I received a DM asking me about the GS Ball as it's never really addressed in canon. I have plans for that, hopefully no one figures it out. This may be split into two parts.
Hopefully you're all enjoying the story so far, I'm having fun writing it.
Spell of the Unown
Amanda Hale was currently sitting in her laboratory stewing over what had gone on the last few weeks. They had finally found two tunnels that ran parallel alongside each other that both led to similar rooms, each with what looked like a puzzle to solve, unfortunately that was as far as they had gotten. Not one of the researchers or scientists on the expedition had any sort of ideas as to how they could solve them. What was more puzzling was the symbols that decorated both tunnels along the path to the puzzle chambers. What was even more astounding was how simple the answer was. She was so happy to see Ash, it had been a few years since she had last seen him, she of course had followed his journey as a trainer with fascination as his rise to fame had been meteoric, even more so that his father Red. He was largely branded as a genius and had been from the age of six when he began to publish papers on the thoughts and feelings of Pokémon. Of course, she didn't know it was Ash until Samuel Oak lifted that particular lid when he began his journey but it didn't surprise Amanda, Delia was forever letting her know what strange theory Ash had come up with so to find that his training abilities matched his mental acumen really wasn't that farfetched. He had only visited Hale mansion twice but she had to leave early both times for work so she never really had the chance to interact with him on a more personal basis but the fact he created a storybook, especially for Molly of legendary Pokémon proved his character to her, he was one of the good ones.
Over the last few years she had heard from several scientists and prominent researchers about the help he had given them with their projects and given up any rights to his own research so they could take all the credit. It was unheard of in the academic environment that someone would be so selfless with key pieces of evidence so to hear from him that he was close to the Ruins was exciting for Amanda as she was very keen to talk to him and pick his mind over what the ruins could have hidden. Her thoughts proved correct when the first thing he did was state something so obvious that it baffled her as to how no one could see it. They were all symbols denoting letters of the Alphabet along with two punctuation marks. So simple yet so elegant. Which is why she was so irritated with him after she left. No one else was in that chamber when she went outside to take a phone call other than Ash so there was no one else that could have stolen the missing tile. Why he would do that though baffled her, and she was very irritated because it was a key piece of research that was now lost to her through theft, something she couldn't abide.
Of course, he told Sam and his mother he didn't have it, making him a liar too but for them to believe him, in spite of the evidence made her so angry. It was perhaps because of this anger that they did what they did last night. A few days after Ash had gone they had decided to try and solve the second tunnels puzzle. By a stroke of luck one of the researchers managed to eventually get it right and to their astonishment the chamber lit up and the doorway opened up. What they found in the other chamber astonished them. It was a tomb. But not just any tomb. It was Tarin Saurwolfs tomb! The mind boggled as to why a legendary Aura Knight was buried here along with an empty box and a book.
Picking up the book Amanda read the title "The Spell of the Unown. Hmmm. They've spelled unknown wrong."
No one knew what the message on the tomb meant though, but maybe it was just that, a message to whoever found her. Either way the researchers theorised that if this held Tarin then wouldn't the other chamber that was blocked off to them house another guardian? It was worth looking into but it took another researcher to point out that without the missing tile they couldn't get through. So, Amanda ordered the puzzle room to be drilled through where she thought the door was. Hours later they were proven right as when they broke through they found to their astonishment the tomb of Alvalor Mooncrest, another long dead legendary Aura Knight along with another box, this time though containing what looked like alphabet tiles.
"Look" Mark said walking over to the side of the tomb and bending down to pick something up. Walking back over he handed it to Amanda.
"So, Ash wasn't lying" she murmured as she looked at the missing puzzle tile "I wonder why he threw it in here."
"To prevent us coming in here" Mark said looking around "but why? All there is is a tomb and a box of wooden tiles."
"From what Delia told me Ash never does anything without thought" Amanda said putting the tile in her pocket "to what end though? Anyway, let's get this box to the lab, shall we?"
