I own nothing
Chapter 7
The next few hours Ash rode Blastoise on his way to Sunburst still feeling a deep ache in his bones despite having a good rest the night before. His aura had been acting up for the last few days as it was, and he was very confused as to why. He didn't think he would get another increase in aura use but his reserve seemed to have increased lately and wasn't slowing down. It was quite worrying to be honest as he didn't know what happened to someone who overloaded on aura. He was tempted to ask Rota before he quickly shut that thought process down. He'd rather explode than ask them for any sort of favours.
"You need to ask someone Ash" Pikachu said after Ash voiced his concerns aloud "I've never heard any stories of people exploding from aura but it's clear something is wrong."
"The only one I can ask is my mum" Ash said "but I can't see how she would know."
"Well, she did mention that she knew your dad before he became a guardian, she must know something." Pikachu replied.
"Oh yeah" Ash said recalling the conversation his mum had with him many months ago "how did you remember that?"
"It just came to me" Pikachu said "I just suddenly remembered what she said to you."
"I'll ring her when I get to Sunburst Island" Ash said "it's far too windy to talk at the minute."
A few hours later Ash noticed land on his right-hand side and just steered Blastoise left. "That's Mandarin North" he said "Sunburst is directly South from here so let's carry on." Veering left Blastoise moved east away from Mandarin before correcting himself a minute later and heading South and they continued their travels. Ash called over to Lapras to give her more instructions. "Ok, you've done really well in the week I've had you so now we're going to have a little fun. You've picked up the basics for Hydro Pump and you just need to practice more on it to develop it. For the next half an hour I want you to learn Body Slam so all you need to do is pick up speed, use your tail to lift you up into the air and land. Now it sounds simple but learning on the choppy sea will be a challenge. And this will hurt your underside until you get used to it. This is all part of overcoming your natural weakness to physical moves, we're developing a hard skin for you."
Nodding Lapras moved away before starting to learn Body Slam which made Pikachu laugh as he saw her practicing. All they could hear was "wheeee" as she launched herself into the air followed by spluttering sounds as she went face first into the water. "I'll admit" Blastoise said "I never thought of learning like that. It looks fun."
"Well practice that way when we're not on you" Pikachu said as he immediately stopped laughing, worried about Blastoise suddenly flying.
"Don't worry Pikachu" Blastoise said laughing "I'm not daft."
"Well don't scare me like that" came the reply which caused Ash and Blastoise to laugh. Hours later Mandarin was a distant speck behind them, and a speck appeared in front of them. "Full speed ahead Blastoise" Ash said forgetting about Lapras as his turtle launched himself forwards. It was only when a voice carried on the wind shouting "Don't leave me" that he remembered, and he slowed Blastoise down.
"Hey!" Lapras said as she caught up "that wasn't very nice. I went underwater and when I surfaced you were racing off. What gives?"
"Apologies" Ash said ruefully scratching the back of his head "that's on me. We saw Sunburst ahead and I told Blastoise full speed ahead and he did. Sorry Lapras."
"Hmmm" she said looking at him with narrowed eyes before she went on slightly ahead of Ash who looked at Pikachu with a surprised look. Pikachu just shrugged his shoulders, and they carried on in silence for the next half an hour. As they drew nearer to Sunburst Ash brought out his GPS and saw that he'd arrived on the North-East part of the island and the town was on the very South, so he told Lapras and Blastoise to carry on around the island. A few minutes later Lapras saw something glint in the water and headed off east while Ash slowed down curious as to what she'd seen. A minute later she was on her way back with something in her mouth. Handing it to Ash, he saw it was a bottle with a rolled-up piece of paper inside. Pulling it out he read it aloud.
To whoever finds this bottle, if you know anything about the Crystal Onix, please find me on Sunburst Island and let me know. It's very important. Marissa
"Interesting" Ash said as he put the bottle and note into his bag "I've never heard of a crystal Onix before. I know their shiny variant is green but crystal? That's a new one on me."
"Are we going finding it?" Pikachu said as they set back off for the Sunburst harbour.
"I suppose we can use a day where nothing bad happens." Ash said smiling "given how rare this is I doubt we'll have any luck, but you never know."
"You know you've just jinxed us, right?" Blastoise said "again, I might add" Ash just shook his head and laughed as they carried on travelling and around 45 minutes later he climbed off Blastoise, returned him and Lapras and set off walking towards the town.
"These islands are full of trees" Pikachu commented as he hopped between branches.
"I'm glad you know" Ash said as he used his traveling axe to chop down a bramble and carried on his trek "humans have a habit of chopping them down and not replacing them so for these islands to remain unspoiled is a beautiful thing."
"I have to agree" Pikachu said landing back onto Ash's shoulder as they cleared the tree and walked out onto a beach that was separated by a thin strip of land and on the far side of the sand bar was a forested area. Waking down the strip Ash came to a cave and stopped in front of it.
"What are the odds it's in there?" Ash murmured.
"Knowing us, quite high" Pikachu said, "are we going in?"
