Disclaimer - I don't own Pokemon or any of its characters; only the idea belongs to me.
Chapter 2 - Leaf
Recap: "This is what the Time Clock looks like." Gary said as he pointed to the bottom of the page where something was written which neither of the three could understand. But Gary started reciting it like he knew it by heart
"The assortment of orbits rest for all masses of land, circumnavigating the sphere of living; only to maintain the harmony within them and assure peace for the wheel of pulse. Beware though, for if the flow is disturbed and the clock shall fail to revolve under influence of thy magical elements; only the counterpart of the disturbed could help till the last orbit ceases. For even after that the crisis push forward - the world shall turn to Ash"
Sevii Islands, 12th November
"How do you know what's written in it? That's surely not English." Tracey asked, his voice turning gravely serious after Gary recited the words form the book.
Out of all companions that travelled with Ash, Tracey had spent least time on journey with him - but that was enough for him to know that Ash was the biggest trouble magnet that existed in the world. And this prophecy was eerily like one he heard while he travelled with the young trainer.
Not that he thinks Ash was going to be in the middle of it all, because let's face it, this whole 'Time Clock' thing was just absurd. But Tracey won't be too surprised if Ash was related to all this somehow.
"I studied ruins for almost all my life Tracey. Even as a kid I used to help gramps decode the ancient languages - this is one of the Ainu languages. Those languages have been lost to our world since the start of the 12th century. But there are preserves of them present all over the world." Gary explained "According to this, the Time Clock is what keeps our world in motion and going. It can only be stopped by some magical element - but I think it's more like some unusual Pokémon attack or something. It also warns that not all rings should come to standstill, we need to do something before the last one stops. And if that happens - well let's just say things won't end well. The world might just crumble and burn down to ashes"
All the while Gary was explaining, Ash was silent. Only Pikachu was able to sense the sudden change in his trainers mood, he might not understand the human language, but he understood the emotions; and right now, what Ash was feeling was a tornado of those.
Ash on the other had didn't know where to place this sudden feeling that was creeping up his spine. He has been through many circumstances where he has saved the world. The prophecy and legendries don't seem to get enough of him - but for the first time; he felt dread - like he had nothing to do with these events and this was something larger than him or anyone existing. Like all he can do is stand on the side-lines and watch it all happen.
"But these are just theories, no? I mean, this is all what you think. It might not be true" Goh said, bringing Ash back to reality.
"Absolutely! And that's why I need to check this out for myself. I really hope we are not hanging onto that last chance" Gary said as he closed the book once again and returned it inside his backpack.
"I still don't understand. Why now of all the times?" Ash asked as he faced Gary once again, stopping everyone in their track; "you said you were working it for supposedly four years; then why have you waited so long to take any action? And if the regions come to standstill every year – how come no one noticed it before? I mean don't you think at least someone would have guessed it by now – other than you I mean" Ash said. He had a turmoil of thoughts and emotions eating his insides right now.
"I know what you mean Ash. Not only does life come to standstill; but an even more weird phenomenon occurs as one of the orbits stop – the capability and sense of time is lost to the people. It's like a defence mechanism the orbiting rings cast over their residence that make them neglect the aspect of time." Gary said as he turned to his companions and started walking out of his lab-turned-home, others following behind "To put it simply – it's like the name of a person you know you've met before but for the life of all holy things you can't remember their name. It's at the tip of your tongue but frustratingly out of grasp"
"So, the people have an itching feeling something is not right with the time, but those thoughts get dissolved in no time" Goh concluded, and Gary nodded in response
"Yes, like just a while ago, you tried to think of which year it is, but couldn't tell."
"Then how did you figure this out?" Tracey asked as they all made their way where the boat was. "I mean; shouldn't you also have forgotten about it like the rest?"
"I did.'' Gary affirmed and continued to explain "When I was in Sinnoh, I came across this book very early on. But as the effect of the standstill – it kept dropping to the back of my consciousness and I was busy with other things. When that year came to an end – I forgot all about it." They made a few turns as Gary stopped in front of a yard of sorts. Various Pokémon were lounging there. He put his backpack down and pulled the Pokéballs from that.
And continued "That was until I was on my way home and found the book again. I was curious – the book was always in front of me but I could not tell what it was about or how I got it. And then I searched through all the databases from all the leagues across the world to find anything regarding it, but nothing came up." He started returning the Pokémon one by one.
