Chapter 24 is here! I am so sorry for not updating, but I had a writer's block and forgot to save twice, deleting my whole chapter. It's here now!
Ash glanced at the Pokémon in front of him. He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "You're a sword!" Ash exclaimed in astonishment. The Pokémon, quite literally, was a basic sword with a long, blue scarf extending from the hilt. The Pokémon's eyelid was in the center of its hilt, and the eyebrow raised expectantly when it heard Ash's words. Was it not obvious that it was a sword?
Ash pulled out his pokedex after coming out of his shock, curious on what Pokémon he was looking at.
Honedge, the Blade Pokémon. Apparently, this Pokémon is born when a departed spirit inhabits a sword. It attaches itself to people and drinks their life force.
Ash subconsciously scooted away from Honedge when he read the Pokémon's pokedex entry. Personally, Ash liked his life force. He scrolled through the pictures of various Honedge, and a few detailed paragraphs about the Pokémon. Apparently, the Pokémon was native to Kalos. Ash couldn't help but wonder why a Honedge was all the way out in Kanto. There was not a lot of information on Honedge, considering it was a ghost-type. Ghost-type Pokémon are notoriously hard to study because of their rarity and ability to evade, well, anything. Ash, satisfied with his new information, slowly closed the pokedex and dropped it back into the bag which it had come from. There was just one thing bothering him. The Honedge next to him was missing something, but Ash couldn't place what exactly it was. He stood up, and tried to walk up the stairs, past Honedge. Tried. The Pokémon stuck its gleaming blade out, blocking Ash's pathway.
That's when he realized it. Why was Honedge's blade exposed? The pictures of Honedge on the pokedex never exposed Honedge's blade. There was always a scabbard covering it. Ash remembered a paragraph saying that Honedge prized their blade over every other possession, worldly or unworldly. The only times Honedge exposed their blades were in battle.
"Where's your scabbard?" Ash asked, looking at the Pokémon. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he realized it was a senseless question. Honedge always kept their scabbard with them, if only for the sake of their sword. Honedge must have lost it. The Pokémon confirmed his realization a moment later, by brandishing its sword in the air.
"Where is your scabbard?" Again, a stupid question. If Honedge knew where its scabbard was, it would have gone looking for it. Honedge waved the silky blue scarf attached to its hilt uselessly.
Ash sighed. "Do you want help finding it?" He offered. Honedge's eye widened and it shook its blade, seeming happy. Ash didn't mind helping out Honedge. His intentions weren't even completely pure. Ash did want to help Honedge find its scabbard, but what he hoped for was that Honedge would join his team. Ash didn't have a ghost-type Pokémon or a steel-type on his team. Honedge would be an invaluable addition. But first, he needed to find the scabbard. Besides, Ash was planning on climbing the stories of the tower anyway. The only difference was that he was going to focus on finding ghost-type Pokémon, not a scabbard. Honedge lazily floated up the stairs, into the second floor, and Ash followed.
Ash could feel his muscles ache, which was concerning. How tall was this tower? It felt like he was in an endless loop, and nothing had come out of Ash's work yet. His legs felt like Jello, and he wanted nothing more than to face-plant into the ground, curl up into a ball, and stay there forever. Honedge had it easy. The Pokémon was effortlessly floating up the stairs and around the various gravestones in the rooms. Even the cobwebs which hindered Ash succumbed to Honedge's razor-sharp blade. To be honest, Ash wasn't being productive at all. The worst part was, he hadn't even seen a single ghost-type other than Honedge! In fact, the only Pokémon there were Rattata. It was true that ghost-type Pokémon were ridiculously rare, but this tower was supposed to be filled with spirits of dead Pokémon. Where else would a ghost-type Pokémon be?
Shaking off his thoughts, Ash straggled up the stairs of the next floor, only to stop when he heard a voice.
"You have all the poke balls?" Ash heard one man say.
"Yes! Stop asking. Everything is going to plan." The other man grunted back.
They were robbers, Ash realized. That's why he couldn't find a ghost-type Pokémon! They were all captured, but the Rattata must have been left, for obvious reasons. Instinctively, Ash placed a hand on his belt, resting his palm on Charizard's poke ball. He looked up the stairs, and his eyes bulged out when he saw Honedge carelessly floating up the stairs, directly into the robber's hands. The Pokémon must not have heard them!
Ash lunged, and he felt the silky fabric of Honedge's scarf graze his fingers. Ash clutched the scarf like it was his lifeline, and yanked the Pokémon back.
Honedge looked back to see who had dared pull its scarf. The Pokémon, seeing its blue fabric in Ash's hand, focused its one eye on Ash angrily. Ash dropped the scarf immediately and raised his hands in the air. "Listen." Ash whispered. Honedge, while still angry, doubtfully quieted down to listen. Ash tuned out, also listening to the robber's conversation.
"Why does the boss want so many ghosts anyway?" One robber asked.
"They sell for a lot on the black market. Apparently we need a lot of money for the boss's plan."
"What even is the plan? Only the executives and the boss himself know all the details."
The other grunt snorted. "They aren't doing a very good job of keeping it secret. I overheard one of their conversations. It's something about the three legendary birds. You know, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres."
Ash heard a bit of rustling and shifting. "Damn these ghosts. They refuse to stay put in their poke balls."
