For the night they had stayed in a hotel, which Faith felt alienated since she was far too used to the wooden buildings of her own home that the stone buildings felt so strange to be in. At the very least the bedding was made of soft hay, which she was happy about. Adrian slept on a hay bed separate from her, which made her feel lonely for some reason, but she figured that it had to do with being so sleepless that night as well.

The next day after they paid for the room, the Vulpix and the Flareon went to various stores to get supplies for their two to three-day hike up and through the mountains nearby. Meanwhile, Faith felt a throbbing pain in her head that wouldn’t go away no matter how much she twisted and turned her head. She hoped that Adrian wouldn’t notice her neck stretches and stumbling during their walks through and out of the city, but when they were only a few steps out, he turned around and looked at her with a critical eye.

“Is everything alright?” the green-eyed Flareon asked as he walked around her.

“Yes, yes. Everything is alright,” Faith insisted before she, overwritten by instinct, shook her head again. “Although, I have been getting a nasty headache.”

“Glad to hear that you’re perfectly alright aside from one thing,” Adrian remarked as he rolled his eyes. “Not to mention that I did notice that you were unable to sleep last night.”

“I-it’s no worries! Honest!” Faith declared as she tightened the pouches and small bags on her, gained from their shopping trips. “Just been so nervous. That’s all.”

Adrian’s left eye half closed as his right ear flattened to the side. Then, with a quick paw, he placed a paw onto Faith’s forehead and rubbed it. Adrian’s eyes widened, his ears shot up, and his tail fluffed up as Faith shook the paw off of her.

“What was that for?!” Faith demanded as she glared at the Flareon.

“Faith,” Adrian said with a soft voice, “you’re burning up. I mean, like you’re on an open fire burning up. Are you sure you’re not sick?”

“Yes, I’m not sick!” Faith replied with her ears flattened back and her fur bristled. “It’s just a headache. That’s all!”

“Or is it just a headache?” a new voice said close to them.

Both Faith and Adrian blinked as they stared at each other before looking around. Soon Faith spotted a gray-brown colored Pokémon leaning against the exit gate, her arms crossed. This Pokémon was large compared to the two as she stood up with her two legs, her red claws clicking on the stone ground. The triangular ears flickered as her red ponytail-like mane somewhat dragged on the ground. Her face, with the red rimmings on her mouth and eyes, was a satisfied smirk as she holds a large pouch around her waist.

“It’s nice to finally properly meet you, Faith and Adrian,” the Zoroark said.

“W-what? You know our names?” Adrian squeaked out as he took a step back, his green eyes wide. “H-how did you know? And what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m just here to do one last test before you two meet Jirachi,” the Zoroark explained as she shook her mane off of the ground with a hand. Faith blinked as she stared at that arm, noticing an unusual device grafted onto it.

“She-she knows that we’re finding Jirachi!” Adrian said as his ears flattened back in horror. “Who are you? Some sort of guardian protecting Jirachi?”

“Oh, ho ho ho,” the Zoroark remarked as her eyes shined in the light. “I’m not that important and I doubt any Pokémon can be ‘guardians’ of Legendary and Mythical Pokémon without being Legendary and Mythical themselves. I’m just a simple, not so normal Pokémon who spends time researching the old anthro technology left behind.”

“Anthro technology?” Adrian asked. “What does that have to do with us? And you still didn’t answer our question. How did you know our names?”

“Haven’t you guessed?” the Zoroark remarked as her grin widened. “I’ve been following and observing you since Faith touched my Fire Stone.”

“Your Fire Stone?” Faith said, her mind flashed to the Fire Stone that exploded during her evolutionary progress. “You mean you set it to explode on me?!”

“It was just simple research,” the Zoroark explained as she shook her head. “To test out an anthro tech, which could convert ordinary stones to evolutionary stones. Though I must say, I didn’t expect it to explode. At worse, I’d expected for you to evolve into a giant Ninetales, which is why I’ve been observing you in the shadows until now, hiding in the hospital, your homes, and your flight here.”

