Back to the Basics! Revised Edition; January 4th, 2011.
Ryan reached for the silver knob of the door that led back into Professor Rowan's lab. He twisted the knob counterclockwise, pushed the door open, which made a slight creaking noise, drawing the attention of everyone in the lab. Ryan looked at Ash, Dawn, Professor Rowan and Daniel and greeted them."Hey, guys!" Then his sights turned to a speeding light brown speck running at him.
"Ryan!" Eevee cried as she ran up to Ryan, who knelt down and gave Eevee a soft petting as she came up to him, which slightly tickled Eevee. Umbreon walked up to him, glad Ryan was finally back; Eevee was complaining for most of the time he was gone. When Umbreon came up next to Eevee, Ryan shared his petting with Umbreon as well. Squirtle also followed, but stayed a carefully self measured distance away from Ryan and crossed his arms, facing away in a "Squirtle trademark."
"Hey Ryan!" Ash and Dawn greeted Ryan as they walked up to him. Daniel also quickly went up to Ryan, while Professor Rowan approached Ryan with a moderate pace.
"Hey, sorry it took so long," Ryan apologized to everyone as Professor Rowan finally joined the group. "Professor Maple asked me a ton of questions!" Ryan added, putting an emphasis on "ton".
"My apologies once again, Ryan," Professor Rowan repeated. "My former top student can be very through in his research," Through was describing it lightly, Ryan thought as he recalled the various questions Professor Maple had asked him in his study. Professor Maple had asked Ryan about every little detail about his world. The topics ranged from food to clothes; Professor Maple even asked Ryan if there were actual human beings in his world, which caused Ryan to raise an eyebrow and make one of the weirdest faces he had ever made in his life. The "interrogation", as Ryan thought of it, seemed over before he bumped into Leaf, but little did he know Professor Maple was just starting with his questions. Ryan merely remarked he could see that clearly, when seeing Professor Rowan reminded him of something.
"Oh! I almost forgot! Professor Maple wanted to see you in his study for some reason. He asked for me to send you to his office," Ryan told Professor Rowan as he got up to his feet, letting Eevee onto his right shoulder.
"Oh, if that is the case, I should go see what he needs," Professor Rowan left the lab, opening the door and breezing out without another word as the door closed.
"How long was I gone for?" Ryan asked, as he thought about the eternity he spent in the "interrogation room".
"You were gone for nearly a half hour!" Dawn answered after careful thought.
"I thought it was longer than that," Ryan raised his eyebrow critically, believing otherwise. "But anyways, I've got stuff to tell you guys; a lot."
"Really?" Daniel asked with curiosity as he prepared to listen, along with Ash and Dawn.
"Well, long story short, I bumped into Le-" Ryan stopped himself by biting his tongue. "I mean, the girl from earlier, when I left Maple's office. She's apparently a tough trainer!" He finished up as Daniel looked at him with slightly widened eyes.
"Wait, does he know Leaf's name? Did big bro let it slip? Knowing him, he probably did!" Daniel thought as he pictured Professor Maple slapping both of his hands in front of his mouth as he blabbed. Daniel knew his big brother had a bit of a tough time keeping a secret. He also wondered how Leaf reacted, knowing she was the one who begged him and Professor Maple to keep their mouths shut. Daniel turned from his thoughts to Ryan, answering his statement.
"Of course she's tough! She's my cousin!" Daniel said.
"She is? Now I really wanna battle her, right Pikachu?" Ash excitedly asked Pikachu, who shared his fire.
"Yeah!" Pikachu agreed with a cry.
"But, she can't battle, for some reason," Ryan added knowing, somewhat, why Leaf avoided battling.
"Huh? Why?" Ash asked as he replayed the scene from earlier where Leaf ducked out of the lab when Daniel mentioned a battle between her and Ash.
"Well, Professor Maple told me that she lost her will to battle. I honestly don't know what he meant," Ryan answered truthfully, as he honestly didn't know himself. Daniel took a moment to think, should he tell these guys more? He figured he shouldn't explain in complete details, but general events.
"I can explain." Daniel decided to say.
"Really? If you could," Ryan asked as his curiosity was peaking.
"Sure," Daniel replied, sure he wanted to. "It's a long story though," He warned, even without most of the details.
