Note: This chapter was rewritten on January 27, 2021. There aren't any major changes to the plot, but it is recommended that you reread it if you read the old version of the chapter.
The old version had 2,860 words, and the new version has 3,472 words.
Chapter 4: Anistar City Trouble! The Vision!
"This was a great idea, Goh!" Ash shouted as he was riding Dragonite. "It's much faster if we ride our Pokémon to Anistar City!"
"That's right!" Goh yelled back as he and Chloe were sitting on Aerodactyl. "I got the idea when I was riding Aerodactyl to the Frost Cavern last time. I think I can see the city now!"
"Really?" Chloe hopefully asked as she was tightly holding on to Goh. "Then, let's please get to the ground! I don't like heights!"
"I do see it!" Ash exclaimed as he pointed in front of him. "There's the Sundial, and the Pokémon Center is just below us!"
"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu emitted once he spotted the Sundial as well. It was a long time since he and Ash had explored Kalos, and visiting the Sundial was exciting.
"Alright!" Goh responded after spotting the Pokémon Center. "Let's go down to the Pokémon Center, and we'll walk the rest of the way to the Sundial!" Dragonite and Aerodactyl slowly began their descent to the ground. While Ash and Goh were admiring the scenery, Chloe closed her eyes. She was afraid of falling, and she wouldn't let go of Goh. Once they landed, Chloe rushed to the ground and sighed a relief.
"Thanks, Dragonite!" Ash said as he recalled his trusty Pokémon.
Goh turned to his Aerodactyl and grinned, "Good job, Aerodactyl" as he recalled the Fossil Pokémon back into his Pokéball. Goh then looked into the distance and pointed at the Sundial. "There it is!" he exclaimed as he saw how huge it was. "Let's go over there now! I can't wait to discover something new!"
Chloe was still trying to regain her composure. After taking deep breathes, she finally spoke, "Let's not do this next time. It's too dangerous!" But the boys didn't hear her. They were already running toward to the giant Sundial. Realizing this, Chloe yelled "Wait for me!" as she followed them.
"Wow!" Ash exclaimed as he looked at the Sundial. It was huge! Even though he seen it before, he was still impressed by its sheer size. Compared to it, he and Pikachu were like ants!
Goh took pictures of the Sundial with his Rotom Phone and leaned closer to inspect it. "Fascinating," he spoke as he gently touched the Sundial with his right hand. "According to the information on this platform, the Sundial came from outer space, and the energy that it radiates is the same as the energy that radiates from a Pokémon that can possibly Mega Evolve! I guess my Aerodactyl and your Lucario's energies are the same, Ash!"
Chloe looked at the Sundial once more. "Outer space?" she asked as she walked forward to read the information on the platform. "That's impressive! So, it just crashed here?"
"Indeed!" a voice unexpectedly boomed from behind the trio. Ash, Goh, and Chloe turned around to see a woman walking toward them. The woman had a strange cape depicting stairs, and she had large rings around her shoulder and hands.
"Olympia!" Ash beamed as he approached the woman, "It's been so long!" Even Pikachu gave a warm welcome to the strange woman.
"Ash?" Goh puzzledly asked as he observed at the woman's strange clothes. "Do you know her?" He was surprised that Ash knew that mysterious woman. She even had a group of people standing behind her that looked like her followers.
Ash smiled and scratched his nose. "Olympia is the Gym Leader of Anistar City. I challenged her to a Gym battle and won!" Ash said as he pumped his fist up in excitement. "What are you doing here outside of your Gym?"
Olympia gave a small smile and gestured toward the three. "I felt a presence, and I was intrigued," she spoke. "Once I saw you, I knew that it had to be you three."
"What's so special about us?" Chloe inquired with a dubious tone. "We're just three normal children on a task to learn more about Mega Evolution for my father."
Olympia chuckled at Chloe's remark. The future about these children were unclear to her, but she knew that they were not normal. Ignoring Chloe's question, she looked at the Sundial and stated, "We believe that the Sundial is the main source of Mega Evolution. It supplies the energy that allows a Pokémon to Mega Evolve."
"What about Mega and Key Stones?" Goh instantly asked as he thought of what Cerise said in Kanto. "How are they related to the Sundial? From what I heard, they are both found deep underground."
Olympia nodded at Goh's words. "You are correct, and we don't know. However, a theory suggests that the energy from the Sundial is leaking into the Kalosian ground. Some of the energy are gathered into rocks, and they slowly become Mega and Key Stones after a long time," she explained. There was a hint of sadness in her voices, and Chloe picked it up.
