A/N:
Before we get back on topic I want to apologize (something I do way too often, but not for no reason), I got introduced to playing DnD with a few friends, and it stole my entire attention for far longer than it should have. For that reason, I apologize, but I am back and will try to update even though I have a lot of distractions, not the least of which is my University education.
Alright, chapter 23, Ash and company finally make it to Eterna. I´ve found that I write perhaps entirely too much filler between Gyms… But I´ll let you decide on that.
Megalon 61: I can´t say for sure either way actually, as I am not entirely certain yet. It might happen if I can plausibly inject it into the story, and it might not if I find myself unable.
Some continuation from last time, the arrival to Eterna and some more events happening this time.
So, enjoy, right after this disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, nor do I profit from this fanfiction whatsoever.
Enigmas of Eterna!
Ash seemed bemused by the casual greeting by on the region´s Elite Four, but not anywhere as amused as Lucian himself seemed with the shock he had created. "Lucian of the Sinnoh Elite Four, how can I be of service?" Ash spoke, answering the casual greeting similarly. The jaws of the crowd remained dropped, though one could quite positively feel the suspense in the air. Lucian chuckled at the greeting, before answering, "Well, to be honest, I have grown a bit bored of battling only the other Elite Four. Seeing as there are two Elite Trainers currently registered for the Sinnoh League, I figured I´d find one to alleviate my boredom."
Now everyone was buzzing with excitement, realizing that Lucian intended to battle this trainer, who was largely unknown among them. Ash seemed conflicted though, but eventually answered, "Pretty much any other time I would be accepting that challenge at once, but… I´m currently on a date with my girlfriend, I won´t abandon that for a battle, no matter how much I´d like to take it." Everyone, including Dawn, rose their eyebrows in a flash, none of them would have ever thought a young Trainer would be declining a challenge from an Elite Four member, least of all a member of the Elite Four who sought him out.
Dawn hugged Ash tightly from the side, rising on her toes to kiss his cheek. Before stating, "Just accept the challenge, Ash. I know how much you want to, and while it is sweet that you´d refuse it for me, I don´t want to deprive you of the chance." Ash gazed over at her, looking into her eyes and observing her smiling face. A large grin broke out on his face, and he turned toward Lucian just as a powerful gust of wind crashed over the field, ruffling both his and Lucian´s appearances. "It seems my girlfriend wouldn´t mind, so how about a one on one battle?" he suggested, the grin never leaving his face.
Lucian, who had first had seemed both shocked and a bit saddened at the declination of his challenge, lit up with delight, accepting graciously, "A one on one will do wonders to alleviate my boredom, a marvelous idea. I believe I will be choosing Espeon for this!" The magnificent and graceful Pokémon appeared in a flash of white, landing beautifully between Ash and Lucian. "I´ll go with, Pupitar!" Ash announced, releasing his powerful Rock- and Ground-type.
The stark contrast between the graceful Espeon and the rugged Pupitar made for quite the spectacle, evident by a lot of murmuring around them and even some few bets being made. Ash and Lucian locked eyes, but neither made any command simply waiting and observing each other. Pupitar and Espeon too seemed to mainly observe each other, feeling that this was a serious battle between their trainers. All spectators held their breath waiting for the trainers to make their move, none wanting to influence them. Ash finally made the first move after what felt like ages, even though not even half a minute had passed.
As the wind picked up again, with a howling screech, he shouted his command, "Pupitar use Earthquake!" The floating body of Pupitar slammed into the ground only moments later, creating a huge shockwave of seismic energy that made it difficult for the spectators to stand. Both Lucian and Ash kept their feet with no problem, while Espeon had simply sprung into the air to avoid the massive attack. Just as Ash had planned for, which became evident seconds later when Pupitar´s Dark Pulse connected heavily with Espeon´s head. Lucian looked a bit shocked at first, but then he smirked. "I should have figured you also had ways of communicating with your Pokémon non-verbally," he commented easily, just as Espeon´s Psybeam tore through the air toward Pupitar.
