Author's Note

I've never played Gale of Darkness (used copies go for about £70, and I don't even know if any of the ones I can find are PAL), and I can't get into any let's plays of it.1 My impressions of it are based on wikis and reviews.

1. The ones I tried were TheJWittz's (which I don't think was ever finished) and chuggaaconroy's.

Three Days of Freedom

To Terramar,

I won't be coming home for the Three Days of Freedom celebration this year. It turns out that my friend, Gallus, wanted to stay behind because he had no family to return to, so we all decided to stay at school with him!

- Silverstream

It had been a few months since the Pokémon had arrived. Since then, Queen Novo had become a little more accepting of them - enough so that Skystar had been allowed to cast more translation spells; about half of the Pokémon on Mt. Aris and in Seaquestria could be understood now, though most of them still kept away from settlements. That wasn't the only thing that had changed...

"What're the Three Days of Freedom?" asked Michael, his ears perking up.

Terramar used to read Silverstream's letters in his "bedroom", but now he read them on the ground floor. Hippogriffs' homes didn't have stairs; the "rooms" were platforms, and Terramar's was near the top. Back when Michael was an Eevee, he'd been able to carry him, but now that he'd become something called a "Vaporeon", he was too heavy. Michael had explained that most Pokémon underwent something called "evolution", which was basically a kind of permanent transformation; in his case, it was caused by touching some blue gemstone. Since Terramar transformed on a regular basis, he hadn't found this weird at all.

"It's the celebration of our freedom from the Storm King," he said. Michael tilted his head inquisitively. "You see, a few years ago, a warlord called the Storm King invaded Mt. Aris. Auntie- I mean Queen Novo was forced to turn us all into seaponies to escape from him. At least, that's what I've been told. I was quite young at the time, so I don't really remember." Terramar scratched his neck. "Anyway... The Storm King was defeated by a group of ponies, with a little help from Skystar, so Queen Novo decided to add two more days. It starts tonight."

"But what do you do, exactly?" asked Michael.

"We spend the first night in Sequestria, thanking the ocean for protecting us from the Storm King. We spend the next day on Mt. Aris, celebrating our freedom. Then on the third day, everyone parties together on land and sea, and at the end of the night, Queen Novo gives everyone presents." Terrmar glanced at the door. "Ask Skystar later. She'll explain more. Did you have anything like it where you came from?"

"Not really..." said Michael. "But it sounds cool!"

Harmonising Heights was so beautiful, so peaceful in the morning. While in theory, it was the winter, Mt. Aris was tropical, so the weather was the same all year. A cool, gentle breeze rustled the grass, while the rising sun glinted off of the streams that ran all the way down to the ocean. It was much, much nicer than anything in Orre.

It was also alive with Pokémon. A Spinarak was asleep on a hammock of silk it had sewn between two trees. The Kricketune were beginning their xylophone-like morning song, accompanied by a chorus of Swablu. It was hard to believe that a Skarmory had almost completely wrecked the place on the first day... though Michael and Mimi were also responsible.

At the same time, though... it was boring. After the initial chaos had worn off, Michael's life had become more or less the same every day. It was why he had decided to evolve into a Vaporeon; he had wanted to spend more time with Terramar. That's why the Three Days of Freedom celebration had caught his interest: it was something to break up the monotony.

Harmonising Heights was where Michael and Terramar always met up with Skystar and Mimi. Usually, Skystar would be here first... so what was taking her so long?

Suddenly, Skystar practically crash-landed in front of them, clutching a scroll of parchment in her talons. She stood up and held the scroll up with one talon, causing it to unroll.

"Oh, we have so much planned for the Three Days of Freedom celebration!" She shook the parchment excitedly, before pointing to each item on the list. "We have shell-stringing and shell-decorating and shell-tossing... Oh, so many activities that involve shells! Then on the next day... Wait, does Michael even know what it is?"

"Y-yes," stammered Terramar. "I told him earlier."

