So the real drama begins in this chapter... well at least PART of it. The first chapter only served to cushion you readers. The other main character, Sayu, makes her appearance here. You know Cron, that old man you have to battle right before you battle Eagun in Pokémon XD? The one who's never lost to anyone except Eagun? Well, he's Sayu's grandfather. Enjoy!

XX

Kei pulled the key out of the ignition of his new motorbike after pulling up at a lush green village. A good night's sleep was all he needed before facing the Pokémon veterans. A girl about his age with long black hair and dark brown eyes stood at the entrance to Agate Village, crossing her arms. There was something about her that told Kei that he wasn't welcome in her village. "Um… excuse me," he said as nicely as he possibly could. "Do you know where Eagun's house is?" The girl looked behind her and pointed to a large tree at the top of a hill.

"Do you see that tree?" she asked. "Eagun's house is inside. Why do you want to see him?"

"I wanted to battle him," Kei explained. The girl sighed.

"He just never knows when to quit," she mumbled. "I swear, he's going to throw out his back again." She stalked off.

"Thank you!" Kei called after her.

"No problem," was her stiff reply. Kei made his way up to the tree the girl had pointed out and knocked on the door. An old lady opened it and stared at his face for several seconds before greeting him.

"Well, hello dear!" she greeted. "You look like a trainer. Did you come here to ask Eagun for a battle, by any chance?"

"Yup," Kei replied confidently. "Is he home?"

"Yes, dear," the old lady replied. "Eagun! A young trainer is here to see you!" She turned her attention back to Kei. "Why don't you come in?" Kei followed the old lady into the house, which looked like a normal home despite its outward appearance as a tree. Within seconds, an old man with long grey hair he could only assume was Eagun bounded down the stairs and skidded to a halt in front of him. Now he understood what the girl meant when she said that Eagun never knew when to give up.

"Hello!" he greeted loudly. "I've never seen you before. You are…"

"Kei Tanaka," Kei replied. "I'm from Viridian City in Kanto. I'm here visiting my uncle."

"And your uncle is…" Eagun prompted.

"Professor Krane," Kei replied shortly.

"Professor Krane!" Eagun repeated. "A wonderful man. So, shall we get this battle started?"

"Not in the house," the old lady piped up.

"Of course not, Beluh," Eagun coaxed. "I was thinking we could go over to Relic Forest. It's pretty quiet over there, so no one will disturb us." The two made their way down to said forest, where a large stone lay in the center.

"What's with that stone?" Kei asked.

"That's the Relic Stone," Eagun explained. "Celebi made this forest himself, and you can access his power through the Relic Stone." Kei's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"You'll need a Time Flute to call Celebi, though and he's only ever shown its face willingly to one person. A little boy named Eiri."

"So, you think he can call Celebi down here?" Eagun's expression suddenly turned grave.

"Eiri's dead." Kei's breath caught in his chest.

"Oh," was all he said. Eagun was quick to perk up again.

"Let's get the battle started, shall we?" he asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pokeball. He tossed it on the ground, and a Pikachu appeared in its place. Kei followed suit and sent out his Ivysaur. "Don't be fooled. I may look old, but I've still got some youth left in me." Kei smirked.

"We'll see about that," came his arrogant reply. "Ivysaur, vine whip!" Pikachu easily dodged Ivysaur's attack, and Ivysaur's vines hit the Relic Stone. Pikachu reclaimed its spot in front of the Relic Stone. "Ok then, razor leaf!" Pikachu dodged again, and the Relic Stone was forced to endure an onslaught of leaves.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Eagun yelled.

"Pika… CHU!" Pikachu yelled as electricity flew from its body. Poor Ivysaur ended up taking the hit. Kei balled his hands into fists and gritted his teeth together.

"All right then…" he practically growled. "Ivysaur, use—"

"Stop!" a new voice yelled. Both Eagun and Kei looked up to see the same girl from before standing at the entrance with her arms crossed. "What do you think you're doing?" Kei looked up at Eagun, who was scratching the back of his head and smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry, Sayu," he said. "I forgot. We'll move someplace else." The girl Sayu sighed.

"Thank you," she replied somewhat irritably.

"Come on, Kei," Eagun said as he led the confused boy out of the forest. Kei looked back at Sayu. She was sitting on the ground with her back propped up against the Relic stone, hugging her knees to her chest. Eagun didn't speak again until they were both out of the forest.

"What was that about?" Kei asked. "Who was that girl?"

"That's Sayu," Eagun explained. "My friend Cron's granddaughter."

"What's her problem?" Kei asked, flopping down on the grass.

"She's just overprotective of the Relic Stone and the entire Relic Forest."

"Why? Because of Celebi?"

"That's… part of it. Sayu's brother died in the Relic Forest, and his body's at the bottom of the lake there… You know, that boy Eiri I was telling you about before."

"The one who's friends with Celebi?"

"Yes." Kei sat up.

"What happened?" Eagun sighed.

"About twenty years ago, there was an evil criminal syndicate called Cipher. With the help of another criminal organization, Team Snagem, Cipher snagged Pokémon from trainers and turned them into Shadow Pokémon, Pokémon who had their hearts artificially shut."

"That's horrible…" Kei mumbled quietly.

"Fortunately, they were stopped by a young man named Wes and my granddaughter Rui, but they rose into power again about ten years later. A boy named Michael stopped them that time." Kei jerked his head upwards.

"Michael?" he repeated. "From the Pokémon HQ Lab?"

"That would be him," Eagun replied.

"Oh, so Jovi's brother stopped this Cipher thing?" Eagun pondered this for a minute.

"Yes. Sorry, I forgot his sister's name for a moment."

"But what does this have to do with that kid Eiri?"

"A few members of Cipher remained after their second downfall, and they were still loyal to the organization. One of them got so angry a few years after Cipher's second downfall that he came all the way down here to destroy the Relic Stone. He killed Eiri to get to it, and he would have succeeded if it weren't for Celebi."

"But why the Relic Stone? It's just a giant rock in the middle of a forest."

"Yes, but the Relic Stone has the power to purify Pokémon as well. It's not like there were any other Shadow Pokémon at that time, so that just makes what he did worse." Kei sighed. "That was almost seven years ago, but poor Sayu never really got over it. She doesn't talk to anyone, and she spends hours in the Relic Forest every day."

"That's so sad…" Kei mumbled.

"I think you can understand now why Sayu hates it when people battle in the Relic Forest."

"Yeah." Kei grunted as he stood up. "Speaking of which, shall we finish our battle?" Eagun grinned.

"Oh yes. I was looking forward to defeating you."

XX

Ok… I lied. Not much drama in this chapter either. Hopefully you'll stick around for the full story. PLEASE REVIEW!