A quickly performed Sandstorm blocked the attack from hitting Pupitar, even obscuring the Hard Shell Pokémon´s movements from view. "Rain Dance," Lucian calmly stated, pushing his glasses further up on his nose again. The heavy deluge that started easily swept the Sandstorm away, the wet sand too heavy to remain in the air. What none present was expecting was to see Pupitar missing, and Ash smirking slightly as the Sandstorm was effectively countered. "Crunch!" he yelled, causing the ground straight under Espeon to burst upwards. Even with tremendous reflexes, Espeon didn´t manage to dodge the surprise attack, Pupitar´s powerful jaws clenching around its front leg. Lucian´s eyes widened minutely, before he calmly ordered, "Use Psychic!" The light blue hue of psychic energy enveloped Pupitar, forcing it to let go of Espeon before it got sent flying into the ground. "Now Psybeam!" "Meet it with Dark Pulse!" The two attacks collided heavily in mid-air, seemingly equal in power. To Ash´s surprise though, Espeon´s Psybeam seemed to gain ground against the Dark Pulse and even with a type disadvantage the attack soon slammed home and sent Pupitar crashing into the ground once more.
Ash gritted his teeth a bit but didn´t raise his voice in concern, knowing that Pupitar preferred being silently encouraged. As if to prove Ash correct in his assumption that he wasn´t out of the fight Pupitar rose from the ground again. A menacing scowl visible in his eyes, as a deep purple energy, rose to envelop him. -Payback, huh? Ash thought to himself, seeing the attack for what it was. Unfortunately for him, Lucian too recognized the attack and had immediately formed a counter plan. Before the purple energy could fully form Espeon had hit Pupitar with a Shadow Ball and was rapidly closing the distance between them.
"Abandon the Payback and use Crunch!" Ash ordered, trying to counter Lucian´s plan. However, even as Pupitar followed orders immediately Espeon managed to use her flexible body to twist out of the way. When her tail lit up with a metallic sheen, and Ash recognized the Steel-type attack his eyes widened again. Around them the masses were silent as the powerful Iron Tail slammed Pupitar into the ground for the third time in about half a minute, eliciting a pained groan from the Hard Shell Pokémon. The loud clang of a metal-covered tail upon a shell with the properties of metal was deafening and made the closest of the audience cover their ears. Though many thought that would be the end of the battle, Pupitar surprised all except Ash by getting up with a roar of defiance.
"Excellent Pupitar, now use Dark Pulse!" The eerie pulsing beam of darkness slammed into Espeon in retaliation, sending the feline Pokémon flying backward. The surprise seemed to have made Espeon more on guard because it started to cautiously stalk around Pupitar. Thus the two Pokémon ended up circling again, just as they had done at the start of the battle. However, the initiative this time was taken by Lucian. He narrowed his eyes slightly, hoping to catch Ash and Pupitar off-guard with the silent command. He had no such luck, as the young Elite Trainer noticed the narrowing of his eyes. "Iron Head!" Ash commanded instantly, and Pupitar´s powerful physical strength crashed into Espeon´s Iron Tail attack. With superior physical forced Pupitar sent Espeon flying, crashing into the ground further back.
Seeing the chance Pupitar immediately started charging his Payback, while Espeon was getting up and shaking off the dust. A Shadow Ball followed by a Psybeam were both blocked by the Dark-type energy of Payback before Espeon started charging forward with the familiar sheen of a Zen Headbutt covering its head. The two attacks slammed into each other in a massive explosion of force, kicking up a huge dust cloud. Obscured by the dust cloud Ash gritted his teeth slightly, worried about his Pokémon. Once again as the dust cloud slowly dispersed the crowd held their breath waiting for the result.
A sharp, almost mournful whistle of wind blew past the carnival, as the dust settled and Pupitar was revealed on the ground with swirls in his eyes. Espeon managed to shakily force itself to its feet, obviously not having taken the explosion unscathed either. Ash sighed but smiled widely as he saw Espeon looking far less pristine than she had done right out of her Pokéball. Lucian smiled brightly as he clapped his hands together, "Marvelous battling, Ash! Had I been battling one of your stronger partners I would be hard-pressed to keep up I believe." He crouched down and stroked his Espeon behind her ears, eliciting a pleased purr from the psychic feline. Ash smiled and merely shook his head slowly, "I believe those should be my words Mr. Goyō. I happen to know for a fact that your most powerful Pokémon is a Gallade. And if I´m not mistaken that Espeon is fairly young, at least judging by her coat."