"You see I have a habit about keeping a log or a written record of whatever I research or even the slightest hypothesis I come up with. And so, after returning from Sinnoh, I kept at it; nothing down its and bits of information or translations from the book. But I had other things going on and then the year ended – and the cycle got reset. All the drive to get to the bottom of this ended and all the research I did so far erased from my mind. Only remaining in the shadows. As the second year progressed – I was searching what I was doing before that. It all came blank. I, for a brief amount of time thought I was going crazy, seriously!" He chuckled at that, finally returning all the Pokémon
"But then I again came across the book and all the research that I had done till then – most of it just noted in a hurry and in passing. For a long time, none of them made sense to me – but the nagging feeling in the back of my mind kept me driving to look deeper into it. It took me around 8-9 months to grasp what had happened and so for the remaining two months I started to make a detailed log of whatever I found thus far. Like the Time Clock – the prophecy – the interlinking of it to the regions – and the concept of standstill and how it works. I noted it all down and waited to test another hypothesis – the standstill of the time clock also affects the memory of the residents of that land. And it was proved again when the same thing repeated – but this time I was ready with everything to keep the research going." They finally reached the boat now facing each other. "The past two years I tried to search where the Time Clock will be situated and the exact dire situation that it could cause. It was like fighting a confusion attack only on a willpower basis and that was not at all easy. But now I know exactly where it is, and I was just going there when you guys came in"
"Then we came just in time" Goh said – now looking at Gary with shining eyes. He was always fascinated with the Research done around the Pokémon – but looking at the young researcher now he was marvelled at the sight of him. Ash and Tracey on the other hand were completely silent for different reasons. "We could help you in your quest to find this mysterious clock."
"But won't we forget about it now?" Tracey asked
"Keep thinking about something time related, every day. If my calculations are correct, the effect of forgetting runs in a cycle of twenty-four hours. So, if we keep thinking about it, we should be fine. Well, it worked for me; though it gave a bit of headache."
Tracey was still trying to jog his brain enough to catch up with what Gary had just said and was slowly coming to a realization that if what Gary was saying was true, then they had quite a situation on their hands.
Meanwhile, the dreaded feeling Ash had since he first heard of this was growing ten-fold. And while he was all for saving those in need and offering his humble assistance to the researcher-in-making, his danger sense was telling to take the high road and get the hell out of here.
"What do you say, Ash?" Goh asked snapping Ash out of his down-spiralling thoughts
"Huh?" He asked clueless
Gary was smart, very smart and he knew Ash a bit too much for either of their liking; he could tell Ash was hesitant for this supposed exploration, even if Ash was one of the only two who had believed in his hypothesis.
"You don't have to come with me,'' Gary said, making Ash feel a bit bad for letting his hesitation show. Gary turned to Goh this time, "I mean it won't have been so bad if you guys had joined, but I know you have prior commitments you would want to attend. Don't let my weird theory stop you from that." He chuckled. "Plus, I already have a company, so it won't be like I'll terribly miss you or something."
By the time he finished the sentence, he was smirking which rubbed Ash the wrong way & just like that, in a snap, the decision was made.
"And what? Let you have all the fun?" Ash huffed "Fat chance, plus Mom will be on my case if I let you go alone or with just one person on such a dangerous journey. We are coming, no take-backs" and for added effect he turned his hat back and stalked towards the boat, expecting for the others to follow. Pikachu hot on his trail.
"You were expecting that" Tracey deadpanned at Gary, who only shrugged in return and moved to join Ash in the boat. Tracey did not miss the mischievous glint in his eyes though; they may grow to be old and be on wheel-chairs, but even then they will be competing who is better than the other. Which, Tracey guessed, wasn't so bad after all.
When he looked at Goh, the young trainer was already excited at the prospect of doing something adventurous.
"It can't be that bad.'' Goh had assured Tracey and followed the other two. The statement only made Tracey sign in resignation, "You have no idea how bad it can be" he muttered to himself. He had a feeling this was going to be a roller coaster of adventure.
.
.
.
Enroute Fuchsia City, 12th November
On Gary's directions, Tracey had stirred the boat towards Fuchsia City Port where his supposed other companion was meeting them. While Gary was further explaining the intrinsic methodology that he had to put in for the research so far and all the other minor details, Tracey contemplated what he could do. Then a thought occurred to him.
"Gary, after reaching fuchsia port where are we going?" He asked the researcher.
"Well first we go to the Port and pick up my companion and then we head North, to Mt. Moon."
"This clock is on Mt. Moon?" Goh asked
"That can't be" Ash quickly shot down that possibility "We have been through Mt. Moon countless of times, not to mention many trainers do go through there; if there was actually something like a clock there, I think we might have found it by now"
"Getting smart now, eh ashy-boy" Gary smirked and then addressed Tracey "I won't say it's inside Mt Moon, but the long range of mountains just beyond it – towards north of Mt. Moon specifically, is where we are going. It's in one of the mountains – not sure which one, thus needing a company. Because -"
"- we are running out of time" Ash completed for him to which Gary nodded.
"Right. We will need at least four days to reach there, if we hurry up then two and half and if we consider the new years as we usually do, then we will have just about a month and half for the next year to begin. It won't be easy for only two people to check almost a dozen mountains which pans across hectares of land"
"What would you have done if we hadn't showed up?" Tracey was now curious, as he anchored the boat at one of the jetties as they reached Fuchsia port.