Both Faith and Adrian blinked as their memories flashed back to those times.

“You were the potted plant that Bug-type Pokémon wouldn’t go near in Faith’s hospital room!” Adrian said with his eyes wider.

“And you were the low burning fire and Charcoal in my home!” Faith squeaked, her eyes just as wide.

“And I followed as an ‘extra package’ in the Dragonite flight,” the Zoroark concluded as she flicked dust from her shoulder. “All to see what will happen. But alas, it was all for nothing. Because, Faith, your evolutionary flux is in acceleration now. It’s speeding up. Your body is building up more energy than can be safely dispersed far faster now. Your body heating up is the symptom of that. In time, you will die of the overflow and I can imagine that the result of that will be a city-sized crater. Such a shame.”

“You,” Faith muttered under her breath in a controlled voice. “You evil-”

Faith then sprinted towards the Zoroark, not seeing anything else but her, with deep fires in her eyes. But the Zoroark gave a swift kick to the side of Faith’s head, knocking her off her paws and flung a few feet away. She growled as she braced her paws to get up, only for a dark foot with red claws meeting Faith’s cheek, pinning her down.

“Feisty little one, aren’t you?” the Zoroark commented as she crossed her arms. “Again, it’s such a shame that you won’t last long in the world.”

“Faith!” Faith yelled out before breathing in. He opened his mouth and a burst of fire came out. “Flamethrower!”

The Zoroark leaped out of the way, the flames flying over Faith where the intended target was. The Zoroark grinned wider as she held her arms cross with her hands near her face.

“You want to battle me?” the Zoroark yelled back, her eyes wide and filled with confidence. “The great Maya? You’ve made a grave mistake!” She swung her arms and spiky stones appeared from her hands. “Stealth Rock!”

The stones fell around Faith and Adrian, both blinking at the attack.

“Wait. A Zoroark shouldn’t be able to use Stealth Rock,” Adrian commented under his breath. “Must be an Illusion.”

Faith rolled up onto her paws and took a deep breath. She opened her mouth, eyes staring at Maya. Breath only came out.

“What’s wrong?” Adrian asked as his ears twitched and his eyes shifted to Faith, the Vulpix coughing her lungs out.

“I-I tried to use Flamethrower, but nothing came out,” Faith explained, her face red from stress.

“W-w-what?! You can’t be serious, Faith!” Adrian yelled out as the Zoroark before the two rubbed her lower jaw.

“Mmmmm. Very interesting. A Fire-type that can’t use a fire attack,” Maya said with a smug grin. “Of course, the most likely reason is that your body is so swollen from the evolutionary flux’s energy it’s actually blocking out your firebase attacks. I guess you can’t do nothing more than just Roar at me.”

Adrian let out a low growl as he bent his knees and charged ahead. “Quick Atta-”

Paw met stone.

Adrian jumped up from the pain, the sharp rock following from within Adrian’s front right paw, blood coming out in small amounts. He fell down on his back and slid towards Maya, who gave a toothy grin.

“W-what? That Stealth Stone attack was faked,” Adrian said as he glared up towards Maya, walking towards him while licking her teeth.

“No. That attack is very much as real as my next one,” Maya said as she opened her mouth. “Crunch!”

Her fangs pierced Adrian’s shoulder, causing the Flareon to gave out a sound-piercing scream. She lifted him off the ground, shook him to the point that he felt like his leg was going to get ripped off, and threw him several feet away. The Flareon twitched on the ground as the Zoroark stepped closer.

“NO!” Faith cried out as she stepped over Adrian’s body, smoke coming out of her mouth. A glow emitted from there as a small fireball came out. “Flame Burst!”

Maya gave out a laugh as she swung her arms to their side, welcoming the attack. The ball of fire, in response, exploded with a force that can blow up a stone wall. Faith blinked as smoke and dust covered up the Zoroark, who was flung back with a great force onto the wall, causing it to shatter. The smoke cleared up as Maya fell onto the ground, fur covered in sparks, as she gritted her teeth on all four.