The rest of the day was dedicated to trying to figure out why there were tiles of letters in a box and why said box was sealed. Shaking her head she glanced over to the side table in her office and saw the book they picked up. Curious she grabbed it and headed to her chair in the corner, made herself a drink and began to read, spellbound by the possibilities that shot through her mind with each chapter she read. The tiles were Pokémon! And not just any Pokémon either, but Pokémon that were said to be extinct! The possibilities were boundless.
When she got home that night she showed Spencer the notes that she had written down after reading the first few chapters of the book.
"This is amazing" Spencer said picking up the sheafs of paper "how did no one know of this?"
"It was kept hushed up by Rota" Amanda said, "I don't know why, maybe it's in the rest of the book but so far all I've read is warnings not to disturb them."
"Maybe you should heed them" Spencer said looking worried.
"Maybe" Amanda said shrugging her shoulders.
The next day flew by as it was Spencers turn to be at the lab but all day she was incredibly distracted by the book and what it said. There was no reason given as to why the Unown were sealed, just that they created havoc. When she was putting Molly to bed that evening her mind was still on the Unown.
"Mummy, can you read me the book again?" Molly asked.
"Which one sweetheart?" Amanda asked picking up a book from the bedside table.
"No not that one" Molly said sitting up in bed "the one about Entei."
Knowing which one she was on about she picked it up and pursed her lips at the author's name. she still didn't know how to feel about Ash as while he didn't steal anything he did still impede their research for an unknown reason. As she was reading it Molly was reading the pictures at the same time.
"Do you not think Daddy looks like Entei Mummy?" Molly asked.
"He does have the same moustache now I think about it" Amanda said chuckling "I don't think I look like Suicune though, do you?"
"No Mummy" Molly said giggling "but you're as pretty as she is."
Kissing her daughter on the head Amanda tucked her in, turned off the light and closed the door, before heading downstairs with the book still in her hand. Placing it on top of the Unown book she set about making tea for her and Spencer as he was due home in the next hour.
The next day she couldn't get to the laboratory quick enough. As she walked in she found the box had been moved from the vault to the coffee table and several researchers were taking the tiles out and spelling their names with them. Looking up they hurriedly placed the tiles back in the box and left leaving Amanda alone. The day passed by quickly but throughout the day she was distracted by the box on the table, so much so she blinked and realised she was the last scientist remaining. Walking over she chuckled before getting some tiles out and began to spell her name AMANDA, taking more out she used the 'M' and spelled MOLLY before doing the same using the 'N' in her name to spell SPENCER. As soon as she placed the 'R' in the lit-up purple and her eyes mirrored it. Grabbing her bag she hurried out of the laboratory and got into her car and drove southwards towards Union Cave. Getting out she quickly hurried into the cave and made her way down the ladders, ignoring the slightly purple hue that was emanating from her. As she came to the water she ignored it and ran across it, anyone near would have been astonished at the sight of a woman running across water but as she was alone this miraculous feat went unnoticed.
Leaving one of the exits she rushed towards one of the ruins and headed inside and completed the puzzle, opening the tomb. Heading inside she checked on the box, ignoring the tomb before rushing back outside into the other tunnel that headed East and walked into the other puzzle chamber. Solving that she checked that tomb was empty of Unown too before rushing back outside, leaving the puzzles still completed and headed back through Union Cave before driving back to the Lab. Picking up the box, she quickly hurried to the first chamber they found, the one with the broken in doorway. Reaching into her pocket she found the tile to the puzzle and laced it on the pedestal, rearranged them and the chamber lit up. Before Amanda could scream, talk or even think she disappeared in a flash of purple.
The next day the second in command walked into the lab and stopped dead as Amandas coat was still on the back of the chair. Walking over to the table he looked at the tiles that had been left still spelling out three names. Several hours later, after searching the entire area he made a call he was dreading to Spencer.
"Hello Mark" Spencer said, "everything ok?"
