Chapter 17: Mysterious Scroll and Witchdoctor

Ash and his group have arrived at the department store, they notice how many things that it has sold, there are not only different healing items, Pokeballs, there are also some Incenses, TMs, and a lot of battle items, but they decide to ignore the stuff as they are in a hurry to find the Augur. They are now at the basement, only to see that it is full of boxes.

"Where is the entrance?" Ash asks Emily, who says, "I think it maybe hidden under one of the boxes."

They search under the boxes for a while until Lillie finds one with a ladder and a hole. "Guys, I found it."

They quickly rush towards her location and then they all jump down to the sewers, but much to their surprise is that they can't see anything as Darkness surrounded the whole area.

"Wow, this place is really dark..." Ash mutters as he tries to find the wall to touch.

"Yeah, I can't see anything, brother, are you here?" Lillie asks.

"I can hear you, Lillie, but I can't see you." Gladion says, but then he bumps into Emily and he says, "I am sorry."

"It's fine. We can't move forward if the place is so dark like this. Does anyone have a Pokemon that can use the move Flash?" Emily asks.

Nora says, "I don't have any..."

"Well the same as us." Ash says, "Is there another way?"

Damien suddenly trips on a thing as he takes the thing that trips him. He gasps in surprise and says, "Hey, I got a Flashlight!"

He tries to open it, but it doesn't have any power to turn it on. "But there is no power in it." Damien says, and Ash says, "That won't be a problem." He takes out his Gallade, please charge up the battery, please."

Gallade uses the Electric attack on the battery, causing it to get working and the light from the flashlight emits. The others sigh in joy as they can see each other again.

"Alright, now we have to stay close, don't leave our sight." Ash says as they nod.

Once they use the light to find the way, they have been turning left and right in the place, and they are doubting that they are just moving in circles. Alice says, "This place sure is a maze..."

"Yeah, but there are also poisonous water on the ground..." Emily says as he manages to stop in front of the toxic water.

"Leave this to Shaymin's Seed Flare." Damien says as he tells his partner to clean the water so they can pass, at first they are worried that the Inflatable Lapras can't hold too much people, but in the end it is fine. After several more turns, they see a ladder and Lillie yells, "Hey guys, look, I found a ladder!"

"Are you sure this is the way to the tower?" Emily asks. "Because there might be more if we continue moving in the maze."

"We don't know if we don't try it out." Ash says as they climb up, only to find nothing except for rocks and walls.

"Looks like we get into a dead end, which means that this path is not the path we should take." Gladion says with a sigh. "Let's go back and find the other ladders."

Nora says, "I agree." But before they can go back, Ash just stays there and Lillie asks, "Ash? What's wrong?"

"I don't think this is just an empty room, since I think I know there is something here." Ash says, causing them to be confused. Ash takes out Meloetta, Damien is the only one that doesn't know about this, and he says, "You have a second Legendary Pokemon?"

"Meloetta was belonged to my mother, but since she went missing, it comes with me so that we can find her." Ash says as he turns to Meloetta. "Meloetta, can you sing the Relic Song?"

"Leave it to me." Meloetta says, and then she sings a part of the song. Alice says, "Wow, this song sure is great."

"I know." Lillie says, but after she finished singing, the floor starts to shake and then a pillar rises. On top of the pillar is a 16-tiles puzzle with only 15 inside.

"So this is the puzzle that Ridley told us about..." Lillie says.

"You are right, now we have to solve it..." Nora sees it and says, "This puzzle is a tile puzzle, we can't pick it up, so we can only move it."

"And how do we move it?" Damien asks. "I mean, it seems like a hard puzzle to solve..."

Ash just stays silent and then he starts to move the pieces, much to the others' surprise.

"Ash?" Lillie tries to get his attention, but Ash is so focused on the puzzle. And eventually he manages to finish the puzzle, which is the picture of Meloetta. Much to their surprise, the last one suddenly floats out of the table, and it activates the same song that Meloetta sung. While it is doing that, the puzzle sinks into the pillar and then a scroll rises up instead.

"I don't know you like to play this, Brother." Nora says. "I mean, you are really skilled at this puzzle."

"My Mom always play this with me ever since I was lonely...When I was back in Kanto, I was sometimes being bullied by Gary and his gang, the only friend I had back then...never mind that." Ash says as he feels his heart aching again. He takes the scroll and says, "Though I was surprised that the game that my mother taught me to play would be this beneficial..."

"Well, consider that this Pokemon is your mom's partner." Emily says as they leave the place so that they can go to the Helios Tower easily.


After wandering in the sewers, they finally find a fan in the middle of the area. Ash says, "Isn't this the same thing as the one we saw in Suntouched City?"