Michael hadn't been paying attention to what Skystar was saying, and was instead focused on something else. "Where's Mimi?" he asked.

"Oh, Mimi?" Skystar looked surprised. "Wait! I was so busy that I must've forgotten about her. Excuse me for a minute." With that, Skystar flew towards the palace, leaving as quickly as she came and dropping the parchment. Michael stared upwards awkwardly.

Skystar returned a few minutes later, this time clutching Mimi close to her chest before gently placing her down.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Mimi asked. Before he had evolved, Mimi had kept Michael company whenever Terramar and Skystar went to Seaquestria. For the first week or so, Mimi had been really shy, hiding from absolutely everyone, regardless of species... except for Michael. She would ask him all sorts of questions - what his life was like when he was a human, if he missed it, if he was happy the way he was now - and he would happily answer them. While it was true that he missed his old life, being a Pokémon was awesome.

Skystar crouched. "Sorry about that. I'm getting ready for the Three Days of Freedom celebration. Wait... Do you know what that is?"

"No..."

And so Michael watched as Terramar and Skystar explained it all to Mimi; the latter was way more thorough.

"Wait... Seaquestria?" asked Mimi after they had finished, looking down sadly. "That means... I can't go, then..." Michael couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He looked down in thought.

"Aww, don't be sad, Mimi. We'll tell you all about it," said Terramar.

"Besides, you can still join us on the second day!" exclaimed Skystar. "We have a few surprises planned!" She practically sung that part.

"I guess so..." Mimi sighed.

Michael raised a paw. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "How about I stay with Mimi?"

"Really?" asked Terramar, scratching his neck. "But I thought you were looking forward to this..."

"True," Michael replied, "but this day is kind of a big deal, from what you two've told me. I can't let Mimi be unhappy!"

"Well... that's your choice," said Terramar. "But if you change your mind, you can drop in any time."

That evening, Mt. Aris felt eerily deserted. It felt odd without the chattering of the hippogriffs to cover up the sound of the howling wind, as the setting sun cast long shadows and scattered the colours of the stained-glass windows across the ground. It was like a ghost town, reclaimed by nature. Mimi had seen a place like that once, but the memory of it was so distant now that it felt like a dream...

Mimi hadn't seen this many Pokémon in the village since the first week. A Talonflame was perched on a high branch of one of the tallest tree-homes, fiercely surveying the skies for any rivals. A pair of Aipom played tag as they swung between the branches of a different tree by their tails. On the ground, a Skitty chased its tail. It made Mimi happy, seeing Pokémon enjoying themselves like this... until she remembered it was only because this was the first time they could ignore the rift between themselves and the hippogriffs.

She wandered beyond the hippogriff-shaped arches to see Michael sitting down, gazing towards the beach. Mimi suddenly realised she'd never left the peak; no wonder, since those steep, zig-zagging slopes looked so difficult to climb. She sat next to him.

"So... Mimi," Michael said. "You've asked me a lot about my old life, but what about yours? What was it like?"

"Well... I had a trainer," said Mimi, looking down. "We were in the middle of our journey through Hoenn before I arrived here. I was her only Pokémon. I don't know where she is now, though."

"I can relate," said Michael. "I still haven't met any people I know here. But why haven't you gone looking for her?"

"Same reason you haven't," Mimi replied. "I've made new friends here, and I was so focused on getting used to this place that I kind of forgot about her. Still... weren't we all supposed to end up near people we were close to? What if she wasn't good enough to come here?"

"Don't worry," said Michael. "I know some good people who I'm sure must be out there, somewhere, I just haven't found them yet. The world is a big place, you know. Maybe you'll meet again?"

"I guess so," said Mimi. "But even if I never see her again, I'll always have you."

Michael hadn't realised he had fallen asleep outside of the arches until he was abruptly awoken by a talon shaking his shoulder.

"Wake up, Michael!" shout-whispered Terramar. "The second day's celebrations will begin soon!" In the months he'd known Terramar, Michael had never heard him sound so enthusiastic.