"Hi Spencer" Mar replied "I'm afraid I have some rather worrying news. Amandas coat and car is still here but she's nowhere to be seen. Not only that but the box somehow found its way to the first puzzle room, seemingly unaided. Amanda isn't at home, is she?"
"No" Spencer said sounding worried "she didn't come home last night, I just assumed she got lost in the research as usual and would be home this morning. I'll get Geoffrey to look after Molly, I'll be there in an hour."
Several hours later they realised they needed to report Amandas disappearance to the police. While Mark did that Spencer rang up Delia to let her know what happened. The worst part of that day was telling Molly that evening that her mother had disappeared and no one knew where. It broke his heart to see her clutch the Legendary book to her chest as she slept. A few days later Spencer was typing up some of his notes from the research he had done on the box when the phone rang.
"Hello" he asked puzzled.
"Spencer, it's Mark. We have some urgent news."
"Is it Amanda?" he asked hopefully.
"No, sadly not" Mark said, "are you free tonight?"
"Yes" Spencer said, "Molly is in bed though, so we'll have to talk in my office."
"No problem" Mark said, "I'll be there soon."
Half an hour later Spencer opened the door and was astonished to find that Mark was there holding the box of tiles.
"What is that here for?" Spencer asked as they headed to his office.
"It's been flashing for the last few hours" Mark said putting it on his desk as Spencer closed the door, leaving it slightly ajar "it started at 4pm this afternoon but has only stopped in the last half an hour. When it started though some of our colleagues reported that the chambers lit up too, pulsing an eerie purple light. Not only that but Shelia was travelling to the site on her Skarmory when she noticed a place near the Charicific Valley lighting up the same colour. When she landed, she found that there was another ruin, just like the one we discovered but before she could enter a doorway she was approached by a lady on a Charizard and asked to leave the area. We're planning on sending a team tomorrow, but it's been difficult as the Charizard in the valley won't let us near, so we'll have to circle around."
"I wonder why that is" Spencer said "the Charicific Valley is usually open to everyone."
"According to Liza a new Alpha was crowned just over a week ago and he has ordered patrols of the area, with the ruins and the summit of Union Mountain out of bounds for everyone." Mark said, "apparently it's Ash Ketchum's Charizard who's the new Alpha."
"I'll speak to Delia tomorrow" Spencer said "hopefully she can get Ash to have a word with his Pokémon and let us have access to the new ruins. So, you think they're connected?"
"I believe so" Mark said nodding "according to Sheila the colour was pretty distinctive and matched our own descriptions. So, if we can get permission from Ash's Charizard then we're in business."
"That will probably be harder than you think" Spencer said sighing and picking up a tile from the box "Ash deliberately sealed that room that these were in and refused to tell us why. I asked Delia the other day when we found the missing tile and all she said was 'Ash has his reasons, ones he's keeping to himself' so we're at a loss. Maybe we could go in through the Azalea Town entrance so as not to disturb the Charizard, they don't really have a right to keep us out of there though."
"We were thinking of doing that, but we have no idea how to get to them through the cave." Mark said, "as you say Ash has no right to stop us, so we'll just go the normal way."
"It's very late" Spencer said looking at his watch "we'll discuss it more tomorrow."
"Very well" Mark said nodding and walking out with Spencer. As he went to bed that night he looked over at the photo of his wife and Molly and sighed. Hopefully they could find a clue as to where his wife disappeared to. As he drifted off, he never knew that another person inside the house was currently making names out of the alphabet tiles in the room he'd accidentally left ajar.
The next day Mark came around again and they were discussing in his office the plans for the future when a wave of green travelled through them sending them falling backwards in their chairs. Getting up they warily looked around and noticed the box was lit up, walking over they stopped and looked in and gasped as the tiles were flashing.
"What just happened?" Mark asked concerned picking up one of the tiles and shuddering before placing it back down in the box.