"Is that all?" she prompted with a pleading face. "Is there anything more you can tell us about Mega Evolution?"
Olympia miserably shook her head. "Despite ongoing research, there has been no major breakthrough in the origins of Mega Evolution," she sighed. Ash and Chloe both looked dejected, but Goh was still deep in thought.
After thinking about what he knew about Legendary Pokémon, he ruffled his har and said, "Are there any legends about Mega Evolution?"
"It is said that the first Pokémon to Mega Evolve was Rayquaza and that Mega Evolution was discovered when humans noted the change in Rayquaza's appearance sometimes," Olympia replied at Goh's strange question.
"Wait!" Ash interrupted with a confused expression on his face. "I thought the first Pokémon to Mega Evolve was Lucario. The Tower of Mastery was built on the same place where the first Pokémon Mega Evolved!" He recalled Korrina's grandfather explaining to him about Mega Evolution before his gym battle with her.
"You are also right, Ash," Olympia responded as she nodded and turned to face the Sundial. "Mega Evolution was first discovered in Kalos, but research revealed that Hoenn was another site with large Mega Evolution activity."
Goh was scratching his chin. "This is harder than I thought," he pondered. "Hoenn has Mega Evolution energy, but there is no Sundial in Hoenn. Maybe I should focus on the fact that the Sundial and Rayquaza both came from outer space. Is there anything else that came from outer space?" His eyes suddenly lit up. He remembered something about his time with Ash in Galar. He began to speak, "Is there a certain Pokémon that-" But he was cut off by the sound of a nearby explosion.
"What's that!?" Chloe yelled as she looked backwards. Smoke was coming out of a nearby forest, and the explosions continued.
"We need to check it out!" Ash yelled as he ran toward the forest. "Some Pokémon could be in danger!" Goh and Chloe quickly followed, leaving Olympia and the rest of her group behind at the Sundial.
"Ma'am, should we help them?" one of Olympia's students asked as she watched he trio rush into the forest.
Olympia shook her head. "They will be fine," she replied. "But I am still worried about something else." She looked back at the Sundial and whispered to herself, "Someone wants the power of the Sundial, but who?"
"Ha! We caught it!" a man said as he lifted a net holding a Trevenant. "I bet we could get a lot of money for this!"
Another man nodded, "This Trevenant is quite special. It's a different color from the others. People would pay lots of money for it!" They began to laugh as they thought of the possibility of being rich, until they heard a voice:
"Stop it right there!"
They turned to see that it came from a boy reading a red cap and a blue jacket. "Pika!" the Pikachu on his shoulder growled angrily as he saw the captured Trevenant struggling to break free.
"Go away, boy," the first man warned with a sninster smile on his face. "Or you'll face the consequences." He grabbed a Pokéball and released a Duskull. The other hunter did the same and released a Kecleon.
"Ash!" Goh said as he and Chloe ran forward to meet with him. He locked eyes with the hunters and nodded at Ash. "You'll have to pass us if you want to take that Trevenant!" he declared as he pointed toward the Elder Tree Pokémon.
Ash threw his Pokéball and released Lucario, while Goh released Cinderace.
"Fat chance! You two kids are fools!" one of the hunters exclaimed. "Duskull, use Will-O-Wisp on Lucario!"
"Kecleon, Shadow Claw on Cinderace!" the other hunter shouted.
"Don't be afraid, Lucario!" Ash ordered. "Take it and use Aura Sphere on Duskull!"
Goh shouted, "Dodge it and use Double Kick!"
Duskull summoned a ring of pink, light blue, and dark blue fireballs and surrounded Lucario with them. The fireballs spun around Lucario, slowly moving in closer and closer until they made contact. Lucario became burned by the Will-O-Wisp attack, but it still created an Aura Sphere with its paws and launched it toward Duskull. Meanwhile, Cinderance nimbly avoided Shadow Claw and slammed Kecleon with a Double Kick. Both of the hunters' Pokémon were thrown back from the powerful attacks.
"Dus!" Duskull said angrily as it got up.
"Hex!" the hunter commanded as it pointed toward Ash's Lucario.
"Quick! Double Team and use Reversal!" Ash shouted as he thrust his hand forward.