Michael looked around to realise that Mimi was nowhere to be found. He figured that she went back to Harmonising Heights.

"Wait, what?" he quickly exclaimed, still half-asleep, before standing up. "You didn't tell me it would begin in the MORNING!"

"Sorry about that," said Terramar sheepishly. "Now let's go!"

In contrast to last night, the village was alive with a rainbow of hippogriffs. Michael noticed that many of them were wearing necklaces made of seashells. Markets sold all sorts of novelty gifts, and the sound of trumpets signalled the beginning of a sky race.

"So... what did I miss?" asked Michael in the quietest place they could find. "An awful lot of shells?"

"At lot," said Terramar. "It wasn't just shells, you know. Were their whales in your world? Because they have the most beautiful songs."

"Well, there were Wailord. I've never heard them sing, though."

After finishing his conversation with Terramar, Michael kept away from hippogriffs for the rest of the morning. He met back up with Mimi, who told him that Skystar had talked her ears off about everything she'd missed.

"Alright, everygriff! Now it's time for the main event!" Skystar shouted into a megaphone that afternoon. Hearing the word "everygriff" for the first time in ages felt... disheartening. As the hippogriffs flocked towards the Harmonising Heights, Michael decided to hide in a stream and follow them.

Harmonising Heights felt so... barren without Pokémon. While his view of the air above was silent, he couldn't make out anything resembling Swablu in the trees, and the Goldeen were swimming near the bed of the river instead of weaving gracefully across the surface. The only Pokémon who wasn't hiding from the hippogriffs was what looked like a Talonflame perched on something covered in a cloth that towered above the crowd. He recognised the colours of a few who he'd only seen as seaponies, such as Terramar's mother, Ocean Flow.

Skystar and Novo, Queen Novo - Michael had to remind himself that he wasn't on friendly terms with her - were delivering a speech about... something. Michael couldn't make out what they were saying. After they had finished, most of the hippogriffs rose into the sky.

Michael poked his head out of the water, and looked up to see countless hippogriffs weaving gracefully through the sky in ribbon-like patterns. Accompanying them was a whistling song that seemed to have been sung by the wind itself. This must be the "wind song" Terramar was talking about! It was so soothing, almost angelic... He wondered if this song was created by magic, like almost everything seemed to be in this world.

Michael lost track of how much time had passed before the hippogriffs gracefully landed again. He pulled himself out of the stream... and was met with a crowd of stares.

"What's one of those doing here?" yelled a hippogriff. It took a moment for Michael to realise that it wasn't hatred in her voice, but rather surprise.

Terramar pushed his way through the crowd, towards Michael. "I can explain," he said sheepishly. "H-his name is Michael. He's a Vaporeon, and he's my friend."

The crowd went silent for a moment. Michael was expecting there to be an outburst of outrage (an outrageburst, if you will), but to his surprise... there wasn't. Instead, most of the hippogriffs seemed... curious? Huh. He'd never seen them react like that before.

"Well... I'm glad that everyone's interested in a Pokémon today, because another one will be helping us with the main attraction!" exclaimed Skystar into her megaphone, before raising both of her forelimbs in excitement as she hovered in midair. Michael was relieved to no longer be surrounded by stares. "Ladies and gentlegriffs, I introduce you to... Talonflame!" Talonflame preened his wing boredly. "I did my translation magic thing, buuut he doesn't talk much. Anyway, he'll be helping us with... THIS!"

Skystar and Talonflame pulled away the cloth to reveal a wooden effigy of a bipedal figure with prominent, curved horns.

"Who's that?" Michael whispered to Terramar.

"It's the Storm King!" he whispered back.

"Now Talonflame's going to do his thing, but don't worry, he's a professional. Take it away!" With that, Talonflame flew over the effigy and breathed a jet of fire, setting it alight. As it burned, the whole crowd cheered.