"I've no idea" Spencer said switching on the TV. For the next few hours they looked on with astonishment as the various reports dribbled in.
"Every aura user?" Spencer breathed out "what could affect them in such a way?"
"I've no idea" Mark said in shock "I've never heard of any aura user even getting a cold never mind getting knocked out like this en-mass. Do you think it has anything to do with the Unown?"
"Doubtful" Spencer said looking at the box which was still pulsing "how are we getting on with the excavation team?"
"Not great" Mark replied frowning "we sent several people who could fly and were blockaded by the Charizard. The team that was stopped are making their way through Union cave now to try and find the back exit to get there that way."
"Let me speak to Delia" Spencer said heading over to the videophone and punching in her number.
"Hello Spencer" Delia said as her face appeared "I'm at the hospital at the moment, is everything ok?"
"Not really" Spencer replied "we found two new ruin sites a few days ago, the day after Amanda went missing actually, located just past the Charicific Valley but your Ash's Charizard isn't letting us enter. Can you phone Ash and ask him to get his Pokémon to back off, it's pretty illegal of him to stop us without due cause."
"Ash hasn't told me that he's ordered his Charizard to do anything like that" Delia said frowning at the tone Spencer used "and I don't think he has done. Charizard just became the new Alpha in that valley so maybe he thinks he rules over that entire area and you're encroaching on his new territory. I know from what Red told me about when his Charizard ruled that nothing he said could change its mind once it decided on something, not even Red but I can ask Ash if he knows what's happening. It won't be for a day or so though as he's currently in Ilex Forest and his signal is quite poor."
"Really?" Spencer asked looking frustrated "fine, that will have to do but I'm not happy about this Delia."
"Well, you're going to have to be" a new voice said as Blue Oak walked into shot looking angry "I know you're going through some things at the minute, but you don't get to speak to her like that. She's already going through her own issues with Red being hospitalised by whatever is happening, she doesn't need you piling on. So, like she said she'll speak to Ash when she can but at the moment it's not exactly high on her list of priorities. Rather than having a go at Delia maybe you should spend the time with your daughter, or have you forgotten she's lost her mother?"
"No, I haven't" Spencer replied angrily "and I think I know my own daughter thank you very much."
"Then act like it" Blue said undeterred "it's been a few days since Amanda disappeared and you seem more concerned about a new excavation site than anything else. Sort your priorities out before I declare that site unavailable for anyone, especially your team."
Spencer sat fuming as the screen went blank. How dare Blue call into question his parenting, especially after the stories his wife had told him of Blue over the years with how he acted with his own children.
"Can he do that?" Mark asked a few minutes later.
"Yes" Spencer replied standing up and pacing "while he is Kanto Champion in name only now, he is still acting Champion and is available to do certain things until Ash is able to take the post. While his voice is limited, he still has over a decade of good credit in the bank so his name will always have weight so if he speaks to the people who fund us, he can put a halt to us. And given it's Ash's mother who he's defending I can't see Ash countering anything he did."
"How though?" Mark asked "what reason could they give to justify pulling the team out? Surely rudeness would be just dismissed?"
"Given what happened a few days ago it would be easy to put my sanity into question and my ability to think rationally" Spencer said sighing and looking at the photo of him and Amanda on his desk. Ten minutes later Mark stood up and made his excuses to leave.
"I'll let you know how the team gets on going through Union Cave" he said "and despite the way Blue put it he is right about something; Molly lost her mother. It wouldn't do you any harm to spend more time with her." Clapping his shoulder he didn't wait for an answer and left Spencer to think about what was said.
That evening as he was reading to his daughter before bed, he pondered over the interactions that day. Maybe Blue was right and he had to let the researching take a back seat for a while. After all, he had a daughter to look after.
"Daddy" Molly said bringing him out of his reverie "do you think you look like Entei?"
"Whatever do you mean?" he asked amused "have I started breathing fire?"
"No but you have a moustache like him" she replied giggling.