"No, not yet at least" Ash said "we've been travelling for hours, and we need a rest. This cave isn't going anywhere so let's go find the Pokémon Centre and find out more about the Onix in town. At the very least we have somewhere to start looking tomorrow."
Nodding Pikachu sighed with relief. As little as he had done travelling on the sea it was still very tiring, being buffeted by high winds and sea air so he was quietly glad that they weren't going to be traversing an unknown cave. Walking back they marvelled as before their eyes the tide rose and covered the strip of land making it inaccessible and flooding the entrance to the cave.
"I'm glad we didn't go in now" Pikachu said sighing "I didn't fancy having to swim out of there."
"According to my notes the tides in the Orange Islands vary between 8 and 12 hours to change from high to low and back" Ash said scrolling through the notes on his laptop as they walked "so we can't access the cave until 8am anyway. We made the right decision pal." Putting his laptop away Ash walked for another half an hour along the wooded beach until he found a path leading west. Seeing a signpost for the town he followed it and ten minutes later he crested a small hill and saw the town below, lit up in preparation for the evening which was rapidly closing in. Finding the Pokémon Centre was relatively easy as it stood out amongst what looked like shops surrounding it. As they passed them they noticed that people were packing up what looked like glass figurines, and it seemed every shop sold the same things.
"I mean" Ash said as they passed a vendor "if you want glass then it's not going to be difficult finding any is it? We seem to have come to the perfect place if we want some."
"You're not wrong" Pikachu murmured as they walked into the Pokémon centre. "It hardly screams 'variety' though does it?" Shaking his head Ash handed over his Pokémon and went to his room to rest up. Ringing his mum, he waited for the answer before checking his watch. Cursing he shook his head as he realised that he had forgotten about the time differences in these islands. He was an hour in front of Kanto, so he hung up and went to collect his Pokémon. A few hours later he rang his mum back and was relieved to get an answer.
"Hi Ashy" Delia said to the video.
"Hi mum, hi Topegi" Ash said waving to them both "how are you both?"
"We're good" Delia said "we've taken on a new head chef today, so I've been training them up on how we make things at Delias. They look really promising and have been highly recommended by their mentor."
"How did you find him/her?" he asked questioningly.
"Him" Delia replied "I happen to have been on the phone making our purchases when someone from The Golden Krabby in Goldenrod City came in to eat as they were passing through. They were very impressed with our food and asked to see me, so I had a chat with them, and they told me that they had a chef who wanted to move away but were reluctant to let him leave as he's bloody good. Anyway, I said we were looking for a new chef as my day is very busy, often too busy to cook anymore and he recommended him. So now we have one of Johns apprentices working under me in the kitchen and we're tentatively starting a partnership with them where we'll swap chefs every few months to train them up as our busy seasons alternate with theirs."
"Wow mum" Ash said, "I knew you were a great cook but I didn't realise how good."
"Thanks Ash" Delia said smiling "Oh, Zoe said yes to moving in here. But don't tell her this, I had to make up a small white lie to convince her to do so. We're due to open a second restaurant at Indigo Plateau in the new year so I won't be at home as much as usual, so I framed it as her house sitting for us while the new house is being built and I'm away."
"My lips are sealed" Ash said laughing at his mum's cunning "if it helps Zoe and Ava then I won't question your motives."
"Exactly" Delia said, "so where do I find you?"
"I'm on Sunburst Island" Ash replied "we had to make a major detour from Mandarin upwards to Rind Island to help witness an event for Sam. It was research on the breeding grounds of Magikarp and it was very informative. I even caught a Royal Shiny Magikarp too, so it was very much worth it. After we did the research task we came back South on the route I originally had planned and landed on Sunburst around 8pm this evening. I rang up earlier, but I remembered the time difference and gave it a few more hours."
"Is everything ok?" Delia asked slightly concerned putting down a squirming Togepi "you seem less than happy about catching a new Pokémon. You usually are unbelievably happy."
"Oh, I am" Ash said "she'll be a great addition to my team. I just haven't been feeling great lately. My aura seems to be behaving erratically. You did get what I sent you about what happened on Mandarin with Team Rocket didn't you?"
"I did" she replied pursing her lips "and while I get you were the only one who could solve that issue, I'm not happy about the danger you were in."
"It was minimal mum" Ash said "but if it makes you feel any better my Pokémon and I are fed up with being put into those types of situations too. Charizard and Pikachu both said unless it's sudden or is a major incident then we're not getting involved again. I think they've both ran out of patience with the nonsense we seem to find ourselves in. The weird thing is I can count on one hand the danger we've placed ourselves in intentionally, the rest seems to have happened around us and I'm fortunate enough to be able to sort it out. And I think Venusaur is gearing up to tell me he no longer wants to travel anymore. I think he misses home and is sick of the danger too."
"You can't blame them Ash" Delia said shaking her head "you seem to attract danger, and I know it's not your fault, but it doesn't do my old heart any good worrying all the time. What are you going to do about Venusaur?"