Lucario roared as he created many fake clones of himself and charged toward the Duskull while its eyes began to glow purple and red. Duskull summoned a large sphere of black energy with an ominous red eye in the middle and launched it toward the Lucarios. It hit the wrong one, and the real Lucario smashed its paw onto Duskull's body, sending the Requiem Pokémon flying backwards.
While Lucario and Duskull fought, Kecleon was slowly getting up. The fighting type move was super effective against a Normal type like Kecleon, and Kecleon was panting very hard.
"You really are annoying!" the second hunter commented. "Sucker Punch!"
"Prepare yourself, Cinderance!" Goh spoke, remembering how Sucker Punch always go first. "Use Pyro Ball!"
Sucker Punch first landed on Cinderace, and it thrown Cinderance backward. However, he recovered quickly and launched a flaming Pyro Ball at Kecleon before it could dodge the attack.
"Kecleon!" the hunter gasped as he saw his Pokémon receive the full impact of the blow.
He turned and saw that his partner's Duskull was also knocked out. Both of them recalled their Pokémon and slowly backed off. "Let's get out of here!" one of the hunters whsipered as he was holding the net.
"Alright! Pikachu!" Ash said as he gestured toward the net. "Free Trevenant with an Iron Tail!"
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted as he jumped into the air and sliced the net open.
"Treee!" Trevenant roared. It was now free, and it turned to face the hunters. Seeing this, the hunter sweated and dropped the broken net.
"Forget about it!" the other hunter panicked as he walked backward. "Let's get out of here!" He prepared to run away, but he was stopped by an angry Manectric.
"You are both under arrest!" came a voice. Everyone turned to see Officer Jenny approaching them. "Pokémon hunting is illegal," she continued as she glared angrily at the two hunters. "You two will have to come with me." After placing handcuffs on the two hunters, Jenny faced Ash and Goh, and she thanked them for their efforts. After she took the criminals away, Goh turned toward Trevenant.
"It really is a Shiny Pokémon," he remarked as he pulled out a Pokéball. "So cool! No wonder why Shane Seeker wanted to catch Shiny Pokémon." Before he could throw the ball, a Phantump flew out of the bushes and hugged the Trevenant,
"Phan!" the Phantump happily said as it cuddled with the Trevenant. Trevenant happily laughed and began to gently stroke Phantump's head.
"I think Trevenant is Phantump's mother," Chloe said as she observed the dynamic between the two Pokémon.
Goh looked at the Trevenant and its child. "Trevenant is pretty cool, but she deserves to be with her child," he spoke as he put his Pokéball away.
Ash nodded at Goh's actions, expressing approval. As he watched Trevenant and Phantump walk away, he spoke, "I agree. Phantump needs Trevenant to take care of itself, and we should get going as well. Let's tell Cerise all about our adventure in Kalos! Race you back to the Pokémon Center!" Immediately, Ash broke into a sprint, and Goh and Chole quickly trailed behind him.
"Wait!" Goh said. "What about Olympia? I still need to ask her more questions." He looked near the site of the Sundial, but Olympia was gone. Goh sighed and continued running toward the Center. "It wasn't that important. Besides, I could also search it up on the Internet," he thought.
Back at the Pokémon Center, Ash, Goh, and Chloe had just finished telling Cerise about their research so far in a video call.
"I see," Cerise nodded as he processed all the information. It was clear that he was slightly disappointed from the lack of information, but he thanked the trio for their hard work.
"Cerise?" Goh nervously asked as he fiddled with his fingers. "Is it okay we stay in Kalos a little longer? I know that we were here for research, but I really want to find a Aerodactylite for my Aerodactyl. Can we please stay?"
"But Goh! The Glittering Cave is on the other side of Kalos. It'll take too long to go there." Chloe interrupted. She secretly wanted to stay longer, but she knew that the journey would take too long.
"Not if you go by train!" Cerise spoke with a smile. "Couriway Town has a train station that connects all of Kalos. It's relatively new, and it is really close to Anistar City. If you leave now, you'll be able to make it before nightfall. Then, you can ride the train to the city closest to the Glittering Cave tomorrow."
There were sparkles in Goh's eyes as he heard Cerise's idea. He could actually get a Mega Stone! He eagerly blurted, "Awesome! We still have a couple of hours before the sun sets. Let's go now! Thanks, Professor Cerise! If we learn anything more about Mega Evolution on the way, we'll be sure to tell you."
After the video call ended, Ash, Goh, and Chloe embarked on their journey to the nearby Couriway Town. "I can't wait to Mega Evolve with Aerodactyl! It'll be so cool!" Goh thought as he ran ahead of Ash and Chole. He was so excited. He also made a mental note to research more about Mega Evolution in his spare time to thank Cerise for his support.
