FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A dark void greeted a subconscious Ben. In an instant, he knew he was not alone. He could not quite grasp why, but he could feel that Summer was in here as well, though neither of them were visible. Something about this disturbed him: he had no psychic abilities that he knew of, yet he could detect her presence without even seeing her. On top of that was the feeling that he and his friend were really sharing a dream.

"I'm sure this is just a coincidence," he reasoned, not completely believing the explanation he made. "We're sleeping close to each other, that's all. I'm probably feeling her head against mine." For once, however, he was glad nothing else was happening in this dream, as opposed to his previous nightmares about Summer being stuck with the Pinchers or his fall into the ocean.

It is time.

Ben frowned. The deep, booming voice shattered his hope of an empty dream. He wondered if the voice was referring to the strange events he and his human partner went through. The ranger did not want to remember all of the confusing visions dumped upon him and Summer by those monuments, despite the sensations of happiness they gave him.

You must protect your region once more.

Summer groaned, having absolutely no idea why the voice was simply restating their mission. Barring a few minor setbacks on her part, she felt they were doing exactly that. Their journey through Oblivia had been all about protecting it from the likes of the Pinchers and aggravated pokémon, and she certainly had played her part in their current progress. What else could this voice mean? What did it mean by "once more"? Interrupting her thoughts was a flash of light that briefly illuminated the void before leaving behind a red, glowing sphere in front of Summer.

"What is that? What's going on?"

Reclaim what was once yours.

Neither of the rangers understood what the deep, booming voice meant by that, and it shook them to the core. And yet... the voice, despite being loud, did not instill fear in either of them. Both could sense a familiar and calming power behind the voice, as if they were speaking with an old friend, though it did little to sort out the confusion that plagued them. The blue, glowing sphere in front of Ben only caused him to be as confused as Summer was as she too saw a glowing sphere, though the one before her was red in color. Suddenly the spheres slowly moved toward them. As this happened, another vision flashed through their minds. However, in stark contrast to the clouds, forest, star light, and water seen previously, this vision showed an aerial view of a burning forest and pokémon fleeing the scene. Four humans were leading the pokémon to safety through the blaze. Just as a large crowd of pokémon formed outside the forest and began fighting the fire, a loud cry rang out.

Return home.

At that point the four humans disappeared simultaneously. The view quickly switched to the trapped pokémon, who were buried under a large pile of boulders and trees. A surge of mysterious energy caused the objects to lift slightly, creating enough of an opening for all of the trapped pokémon to escape. Soon the energy began to falter, and eventually the objects fell. The rangers were finally able to see each other, but to their surprise, they saw the Eon pokémon instead of each other.

Make yourselves whole as before.

---

Ben and Summer woke with a start and stared at each other, neither able to fully grasp what they had just experienced. Before they could ask each other questions, Leanne tapped them on their shoulders, getting their attention. The archaeologist grabbed a small, badly damaged book from the round table. Although the cover was generally nonexistent (apparently, not even the title survived), the pages appeared legible despite what must have been years of decay and neglect.

"I found something really intriguing regarding your condition in this book." She giggled a little bit, excited by her new discovery. "It tells a few secrets about the Hero of Oblivia and was most likely written by that mysterious Amun fellow." Leanne took a seat and opened the book to one of its pages. "Shall I read it to you?"

"Please do," they said in unison. Ben and Summer looked at each other, surprised by their shared thought, but decided it was a coincidence and looked back at Leanne, who continued.

"'The Hero of Oblivia's gender was never ascertained. Some have thought it to be female, with others believing a male saved the region long ago. This ignited a fierce debate that caused bouts of insomnia for the unfortunate onlookers. For health reasons, it was suggested that there might have been more than one hero, and both sides calmed down, swayed by the logic of the situation. By then, however, the legend of a lone unknown hero had grown too popular to incorporate this belief.'"

"Well, that certainly makes sense," Summer said. "Heroes are often never alone, and have someone to assist them if need be." Ben nodded in agreement. "But...what does that have to do with us?"

"This next bit might answer that. 'Due to the Hero's unusual ability to reach far places in little time, it was widely believed the hero had the aid of a psychic-type pokémon. A popular variant of this belief was that the hero was secretly a pokémon in disguise. This was fueled by the hero's positive nature towards pokémon and slight apprehension to human contact. Additionally, some claimed to have seen the hero disappear into Teakwood Forest for an unknown length of time, and when they would investigate, the hero would always be found in a home that was gone the next day.'"

Ben interrupted. "Wait, that doesn't seem fair. Maybe the hero just felt more comfortable that way." He found it strange that the text bothered him, but decided to put his feelings aside for the moment.

