Chapter 16 Educating Kyle and A Looming War

Looking at the towering blue bird in front of him, Faust froze. He didn't know if it was because of the fear or the layer of frost that was solidifying on his body by the minute.

They say that when you're about to die, your life flashes in front of your eyes. Faust didn't really experience that, perhaps his second life had been too short for a flashback but at that moment all Faust felt was pure unadulterated despair. His mind slowly made sense of what was about to happen and the knowledge of the inevitability of death brought with it a certain kind of peace. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do anything and that made him accept his fate all the more quickly. 

Just as he had finally resigned himself to fate, he heard a familiar voice.

"Faust? Faust!? Fuck it is you! I could hardly see through this fellow's thick mass of feathers. I'm telling you Articuno may look all buffed up and big but it's only the feathers. If we roasted her I doubt she'd be enough food for the both us for one meal."

Looking at Kyle who had suddenly appeared atop the Articuno talking of roasting it, Faust's brain short-circuited. Just a second ago, he was all prepared to welcome eternal rest and now he was looking at Kyle trying to get the Articuno to lower itself so that he could get off. There was only so much the human brain could process.

"Damn bro! I've been looking for you for weeks! Oh, and I found Dreepy. He's back in the nest…actually it's more of a cave. Damn it! Ouch…! Ahem! So as I was saying. A cave! That's funny huh? Turns out blue bird lives in a cave and not a super-sized nest", said Kyle finally falling off the Articuno's back.

Faust was gobsmacked. Watching Kyle act like Articuno was a house pet and not a legendary Pokemon with question marks for its strength evaluation, he didnt know what to say. In the end, all Faust said was, "How?"

Kyle looked a bit confused before he brightened up and replied, "I don't know. I remember going to sleep in my tent and then the next thing I know I was inside the rift. Actually it's quite funny, I didn't think it was a rift first until I saw the difference in the scenery. Anyways, I found myself alone without you or any of the Pokemon around and my gear. It was scary and I didnt know what to do. In the end, I just started walking towards this mountain. On the way, I ran into a group of strange Pokemon that looked like ice cream cones and boy were they pissed off. They started attacking me as soon as they laid eyes on me. I tried running away and they chased me, I think one of their attacks hit me in the end causing me to blackout. Next time I woke up I was in a cave with Articuno and her family. Well after that…things happened and I really think that can wait, we need to get you warmed up first or you might get frostbite."

Kyle saw that Faust's situation was not good and abruptly cut short his tale. He then supported Faust and got him onto the back of the Articuno before getting on himself. He paused for a moment and asked, "Umm question. Is that big robot yours? I think it is since it's got a big R emblazoned on it. Damn…Ross Laboratories are treating you really well giving you all their cool stuff."

Faust was too exhausted to comment and in the end, Kyle asked the Articuno to pick it up and bring it along with them. Finally, when Articuno took flight, Faust completely gave in to his body's incessant need for rest and lost consciousness.

Faust opened his eyes and saw large yellow pupils with dot eyeballs. Recognising the familiar face of Dreepy who was hovering on top of his face, Faust felt relieved having finally recovered one of his Pokemon. Grabbing Dreepy, Faust sat up and hugged him to his chest. Dreepy also didnt protest and tried to push his head deeper into his trainer's chest. After a minute or so Faust let Dreepy go and the Pokemon hovered close to Faust.

Getting up Faust used his identifier on Dreepy and was surprised.

[ Pokemon: Dreepy(♂) 

  Ability: Clear Body, Infiltrator(secondary)

  Type: Dragon/Ghost

  Aptitude: Yellow

  Strength: Early Intermediate(Lvl. 24)

  Moves: Astonish, Bite, Quick Attack, Infestation, Sucker Punch, Double Team]

Dreepy had grown two levels! While Faust didnt want to think of the possible reasons his Pokemon must've had to push himself so hard, he was happy. 

Walking towards the entrance of the cave, Faust came out to a wide area that opened into the sky. The wide area also was connected to what Faust believed were more caves. It was a hollowed-out cavern system. Faust didnt dare venture into any of the caves for the fear of angering the true resident, even though Kyle was all chummy with the Articuno, it was nonetheless a wild Pokemon and a legendary one at that. So Faust found a flat rocky outcrop and sat on it to wait for Kyle to come.