Olympia was floating midair in her Gym. She was currently meditating and was thinking about the fate of the Kalos region. "Something sinister is going in, and the Kalos region isn't the only place," she pondered. Suddenly, she jerked, and her eyes began to glow blue.
"She's having a vision!" one of Olympia's apprentices pointed out. Immediately, everyone else ran over to see what Olympia is showing.
Olympia's cloak glowed, and it began to project a giant image. "I see … purple … devouring everyone" Olympia said with a cracked voice. "giant … Pokémon … fight … Legendary … showdown …" The image first showed a bunch of giant Pokémon rampaging in Lumiose City. The Lumiose Tower was in ruins, and buildings were on fire.
Then, it transformed into an image of a giant purple Pokémon. The Pokémon was curled into a circle, but it unmistakably had a giant hand sticking out of it. The strange alien-like Pokémon shrieked an extremely high-pitched noise that caused the apprentices to cover their ears for a second.
Next, the vision transformed into a pink humanoid Pokémon who looked like was using Psychic. The Pokémon had a long dark pink tail, and it had three round finger-like things on its hand. After it used Psychic, it summoned a Shadow Ball with its hands.
After that, an image of a Lugia replaced the pink Pokémon, but this Lugia was hauntingly different. It was black like a shadow, and its eyes were as red as blood. There was an aura of darkness surrounding the Lugia, and Olympia began panting. She was starting to sweat. The vision was taking a toll on her body, and she was struggling under its influence.
"Something's wrong," another one of Olympia's apprentices stated as she saw Olympia twitching. "I have never seen Master Olympia in such pain when delivering a vision!"
The image changed once more into a picture of the Sundial, but there was something wrong with it. The top half was gone, and it was glowing a shade of dark purple and black. Murmurs began to spread among the apprentices as they watched in horror at the damaged Sundial.
Finally, the Sundial disappeared, and a giant blue portal replaced the image. The portal was floating in midair, and energy was flowing out of it. A huge Pokémon began to exit the portal, but before the students could get a good look at it, the vision vanished. Olympia stopped glowing, and she collapsed onto the ground.
"Master Olympia!" all the apprentices called out as they rushed forward to her. She was slowly getting up. Her eyes were milky white, and she muttered, "The whole world is in danger! There is no escape from it! Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, and Galar will all be affected! This new threat is worse than the Kalos Crisis. The world will be devoured in purple flames!"
While Olympia was delivering her vision, two figures were standing outside in front of the Sundial. One of them was a man, while the other was a woman. They both wore thick sunglasses and hats to conceal their true identities. Most likely, no one knew who they were in Kalos, but it was better to be safe.
"Sir, it has a lot of energy," the woman said. "It may be enough."
The man sighed. "No," he spoke. "It isn't enough. It's limited. It will eventually be depleted in the far future. We need an unlimited source of energy. We were so close to accomplishing our goal, until we were stopped."
"Chairman," the woman began to say, but the man was walking away.
"It is a waste of our time. Mega Evolution energy isn't the same," the man bitterly stated. "We need Eternatus. Galar needs us!"
"Truly moving words!" a voice suddenly said. "I shouldn't be surprised when I hear them from the great Chairman Rose of Macro Cosmos!" A man stepped out of the shadows. He was wearing a simple black suit, but his most distinctive feature was his orange spiky hair. Two grunts also appeared near the mysterious man. They were covered in orange from head to toe.
Rose and Oleana turned toward the voice. "Who are you?" Rose demanded as he looked at the man. "How do you know who we are?"
"I am a simple man looking to improve Kalos and the world," the man humbly responded. "I too am a businessman, and I believe we can negotiate something for the New World!"
"New World?" Rose asked as he approached the strange man. "I'm interested. Tell me more."
The man smiled. "Gladly," he said as he extended his arm toward the chairman.
Rose firmly shook the arm and looked at the man. "What's your name? You already know who I am," he inquired.
"Lysandre," the man warmly replied. "You and I have more in common than you think."
Things aren't looking good for the world. Olympia warns of an impending disaster worse than the Kalos Crisis, and Chairman Rose meets Lysandre for the first time. Anyway, Ash, Goh, and Chloe will travel on a train to Ambrette Town, which is the town closest to the Glittering Cave. The next chapter will be focused on Ash and his Farfetch'd.