Chapter 90 Finding the Volunteers
Ash, Victoria, Arclight (Still knocked out), and Adrienn are outside the place where they were kept by Team Meteor, they look around and are surprised to learn that they are actually in the North Obsidia Ward.
Adrienn: Okay, First question: Why? Second question: How? I thought we were at the top of Devon Corp., not here.
Victoria: I don't know. Adrienn, when you were with Ame, what exactly happened?
Adrienn: When Arclight activated the signal, we entered through the front as planned. There was the expected resistance, but then as soon as we finished dealing with them, The exits were sealed. It was some kind of gas trap. I don't remember what happened after that.
Ash: What about you, Victoria? What happened to you?
Victoria: When I was trying to keep a path clear for you, another group of Meteors came from out of nowhere and knocked me out.
Adrienn: So it seems likely that after rendering each of our unconscious, they transported us to this building.
Victoria: And again, I was too weak to stop it. Now that I think about it, Kiki was also weak. Her body was killing itself. She couldn't stop that, And I'm not sure she ever truly accepted it. I think I understand how the student becomes the master now. We've got a lot of work to do.
Adrienn: As always!
Ash: But despite all of us being so pitifully weak, look how far we've come.
Adrienn: Yeah. Let's protect this city. (Turns around and looks at the building) So this building was a cover for a Meteor facility too. That's a lead. Whoever was responsible for this probably has ties to Team Meteor. Those records should be at the Grand Hall.
Victoria: I'll take care of searching those, and I'll inform the other staff there about what's happened.
Ash: Indeed. My mom needs to know about this as well.
Adrienn: Then I'll get Arclight into medical care, and organize a party to search Devon and this building. The fact that they led us here and then set us free probably means they don't intend to use it anymore. So there may be something we can still learn.
Ash nods as he lets Adrienn carry Arclight, and he is surprised to see that Adrienn has the strength to carry him alone, then they all head back to the Grand Hall.
When they arrive at the Grand Hall, Serena and Lillie are there with Delia. When they notice how Ash and Victoria are bruised and wounded, they are shocked.
Delia: Ash! Victoria! What happened to both of you? And where are Ame, Adrienn, and Arclight?
Ash: (Frowns) Adrienn is bringing Arclight to the medical care...as for Ame...she's dead...
The three people can't believe what they're hearing, Ame is dead? But what about the Reborn Region?
Serena: No way...you mean she was killed by Team Meteor? How did they do it? And why?
Victoria: (Grits her teeth) That Team Meteor member: Lin, she forced us to take part in some sort of gauntlet and we have to battle each other, the winner gets to go on while the loser gets a penalty... Arclight was the worse as his eye was torn out.
Lillie: This is horrible...but what about the Grand Hall work? Who is going to help with the League now Ame is gone?
Delia: I guess I should be the one helping out then...just what is the deal with this Lin...
After a while Adrienn walks back to the Grand Hall, and judging by the looks, xe realizes that Ash and Victoria have told them the truth.
Ash: So how is Arclight?
Adrienn: The doctors are treating him, he should be fine...anyway. I have a request for you, Ash. I guess it is time for our official Gym Battle.
Ash: Are you sure about this? I mean...Ame was killed and you expecting me to continue the League?
Delia: Given recent circumstances, the actual status of the Reborn League might be unclear. However, Victoria and I will handle the administration, and as for the Champion...
Adrienn: That's my second request. I want you to become the new Champion.
Ash is surprised, Adrienn is expecting him to be the new Champion of Reborn, but can he really do it?
Adrienn: That might have been your goal in the first place, but now I think it's especially important. And I'd like it if it were you in particular because from what I've heard, you've been the one who's done so much for Reborn's sake. Of course, that still entails collecting all the Badges and defeating the Elite Four. Probably no one would accept your new role otherwise.
Ash: Now that I think of it...before Lin killed Ame. I saw Ame's last Pokemon defeated by her Hydreigon...doesn't that mean...
Adrienn: Uh, actually, let's not go there. Even if she defeated Ame, I personally will refuse to acknowledge her as the Champion.
Serena: Yeah, a Champion is not someone who kills people! She can't be the Champion of Reborn!
Lillie: But we need someone who can stand up to her. And Ash is our best hope for that. You'll do it, right?
Ash thinks for a while, that if he isn't going to be the Champion, Lin is, and if she does, then the whole Reborn Region is in danger from her. His first goal in this region is to find Arceus' offspring, and he finds that it is beyond the gate in Citae Astre with Team Meteor using it to create a new world. Ash sighs as he has been the one who defeats all kinds of evil organizations, and he has to defeat Lin if he wants Team Meteor to be truly gone.
Ash: I'll do it! I'll become the Champion of Reborn and stop Team Meteor.
Adrienn: Thank you. To start, I would like to have our battle at our gym now. However, I'm a bit swamped. I've got a handful of workstations that are short-handed. Not to mention planning the recovery party for Devon Corp. and what I've begun referring to as the Devonyx building. It's going to take me a small bit to get those sorted, but I could use your help too. That said, I won't force it on you. Management is tedious work, and I would understand if you have better uses for your time. Are you willing to help me out with a small errand before we battle?