"Is that so" he asked placing the book on the bed and standing up "did you ever consider that Entei looks like me and not the other way around?"
"No Daddy" she said giggling "He walks on all fours, you don't."
"Oh really?" Spencer asked as he got onto all fours "how about now?"
"Now you're being silly Daddy" she said giggling and leaning over the bed to look at him. Before she could react, he roared making her giggle even more. Without any warning she leaped on his back, and he pretended to gamble around the room making roaring noises before they both collapsed into fits of laughter.
"Daddy" she asked as he tucked her back into bed "can you read tell me more about Mummy."
"If that is what you wish" he said kissing her head before climbing onto the bed at the side of her and beginning his stories. "I promise I will always be here for you Molly; nothing will keep me away from you anymore."
That evening before he went to bed, he read the report of what Amanda had been doing the evening she went to bed. They had recovered the CCTV footage from the outside of the lab and seen what she had done a few days ago. They had even tried to reenact her movements but to no avail.
"I don't know what you did or where you are, but I hope you're ok Amanda" he said as he placed the notes back down and went to sleep. A few hours later he shot up out of bed as if scalded and rushed to his office and picked up the notes again. "Is that what we've missed?" he asked as he walked over to the box and opened it and began taking out tiles before rearranging them into what the photo portrayed. It was as soon as he placed the last letter of his name ono the table that the world turned purple as the tiles lit up and his scream was lost as his life force was sucked into the box, the letter 'R' clattering to the floor. An hour later a sleepy Molly was wandering the halls going to get herself a juice box when she noticed her dads office still open. Walking in she looked around and saw nothing, but just as she turned around to leave, she noticed out of the corner of her eye the tile on the floor. Picking it up she wondered where it came from before remembering the box of letters she'd played with the night before. Clambering onto the chair she looked at the table and noticed that someone had wrote her, her mums and her dads name only her dads wasn't finished. As she placed the 'R' the tiles began to glow and levitated from the table, along with the tiles from the box. For some reason she didn't feel scared by what was happening as they began to circle around her at high speeds before slowing down and orbiting her.
"Unown, Unown" they chanted in a steady rhythmic voice before another voice sounded behind her.
"Hello Molly" it said. Turning around her eyes widened in shock as before her stood Entei. As she got over her shock, she noticed that Entei had the exact same eye colour her Daddy had.
"Daddy?" she asked as she jumped from the chair and clutched onto him "I was so scared Daddy."
"There's no need to be scared Molly" Entei said as his eyes glowed purple "I will always be here for you."
Molly woke up a few hours later cuddled up to her 'dad' and sleepily opened her eyes, noticing that she was still in her dads office. Strangely she was in a bed and the book of Legendaries was open at the side of her to a page that had Suicune, Raikou and Entei looking incredibly majestic. On the table was also a picture that Molly remembered being taken five years ago. It was of her, her mum and dad and her Auntie Delia with Ash.
"Morning Molly" Entei said as he observed her actions.
"Morning Daddy" Molly said, "is Mummy home yet?"
"Do you want her to be?" Entei asked.
Nodding Molly picked up the picture and placed a hand on it. "Mummy is really pretty. Auntie Delia is also really pretty. She's also a good Mummy too. She looked after me when Mummy was busy."
"She certainly is" Entei said as his eyes glowed purple briefly "hopefully Mummy will be home soon."
"I miss Mummy" Molly said, "I wish she was here."
"I need you to do something for me Molly" Entei said "can you be a big girl and take the key and lock it as we leave."
Nodding she wandered over to the desk and saw the tiles were still on the table that said their names but next to them was a big brass key on a silver chain. Picking it up she followed Entei out of the room where she locked the door and put the key around her neck. As they were walking down the hall Molly looked out of the window and frowned as she saw a car coming up the driveway. Picking up on her mood Entei asked "are you ok Molly?"
"No" she replied "the Mr is back again and he's going to take you away again. I don't want him too. I want you to stay with me forever."
