Awakening of the Unown

The next day, after the four Pokedex Holders went to see Kurt and Maisy for the last time, they began heading back towards the Ruins of Alph, not too far away from Azalea. As the four of them headed onwards, Machine and Yellow noticed that Hakel and Kusa were holding hands, something they had not seen them do in about two years.

Machine and Yellow headed onwards ahead to see if there were any Apricorns on the way. As they headed towards Union Cave, which had the Ruins of Alph just beyond it, Hakel and Kusa stopped and looked into each others eyes. Hakel knew what he wanted, however, as heart began pumping, he contemplated if what he was really wanted was Kusa.

Despite this, however, they both moved in closer to one another, without even noticing it. Knowing that this wasn't the right time, he stopped himself, and pulled away from Kusa, letting of her hand shortly afterward.

"What's wrong, Hakel?" Kusa asked, just loud enough so Hakel could hear it.

"I... I can't, Kusa." Hakel said, scratching the back of his head. "Despite all we've been through together... it's just... not good for me right now."

"Not good for you right now?" Kusa asked, with an agitated tone in her voice.

"No, Kusa! That... That's not what I meant!" Hakel said, however, it was all too late. Tears had already been streaming down Kusa's face, saddened and hurt by his words. "Kusa... That's not what I meant! I'm telling you! I didn't mean it like that!"

"How the hell did you mean it, Hakel?!" Kusa shouted angrily, her voice making Machine and Yellow turn around to them. "Cause it seems to me like you meant that you were too good for me right now! That's what you meant... Isn't it?!"

"Kusa, damn it..." Hakel said, unable to release his true feelings to her. "I... I didn't mean it... like that... I swear." However, he couldn't even look at Kusa while he said this, making her angrier than she was before.

"Hakel..." Kusa said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I know what see what you mean, seriously."

"You do?! That means you understand that it was all an accident? I didn't mean to-"

"Yes, Hakel, I completely understand." Kusa said, with an angry look on her face. "WE were an accident, Hakel. I thought you loved me, I thought you still did!"

"I do but..." Hakel said, as he turned away from Kusa once more.

"Holy shit, Hakel!" Kusa shouted, walking up to him and looking in his eyes. "Why the hell can't you let me inside? Why the hell is it so hard to tell me what you REALLY are! What are you afraid of?"

Hakel didn't respond. All he did, was dart his eyes toward the ground, as he began to close his eyes as she asked, "Hakel! Answer me, what the hell are you so afraid of?"

Annoyed by Kusa's constant questions, his mind suddenly went ablaze with anger. Something inside of him just snapped and then shouted directly in her face, "None of your fuckin' business! So, why don't you just stay out of my damn life?!" Hakel brought his hand across her face, slapping her violently onto the ground. However, when Kusa looked back up at him, cringing in pain on the ground, Hakel turned back to normal and tried to comfort her.

However, all she did was land a powerful into Hakel's stomach as hard as she could, making him fall onto the ground. "You're a jack ass, Hakel." Kusa got up with the help of Machine and Yellow and they walked her back to the hospital in Azalea Town. Luckily, each town in Johto now had their own person Pokemon Center's and Hospital, for people now. Hakel stood up and walked after them, following them to the hospital.

It didn't take long for the doctors at the Hospital to heal the bruise that Hakel had given Kusa. When she was released, they were still going to Ruins of Alph, however, she vowed to never speak to or even look at Hakel during their time together.

Yellow and Kusa walked together towards the Ruins of Alph, while Machine and Hakel walked a few feet behind them. Machine patted Kusa on the back and said, "Hakel... Why did you do that man? You screwed up your relationship with Kusa forever."

"I don't know Machine..." Hakel said, as Machine raised an eyebrow at him.

"You mean... it wasn't voluntary?" Machine asked as Hakel nodded to him.

"I just snapped... I couldn't even control the words coming out of my mouth... Kusa'll hate me forever now..." Hakel responded, shaking his own head.

"Hakel... What exactly did you accomplish when you went for training two years ago?" Machine asked.

"I worked on my Pokemon, getting stronger, and my learning of varying my Pokemon in my team. That battle with Kris back then really opened my eyes. Oh, and I also practiced on controlling Zenos' energy." Hakel said.

"You didn't a good enough job, Hakel..." Machine said, sighing. "The reason you went berserk is because Zenos takes control of your subconscious and makes your body do things uncontrollably. Yajuu did that many times to me during many training sessions I had with Yellow, however, each time, he subjected myself to horrible training measures afterward to at least block the flow of Yajuu's influence into my body. Yajuu only is able to get through when Yellow is hurt or when someone brings to the point of death."