"I don't know" Ash said sighing "it'll be strange not having him in my team but if he doesn't want to battle anymore then I won't force him to. I'm just a bit irritated that he's got his garden and now he doesn't want to be with me."
"Is that true though?" Delia asked.
"No" Ash said shaking his head "but I needed to voice it to someone because I know it'll hurt him if I said it to him."
"Good" Delia said "and don't forget Ash, you told them that you wouldn't be battling forever. You just never put a minimal timeframe on that. And also, don't forget that he's an integral part of what you're building at home too. He may be too busy to travel around with you when you get the new Pokémon in there."
"I hadn't thought of that" Ash said, "but I'll wait for him to come to me first and we'll have a chat about it."
"Good" Delia said "Now, what's this about your aura acting up?"
"Oh" Ash said remembering the reason for the call "when I was involved with Team Rocket on Mandarin, I noticed that I had an excess amount of aura I could use but when I healed Jenny, or tried to I became drained very quickly. So much so I had to have a long sleep to recover. That's never happened before. And at times I can feel it swelling up inside me and bursting out but none of my Pokémon can feel it. Pikachu suggested speaking to you because like hell am I talking to anyone from Rota, and you grew up with dad before his aura settled. Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"I have an idea" Delia said looking away thoughtfully "but until I know more, I'm reluctant to let you know my thoughts. Do me a favour and document these outbursts for the next week. Write down the time they happen and what you were doing or saying when they happen. In the meantime, I'll look through your dads' old journals and see what he wrote about how his aura acted growing up. I can only remember the key points as I was just a kid myself when he went through it."
"Ok" Ash said looking concerned that his mum was keeping something from him "is it dangerous?"
"I don't think so" Delia said "at least my guess isn't. it could be something else though. Write the down for the next week and we'll talk about it when we both have more information."
"Ok" Ash said frowning "it's getting late. I'll speak to you in a few days mum, I'm likely to be travelling a lot and the next island doesn't have a Pokémon centre. Night mum" Before she could reply he ended the call and flopped down on his bed face first irritated that something was being kept from him.
"Night Ash" Delia said quietly to the blank screen. Looking at Togepi she said, "what are we going to do Togepi?" before standing up and going to her room. Looking though Reds side of the bed she pulled out a few books, some of which were his journals on aura, and she began to read them. Hours later she put them down and sighed as her thoughts had been right. This wasn't good.
The next day a grumpy and irritated Ash left the Pokémon centre and headed to the local shops to search for the Marissa that was mentioned in the note. He was drawn to a commotion as a man was standing over a young girl berating her and given the level of tolerance Ash had after last night he walked over and bodily lifted the man into the air.
"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" Ash said angrily "you are a grown ass man, shouting at a young girl enough to bring her to tears. Now, apologise to her."
"Ok mister" the man said clearly terrified of Ash as he turned his head to the young girl "I'm sorry Marissa. It won't happen again."
"Good" Ash said dropping him making him scramble backwards to get away from the bulky bloke who had lifted him into the air like he was nothing. Looking around he noticed several others watching him warily "And you lot can clear off too. Not one of you came to aid this young girl, every one of you saw what was happening and you did nothing! All of you should be ashamed of yourselves." Turning to the sobbing girl he crouched down and talked quieter to her.
"Hello" he said, "My names Ash, what's your name."
"Marissa" she said quietly blushing and looking at Ash. She recognised him instantly but seeing him in person gave her a different perspective. Even though he was only twelve he was nearly six feet tall, wearing a black tank top and grey shorts showing off a very athletic and bulky frame, no doubt due to the sparring he did with Machamp. His black hair was spiked up slightly and his blue eyes gave him an incredibly intense and focused bearing. All told he was incredibly handsome.
"Oh" Ash said pulling out the bottle with the note in "are you the Marissa who threw this note into the ocean?"
Immediately a change came over her face "Oh you know about the Crystal Onix! Come inside and tell my brother. He needs to know. Thank you, mister." And before Ash could respond she ran inside shouting "Mateo, Mateo. Theres a man here who knows about the Crystal Onix."
Following the voice Ash made his way into the glassmaker's shop, very wary not to knock anything with his bag "be careful Pikachu" Ash warned "we don't want any accidents and if you knock anything over, you're paying for it."
"With what?" Pikachu asked incredulously making Ash pause "exactly. Anyway, it's you that's the clumsy oaf."
"I'm not a clumsy oaf" Ash said shocked "It's you that's the clumsy one."
"The last time we went shopping with your mum, who was it that knocked over a vase worth £3000 pokedollars?" Pikachu asked rhetorically.
"Hey, that wasn't my fault" Ash said, "you sneezed into my ear!"
"Because of that woman who sprayed me with perfume as we passed her" Pikachu said, "I'm sure those two were in cahoots with each other."
"They may have been in cahoots with each other, but it still was your fault for sneezing directly into my ear, which made me flinch out of the way sideways and into that stand. The whole thing was your fault." Ash said.
"Which meant it was still you who broke it!" Pikachu said with an air of triumph.