Her mane gradually shortened from its hair-like form as her neck thickened out and four red spikes protruded around it. She also grew out a tail as the teal fell from her ‘hair’ to her tail between the base and tip. Her body morphed from an anthro stance to a feral stance as her fur color changed from dark gray to light brown and white while still retaining the red claws. Her face also changed from a vulpine to a lupine look, with white around her eyes and muzzle and light brown on her forehead between the eyes and large turfs of fur on her cheeks, though she still had the red rimmings around her eyes.

Adrian rolled himself up and blinked, staring at Faith’s surprised face, before changing his gaze towards Maya, his face twisted into just as surprised.

“W-what are you?!” Adrian asked through gritted teeth as the changed Maya glared at them.

“The truth is, I am really a Lycanroc,” Maya answered as she crouched low and walked towards them. “Specifically, the Midday-form.”

“But a Lycanroc doesn’t have the Ill-” Faith froze when the unusual Lycanroc gave a soul-piercing stare.

“An accident happened when I was researching one of the anthro technology,” Maya explained in a cold voice. “An accident that happened because I was attacked by a Zoroark. Apparently, I was too close to her territory when I was testing it. It grafted some of her traits to me, including the ability Illusion. I don’t know if the same happened to her, but I hoped so. Although I admit that the ability she inadvertently gave me was very useful, especially with my greatest prize, the additions to my looks were very unnecessary.

“Now then,” she continued as her eyes darkened, “taste the true potential of Illusion empowered by the greatest anthro technology!”

The device on her front-right leg hummed as a shadow formed around the Lycanroc until she became just as dark. The shadow that was Maya then started to grow in size as Faith and Adrian looked on in horror. Their necks bent upwards as the darkness kept on growing and became more solid. The ground cracked below the paws of the giant as the colors returned to Maya until the only real difference between her before and after was she was 20 feet large.

The giant Lycanroc grinned as Faith and Adrian looked up in fear. The Vulpix grabbed the Flareon’s scruff with her mouth and tried to drag him back, yet he was too big for her. She then hugged Adrian from behind as Maya raised a paw above them.

POP!

Zzzzzzzz

Maya gritted her teeth as one eye closed as the device on her exploded and gave out sparks. The giant Lycanroc soon lost her colors and became shadow again as she shrunk in size. The shadowy Maya figure shortened down more until she was her normal size. She panted as she stood on the cracks she made with her massive mass before as the device gave out more sparks.

“Grah. So, it failed again,” Maya said as she ripped it off of her with her jaws and placed it on the ground. “Though it’s much better this time.”

“T-that’s impossible,” Adrian blurted out, his green eyes wide with fear as his fur shot up straight. “I-Illusion doesn’t have the power to cause true physical changes. Just make them look and feel real.”

Maya gave out a laugh. “You’re a clever one, aren’t you? While it’s true that it was Illusion, this amazing anthro technology can amplify it to such an amazing point that it does become real, not imaginary. That’s what makes it the real jewel in the stash of leftover technology made by the anthros. But it needs more power and something that could store that power safely in order for it to really work. Thought I had it this time with some help, but, as can be plainly seen, it still needed work.

“Just considered yourself lucky this time,” she continued as she gave out a quick glare at the two. “But know this, when I finally got it working, I need a test area. And I do believe I know the perfect place. We’ll meet again.”

Maya then picked up the device, which had stopped giving out sparks, with her mouth and faded from sights, leaving the two Fire-type Pokémon there. Faith then, with a slow pace, went over to where the Lycanroc stood and touched the cracks. They felt real, too real. And they didn’t disappear when Maya did.

“I-I can’t believe it,” Adrian said, his voice shook with fear. “Illusion shouldn’t have any physical effect. It can make you feel like you’re in a real landscape, but it shouldn’t actually make it a reality. Just indistinguishable from it.”

“Yet these cracks are as real as us,” Faith pointed out, her voice also full of fear. “Not to mention that kick from before.”