Unbeknownst to her the Unown who had taken over her father's office pulsed as her thoughts were heard. Rapidly they began spinning again, pulsing and undulating as her thoughts became reality and from nowhere crystal began to form around the mansion blocking off every exit and expanding outwards. Around Johto the pulse was felt, and every psychic and aura user looked in the direction of Greenfield wondering what had caused the spike. Several Pokémon decided it might be worthwhile to check it out, hopefully it wasn't too serious, especially after what happened a few days prior, something no one could yet explain.
Mark who was just about to get out of the car saw this and became alarmed, slammed on the accelerator and sped back down the driveway being chased the entire way. Luckily the crystals stopped at the end of the driveway, two hundred yards away from the front door so he was able to escape and as he pulled up a minute or so later, he got out of the car and gasped in shock as he got a good look at what had happened to the mansion. As far as the eye could see the crystals had taken over the countryside leading towards the mansion which now resembled a huge crystal flower that had bloomed with two towers reaching up to the sky, just brushing the clouds. What the bloody hell was happening? As the Unown relaxed into a calmer state a body appeared on the floor of the office. Groaning the person sat up and looked around, bewildered at where she was. Before she could act though the Unown encircled her and used their psychic powers to take over her thoughts. If Molly wanted a mother, a mother she would have.
Red had got up that morning feeling a lot better than he had been for a while. After going through his morning routine he dressed and made his way downstairs where he greeted his wife.
"Morning sweetheart, what's your plans for today?" Red asked kissing her on the cheek.
"I need to go to the Plateau today" She replied, "I'll be there for the rest of the week as the catering operation for the restaurant has been more problematic than we thought."
"Why?" Red asked making them both a brew.
"I underestimated our numbers" Delia said wryly sitting down "I always knew we were popular, but we're booked out until July now and at the rate we're going it'll probably last past the Indigo League tournament."
"Oh wow" Red said "that's impressive. You should be proud of yourself, I am."
"Thanks" she said smiling "but it's going to be pretty full on for a long time, can I leave you alone safely?"
"Yes" he said rolling his eyes "I'm going to be fairly busy myself for the next few months at the Plateau. Plus, there's a project I'm awaiting feedback from that will hopefully be green-lighted."
"Oh?" she asked interested.
"I'm hoping to work alongside Sam learning to be a Professor" he said looking at her "I'm going to speak to him about gaining my mastery sometime soon, I just don't know if I'll be any good at it though."
"Oh, that's exciting" she replied, her eyes shining with happiness "I'm glad you've got concrete plans, you've been lost for a long time now so I'm glad you're rediscovering what you're good at. Have you decided on a subject? I know Ash has struggled to pick one as he has too many things he's interested in."
"I was the same way" Red said nodding "I was forever researching random things that piqued my interest but got bored just as quickly. Thankfully the world of Pokémon is vast and there's a never-ending field of study with them. I've yet to make my mind up but I've narrowed it down to two subjects, Aura or Battling. I'm leaning more towards battling for obvious reasons."
"The fact your aura still hasn't fully returned" Delia asked nodding at his response. "How's your training going?"
"Yes" Red said as he focused "I can feel it bubbling away under my skin, and the two feathers Ash lent me have been incredible at helping my mind focus but it's still not surfacing, which is frustrating. As for training, it's going well. You don't really lose that, or at least I've found I haven't. it took me a long time to come to terms with losing my old team, but I've found building another to be a nice project."
"Are they all behaving?" She asked remembering how naughty his Pikachu was.
"Yes" Red chuckled as he knew instantly what she was referring to before looking at the time. "Come on, we'll talk more on the way to Indigo Plateau."