"That's why... you went berserk just before we arrived to save you and Yellow from the Reddosuta Shikaku about a week back..." Hakel said, as Machine nodded.

"But, according to what you're telling me, you didn't seem even get an inch closer to controlling Zenos' energy. Or maybe I'm wrong. Zenos may much be much stronger than Yajuu and harder to control. However, despite that, you don't seem to be ready to take this journey with us at the moment..." Machine said, turning back to him. "So, until you can get it together... go back to Kanto. Find out how to better control it because until you do... I don't want you traveling with us. If you EVER hurt Kusa like that again, I will personally bring you past the point of death. We don't hurt our comrades like that, Hakel. Plus, Kusa doesn't trust you whatsoever. We can't someone who is liable to kill any one of us with his rage."

Machine patted Hakel on the back as he walked away with him as he said, "Fine, Machine. I'll do as you guys want. But I will be back. I can't miss the chance of defeating you in the Pokemon League again. So, expect me to be back, soon."

"Whatever man. Just do what you have to do." Machine said, waving goodbye to his partner as he headed back into Azalea to speak with Professor Pine.

''This is for the best... I don't want to hurt Kusa or anyone else again... I need to get my emotions under control before... I do something else to ruin my chances with her more than this. ''Hakel thought, taking a deep breath. ''Besides, now I can focus on what my sister and my brother wanted me to do at Blackthorn City but first... I need something to fly with...''

As Hakel headed into the Azalea Town Pokemon Center to extract his Pidgeot from Professor Pine's lab, Machine, Yellow, and Kusa walked into Union Cave to head for the Ruins of Alph.

Upon arriving in the Ruins, they saw someone else come around the side of it. The three Pokedex Holders ducked around one of the blocks as the person on the other side did the same. "Damn it! He's already seen us! Let's take care of him then!" Machine took out his Poke Ball for Larvitar and headed out to fight the person that was on the other side of the Ruins. The other person charged at him, only to stop when he realized who it was. "Gold?"

"What the hell? Machine?" Gold asked, as his Exbo, Aibo, and Sunkern stood at Gold's feet, ready to attack. Machine looked down at and smiled. "Oh yeah, you saw Sunbo, huh? Yeah, I just caught her before I left Violet City."

"Sunbo... Interesting nickname, you have for it." Machine said, immediately turning back to Kusa and Yellow who were still hiding. "Yellow, Kusa, it's alright! It's just Gold!"

"Gold?" Kusa asked, as she looked over to see that it really was Gold. Kusa and Yellow ran up to Gold, smiling as they saw him.

"Yellow, Kusa, how have you been?" Gold asked, as they both smiled.

"We've been pretty awesome, Gold! What about yourself?" Kusa asked.

"I've been doing well. Like I was saying to Machine here, I recently got a Sunkern in Violet City. I named is Sunbo." Gold responded as Yellow and Kusa knelt down to it, smiling at Gold's new Pokemon. "Hey, Machine? Where's... Hakel?"

"Hakel..." Machine said as the three senior Pokedex Holders sighed, bringing tension into the Ruins. "We don't really... want to talk about it."

"Wow... Sorry for bringing it up... It seems to cause pretty bad tensions within the group..." Gold said, as the three of them turned back to normal. "Anyway, have you guys got the first Gym Badge yet?"

Machine and Kusa opened up their jackets showing Gold that they had the Zephyr Badge, strapped on a small hook on the inside of their jackets. "Yeah, we got our first one about two days ago... What about you? You going for them?"

"Nah, I'm not into all of that. Besides, I'm still trying to convince Silver to give back that Totodile he stole." Gold said, looking over to Yellow. "Yellow, what about you? Don't you usually go after the Gym Badges for the League?"

"Not this time. I've decided to live the simple life by just traveling with Crimson, Kusa, and Hakel. Plus, I decided to have a baby with Crimson." Yellow said, as Machine nodded at Gold.

"Crimson? Who is that?" Gold asked as Machine sighed.

"It's my real name, Gold." Machine answered as Gold jumped, surprised that his real name was actually Crimson.

"Real name? Why the hell do you use Machine?" Gold asked.