“What do you mean?” Adrian asked, doing his best to stand up.

“That ability, Illusion, shouldn’t let a Zoroark, or in this case, a Lycanroc, truly change into another form. Just make it looks like they can,” Faith explained as she looked back at Adrian. “Yet, she seemed to actually be a Zoroark, not a Lycanroc pretending to be a Zoroark; especially since a Lycanroc like her would have difficulty pretending that she’s the more anthro Zoroark. So how could’ve she have faked that kick?”

Adrian blinked as his fur fluffed up. “Still, we wouldn’t discount it being an Illusion. After all, it can be so convincing that, from what notes that were left over from the anthros, even their machines were fooled.”

“Even then, these cracks shouldn’t still be here since she’s long gone. I don’t think there’s any doubt that it works as she said it does.”

Adrian closed his eyes as he limped towards Faith, his mind spinning with facts. When he got to Faith his eyes opened up. “Whatever it was, she’s gone and we have other pressing concerns. Namely that, if she was telling the truth, we need to find Star Cave and confront Jirachi to get a wish from him as soon as possible. Before your swelling power kills you along with anything nearby.”

“I know,” Faith said, her head feeling like it’s in some furnace. “Also, that Flame Burst attack I hit her with. You saw how little it was and how much it packed a punch like a Voltorb using Explosion.”

Adrian nodded as his gaze changed to the mountains. “Then we can’t waste time on waiting until my paw gets better. We need to get there.”

---

The two Pokémon, after Faith had wrapped up Adrian’s injuries, walked towards the mountains, with snow still atop of their caps. Faith felt like a Shuckle crawling towards a hill only ten feet away, with the imposing mountains barely changing their height even after hours had passed. The day had turned into night with Adrian flopped down on the grass to sleep, though Faith couldn’t join him in sleep. The ability to sleep, she felt, had left her.

The next day the two continued to walk towards the mountain and Adrian felt the air gradually become colder as they went closer. The Flareon, once or twice, shivered as he looked at the Vulpix with concerned, yet realized that she wasn’t cold at all. He went closer and felt the heat like from the summer’s sun being emitted out of her.

They kept on walking towards the mountains towards the day and, faster, it had seemed taller than before. Yet they only reached the base of the mountains next to a river when night crawled over the sky, with stars shining down them and the moon half full and waning. Adrian set up a fire and slept near it while Faith sat near the water, the river so cold that it almost felt like tasting ice.

Throughout that time, Faith didn’t have a bite to eat.

The next morning, as soon as the Flareon’s eyes snapped opened, he turned around and looked towards Faith and found her near the river, alive and breathing. The ground below her was emitting a glow as it seemed to slightly melt from just her touching it. Adrian ate his breakfast in a quick pace and offered the Vulpix what remained of it.

“No thanks. I’m not hungry,” Faith said as she looked down at the river.

“Is there anything wrong?” Adrian asked, his green eyes shook. “You need to eat if you want all the strength you need.”

“No. I’m not hungry,” Faith responded as she leaned down to the river. “I just feel thirsty.”

Adrian blinked as she drank from the river directly with no sign of discomfort from the cold. He hovered a paw over the running water and felt the cold emitting from it, a cold that could freeze a Slugma. He then hovered it over Faith and felt heat like lava coming out of her body.

“I believe I know what you’ll say,” Adrian said, his ears flattened to their sides, “but are you feeling alright?”

Faith stopped drinking as she sat down again, her eyes closed. “No, I’m not. I’ve been feeling worse since we left Bojelin-Radeau. It-it felt like I’ve been using Flash Fire to absorb a never-ending fire. Like the Legendary Pokémon Arceus came down and blessed me with a small amount of his power, yet it’s still too much for my small body. I feel far, far more power than I can handle. I-I can’t take it! I want it to end!”

She then leaped towards Adrian and gave him a tight hug. He gave out a winced since, while a Fire-type like him could handle intense heat, it felt like he was tossed into lava. Yet he hugged her back and patted the turf of fur on her head.

