Appendix

Rio smiled at the camera, adjusting several slips of paper on the table in front of him. "Hello!" he spoke into the microphone, wincing as the sound system gave out a loud squeal.

"Rio!" Spirit growled, paws over his ears.

"It's not my fault…"

Spirit sighed and pushed him out of the way. "Yes, yes, hello and all that," he said into the microphone, "Rio was going to do this presentation, but I just decided that was a stupid idea."

"Hey!" Rio said in indignation.

"Anyway," Spirit said, moving right along, "The time has come for us all to bid you goodbye."

"A very fond farewell," Nine corrected gently.

"Yeah sure," Spirit said, rolling his eyes, "But before we go, we've looked over all the questions you submitted and are now going to answer them all! So, let's get started, shall we?"

Nine sighed. "You're incorrigible…I just hope Ruby and Soul don't inherit your sarcastic side." Spirit grinned saucily at her, drawing a small smile from her despite her stated opinion.

In a flash, Psi appeared with a list in his hand. "Nummer One!" he declared proudly, "When was 'A Spi'it's Journey' first envisioned an' what inspired it?"

"Ah, yes," Nine said, "Well, as the story goes, Rolf had a friend nicknamed Panda who really liked Pokémon. He was writing stories at the time, mostly original pieces of work, but since she liked Pokémon so much he decided to write one for her. But he wanted it to be different than the story of the games, beat eight gyms and then the elite four, so he decided to tell it from a Pokémon's perspective. From that point, it was a simple process of elimination to decide on an absol, look up where they could be captured in the games, and we were off to a grand start. So in short, this story was inspired by a friend."

"Handwritten at that," Z muttered, "And quite different than this final version you all have been enjoying."

"Yeah!" Rio said, bobbing his head in agreement, "For instance, Jessie and James weren't the leaders of Team Rocket in the original, they were just lackeys like in the show! Also, Giratina was much more of a cliché 'tie maidens to train tracks' type villain who was just annoyed at Mew for no reason. The final battle with Darkrai didn't even appear at all! And I would have been very sad if that was left out." He nodded to Psi. "Okay, Psi! Next question!"

Psi grinned. "Nummer Two! Why did you use the Pokémon you did?"

"I can answer that," Syoran said, stepping forward, wearing a trench-coat with his new badge pinned to the front. He smiled in a friendly manner and spoke. "Absol is one of Rolf's favorite Pokémon, as are the rest of my team. He also wanted to have a few unexpected choices, like Z and Psi, so that's why he chose them above some of the other Pokémon he likes. Additionally, Rio's personality came out of a desire to avoid the 'angry loner' stereotype that seems prevalent with the riolu/lucario evolution line. He figured a fun-loving, curious character was much more accurate considering these Pokémon evolve by having a high friendship level."

"As for me," Pikablu said, "I was inspired by a combination of things. Some of you may know that when early concept art of marill was released, many fans thought it would be a water-type evolution of Pikachu and called it Pika-blu. They were sorely disappointed, but the name was still out there. Then, Rolf was reading another story by an author called Shaded Skies, which featured a pikachu named Pikablu that was out to kill Celebi. That was what brought the name back to his mind. So, after a bit of thought and re-watching Mewtwo Strikes Back, he came up with a blue-cheeked, blue striped pikachu that was a clone of Red's Pika, like Mewtwo's clone of Ash's Pikachu. Of course, my…backstory is a bit different. I was a test of the cloning process used to create Mewtwo on Cinnabar Island, since this is the game universe. That's also why I got the nickname 'Rocketchu'." He shuddered. "I hate that name…"

"And since this story is in the game-verse, as it were," Lady Glacier said, picking up where her mate had left off, "We had Darkrai as a villain rather than the hero he appears as in the anime. In the Gen Four games, you can catch him with either an event item or a little…cheating. However, in order to do so, you have to go to sleep in a creepy house and Darkrai appears in your nightmare, allowing you to battle and catch him. These more evil actions are why he was slated as the ultimate villain for this story and also why he could not appear in the physical world until later." She nodded to Psi. "Next question."

"Nummer three!" Psi said with a giggle, "Wha' are you like in real life?"

The various characters exchanged glances. "Well…he's…" Spirit began, "Different?"

"He reads everything from the Sunday Comics to Aristotelian Philosophy," Syoran said.

"I suppose the best way you could describe him is…nostalgic," Nine added, "He values the past much more than most people you will meet and is hesitant to embrace each and every new thing without at least giving it some thought first. However, you probably won't notice that at first. The thing he is most well-known for is his jokes, riddles, and impromptu acting out of humorous, imaginary conversations in order to illustrate some point he is making."

"Seriously," Syoran broke in, "He can even do two different accents for the two sides!"