"Because, my family, the Emerald family are bunch of cheaters, liars, and bastards... Yes, my full name is Crimson Emerald. Plus, it seemed to catch on so, I just introduce myself as Machine to everyone. It seems a bit easier to handle, don't you think?" Machine explained as Gold nodded.

"Yeah, I've heard about the trials that the Emerald family has had, kind of. You have to tell me about when you get the chance." Gold said, as someone else walked into the Ruins. He immediately saw that the person was a pretty girl, with strange green hair. "Hey, look over there! What a beautiful girl!"

"Uh, Gold..." Machine said as Gold ignored him and dashed over to the beautiful girl.

"Good afternoon there, miss." Gold said as the "girl" looked up to him and raised an eyebrow at him. "Isn't it boring looking at Ruins by yourself? How about it? Have some tea with me... Oh, and by the way, I'm Gold of New Bark Town."

"Uh... I'm Bugsy from Azalea Town... and actually..." Bugsy said as he raised a finger. "I'm actually a guy..."

Gold fell flat on his back, surprised, however got right back up and sighed saying, "… Nevermind. I knew that."

"Knew it." Machine said, walking up to Gold and Bugsy along with Kusa and Yellow behind him.

"Are these your friends, Gold?" Bugsy asked as Gold nodded to him.

"Yes, this is Machine, Kusa Tenpi, and Yellow... They've been good friends of mine and are actually my seniors. Guys, this is Bugsy of Azalea Town." Gold said as the three of them bowed to Bugsy, happy to have found the next leader of the region.

"Oh, there's no need to bow..." Bugsy said, laughing at the fact.

"Well, aren't you the Gym Leader of Azalea Town?" Kusa asked. "We're just paying respect where respect is due."

"Oh, then you must be the challengers that Falkner called me about a few days ago!" Bugsy shouted as Kusa and Machine nodded to him. "Well, I apologize but... for the moment, I can't help you out with that..."

"What? Why not?" Machine and Kusa asked surprised.

"Because there's a reason I came here." Bugsy said. "I didn't just come here for sightseeing. I came to search for my missing companions..."

"Missing companions?" Yellow asked.

"I'm a member of the Johto Ruins Exploration Team. My companions came here to research... but we suddenly lost contact!" Bugsy said, as the tension lifted over their heads. "Why are you guys here anyway?"

"Well, we're here because of the fact that we wanted to see the Ruins of Alph and the special Pokemon that lies dormant here. We were hoping to get a sneak peek at it." Kusa said, as Bugsy nodded.

"And I came here for my Pokemon. I've been searching for it since it went missing." Gold said as the four of them gasped.

"Missing?" Bugsy asked.

"What Pokemon is it, Gold?" Machine asked.

"It's my Polibo, my Poliwag." Gold responded.

"Some bad guys probably took it, don't you think?" Bugsy asked.

"Well, in all honesty... I don't really know. I don't even remember where I lost it." Gold stated, feeling a bit embarrassed by it.

"Well, I have heard of a famous fishing place here in Johto..." Bugsy said as Aibo turned its head because it had heard something.

"Fishing place...?" Gold asked as Aibo hopped off of his shoulders and walked over to a wall that seemed to be relatively good shape and put his ear to the wall to see if what he was hearing wasn't just empty, white noise. "Huh? What is it, Aibo? What do you hear behind the wall? People's voices?" Aibo nodded to him as Gold brought Exbo over to him. "Okay, Exbo!"

"Gold! What are you doing?!" Bugsy asked, frantically.

"Burn down that wall!" Gold shouted, ignoring Bugsy as Exbo blasted a hole in the wall with its fire.

"Gold! That's an important relic of Johto! The fire from your Cyndaquil... it's ruining it!" Bugsy shouted, however, Exbo didn't stop.

"Aibo heard people's voices coming from behind that wall. They must be the companions you're looking for!" Gold shouted as Exbo finally broke through, although Bugsy's heart almost stopped. "Alright! We broke through! Let's go in!" Gold and his Pokemon jumped into the broken wall, descending into the Ruins below.

"Isn't that a bit reckless?" Bugsy asked as he hopped in after Gold.

"Yeah but... that's Gold for ya!" Machine said, as he headed in after Bugsy and Gold followed by Yellow and Kusa. They all landed on the ground where they saw cobwebs and dirt literally lifting into the air because this place had not seen daylight in many years.

"What is this place?" Gold asked.

"Wait a second... My eyes haven't quite adjusted yet." Bugsy said, giving them a moment to become used to the darkness. "What?" Bugsy asked, something immediately catching his eye. "What are these symbols? They look so strange..."

