Chapter10: Of Ponies & Ghosts Toll
A few days after their stop in Eggester and joining up with Ritchie and Sparky, the ponies traveled to a town which looked like an ancient Japanese city. The temple in the back of the town, the tower just hundreds of feet away... "So this is Ecruteak City?" wondered Twilight.
"Yep," was Ritchie's reply. "Not only does this have a Pokémon Gym, it also holds a history involving legends." The story interested Twilight.
"I've been wondering about any sort of history, especially back in Equestria." All Ritchie could do is scratch his head in confusion.
("What's Equestria?") squeaked Sparky.
"It's our homeworld," answered Fluttershy. "Primarily, we call Ponyville our home." Sparky got the hint and nodded to the place.
"I still find it hard to believe the way to Ponyville is through Ash's room," Ritchie stuttered. "Guess I'll need to see for myself and Sparky." From that exchange, the group made their way to town. Reaching a temple in the far back of town, Ritchie knocked on the door. "Morty? It's me, Ritchie!" The door opened but instead of a human, three specters appeared. One was a black ball with a face and a violet flame around its body. Another was a spiky purple head and hands floating around it. The last was a dark violet gnome-size creature with a wide grin. Applejack jumped back at the sight of these creatures.
"G-G-G-Ghosts!" she screeched as she hid behind Fluttershy. Soon enough, a tall orange-haired young man wearing a sky blue sweatshirt and jeans while sporting a headband.
"Ritchie, I see you made the delivery," he praised. "Is it intact?" Ritchie removed the cover, the crystal bell in perfect shape.
"Ta da!" teased the brunette. Changing hands, the headband young man observed the bell with the ghosts.
"It's not like the bells from the Tower of Ho-oh but if they ring like the others, it's all worth it." The ponies looked confused from the conversation.
"Can I ask what you two are blabbering about?" asked Twilight. Now the headband youngster looked to the ponies, curious as to their presence.
"Did you escort Ritchie here?"
"We did. I'm Twilight Sparkle. Ritchie and I met back in Eggseter before we came here." The headband young man understood the reason of their meeting.
"I doubt he needed any escort but thanks anyway. I'm Morty, the Gym Leader in Ecruteak City. Of course, your friend back there just met my Ghost Pokémon." Fluttershy brought out her Dex and pointed to the black ball.
"Gastly, the Gas Pokémon," it computed. "Being surrounded by thin gas, it can be blown away with winds exceeding 20 miles an hour." Next was the Pokémon with floating hands. "Haunter, the Gas Pokémon. Haunter is the evolved form of Gastly. Haunter will occasionally stalk its victims while blending in the darkness." Lastly, she pointed to the tiny bodied creature. "Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon and the final evolution of Gastly. If the temperature of a room is colder than normal, Gengar is present." This could explain why Applejack shivered down to her core.
"Spooky..." was her answer. Morty chuckled to her amusement.
"Don't worry," he reassured. "Outside of battle, they can get quite mischievous. Still, they mean no harm." To prove their trust, Gastly came out for Fluttershy to pet, which she did. "Anyway, let's go bring this bell to the Tin Tower." With Morty leading, everyone started their walk to a tower down the road from the meeting spot. They soon entered the tower where by looking up, gold bells hung on the corners. Each floor contained four golden bells dangling overhead.
"I've heard of ringing in the new year but this is overdoing it," Applejack compared.
"No, miss. We don't ring in any new year with these bells. These 32 bells serve as a sign of a special Pokémon approaching or as an alarm when someone steals them." This information stoked the curiosity of Twilight and Fluttershy.
"A savior in a sense?" Twilight guessed.
"I suppose calling Ho-oh a savior is a bit exaggerated. Ho-oh is a legendary Pokémon who stopped a war by torching another tower. These bells, plus four crystal bells survived the fire. Saddened with what was done to the land, Ho-oh created three new legends: Suicune, Entei and Raikou. Funny enough, Ash Ketchum claimed he saw both Ho-oh and Suicune, something a good friend of mine couldn't... rather wouldn't accept." Awe and further intrigued by the tale, Fluttershy furiously pounded on the Dex. The screen remained blank.