"Perhaps, but I have much more to read. It's important." Leanne turned a page. "'The hero was known to command the respect of several legendary pokémon. Among them, the most notable ones were the Eon pokémon Latias and Latios. Witnesses say they worked as one unit, perhaps to the point where none would ever see the hero without one of the duo present. Complicating things was the fact that both Eon pokémon were rarely present at the same time, and in the few events where they co-existed, the hero was nowhere to be found.'"

"You mean, for example, if Latias was flying about, Latios could not be seen?" Summer wondered. Confused, she added, "Where do we fit into all of this?" Leanne smiled at the question, barely concealed excitement evident on her face as she turned the page.

"This last part should answer your question. 'The last known sighting of the Hero of Oblivia was during the Great Teakwood Fire. On that day, for the first and possibly only time, both the Eon pokémon and the hero were seen at the same time. Rumor has it that the hero occupied multiple areas at once to lead the pokémon to safety and combat the destruction of the forest. All the pokémon were evacuated; however, neither the hero nor the Eon pokémon returned. No one knows why they disappeared.'" Leanne closed the book and looked at the listening rangers, who appeared star-struck by what they heard. "What is the matter?"

"W-we shared a dream about that fire," Ben stammered through the shock. "I believe we did. It felt like we were looking at each other, only..."

"We weren't ourselves," Summer finished. "Before that, we heard a voice telling us to 'take back what belonged to us'..." She paused for a moment to let the information linger. At that point, a somewhat older-looking ranger walked in. He wore the standard-issue uniform most rangers wore.

"Repair work on the Wireless Tower is going slow," he reported, "but I'm sure we'll be up and running in the near future. How are things here?"

"Hello Rand. Well, I just showed them one of my books about the Hero of Oblivia," she responded. "Hold on, I just had an idea...why don't you two..."

"YES!" they shouted immediately, quickly rising from their seats and startling everyone. Pichu opened his eyes and jumped up, sparking a little bit. Once they realized what they did, they apologized in mild embarrassment. "It just came to us."

"...As surprising as that was, it only further confirms my suspicions that there is more to you two than your recent activities would have me believe. I think you know what has to happen now."

---

With Staraptor's help, the group was once again at Tilikule Island, staring at the moonlit Involith before them. A gentle breeze blew in front of them, making their scarves flutter in its path. As if guided by memory, Ben and Summer touched the object. Five dull green circles appeared on its surface, and they felt a wave of uncertainty wash over them that caused them to step back.

"Summer, I've been thinking...about this whole mission in Oblivia..." Ben began. Pichu looked at his upset friends sadly, wishing he could help soothe the quiet emotional storm taking place. Alas, to his dismay, he knew his wondrous ukulele was no match for such complicated feelings. He rested near Summer's staraptor and resigned to leave them to handle things.

"What is it, Ben?"

"Well, we...we make a good team, don't we?"

Summer looked down. "I'm not too sure...I was captured before I could even set foot in this region, and you've had to do most of the mission by yourself. Looking at things, I haven't been too helpful to you after you rescued me at Mitonga Temple." She began to feel melancholy, but Ben took hold of her left hand, halting the feelings.

"I wouldn't say that. When I took the hit for you and plunged into the sea, I had a flashback of us speaking with Professor Hastings, and I kept focusing on you. This might sound corny, but when I woke up, I somehow knew you would be okay. Secondly," he continued, "you put a tracker on the ship you were in and kept contacting me, which means you're resourceful. You've been helpful everywhere, assisting me and Pichu in our captures. You two even captured Suicune after I was dazed by one of its attacks. We wouldn't have gotten this far without your help, Summer." A moment later, she pulled him into a hug, smiling in gratitude over her friend's words.

"Thanks, Ben. I always knew you would be okay too. If Red Eyes targeted you instead, I'd have done the same thing," she replied. Ben returned his friend's hug, smiling as he did so.

"We do make a good team." They broke the hug and stared back at the Involith, dashing any more doubts they had.

"Now, let's summon our new friends and protect Zapdos." They switched their Stylers to Sign Mode. Summer took the top left circle while Ben started at the top right circle, and together they drew the Eon Sign. Once they met at the top center point, the emblem glowed, and the familiar cries of Latias and Latios rang through the air, surprising the rangers and their partner pokémon, who immediately headed to their side. In an instant, both Eon pokémon appeared in front of them, each one facing the human with the same gender as them. Summer and Ben readied their Stylers, but before they could begin, both dragons were slowly enveloped in spheres of red and blue light that made them appear transparent.

You shall reclaim your lives!

The spheres of light rushed at them and enveloped them.