her a surprised glance. “Don’t get me wrong, I have been ordered to help you in this mission, but know that I find you appalling.”
With that, Noir Mask walked back into the cave. Calvin merely shook his head and chuckled to himself.
* * *
Almost two days had past, and Alex and Mewtwo had arrived in Unova. The ship that had been transporting them had arrived there far sooner than Alex thought it would. As soon as they landed though, Alex began heading for the Giant Chasm, but the trip was taking far too long. The vision that Ash ha spoken of back in Ecruteak had told Alex that Nora would be in great danger before too long, and Alex was worried that he would not get there in time to save her. After half a day’s travel, Alex decided to sit on a roadside bench to rest for a few minutes and try and figure out a faster way to get to the Giant Chasm.
“Are you thinking of giving up again?” Mewtwo asked as he stood next to the bench and looked at Alex.
“I only thought about giving up back in Ecruteak because I didn’t know where to look for Nora after not finding her there.” Alex told him. “But now I do know where to find her. I’m just worried that I won’t be able to save her from whatever’s coming.”
“Need some help young man?” a voice suddenly asked, startling Alex and even surprising Mewtwo.
The two turned to see an old woman standing near them. She stood only four feet tall and had a very wrinkled face. Her hair was completely white and done up in a bun. She wore a sort of white-feathered robe and had blue eyes that looked to Alex as if they were staring right through him. Mewtwo gave the old woman a suspicious look.
“Who are you?” Alex asked after his heart started back up.
“Just an old lady passing through.” The old woman replied. “I honestly didn’t mean to startle you, but you looked a bit lost. So I decided to see if you needed me to give you some directions.”
“Well do you know a fast way I can get to the Giant Chasm?” Alex asked.
“The Giant Chasm?” the old woman asked with a look of surprise. “Oh, now that place is far too dangerous for a young man like you, even with your friend there to help you.”
“I don’t care!” Alex said as he stood up from the bench. “Someone I really care about may die if I don’t get there soon. So please, if you know a way I can get there quicker, tell me.”
“You must love this girl a great deal.” The old woman observed. “Very well, there is one swift way to get to the Giant Chasm, and that is by taking the White Dragon Path. Follow this road going east and it will take you into the mountains. There you will see a path of white stone. Follow that path and you will be at the Giant Chasm within a few weeks.”
“Thank you.” Alex said gratefully to the old woman.
“There is one other thing you should know young man.” The old woman added. “It is said that the summit of the White Dragon Path is guarded by a being that will only allow those with true hearts to pass.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind I guess.” Alex told her before walking off. Mewtwo stayed behind and continued to eye the old woman suspiciously.
“Something troubling you?” the old woman asked Mewtwo.
“What are you?” Mewtwo asked back.
“As I said, I am only lady passing though.” The old woman said innocently.
“That I do not believe.” Mewtwo told her. “I sense something odd about you.”
“I see, so it looks as though you are able to perceive the truth about me.” The old woman chuckled. “Tell me, why do you follow that young man?”
“He intrigues me.” Mewtwo replied. “He is willing to endure great hardships to reunite with his mate. I wish to see just how strong his resolve is.”
“Well then keep following him and you should find out very soon.” The old woman said with a knowing smile.
Mewtwo nodded and quickly caught up to Alex. Meanwhile the old woman vanished.
* * *
Weeks had passed and Nora had continued on through the wasteland to the Giant Chasm. The journey had been a very hard one for Nora. She had been running low on the food she had brought with her, and in the past few days she had crossed through a snowstorm. Shelter had been scarce, and it had become increasingly difficult for Nora to find wood to start a fire. Nora’s only option had been to press on, and it had been a few days since she had had a goodnight’s sleep.
Of course Nora had no idea how far she was from the Giant Chasm, but she hoped that she would reach it soon. After crossing over what was probably the fiftieth hill she had gone over that day, Nora saw a large cave opening on her left. She thought about going into the cave to rest for a moment, but there was something very foreboding about it. She decided to play it safe and continue on. But before she could go any further, she saw the bounty hunter with the eye patch that her father had sent after her before.