"Ho-oh, the Rainbow Pokémon," it registered. "No information available at this time." No photo, no data... Out of luck.
"You can try to register any Pokémon but information may be sparse on legends." To her disappointment, she put the Dex away.
"Sorry," she whined.
"It's alright. When we get the bell up to the rest, I'll show you the Pokémon back in the gym." They reached the ninth floor where instead of the golden bells, three bells like the one Ritchie brought over hung on the corners. The shine from the bells fascinated the ponies.
"Do these bells ring by any chance?" Twilight wondered.
"Ever since the Tower of Ho-oh burned to the ground, they've been silent. It's been said that the bells won't jingle in winds of Hurricane-caliber, but they ring on two occasions: the arrival of Ho-oh or an alarm to the bells being stolen." Finding the lone corner with no bell, Haunter and Gengar hooked the bell to the void in the room. It now dangled at the same height as the other bells.
"Looks like a perfect fit," Ritchie nodded.
"If only for appearance. It may not ring at all compared to the other bells but when they chime, only we will know." Haunter tugged on the bell to make sure it's secured. Its floating hand flicked a thumbs-up. "Good. Let's return to the gym. I'll show you the images people made of the three legends." A turn of the head told Applejack something else found the tower.
"Who's this?" she spoke up. All turned to a dark purple ghostly creature with jewels below its head that looked like a necklace. The yellow eyes looked timidly at the curious blond woman who stepped cautiously. "It's okay. No one's gonna hurt you." The creature slowly crept out to see the woman and her study. From the look of the creature, Morty realized the shape.
"A Misdreavus." The creature dove back behind the column out of fright. Applejack palmed her face from Morty's chirp.
"Now look what you did? You spooked the poor critter." Of course, Twilight didn't forget before when Gastly and its team showed up at the gym.
"Said the one scared by these three beforehand?" she burned. All Applejack did was groan at the retort.
"Laugh it up, Twi. Don't come complaining to me that you cannot raise that new Pokémon." Twilight puffed her cheeks in retaliation, clutching the incubator holding her new Pokémon. Applejack refocused on the Misdreavus still in hiding. "Are you scared of the Gastly behind us?" Misdreavus looked back out, fear still tingling through its hair. She spoke to Applejack with Fluttershy tuning in to what it spoke.
"It said that it's afraid of the orange-haired man and the Ghost Pokémon he controls," she translated as she got her Dex back out.
"Misdreavus, the Screech Pokémon," it listed. "Known for being mischievous, Misdreavus scare unsuspecting people for fun." Quite a contrast to this Misdreavus.
"So what's a Misdreavus doing in this tower?" Twilight pondered. "I doubt it has anything to do with Morty." Misdreavus whimpered to the ponies up front while Fluttershy listened to its teary story. Once it stopped, both ponies turned to their interpreter. "Translation?"
"What Misdreavus said is that it was bullied by other Ghost Pokémon in a forest south of here," Fluttershy explained. "It found shelter here and wanted to stay while it healed up." A closer look by Applejack revealed a bruise under the Pokémon's eye.
"I see," she noticed. "Let me take a gander at that." Reluctantly, Misdreavus came out of hiding which the ponies inspected the injury. Ritchie came forward with a spray bottle and a bandage.
"Try applying some Super Potion on the injury," he advised to Applejack. The earth pony girl looked befuddled to how this bottle worked. Then she found Fluttershy imitating holding a handgun by repeatedly squeezing her index finger back and forth. Getting the hint, Applejack squeezed the trigger, squirting a liquid on the wound. Misdreavus winced from the pain.
"Now for the bandage..." Twilight aided. Applejack carefully laid the adhesive on the Pokémon's face. Sure, the bandage didn't make Misdreavus look pretty again, but it did make the Pokémon feel better about it.
"How do you feel?" Fluttershy asked. A smile from Misdreavus was a good sign. "If you ever get bullied again, I'm sure Morty and his Ghost Pokémon will help you." The mistreated Misdreavus reminded Twilight of a moment back home.
"You should know. Didn't you bully Pinkie and Rarity before?" The event wasn't a reminder Fluttershy enjoyed.
"I got bad advice from Iron Will. That's what happened." Twilight and Applejack didn't believe her claim.