"You probably saw some of that duality in this story," Spirit said, "There were humorous bits and serious and/or thoughtful bits, sometimes bordering on pure philosophical dissertation."

"Nummer Four!" Psi called, "If you could be any Pokémon, wha' would it be? An' why?"

"Let's see here…" Spirit said, looking through the papers by the microphone, "Ugh, words. I can't read this. Z, would you give the answer for this one?"

Z stepped forward and picked the paper up. He cleared his throat. "Regular Pokémon: Zoroark for the ability to bring the stories in his head to life. Legendary Pokémon: Mew, because it's Mew."

Psi drew one of his knives, activated his Psycho Cut technique, and drew a big '5' in the air in front of him. "Nummer Five! Wha' will your next projects be abou'?"

"Well," Spirit said, "The first chapter of The Day of Burning Skies is already posted and Rolf doesn't want to reveal much more than what the summary and the story reveal. It is a Mystery Dungeon story, but it takes place after all three of the story arcs from the games. Also, if anyone can guess the main villain before it is revealed, Rolf has offered to guest-star a character of that person's choice in his other story, 100 Things NOT to do in Kanto, which is purely a comedy story written in the style of 'America's Funniest Home Videos'. If you read it, and we hope you do, you'll find that it is about a T.V. show that Mew thought up and created inside the Tree of Beginning in order to give himself something to do since he can't visit the Hall of Origin anymore. Expect much hilarity and stupidity, most of it being Mew's fault in some way shape or fashion."

Mew floated in, munching on a cookie. "What about me?"

"Nothing," Spirit said, "Want to answer the next question?"

"Ooh! Yes! What is it?" Mew asked excitedly.

"Nummer Six!" Psi proclaimed proudly, "What other stories do you recommend?"

"Ooh! Yay! I like this question!" Mew exclaimed happily, "Okay, so first, if you like lucarios, there is The Human Species by Shaded Skies, Rising Storm by 'Jack Storm' with some random number tacked on the end, I am Lucario by Lupyne, The Path of Aura series by GameManiac, Dimensional War by OseanSoldier. If you like romance, try Thunder and Ice by Shadow Snivy, who is also helping Rolf make sure all his jokes are funny in 100 Things NOT to do in Kanto! If you want more suggestions, try reading Keldeo the Critic by Matthew Unidost…Uni…oh just look it up…Mat and Keldeo review various stories together and their reviews are generally fair, so you can trust their judgment."

Nummer Seven," Psi said, a bit more seriously this time, "Wha' advice would you give to other writers?"

Syoran stepped up to the microphone. "Practice. Try to write at least something every day. It doesn't matter how little as long as, in the end, there is something more on that paper than there was that morning. But, even more important than that, read. Not just what other people have written on this site, but read some of the books that have been considered great for centuries. Rolf's style has been heavily influenced by Tolkien and Lewis as well as some lesser known authors, like Susanna Clarke. It is, obviously, still his own, but the best way to learn to write well is to study how other people write well." He smiled at Psi. "Okay, Psi, last question."

"Then we'd better check on the kits…" Lady Glacier said worriedly, "I hope they haven't chewed through anything yet."

"Or burned the house down…" Nine muttered.

"Nummer Eight," Psi said in a very official sounding voice, "Will there be a sequel?"

The character's exchanged knowing smiles. "That possibility is not ruled out," Spirit said, "and Rolf plans to put out a few short stories featuring some of us. However, a full-blown sequel? It's possible, but maybe not one quite so…dramatic as this one. One that focuses more on our future in the InterPol."

"And that's all for now. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask Rolf directly," Nine said with a kind smile, "Now, if you wish to read more of Rolf's writing, why don't you go on over and read the first chapter of The Day of Burning Skies? I'm sure you'll grow to love those characters just as much as you have us. And we will return, in one form or another, but for now…we must bid you…" She glanced at Spirit. "A very fond farewell." He rolled his eyes.

"Bye!" Rio called, enthusiastically.

"G'bye!" Psi said, smiling.

"See you later," Z said, sitting down and pulling out a book from under the table.

"Yep! See ya!" Pikablu shouted, giving a jaunty salute.

Lady Glacier bowed elegantly. "Farewell and safe travels."

Mew performed a mid-air somersault. "Don't forget to try peach cobbler!"

"Remember to be a light in the darkness wherever you go," Syoran said.

"Don't forget us!" Nine added.

Spirit stepped forward, hesitating a little. "Goodbye," he said, "I…well, it's been great having you all read the story of my life. I hope you enjoyed it…" He smiled softly. "If you ever stop by Viridian City, you might see us there. You're always welcome to drop by. I guess what I'm trying to say…thank you. Now, this really is the end, for now. So stay safe, dear reader. The world is dangerous, yes, but even I managed to find the light in the darkness. I'm sure you can too."