CARSON

He knew that he was supposed to stay in the secret base under the roots of the tree, but he couldn't resist. Almost as soon as Solomon had left him, he and Pyro had climbed out from the roots, and continued up the trunk of the tree. Carson Brightflame was newly eleven years old, yet he was still small enough to remain unseen, hidden amongst the leaves of the trees.

The cold rain came first, and then the battle. Carson shivered as the wind blew the branches and rustled the leaves of the branch he was sitting on. The water soaked him to the bone as it dripped down through the tree top and drenched his hair to his forehead. Pyro sat huddled on his lap as the boy shielded him from the rain.

He could see out into the bay. Carson's heart skipped a beat as he watched Solomon and his Sceptile glow a bright green, and emitted a flash of light upwards towards the sky that cut through even the darkest clouds. He felt a rush of excitement, and even Pyro was in awe as Solomon was now Sceptile, but different.

The Hero was faster than Carson would have ever believed, leaping from the dam to one of the Wailmer. Carson's mouth dropped as he noticed how Solomon almost was able to predict the enemy soldiers' moves before they happened. The Hero's reflexes were like lightning.

Carson looked down at Pyro, at the cute little Torchic sitting in his lap. Will we be like that, too? Carson wondered. He couldn't wait for the excitement.

But all the excitement died down when Solomon was on his own, in the middle of the bay. The thunder rolled again, and Carson was scared. It was then that he saw the true enemy that the Stone Giant, Regirock, had warned him about.

With each movement of the beasts' monstrous flippers the sky seemed to churn. Wherever its eyes moved the rain fell in great sheets, like a waterfall from the heavens. Carson knew that Solomon needed his help. One Hero wouldn't be enough.

Carson looked around on the beach and in the jungle, no battles were being fought on land yet. The Sootopolis ships still sat out in the bay. Occasionally, a man on a Gyarados could be seen circling them, ready to send the forward march. It was almost as if Solomon and the beast that brought the storm was a show, a display of power... He had gotten those same feelings when Starfall would go into his power-hungry tirades while sitting on the throne of his ancestors.

"We should go back under the tree," he said to Pyro nervously. "They have no hope." Carson felt guilty. If only he were older. If only Pyro was fully evolved... Solomon had said that might be the final key to unlocking the true Hero within.

He didn't move from his branch. His eyes were glued to Solomon, standing there. Move, Carson tried to coach from his perch. Do something. But it looked like the green Hero couldn't.

Carson's attention was broken by screaming. He turned away from the bay towards the jungle where the sound was coming from. Emerging beneath him were soldiers clad in grey. Carson watched in horror as they attacked Solomon's green armored soldiers, who were waiting to engage the Sootopolis men on the ships.

Carson held his breath, not daring to breath, hoping that they would never find him in his treetop sanctuary. He saw a couple of Foretree soldiers hold their ground and defend themselves... But then a shadow crept up behind them and pulled them to the ground for the men in grey to leap on top of them.

Everywhere Carson looked, the battle was being lost. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to scream out to Solomon out in the bay for help. When he saw Solomon kneeling on the head of the beast that controlled the weather, he felt once again that this would be the day that he died... Until the beast roared and a great splash of water came from where the Hero and his enemy were.

There was a whistling sound. Carson looked up. He strained his eyes from the cold rain, which had somehow turned to icy hail, and saw the Hero sailing through the air, like a little doll the towns girls used to play with back home. "He's going to crash," Carson realized. Pyro leapt from his lap and chirped. "We have to help him!"

The boy looked down at the soldiers fighting below him. They had no banners, no identity, but here and there the shadow would appear and disappear, bringing the Foretree men their doom.

Carson carefully climbed back down the tree. Luckily, there were no soldiers around him. He reached into his pants for the knife that Solomon had left him just in case. He might need it.

"There's another one!" came a voice. Carson turned to see three soldiers, two clad in grey, one in light blue that matched the flags on the ships. They instantly gave chase. Carson and Pyro wasted no time in running towards the area that Solomon had flown towards.

The mix of freezing rain and cold shards of hail fell through the trees. Lightning flashed occasionally and lit up his path. The voices of the angry soldiers were behind Carson and his Spirit Pokemon. Again a flash from the sky, and the boy felt like he had been here before. He ran and approached a familiar tree.

