Falkner Gaiden

**Falkner Gaiden**is the fifth Gaiden sidestory in the expanded universe of *Pokémon Reset Bloodlines.*It is also the first sidestory written by Ander Arias and the seventh sidestory overall.

It stars future Violet City Gym Leader Falkner, who sets out on a quest to find the legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh, as part of his personal goal to eventually catch every Flying-type Pokémon. His search eventually leads him to Mt. Silver where he encounters the legendary bird itself, but he quickly will learn first hand what happens when you underestimate the power of a Legendary Pokémon.

## Plot

At the Violet City Gym, Falkner watches from the stands how his father, Walker, prepares to take on a rookie trainer named Dan for his second badge, confident that his father will beat him easily, like he'd done plenty of times with many others who thought they could win just by type advantage. According to his father "Those who underestimate the power of bird Pokémon are in for a rude awakening".

Walker's Spearow easily defeats Dan's Geodude using Steel Wing, and despite falling to Dan's Mareep, the latter falls to Walker's Pidgeotto, who uses Mud Slap to counter its natural weakness. When Dan is left shocked at his defeat, Walker approaches him and asks how long he's had the two Pokémon he just used. Dan confesses he caught them recently and thus hasn't taken his time to properly train them yet. Upon learning Dan had other Pokémon in reserve that he didn't use, Walker advises him that he shouldn't rely only on type advantage to beat Gym Leaders, and use his strongest Pokémon if he can. Dan accepts his defeat and thanks Walker for the advice before leaving, and Falkner then congratulates his father for the victory, feeling that it lifted his spirits before he departed. Walker reminds him to remember coming back for his next birthday ten months from now, as he will give him the gym's leadership as his gift so he can retire and travel the world. Falkner, for his part, has gathered his own Dream Team, formed by his Pidgeot, Dodrio, Noctowl, Honchkrow, Altaria and Xatu, and departs on his Pidgeot's back for a quest of his own: to find and capture the Legendary Birds.

Heading for Route 36, he meets up with his contact: the eldest of the five Kimono Sisters of Ecruteak, Satsuki. After chatting for a bit and talking about their own family legacies, the two begin to discuss the reason why they met up: information about Ho-Oh and Lugia. Satsuki first asks if Falkner's interest in them is purely academic or he intends to catch them. Falkner replies that it's the latter, although he admittedly hasn't decided what he'll do afterwards once he succeeds. Satsuki warns him that Legendary Pokémon are beings of great power who shouldn't be taken lightly, to which Falkner replies that he wants to catch them as part of his personal goal of becoming a Pokémon Master, but he doesn't intend to use them to win leagues or becoming a criminal such as Twenty Gyarados Bill. Convinced that his intentions aren't evil, Satsuki agrees to help him in his quest, and says they'll head for her hometown. Before going on foot, Falkner offers to give her a lift on Pidgeot's back to get there much faster. Satsuki feels unsure, but ultimately accepts, and the two fly to Ecruteak City.

They reach their destination, and Satsuki clearly did not enjoy flying on Pidgeot's back as much as Falkner does. The two agree to meet the next morning at Satsuki's home next to the dance theater. He gets challenged by a couple of unhinged-looking trainers using Ghost-type Pokémon, whom he easily defeats, but decides to turn in for the night out of a creepy feeling coming from them, not wanting to be out during night hours.

As soon as the first rays of sunlight come out in the morning, Falkner knocks on the Kimono Sisters' house, much to their annoyance at being woken up so early. Satsuki invites him for breakfast, and the rest of her sisters waste no time in taking a few jabs at him for waking them up. The conversation quickly goes to the sisters asking Falkner about this project Satsuki is helping him with, which he quickly explains. After breakfast, Satsuki and Falkner head for the Ecruteak History Museum, where they're greeted by the museum's curator, Koji, who is also a sage. Koji explains that if he's coming to learn about Ho-Oh and Lugia, he's come to the right place, though Falkner seems disappointed about the scarce and mostly speculative information the museum seemingly has. Koji makes Falkner an offer; he's willing to share a certain item that might help him in his quest, provided that he goes to the deepest chamber of the Burned Tower and tells him what he found there. Despite Satsuki's protests, Falkner accepts the proposal, and the two head for the Burned Tower.