“Don’t worry. We will end it. One way or another. Let’s go and find the Star Cave and, I promise you, that we will get the wish needed to save you.” Adrian then nosed Faith on her nose and steamed appeared between their nose. He blinked and pulled out his nose while waving his paw at it. “There must be some clue to the location to Star Cave.”

“Well, along the way in that Dragonite flight,” Faith explained as she undone her bow, “I read that,

Five points with five ends and one middle,

The core of the star illuminates where to meddle.

I don’t know what it means, but I’m sure it’ll make sense once we start searching.”

“Faith,” Adrian said he’s given the bow from Faith.

“At this rate I’m heating up, I need it to be kept safe,” Faith explained as she smiled. “Keep it until we meet Jirachi or forever if we can’t.”

Adrian blushed as he felt his stomach muscles tightened, yet he decided to say nothing. So, the two then packed up their camp before they went out to explore around the base of the mountains, looking for the entrance to Star Cave.

Hours passed by at a slow pace, with the sun crawling higher into the sky, while Faith stumbled a number of times. Every time Adrian helped her up and he felt her body getting hotter. It’s to the point that he wondered if, by just being on the very peak of one of the mountains, that she could melt all the snow away,

“Let’s go a little faster, Faith,” Adrian said with a nervous grin.

“I’m trying,” Faith responded, her ears flattened to their sides.

By midday, Faith and Adrian explored half a mile worth of nothing but dead-end caves, a steep cliffside, and loose boulders rolling beside them. The Flareon, after walking out of the fifth dead-end cave on one mountainside, walked passed Faith and down the side, his ears drooped as low as his tail. The Vulpix followed him, one of her ears flattened to the side. When Adrian stopped he gave out a heavy sigh.

“I-it’s no use, Faith,” Adrian said, his back to her. “Even if the cave is here, I don’t think we can find it in time. I’m so sorry for failing you, my dear friend.”

“Don’t say such things,” Faith responded as she went around him and to his face. “If we gave up now, then it’ll really be no use.”

“How can we be able to find it then?” Adrian asked, his eyes closed. “All the writings about Star Cave say that it’s around in these mountains, but we’ve searched for hours with no sign of getting there.”

“I’m sure there got to be some clue around in the mountains,” Faith insisted, getting close to the Flareon. “L-like a five-pointed star drawing or something. After all, how else would-” she paused for a couple of seconds. “Would someone find it?”

“Exactly,” Adrian said as he shook his head. “But whatever this clue or drawing is, it must be too subtle for us.”

“Or it might be staring at our faces.”

“Perhaps it’s so old that it wore out over the ages. After all, who knows when was the last time-”

“Adrian!”

Adrian looked up, his eyes opened, and saw that Faith wasn’t in front of him. He looked back and found her standing behind him looking up at the mountainside with the five caves on it, one at the top, two below it spread out, and two below them closer. The Flareon stared at the Vulpix, who’s waving her right paw around as one of her eyes closed and her ear flickered.

“Faith, what are you-”

“Getting the idea where the sixth cave it. The one that’ll lead us to Jirachi,” Faith answered as her one eye opened and the other eyes closed while leaning her neck to the side.

“Sixth cave? What are you talking abo-”

“Think, Adrian! Remember the poem I said this morning?

Five points with five ends and one middle,

The core of the star illuminates where to meddle.

This is what the poem was referring to!”

“I don’t get what you-” Adrian began as he looked at the cave openings again and felt something clicked in his mind. His mind pictured lines, lines that connected to each of the caves. The lines get longer in his mind until they formed a five-pointed star. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Faith and Adrian pounced over to the center of the ‘star’ with Faith following. Hopping over from boulder to ground and back onto the boulder, they reached to the heart of it. From pure sight, it looked like a rocky wall of a mountainside. Faith tilted her head and pressed a paw against it, her paw phasing through.

“So, there is a hidden sixth cave,” Faith said as she went in with the Flareon following. Both Pokémon’s eyes widened when they went through the fake wall and saw within the hidden cave.