Michael and Terramar had decided to spend the next morning in Seaquestria with Ocean Flow, while Skystar and Mimi remained on Mt. Aris. Skystar said she was busy helping her mom get the presents ready, while Michael wondered why the monarch was the one delivering them.

Seaquestria was a mixed bag. On one hand (gosh, he missed having those), moving in three dimensions was great for relieving stiffness, the bauble-like houses were a joy to behold, and the colours were much more varied than the blues, greys, and twenty-three shades of green on Mt. Aris. On the other hand, it was TOO DARK, and Michael also had to deal with the problem of occasionally accidentally turning invisible.

He saw a lot of Pokémon on the way to Ocean Flow's; they were a lot less shy than the ones on Mt. Aris. A pair of Buizel and a Mantyke were playing tag. A Dragonair gazed longingly towards one of the exits, towards the sky. A school of Finneon swam past, their tails glowing the same shade of magenta as the baubles.

Ocean Flow had her own stories to tell about the first day. She told him that they danced as the whales sang, and that it looked just as beautiful as the sky dancing, just with a lot more S-shaped movements. She also offered him fish oil tea. It tasted awful, but Michael drank it anyway. It was denser than water, or something.

By the time they returned to Mt. Aris, the first stars had begun to appear in the murky eastern sky. The stained-glass windows of the tree-homes were illuminated from behind by candles, scattering their vivid colours across the village. While Michael still got a lot of stares, most of the hippogriffs were preoccupied with anticipating the big moment at the end of the night.

That was, until a surprise visitor arrived...

When the sun had almost finished setting, a shadowed shape soared and swooped through the sky, surprisingly graceful for its size. It came down to land in the village square, several hippogriffs scattering away. Michael ran towards it, almost trupping over his tail in the process. Could it be...?

"Pardon the intrusion," it said thepathically. It was only then that Michael got a closer look. Yes... It was!

"And who do you think you are?" demanded Queen Novo, scowling.

"I am Lugia, Guardian of the Sea, Patron of Psychic-type Pokémon, Master of the Legendary Birds...

"We get the picture. But what are you doing here? Have you come to punish us?" She spat out the word "punish" like it was poison.

"No, my reason for coming here is a lot simpler. I wanted to see how my old friend Michael is doing."

Michael was overwhelmed by joy. A god, one who was so above mortals that he had no reason to even remember who he was... considered him a friend? AWESOME!

"Wait... This guy knows who you are?" asked a gobsmacked Terramar.

"Heck yeah!" exclaimed Michael, stepping towards Lugia and in front of the crowd that had gathered. "To cut a long story short, I saved his life once!" The crowd murmured in disbelief as Lugia bent down.

"Queen Novo," he said. "I have heard a lot about your kingdom. I can understand why you would be wary of outsiders, considering your past. However... I have also heard that you are working on improving your relationships with other nations, and that a group of ponies helped to undo a rift that had been forming in your own kingdom. Why have you not done the same for Pokémon?"

Queen Novo looked as if she was about to begin an angry rant, but Skystar pulled her back by the shoulders before she could do so.

Terramar stepped forwards. "Actually... We're working on it." Everyone turned to look at him. "You see, we had a bad first impression of Pokémon - your friend Michael and a Whismur named Mimi almost destroyed Harmonizing Heights in a battle against a territorial Skarmory. It was only after they tried to talk to us that we realised they were only trying to help, but by then the damage had already been done... literally. We became wary of the Pokémon, so in turn, they became wary of us, too."

Michael grinned sheepishly.

"I was the second hippogriff to befriend a Pokémon," Terramat continued. "I was encouraged by my cousin, Skystar." She waved. "Since then, Michael has proven to be the most invaluable friend I've ever had... but it would be foolish to think that we could change everygriff's opinion overnight." He rested a talon on Lugia's snout... beak... thing. Michael was worried for his safety, but Lugia didn't seem to mind. "Point is, these things take time, Lugia. We just need to try."