Part 1
"Bi, biii!"
A nymph-like Pokémon danced on the wind without a care in the world. This wasn't particularly abnormal for the Voice of the Forrest, and its woodland friends greeted it in their various cries.
Refreshed by their innocent joy, it swam through the air at top speed, carrying itself faster and faster until all was a blur of green. The creature felt it could scatter the wind with its wings; What did it matter their size? The scent of pine littered the air. Drops of sunlight dabbed themselves across the branches, the ground, anywhere. Everywhere.
Home. The feeling enveloped the tiny being until it was gloriously overwhelmed! "CELE - !"
"Got that?"
"Bi?" It stopped suddenly, blinking its enormous blue beauties. Had it just heard a person speaking? It swiveled its head and saw a clearing to the right. The little thing cautiously floated to the edge, peering out from behind a large tree trunk. Four people stood in the field. The one with short red hair was apparently the one who held that unmistakable voice: thick but taut.
"Remember," she said to the blue-haired girl. "One of the most important aspects of Pokémon Contests is direction. Direction of the moves to a specific point to get the best result, and direction of the audience's attention."
The smaller one's face lit up. "Wow, Zoey! That's cool! I never thought about it like that."
Zoey smiled. She wished she could mentor Dawn forever. It was moments like these that she cherished more than anything. When her secrets gave Dawn an epiphany, nothing could compare to that adorable flare of life in her eyes, the admiration, the connection.
"So Dawn, why don't'cha show her your routine you've been working on?" piped up the guy in the hat. His squinty-eyed comrade nodded in agreement.
"Well..." She shyly put a hand to the back of her head. "It's not exactly at its best..." she admitted. Guys, I don't wanna look lame in front of Zoey. Or at least not more lame than I already usually do. She knew Zoey was one of the most patient, accepting people ever, but it wasn't exactly her dream to screw up right in front of her.
"Go on," the tomboy encouraged.
"Huh?"
"Like Ash and Brock said. Just try." Zoey winked. "No need to worry, right?"
Dawn couldn't help but smile. Zoey always knew what to say. "Right," she replied confidently. Both girls took a step back. She looked at Piplup. "Alright Piplup, time to show her that routine we've been starting."
"Piplup!" The tiny penguin jumped a couple feet ahead.
"Now!"
"Pip-lup!" Piplup created a whirlpool in front of it.
"Next move, go!" cried the young coordinator.
"Pip-lup-lup-lup!" Bubble beam shot from its beak, entering the funnel. But the moment the bubbles hit the water, they popped. They sparkled as they popped, but it still wasn't what she was going for. She sighed.
"Hmm." Zoey's head tilted downward slightly, and she must have been lost in thought. Her eyes had that faraway look.
"Why doesn't it work?" moaned Dawn beside her.
"Lup..." her Pokémon agreed.
Zoey perked up and looked at her hard. "Dawn," she said curtly. Dawn looked at her curiously. "Keep in mind what I said about direction. Think of every step. Where should you have placed everything to make it better?"
Dawn looked a bit surprised, then puzzled as she went back and mused over every detail she could. She slowly started putting something together. "...Well, whirlpool is in the center, and so is bubblebeam..." Zoey nodded slowly, watching her figure it out. "And when Piplup uses bubblebeam, the bubbles pop. So... Maybe I need to move something... Maybe..." She jerked upright once more. "I've got it! I'm gonna try again!"
She and Piplup tried the routine once more, this time pointing bubblebeam to the edge of the whirlpool. The wind from the whirlpool grabbed the bubbles and pulled them in. Once in, they popped, and the bursts of water from them flew out from inside the cyclone, giving the appearance that the whirlpool was spraying sparkles. Dawn's eyes and smile grew and Zoey grinned in satisfaction.
Once the display had subsided, Piplup ran over to its trainer, who gladly let it jump into her arms. She spun in a circle giggling before setting it down. Zoey tried to hide how sweet she thought it was, but allowed herself to watch with a whole-hearted smile. She closed her eyes to savor the moment, so she didn't notice when Dawn danced over to her.
"Zoey!"The redhead's eyes flew open at the sudden ecstatic voice. "Thank you so much! I can't believe it worked!" Dawn calmed herself down a little then. "Well, actually, I can." Her smile widened. "Because you helped me!"
Zoey studied her expression carefully. Was there something deeper she was sensing? She brushed off the thought. No, I'm probably just imagining it, she thought. Nonetheless, there had been a spark whether they wanted to admit it or not. There was always a spark.
"Pika?"
Everyone looked at Pikachu, whose ears were twitching madly. "What is it, Pikachu?" asked Ash.