The drive to the Plateau was only a few hours long and Red told her about his newest members of his team. As they pulled up ands got out Red kissed her goodbye when suddenly, she glowed purple and vanished right in front of him. Red was too shocked to do anything for a moment before he shouted in outrage and looked around but couldn't find anything. Frantically he looked in the nearby park, collaring several concerned passers by before he raced into the main reception and into the lift to Blues office only to find it empty. Cursing he left the office and the building and called out for Delia, gaining no response. Sighing he knew what he needed to do and pulled out his Pokégear and dialled Ash. Hopefully between the two of them they could start getting information as soon as possible.
Greenfield
Looking at his Pokégear he wondered why his father was ringing him. It took a lot to tear his eyes away from the view in front of him as whatever happened to Greenfield wasn't good.
"Hi dad, everything ok?" Ash asked, his eyes still on Greenfield.
"No" his father said quickly sounding angry "your mother has disappeared."
"What did you just say?" Ash asked focusing on his dad "when?"
"Not even ten minutes ago" Red replied, "I was talking to her at Indigo Plateau, we were just parting ways when she disappeared before my very eyes to who knows where."
"I think I know" Ash said as he turned the phone to the scene in front of him.
"What the fuck?" Red's voice exclaimed "where the hell is that?"
"Greenfield" Ash said as he turned the phone back to him "I believe that big flower is Hale mansion."
"The Unown" Red said gasping "What the hell have those idiots done this now? It can't be anything else, can it?"
"I fear not." Ash said "but they shouldn't be active dad. I sealed that room with them in."
"A lot has happened since then Ash." Red replied sighing "I was planning on telling you this afternoon after my talk but Amanda Hale was working on the box when she disappeared, and Spencer took over her research. I was going to ring you today anyway as the other day Spencer called your mum and had a go at her."
"For what?" Ash asked angrily. How dare someone pull that shit with his mum.
"Easy now" Red said "believe me that was my reaction too, but Blue sorted it out. He overheard the conversation they were having and pulled him up on his tone. It was when we were all knocked out, I was in the hospital and Spencer rang her, asking her to talk to you. Apparently your Charizard has increased his territory in the Valley and has included the ruins in it. He thinks given what you did to the sealed room that you have spoken to Charizard and ordered no one to be allowed to gain access to them."
"I haven't" Ash said "I sent a message to him via Liza stating to keep an eye on them but that was all I said. I didn't want anyone knowing what was there."
"Well apparently Charizard has arranged patrols of that area and they're quite vociferous in repelling anyone that flies over that area" Red said "Spencer wanted his team to be able to go there because someone spotted them glowing the day Amanda disappeared, by sheer chance it seems so they think they're connected. And from the CCTV that was recovered it seems that Amanda parked outside Union cave, disappeared for a few hours before going back to her car and driving back to the lab before taking the box back into the first tunnel they discovered."
"Amanda activated the other two shrines" Pikachu said from his shoulder.
"I feared that" Ash said as he translated for his father who nodded.
"It would seem so" Red said heavily.
"So how does mum come into this?" Ash asked as he looked over to the mansion.
"I have no idea" Red replied "but I'm currently heading to Saffron train station to take the bullet train to Goldenrod. Unfortunately, it will likely take me several hours to get to Saffron, and then another hour to get to Johto, then another hour to get to Greenfield so we're looking at early evening, at best before I get there."
"Damn" Ash said "dad I'm not waiting that long to get mum back. Hopefully by the time you arrive I've got her back."
"Ash" Red said "be careful, the last time the Unown were around they slaughtered hundreds of people and wiped cities from the planet. Do not underestimate them. Oh, hang on, Sam is ringing me. Stay on the line Ash."
As the phone went silent Ash stared out at Greenfield pulsing his aura out in intervals. Strangely he got no reaction from the mansion which made him frown irritated.
"Ash are you still there?" Red asked.
"Yeah, I am, what did Sam want?" Ash asked.
"Change of plans" Red said "I'm heading back to Pallet Town. Apparently one of Spencer's co-workers, a guy named Mark has just rang Lance who was with Blue to tell him what's going on and Blue has arranged a helicopter from Pallet Town to Johto. We should get there for roughly 1pm."