“Looks like I finally caught up with you.” The hunter said smugly. “End of the line you dumb girl. Time to come with me.”
As quickly as she could, Nora decided to dash into the cave. The hunter quickly chased after her, but somehow Nora had beaten him into the cave and managed to find a place to try and hide.
“Damnit, stop playing around and get out here!” the hunter shouted as he looked around the cave.
Nora’s heart was pounding a mile a minute. Once again she wished that Alex were there to protect her. Suddenly Nora heard the hunter’s footsteps getting closer. She started to back further into the little corner of the cave she had found to hide in, but suddenly Nora slipped and fell into a hole in the ground. The hole turned out to be a long slid that Nora went down until ending up in a deep and very large chamber. For some reason the chamber was colder than the outside, but Nora thought that it was perhaps because she was deeper underground.
Nora began looking around for a way out and found a corridor that she hoped led to an exit. But before she could get there the hunter came out of the same slide she had taken into the chamber.
“That’s it girl, if you don’t come with me right now I’ll…” the hunter began to threaten, but suddenly he turned as white as a sheet and a frightened expression came to his face. “It, it can’t be… K-Kyurem!”
Before Nora could ask the hunter what he was talking about, he screamed and ran down the corridor that Nora had found earlier. Suddenly Nora could hear the sound of something very large breathing behind her. She slowly turned around and saw what was probably the largest Pokemon she had seen in her life. It looked to be a massive bipedal dragon with underdeveloped arms and a long neck. Its body was mostly grey, but the top of it seemed to be covered in ice. Its head was covered in shards of ice and it had a pair of yellow almost lifeless eyes. The dragon’s wings also looked to be made of ice, and one of the wings looked like half of it had broken off at some point. Its tail resembled some kind of broken engine component. It didn’t take long for Nora to figure out that the creature before her was the thing the hunter had called Kyurem.
Kyurem roared at Nora, and for a moment she was paralyzed with terror. But as Kyurem began to come towards her she reacted by throwing out a Pokeball. Piloswine came out, and as soon as it did it fired a ball of white light from its forehead. The ball hit Kyurem in the face and actually seemed to cause the dragon some pain. Suddenly Piloswine’s body began to glow white and change shape.
When the light had cleared, Piloswine had grown much larger and became a creature that resembled a cross between a pig and a wooly mammoth. Around his eyes it had gained a sort of blue mask. Piloswine had evolved into a Mamoswine.
“Okay Mamoswine, attack again!” Nora commanded. “Ancient Power!”
Mamoswine fired another ball of white light at Kyurem, which once again hit the dragon in the forehead. It then fired another ball, followed by another, each one seeming to cause a little damage. But soon Kyurem had had enough and breathed out a blast of ice-cold mist. Mamoswine fell to the ground unconscious. Nora called Mamoswine back to its Pokeball. Kyurem suddenly started to advance on Nora again, but suddenly an idea came to Nora’s head. She got out the bag containing nothing but empty Pokeballs.
Nora threw one Pokeball after another, and each time Kyurem kept breaking out. Soon the bag had become almost empty and was down to only a few balls. She threw one more, hoping that it would contain the dragon. Kyurem was sucked in, and Nora expected it to burst out yet again. But the ball twitched a few times, and to Nora’s surprise it made the sound that stated that the capture was complete. Shocked and somewhat dazed, Nora walked over and picked up the ball.
Before Nora could figure out what to do next, light came from the one corridor out of the chamber. She turned to see that the light was coming from flashlights being held by two men in black outfits, each with a red R on the front of the shirt. Nora recognized their costumes as Team Rocket uniforms.
“What the…. A girl?” one of the two Rocket agents said. “First we almost get knocked down by that crazy guy, now this?”
“What should we do?” the second Rocket agent asked.
“Well we might as well take her back to the base.” The first agent replied. “We haven’t found this big dragon we’ve been sent to find, and I’m tired of walking around this damn cave. Besides… she’s kinda cute.”