After waiting for a few hours, Faust heard the familiar cry of the Articuno and a shadow appeared on top of him. Looking up he saw the Articuno who gracefully landed in the distance and Kyle jumped off its back.

Seeing Faust, Kyle approached him.

"Oh hey, you're finally up. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with you. You've been asleep for almost an entire day now."

Faust smiled and replied, "Haven't gotten a lot of sleep in the past few days. Too busy trying to make sure I didnt end up as Pokefeed."

Kyle sighed and sat down, "Yeah I know. Things haven't been very normal in the past few weeks for me either. I mean I luckily was saved by Articuno, I dont know why she saved me but I am grateful. I mean I dont know if those frozen ice cream cones would actually eat me, but they sure as hell would've turned me into a popsicle."

Faust chuckled and corrected Kyle, "Those Pokemon have a name you know, going by your description I'm pretty sure you ran into a group of Vanillite and its evolutionary line namely, Vanillish and Vanilluxe. Although it's kinda hard to think they would go so far as to relentless chase you, they're a rather kind species. May freeze you solid, but usually spare you afterwards."

"Yeah yeah right. Of course, you'd know what Pokemon it was, Professor Faust", said Kyle sarcastically.

Faust laughed for a bit when Kyle suddenly asked, "Hey Faust since you know so much. Do you know what kind of a Pokemon Articuno is? I mean I've seen it fight, it literally freezes the enemies solid even before the battle can begin! I mean is there a possibility of you know…"

Kyle trailed off at the end but Faust knew what he wanted to ask. He wanted to know if Articuno could perhaps be trained.

Faust sighed and shook his head saying, "You remember the tale from the early days of the Rifts appearing? The one about the grand war of the Land and the Sea?"

Kyle nodded. Everybody knew the tale. It was a sort of cautionary fairy tale that was used to tell children how utterly terrifying Pokemon can be.

"That isnt just a fairy tale. I'm pretty sure it actually happened. What I am about to tell you is probably something only a select few people know, dont go off blabbering it to random people. Anyway, so the war of the Land and the Sea is probably a reference to two Pokemon called Groudon and Kyogre, embodiments of the land and the sea. They wield unimaginable powers, linked to the very nature of what they represent. The sea and the land. Let's call these two legendary Pokemon okay?"

Kyle nodded, a serious look on his face. Seeing this Faust continued.

"So legendaries can be said to be a class of Pokemon that wield unimaginable powers. Quite often over one or the other aspect of nature itself. Of course, I am sure that well trained normal Pokemon can take the legendaries on. But we are talking about Pokemon in the True King stage."

Faust was not making this up, he had thought about it long and hard. He didnt think that any stage below that could possibly take on the two Articuno he had encountered. He wouldn't be surprised even if the True King stage didnt suffice.

"Point is Articuno is one of the these legendary Pokemon. More specifically it has its own legend and is a representative of the seasonal cycle along with two other birds, Moltres and Zapdos. Don't ask me how I know, I just do. So that's why it's so strong and intelligent, perhaps the reason why it didnt attack me indiscriminately and also saved you."

Hearing Faust, Kyle had a solemn look on his face. He only spoke after a while and said, "So you're telling me that there are Pokemon out there who are literal manifestations of natural powers and Articuno is one of them?"

Faust nodded and said, "Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if there were those our there that could control time and space. I mean look at these rifts! They totally subverted what we thought was true of time and space for hundreds of years. Besides, I think Articuno is not even as strong as the Pokemon in the legend. Perhaps there are grades of strength within the legendaries themselves."

"So you're telling me that no one can catch these umm…legendary Pokemon?"

Faust chuckled and replied, "No they're like any other Pokemon. Perhaps capturing them would be of much greater difficulty, not impossible though. What I am trying to say is, they should not be captured. Imagine one person controlling such a Pokemon. I mean it would be fine if it was a dumb person like you, but what if they had really greedy ambitions? Taking over the world kinda greedy."

Kyle nodded solemnly before looking up at Faust.

"Hey, I am not dumb! I have ambitions as well!"

"See this is exactly what I mean, from our conversation that's what you finally take away. A joke about you."

Faust paused and a then said with a playful glint in his eyes, "But that's okay. Some people are born like that, can't choose the way we are born. Don't worry though, it's not an unsalvageable situation. You just gotta do more puzzles and stuff, you know mental exercises."

