AN: This is the sequel to “Lost…”, one of my other one-shots. It is – you guessed it – a one-shot, based off of yet another entry for the Guess the Author competition. I say ‘based off’ because this one was never completed nor entered and was left to rot on my hard drive. That is, until today, because I felt like finishing it. It’s longer than the others, so I hope to get a little less complaints about length this time. As for any complaints on plot or other things; these little one-shots are merely meant to show your style of writing. Of course they have to follow a certain subject, but other than that it can be about anything. Having a plot is just a nice extra, so this’ll have to do. It’s merely a spur-of-the-moment type of thing. Anyway, I’m keeping you from reading, so go read now.

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Found...

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I had moved on since the incident on the mountain. Unlike most trainers, who would immediately run back up the slope to try and catch that bird, I walked away. It wasn’t meant to be caught anyway, at least not by me, who couldn’t even beat the mountain. And I was certain that catching the bird would be harder. Sure, I had been excited at first, telling my friends back home and of course, telling the good Professor. He’d done some research based on what I saw before blacking out, and came up with the conclusion that I had seen an Articuno. Very rare and considered legendary by most, it had only been seen on a handful of occasions, and never had one been caught. An impressive feat in today’s world.

I myself wasn’t that lucky. I should’ve known they would find out eventually. My friends hadn’t been able to keep their mouths shut, and it had cost me. Team Rocket, dreaded throughout Kanto and Johto, had found me. Using a Hypno they’d hypnotized me and found out everything including the smallest of details. I couldn’t resist as the Pokémon broke down all my defenses. Though I doubted I’d get out alive my thoughts wondered to Articuno. Would it be able to escape Team Rocket’s grasp? Well, if it was always on the move it should, but I wasn’t too certain about me. Only time would tell.

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"Today is a glorious day for Team Rocket! We will accomplish what no man has ever done before; catch an Articuno!” Blared the Team Rocket Admin in charge. As his grunts listened intently, he explained how it wasn’t a legend, and how one had been localized by a ‘willing’ informant. And now they would set out to catch it. Not to try, but to succeed; after all, trying is for wimps. Not long after the speech they were told to march up the snowy mountain and search for anything that might be related to the bird, or perhaps even disclose its current location.

Just as the first Rocket boot crossed the snowline a blizzard started up, and the further they went, the more intense it got. Any sensible person would turn back, but the Admin only took it as a sign that clearly said they were getting closer to their quarry. He was right. But the question was, would they find the legendary Flying type before they were all frozen solid? As they searched on their numbers started to lessen. Several grunts had already turned back after showing signs of frostbite, others were less tough and chickened out before any signs showed at all. But the Admin would not give up and spurred the remainder of his men on to keep going.

After what seemed like hours of searching they reached a clearing in the forest. Surprisingly, the wind was not blowing faster here, but not blowing altogether. Like time had stopped. It was not the only thing surprising about the clearing. Smack bang in the center stood a massive tree, coated head to toe in ice. Needless to say, there was not one leaf or needle on it. In the very top was a nest-like structure, and resting in it was Articuno.

The Admin gasped, temporarily stumped by the view, but regained his senses and snapped at his men to get going. Hurriedly they stumbled forward through the thick snow, preparing to release their Fire type Pokémon. Pokémon they had been given especially for this mission. Just as they reached the tree a swift gust of wind came past. It was not a blizzard, for it carried no snow at all, but instead, it carried sheer cold. All the grunts were instantly turned into ice cubes, much to the shock of the Admin. Articuno rose from its nest and lowered itself to the ground to face the foolish human that had come to challenge it. Slowly but surely the Admin started to reach for his Pokéballs, hoping to catch the bird off-guard.

He was interrupted by a cry and looked up to see a second Articuno touch down on the nest. ‘Another one… they must be breeding! That must be why it’s been in the same place for such a long time! Excellent, if I catch them both the Boss will shower me with rewards!’ His hopes were dashed as they were formed, for the Articuno on the ground had noticed the human’s distraction and chose to end it then and there. Another wave of Sheer Cold passed over the clearing, freezing the Rocket just as he clasped his hand around his Pokébelt, a mad grin on his face. The bird seemed to scoff at the human’s pitiful attempt before lifting off to join its partner… and their chicks.

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I still wasn’t sure what exactly had happened, but I sure was glad it did. They were about to kill me for not telling them there were in fact two Articunos, but a sudden rumble had stopped them in their tracks. The next thing I knew was being blown aside as the base almost blew up in its entirety. I got a glimpse of something flying off through the sky – some blue streak of light – before passing out. I seem to pass out a lot lately, but when I woke up this time it was in a police station. I was again bombarded with questions, which I answered to the best of my abilities, but I was left with some questions of my own. I had been able to deduce from their foiled murder attempt that they hadn’t caught the bird, but I swore I heard them say there were two of them. And I couldn’t help but wonder what that blue light had been. Had Articuno helped me again, or was something else involved here? Either way, I was fine now and no legends had been caught, so all was well. Playing with the idea to go back to the mountain and see if there was another Articuno, I stepped outside. I found myself to be in Viridian City.

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The End.

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AN: And thus it ends. I hope you found it enjoyable. I know it has no epic battle between good and evil, but let’s face it, Articuno shouldn’t be a push-over no matter the opponent. Besides, it had other things to worry about so it ended the ‘fight’ quickly. Anyway, despite the hitcounter going up I’d like some reviews to tell me this was read. After all, as far as I know it could be an idiot that keeps bashing Refresh that makes the counter rise.

WeirdDutchGuy