"Women with perfume have an agenda against me" Ash said bitingly "remember Celadon? I'm sure Erika has told every perfume salesperson to target me since we humiliated her. Anyway, just be careful!"
"I am careful" Pikachu said.
Mateo and Marissa had walked into the shopfloor just as Ash was called a clumsy oaf and watched the byplay between them both with amusement. Marissa was crying with laughter, even though she only understood Ash's side of the argument. It was her laughter that alerted Ash and Pikachu to the fact they had an audience making them both blush. Ash was quick to recover though and held his hand out to Mateo "Hello, I'm Ash."
"Mateo" the man replied looking up the very large man in front of him "you've already met my sister, Marissa."
"I have yeah" Ash said with a smile "in fact it was her I was looking for when I saw her being accosted by another shopkeeper."
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Mateo asked Marissa looking over her with concern. Thankfully she shook her head "No, the mister made him go away."
"Honestly" Ash said "it was despicable that no one intervened. Anyway, I was surfing here on my Pokémon when my Lapras found this note about a Crystal Onix."
"See" Marissa said to her brother "I told you he knew where it was."
"Sadly, I don't" Ash said causing her to frown "but I admit to being intrigued about it. I'm a researcher by nature and I've never heard of a Crystal Onix before. I've seen a shiny variant once before but never one made of crystal."
"I haven't either" Mateo said looking around sadly at his work "and it's reflected in my work. My grandfather once owned this store and the things he could do were amazing. He made glass come to life and the works he created looked like they could come alive at any second."
"Your work doesn't seem bad though" Ash said looking around at the various Pokémon figurines. "I can't see anything wrong with them."
Picking up a statue of an Onix he motioned for Ash to follow to the back and placed it on a table. Waking over to a cabinet he brought out something that was covered in a tea-towel. "Look at mine and compare it to this" Mateo said as he pulled off the towel. Immediately Ash could see the difference. The figurine of the Onix Mateo had placed on the table was very good, and no one could complain it was a bad piece of art but the model that was covered was exquisite. The way the light seemed to both bounce off of it and go through the glass at the same time made it seem like it had stopped for a second before it would carry on moving.
"Ah" Ash said "I see what you mean. That is an exemplary piece of sculpting. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with yours."
"It's nothing like my Grandfathers though" he said sighing as he covered the statue and placed it back into the cabinet. "And I thought that if I just got a glimpse of the Crystal Onix, it would inspire me just as it did my grandfather. Sadly, I have no idea where it could be."
"Ah right" Ash said frowning "well I don't need to leave the island for a day or so, so I could help you look for it if you like?"
"I couldn't ask that of you" Mateo said "people have been searching for it for decades and haven't found it. At this point I don't know if it was something Grandfather made up just to inspire himself."
"I suppose that's possible" Ash said "I'll tell you what, I'll go look for it and if I find it I'll let you know. Sadly, I can't help inspire you with your work though should I not be able to find it."
"Well, I've got nothing to lose" Mateo said as he walked Ash out of the shop and stopped on the front "but if you can find the Crystal Onix id be forever in your debt."
"A Crystal Onix?" a voice came from the side of them. Looking around Ash immediately recognised the voice.
"Oh, hey Tracey" he said, "what are you doing here?"
"I did say I was travelling the islands to help become a better Pokémon Watcher. And I was hoping that I'd find you so you could introduce me to Professor Oak in person." Tracey said.
"Why don't you just travel to Pallet Town and knock on his door?" Ash said confused.
"I can't just turn up to the great Professor Oaks door!" he replied as if it was a foolish idea "anyway what was this about a Crystal Onix?"
Mateo explained what he had told Ash and Tracey's face became thoughtful and mumbled "if I were to find that Onix before Ash it mean he owed me, and he'd have to introduce me to Professor Oak."
Ash and Mateo just shared a look before Tracey shouted "OK! I will help and I'll find it first! And when I do, you'll have to introduce me to Professor Oak!"
"Ok, and if I find it first, I won't introduce you" Ash said making him blanch before he quickly recovered and nodded.
"Ok, I've got some research to do at the Pokémon Centre. By the way how long do I have?" Tracey asked.
"I'll tell you what, you've got by sunset tomorrow to find it" Ash said "I'll give you an extra day. Be warned though that no one has found it in decades so I might not find it either." Nodding Tracey sped away in the direction of the Pokémon centre leaving Ash and Mateo.
"Friend of yours?" Mateo asked.
"No" Ash replied shaking his head "I've met him briefly for a few hours about a week ago. I caught an abused Pokémon on the beach on Mandarin and I had to tell my sponsor what happened. Professor Oak is my sponsor and Tracey is his biggest fan, so he seems to have made a decision that he has to impress Sam to be able to start a conversation with him."
"Professor Oak has never come across as unsociable though" Mateo said thoughtfully "I've never met him but in all the talks I've seen him do he seems to be really friendly."