"Don't worry. We'll be done in a few minutes." Ash tuned out. They only had a few minutes to think of a way to stop the robbers. Actually, probably more than robbers. Ash suspected they were Team Rocket members. He knew that Team Rocket also had started big plans, just like the mentioned group here. Ash shook his head. Focus on the problem, he thought. Ash racked his head for a plan to take on the thieves. He didn't want to go in directly, since he didn't know the their skill level. For all he knew, Cranidos could take out their Pokémon with one shot, or Charizard would get slammed by a single blow. Ash slowly dragged his teeth against his lip nervously, unsure what to do. The young Pokémon trainer sat still for a few seconds, his mind racing a mile a minute. Honedge was watching Ash, floating idly. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he smiled deviously. "Honedge, come here. I have a plan."
Just as the robbers stood up, ready to leave, they heard a long, drawling voice.
"Who dares go through the Pokémon Tower, and steal the young ghosts?" The voice was gravely and quiet, but still carried around the room. The robber's eyes widened, and they twisted around, searching for the mysterious voice. Suddenly, a long wood plank clattered to the ground. The robbers each took a few steps back, nervously. The creaking planks under their feet didn't do any favors to the tense atmosphere.
"Release the Pokémon, and never come back." The gravely voice struck again. The robbers looked like little babies who had just had their candy stolen; on the verge of tears.
But still, the robbers refused to give in. "Or else what? What are you going to do about it?" The robber who had spoken hoisted the bag, and, despite all his big talk, tried to sneak down the stairwell like a coward.
The robber had almost made it, too. The only thing that stopped him was a cold razor-sharp blade held to his throat. "Leaving so soon?" The robber fell flat on his back and scooted back to the center of the room, his body warm and sweaty. The robber's accomplice in crime was just as freaked out, veins bulging on his forehead. "Release the Pokémon." The voice was sharp and commanding this time. The robbers were quick to spill out the bag of poke balls. There were about twenty poke balls spilled out. The robbers were quick to open the poke balls. The ghost-type Pokémon spiraled out of their imprisonment as fast as they could, obviously thrilled to be free. The only ones Ash could recognize were Gastly, a few Haunter, and Misdreavus. The others, Ash guessed, were native to farther regions like like Unova.
The robbers scurried away like Rattata after they released the Pokémon, and the "mysterious voice" didn't stop them this time. The ghost-type Pokémon also dispersed, quickly filling the floors of the Pokémon tower.
As soon as Ash was sure the robbers were gone, he let out a loud, hearty laugh. His plan had been executed perfectly. It was a simple plan, as well. Using the app on his pokewatch, Ash changed his voice to a spooky, ghost-like voice. It was a bit too stereotypical for Ash's tastes, but worked just fine on the robbers. Actually, they weren't just robbers. After seeing them, the red R on their black shirts easily defined them as team Rocket. Ash just stayed in a corner of the room and used the app to create a spooky voice. Honedge did the rest, tossing down the wood plank and using its sword to force the robbers back. The one thing that bugged Ash was what the robbers were talking about. The rocket's plan that involved the three legendary birds. Ash remembered asking Professor Oak about them one time. The professor had confidently claimed they were fully extinct. Now, he heard that Team Rocket plans to hunt the extinct birds down?
Ash shook his head. He wasn't in the mood to think about Team Rocekt. He just pulled off an amazing prank, if he did say so himself. Using the flashlight on his poke watch, Ash shined a bright white light around the room, looking for any unopened poke balls. He didn't find any, but found something else. "Honedge, look! There's your scabbard!" Ash pointed his finger at the leather covering across the room. It wasn't very decorated, just a simple leather scabbard and a metal band wrapped around the middle. Ash had forgotten that the original reason he had come up the stairs in the rush of the robbery. Honedge let out a sound of what Ash assumed to be delight. He really couldn't tell. The sound was like metal scraping against cement. Honedge dashed towards its scabbard and joyfully placed its blade into the scabbard. The Pokémon seemed thrilled and then floated towards Ash.
Ash smiled. The Pokémon seemed so thrilled just by having its scabbard back. "Happy now, Honedge?" The Pokémon nodded happily. "It was nice meeting you, Honedge." Ash walked down the stairs, happy even though he didn't fulfill his original hope of getting a ghost-type Pokémon. Who wouldn't feel happy if they stopped a robbery and helped a Pokémon out.
Ash only realized Honedge was still following him when he was in the Pokémon Center. "Honedge, why are you following me?" The Pokémon tilted its sword to the poke balls resting on Ash's belt. Ash grinned widely. "You want to join my team?" Honedge nodded happily. Ash nearly instantaneously pulled out a poke ball and tapped it to Honedge. The poke ball shook three times, and clicked easily. Ash grinned. Yet another member to his team.
There's another chapter! I am so sorry for not updating. I had a writer's block and just wasn't in the mood. I managed to finish it, and part of me finishing it is thanks to your guy's reviews. Some reviews, though, were interesting. People shouldn't be asking for the minor details into the story. That's the point of reading it! This chapter was a bit of a filler, but it showed some of Team Rocket's plans. The chapter might be a bit rusty, because I haven't written in a while, but I hope it's good. Thanks for reading the chapter!