Welcome to Journey of a Thousand Legends, the sequel to Journey of a Thousand Words. Plenty of the old characters are going to return as well as new ones. Enjoy!

Torch

Torch, the Torchic took a deep breath and looked up at the huge wall before her. In the short span of a year, a city was built in front of the castle. The huge golden gates were open and Pokemon were streaming in and out.

Torch looked behind her, to see her dad, a Blaziken, ogling the huge wall as well. "Wow," he said, "This wasn't here a year ago."

Torch sighed, "Okay. Can we go now? I need to meet Mud by noon and I don't want to be late."

"Alright," laughed Blaze, "Wouldn't want to make you late for your one year reunion."

Torch ignored the impulsive to attack Blaze with a peck attack. Instead she used the energy to hurry through the gates and into the now cobblestone streets of the city. Since it hasn't been named yet, everyone just called it, The City. The buildings around her were created from many different colored bricks and much to her delight, she saw some shiny Pokemon on her way to the castle.

"There's a lot of shiny Pokemon around," commented Blaze, following close behind his daughter.

"Of course," said Torch proudly, "Blade is working hard to make sure shiny Pokemon are treated the same as regular Pokemon. Hmmm. I wonder if I'll see Kit around…"

Torch fell silent as the castle loomed closer. The castle seemed brighter somehow. Maybe it had something to do with the bright white paint on it. When they reached the drawbridge, Torch turned to her dad and waited.

"Oh!" exclaimed Blaze, "You want me to leave now don't you? Right. I'll leave you to meet your friends. I'll be in that inn I told you about." With a wave, he headed back in the direction of the city.

"Torch!"

Torch turned and was almost barreled over by a Mudkip. "Mud! It has been a long time!"

Mud backed up a step, her eyes flushed with happiness. "I missed you as well."

"Let's go get the third member of our trio shall we?"

Torch and Mud crossed the draw bridge. They were about to enter the castle, but the Poliwrath guard stepped in front of them. "What are you here for?"

"We are here to see the King," explained Mud.

"The King is not having audiences right now," the Poliwrath crossed his arms and stared down the two Pokemon. He seemed to be taunting them.

"Actually I think he will see us," snapped Torch, getting angry, "We happen to be close friends with him."

"That's what they all say," said the Poliwrath, "Now leave before I use a water gun on you."

"I'd love to see you try," threatened Torch.

"Torch," whispered Mud, looking back and forth between the Poliwrath and Torch. It would be a problem if they got into a fight here. "Please stop. We can come back later."

"No way!" complained Torch, "We came all this way. I am not going home without seeing Blade."

The Poliwrath picked up Torch by her head feathers, "How dare you call the King in such a matter? Show respect."

"Never!" cried Torch, trying to get out of the Poilwrath's grip. Her feathers felt like they were coming off.

"What is going on here?" came a voice from within the castle. A voice, Torch recognized.

"Hydra!" she called, "It's me Torch. I'm being attacked by the security guard here!"

Hydra came out from the castle. "Put her down," he ordered. The Poliwrath obeyed. "You return to your post and why are you two here?"

"We came to see Blade," explained Torch.

"Stop calling him without his title," snapped the Poliwrath.

"They are allowed to leave out his title because they are his close friends," explained Hydra, "Now return to your post while I take these two to see King Blade."

The Poliwrath ran back to the draw bridge while Hydra took the two young Pokemon into the castle. While they were walking down the mazes of hallways, Hydra talked about how he got a son and he was named Haile after Rivera's father. Torch didn't bother listening since she already heard some of this conversation before but Mud was interested. She kept asking questions about the kid.

"So….," began Torch, "Where is Lena?"

Hydra thought for a second, "I think she should be with the King right now."

"What!" cried Torch, "Then let's go faster!" Torch began walking ahead of Hydra.

"You just missed the door," informed Hydra.

Torch turned around and ran to the door where Hydra and Mud were waiting. "I meant to do that," said Torch.

Hydra chuckled and knocked. "There is someones here to see you." Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door.

Blade

Blade was removing his crown, while Lena was putting his cape away, when Hydra opened the door. Blade's mouth dropped in shock as Mud and Torch entered his bedroom.

"Wow," said Mud, looking around the spacious room. A huge window overlooking the city, spread sunlight on his huge bed. The rest of the room was dotted with sculptures and other works of art.

"Lena," said Torch, "What a pleasant surprise. Didn't know you would be here."

Lena smiled smugly, "I never thought you would show up. I was thought you gave up and left."

"Lena," barked Hydra, "Come on. Let's leave the three alone."

"Okay Hydra," sighed Lena, putting down Blade's cape. "See you Blade."

Torch waited until the door closed behind Lena to finally look at Blade. "So? How have you been? Loving the life of a King?" She went over to his bed and began jumping up and down on it.

Blade ignored the question and asked the most obvious one. "What are you two doing here?"

"We're here to celebrate your one-year King anniversary," explained Mud, "The two of us planned to meet again in a year, from the day you were crowned King. We thought it would be a nice surprise."

Blade smiled. The life of a King was hard and he had a lot of things to change after Mewtwo's rein but it was still great to see his friends after so long. "Well. I am happy to see you two."

"Great," said Torch, still jumping on his bed, "Otherwise this trip would have been for waste. So? What shall we do?" She flipped and jumped off the bed.

"King Blade!" The door slammed open and a Dragonite was standing there.

"Ryu!" cried Torch, "Long time no see!"

"Hi Torch. Mud. King Blade. There is a problem."

"What is it?" asked Blade, suddenly all business.

"Come with me."

The three Pokemon followed Ryu outside. Ryu pointed to something in the sky. Something fiery and red was heading in their direction, giving Blade, Torch and Mud a sense of déjà vu.

"Not again," groaned Torch.