"He is" Ash said "and he wouldn't care about your exploits and trophies. He's more interested in how you are with Pokémon and how passionate you are to their survival. Honestly, he wouldn't care about finding the Crystal Onix, he'd be happier to know that it was safe wherever it was. And if any studies were done, he'd be the first to omit the location."
"So why did you agree to Tracey's bet?" Mateo asked.
"A few reasons really" Ash replied "I already have an idea where it might be, or at least I have a starting point. I'm going to tell Sam about Tracey anyway, so his bet is pointless. Plus, if he does find it it will help you out which is the whole point of this exercise."
"Oh" Mateo said surprised "thank you. you have an idea already? How?"
"When we landed on Sunburst last night, we happened upon a cave that was set into an island. Now ten minutes later this cave disappeared because the tide rose above it, covering up any form of entrance. You could still reach it with scuba gear of course but when the tide recedes it's visible again so there's no point. That's where we'll start."
"I think I know where you're on about" Mateo said thoughtfully "I wish you luck. Thank you for doing this, even if you don't find it I'll be forever grateful that at least one person believes me."
"I'll be back tonight around 8" Ash said, "the tide comes in around 7:30 so I'll let you know what I find out."
Shaking hands Ash walked away from the town in the direction of the sandbar, retracing his steps from yesterday. Soon enough he came across the stretch of beach that led to the mini-island which Ash could see on the horizon. Walking down the strip of land he noticed that he was being watched by various fish who quickly disappeared when seen.
"I suspect there's some form of collusion happening" Ash said chuckling as they reached the cave entrance "and we'll be lucky to even get a glimpse of it."
"You think the fish are warning it?" Pikachu asked.
"I do" he said releasing Blastoise into the water "do me a favour pal. You see this cave? I suspect there's a way in from underneath, can you try and find it. Just tell me if there's a hole and come back, I'd suggest following the fish."
Nodding Blastoise leapt into the water and swam downwards in the direction Ash pointed out and was acutely aware he was being shadowed by various Pokémon. Not wanting to upset them Blastoise did a few laps of the island and had seen what Ash was looking for several times but hadn't let on. Finally, after fifteen minutes of lazily swimming Blastoise surfaced near Ash and walked towards him.
"Theres a few holes underneath the island, I didn't get too close because I'd be swarmed and while I know I'd be ok I didn't want to harm anyone." Blastoise said.
"Good job" Ash said "I thought so. It seems there's an Onix made entirely out of Crystal living in this cave, and no one has found it in decades. I believe that the fish you saw give it advanced warning to hide so by the time you're inside it's already gone. Luckily, I have aura, so I'll be able to find it so I'm going inside. I want you to enter from below, try not to harm the Pokémon but defend yourself as you see fit. I suspect I'll meet you at an underground lake or pond. If you don't see me in the next few hours or there isn't a pond just come back here and I'll meet you later on when the tide is about to go in. cheers pal."
Blastoise nodded and dove back into the water heading for the hole underneath the island. As soon as he was near he was attacked by several Pokémon but he quickly dispatched them with a combination of Rapid Spin and Hydro Pumps and he eventually found himself in what looked to be an network of underground tunnels. Figuring he'd have a lot of time before he met up with Ash he ventured down the left hand tunnel only to find himself come back out twenty minutes later where he started. Smirking he headed down the central tunnel and came out at four branches. This time he headed down the central tunnel and five minutes later found himself exiting the island altogether. Interesting he mused as he went back, and this time entered the left-hand tunnel only to come out on the right again. That left one tunnel which ran parallel to the first one he entered but as he went through it he saw it went upwards and left, soon it turned into a spiral and it eventually opened up into a vast expanse of water. Ash had been right; this was an underground lake, and it was huge. It was lit up by a hole in the ceiling at least a hundred meters high that let the sunlight shine down onto the lake itself. It would easily be able to accommodate an Onix. Remembering the reason why they were there Blastoise focused himself and discovered to his astonishment that there wasn't just one Onix in this lake, there was a family of them. Deciding against attacking he instead swam to the surface and waited for Ash.
Soon enough Blastoise heard a voice coming down a tunnel at the far end from where he was so he lazily leapt back into the water and swam across getting out at the exact moment Ash and Pikachu walked out of the entrance.
"Told you I knew where I was going" Ash said smugly to Pikachu.
"I never said you didn't" Pikachu retorted "I just said it would be very inconvenient to find another dead end."
"There were many underneath the island" Blastoise said "many people would quickly become frustrated with finding the wrong tunnel to move down. At one point I actually exited the island and had to go back down the same tunnel. Anyway, it's here, but it's not alone."
"Oh" Ash said surprised "there's more than one?"
"Five that I counted" Blastoise said "what's the plan?"
"Nothing" Ash said taking off his backpack and releasing all his Pokémon. Charizard and Venusaur stretched while Lapras and Magikarp dove into the water. "Theres a family of Onix that are living in this water so we're going to try and not disturb them. Oh, meet our newest member of the team, Magikarp. I caught her on Rind Island a few days ago, I've just not had chance to introduce you all."