"Well," Ryan looked around for a wall clock or something. He found one near the top right corner of the lab door leading to the foyer on the wall. It was definitely not an Octillary clock, but it was a standard analog clock with the long hand for minutes, and the short hand for hours. A red and white Pokeball symbol was at the center where the two hands met. The metal black frame seemed to help echo the ticking of the seconds hand, which was red, and moving at a tick-tock pace; now that Ryan noticed. He read the current hand's positions and unless he never learned how to correctly read time, he read the time; seven thirty. Ryan also looked out the windows of the lab, seeing the disappearing sunset being replaced with a moonlit sky.
"Hmm, almost nighttime already? And I gotta battle Professor Maple later too!" Ryan thought as he looked at Eevee, Umbreon, and Squirtle. How would they react to having to battle? Would they even obey him? Ryan turned his attention back to Daniel, Ash and Dawn as he asked them something.
"I think we have time, right guys?" Ryan asked everyone. Ash and Dawn nodded in agreement as Ryan looked for approval from Eevee, Umbreon, and Squirtle. Eevee happily nodded, content Ryan finally came back. Umbreon nodded as well, figuring it wouldn't hurt to listen to another story. Squirtle, who was pretending to not listen at all while he was facing the other way, shrugged, giving his silent approval.
"Okay, that's settled," Ryan turned his attention to Daniel now that everyone was willing and ready to listen. Squirtle shifted his body position to the point where he was facing halfway towards and halfway away from the group, which in his case qualified as eavesdropping.
"I'll begin then. You see, my cousin came from Kanto, from a small town," Daniel started, purposely leaving the name of the small town out, but still getting hi story across.
Ryan remembered most of Kanto from his gameboy adventures, figuring since he was in Sinnoh and from the reaction from Professor Maple when he found out Ash was from Kanto, Ryan thought two things. One, Kanto had to be far away, like a foreign country, and two, "She's from Kanto? What's she doing in Sinnoh?" Ryan recalled a fully colored world map of the Pokemon World he had looked at briefly in a book he flipped through where Sinnoh was more northern than other countries that remained on the map; the map in the book itself was torn, hiding other countries that Ryan probably didn't know about.
"She lived with her mom, who was a top breeder, and her dad, who was a strong trainer," Daniel thought that strong was an understatement, at least, according to what he heard from his brother. Professor Maple had told Daniel stories that he had heard about Leaf's dad; about how he bested legendary pokemon in battle with his loyal pokemon by his side. The stories were kept within the family itself, yet to be spread, knowing how much publicity would a literal "legendary trainer" would draw. Daniel recalled a strict telling off from his big brother when he wanted to brag to one of his friends one day, warning of him to never, ever tell anyone. When Daniel questioned why, especially if Leaf's dad had been missing for a long time, Professor Maple avoided the question, earning speculation from Daniel, even up until the present.
"Was?" Ryan noted the past tense used in Daniel's explanation. Daniel paused to think of careful words to use before continuing, taking caution to not reveal any family secrets.
"Her dad disappeared when she was young. I can't remember the details," Daniel revealed carefully, and before anyone could ask any questions about him, Daniel added, "And her mom?" The tactic worked as everyone shifted their attention to the mom and her fate.
"I'll get to that later," Daniel added suspense to his tale successfully. "Anyways, when my cousin turned ten, she travelled to... what was it, Pallet- that's it! She traveled to Pallet Town in order to get a Pokedex and her first pokemon from Professor Oak." Daniel said, holding back a few pieces of information.
"Whoa, she got her Pokedex from Professor Oak too?" Ash blurted out.
"Well, Ash, it's not like you're the only one to ever get a Pokedex, especially from Professor Oak!" Dawn said to him, amazed at Ash's surprise.
"Heh... I guess you're right." Ash rubbed his head as Pikachu seemed to sweat drop, a little embarassed at his trainer's slip up.
"So, Professor Oak is here too!" Ryan took a mental note, confirming his suspicions from earlier.
"Hey Daniel, a new trainer gets to choose a pokemon to start out with, right? So, what did Le- she choose?" Ryan stopped himself from using Leaf's name in the nick of time. Daniel wore a panicked look on his face as he thought Ryan was about to blurt out Leaf's name.
"Wow, that was close," Ryan and Daniel thought as Daniel continued with his explanation, acting like nothing happened, even though Ash and Dawn looked confused from the looks Ryan and Daniel had on their faces for a split second.
