Chapter 11

Jason walked out of a small hotel room and into a wooden hallway; the sun rose over the horizon and shone beautifully in through a window. He was used to waking up early and enjoyed doing so. The sunrise was always encouraging to see.

Jason walked down the stairs with the floorboards creaking under his weight and emerged in the lobby of the inn. There, sitting at the receptions desk was the owner of the inn. She noticed Jason coming and stood up from her chair to great him.

"Why, good morning. Did you sleep well?" she asked kindly.

"Yes, I did, ma'am. Thank you for your hospitality," Jason responded with a smile.

"You're welcome. It's been a while since we had any visitors. But, I suppose that's what happens when you live in such a small town."

"I'm thankful this town was here. I really needed to stop and rest, but now I should be on my way."

"All right, goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" With that, Jason left the inn.

The day before, Team Rocket attacked while Jason and Salamence were flying. They had to fight them off, and afterward, Salamence was too tired to continue. So, they landed in a nearby town, and Jason rented a room at the local inn. There was not a Pokémon Center in this old village, so Salamence would need some time to recover.

Jason made a stop at the local store and stocked up on food, then proceeded south out of town on foot. He let Houndoom out of its Poké Ball for some exercise and to be prepared if the Rockets tried to attack again.

The two companions made their way across rocky terrain and ventured through the woods. When they came to the top of a rocky hill, Houndoom swiftly made its way down the steep incline, but Jason took a few minutes to climb to the bottom.

Jason took out a map and looked over it, but then he heard a noise. It sounded like humming. He quickly folded up his map and placed it in his backpack. It couldn't have been the men in black uniforms; they wouldn't give themselves away like that.

He gazed ahead and noticed a figure come out of the trees. It was the red-haired Milver; he was looking under rocks and in bushes while humming to himself, and he seemed oblivious to Jason and Houndoom's presence.

The boy lifted up a large rock and turned it over. Finding nothing, he looked in Jason's direction and said, "You can stop gawking." Wait, how did he know where they were hiding?

"I'm sorry," Jason apologized, coming out from the brush. "But, who are you?"

"My name…" his sentence trailed off as he thought for a moment. "I'm called Milver. Who are you?"

"I'm Jason. Nice to meet you." Milver didn't reply. "What are you doing out here?"

"None of your business," the redhead answered sternly.

"Well, excuse me."

Houndoom started growling, sensing something was not right. Milver held his hand up and shot a blast of light blue-colored energy at Jason. The Dark-type Pokémon threw itself in front of its Trainer, nullifying the attack because of its type. "Don't interfere!" Milver exclaimed.

"W-what was that?!" Jason exclaimed.

"My psychic abilities. Which, speaking of, I think this would be an ideal time to test how well the Stone and my powers work together." Milver took a red-colored gem from out of his pocket and held it in his left hand. It glowed before he shot another blast, but this time, the energy was red and much larger. Jason ducked out of the way just in time as the attack hit a rock behind him, shattering it to pieces. "Ah, they work marvelously." Milver was using one of the Power Stones, said to grant incredible abilities. The person who holds the Red Stone could harness its power, and he desired to collect the rest.

Milver shot another blast that Houndoom intercepted while Jason turned to run. The psychic quickly changed tactics and grabbed Jason with his power, lifting him into the air.

"Put me down!"

"Gladly," Milver smiled evilly as he sent Jason tumbling across the ground. Houndoom bounded up to the psychic and bit his leg. "Why you!" He tried to repel the Pokémon, but his attack did not work on Dark-types. Annoyed, he broke a branch off a tree with his powers and slammed it into Houndoom's side, knocking it unconscious.

"No! Houndoom!" Jason shouted in dismay.

"I sense you have something special. Perhaps it's another Stone. Give it to me!" the redhead demanded.

Jason froze when Milver seemed to teleport right in front of him. He clenched his fist and threw a punch at the boy's head, but Milver simply moved to the side to avoid it.

With a grin, the psychic set the palm of his hand on Jason's chest; his eye color turned the same color as the Stone, and Jason was sent hurtling through the air by a burst of red psychic energy. Jason's backpack opened in the process and its contents fell out, including the capsule-like container that held the special artifact. Milver used his powers to scan all the objects on the ground and pinpointed the item of importance. He levitated the capsule over to himself as Jason stood up.

"Oh no!" Jason exclaimed as he watched Milver uncap one end of the large capsule and peer in. Milver's expression changed as soon as he saw what was inside.

"This holds no importance to me," the psychic said coldly as he tossed the container to the ground. Jason grabbed his backpack and watched as Milver started to levitate into the air.

By now, Houndoom had regained consciousness and saw the redheaded boy floating. It launched a Flamethrower at him, but Milver dodged it with ease before flying off in a southerly direction and disappearing over the trees.

Jason began gathering his belongings. After he had repacked everything, he held the container in his hands. Jason peered inside to see what exactly he was protecting. Houndoom approached and looked in the large capsule as well.

"Hmm, interesting," muttered Jason. Just then, he heard the sound of a helicopter in the air. "Uh-oh." Jason frantically screwed the cap back on the container and put it back in his backpack. "That must be the men in black. Come on, Houndoom."

Jason and Houndoom then hurried under the trees where it was impossible to be seen from above. Jason stood next to a tree trunk and listened to the roar of the helicopter fade away and pulled out his map.

"Okay," Jason said to Houndoom, "we should be somewhere around here on the north part of Honshu. Now, if we keep heading south, we should reach the Kanto Region in a couple of days by foot, maybe sooner if we can find a Pokémon Center for Salamence." Jason put his map away in his backpack, and the Trainer crept out of the trees.

"Okay, Houndoom, they're gone. Let's get going." With that, they started off towards the south through the forest. But even though they had just dodged the men in black and survived a fight with an unearthly boy, Jason couldn't help but feel like there was something more to it all. What do the men in black want with the artifact? What was Milver searching for? Were there actually more Stones like the one he had? Jason pondered these questions as he and his Pokémon traveled through the forest.

Jason found a clearing in the forest and decided to set up camp there and gathered firewood. By the time he had his fire going, it was dark, and the stars and moon shone in the night sky.

He sat on a rock roasting a marshmallow on a stick while Houndoom was sleeping on the other side. Behind him was his triangular-shaped tent, and his backpack sat beside him. Jason took his marshmallow out of the flames and meshed it between two graham crackers and some chocolate, setting the stick down and taking a bite.

"Yum… There's noting like eating s'mores under a clear night sky," Jason said. After eating his snack, he turned to his backpack and took out the large capsule-like container and held it in his hands. Houndoom opened one eye and looked at Jason before sitting up. It shot a look at Jason as if to say "What are you doing?"

"Hey, Houndoom. I'm just looking at the container. Man, it's gotten pretty crazy lately." Houndoom nodded before plopping back on the ground and closed its eyes. "I wonder what we should do once we reach Kanto? Well, at least we should be away from all of these weirdoes. I wonder how the General's doing and what happened back at the base. I think we'll find out soon enough. General Franklin entrusted me to protect this, and that's just what I'll do. And you know what?" The Dark Pokémon looked at its Trainer sleepily. "I only have a couple months left until my enlistment in the military is up." Houndoom yawned and nodded before going back to sleep. Jason smiled and put the large capsule away. "Okay, goodnight, buddy."

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