After they all said hello Ash waded into the lake and started talking with Magikarp "Ok, we're going to start training now. Now Magikarp have historically bad move sets, you've learned nearly everything you can, so we'll perfect your Tackle and try and learn Bounce. Now if you ever want to evolve just let me know and we'll increase your training, if you want to stay as a Magikarp then that's fine too. But for now, we'll work with what we have. See those rocks over there, I want you to use your Tackle on them. Ignore any other distractions, there's a family of Pokémon under the water that may get curious, don't worry about them. Off you go."
"Charizard we'll train you tomorrow or you can go off on your own and we'll meet you tomorrow night at the Pokémon Centre. It's up to you."
"I'll train myself; my moves are likely to create issues inside here." Charizard said.
"I do have a few moves you can learn here actually" Ash said "work with Pikachu to learn Thunderpunch. After that learn Fire Punch."
"I already know Fire Punch" Charizard said making his fists blaze up "honestly you should know our moves by now."
"There's a lot to remember" Ash said laughing holding his hands up in surrender "Ok, just go and learn Thunderpunch. When you've done that, I want you to try and learn to use them both at the same time, one on each fist."
Watching his dragon walk off he turned to the others. "Venusaur I'm wary of what we can do inside so I want you to get used to using Synthesis where there's no sun. Lapras carry on with your breathing exercises but aim the water at the wall over there, away from where the Onix live. Blastoise, I want you to use Blizzard but try and make it a cone rather than a wide area attack. That way we can use it to focus on a specific body part of an opponent. Machamp I've found a new move for you. It's called Power-up-Punch and it increases your attack the more hits you land. I saw a clip of Bruno's Machamp using it in a battle recently so I know you can learn it. I'll show you how the move works."
For the next hour his Pokémon got to work and he himself sparred with Machamp who wasn't allowed to use anything but the new move. Gradually Ash started to feel more and more pain as his attacks landed and he halted it. "you've picked that up very well. I'm proud of you. come on, we'll get some food." Whistling his Pokémon stopped what they were doing, and all moved over to Ash and started to eat. Ash waded into the water to feed Magikarp and told her how well she had done. Strangely Magikarp didn't say anything but nodded instead. Confused Ash carried on feeding her and felt a presence come from the side, before it could do anything Ash shifted himself to be in front of her and faced the direction of the presence he felt. The others seeing Ash do this looked up from their food and became alert. Blastoise waded back into the water and waited while Charizard took flight.
"We're not here to harm you" Ash said aloud "in fact we didn't have any intention of interacting with you." a good minute passed by where the tension mounted up before Ash continued "you may as well show yourself before we attack, my Pokémon will only allow you so much time before they deem you to be a threat."
Immediately the presence grew bigger as twenty feet in front of Ash the water erupted and from it a huge behemoth Onix appeared only this was unlike anything Ash had ever seen before. The sculpture Ash had seen before didn't do it justice as it was utterly beautiful. The water splashing down gave it an otherworldly beauty that he had only seen a few times before. Eventually the water settled and the Onix moved forwards warily, mindful of the Pokémon watching him like a hawk.
"Who are you human?" it asked in a deep rumbling voice "and why are you in my home?"
"Actually, we're here because we heard a rumour there was a Crystal Onix here" Ash said deciding to be totally honest "someone in the village asked us if we knew anything about you because his grandfather once caught a glimpse of you many decades ago and it inspired him to became a fantastic glassmaker and he was hoping to see you too to be just as inspired. Yesterday we happened, by pure chance on the cave before it was covered by the tide and took a punt that you'd be in here. I'm a researcher by nature and the chance to see an unusual Pokémon was very tempting. Frankly I'm amazed no one has ever found you."
"I was warned of your coming" Onix said looking around "why should I not attempt to drive you from my home?"
"Because you'll lose" Ash said frankly "and your family will be put in danger. Yes, I know about them. I'm an aura user so I can feel them waiting to help you out. I mean no harm, but my Pokémon will attack if you do so first. I'm a junior professor in Kanto and I'm currently searching the regions for rare and endangered Pokémon to come and live at my home. It's a haven I'm creating to help repopulate endangered species after the damage humans have done to the Pokémon world."
"Hmmm" Onix said rumbling "your words could be just that. But I sense you are telling the truth. So now that you've found me what are your plans?"
"Nothing" Ash said "now I know you exist and that you're safe I'll leave you alone. As long as you're happy then there's nothing to do. I will say though that the glassmaker will love to see you and he's quite trustworthy. Can I bring him here? If not that's fine too, he thinks that his Grandfather made you up to inspire himself."
"As long as he doesn't try to capture me it will be ok" Onix said before turning around and diving into the lake. Ash nodded and waded back to the shore returning everyone as he did. Packing up his gear he walked back out through the tunnel and an hour later he exited the cave and saw it was nearly 3pm. There wouldn't be enough time to return so he instead made his way back into town, passing by Mateos shop and into the Pokémon centre. Handing over his Pokémon to Joy he looked over to the computers and saw Tracey with stacks of paper at the side of him. Ignoring him he walked up to his room chuckling at how stressed Tracey looked. A few hours later he picked up his Pokémon and made his way to Mateos house. Knocking on the door he waited for an answer and soon enough he was invited in and led through the shop to the back to the living room-cum kitchen.