"They are all so old and dusty, I can't even decipher it." Yellow said, walking up to the wall and looking up. "No, this is much too old for me to understand and I've studied something like this before."

"Wait a second..." Bugsy said, taking out a book and flipping through its pages quickly. "Could it have possibly been hidden in a place like this?"

"Hey, Bugsy! Do you know what this place is?" Gold asked, turning to him.

"I knew it!" Bugsy said, closing the book after finding the information. "This place is a valuable ruin that was built over 1500 years ago. A mysterious "Symbol Pokemon" was said to have lived here. However, nobody has actually seen it."

"'Symbol' Pokemon?!" All the Pokemon Trainers shouted, surprised by his response.

"These walls here... Could they be to explain the Pokemon?" Bugsy asked, still perplexed by the mystery.

"Is that really true?" Kusa asked. "These murals are over 1500 years old?"

"Yes! They may mean that humans and Pokemon coexisted peacefully in ancient times! And if that's the case... I'll be the one who discovered it..."

"Bugsy, I know you're excited about this and all but... shouldn't we find your friends first?" Machine asked as Bugsy laughed nervously, realizing that finding his companions first was much more important.

"Right... I apologize for that..." Bugsy said as the five of them started off down the same path which Gold led the way to.

"Okay, this path continues down that way. That's where the noise was coming from, I think." Gold said, pointing the way onward. However, just as he started to walk forwards, Gold was wrapped in a spider web, stopping from moving at all.

"What the hell?!" Machine asked, as he was almost caught by the same web.

"Thanks for destroying that wall and leading us here, kid." Someone's voice said from behind them that sounded very familiar to Machine, Kusa, and Yellow.

"Oh, shit! You're-"

"That's right, the Reddosuta Shikaku!" One of them shouted as everyone turned around and smirked, knowing that they had caught them. "We didn't have to waste time solving that asinine puzzle. We never would have solved that thing... Now, we'll be taking the symbol Pokemon for ourselves!" After they stopped speaking, Machine, Kusa, Yellow, and Bugsy were wrapped up in the same spider web material, as were there Pokemon that had been released.

"Exbo!" Gold shouted to his Cyndaquil, however, it was no use. He was wrapped to tight to do anything.

"It's no use! With that much pressure constricting your movements, it's in too much pain to produce any fire!" One of the assassin shouted, laughing at their unfortunate situation.

"Damn you bastards!" Yellow shouted angrily as one of their Elekid hopped over to them and pointed its electricity directly in their faces.

"Sorry but we need to take the symbol Pokemon for the true revival of our organization. So, I would suggest, you NOT try to stop us!" One of the assassins said, as Gold sighed.

"Well, it's inevitable... They've got us... I guess I'll just admit defeat and..." As Gold started to fall back, Aibo climbed up on his head and threw a Poke Ball of his into the air. "Hah, no way! I tricked you! Sunbo, come out and use Flash to blind them!" Gold's Sunkern popped out of its Poke Ball and sent a glorious flash of light all over the room, blinding the members of the Reddosuta Shikaku easily.

"Oh shit! My eyes!" They all shouted, blinded by the enormous flash of light coming from the sky.

Aibo cut Gold and Exbo loose and Gold went over and cut everyone else loose as well. "They won't be blind for very long so let's get out of here." Gold said, as he untied everyone else. Then, as they got up to their feet, Gold sensed something moving behind him. He turned around and saw that the symbols on the wall were beginning to move and come off the wall. "What the hell?! The symbols on the wall are moving!"

The Pokedex Holders there took out of their Pokedex's and examined the Pokemon, however, it only brought up their names and nothing more. Gold read it off saying, "Unown..."

"Uh oh." Machine said, beginning to understand what was really going on. "I figured something out. Are you all thinking the same thing?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Bugsy asked as the Pokedex Holders nodded to Machine.

"Bugsy, you and the Reddosuta Shikaku were wrong... The symbols on the wall weren't to explain the Symbol Pokemon... they were the Symbol Pokemon, all along!" Gold shouted as the Unown around them began to attack furiously, as if they were in a rage for waking them up.

"Gold! Damn it! That Flash you used must have woken them up!" Kusa shouted as each of them were surrounded by the Unown that were on the walls.

"Screw it!" Gold shouted as they finally broke free of the Unown. "Just RUN FOR IT!" The five of them dashed away down the hallway that Gold was talking about as they tried to escape the Unown.