"Well, she had a choice between three pokemon; Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur," Ryan wasn't surprised at all; he knew the three Kanto starters well, but he just wanted to make sure they were still the starters in the world he was currently stranded in. "She ended up choosing Bulbasaur," Daniel told.
"A Bulbasaur, huh," Ryan muttered as he pictured the blue-green, four legged, frog-like pokemon with a brighter green bulb on it's back and darker green spots on it's face.
"She and her Bulbasaur travelled around Kanto, challenging gyms to compete in the Pokemon League that year. She ended up placing fourth overall," Daniel informed Ryan, Ash and Dawn, who all showed what they felt- stunned.
"Her first league, and she came in fourth?" Ash said in amazement as he recalled his first Pokemon League run and how "brilliantly" it turned out.
"Yeah, after congratulations from her mom, and us, of course, she decided to set off to Johto. After that conference, she placed sixth overall," Daniel continued, seemingly listing Leaf's achievements.
"She really is strong!" Ash said, amazed at the sharp contrast to the fleeting girl from earlier.
"Wait until you hear this," Ryan said to Ash. "Sevvi Champion!" Ryan thought in amazement as Ash looked at him with a wondering look.
"Huh? What do ya mean?" Ash asked as Daniel prepared to answer his question.
"What Ryan meant was; after Johto, big bro and I suggested to her to go to either Hoenn or here in Sinnoh. Instead, for some reason, she left for the Sevvi Islands. It turns out that there was a tournament and she ended up becoming a champion!" Ash and Dawn's jaws could've been counted as having been dropped to the floor.
"What? She's a champion?" Dawn and Ash asked in unexplainable surprise. They had met other champions before, with the most recent being Cynthia, but Leaf was one of the youngest champions that, even Ash, have ever met. Leaf didn't even carry that "air" of a champion, or even the confidence to battle, Ash thought.
"Champion?" Pikachu said to Piplup, who was still hanging on top of Dawn's head, reacting as her trainer did and then some, before Pikachu talked to him. Piplup regained part of his composure, pretending to wave it off.
"Eh, I bet he's bluffing! She didn't seem like a champion earlier," Piplup noted with a hollow questioning look on his face.
"Were you paying any attention?" Pikachu asked. "The story was to help explain why the girl was acting strangely!"
"Of course I was! While I was, err... meditating," Piplup shrugged off awkwardly, rubbing the back of his bead with one of his wings.
"Okay," Pikachu shrugged as he turned back to the conversation. He was going to leave this one alone.
Dawn put her finger to her chin, pointing up as she thought; almost like she had seen Leaf before. She snapped her fingers suddenly. "Oh! I think I know who she is now!" Dawn said in realization.
"Gah!" Daniel and Ryan panicked as they seemed to huddle a little closer together, preparing to brainstorm, knowing they were supposed to keep Leaf's name, her identity, a secret; even though Ryan had no clue as to why.
"Really?" Ash asked turning to Dawn, interested in learning who Leaf was.
"I think so! I remember hearing something about the Sevvi Islands tournament on TV a year ago, way before I started my journey! Let's see," Dawn stood in thought once more as Ash looked at her, waiting for Dawn to remember Leaf's name. Ryan and Daniel looked at each other in a panic.
"Uh, what if she remembers Leaf's name?" Ryan whispered into Daniel's ear. Eevee, who was still perched on Ryan's shoulder, leaned in between Ryan and Daniel and listened in.
"I hope she doesn't! Leaf was pretty clear about why she didn't want anybody knowing her name," Daniel whispered back. Ryan wondered the reason why Leaf was paranoid of anyone knowing her name.
"Really? Why? All she told me was-" Ryan was interrupted as Dawn seemed to recall Leaf's name! Daniel and Ryan turned around, preparing to divert Ash and Dawn's thoughts away from Leaf, but the preparations were in vain.
"I guess I can't remember her name," Dawn said after her moment of thought.
"Ah, oh well," Ash said, knowing Dawn did her best trying to remember Leaf's identity. A sigh of relief came from Ryan and Daniel, knowing they had dodged a bullet. Daniel chose this moment to continue with his narrative.
"As I was saying, she became the Sevvi Champion, but," Ash, Dawn, and Ryan turned their attention once more to Daniel, who stopped after but, unintentionally adding a dramatic pause.
