Chapter 14: Unovan Reunions
Tails and Serena stopped in a restaurant to ask around, hoping to find help for their plane. While they weren't overly successful on that front, they did run into an old friend.
Er, well...one of Ash's old friends. Well, even then, it wouldn't be correct to call him an old friend, since he's one of the people Ash got to know more recently. Now when I write "recently," I don't necessarily mean in the past year. I mean in the larger scope of his journey, this friend he met was more recent than the others. On the other hand, he's still quite young, so he's not old in that sense, either. On that note, he's nowhere near as old as I am.
I suppose that was all very confusing. To put it a bit more simply, they found a green-haired gym leader named Cilan on a visit to Castelia City.
"That's quite a tale you've told, there," Cilan said when Tails and Serena told him what was going on. "It had a very adventurous aroma to it, with a slight dash of bitter with –"
"Hey, this isn't a recipe we're talking, here," Serena interrupted his critique. "We need to find Ash before Team Rocket does. Sonic's already out there looking for him, but we only have so long before the moon is back in the sky. Then he'll be a werehog again, and everything will be harder."
"Right," Cilan nodded. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to join you. It's been quite some time since Ash and I were last in contact. It'll be great to see him again. Why, I may even get to finally meet his girlfriend! What was her name again?"
As he began counting off his fingers trying to figure out her name, Serena's face fell. Her name she thought, should've been–
"Come on!" Tails interrupted her thoughts. "We'll get you to the Tornado NX! It should be repaired and ready to fly again soon!" With that, they rushed to the bottom floor of their skyscraper.
"This'll take a while," Cilan muttered as they entered the elevator.
When Ash and Knuckles walked out of the Pokemon Center, the sun was considerably lower in the sky, although it was still bright daylight out. Ash, now wearing a white and blue shirt and a hat with a blue Pokeball emblem on it, wiped his brow. "Whew!" he said. "I don't remember it being this hot out here."
"Pikachu," Pikachu agreed, his fur curling up slightly.
"Must be a heat wave of sorts," Knuckles shrugged. "Come on. Let's –"
GROOOOOARRRR!
They froze. "What was that?"
"I don't know," Ash muttered, then he perked up. "No, wait! I know that sound! It's –"
As if on cue, a strong gust of wind swept through. They dug their feet and pulled their arms over their faces to keep from getting knocked back. The wind died down, and they stood up again. With the city quiet again, they heard a female voice calling out in fear.
"Dragonite!" it called. "Where are you going? Oh, jeez, not again!"
"It's Iris!" Ash exclaimed, immediately recognizing the voice. He ran towards it. "Hey, Iris! Over here! Hey!"
"Huh?" her voice called back. "Oh, not now. I don't have time for this!"
"Iris, it's me, Ash!" he replied.
Iris came out of a thicket and gasped. "Ash?" she said.
"Yeah, remember?" he asked, wondering if she'd forgotten.
"Oh, Ash!" she cried, running up to him. "Of course I remember! How could I forget? Boy, I'm glad to see you. I need your help!"
"Yeah, I had a feeling," Ash nodded. "Something going on with Dragonite?"
"I don't know," Iris said, shaking her head. "He popped out of his Pokeball and started flying around madly."
"Not again," Ash muttered. "When will that knucklehead ever learn?"
"Hey!" Knuckles, who had been quiet up to this point, shouted. "Don't go insulting me like that!"
"Gah! I wasn't talking about you!" Ash waved his hands in front of him defensively. "I was talking about Dragonite!"
"Oh, don't start a fight," Iris said. "We've got bigger problems."
"Okay, okay," Ash said, turning back to her. "Is there anything else you can tell me?"
"I don't know," Iris shook her head. "All I know is that when Dragonite took off, he seemed both his usual, grouchy self and panic-stricken at the same time."
"His usual grouchy self," Ash mused, stroking his chin as he thought. "Then he was looking for a challenge?"
"I think so," Iris said.
"But nothing ever strikes fear into that guy," he said. "Why would he be afraid?"
"Well what's the strongest Pokemon he ever came into conflict with?" Knuckles asked.
"Another Dragonite, I guess," Iris said.
"Another of his kind," Knuckles nodded. "And he wasn't afraid, I take it?"
"No," Iris shook her head.
"But if a pseudo-legend couldn't strike fear into his heart...then what could?"
Ash's eyes widened as the pieces suddenly fell into place. "Not a pseudo-legend," he said. "A true legend." No sooner had he said this than a drop of sweat fell from his head. He touched the place where it fell and wiped his forehead again, as the sweat continued to form. However, this sweat was not based on fear.
It was based on heat.
GYAOO!
Ash didn't waste another moment. Immediately, he turned tail and ran towards the edge of the city. "Ash?!" Iris and Knuckles called.
"Hurry!" Ash shouted back urgently. "I think I know what Dragonite's up against!"
Iris huffed irritably. "Oh, that Ketchum," she grumbled. "Always running off like that with no explanation. So annoying!"
"You said it," Knuckles sighed. "What a kid, huh?"
"Yeah, no ki–HEY! That's my line!"
"Okay," Tails said as everyone clamored into the Tornado NX. "We should have enough power to get us far enough north to find Sonic and Ash. Strap yourselves in, everyone!"
Everyone complied, including their new companion Cilan, and with that they took off.
On the outskirts of Opelucid City, a blue hedgehog and his mythical Pokemon friend stood still, cautiously looking around. "I don't see anything," Sonic said. "Do you?"
"No," Hoopa shook his head. "But I can sense it. The legendary Pokemon is close."
No sooner had he said this than another loud cry pierced the silence. The temperature surrounding them rose drastically as a shadow fell over them. Then the shadow's source was revealed as it faced them, standing majestically on the ground.
Sonic gasped. "It's Moltres!"