Lucian chuckled lightly at the response, "Please, call me Lucian. I believe you have earned that right. And I must admit you are correct, this beautiful girl is fairly young still, but she shows such immense potential that I cannot keep from wanting to see it fulfilled." The praise seemed to raise Espeon´s spirit even higher, as she arched her back and rubbed into Lucian´s hands while her purring rose in volume. The sight of the overly affectionate feline Pokémon made Ash smile, though Dawn stepping up to his side and hugging him quite easily made the smile even larger.
"Well, I believe my show now has quite the spectacle to live up to," a jovial and chuckling Director Absalom as the crowd parted to allow him access to the middle. He continued in the same mirthful tone, "I do hope my acts don´t disappoint after such a thrilling battle. That said my acts should be ready within moments, and I´d like all attendees to please enter the round top!" With that the man turned extravagantly on his heel and seemed to almost float towards the circus tent, his cloak billowing around him impressively. Shortly thereafter, Brock seemed to materialize beside Ash from thin air, a joyful expression evident on his features. "Are you staying for the performance, Lucian?" Ash asked courteously, curious if the young Elite Four member would be sticking around for a while.
"Alas, I cannot. I, unfortunately, have other obligations and had only the time for our battle, I now need to return to my duties. Perhaps I shall seek you out again when my boredom elevates once more," Lucian answered primly before he seemed to simply fade out of existence to the knowing smirks of Ash and Brock. Dawn, however, had no idea what he just did and looked confused and impressed in equal measure. "How did he do that?" she asked quietly, the three of them having been the last three to remain with the Elite Four member.
"You noticed how he picked Espeon up when he rose from the ground?" Ash asked as the trio started to move towards the round top. "Of course, she was truly a gorgeous Pokémon," Dawn smiled, considering whether she wanted to search for her own Eevee. "Well as you know Lucian´s specialty is Psychic-types, and there is a very specific Psychic-type move that would allow for just that to occur," Ash continued, gesturing back to the place from which Lucian had disappeared. "A Pokémon move? I guess it would be Espeon who made it happen then?" Dawn seemed intrigued, biting her lip slightly as she thought. "The move is called Teleport, but no it wasn´t Espeon. Espeon cannot learn Teleport, I´m guessing he had another Pokémon with him that teleported him out," Ash answered just as the trio entered the circus tent and found their seats.
The air in the round top was tight and humid, making it somewhat difficult to breathe in there in comparison with the outside open air. Besides, the humidity and close proximity to the other spectators made the temperature almost unbearable, though the trio all ignored the slight discomfort and waited to see the show. A few minutes later, Director Absalom entered the ring to roaring applause from the crowd. Holding up his hands to ask for silence, Absalom moved into the center of the ring, standing on a small platform to be more visible to the back rows.
"Welcome one and all, big and small, young and old! Welcome to the show of a lifetime! Be aware that all of these acts took years of practice to perform safely, and are not something you should try without proper supervision!" the Director advised seriously before he grinned. "That, however, is not what you are here for, nor to hear me speak! You are all here to see these marvelous performers in awe, so without further ado… The Donphan Riders!"
As the Director moved hurriedly out of the ring three Donphan came rolling into the ring, each with a circus artist standing on their back as they rolled. As the Donphan mover faster and faster the riders started doing more and more daring stunts, and when the Donphan started moving close by each other they would switch places. One of the most daring stunts any of the three did though was when one of the Donphan sprung high into the air, he grabbed a hold of its back and stretched himself to be fully upright, while the Donphan still rolled and the rider, while fully stretched out, was beneath the Donphan. Before the Donphan hit the ground again the Rider had made a full rotation and landed standing on the Pokémon´s back again. The final stunt of impressed as well, as one of the Donphan came out of his rolling form and landed on the back of the other two, still rolling. One rider was on top of the standing Donphan while holding the other two on either side, both of which was outstretched with their legs positioned on the standing Donphan´s flank. It became obvious that it was the final stunt when the entire group left the ring still in the same positions, and the Director entered the ring once more.