"Well, my original plan was to fly there on Aerodactyl and then scoop the mountains with help of Arcanine, Nidoking and Tyranitar. You guys are effectively saving my Pokémon extra labour work." Gary shrugged as he exited the boat.
"Good to know your arrogance still precedes you, Garebear" Another voice cut in their conversation carrying a tone of teasing and mischief, Gary just rolled his eyes at that comment.
Ash's ears picked up at the voice that he was quick to recognise, knowing who it belonged to. And as he guessed correctly for when he turned, he came face-to-face with the third of the trio that started their Pokémon journey on the same day as him.
"Leaf!" He exclaimed and hurried towards her to tackle her in a hug. Leaf laughed and returned the gesture.
"Hey Ashy, long time no see, huh?"
"Well of course, you just disappeared after you left Pallet Town – no conferences or any matches. You were in nothing" Ash replied as he separated from her and smiled brightly, "So, what have you been up to?" He asked
"Nothing much, just been here and there" She shrugged, Gary gave her a look that clearly stated he didn't believe in her vague answer, which she chose to completely ignore. "So, who are these friends of yours?"
"Let me introduce, this is Tracey, we used to travel through orange islands together and now he works as an assistant for Prof. Oak" He pointed at the Pokémon watcher who was securing the now empty boat to the jetty, in turn he passed her a small smile "And that's Goh, we are travelling through regions, catching Pokémon and battling strong trainers"
"Hello there" Leaf waved at the other companion who waved back.
Pikachu climbed up to his trainers shoulder and greeted Leaf with an excited "Pika!"
Ash laughed as he introduced him too, "And this is Pikachu, my partner."
"He's so cute!" She gushed as she creased behind Pikachu's ears, which the mouse pokemon absolutely loved. "It's a good thing you slept in, huh?" She smirked at the raven-haired trainer, who bashfully rubbed the back of his head
"Well, Everything happens for a reason" He provided, making her laugh.
"So, you'll be joining us on this exciting adventure, I take?" Leaf asked addressing Ash, sarcasm clear in her voice, which Ash seemed to miss completely
"Oh yeah! Isn't it something completely fascinating" He exclaimed with joy.
"She is being sarcastic moron" Gary grumbled as he started leading the group of teens – young teens – through the port
"Did he actually believe your 'Time clock' crap?" Leaf sniggered as she fell in steps with Gary, trying to look at his face
"Wait! You don't actually believe him?" Ash asked, catching up with the duo on Leaf's other side, Tracey and Goh following the trio equally confused. "Then why are you coming? I thought you wanted to help"
"It's more like she wants to prove I am wrong" Gary rolled his eyes as he pulled out a map from his back pocket, Ash looked at him and then to Leaf.
"Don't mind him" She waved her hand, "We made a bet last time we meet that this whole thing is just in Garebears head and nothing more, so I am just following to see for myself" she explained
"I thought you said Ash was the second person who believed you, if that's not this friend of yours then who?" Goh asked jumping in the conversation again
"The other person who believed it, is another friend of mine. When I first said she believed, but like you Ash" Gary looked at him "She was also hesitant to join on this hunt. I have tried to talk her into it, but not sure if she will join us. Let's hope she does"
"Aww, Did Garebear get himself a girlfriend? I thought this all was a ruse so you could finally spend some time with me without sounding desperate" Leaf poked him.
"Cut it out, Leaf" Gary snapped and glared at her a bit then continued to concentrate on the road ahead.
"Who is it?" Ash asked curiously
"Well, I don't wanna spoil the name if she doesn't decide to show up" was all Gary replied, then he presented them with the map; "First we will take bullet-train from here till Lavender Town, from there we will get a bus till Cerulean and from there we will have to walk the rest way to Mt. Moon. When I checked the train schedule one train was supposed to leave by 10 PM today, and that will reach Lavender by 4 AM tomorrow – so around 6-7 hrs journey. And then the bus will take another eight to ten hours, so by noon or later we should be in Cerulean. We can leave early the next morning for the hike to Mt. Moon, which should be done during the day, so we'll reach there by late afternoon. This'll give us enough time to rest up in Cerulean'' Gary explained.
"Wow, you had it all figured out, didn't you?" Goh asked, amused at the detained travel itinerary prepared by Gary, the latter only smiled.
"Isn't it a bit rushed?" Tracey asked
"Well, Garebear was always like this when planning our trips when were kids too" Leaf told the others "He never considers the fact that anything can go wrong while travelling"
"But you always have a back-up prepared for those situations" Ash stated as a matter of fact. Four pair of eyes turned to Leaf and she only looked ahead, muttering "That, I do"
Gary chuckled earning him a glare from Leaf. He was spared only because of Ash exclaiming;
"So, let's get going then! To Mt. Moon!"
Fin