Chapter 1: The City of Scholars

It was an absolutely beautiful day in the Kalos region. The sun was shining brightly, and the air was warm - a perfect day for a picnic.

Ash and his friends were currently taking a short break underneath the shades to save up their energy before continuing their journey towards the next city. At the moment, everyone, along with their beloved Pokemon partners, was enjoying their lunch in the middle of wild, untamed and breathtaking nature.

"Brother, this is delicious," exclaimed Bonnie as she gulped down the soup her older sibling had prepared. The declaration was further reinforced by a happy sound of agreement coming from her Dedenne, its tail waggling around merrily as it gluttonously devoured its provided portion. "It seems like your cooking has gotten even better the longer we travel," Bonnie added cheerfully, shoving another spoonful of soup in her mouth as she spoke.

"Bonnie, please mind your manners and don't talk so loudly while eating, and thank you for the compliment," replied Clemont softly but sternly before he happily went back to serving the others, "And remember to eat your vegetables."

At that, the little girl groaned miserably and pouted, but still reluctantly complied. After checking and making sure that she would eat, Clemont nodded and went back to preparing the soup for Ash and Serena. After a few seconds had passed, Bonnie, secretly stealing a few glances at his brother's back from where she was sitting, deemed that it was safe to make her move. With practiced stealth, the girl swiftly took out the carrots and placed them in Dedenne's plate.

Or at least, she attempted to.

"Vegetables also include carrots, Bonnie!" said Clemont again without so much as turning around, his voice even sterner than earlier.

Flinching, Bonnie then let out a sigh and muttered a pouty "Fine!" before proceeding to put the carrots in her mouth, cringing throughout the entire ordeal.

Their little sibling antics caused the other two members of the group, Ash and Serena, to laugh, with the latter being more discreet and polite with one hand over her mouth. Needless to say, little Bonnie was embarrassed.

"You should listen to your brother, Bonnie," said Serena with a smile, "After all, he only wants what's best for his sister."

"Yeah, you're lucky to have him as a sibling," Ash and Pikachu agreed before the former greedily started gulping down his own food. His comment only made the electric-type genius to blush madly, obviously bashful when it came to sudden compliments of any kind.

"A-Anyway, let's eat up and continue on before it gets dark," said Clemont as he, too, began to eat as well.

"Yes," said Serena, "The next city is close, and if we hurry after this, there's a chance we can get there before the sun goes down."

"And what city is that?" asked Ash, already moving on to his second helping.

"Speaking of which, the next city should be…hmm, if memories serve me right, it's the Academy City of Bilgin," Serena said. Immediately, the boy genius sitting next to her quickly stood up, almost knocking over his plate and surprising everyone as a result.

"Really?" exclaimed Clemont with unconcealed excitement radiating from his eyes. "Bilgin? I've been wanting to visit this place since I was a kid!" He then went on mumbling about things, which to the others, save Bonnie, sounded like a jumbled mess of incoherent utterances about science and related stuff.

"Okay?" asked Ash and Serena, unsure how to react to the suddenly high-strung genius, as they turned to the currently sane sibling for an explanation. Noticing their questioning stares, Bonnie sighed and began to explain.

"The Academy City of Bilgin, as the name implies, is a huge campus that is practically a city where students from many regions gather to learn more about pokemon. It has a lot of levels from middle schools to universities, and it is extremely famous as the place that produces top-grade researchers and scholars. There are also trainer courses, but they are not as well known. Simply put, it's like a bookworm paradise, one that's perfect for my bro over there," she pointed at her brother, who seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings as he went on talking to himself.

Unbeknownst to the young boy, his Chespin and Bunnelby had, at some point, backed away slowly and distanced themselves from their gung-ho trainer. Only his Luxray remained stationary, but both Pikachu and Dedenne nearby could easily catch wind of a quiet sigh coming out of the Gleam Eyes Pokemon.

"Should we do something about that?" Ash asked, pointing a finger at the Gym Leader. Bonnie, however, appeared unconcerned, "Don't worry, he'll return to normal soon enough when he's all geeked out. Well, as normal as can be, that is," she said with a smile and went back to her food, taking advantage of the situation to secretly feed the remaining carrots to Ash's Hawlucha.

Shrugging, both Ash and Serena went back to minding their own business, and true to Bonnie's words, the normal Clemont returned shortly afterwards with a tired look on his face, causing everyone to laugh aloud heartily.

The group then finished their meal and got ready to resume their journey.

The trip to the city was rather uneventful, with very little complications on their path except for some encounters with some hostile wild Pokemon, all of which were easily settled. Later that day, the group finally arrived at their destination, and just as Serena had predicted earlier, it was already sunset when the group of friends was at the entrance.

"So this is the Academy City, huh?" Ask whistled and looked at the grand buildings faraway from where he was, silently taking in and admiring the ancient yet sturdy-looking campus and the single great clock tower situated in the center of the city.

Everything about this place seemed to exude a sense of tranquility, elegance and, above all, professionalism, and as they travelled around in search of a place to rest, they caught sight of many old bookstores, restaurants and cafes of varying sizes that littered around the city block. Furthermore, along the sidewalks, there were impressive lines of cherry blossoms on either side, showing off their natural beauty to the few beholders that were walking by.

