The Mew card fluttered to the marble floor.

"Just as the phoenix arises from the ashes, so shall I."

---

"Where shall we go now, Brock?" Misty asked as she, Brock, and Ash stood in the middle of a forest just south of Goldenrod City.

"Let's see," Brock studied the map. "Ecruteak City isn't too far away, but there's always Olivine City or Blackthorn."

"I just want to go wherever the closest Pokémon gym is so I can get another Johto League badge!" Ash exclaimed as he admired the latest badge he had won.

"Pika!" Ash's electric Pokémon agreed.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Why did I know that you going to say that?"

"Right now it looks like we'd better head for cover," Brock said as he folded the map and pointed skyward. "It looks like a storm is headed this way."

"That's odd," Misty commented as she studied the horizon. "There's lightning, but no dark clouds. Just that one lone white one."

Suddenly there was a huge thunderclap and the cloud vanished to reveal a huge, yellow, doglike Pokémon. The three of them watched in amazement as the Pokémon descended from the sky and disappeared over the hill in front of them.

"What in the world was that?" Misty exclaimed as the three stared in disbelief as the scene they had just witnessed.

"Looks like a Pokémon," Brock said.

"Let me see if Dexter knows anything," Ash said as he whipped out his Pokédex.

"Raikou. The legendary Pokémon of lightning. A unique Pokémon whose appearance is heralded by storm clouds and lightning."

"Wow! A Raikou! I've gotta see one of those close up," Ash said excitedly. "Let's go!"

Ash took off running down the path toward the spot where they had watched Raikou descend.

"Ash, wait!" Misty and Brock hurried after their friend, who was already halfway down the path.

---

"Aarghhh!"

With a cry, the Aerodactyl flew down from the sky and swooped at the man and woman who were observing its descent.

"Oh my goodness, it's so realistic!" Delia Ketchum exclaimed as the robotic Pokémon buzzed over her head.

"Pretty impressive, isn't it?" Professor Oak smiled as the fake Aerodactyl whizzed by. The Prehistoric Pokemon Museum at the Ruins of Alph was opening the following day, and he had been able to convince the curator to let him and Delia have a sneak peek. Since he had invited Ash and his friends to the opening, Professor Oak had also invited Delia along so she could be reunited with her son. It had been weeks since she had last seen him.

A tall young man in a lab coat came up behind them. "What do you think?"

"It's amazing. I'm impressed."

"Delia Ketchum, I'd like to introduce you to a former student of mine. This is Foster." The two shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Ketchum. Professor Oak told me that you're Ash's mother."

"Yes, I'm so excited about seeing my baby again. I just can't wait." The three of them headed down the hall.

"Normally, we would be pretty busy here," Foster explained as they entered the control room. "But everyone else is busy getting ready for tomorrow's opening, so I'm afraid there's not much to see today."

"What are these?" Delia asked as she wandered over to the multiple television screens on the far wall.

"They're security cameras," Professor Oak explained. "But we also use them for observing Pokémon in the grounds and waters surrounding the area. That way we won't disturb them."

"I've got some business to attend to back at the excavation site. You know your way around here, Professor, so I'll leave you two alone."

"Nice to meet you, Foster," Delia said as the young scientist left. "He seems like a nice young man."

"He's also a brilliant scientist," Professor Oak remarked as he picked up one of the fossilized bones that lay on the nearby laboratory bench and started piecing together a skeleton. "One of my best students."

Delia turned back to the television screens. One in particular had caught her attention.

"Professor, what's this Pokémon with the blue tendrils?"

"Oh, it's probably one of the Omanyte or Omastars that live in the reservoir. They're actually fairly common around here."

"I didn't realize that they were so big."

"Well, compared to other Pokémon they're not really that big." He was so intent on piecing together the ancient Pokémon skeleton that he was only paying half-attention to what she was saying. "The lack of an internal skeleton and the curved shell on their back limits their growth."

"What curved shell?"