"But what?" Ryan asked, a little annoyed at the sudden stops.
"Instead of being happy, she seemed disappointed... and sad," Daniel said, as he recalled mental images of his cousin visiting him and Professor Maple after her win. Leaf's face spoke more than a thousand words that day, and they weren't good.
"Disappointed and... sad?" Ryan thought as he couldn't piece it together. "If someone had beaten everyone else and become the best, they should be at least somewhat happy!" He looked over at Ash and Dawn. He could tell from their faces that they were thinking along the same lines.
"And what happened recently didn't help at all," Daniel added.
"What... do you mean?" Ryan asked, not seeing how bad things could get.
"It's something sad, really sad. I think she should be the one to say anything," Daniel finished, knowing it'd be the right thing to do.
"Hmm... I understand, if that's that, then that's that." Ash said with understanding. There're things everyone keeps to themselves, and for good reasons, he reasoned. Everybody nodded in agreement, even Eevee and Umbreon; even Squirtle quietly grunted to himself in approval.
"Yeah," Ryan muttered, knowing Daniel was right about Leaf being the one to say anything about it.
"I wonder... it's none of my business though," Ryan thought in curiosity as he gazed at the black framed, Pokeball background, analog wall clock next to the lab door. As he glazed his eyes over the hands, their meaning hit Ryan like a brick.
"Oh no! I completely forgot!" Ryan blurted out as he recalled a certain agreement he made earlier.
"Forgot what?" Dawn asked him.
"It's another long story, I'll explain later, but long story short; I have a battle with Professor Maple in... Forty five minutes!" Ryan explained as he estimated the time he made the agreement with Professor Maple.
"Whoa! You're battling my brother?" Daniel asked in awe as Eevee, Umbreon, and Squirtle bewilderingly looked at Ryan.
"Battle?" Squirtle thought, wondering why Ryan would even think of commanding him in a battle. Umbreon and Eevee had a difference in opinion, by far.
"That sounds great! What do you think sis?" Umbreon said with excitement as he looked up at Eevee. She looked at Ryan, who was looking at her to see if she agreed or not, and back down.
"Yeah! Count me in!" Eevee nodded.
"Does that mean you guys want to battle?" Ryan asked Umbreon and Eevee, to make sure they didn't nod in a trivial manner.
"Yeah!" They both nodded once more. Ryan was glad the two of them wanted to battle alongside him. Now, there was one more tiny turtle that had yet to answer. Ryan turned around to Squirtle.
"Squirtle?" Everyone turned to the tiny turtle, who had turned around in a stunned motion with his arms still crossed. An unreadable look graced Squirtle's face as he was deep in thought. Little by little, he felt compelled to agree, but as Ryan smiled at him, something just wouldn't budge in Squirtle, causing him to turn back around and face the other way.
"Well, I guess that's fine..." Ryan said in a hidden disappointing tone as he turned to Eevee and Umbreon. Now that they were on board, Ryan wanted to make sure he wouldn't lead them into a mess, like the other night.
"Okay guys, I think we need to train real quick. Only problem is, I have no idea how," Ryan admitted. Ash raised his arm and placed it on Ryan's shoulder, getting his attention.
"Hey, I can help ya with that!" Ash offered to Ryan's pleasing. In Ryan's head he was in complete shock; he was going to learn how to battle from Ash Ketchum himself!
"Me too!" Pikachu raised his arm.
"Really? You would?" Ryan asked as he held his smile.
"Of course! Where are ya gonna battle Professor Maple?" Ash asked.
"Knowing my brother, he probably said the lab's outside battle arena, right?" Daniel came into the conversation and asked Ryan, who replied with a nod. "I can lead you guys to it, it's in the back of the lab,"
"Alright, let's go!" Ash suggested as everyone nodded and started to leave the lab, following Daniel.
"Okay, lets!" Ryan started walking when he looked back, noticing Squirtle was still facing away.
"Squirtle, are you coming?" Ryan asked and getting no reply. Eevee and Umbreon were a little shocked at Squirtle's behavior.
"Why is he so stubborn about Ryan?" Eevee asked as she looked at Squirtle from Ryan's shoulder.
"I think he just needs some time alone, that's all sis," Umbreon answered with empathy.
"Well, okay Squirtle, you can come down whenever you're ready. See ya!" Ryan waved as he approached the lab door, ready to leave the lab through it to follow the others to the battlefield.