Ash: Tell us what you want to do?
Adrienn: You are a genuine treasure, Ash. This will be somewhat menial, but I would like to ask for your help with recruitment. If you could explore the city and find anybody who might be willing to lend a hand to our work, I'd really appreciate it. If we can get at least five people, that should be enough for me to work with. Closer to ten would be ideal, and I'd make the difference worth your time, too. Please have them come here if they wish to volunteer. I'll handle the rest. After that's settled, let's have our battle. Okay?
Ash nods as he, Serena, and Lillie are now trying to find the volunteers.
Serena: So Ash...there is something that we haven't asked for a while...it is about those people who tried to have you give up your dream...
Ash: About them...the truth is, I don't hate them for doing that to me...but I can't be friends with them anymore. I tried to put the past behind me.
Lillie: I see...you're really changed a lot. But for the better.
Ash smiles at both girls, and then they try to find the volunteers for Adrienn. But first, they manage to go back to Devon Corp Building as he finds a Devon Scope Model on the floor where Ash was passed out by the electricity. By sending the Devon Scope to the Silph Co. They manage to change it into a Silvon Scope for Ash to find the Kecleon in the Beryl Ward.
For the request from Adrienn, Ash and the others find a woman in the stairway between Obsidia and Coral Wards, she was trying to hide from Team Meteor, and maybe helping can help her stay low. The second one is a slacker hanging out near the bottom entrance of the Slums, he was a working crew, but he was slacking. The third one is a girl near Obsidia park, and she says that she wants to protect the new Reborn City.
The fourth one is a kid in Beryl library since he really wants to fix things. The fifth one is a girl with social anxiety in Jasper Ward, since she wants to fix the problem of being socially anxious. The sixth one is a homeless man in the shelter in Peridot Ward, he was sitting on the bench as he is bored.
The seventh person is an insufferable guy going on about his genius or whatever in front of the grand stairway. The eighth one is an old lady in Lapis Ward, she was worried that being too old prevented her from helping out. The ninth one is a girl on top of the wall between Reborn City and the desert, as she was always watching people.
The tenth person is a guy near the train station, who was wondering what he should do. The eleventh person is a bored guy in Onyx Arcade since he was bored after playing all the games. The twelfth person is a girl in an alley in the Peridot Ward, since she wants to complain about the allies being gloomy.
The thirteenth person is a bug Catcher north of Beryl Ward. The fourteenth person is a girl in an alley directly south when they enter Obsidia from Opal, as she doesn't know what to do. And the final one is a boy with a blue cap in an apartment at Peridot Ward.
Ash: I guess this is enough...
Serena: So now that's done, are you going to the gym yet?
Ash: I think I want to explore some more...there was a secret room in the Beryl Library and I want to check it out.
After getting to the secret room, Ash decides to press the books in the order of the Arceus statues back in Subseven Sanctum, and then the hidden door opens.
Lillie: How come I never found this place before? And what is this?
Ash picks the item and it is actually an Amethyst Catching Charm. Ash decides to keep it and also read the only book.
"In the beginning, there was nothing. This non-existence was nearly perfect. But in not being completely perfect, existence was inevitable. When entropy first came into the world, it must have failed. And for the next infinite number of times that entropy was created, All of them must also have failed. However, eventually one of them would not. That single successful instance of entropy- a mere flaw in the fabric of non-existence- was simply a tautological certainty. And we who live within it were destined to see it, and it alone. Destiny does not pull us towards it. It is not a fated end. Rather, from a given beginning, it is the only logical outcome. When the world as we know it was created, it was given form. At that time, so did that which created it gives itself a form. This is the Pokémon we know as Arceus. And so at that time did that which created this world also create a means for its new form to have been itself created. This, of course, following all the laws of physics that Arceus was writing into place, must have been the meteor. The meteor enshrined below Reborn is often said to be that upon which Arceus first came to this world. And while every piece of physical evidence would verify that claim, In reality, it was only constructed to serve that purpose in whatever retrospect may have existed before the process of time was created. Those astronomic and geological events that would set such a meteor in motion so as to crash onto our planet, Were all determined long after they must have occurred. Therefore, what is not to say that this world that we are experiencing is the same? Every event set into motion as we know it, is simply a logical outcome of what happened in the past, And what must happen in the future for Arceus to be realized. This is the Pokémon we know as Arceus, But Arceus is not complete. This world is that means. Arceus will complete itself yet. Until it does, each and every one of us, Each molecule in this constructed world, Each thought in our predetermined lives, Is just a means to Destiny's End."
Lillie: Wow...I mean...I never knew Arceus was thought of it that way...
Ash: Yeah...
And here is a new chapter, this is before the gym battle, you'll be asked by Adrienn to do a sidequest. I hope you like this chapter.