Suddenly, a soldier in grey stepped out from behind a tree, and reached out to grab him. Carson knew this would happen. He was too slow, and Carson's reflexes were too fast. Carson swung the knife in his hand and opened his throat. Blood sprayed across his face.

What have I done? Carson thought as his eyes began to tear up. I killed him. Pyro leapt up into his arm's consolingly. He had to do it. The soldier would have done the same to him. They had to keep running through the trees, or the soldiers would catch up to them.

The footsteps behind him died down, and Carson knew he had lost them. It didn't matter, he kept running. The cold rain still fell through the canopy of the forest, but the heat coming from Pyro's feathers kept him warm. Then he saw him.

A green Pokemon was laying down, with its eyes open. The trees around it were broken, and the dirt was displaced from where he had impacted the ground. Carson felt himself about to cry. He stepped towards the fallen Hero, and into the rain where the crash had created a small clearing in the woods.

Before he could cry out, he saw the Hero's back begin to move slightly. Up, down, up down. It was still breathing As he got closer, he saw the creature's red rimmed yellow eyes tracking him.

Carson ran up to the Hero. He was still alive.

"Get up!" Carson cried. "You have to get up!" Tears burned his face where the cold rain had frozen it.

Its notched ears perked up as he approached. Carson heard it too. Voices and heavy footsteps from the soldiers. "Enemies. Run. Be... Safe."

Carson Brightflame didn't obey. He remembered back to the last time he had seen his father: dying on the ground, coughing up blood. He knew if he left Solomon here to die, he would never see him again. "So... cold..." the Hero said.

The boy looked down at Pyro. He was desperate. "Pyro! Use your fireballs to warm him up!" The Torchic hesitated at first, but eventually obeyed its Spirit Human's command.

Little blasts of fire were shot all over the Hero's deep green body. He looked to be in pain. Eventually, however, Carson saw the frozen ice that clung to the Hero's leafy arms begin to thaw.

"Got 'eem!" came a voice from across the small clearing. Carson looked up, the soldiers and grey had found them. Just when they began to try and finish Carson and the Hero, the green lizard-like creature stood up and roared. The green jewel on his breast plate glowed brightly.

His arms were a green blur as he shot razor sharp leaves at their enemies. "Help him out, Pyro!" Carson commanded. Without question, the Torchic began to shoot fireballs at the oncoming soldiers. Soon, the grove of trees began to catch fire, even in the rain.

They just kept coming. Even though he seemed to be warming up, Solomon the Hero was still clumsy. He didn't look as agile as he had been as he leapt of the dam and rushed headstrong into the battle.

After a particularly gruesome Razor Leaf barrage, the Hero turned to Carson. "You've done all you can. Now, I need you to go and hide. Don't worry about me. We need to retreat and gather ourselves. We need to regroup."

Carson didn't want to go. He pulled back out his knife, it was still marked with the soldier's blood he had killed. "I'm a hero too! You even said it!"

The powerful Sceptile turned his head away from the soldiers. "Not yet, you're not. Do as I say now! AAARGH!" The Hero let out a roar of pain. Carson looked down. An arrow had sprouted out of Solomon's green leg. The falling rain washed the blood down the shaft and drip off of the arrowhead. Carson looked up. The soldiers were now accompanied by archers half hidden in the trees. "Run," the Hero of Nature told him.

Carson did. When he entered the jungle again, he turned back. The Hero had leapt into the fire of the burning trees. He was still moving clumsily, but still too fast for the soldiers. He was a flaming green blur as he brought an end to Carson's pursuers.

The boy and his Torchic paused as they watched from the trees. More arrows bounced off the silver armor, but then another one shot through under the Hero's arm. Carson felt a tear fall down his face as he turned and ran.

Through the trees, he tried to find another hiding place. He looked to his side, he could see the river. The dam must have broken down, for more Sootopolis ships began to make their way up the current, and towards the heart of the Foretree Kingdom. The Empress had won.

Eventually, he climbed a tree to hide and be silent. Somewhere in the distance, he heard the cries of a Heroic Pokemon and the soldiers that he was killing in his own defense. He looked out, towards the direction he had run from. The last thing he saw was a tree burning, even in the freezing rain, before all the cries ended. Silence signaled the end of the battle and silently, Carson Brightflame cried.