* * *
A few moments after being escorted out of the cave, Nora found herself in the midst of several more Team Rocket agents. They had surrounded the cave entrance and seemed to be looking for something. Nora looked over and saw standing over a table with what looked like a map on it was a man who she immediately recognized as her father. Right away Nora stormed over to where her father was.
“So now you’ve sent out Team Rocket to look for me?” Nora asked, causing Calvin to look up from the map.
“What’s going on?” Noir Mask asked as she also looked up from the map. “Who is this?”
“This is my daughter Nora.” Calvin answered as he eyed his daughter. “How the devil did you get all the way out here Nora?”
“Where’s Alex?” Nora demanded to know.
“Forget about that urchin, he’s nothing.” Calvin replied coldly.
“Where is he?” Nora demanded again. “Tell me what you did with him!”
“He’s dead, I had him eliminated.” Calvin lied. “Now will you forget about this boy and tell me how you got all the way out here?”
Nora felt as if her heart had been ripped out after hearing what her father had told her. At first she thought it was a lie, but her father’s expression seemed to tell her that it was the truth. Nora couldn’t believe that she had suffered through so much to reach Alex, to see the man she loved again, only to find that her father had ordered him killed. It wasn’t fair. At that moment something in Nora snapped. Nothing mattered anymore, nothing but the cold hatred she had for her father.
Nora began to calmly walk away from her father. She could see her father speaking to her, his lips were moving. In fact Calvin looked as if he was shouting something at her, but Nora couldn’t hear a word. Suddenly Nora threw out a Pokeball, and from it emerged Kyurem. Calvin, Noir Mask, and all the Team Rocket agents present were stunned by what they were seeing. Nora walked up to Kyurem, and the dragon of ice bent down its head to allow Nora to get on its back.
“Kill him…” Nora commanded coldly. “Kill my father.... KILL THEM ALL!”
Kyurem roared in response to Nora’s command. The Team Rocket members had all gained looks of terror on their faces.
* * *
Meanwhile, Alex was continuing to climb the White Dragon Path. It had taken a few long weeks of climbing, but Alex could see that he was nearing the top. Mewtwo continued to follow behind, though he was doing it from the air, much to Alex’s irritation.
“You’re almost at the top.” Mewtwo commented. “I’m surprised it’s taken you this long though.”
“Why don’t you try climbing this thing by foot and see how long it takes you?” Alex snapped.
“I cannot help it if you are limited by your lack of psychic powers.” Mewtwo replied.
Alex let Mewtwo’s comment slide and continued on. After a few moments he finally reached the top. Looking onward Alex could see that the rest of the path went downhill. But before he could go on, a massive pillar of white flames erupted in front of him.
“Only those who reveal the truth of their hearts may pass though here.” An echoing female voice proclaimed. “Reveal to me your truth and you may pass, otherwise you must turn back now. Speak to me your truth!”
“…Are you kidding me?” Alex responded in an angry tone. “What do I give a damn about truth? I don’t have time for this! Right now I have to save Nora, and if I have to walk though a damn pillar of fire to get to her I will! So get out of my way or else!”
Suddenly the pillar of flames began to change shape and manifest into something solid. Within moment it had become a large bipedal dragon with blue eyes and covered in a sort of white down. Its head was like that of a wolf, and had two long streams of fur trailing behind it. Its arms were like large wings, and its tail resembled something that looked like a jet engine.
“Your love is your truth.” The dragon said in the same female voice Alex and Mewtwo had heard from the pillar of flames.
“What are you?” Alex asked.
“I am Reshiram, the white dragon of truth.” The dragon replied. “I have been expecting you to come Alex Blaze.”
“How do you know my name?” Alex asked.
“You could say we have met before.” Reshiram replied. “But that is not important. Right now you must get to the Giant Chasm. I will take you there.”
With that, Reshiram leaned down in order to allow Alex to get on her back. Alex decided that it would be far faster to fly than to walk and got on. Within seconds the end of Reshiram’s tail ignited with red flames and the dragon took off into the air. Mewtwo followed close behind. The three were off to the Giant Chasm.