Half an hour later, Falkner and Satsuki are exploring the ruined building, much to the latter's discomfort, though she knows Falkner needs a witness that he did what he was told. As soon as they enter, the wooden floor under them collapses and they fall to the lower floor, though fortunately they don't get injured. Having no other way out, the two continue to explore the ruins as they make their way through some Zubat and Rattata pestering them, until they make it to the final chamber. There, they see a mural depicting Ho-Oh and Lugia, with a human figure between them, and some sort of word written in a language Falkner does not understand. Deciding this must have been what Koji wanted Falkner to see, the bird trainer brings out his Xatu to teleport them out and back to the museum safely.

Back at the museum, Koji explains to Falkner that the word in the mural means "worthy", which Falkner takes it to mean that only a worthy human could catch Ho-Oh and Lugia. Koji accepts it might be a possible interpretation, and asks Falkner if he considers himself worthy. Falkner answers he cannot judge himself worthy, unless he carries on with his quest; the way he sees it, if he succeeds, it means he's worthy, and if he fails, he's not. Koji accepts Falkner's answer, and presents him a Rainbow Wing, a multicolored feather dropped by Ho-Oh that can be used to track the legendary bird, allowing him to keep it on the condition that he keeps it safe, does not sell it, and once he has no more use of it, either because he succeeded in his quest or abandoned it, he returns it. Falkner thanks Koji for the gifts, and promises he will fulfill his end of the deal, and leaves. Meanwhile, Satsuki wonders whether it was a good idea giving Falkner that feather, which Koji replies the boy has drive, and the feather is better off being useful rather than gathering dust in a closet. Satsuki comments Morty won't be happy if he finds out about this, and Koji remarks that Morty just stays and wait, and he would have given it to him had he asked.

A month later, Falkner successfully tracks Ho-Oh using the Rainbow Wing to the top of Mt. Silver, who appears in person before him. Falkner openly challenges the legendary bird and declares he will catch and tame it, and sends his Pidgeot to deliver his strongest Sky Attack. The Guardian of the Skies, however, remains unfazed, and angered at being so foolishly challenged by a mere human, flaps its wings sending a hot air current that knocks Pidgeot and Falkner down the mountain, to what seems his certain death.

Falkner wakes up several days later in a Pokémon Center, still alive but with severe burn wounds and broken bones. A Nurse Joy informs him that his Pidgeot brought him to the Silver City Pokémon Center, since the hospital is working on a skeleton crew. When the nurse inquires as to how he ended up in that condition, Falkner limits himself to say he picked a fight he had no chance of winning and paid dearly for it. The nurse advises him to be more careful next times, and he assures he always learns from his mistakes.

It takes him a week to recover enough to leave, and after heading to Mt. Silver again, Falkner finds Ho-Oh is gone, leaving only the charred ground as proof of their comically short fight. As he watches the view of almost the entire Johto region from there, Pidgeot tries to apologize to his master for failing, but Falkner assures him that the one who failed was him, for thinking they could just attack Ho-Oh and win easily. Assuring Pidgeot they'll have a rematch one day, he ponders about how he underestimated Ho-Oh, and recalls his father's words once more "Those who underestimate the power of bird Pokémon are in for a rude awakening".

## Continuity

* This Gaiden sidestory takes place five years before **"Of Starters and Spearow: The New Reality."**
* First appearances of Falkner, Walker, Dan, the Ecruteak Kimono Sisters: Satsuki, Sumomo, Tamao, Koume and Sakura, Koji, and Ho-Oh.