Walking back to Ecruteak from Olivine City didn't take us much time at all. We still had plenty of time left in the day when we reached the familiar city.

Today was fairly overcast compared to a string of beautiful days, winds were blowing through the open fields aggressively and I could practically feel the skies ready to start raining on us.

Lillie shivered as we arrived at Ecruteak. "I didn't expect it to get so cold so fast."

"It's a pretty mild region usually but winter's coming up so outside of Olivine and Cianwood it's getting colder and colder by the day," I explained to her.

The city was flooded with people up and down the streets. They were playing games at booths, shopping, or simply enjoying the entertainment.

There seemed to be a battle going on at the center of the town. Despite the weather, everyone looked to be happy and enjoying themselves.

We looked around and found Jess and Eusine standing by the gym, chatting. "Hey! Jess! Eusine!" I shouted.

The two trainers turned to us and motioned us over. "Gold and Silver, welcome back," Eusine said.

"Wow looks like you guys knocked out west Johto like that." Jess mused. "And you've got a new friend?"

"Oh, yeah!" I gestured to Lillie. "This is Lillie! She's from Alola! We're helping her find Bill."

Eusine shook Lillie's hand. "Pleased to meet you!"

"You guys said you were looking for Bill, right" Jess confirmed. "Morty went to some presentation Bill was doing for his new invention."

"Awesome! Once he's finished we'll go check it out!" I declared.

Lillie stared at her shoes. "T-that's great. Thanks, guys." She mumbled.

Before Jess and Eusine could ask about her demeanor I changed the subject. "So, is Alex around? I want a rematch now that my team has gotten stronger!"

Jess shook her head. "No, I haven't seen him since the first day. Alex probably went east to beat his last few gyms."

I frowned. "Darn. Oh well, I'll catch him eventually."

"We should check out everything at the festival while we're here." Silver suggested.

A smile came to Eusine's face. "That's right, you haven't experienced a Rainbow Festival yet, have you? Well, come with me. I'll show you just how fantastical it gets."

Eusine took us around the town, showing us many different attractions and events taking place. There were games to play, competitions to enter, and an ongoing battle tournament.

Last night, Suicune had even made an appearance and the other Legendary Beasts were expected to show up in the coming days before the end of the ceremony.

We spent a good portion of the day checking out all of the festival's offerings before we figured Bill's conference was completed.

We found the building where Morty had gone off to and sure enough he and Bill were coming out of the building.

Morty noticed us and waved. "Oh, hello there friends."

"Good to see you again Morty!" I said as we approached them.

"Gold and Silver, it's been quite a bit. How've those Eevee been doing?" Bill asked us.

"Mine evolved into an Umbreon a little while back." Silver answered

A toothy grin game to Bill's face. "Fantastic! Nothing new, sure, but still really great!" He turned his attention to Lillie. "And is this your friend who needs my help?"

Lillie nodded. "Y-yes! Uhm I would like to t-talk with you about your t-time as a Pokémon." She said.

"Sure thing sure thing," Bill told her. "I'm starved though so let's get some food while we chat, eh?"

Lillie swallowed her nerves and put on a confident face. "Alright. Fine with me." The two of them walked off from the rest of us while talking about stuff I didn't pay attention to.

Morty spoke up once they departed. "It is good to see you both back again so soon. I take it you've already been shown the wonders of the festival?"

We nodded. "Sure have! It's really awesome!" I informed Morty.

Morty's pale skin was given the slightest tinge of red. "Thank you very much. This festival is something I spend many months planning, so it means more to me than I could describe that you all enjoy it."

I looked up at Jess and remembered what she had told me when I left. "So Jess, are you really stopping your Pokémon journey?"

Jess jumped at the sudden question before gently nodding her head. "Yeah, I am. I realized after you won that it wasn't good for me. Alex changed a lot after he lost, and a lot of his bitter attitudes rubbed off on me. I wanted to win every battle so badly... it was toxic. So I'm done, at least for now." 

We idly chatted for a little while longer. I wanted to check my Pokégear to see if Bill had contacted us but I was interrupted after taking it out of the bag.

A loud boom shook the town and a moment later a flash of light appeared far away and I involuntarily shuddered. "If I had to guess, I'd say Raikou will be making an appearance tonight given the thunder." Eusine theorized.

Jess gave him a skeptical look. "What makes you say that?"

Eusine gestured at the cloudy skies. "Ho-Oh respects this Festival and would certainly send clear skies our way. Unless there was to be an appearance from the legendary lightning beast."

I felt put on edge and Silver shifted his feet. "W-when do you think it's coming?" He asked.

Eusine shrugged. "No clue. Suicune came just before sundown, but given the lightning, it may make its entrance soon."

Just the thought of a Pokémon powerful enough to conjure lightning storms put me on edge. "W-w-will it shock us?" I sputtered as my breathing increased.

Jess glanced at me quizzingly as I began to shake. "Gold, are you ok?"