"I hope you have a change of heart soon..." Ryan thought as he saw Squirtle staying his ground. He almost closed the door, but a wooden doorstop was on the ground on the outside of the door leading to the lab. Ryan quickly slipped the doorstep so Squirtle had a way out; he figured Squirtle wouldn't be able to reach the silver knob of the lab door. He left the doorstop and followed the others.
"Hmph..." Squirtle turned and looked around, realizing he was the only one left in the lab. He looked through the windows of the lab, seeing signs of the sunset fading away, giving away to the approaching moonlight.
"Battle? I'm not his pokemon. Did he even say I was?" Squirtle sighed in his thoughts. "I'm starting to trust this Ryan kid, but I don't know if I should... I should at least keep an eye on Eevee and Umbreon." Squirtle decided and approached the lab door. He noticed he was not even close to being the correct height to use the lab door, but then he noticed the small opening made by the wooden doorstop Ryan placed there earlier.
"Glad this thing's here, otherwise I'd be stuck here," Squirtle thought as he left through the opening and out into the lobby. A sudden rustling noise startled Squirtle. "What was that?" Squirtle swore he saw something move behind a plant's pot."Must've been my imagination. Now, let's see," Squirtle walked off into the hall that lead out of the lobby to find the arena. As Squirtle walked away, a head that graced a white fisherman hat popped out from the plant pot's cover.
"Wasn't that Squirtle with that one trainer?" Leaf thought and shrugged.
"I wonder what's it doing? Maybe it's trying to find him. I could help," Leaf decided. She figured she should, considering she was about to head down to the battlefield herself.
"Squirtle!" Leaf called out, standing up out from her cover, to Squirtle, who looked back at the girl calling him, realizing who she was.
"Wasn't that the girl they were all talking about back there?" Leaf walked up to Squirtle and asked,
"Are you looking for your trainer?" Squirtle looked appalled, from what Leaf could tell.
"He's not my trainer!" Squirtle crossed his arms. Leaf could tell Squirtle seemed annoyed at the phrase, "your trainer", especially from the look on his face.
"What I meant was, were you looking for Ryan?" It took a moment for Leaf to remember his name; she only heard it once or twice from Professor Maple.
"Yeah." Squirtle nodded, figuring he should since Leaf probably didn't understand him.
"I think they're down at the battle arena, I can show you the way," Leaf motioned for Squirtle to follow her down the hallway.
"I shouldn't follow her... but I guess it's better than wandering around aimlessly." Squirtle decided as he ran up to Leaf and walked next to her as the two of them went off to find the battle arena.
"Hey professor!" Professor Maple greeted his former teacher with a pleasant wave, disguising the serious matter of the things he was about to discuss with him.
"You wanted to see me, Matt?" Professor Rowan asked as he closed the door behind him.
"Yeah, I did. It's about my research, or rather, things associated with it," Professor Maple mysteriously said as Professor Rowan slightly raised an eyebrow.
"Go on," He said as Professor Maple began his explanation.
"You see, as you know, my excavation team has been exploring ancient ruins on the outskirts of town. And, I believe I already told you in the letter I sent?" Professor Maple referenced, remembering the urgent message he sent along with it.
"Hmm... You mean the second hieroglyph you mentioned?" Professor Rowan asked.
"Yeah. It's just like the first one depicting the Dialga and Palkia struggle, only," Professor Maple seemed to shift around in discomfort.
"Only...?" Professor Rowan wanted to see what the problem was.
"The depiction, it's not real clear, so we need to rely on the translation. I managed to decipher a bit of the text... and I'm already chilled," Professor Maple said as a shiver conveniently traveled down his spine. Professor Rowan knew something was up, seeing that he knew Professor Maple didn't get chills easily. The discovery must have been of a huge magnitude.
"The few words said something about the god of pokemon," Professor Maple continued, emphasizing the words, "god of pokemon."
"The god of pokemon?" Professor Rowan was a bit speechless at the one topic researchers have been trying to crack for decades- no, centuries!
"I've only heard myths of the god of pokemon's existence with no historical validity but, this may be a legitimate source." Professor Maple added, knowing his mentor's interest was perked. As much as Professor Rowan wanted to know more, he knew this could've been told to him via phone. Something else must have gone wrong.