As the Pokedex Holders and Bugsy ran away, the Reddosuta Shikaku members finally got their sight come back to them. "Damn... My eyes are finally coming back to me... Those brats were good though."

"But I did get a glimpse of the symbol Pokemon though... I can't believe the Symbols on the walls are actually Pokemon! But now... this is our chance... First off... we need to make a trap for those brats... We know this place better than anyone else so, it should be easy... We'll get those Pokemon..."

Finally, after shaking off the Unown in another corridor, they took a breather to stop running. "Damn, we got away... somehow. But I don't know where the exit is!" Gold shouted, panting as he spoke.

"Well then..." Machine stopped as he suddenly heard voices coming from their side. "Huh? Do you hear that? Is that voices coming from the other side?"

"Wait a second!" Bugsy shouted surprised. "Have my companions been captured?"

"We can save them now that they know where we are! Let's go to the other side!" Gold shouted as they turned a corner and intended on heading towards Bugsy's companions, however, they were stopped by a large spider web that was in their way.

"What is this?" Kusa asked.

"It's... a spider web... It's a Spinarak's Spider Web to be more exact..." Bugsy responded, examining it with an eyeglass he had on his person. "Also, we were tied up by a different kind of the same thread. It's very sticky. This thread is used as a trap for ambushes! A Bug type user like me would know! We have to head down another path!"

However, as the five of them began to head down more and more of the alternate path's, everyplace seemed to head nowhere. They were stuck, trapped like a mice in cage. "Shit, all the ways we go are blocked! We're trapped in here!" Yellow proclaimed.

"Give it up you brats! We have this spider web material laid out near every exit!" The Reddosuta Shikaku members shouted in the darkness.

"This is bad, everybody! I can hear the Reddosuta Shikaku coming!" Gold shouted, looking behind him.

"I can hear the Unown coming from over there! We're being attacked from both sides! We have to do something about these two groups before we save my companions!" Bugsy stated, hearing the Unown coming their way as well.

"Ha! What a perfect plan! You block all the exits, have them aggravate the Unown, and we'll get them all in one swoop! It's so simple!" One of the members said as they headed in the area that the Pokedex Holders and Bugsy were supposed to be in. However, when they arrived into the room, there was smoke all around them, covering everything. "Hey, what the hell?" The same member stopped as he looked over to a spiderweb. The Unown were stuck there, not being able to move whatsoever.

"Holy shit! You idiot! The Symbol Pokemon are getting in the web! Where did those brats go?" Another member asked, as he looked around for them.

Suddenly, as they looked around a bit more, the Unown activated their own power and shocked all the the members of the Reddosuta Shikaku in the room, completely missing the Pokedex Holders or Bugsy. "No! We weren't the ones who... woke you up..." The Reddosuta Shikaku members and their Pokemon with them fainted, falling onto the ground unconsciously.

The smoke finally began to disappear with Gold being the first one to see as he said, "Phew... Thank goodness. It worked."

"Nice work, Gold. I was surprised that your Smokescreen blinded the Unown and the Reddosuta Shikaku, that they were both taken down by their foolish acts!" Yellow stated to Gold as he smiled back at her. They watched the Unown go back to their places on the wall as they headed off to save Bugsy's friends. "Heh, sorry to wake you up, Unown."

Soon after saving Bugsy's friends, they headed back up the exit where Bugsy was giving his thanks to them. "Well, this is everybody. Thanks so much everybody!"

"No problem, Bugsy! We were happy to help!" Gold shouted, speaking for the entire group.

"On top of that, we were all able to see the Unown. That was definitely exciting!" Machine said as they all nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it's an amazing discovery! I'm sure this power will be documented. It's true form is still undiscovered! Now, people will research without angering the Unown!" Bugsy shouted as he began to document his findings in a small, black notebook very quickly.

"Alright, Bugsy." Gold laughed as he said it. "I think we've got it. But, with that finished, it's time for me to go! I still have a lot to do. So, I'll see everyone later! Good luck on your Gym Battle, you guys!"

"Got it! Thanks man!" Machine said, waving goodbye to their new friend as he rode away on his skateboard into the distance.

"Well, take care, Gold! See you later!" Yellow and Bugsy shouted to Gold just as he disappeared into the horizon, waving back to them one last time.

"Now... about that Gym Battle..." Bugsy said as Machine and Kusa smiled at him, ready to begin their match. "Who's going first?"