"Right..." Haunter and Gengar approached the fellow Ghost Pokémon to see if it was doing okay. Misdreavus yelped from seeing these Pokémon who just wanted to check on her well-being. This also brought Morty to help out.
"Do you want to defy your bullies, Misdreavus?" he wondered. "Prove that you're a strong Pokémon like my Gastly evolution line?" The offer for Misdreavus to be one of Morty's Pokémon seemed surreal to it considering the history.
"What do you think?" Applejack encouraged. Misdreavus pondered the idea for a minute before confronting Morty, wailing something. He didn't need Fluttershy to translate this.
"So you want to be part of the Gym?" A nod from Misdreavus acknowledged Morty to grab a Pokéball. "Thank you, Misdreavus." The Screech Pokémon bopped the Pokéball with its head before it turned to a red light as it entered the ball. A few flashes later, the ball settled. Morty stood, happy to have a new recruit at the Gym. "Now, we can head back." Everyone exited the Tin Tower and entered the Gym which Haunter brought a scroll to Morty. He opened to show three creatures in black and white ink. One was a lion with an impressive mane and a steel-like mustache. Another was a tiger with zigzags like Sparky's tail. The face looked to have a cloud on it. The last was a different four-legged creature with a hexagonal hole above its head.
"Are these the three you talked about from the legend?" Twilight questioned.
"These are." First, Morty pointed to the lion. "This is Entei, the Volcanic Pokémon." Now the finger pointed to the tiger. "Here's Raikou, the Thunder Pokémon." Now for the last creature... "And this is Suicune, the Aurora Pokémon. Those three were birthed by Ho-oh in forgiveness for not rescuing them in the fire." Fluttershy's eyes fixated on the image of Suicune, thinking back to when they entered the Johto Region and that shadow that caught her attention.
"I can't believe it," hushed the pink-haired. "I saw Suicune in that forest near New Bark Town!" The rest gasped at the revelation of Fluttershy's memory.
"Wait just a darn-pickin' minute, Fluttershy," Applejack called. "You can't just come out and say that a creature we're now knowing is the same thing back near the start of our journey." Fluttershy shook to say that she knew what appeared in front of her.
"I swear to Celestia that Suicune is the Pokémon I saw! That shape on its head is proof!" Hearing Fluttershy's claim, Ritchie sensed her honesty.
"I think she's telling the truth," he spoke. "Did Suicune appear with a veil of light around itself?" Fluttershy thought back to the body structure. That outline might be the light Ritchie pointed out.
"Yes, it did. We looked at each other like it knew what I was wondering before running off." Morty felt her honesty, realizing this wasn't a coincidence.
"So you and Ash have something in common, then," he mentioned. "Both of you met Suicune. At least I don't have Eusine to argue otherwise since he researches Suicune." The mystery enlightened Twilight to know if there's a meaning to meeting this legendary Pokémon.
"Morty, is there any significance to meeting Suicune?" she quipped. "Or any legendary Pokémon for that matter?" Morty gave it a thoughtful mind to wonder about any benefits to the legend findings.
"All I can come up with is that it may bring you good luck," he sighed. "But we don't really know what it means to see a legendary Pokémon. Maybe luck, motivation, hope... only meeting these will tell us what to expect." No real answer... Fluttershy could imagine what has happened from seeing Suicune to now.
"Suicune..." she repeated the name. "Will I meet you again?" The sun was on its way down for the night. After the discussions of legends, the group said their farewells to Morty.
"Good luck with Clair at the Blackthorn Gym!" Instead of heading down the path to the city, they all proceeded to go to the Pokémon Center nearby. Ritchie and Sparky had other plans.
"Well, it was nice meeting more of Ash's friends," he smiled. "Sparky and I need to head back to Goldenrod City to report our delivery." He and the ponies shook hands for the good time.
"You take care, you two," Twilight wished. "If you're ever in Pallet Town, I'm sure you'll meet more of our friends."
"I can't wait to meet them. See ya!"
("Ciao!") Sparky squeaked as they left. The next morning would be the start of the last leg, Blackthorn City closing in. The anticipation for Fluttershy to see Clair mounted.
TO BE CONTINUED...