"So, what was the urgent message you needed to tell me?" Professor Rowan asked, knowing the discovery wasn't the only thing his former pupil wanted to tell him about. "You mentioned it was too dangerous to mention over the phone line in your letter," Professor Maple gulped a bit.
"Another part of the text I translated mentioned," Professor Maple paused.
"Mentioned what?" Professor Rowan asked.
"Of a way to control the god of pokemon," Professor Maple Rowan understood the magnitude of Professor Maple's statement.
"A way to control the god of pokemon? What is that knowledge doing here in Arrowroot?" Professor Rowan wondered aloud.
"I honestly have no idea, but the text mentioned an object to control the god being sealed away, but... it left a clue to find it," Professor Maple said with an unfortunate tone of voice.
"Hmm... Is that what the construction nonsense is about? It's too quiet for constructing anything," Professor Rowan noted, recalling the excuse his former pupil used earlier in the day, and Professor Maple's weird behavior.
"You're as sharp as ever professor. I just hope they aren't as sharp," Professor Maple commented, knowing Professor Rowan couldn't be fooled.
"Who are they?" Professor Rowan felt like he was playing twenty questions.
"Here," Professor Maple got up from his recliner behind his desk and shifted a few papers that obscured a light brown, crumpled little piece of paper. Red ink engraved the paper, adding a creepy atmosphere to the note. He picked it up and handed it to Professor Rowan. "Recently, while my team and I were at the site... we were attacked," Professor Rowan wore an awed look; an attack on an excavation was unheard of! "The weird thing about the attack was, it was just a smokescreen, and a few seconds later, and this note was tacked onto the cave wall," Professor Maple went on, motioning for Professor Rowan to read the note.
"Expect an army to come for your research in seven days. The day has come for us to rise once again."
"No signature," Professor Rowan noted as he examined the back and front of the note for anything his former pupil could've missed. "So this is why you've been somewhat on edge?" Professor Rowan's question was answered with a nod. Professor Rowan felt like he finally pieced it together now.
"Is it the seventh day?" Professor Maple nodded as his former mentor added, "What have you done to prepare?"
"I locked the photos of the second wall and the part translation in the conference rooms next to the library. An eye scanner is needed to get in there," Professor Maple answered as he had the feeling he was being scanned by Professor Rowan.
"Is that all?" Professor Rowan asked.
"No, Emily, my receptionist, and I usually patrol the area at night, especially ever since the note came," Professor Maple explained. Professor Rowan put his hand to his chin.
"Hmm... What about your cousin, Leaf?" Professor Maple wore a concerned look as Leaf was mentioned.
"She's still out of it, professor. I've tried everything I could to snap her out of it, but the fact that my aunt died recently hasn't helped," Professor Maple added with a small hint of sorrow in his voice.
"Hmm... indeed. So that leaves only you and Emily for tonight?" Professor Rowan hid his concern as he went on.
"Unfortunately, yeah," Professor Maple answered with a one sided frown.
"I could ask Ash and his friends for their assistance in this matter. Do not worry, they are more capable than they look," Professor Rowan said as he noticed an objective look from Professor Maple.
"I'd prefer to not have them involved professor," Professor Maple didn't want kids fighting his battles for him.
"Would you rather have the key to the god of pokemon fall into the wrong hands?" Professor Rowan retorted.
"We need more help, but these kids... I can't let kids do my battling for me! Even that older one, Ryan," Professor Maple thought as looked at the clock in realization. "Wait a moment,"
"Oh no! I forgot! I only have five minutes!" Professor Maple suddenly yelled as he ran out from behind his desk, opened the door and leapt out in a hurrying fashion, leaving Professor Rowan stunned. Professor Rowan held the door before it shut and looked out at his former pupil running down the hallway.
"Wait! What's so important Matt?" Professor Rowan yelled to him as Professor Maple turned around, running backwards.
"I made a promise to somebody, professor!" Professor Maple yelled back, and before Professor Rowan could ask, Professor Maple added, "I gotta battle Ryan!"
"Now? But-" Professor Maple turned around and ran even faster down the red rugged hallway, disappearing from sight before Professor Rowan finished.
"Still as reckless as ever," Professor Rowan thought as he ran out of the study in order to tail Professor Maple. A crisis, on epic proportions, was on the verge of happening, and all Professor Maple could think about was a battle.