Pikachu pointed towards a large tree. "Pikachu!" The gang turned their attention to the tree. They watched in hushed curiosity. After a moment of slight hesitation, a Pokémon came into view. Ash, Pikachu and Brock perked up immediately.
"Celebi!" the boys cried at once.
"Pika-pi!"
Celebi looked at them strangely at first, but quickly remembered the old friends. "Bi, bi!" it cried with a smile. It zipped over to Ash and Pikachu, patting Pikachu on the head. "Bi!" it said in hello.
"Kachu!"
"Hi, Celebi, great to see you again!" said Ash.
Brock crossed his arms with a smile. "Yeah, hey!"
Celebi nodded to them. "Bii!"
Dawn and Zoey watched the interaction. Both were a little stunned by the unspoken history of the unexpected guest, but Zoey had done her research.
"Wait, isn't that the Legendary Pokémon Celebi? As in the Voice of the Forrest?" Her mouth remained agape.
Dawn turned to her quickly. "What!? Um, Ash?"
He nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, we ran into Celebi before once. There was this kid named Sammy who'd been accidentally dragged 40 years into the future by Celebi."
"That's right! Celebi time travels!" Zoey remembered. Dawn looked at the legendary with a new light spinning in her eyes.
Brock continued. "Mhmm, and Ash and Celebi got to be good friends, and Pikachu too."
"Cool," Zoey breathed.
"Cool is right!" exclaimed Dawn. She stepped forward, introducing herself to the cute little creature. "Hi there, my name is Dawn!"
"And I'm Zoey," she said, stepping closer calmly.
Celebi looked back and forth between the two for a moment or two with no specific emotion on its face. Dawn smiled bigger and tilted her head hopefully. Suddenly, Celebi squealed and flew in a circle over them, making Dawn giggle with delight. Zoey smiled but arched an eyebrow. What did that mean?
"Wow!" Brock exclaimed. Everyone looked at him questioningly. Without being asked, he explained. "Pokémon are often more in tune to body language and emotion, and Celebi seems to have picked up something really strong from you two." Dawn blinked, and she tried to hold it in as she felt herself blushing, though why she was blushing she didn't know. Zoey, on the otherhand, held a poker face.
"What is it, Dawn?" asked Ash.
She didn't know how to answer. Frankly, she didn't know what it was. She searched her mind frantically for an explanation. "Uh, I was just thinking... Maybe it's picking up on us because of the training I'm doing." She looked up at Celebi and called its name to get its attention. It buzzed a foot or so in front of her when she addressed it. "Celebi, did you see me and Piplup practicing our contest moves?" she said uncertainly. She hoped the answer was yes.
Celebi nodded slowly. "Bi..." Zoey furrowed her brow. The way Celebi had answered that made it sound like that wasn't the actual reason. But Dawn hugged it in relief.
"See?" she said a bit too loudly. "That's why!" Zoey narrowed her eyes. The girl was trying to convince herself, too. She didn't say anything, though.
Suddenly, Celebi tugged on her arm, as though it had just gotten a wonderful idea. "What is it?" she asked. The Pokemon only tugged more frantically. "Do you want us to follow you?" She started walking in the direction it was pulling and everyone began following. This made Celebi stop. It shook its head in obvious frustration. "What's wrong?" she tried again. Celebi then seemingly gave up.
It flew up into the air a bit higher and closed its eyes. When it opened them, they were emanating with a mysterious blue glow - and so were Dawn and Zoey! The girls began levitating, odd forces pushing them up from the earth.
While both were shocked, Dawn began to grow frantic. "Wh - What's happening!?"she practically screeched. Zoey only stared in silent terror.
Smiles grew on the boys below.
"Celebi's using psychic!" said Brock.
Ash chimed in happily. "Hey, I remember me and Sammy getting to fly with Celebi, too! Don't worry, it's fun!"
Dawn and Zoey looked at each other and smiled with faint blushes painting their faces. It wasn't everyday that you got to fly with your... best friend... They began soaring through the sky, weaving in and out of each other's paths like they were part of an intricate flying ballet, all the while giggling together for no reason besides pure, simple joy. Celebi looked quite pleased with itself. Until it decided to do something more.
A ball of green light faded into existence, lightning-like power crackling across it as it widened, and eventually hollowed out into a hole in the air. Everyone in the group stopped, gawking at the magnificent display. "Bi bii!" Celebi chimed gleefully. Before anyone could do anything about it, it flew inside and used the psychic hold it had on Dawn and Zoey to drag them with it.
Piplup gasped. "Wait, Celebi, no!" Ash cried. But it was too late: the magical gate of light had collapsed in on itself, leaving no trace that anything unusual had even happened at all. The four of them - Piplup, Pikachu, Ash and Brock - stared in horror at the empty spot where the portal had been not two second ago. "...Where did they go?"
