Chapter 7
"Nurse Joy?" Ash called into the Blackthorn City Pokémon Center. "I'm here to register for the Silver Conference!"
A woman with pink, curly hair came out of the back room. "I'm sorry, young man, but the tournament starts in two days. There is absolutely no way that you can make it to Newbark Town, register, and make it to the Indigo Plateau in time for the cup," Nurse Joy said. "You can only register in Newbark Town. It's this year's registration town."
"Ash, you idiot!" Ash spun around to see Misty running towards him with Brock alongside her. "The second we left the gym, you took off and were out of sight in five seconds!" Misty scolded. "Can't you learn how to be patient?"
"Sorry guys!" Ash said. "The conference starts in three days! I have to get to Newbark town by tonight!"
"What?! The conference was supposed to be in a month!" Brock exclaimed. "How did that happen?"
"A group of criminals have been showing up lately," Nurse Joy explained. "they call themselves Team Void. They are highly dangerous people who steal other people's Pokémon. They change the Pokémon artificially, closing the door to a Pokémon's heart. By doing so, they create vicious and evil Pokémon. Team Void calls them 'Shadow' Pokémon. People are afraid, so we moved the cup forward to keep out of riots."
"I understand, Nurse Joy," Brock said. " but I can't believe people can be that cruel to Pokémon!"
"Neither can I," Ash said.
"Nor can I," Everyone turned to the doorway at the sound of a mysterious voice. They saw a young boy, probably around twelve, standing there with an Espeon at his side.
Suddenly, the Espeon rushed forward and grabbed Ash's Eon Flute from his belt with a Psychic.
"Hey, give that back!" Ash yelled.
Espeon looked at her trainer, and he nodded. She handed Ash back his flute. "I'm AJ," the boy said. "I'm assuming your name is Ash?"
"How do you know?" asked Ash.
"Don't worry about that, I have simply come to talk to you three. Follow me," he said. "oh, and bring the red and blue ones, too."
Ash gasped. AJ knew about them? 'Is that okay?' He telepathed to the twins. They nodded, as they knew Ash could see them while they were invisible.
"Follow me," AJ said simply.
AJ led Ash, Latias, Latios, Brock, and Misty through the woods until they reached a lake. Latias and Latios had dropped their invisibility after they entered the woods.
"Sit," AJ said, motioning for Ash to sit down.
Ash sat on a tree stump, and after making sure they were alone, he decided to ask AJ a question that had been bothering him. "How did you know I had Latias and Latios with me?"
"Espeon, show them," AJ answered. Ash was about to ask what he meant when his sight went fuzzy and he blacked out.
Ash awoke in something that compared to a void. It stayed this way for about a minute and suddenly he could see all around him, almost like someone flipped a light switch. A white figure appeared in front of Ash. It had a white, horse-like body, and yellow rings looped around its midsection.
"Ash!" Ash turned to see Brock, Misty, Pikachu, Latias, and Latios running up to him.
"Hey, guys!" Ash greeted. The Group then noticed the being before them and gasped in shock.
"If you can hear me, then AJ has completed his mission," Arceus suddenly spoke. Ash realized that this must be a recorded message that Espeon was showing them. "Ash, as you know, you are the chosen one. The world isn't as peaceful as you might think. A war is coming, one that could lead to the world's end," Arceus continued. "A war of light and dark. As you might have heard, Pokémon are being corrupted by an evil group of people that call themselves Team Void. They plan to use these corrupted 'shadow' Pokémon to gain control of the planet. You are the one to stop this war. After you finish the silver Conference, I will explain your mission to you." Suddenly, Arceus faded and Ash blacked out again.
Ash awoke with a groan and looked around. He noticed that he was now back at the lake. Ash looked to his side and saw that the others were waking up.
AJ walked over to them. "Let's go," he said.
"Wait, go where?" ash asked confusedly.
"The Pokémon League, of course. I hear some great trainers are competing, so I suggest you be in your best shape," AJ said. He then motioned towards Espeon. "Everyone, hold on to Espeon. She will teleport us to the Pokémon League. We'll have two days left before the tournament to train," AJ said.
The group did as they were told, and suddenly they were covered in white light. After a few seconds, they vanished.
Ash suddenly found himself in front of a large Colosseum. He realized that they were now at the site of the Pokémon League Tournament. "Yes, we're here!" He said joyfully.
"Let's go register," AJ said. Ash nodded, and they went into the main building. After a few minutes, Ash came back out, holding a room key.
The group went up to their room and dropped off their bags. They then went outside and into the woods. Ash wanted to train, but he couldn't let anyone see the eon dragons.
"Okay, Ash, we're going to work on your transformation," AJ said.
Ash gasped. "How do you know about that?!" He exclaimed. "Oh, wait, you spoke with Arceus. Of course you would know!"
AJ chuckled. "You got it. We need to work on you being able to transform without your flute, so that's what we'll be working on."
"Wait, how am I going to do that?" ash asked. "I have no idea what to do."
"Follow my lead," AJ replied. Ash looked at him confusedly. He then gasped when AJ let off a white light, and quickly took the shape of a fox. When the light died down, an Umbreon now stood in AJ's spot.
"There, now you try," AJ said calmly.
"O-okay," Ash said, still a little surprised. Ash then tried to copy exactly what AJ did, but all he could do was let off a faint glow for a couple of seconds before it faded away.
"Good first attempt," AJ complimented. "you just need to concentrate a little more."
Ash started his training and kept at it for a few hours. As the sun began to set, everyone began to go back to the room. The only people who remained were AJ and Ash. Ash had managed to transform into Latius with some difficulty, and now he was focusing on transforming faster.
"This is harder than it looks!" Ash complained. "How are you so good at this?"
"Practice," AJ responded. "Lots of practice. You've done well; I suggest we head in for the night."
"Man," Ash complained, "and I was so close!"
AJ chuckled. "Didn't you just say it was difficult?"
"Yeah, so?" Ash responded.
AJ looked at him for a second. "You're a strange one, Ash."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked.
About five hours later, Ash was having difficulties falling asleep. Latias had woken up to his mumbling. She slowly lifted off her cot, being sure not to wake her brother in the process, and went out onto the balcony where Ash stood looking down upon the Colosseum which would house the silver conference.
"Can't sleep?" she asked.
Ash looked over at her. "Yeah, sorry if I woke you."
"Oh, no, it's fine." Latias replied. "What's up?"
Ash sighed. "I just can't believe how far I've come… How far all of us have come. It's incredible."
"Don't worry, I'll help you in any way possible to achieve your dream." Latias said.
"Thanks, Latias. It's been nice having you around." Ash said, causing Latias to blush. Ash, being his dense old self, didn't notice it even though he was looking directly at her. One person (or pokemon rather) did take notice, however. Back in the room, Latios smirked to himself but quickly ducked back into his cot when Ash and Latias walked back in. He felt Latias quietly get onto the cot beside him. 'Oh, this is perfect teasing material for later on!' He thought, then drifted off to a peaceful sleep.
Welp, that's chapter 7...
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