Celestic Town
"Whose idea was it to have so many waterfalls on that route?"
I could see the entrance to the small town just ahead, Dawn quite far ahead of me. Even I had to admit, I was looking forward to the rest. Even though I had no water types, both dragon pokemon on the team were able to help us traverse the terrain. Unfortunately, Dawn didn't have to go through any such difficulties, her Empoleon taking her straight to the town up the mountain.
"Maybe you should just get a water pokemon? Ever think about that?" The blunette teased the three of us as we finally cleared the route.
I could only shake my head at her, knowing that karma would come back around sooner rather than later. As we finally stepped into the town, I was able to get a good look at the area. The town was built on a plateau on the mountain range. I could see the peak of Mount Coronet disappearing through the clouds to my west.
Dawn tugged at my arm and as I turned, she had already made her way toward one of the buildings. It was placed at the center of town and was noticeable larger than all of the others. From what I could see, the town wasn't exactly populated but considering the route my pokemon and I had to traverse before, I wasn't too surprised.
I turned to the dragon pokemon behind me who were quietly sleeping on the grassy path. Of course, I sympathised with them, returning them to their pokeballs to rest. Arcanine released himself from his pokeball, clearly excited about something. The two of us followed Dawn as she disappeared through the building's front door.
"Ah, young trainers thank you for joining me."
As I stepped through the heavy wooden door with Arcanine just in front, I could see that Dawn was joined by an elderly woman. She was picking out a book from one of the many bookshelves around the room. After she was satisfied with her choice, she joined Dawn and I at dining table. Arcanine and Empoleon were wrapped up in their own conversation so they weren't paying much attention to us.
The moment the book was placed on the table, I recognised the language on the cover. My eyes flared up for a brief moment but the other two didn't notice. The words rearranged themselves, reading, 'Myt- -kem- -nd -rce-: Bo- -' In the short time window that my eyes were able to read the words, they were too faded to make out completely, though I had an idea what the title read.
"It's good to see you again Dawn, and you must be Aaron." As the elder woman turned to me, I could tell she knew who I was. Of course, she might have heard of my by chance but I knew straight away that she knew much more than that.
I turned away from her eye contact, searching for anything else to look at. When I turned back, I saw that she was carefully turning the pages of the book, just too quickly for my eyes to translate what they could see. After a moment, she stopped at a page, moving the book toward Dawn and I so we could see clearly.
"Professor Rowan told me all about what you've been tasked with. Looking back at what Team Galactic have previously tried, we think that it concerns this pokemon here."
Dawn and I followed her gaze as she looked down at the open book. I recogonised the creature on the page as Heatran, the lava pokemon. I thought back to my encounters with Team Galactic, specifically back to Oreburgh City.
Before Jupiter escaped with her team, three grunts disappeared down a hidden doorway. When they returned, one of them was holding something in what appeared to be a heatproof bag. I remembered the thick gloves he wore. That must have been the same magma stone that's used to summon Heatran.
"Roark, the city's gym leader reported that the magma stone had been taken by Team Galactic. The information on these pages should give you two an advantage."
As I read the words on the thin paper pages, I noticed that they were in Japanese, Sinnoh's native tongue. Elaine had given me lessons in preparations for this whole mission and I had picked it up much easier than expected.
Dawn pulled the book closer to the two of us, before pointing toward something written on the pages. I saw that this text was printed in another language, the same as the glyphs in Solaceon Ruins. Both of us understood that the two were connected but Heatran didn't seem to be the right answer here.
In sync, the two of us looked across the table toward the elderly woman but she wasn't sat in her chair. She had already left the two of us, looking for another book. There was something that she wasn't telling us because the picture was still incomplete.
"You young trainers could use these."
The older lady returned to the table, two small pitch black boxes in each hand. Dawn and I reached out to take them, opening the boxes to reveal two digital plain faced watches. I studied the device for a moment and the moment I slipped it onto my wrist, it came to life.
"You can use those to communicate with each other, no matter where you are. Technology like this is a little out of my expertise but I'm sure you two can work out how to use them."
Dawn and I exchanged quick looks and as I turned my attention back to the device, focusing on it, the option to call her appeared on the screen. Of course I was surprised because this device wasn't running on any sort of battery. As I looked closer, my eyes flaring up, I could see that the watch was using our aura's to establish a connection.