When the group first laid eyes on the breath-taking cherry blossom street in the last moments of daylight, they could not hold back the gasps of admiration at the scenic, almost divine, sight of natural beauty.

"According to what I read, this place also has its own shopping district and lots of tourist attractions scattered around like the Central Park, the Eternal Clocktower and many more," Serena said as she looked at her Pokegear, barely able to contain her own excitement at the sight before her.

Buildings after buildings were spotted as they continued to navigate through the almost empty street, all of them built specifically to accommodate the needs and wants of the students of the grand campus.

"This place is amazing!" Ash whistled in appreciation as he looked around.

"You said it, Ash," agreed Clemont, thrilled, "It's exactly what I imagined it to be. There are so many places to see, so many bookstores to visit, oh my, are those specialist drill bits? I can probably make something from those!" he squealed and almost ran off if Serena and Bonnie had not been quick enough to hold him back by his backpack.

"Easy there bro" Bonnie chided, "First, we look for a place to sleep, and tomorrow, you can go mad scientist all you want."

"Bonnie's got a point, Clemont. It's getting late," Serena chimed in, stifling a giggle. Reluctantly, the restrained boy complied with a sulking expression.

Ash laughed along with his friends and partner, but then, he began to notice, out of the corner of his eye, that something was strange. The few people that were walking around seemed to pick up their speed and began to walk very quickly. Even the shopkeepers and café owners closed their doors and windows tightly even though it was not that late yet.

"Hmm, strange! You would think that a city of scholars would be more lively at night, right?" Ash said, patting Pikachu gently on his head.

"Pika" replied the electric mouse, looking as bewildered as his trainer.

"Oh well, first things first, let's find a place t crash, and tomorrow, we will take a tour around," he exclaimed, and the others immediately voiced their agreement with the plan.

To their surprise, most inns they visited were already closed, and the people inside insistently refused to open their doors even when they knocked, much to everyone's bewilderment. Their predicament continued to last for the next half an hour until Ash decided they had had enough and said it would be best to locate a Pokemon Center to stay the night.

Seeing that it was the best option available to them at the moment, everyone agreed without much thought.

"There should be one near the Central Park" Serena said, looking at the map before, she felt a sudden chillness in the air, causing her to shiver and pull closer to Ash.

"Is it me, or is it suddenly getting colder around here?" she questioned, wrapping her arms around herself from warmth.

"It's just the evening air," was the trainer's reply, and the matter was left at that. "Let's go!"

The group then made their way for the Center, and along the way, Ash vaguely registered the fact that the air had become unnaturally chilly, like the temperature has dropped drastically over the last few minutes.

"Man, is it supposed to be this cold at night around here?" he asked Pikachu, who simply elicited a small squeak of agreement, his small frame shivering slightly. "Okay, pal, let's go to the Center quickly, then you'll have a nice blanket wrapped around you, and we can..."

It was that exact moment that Ash suddenly felt a tingling sensation that something was nearby. It was a very familiar sensation, but it was one that he had not felt for quite some time now – the presence of an aura within the vicinity, and this one was exceptionally strong.

And also unimaginably dark.

It took Ash a while to realize that it was coming from right behind him, and in that split second, Ash also felt another pair of eyes on the back of his head, sending all of his hair to stand up in alert.

He could have sworn he heard a faint murmur in the wind as well.

Swiftly turning around with a surprised gasp, Ash then darted his eyes around the empty area to locate the source of the foreign sensation, but he was only met with the bewildered gazes and questioning looks of his companions, including one from Pikachu on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Serena asked after a while, looking at him with concerned eyes, and he could also see the same sentiments from Bonnie and Clemont.

Ash took another quick look around, but that feeling was gone, as fast and sudden as it had emerged in the first place. Thus, with a slight shake of his head, the young trainer scratched the back of his head sheepishly and reassured that everything was fine.

"Nothing," he said, "I thought I heard something, but it must have been my imagination, nothing to worry about, hehe…"

"Are you feeling alright, Ash?" Clemont asked again, unsure about his friend's statement.

"I'm sure, now let's go!" Ash replied before turning around and running towards the direction of the Pokemon Center, causing the others to pick up the pace as well.

While running, he could not help but mull over what the strange aura he had felt, even if its presence had only been felt for a brief second.

"What was that aura? And that presence..." he muttered to himself. Pikachu, still sitting on his shoulder, shot his partner another worried glance and frowned slightly at the pensive and grim expression that had taken over the boy's features. Unbeknownst to Ash, the mouse had managed to pick up what he had said, but opted to keep quiet for the time being.

And for the rest of the trip, not another word was uttered. Ash also tried to push the aura to the back of his mind as he raced toward the Center.

However, what Ash did not know was that there was a lone silhouette perching on top of the roof of the magnificent Eternal Clocktower in the middle of the city, a pair amber eyes vigilantly keeping watch over the new boy and his friends from the eerie veil of shadows.