"I-I-" My head was spinning as looks of concern came to my friends' faces. I felt Silver grab hold of my shoulder and guide me to a bench where I could sit down as another thunderclap echoed through Ecruteak. I slipped the Pokégear into my pants pocket while I tried to calm myself down.

"What's going on?" Jess demanded.

Silver sighed. "When Gold and I were younger we were playing in the woods and this mysterious Pokémon appeared. Gold's Wooper started running towards it and when it was about to attack, Gold ran in between them and the Pokémon hit him instead. It was this super-strong electric type and it left him with a bunch of scars after hitting and shocking him."

The wind started to pick up and nobody said anything. Eusine was the first to break the silence. "Do you know what this Pokémon was?"

I shook my head, feeling the panic subside a little now that I was seated. "We tried describing it but nobody could recognize it. Plus, I barely remember that day."

"Hm." Eusine put a hand to his forehead. "That's quite worrisome. It seems as though you've been traumatized from that encounter. And I don't blame you."

Another lightning bolt struck the earth. Closer to us this time. I put my hands on my knees and looked up. My friends were surrounding me.

Behind them, a large group of about 10 people dressed in black moved past us hurriedly. I tried to think about what I had just seen but another thunderclap roaring through the town distracted me.

"We should get you out of here," Morty posited. "Ideally, out of the town. But at best we shouldn't remain outdoors. It sounds like Raikou will be appearing soon."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "I-I'm fine. Just gotta get out of here is all." My heart wouldn't stop racing despite how hard I tried to calm myself.

We started walking down the street and past the Burned Tower where a large crowd had gathered. "That's probably where Raikou is going to appear," Eusine explained when he noticed my staring.

I noticed the group of ten again. This time they had spread out around the perimeter of the tower's entrance.

I was about to point them out when another bolt of lightning touched down, this time in front of us on the tower.

The burst of light revealed the group to each have Poké Balls in their hands. It was then I realized who they were. The light died down and the Pokémon that had attacked me stood before us on the tower.

It looked down at us imposingly. Lightning crackled between its body and a low growl emanated from the electric beast.

Eusine looked up in awe. "Raikou." He breathed.

Silver's jaw dropped. "T-that's the Pokémon that attacked Gold." I felt paralyzed as I stared up at Raikou.

I was jolted back to life by the sudden appearance of two Golbat and a Nidoking. The hulking purple mass stood next to one of the people in all black. It was Team Rocket.

"What's going on here?" Morty demanded, running over to them.

The Team Rocket members ignored him. "Mean Look!" Two voices shouted Raikou seemed to realize it was under attack. It tried to flee but the two Golbat used a move that kept it from escaping.

"Team Rocket!" Silver gasped, springing into action. The Nidoking lumbered forward and two of the grunts engaged Morty in a battle.

Lightning continued to strike down around us but I couldn't stand still any longer. A Pokémon was in danger. I reached for my belt and called out Eevee.

"What do they think they're doing?" Eusine wondered as we ran closer to the tower.

We were stopped by three of the members. One of them was dressed similarly to Proton from the Ruins. He had purple hair that curled on his forehead. "Can't let you kids go any further, we've got a Pokémon to nab." The two grunts began battling Jess and Eusine.

I looked at Silver. "I'll deal with this guy, you've gotta stop that Nidoking." He told me.

I swallowed my fears and ran on ahead with Eevee by my side. The man and his Nidoking were now close to Raikou. It fired electricity at the two only for Nidoking to absorb it all.

"Eevee use Quick Attack!" I said as I ran between the legendary beast and the Nidoking. His trainer was shrouded in darkness but had an imposing demeanor to him.

Eevee threw herself at the beast to little avail. "Don't bother, trainer. I have no interest in battling you." He spoke curtly and with force. "Nidoking, Hyper Beam." The man pointed at Raikou who still couldn't escape.

I tried to think of something to do. Whatever it was, I couldn't just stand around this time. I stuffed my remaining Poké Balls into my bag and tossed it aside.

Against my better judgment, I hurried up the stairs and into the tower just under where Raikou stood. "I'm not going to let you hurt Raikou!" I declared.

I noticed all of my friends were still stuck in battles, Bill ran up to us and nearly fell over. "Team Rocket? What in the name of Arceus are you guys doing?

Lillie looked up and saw me in the tower. "Gold! Get down from there!" She shrieked.

"Kill him." The Nidoking's trainer ordered. Fear welled up inside of me as the Nidoking changed its target and fired the beam.

I braced for impact, feeling the extreme electric energy all throughout my body. Just when I was sure the attack would hit me, it didn't. I looked to see that the attack instead hit the lower levels of the tower.

The old building began to shake and groan under the stress. I looked to see what had stopped Nidoking from killing me and found a pink Pokémon with a long tail and slender limbs standing in between us with its eyes glowing blue. "Eevee? Did you evolve?" I asked in shock.

In all the commotion, Raikou seemed to grow increasingly enraged. The building began to collapse but when I tried to run away I was flooded with electricity. It seemed as though Raikou was shocking the tower in a panic.

That was my last thought before I blacked out and the tower crumbled around me.