"Hey, I'm not that dumb alright!"

Faust leaned forward and looked into Kyle's eyes seriously.

"Are you sure?"

There was a short pause and the both of them burst out laughing. Kyle just like Faust had been really stressed, meeting Faust had lifted a heavy stone that had been weighing on his heart. Enjoying the reunion and not worrying about the situation, albeit for a quick moment was indeed a much-needed reprieve for the both of them.

Finally settling down, Kyle talked of his time in the rift. Faust was surprised when Kyle said it had been three weeks since he had entered the rift. But the surprise soon turned into realization as it was common knowledge that rifts often had variable time flow rates. Eventually, Kyle brought up the question of just how could he have ended up inside a rift.

"You know its the time issue is understandable, rifts are known to have different rates of flow of time as compared to the overworld. An hour could be a week or a month or even an year inside a rift. We don't really have the equipment to calculate the rate of time dilation inside the rift as compared to the overworld. But the most concerning part is how we ended up inside the rift, the last thing, if I remember correctly, was going to sleep and we had checked the area before. There were no rifts, in fact, had there been rifts so close to the outskirts someone would have noticed it much ea earlier. There could be a possibility of a rift spawning in the middle of our camp but even then it doesn't explain-"

Faust interrupted Kyle, "I know how it happened. It wasn't a new rift, we were forced to seek this rift and then enter it. Well…at least you were, I went in looking for you and my Pokemon."

"Wait what do you mean forced?"

Faust sighed and said, "Mind-controlled or hypnotised or something. That I'm not sure but it was a psychic method. I actually ran into the perpetrator and saw it. It was-"

"No no wait, so psychic as in a psychic type? A Pokemon controlled me and made me move around? Damn that's creepy", said Kyle shuddering.

"Yes, it wasn't just you though. Hundreds of Pokemon were forced into the rift along with you. I managed to escape its control because the psychic stimulus unlocked my dormant psychic powers. Don't ask me for a demonstration, I don't have much control over it. Anyways so yeah that is what happened. Judging by the time difference, the dilation at the most is less than three weeks inside per hour outside. We don't know the exact time since you don't know what time you entered the rift. As for the perpetrator, it was an alternate form of Articuno which has a Psychic-Flying typing instead of an Ice-Flying one like our friendly Articuno here."

Faust went on to describe the characteristics of the Galarian Articuno and what he had encountered on entering the rift right up to the point Articuno and Kyle showed up. At the end of it, Kyle was sitting thinking and Faust was waiting for his response.

"Ignoring the fact that you've awakened as a psychic, which is kinda...creepy. We may have another problem. You do realise that the overworld Pokemon are being forced to invade a rift where there are pre-existing Pokemon. Normally this happens and no one cares. Pokemon leave rifts and go into them all the time. But on my trips around the rift with Articuno, we've come across too many instances of fights. Conflicts between the Pokemon are escalating and occurring more frequently. I had just gone out with Articuno in response to another distress signal, this time from a colony of Pineco and Forretress. My point is, there isnt room enough for all Pokemon here. Conflict is naturally inevitable..."

Faust listened attentively. Kyle's main point was that the only thing that could be achieved by letting in such large numbers of Pokemon into a rift was chaotic conflict. It didn't do much other than causing unnecessary deaths and keeping the rift Pokemon busy defending their territory. Suddenly it dawned on Faust.

"Kyle if the rift has a ruler Pokemon and no opposition, dont the rest of the rift Pokemon sweat allegiance to it?", Faust asked blankly thinking of something.

"Well, you can call it swearing allegiance but perhaps the more apt phrase would be being subdued. Remember what Mr Flint always said.... that there's no allegiance in the wild world and its only about the convenience of the situation", said Kyle.

"Wait, let me rephrase that.....if the rift was threatened. Would the Pokemon band together to defend it?", asked Faust quickly already aware of the answer.

"Yeah, of course, that's why it's so difficult to own rifts and most owned rifts are small-sized or low-quality ones. But I don't understand what relevan----", Kyle's voice abruptly stopped as the realisation of what Faust was implying dawned upon him.

Kyle gulped. 

"The other Articuno. It's trying to reduce the fighting capability of the rift Pokemon. It is waging a war."

Faust nodded solemnly. 

"Indeed. This isnt just a rift war. Its a war of Legendaries."