White gems illuminated the cave from the walls that have a bluish-purple hue. The ground had what looked like small craters appearing occasionally with small back rocks at the center of each one. But what really amazed them was, at the surface of the cave’s ceiling, a blueish-white five-pointed star glowing down to them.

“We made it,” Faith said with a soft tone. She then declared much louder, “We actually made it!”

“Yes, we did,” Adrian said before he was pounced by the Vulpix. Her body was burning hot, enough that even Adrian felt pain from the intense heat. But he suppressed a yelp by gritting his teeth and hugged Faith back with a forced smile. “Now, let’s find Jirachi.”

---

The two Fire-type Pokémon traveled through the cave, what was long and filled with turns. Sometimes upwards, sometimes downwards, and sometimes in spirals, they went, with them wondering if they even traveled to another mountain next to this one. All sense of directions and even time had left them, with the only thing certain was the path they’re on.

In the end, after what felt like a week of nonstop walking through the one tunnel, they had entered a pit that was huge, both in how spacious and high up the ceiling was. White gems glowed on the walls with craters littered on the ground. Yet these craters left the five-pointed star engraving, as large as two Groudon standing on top of each other and just as wide, at the center of the room untouched. At the center of the star was a purple crystal while had multiple gems sticking out of it.

Both Adrian and Faith, with caution, walked towards the purple crystal, their fur bristled with fear. The two stepped onto the engraving, going closer until they were close enough to even touch it. Their eyes were wide with fear, wonder, and confusion.

“Is that supposed to be Jirachi?” Faith asked as she looked over the crystal. “This looks nothing like the drawing in that book.”

“. . . . . . . . . . . . Phewwwww . . .”

Both Fire-type Pokémon blinked as they looked around. “Did you say something?”

“I didn’t say anything,” Adrian responded.

“So sleepy . . . Yaaaaawn . . .”

“Who’s there?” Adrian demanded, his fur bristled more.

“. . . Whooo iis iit?” a child-like voice said, not heeding any of Faith and Adrian’s words. “Whoooo’s therrre? Yaaaawn . . .”

“Er,” Faith said as she looked up to the ceiling of the pit. “My name’s Faith. Who are you?”

“Meee? Yaaaaawn . . .” the voice said, echoing through the pit. “Fwaaaaaahhhhhhh . . . I’m . . . I’m . . .”

“Get back, Faith!” Adrian said with a sudden urgency in his voice.

Faith turned her head down towards the crystal and her eyes widened. The crystal glowed in bright, white light, brighter than any of the gems in the cave. She took some steps back as the crystal illuminated brighter, enough that it felt like the day just appeared within the cave. Both the Vulpix and the Flareon covered their faces with a paw when the light became too much for them.

The light, at a slow pace, faded away as Faith and Adrian uncovered their eyes. They looked ahead and saw a small humanoid Pokémon, largely white in color, but also yellow with a bit of blue. The ‘sleeves’ on the arms flapped along with the three of the blue tags and streamers on the back. The Pokémon’s eyes were closed while floating above there the crystal was.

“I’m Jirachi,” the Pokémon said while it still appeared to be sleeping. “Yaaaaawn.”

Both Faith and Adrian stared at Jirachi with wonder and a bit of fear.

“So, you’re Jirachi?” Adrian asked as he stood next to Faith. “To be honest, I was expecting you to be larger, not so small and, um, cute.”

“Mmm-hmm . . . That’s right,” Jirachi answered. “Speaking of . . . Whoooo are yoooooou?”

“Oh, um. I guess I didn’t introduce myself,” Adrian responded as he gave a nervous smile. “My name’s Adrian.”

“Whaaaaaat?” Jirachi asked, his head tilted like he was getting into a better position to lay down his head on a pillow. “Zzz . . . Snorf . . .”

Faith and Adrian blinked as they took a look at each other. “He’s not listening to us, is he?”

“I don’t think so,” Adrian said as he shook his head. “Or at least he’s forgetting super-fast because his 1000 yearlong sleep was interrupted.”