"Hi Ash" Mateo said inviting him to sit down on the couch "how did your game go with Tracey?"
"Completed it mate" Ash said nonchalantly buffing his fingers on his shirt. Hearing the gasp, he looked up and laughed "I told you; my aura is immensely helpful to search for things. And I was right about the cave only there wasn't just one Onix, there's a family of them."
"Really?" Marrisa said her eyes sparkling "it's really real?"
"Yeah" Ash said "and you have been given permission to see him tomorrow, however there's a caveat. You cannot attempt to capture it. I've given it my word that you're a decent person and I don't want to have to give you a slap if you prove me wrong."
"That's fantastic!" Mateo said leaping up and walking over to a picture of his Grandfather "he was telling the truth" he whispered "he was really telling the truth."
"He was" Ash said standing up "meet me at the island at noon tomorrow. I'll direct you to it. Make sure you're not followed. I'll see myself out." Nodding to them he exited the house and made his way back to the centre. Seeing Tracey on one of the tables he made his way over.
"Any joy?" Ash asked causing him to look up.
Quickly Tracey gathered up the papers before saying "I'm not telling you. I intend to win. Have you had any luck?"
"No, not yet" Ash said shaking his head "I have doubts it exists to be honest. But it's a nice story, isn't it?"
Narrowing his eyes Tracey looked at him "see, I don't know if you're lying to me or not, but it is a nice story. An Onix that is so different to the usual species would be an amazing thing to see and study. And it would be amazing to draw."
"I agree" Ash said nodding "anyway I'll leave you to your studying. Remember, less than 24 hours to win that bet."
Smirking Ash walked up to his room to write in his laptop about his day and what he had discovered. He'd have a lot to tell Sam the next time he saw him. The next day he made his way to the island again and waited by the cave, taking note of the Pokémon watching him as he walked along the sandbar. Half an hour later Mateo and his sister turned up and they made their way down into the cave network and eventually ended up in the cavern with the lake.
"It's in here?" Marissa asked excitedly.
"Yes" Ash said "but be careful. Wild Pokémon can be very dangerous, and these ones have been actively avoiding humans for decades so be very wary. They're not tame, they're not pets, and they can and will hurt you if you don't respect them. We will try our best to keep that from happening, but accidents can happen."
"Ok mister Ash" she said nodding looking at her brother "so, it's the same way I can't be around Charmeleon without you because I could get burned from his tail."
"Exactly that" Ash said as he walked forward and waded into the water and releasing Blastoise "Can you go and get them pal. Let them know Mateo and his young sister are here to see them."
Blastoise didn't even bother replying before jumping into the water and diving down to where he had felt the Onix resided yesterday and came upon them quickly enough. Explaining to them that the glassmaker was here Onix nodded and told his family to stay where they were while he went to see the trainer from yesterday. Following Blastoise he made his way to the surface and waited. Blastoise had already clambered out of the water when Onix made his spectacular entrance rising out of the water at a terrific speed causing water to cascade downwards over Its body causing his segments to sparkle in the light.
Mateo could only look on in awe at the magnificent specimen in front of him and found he couldn't speak. The stories his grandfather told him as a young boy really didn't do them justice. It was spectacular. "wow" he muttered finally finding his voice "you're even better than grandfather said" warily he walked forward and moved along the bank keeping Onix in view as much as he could to try and look at it from various angles. The Onix tracked his every movement, keenly waiting for the man to try and attack him yet he never did. Looking at Ash he asked what the man was looking at.
"Inspiration" Mateo said shocking them all "I'm pretty good at reading Pokémon's body language and I guess you asked what I was after? I found exactly what I was looking for. Thank you Onix."
Rumbling the Onix nodded "He says you're welcome" Ash said, "and he wants to battle you."
"Really" Mateo asked surprised "why?"
"He did the same with your grandfather to see if he was worthy" Ash said interpreting "so, it's your call."
"Very well" he said as he moved over to the right-hand side of the lake area. Ash and Blastoise watched on as he called out a Cloyster. Ash shook his head seeing the mistake Mateo had made.
"Cloyster, use Water Gun" Mateo commanded. His Pokémon acted and sent many squirts of water at the Onix who didn't even look affected, and it used an Iron Tail smashing the Cloyster into the wall knocking it out.
"But how?" Mateo asked bewildered.
"Schoolboy error" Ash said gaining his attention "did you forget that Onix lives in water?"
"Damn" Mateo said recalling his knocked-out Pokémon and sending out another "lets go Charmeleon. Use Flamethrower" Charmeleon leapt into action and spewed flames out causing the Onix to roar in pain submerging itself in a cloud of steam before resurfacing and sweeping across the water sending a wave at Charmeleon who scrambled to cover his tail before it could be put out. In defence he launched another Flamethrower after he had recovered catching the Onix unaware sending it sprawling backwards into the water in a cloud of steam. Patiently they waited and as the steam evaporated Ash saw that the Onix was twitching on top of the water, clearly severely burned as it was glowing white hot.