"So this must be the exit to the tower." Damien says as they decide to jump on it, then they are now at another dark place, but this time there are people here. Ash asks, "Now where are we now?"

"If I remember it correctly...this is the Black Market. It is really as creepy as crap... This is a place where a lot of people can buy illegal items without being detected..." Damien says.

"Why are we here anyway?" Lillie asks Emily. "I thought that we would get inside the tower."

"Well, we have to go through that exhibition area to the basement of the Jade Tower." Emily says.

But then they see a witch coming towards them. "You guys must be new to this place, right? May I ask where are you going?"

The group are creeped out at the sight of the witch, they don't know if she is a friend or foe. Alice whispers to Nora, "Should we trust her?"

"We might as well, if we want to get out of here as soon as possible." Nora says. "Sorry about that, Ms. But we are going to the Jade Tower."

"The Jade Tower you say?" The witch raises her eyebrow, and then she says, "I suggest that you should turn around and leave. Since from what I heard, one of the cults has a hideout in here that leads directly into the Jade Tower."

"A cult? Is it Sky Cult?" Gladion asks. "It will be trouble if they have their base there..."

"The Sky Cult? I don't think so, since they don't look anything like the cult that you mentioned." The witch says.

"So who are you exactly?" Ash asks in confusion, "Why are you talking to us even though we might be your foe."

"I trust you guys that you are not my foe." The witch says with a smile, "And where are my manners. I am a Witchdoctor, I have powers to make your Pokemon evolve without trading."

She looks at Ash, who starts to feel uneasy at how close she is. "Say, do you have any Pokemon that requires trading to evolve?"

Before Ash can answer, Nora stands in front of him and says, "Wait, and why do we have to trust you? Maybe you are just a cultist in disguise?"

Damien knows that Nora is getting serious all the time, he mutters, "Nora..."

The Witchdoctor laughs a little and says, "I won't blame you since the Torren Region is a mess, but it is your choice."

Ash thinks for a while, and then he says, "I'll trust you, I have a Delta Scyther that needs to evolve."

"Ah, Delta Scyther you say? Then I have this Never-Melting Ice. Just give me his Pokeball."

Ash says, "Sure, but don't you dare run away with it, I am pretty sure that this Scyther can kill you when he knows that you stole it from me."

"I am not those kind of people, don't you worry, child." The Witchdoctor then takes the Pokeball and place it on the Never-Melting Ice, then she starts to chant and then the Ice turns into particles and then disappears.

"The Ice is gone..." Alice says. "How is that even possible? Isn't that supposed to be Never-Melting Ice?"

"Maybe she does have some magic powers." Ash gets the Pokeball back and then opens it, then Scyther starts to glow and turns into a Delta Scizor.

"A Delta Scizor is ready for you." The witchdoctor says with a smile.

"That is amazing..." Lillie says as she scans the Pokemon.

Delta Scizor: The Frozen Claw Pokemon: Ice and Fighting Type. Evolved from Delta Scyther by trading with Never-Melting Ice. Its exoskeleton is coated with a thick layer of ice. The layer of ice reforms once per year.

Delta Scizor looks at his new body and is amazed. Ash says, "Thank you, how much does this magic cost?"

The witchdoctor says, "Since you guys are going to the base without the fear of encountering the cultists, so I might as well give you for free in order for you to get safely."

"Thank you so much." Lillie says as then they bid farewell to the witchdoctor. And before they get inside the Jade Tower, they decide to check out what is in the Black Mart, they are surprised to see that there are fossils for Cranidos, Shieldon, there are also Oval Charm, Exp. Share, Super Rod, and other items which are very rare and hard to find.

"Ash? Do you know what is this Douse Drive mean?" Lillie asks Ash, who widen his eyes and says, "That was used for Genesect...I wonder how they were able to get those?"

"They must have got them from illegal trades, which is why this place is called Black Market." Nora says.

"Though I was curious who is the Chosen of Genesect..." Gladion says.

Alice says, "Well, before he was actually a member of an evil team in the past, but now he is a changed man." This causes Ash to be confused. "Does that mean I met him before?"

"Well, he did mention that he met you a lot of times, but you were the one that stopped him from doing something evil in the past." Alice says. "Though it will be better if you meet him directly."

Damien says, "I know that you want to talk some more, but do you forget why we came here in the first place?"

Ash says, "Well, Damien is right, we have been here for too long, we need to get going." Then they decide to move north as they leave the market area.


Now Ash and his friends arrive at the Black Market and have another scroll, what will happen in the next chapter? I hope you enjoy this chapter.