“Well, either way,” Faith said as she turned to Jirachi. “Is it true that you can grant wishes?”

“Yep, it’ssss truuuuuuue. Yaaaaawn . . .” Jirachi answered as he glowed blue. “But right now, I’m pretty sleeeepy, so I can’t really help you. Sorrrry . . . Zzz . . . Zzzz . . . Snorf . . .

“And . . .” Jirachi continued as he glowed brighter and lifted his heads up into the air. The light then morphed off of Jirachi himself and into a ball over his hands. He then tossed the ball at Faith, who braced herself to jump away, yet the ball disappeared halfway. “I usually toss and turn in my sleep . . . Zzz . . . Snorf . . .”

“Toss and turn are right,” Adrian commented as he felt a flame in his throat, swallowing all fear. “Are you ready, Faith?”

Faith stared at Jirachi with fear and surprised as her head pulse from a massive headache. Her belly was tight, especially with the uncontrolled and near impossible to be released flame within her. Her baby blue eyes shook as her paws felt sore from walking for hours yet were still fine. She then closed her eyes and imagined the giant Maya from who knows how long since she last met her, before opening them, filled with determination.

“So, if you’re nearby . . . I’ll probably attack you . . . Sorry if I do . . . Zzzz . . . Snorf . . .”

“Ready as I’ll ever be, Adrian,” Faith answered. “Let’s wake him up!”

“Yaaaaawn . . .” Jirachi said had his head glows bright purple and he charged at Adrian. “I’m so sleepy . . .”

Adrian gave out a yip as he jumped out of the way from Jirachi’s attack. The yellow Pokémon flew on towards to a wall, causing a psychic explosion and the pit to rumble. Loose rocks fell down while Faith and Adrian braced themselves from them. When the last of the rocks hit the ground, the two Fire-type Pokémon looked at the massive dust cloud where Jirachi slammed against the pit’s wall. The dust fell and there floated Jirachi, still sleeping and unharmed with a giant dent on the wall.

“Flamethrower!” Adrian shouted as a streak of flames came out of his mouth and hit Jirachi dead on. Jirachi mumbled in his sleep as he charged at the Flareon again with a purple light glowing on his head. The yellow Pokémon charged through the flames coming out from the horrified Adrian and was halfway there when Faith jumped forward.

“ROAR!” Faith shouted as a massive sound blast knocked Jirachi a tad off course and zoomed beside the Flareon and into the wall.

Adrian blinked before giving out a sigh. “Thanks.”

“Now’s not the time for ‘thanks’,” Faith responded as she hopped over to Adrian’s side and looked at the wall where Jirachi made his impact. “Especially since he not only went through a Flamethrower like it was nothing but even a powerful Roar only barely knocked him off course.”

“Yeah. Do you feel like you can force your flames to come out now?” the Flareon said as the dust settled and the Jirachi floated there with not even a scratch on him. “Because, at this rate, I think even a Flamethrower from you can defeat him.”

Faith nodded and she breathed in and out, doing her best to force out the fire. Yet only breath came out. “Adrian, I-I’m doing my best. But I can’t get it out.”

Adrian gritted his teeth while Jirachi ahead breathed in. “Damn it. If you can’t use even a minor Flame Burst, then we’re so screwed.”

A blast of water came out of Jirachi’s mouth towards the two Fire-type Pokémon, who stared back in astonishment. Both Faith and Adrian jumped out of the way as the ring of water flew passed them into the wall and drilled into it.

“I wasn’t expecting that!” Faith yelled out, fear inscribed all over her body. “Now I really need to force out some flames!”

“Yeah!” Adrian responded, dread also running from his head to his tail while the water attack stopped. “We really need it! Or a miracle!”

“I-I’ll do my best,” Faith said as a blue ball of energy reappeared behind her and fired itself again towards the Vulpix. Faith only had a second to look back, her eyes wide as a pair of Electrode, before the attack impacted her. She was sent flying over the Flareon and crashed into the wall, with the only thing he could do was stare. Adrain turned around and prepped himself to sprint where Faith made her impact on the wall, only for Jirachi and his glowing purple head to slammed against him. A psychic explosion occurred, sending the Flareon soaring into a wall himself.