Puzzled, he turned around to see what Delia was talking about. His eyes opened wide in disbelief as he saw a huge, blue, doglike Pokémon with purple and white streamers emanating from its head on the television screen that she was watching.

Professor Oak dropped the bone he was holding. "Suicune."

"Suicune?"

"It's the legendary Pokémon of water. Supposedly it has the ability to purify reservoirs." Transfixed by the image, he wandered over to the screen where Delia stood. "It's also extremely elusive. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it."

"It's beautiful. I'd love to see what it looks like up close."

He had been thinking the same thing. "Let's go, then."

---

"I don't get it! Where is it?" Ash was frantically combing through the bushes where they saw Raikou descend from the sky. "It landed right here."

"Maybe it ran away after it landed," suggested Brock.

"Yeah, but don't you think we would've seen it if it did that? That thing was huge!" Ash was now looking up into the trees.

"What are you going to do if we find it, Ash?" Misty asked. "Capture it?"

"Yeah! If I had a Raikou…"

"Hold on, Ash," said Brock. "First of all, Raikou is huge, not to mention dangerous."

"That's okay. Since it's an electric type, then your Onix should be able to handle it. If not, then Bulbasaur or Chikorita can take care of him."

Misty spoke up. "Wait just a second, Ash. Didn't you listen to what Dexter said? Raikou is unique. That means that there's only one in the entire world. You can't just go around capturing it. Besides, if it's one of the legendary Pokémon, it's probably pretty powerful. Remember Entei?"

Ash stopped in his tracks. "Oh." A few months ago Ash had nearly been killed while trying to rescue his mom from Entei, the legendary dog of fire. "I guess you're right, Misty."

"Thank you."

"But I'd still like to see what it looks like up close, anyway," Ash took off down the path.

Misty shook her head. Sometimes Ash was so stubborn that it drove her crazy.

---

Professor Oak winced as he helped Delia out of the jeep.

"Stupid lumbago," he muttered under his breath. He was going to have to take some aspirin when they got back to the lab; the bumpy ride to the reservoir had aggravated his back.

"Where would Suicune be?" Delia asked as she looked around. "Oh, wait. Never mind."

Across the reservoir, in plain view, stood Suicune. The Pokémon dipped its paw into the water and the reservoir suddenly turned sparkling clear.

Professor Oak grabbed Delia's arm and they quickly ducked behind some bushes to watch the Pokémon.

"If it knew we were here, it would disappear in an instant," he whispered to her.

Suddenly, Suicune raised its head and looked around.

"It must sense that we're here," Professor Oak said.

"What's that noise?" Delia asked. She heard a high-pitched whine that seemed to be getting louder. As she turned in the direction of the noise, she saw a gold sphere about the size of a Poké ball hover over Suicune.

Sensing danger, Suicune turned to run. Suddenly a flash of white light shot out of the sphere and enveloped the Pokémon. Suicune let out a roar of pain as the light surrounded it. Arching its back, it tried desperately to escape. Professor Oak and Delia watched in horror as Suicune fell to the earth and lay still. The light disappeared and the gold ball flew back into the sky from where it came.

"What just happened, Professor?" Delia asked in disbelief.

"I don't know, but that Pokémon is hurt. I've got to see if I can help it in any way." With Delia at his heels, Professor Oak ran to the injured Pokémon's side. He knelt down beside Suicune and placed his hand on the Pokémon's massive chest.

"Is it…" Delia asked as she held her breath.

"No, it's still alive."

"Who in the world would do such a thing?" she said angrily.

"I don't know, Delia, but…" Professor Oak stopped in mid-sentence as a dark shadow fell across them. He looked up in amazement to see that above them hovered another gold ball much like the first one that had stunned Suicune. The only difference was that this one was the size of a small house. Before he had time to react, a flash of white light enveloped the three of them. Searing pain like a Pikachu's thundershock magnified by ten tore through his body. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Delia's body being jerked by the electric shock. The electric shock had effectively paralyzed him, so he was helpless to rescue her or the Pokémon. Finally, the pain was too intense and he lost consciousness.