"Marvelous! Impressive weren´t they!?" he asked out, purposely hyping the crowd further. The atmosphere within the round top had become electric with excitement, something the Director certainly found much joy in. "The next act will be an amazing show of strength and physical prowess! Please put your hands together for… The Muscle Maniacs!" With that, he once again made a hasty retreat from the ring, and within a few moments, a large man walked in carrying a massive chain by himself. Following him were a Machoke and a Mienshao, the Machoke carrying a metallic wheel and a few iron balls.
The impressively muscled man started by unraveling the chain from around himself and tossed one end to the Machoke. The two then proceeded to stretch the chain out, making it a taut line. The Mienshao fetched the metal wheel from the Machoke and placed it on the taut chain before it sprang up and landed gracefully on top of the wheel, which immediately started to move. The Mienshao started performing acrobatic stunts on the wheel, but the really impressive shows were performed by the man and Machoke, both of whom were juggling the heavy iron balls with one hand and keeping the line taut with the other. While not as impressive as the preceding act, it kept the crowd´s attention and kept them entertained. The act ended with Mienshao juggling iron balls with both hands and one of its feet, while balancing with other. The final action of the act, was the man and Machoke making the line buck upwards, sending the wheel and Mienshao into the air. Mienshao kept juggling the iron balls, now also including the metal wheel, until it landed and the trio all bowed to the crowd and left the ring to appreciative applause.
Once more the Director entered the ring to raise the spirits of the crowd ever higher before for the third time introducing his next act. Within a few moments, a couple of young twin red-heads entered the ring, with two graceful Pyroar at their sides. They had been introduced as the Flaming Fangs, and why became evident shortly after their entrance. Their act started with a dazzling display of pyrotechnic techniques performed by their Pyroar. The act continued into the Pyroar darting around a set obstacle course at blistering speeds covered in the fiery form of Flame Charge, after which they both did a full-frontal flip landing with twin deep roars blasting the fires of Flame Charge to all sides. Following the twins, who had been introduced as Cassandra and Leora Noir, jumped onto the backs of their respective Pyroar. The two lion Pokémon then covered their bodies in the electrical energy of Wild Charge before once soaring through the ring at high velocity. The difference, of course, being the twins now on their backs, and that they were jumping through hoops that were blazing in flame. The final act of their show was one of the Pyroar using Fire Fang to grab onto the other´s Iron Tail to fling it into the air, and finishing off with a massive display of firepower as a Solar Beam and a Hyper Beam collided in midair between them. The sparkles that floated in the sky like twinkling stars as a result masked the twins' disappearance and the reentrance of the Director.
The rest of the evening passed in a similar fashion, with multiple widely different and highly entertaining performances. When the Director, in the end, announced that the finale of the show was now finished, to thunderous applause from the crowd, the sun had almost gone down. "Can we still reach Eterna before the dusk takes completely over, Brock?" Ash asked as he and Dawn walked out of the round top hand-in-hand. Brock rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before answering, "I think so, but we might have to travel just a bit quicker than we usually do." Ash seemed to think for a moment, "What kind of terrain is there between here and Eterna?" Brock rose an eyebrow, unsure as to why Ash asked, "Mostly plains and flower-fields, why?" Ash smiled mischievously, "Then I have an idea for getting there quicker."
