To The Top [ Pokemon Fanfic. ]

Chapter 28 - Protecting The Legendary Babies

"Aha! I found you! Now it's your turn to count to ten!" I yelled childishly at the top of my lungs.

'Awww. Okay.' The baby female Articuno pouted. She hopped up to the giant rock & closer her eyes. 'One... Two...'

Misty, me, & Brandon had been coming by daily just to check on the legendary birds. In fact, it was the fifth day this time, & the baby birds were really warming up to us!

On this particular day, we did our usual checkup on them & saw that they were okay, & were about to leave when the baby Zapdos started pecking & tugging at Brandon's pants, asking if he wanted to play, because no one ever played with him.

Since me & Brandon were quite childish, ( especially Brandon), we agreed & decided to play hide & seek. Misty was sitting by Articuno, just watching us & talking to the giant legendary like they were best friends.

'Five... Six..." the small legendary continued as I desperately searched for a good hiding spot. I hid above a rock, out of her view, & held my breathe, hoping to not be found.

'Nine... Ten... Ready or not here I come!' Articuno announced telepathically to all of us in the room. Zapdos was the first to be found. Then the other baby Articuno. Then Brandon. I had to hold my giggles in as they all searched around for me.

'She's on top of that giant rock'. I heard a female voice that I'd never heard before in my head, & I panicked & fell off the rock. The mother Articuno was making some wierd sound... She was laughing? She sold me out! She told everyone my hiding spot!

The three baby legendaries ran to my side & threw themselves on me, gently pecking me. & I enjoyed every moment of it.

"You gave away my hiding spot," I frowned at the fully grown Articuno. She just smirked at me. 'Sorry, not sorry'.

The day was great, playing with the small baby birds. All was going great until Articuno left to go find food for her children & then suddenly flew up out of the lake inside the cave, scooping up her children protectively. She informed us that a group of malicious looking people were on the island.

We immediatley told her we'd take care of it. I felt a strong sense of loyalty & need to protect Articuno, even though I didn't know her & her children for more than five days.

Misty led us out as quickly as possible & we covered our tracks as soon as we exited the cave, blocking it up with rocks again. "We should split up," she suggested. "I'll stay here, & guard the entrance, & you two go try to see what their up too. Articuno said they seemed malicious, & trust me, legendary Pokemon can see right through us humans. They know if you have good or bad intentions. So this is not good."

Without another word, Brandon & I searched for the people on the island. After 20 minutes, we sighed, frustrated. Where were they? Then we saw them. A group of them.

Wearing black suits with a red 'R' printed in the middle. "What the..." I mumbled under my breathe.

"It doesn't look like there's anything here. You sure the boss is right?" one of the men asked. "No. He said to just check the area & if we found nothing we'd look elsewhere," one guy shrugged.

Without thinking, I walked casually into their view, distracting them. The last thing I wanted to do was let them find the cave.

"Who are you?" one of the men narrowed his eyes angrily. "I could ask you the same question. What's with the uniforms?" I questioned.I saw Brandon self palm himself from behind a rock. "Don't mess with us, kid. We're here to do some business," a man growled at me.