"Woah, this is so cool!" The blunette also figured out how the devices operated as the elderly lady placed a few more boxes on the table beside the book.
"You should know that they won't work with everyone." At that, the elderly lady left Dawn and I to read through the pages in front of us.
Dawn had already turned to the book, slowly translating out loud. As I turned to the pages, I took over, easily translating as I read out;
'Heatran is one of many mythical pokemon. Each of these pokemon are tied directly to Arceus, the Alpha Pokemon. Therefore, these pokemon are one of the few ways humans are able to connect with the Original One.'
"You don't think Team Galactic-" Dawn spoke up.
"Yeah, they must be." I answered the blunette's question. She had taken off her beanie and had kicked back in her chair.
Heatran was only the tip of the iceberg. After seeing how easily Saturn was able to summon Deoxys at the Solaceon Ruins told me that they were more than well equipped to do as they pleased in this region. Undoubtedly, they had access to the power of many more powerful, and even legendary pokemon.
We had our work cut out for us.
But, this was nothing we were knew to. The two of us had come a long way in our lives to get to where we were now. Doing what we had already done is almost impossible.
"This all seems a little nostalgic, right Aaron?"
"Yeah, but this isn't going to be easy." I turned to face the blunette who was leaning back on the chair. Her lips were pulled into a smile and I could see the fiery passion burning in her eyes. I was all too familiar with those same emotions and I couldn't wait to start another adventure on this scale.
At least, Team Galactic were without their mysterious meteorite. If we could learn more about it, then it could be a valuable asset against this international threat.
The sound of the door creaking open caused the two of us to look up from our conversation. A familiar face that I hadn't seen in years stepped through the door. Her golden blonde hair stretched past her back, and as her slate grey eyes met mine, I stood up to greet the woman.
We hugged for a quick moment and as Dawn stood up to join us, she forced her way into the awkward embrace. Now the three of us were stood in a makeshift group hug, with the blunette half crouching to involve herself.
I couldn't believe what I had just seen, speechless at her sudden actions. She looked at me confidently, somehow thinking that she didn't need to explain what just happened.
"What? I wasn't gonna get the same treatment and I didn't want to awkwardly third wheel."
I felt my cheeks heat up a little slightly, turning away from the two. I already knew that if Elaine was here, none of this would be happening but I pushed that aside as Cynthia turned to greet the elderly woman, who turned out to be her grandmother.
Before we could continue our conversation, the half open door moved. In stepped another face I hadn't seen in a while. Her light blonde hair had darkened a little under the Sinnoh sun but I could tell that something about her had changed. Quickly, I read her aura but there wasn't anything out of place. Her aura was the usual light blue colour, the same as the elderly woman's. I turned to Cynthia, seeing that her aura shone with the same vibrant gold as mine and Dawn's.
"Elaine! I wasn't expecting to see you here."
I pulled her into a quick hug, wrapping my arms around her. Now that I was closer to her, I could see something I didn't expect to see within Elaine. I wasn't too sure if my eyes were deceiving me, so I buried the suspicion for now.
"Aaron! It's so good to see you, but I have to something I need to do first."
She pulled away from the embrace, stepping toward the two other women behind us. After greeting them, I could see her mentally psych herself up before continuing,
"Cynthia, I challenge you to a pokemon battle."
The official Champion didn't seem to have any problem with the proposal, more than content with a battle, no matter what kind. I could see that Dawn was intrigued by this whole situation and the three of them quickly left the building to prepare for the battle.
Arcanine and Empoleon left just ahead of me but the moment I reached for the door handle, Cynthia's grandmother spoke up, "You know, my granddaughter isn't too old for you."
I didn't waste another second. I felt my cheeks heat up as I rushed out of the door. I couldn't disagree with what I had been told, but Cynthia was a topic for another time.
When I joined the others outside, I could see the two trainers standing at opposite ends of a grassy opening. Dawn was stood between them, standing in as referee. As I looked over the two trainers, I quickly realised that they couldn't be more different. Cynthia was a pokemon Champion and Elaine was the Kalos Queen. Both were gifted trainers but they weren't competing in a contest hall.
As the two readied themselves, Dawn initiated the battle.