In short order, Ash had switched a few of his Pokémon temporarily, and the three friends were hammering down the path towards Eterna on the backs of three happily charging Tauros. Ash was laughing joyfully, while Brock and Dawn were hanging on for dear life, terrified of falling off. The group rode into Eterna shortly after 8 in the evening and quickly managed to book a room at the Pokécenter. "We should head out for something to eat, I´m starving," Ash commented to Dawn, just after the two had put their stuff away in their rooms. Dawn thought about it for a second before her stomach growled in agreement for her, and the two simply laughed before finding Brock and inviting him to join them. As the three were walking down the streets to look for a restaurant, they suddenly heard the soothing sounds of a harp as they walked past one of Eterna´s public parks. The calming aroma of the park's flowers, the temperature of the windless night and the soothing stringing of the harp all drew the trio into the park to see what was going on.
Not far into the park, the found the origin of the sounds, sitting in supreme serenity and tranquility at a bench. On the bench sat Nando with his eyes closed and his hands absentmindedly playing the harp, with a few dozen different Grass-types sitting on the ground in front of him listening attentively to his music and releasing their best smelling aromas in pleased gratitude. "Hi Nando," Dawn greeted quietly, carefully trying not to startle the minstrel or the surrounding Pokémon too much. Nando´s eyes blinked open, and a smile presented itself on his face. "Ah, Ash and Dawn it´s a pleasure to meet you again. Mhm, I do not believe I have been introduced to this new companion of yours, however. I am Nando, a pleasure to meet you," he spoke quickly in his melodic voice.
Brock smiled, held out his hand and introduced himself, "Brock Slate, the pleasure is mine." The two of them shook hands, while the many Grass-type Pokémon looked on curiously and apprehensively. "Why are you sitting here playing so late in the evening, Nando?" Dawn asked, a bit curious, while she rested her head on Ash´s shoulder. "Ah I was simply resting for a bit after my battle with Gardenia a while ago," Nando answered a gentle smile on his face. That, of course, caught Ash´s attention, "Really? How did it go?" Nando laughed a bit and strummed his fingers across the harp a couple of times before he finally answered. "I managed to get the Forest Badge, though the battle was harder than I thought it would be."
"Congratulations, that´s amazing!" Dawn stated, giving Nando a slight hug much to his bewilderment. Ash smiled widely in acknowledgment as well, though he also had a question. "Is the contest side of things going as well?" Nando smiled, before he fetched a pair of silken handkerchiefs from the inside of his sage green jacket, one of them was ebony black with a few golden patterns while the other was scarlet with silver patterns. They were both folded and when Nando unfurled them a single Gym Badge came into view in the black one, while a Contest Ribbon was resting easily upon the red. "They are both going well, though I still have to improve," Nando answered, as he folded the handkerchiefs back together and put them back in his jacket.
Ash laughed merrily at the statement, "We all improve as long as we live, Nando." The single comment put a wide smile on the faces of all other trainers present, though Brock´s was perhaps the widest.
"We were going to get something to eat when we were distracted by your music, would you care to join us?" Ash asked grinning. The Grass-types had started to settle in for the night, going back to their burrows and other homes. "I´d be delighted to," Nando answered, shortly before the sun seemed to completely set and an orange hue enveloped the horizon. The foursome made their way down the streets, finding a restaurant just a few blocks down from the park. The waitress smiled widely at them and eagerly led them to a table, before taking their order of drinks. She returned shortly after with their drinks and the menu of the restaurant and left the four of them to their conversation and choice.
The foursome quickly got engaged in joyful debate and their meal was passed sharing jokes and experiences. All said it was a merry evening, that is until they started making their way back to the Pokécenter. Around the central square of the city, a large commotion had risen, which drew the attention of the four who quickly decided to check it out. A bit off to the side of the central square was a museum that was widely known and held several priceless artifacts. As the police, led by Eterna´s own Officer Jenny were currently barring access to the area in front of the museum, it wasn´t difficult for Ash or the others to piece together what had happened.
"I´ll check if they need any help. I´ll only be two minutes ok?" Ash informed the other, quickly planting a chaste kiss on Dawn´s cheek before he strode over to the police barricade. "Excuse me?" he called the attention of the closest police officer to him as he stepped up. "I´m sorry but the area is currently off-limits," the young officer answered, not condescending in any way. Ash rose an eyebrow before he purposely let the officer see his Elite Trainer ring and fished out his G-Men ID card from the inner pocket of his jacket. "I think Officer Jenny might like to hear from you, young man. This way please," the officer kept his voice calm and tried his hardest not to compromise Ash. There were G-Men operatives that were highly publicized, such as Lance, but in general, the organization preferred to have their operatives be as anonymous as possible.