Adrian let out a grunt as he fell off from the Flareon-shaped crater and onto the ground. His mind spun, like he did a hundred flips in a second, as he groaned and struggled to get back up to his paws, feeling massive pain all over his body. His sight cleared as he saw Jirachi breathed in. The Flareon attempted to move, yet his knees buckled down. He then closed his eyes and thought of sweet, sweet Fai-

“ROAR!!” Adrian heard as he shot open his eyes. The ground crumbled around him as a massive blast of water slammed and drilled against the wall, sprinkle of a water landing on his fur as his ears heard a high piercing noise of stone cracking.

Ahead he saw Faith panting next to Jirachi, who’s water attack was still ongoing. She then gritted her teeth as she breathed in and out, yet only smoke came out of her mouth. Jirachi then floated upwards to the ceiling, his body emitting a bright glow. Adrian’s eyes widened as Jirachi surrounded himself in streaks of lights colored silver and purple, shining as bright as a clear night’s star.

“No, no, no. It can’t end like this,” Adrian said, his voice filled with dread. “He’s using Doom Desire! Stop him, Faith!”

Yet Faith looked up in dismay herself, her tails puffed up and her eyes wide. The light emitted by Jirachi was, by that point, almost too much for her. She closed her eyes, in part in an attempt to block the light and in part to remember. Memories flashed, of her parents, of meeting Adrian for the first time as an Eevee, of him evolving into a Flareon, of receiving news of her parents’ death while in an explorers’ mission.

Her mind then flashed to her failed evolution attempt, her hospital’s stay where she learned of her fatal condition, flying in Dragonite’s pouch in a journey to fix her condition, confronting Maya who indirectly caused it, and discovering the entrance to Star Cave. Her breathing calmed down, the image of Adrian on her mind as she opened her eyes. She glared upwards at the sleeping Jirachi, now glowing as bright as a sun before he fired the light in a concentrated bundle.

“FLAME,” Faith screamed out as she breathes in, “THROWER!!!”

Fire from Faith’s mouth met light at the middle before the flames overwhelmed the light. It plowed through Doom Desire, sending itself and Jirachi’s attack back towards the sleeping Pokémon. The combined attack slammed against Jirachi, with them drilling upwards through the thick rocks.

---

Two Pokémon, the smaller one on top of the bigger one’s head, where traveling towards the mountains themselves when they saw a bright light piercing up through the night’s sky. They stopped walking as they stared at the line of lights, red, orange, purple, and white, shining from one of the mountains. The larger Pokémon sit down, creating a slight shake on the ground, as the smaller one jumped off.

“Well, that’s curious,” the smaller Pokémon commented as a gush of air blasted from the mountains and blowing back the turf of fur on his head. “Under one of those mountains, it is said that Jirachi sleeps there. Did someone disturb his slumber?”

“Must be another Legendary Pokémon or a Mythical one,” the larger Pokémon said as the fur on the side of her face was also blown back from the sudden gush of wind. “After all, there’s no possible way a normal Pokémon or even a pseudo-Legendary Pokémon could do that attack. That attack is way too powerful than anyone under Legendary could do.”

“That, I’m not too sure of,” the smaller one responded as he looked up at the larger one. “After all, we’re not ‘normal’, are we?”

“A fair point since you did defeat a Groudon,” the larger one said as she gave out a mischievous grin. “Either way, shall we check it out?”

“I will,” the smaller one said. “It’s not that I doubt your capabilities, my love. But if they are in the mountains, I doubt that you’ll be able to fit into the cave entrance. Besides, given from the light, at least one of them is a Fire-type and I have a massive advantage against them thanks to my ability.”

The larger one sighed as she lay down, her fur brushing against the tree branches next to her. “Very well. Good luck and come back safely.”