Mateo nearly forgot to breath as he gained a sudden insight into how the Onix's glass-like body shimmered and sparkled from the heat of the flames and coolness of the water.
"This is your chance to catch it" Ash said from afar.
"No" Mateo said thanking Charmeleon and recalling him "I got what I came for. Thank you Onix." He said repeating his earlier statement. Onix by this point had recovered somewhat and cooled off judging by the slight glow to his segments. Onix nodded at Mateo before submerging back under the water and disappearing from sight. Ash walked back onto the lakeside and put his shoes back on, shouldered his backpack and left with Mateo and an excitable Marissa chatting about the Onix he had just seen. Before they reached town though Ash spoke up "Now, I know you're eager to put that inspiration into practice, but you must keep the home of Onix a secret. There's no telling how many poachers will storm the place for such a rare specimen."
"I understand" Mateo happily replied, "I don't think I'll need to visit it again; I got what I needed."
"It was so sparkly" Marissa said exuberantly.
Nodding they carried on into town and nearly made it to where Mateos shop was before a figure came running at them. Slowing to a halt Tracey asked panting "Have you found it yet? Please tell me you haven't found it yet."
"No" Ash said "I thought I had located the place but it ended up being a shrine someone built for an Onix."
"Yeah" Mateo said giving Marissas hand a warning squeeze before she can say anything "my grandfather built an Onix made out of stone on the far side of the island, so we had a look around there but came up empty. I'm sure I'll get my mojo back soon though, thanks for helping though Ash. You too Tracey."
"I still have time. I will beat you, Ash." Tracey shouted before speeding off down the path.
Shaking his head Ash laughed and followed Mateo into his shop and into his workstation. "Please stand over there" he said very seriously "this is dangerous work." Doing as he was told Ash and Pikachu watched on as Mateo got into his work gear and called out Charmeleon and started working in shaping glass. Ash was amazed by what he saw and could see why you'd need to be skilled in working with glass. Eventually it began to take shape and before Ash could see what he was making it was placed in water rapidly cooling it creating a huge billow of steam. A few minutes later Mateo grabbed a pair of iron tongues and lifted it out of the water and placed it on the table. Ash gasped in shock as he saw what was created. It was a perfect replica of Pikachu on all fours getting ready to leap into action. it was so lifelike Ash expected Pikachu to be performing Volt Tackle and looked closely at it.
"It's amazing, it looks exactly like you in battle Pi." Ash murmured.
"This is for you Ash" Mateo said boxing it up and giving it to Ash "as a thank you for what you've done for me."
"Thank you" Ash said happily taking the package. An hour later Ash left to go back to the Pokémon Centre to write up a report to Professor Oak about the Crystal Onix. He finished the report by writing
It is my professional opinion that the only way these Pokémon can survive is by humans leaving them alone, therefore I will not be writing the location of where I found it.
Happy with his report he sent it off to Sam before walking outside and releasing Charizard.
"I need your help pal. I've just been given a very delicate package that I need to get home and the nearest Carrier Pidgeot is on Mandarin. Can you take it home and then go to Sams where I can transfer you back to me the next time I visit a Pokémon Centre? It's about a days travel back to Pallet Town."
"Or" Charizard said "I could travel to Mandarin, give it to the Carrier Pidgeot with a location and then be back for morning."
"I didn't think about that" Ash murmured "wait there a minute" Walking back into the centre he retrieved his wallet and put it into a pouch along with a destination before walking back out and attaching it to Charizard. "If we're not here by the time you get back tomorrow, we'll be heading South East towards Pinkan Island so we'll likely see you on the sea."
Nodding Charizard took flight as Ash walked back inside. Later on that evening he was eating in the canteen when a very dejected Tracey walked in and sat down opposite him.
"No luck then?" Ash asked feeding Pikachu a tomato.
"No" came the downhearted reply "you?"
"No" Ash said shaking his head "it's a shame as I'm sure they're marvellous specimens. Onix that are entirely made out of crystal and lived in secret for decades? They'd be a researchers dream."
"Yeah, they would be" Tracey replied wistfully before standing up and walking away "I'll never get to meet Professor Oak now."
Ash decided to take pity on him and called him back. Taking out a piece of paper he wrote down Sams work email address and handed it over "Here before I start welling up at how sad you look. It's Sams work email address. I'm not giving you his personal one, I don't give out personal information to anyone. Email him. He'll be thrilled to speak to a fellow Watcher more."
"Thank you" he said holding the piece of paper reverently. Standing up Ash washed up his pots and placing them on the drying rack. Walking back into the canteen he saw that Tracey was still there, clapping him on the shoulder he made a passing comment before he left "Sam is looking for a personal assistant to help him at his ranch. Ask him."
The next day Charizard still hadn't returned yet, so Ash made his way to the harbour and set out towards his next destination.