Officer Jenny was none too pleased with seeing one of her subordinates' approach with an unidentified, to her, trainer, "This area is supposed to be off-limits Cavanaugh! Why are you bringing an un-authorized civilian into the perimeter?" The two questions were shot out quickly, and her tone conveyed accurately just how stressed and frustrated the situation made her. Before the police officer, apparently named Cavanaugh, could answer Ash spoke up himself, "Perhaps Officer it would be better to get my ID yourself before you dismiss potential help?"
A 16-year-old speaking with such perceived audacity shocked Officer Jenny slightly, but she quickly shook that off and held her hand out for the ID in silence. Quickly and covertly handing over his ID, Ash had to work to keep his laugh back at seeing the fleeting embarrassment on the police officer´s face. "My apologies, Mr. Ketchum, I wasn´t aware," she quickly apologized, though Ash simply waved her off. "Is there anything I can do to help here?" Ash asked, curious to whether he was needed or the officers could handle whatever this was. "I believe we have it under control Mr. Ketchum but thank you for the offer. There was only one thing stolen and as far as we´re aware it isn´t dangerous, unfortunately, we cannot find any clues at all. No physical proof of thieves´ presence except for the broken backdoor and the cut wire to the alarm. No fingerprint, bootprints or even a scent to be followed. The culprit has simply vanished into thin air," Officer Jenny informed him, which made Ash instantly suspicious. Not of the officer, but he knew of one way for a person to literally vanish into thin air.
"Have you gotten an Esper to check for traces of Teleport?" Ash asked as he turned around to leave. "Whoever did this knew exactly what to and where to go, it´s either a professional acting on someone´s behalf or whoever wanted this object is very adept at theft themselves," Ash noted absentmindedly aloud, as he walked off. The two police officers blinked before they looked at each other, incredulous expressions on both their faces. "Cavanaugh…" Officer Jenny started, only to be cut off by Officer Cavanaugh. "Find the closest available Esper, got it, boss. I´m on it," Cavanaugh replied, hurrying over to a few officers sitting by computers to get in touch with an Esper.
Ash returned to Nando, Dawn, and Brock shortly after, "There´s been a theft, don´t know what´s been stolen but they seem to think it isn´t dangerous. They can handle it, and quite frankly I am way too tired to think about it at the moment. Should we return to the Pokécenter?" Receiving nods, and a few smiles from his friends, Ash made his way to the Pokécenter hand-in-hand with Dawn, talking with Nando and Brock. While the evening hadn´t been completely without issue, it had still been better than their first afternoon and evening in Oreburgh.
A/N:
Finished! Finally, I managed to overcome my writer´s block! There have been three things that have gotten in way of this chapter; No. 1 is the writer´s block which is the most severe one I have ever gotten and had mostly to do with the circus performances. I have never attended one and so I had difficulties finding appropriate replacements in Pokémon. Reason no. 2 is my studies, which has demanded my attention a lot more than previously. And I do have to prioritize my education over writing for the fun of it, much as I would like to be able to focus solely on writing here. Reason no. 3 is the least viable reason, but it still took a lot of my time. As stated in the top AN I have gotten into DnD, but I have also gotten into several different Warhammer games. And as I had a writer´s block a lot of my stress relief has been going to painting miniatures instead of trying to break through my writer´s block.
I apologize for the extremely tardy chapter, but unfortunately, I cannot promise it won´t happen again much as I would like to. Hopefully, people will still be around to read the chapter even after all the time I´ve taken.
I have stated before and I meant it, that I will not abandon a story. If the chapter takes a lot of time it is either because I am too busy IRL to write, or I am fighting against a major writer´s block. The chapter quality has probably taken a hit for the same reason. I hope you will continue to read anyways, and I hope to hear from you in either reviews or PMs.
Till next time!