"Ok" Ash said, "dad can you do me something you might not like?"
"Go on" Red said frowning as Ash told him his plan "to quote your mother, I hate when you make valid points. I'll think about it while we travel but it seems like our best shot at stopping this from taking over the entire region."
"Please consider it" Ash said looking over at the mansion in concern "if mums in there I cannot feel her dad."
"She's there Ash" Red said "I just know it."
Hanging up Ash made his way down the path towards Greenfield. It wasn't long before he came to the top of another hill but when he arrived he found he wasn't alone. On top of it a camera crew was setting up a base. Walking up to them he listened as they said their piece to camera before they turned to a man in a white overcoat
"So, Professor Mark, what can you tell us about whatever is happening here?"
"I'm not sure Polly" Mark said as he looked over towards the mansion "I arrived at the mansion this morning just as the phenomena occurred and I was lucky to escape with my life."
"So, you don't know what's caused this?" Polly asked.
"No, sadly I don't" Mark replied.
"Liar" Ash said walking over causing them to pan to an irate looking Ash. Mark upon seeing him gulped audibly "you know full well what has caused this. I sealed that tomb for a reason only to have Amanda and your team dig through."
"You should have told us" Mark said belligerently.
"I didn't think I'd need to" Ash retorted "given you all know who I am and what my contributions have been to science over the years I'd hoped I'd gain some level of trust. But no, you guys know better and because of that you have disturbed something which was only contained through the sacrifice of the four greatest Aura guardians to have ever lived and unleashed a Pokémon that last time they were around wiped three cities from the face of the planet!"
"What do you mean?" Polly asked.
"What's happened here is that a Pokémon known as Unown has taken over Hale Mansion" Ash said "when I visited the ruins of Alph a few weeks ago I solved a puzzle that opened a tomb. Inside said tomb was one of the four legendary elemental Aura guardians, on her tomb was a clear warning to not disturb the Unown, I later found out that along with the other three Elemental Guardians she sacrificed her life to contain the Unown. So, I sealed the tomb back up and left hoping the excavation team could never gain access. Evidently, I was wrong, and they unsealed an artifact that should have been left closed."
"We didn't know it would do this" Mark said waving his hand at Greenfield behind him "the last time I saw the box it was sealed."
"Where is the box?" Ash asked.
"Inside the mansion" Mark said, "along with Spencer and Molly."
"You left an artifact that you knew was dangerous in a place that housed a child?" Ash asked outraged "those things prey on people's minds! They can actively manipulate your thoughts and feelings and you left it in a house with a nine-year-old girl whose emotions are going to be running wild after the loss of her mother?"
"Her father is in there with her!" Mark said, "and is I've already said there was no evidence that the box was anything other than a box!"
"You're a bloody idiot!" Ash said as he started walking away.
"Where are you going?" Polly asked concerned.
"To go and get that little girl out of there!" Ash said as he pressed a few buttons on his Pokédex "and if Spencer is there, I'm going to slap the shit out of him for causing all this!"
"Well," Polly said turning to Mark "is he right? Did you know about this beforehand?"
"No" Mark replied shaking his head "we had no idea that the box would activate. We've only got a single document that names the Unown by name and it wasn't a historical, factual document so we had no idea."
"So why would the Champion call you out like that?" Polly asked "he seemed pretty adamant that you all knew about them. I mean he even said he sealed the tomb you guys broke into to get the box, why would you do that?"
"Because we don't work for Ash Ketchum" Mark said shaking his head at the question "and no, in this case his actions were not deemed good enough to deter us from doing what we're funded to do. For one, he didn't tell us why he sealed it, he just left the area and didn't say anything. For another thing we're archaeologists, digging into places to uncover the past is what we do for a living. At the dig site we uncovered a tomb of a long dead Aura Guardian who mysteriously went missing nearly a thousand years ago, that's pretty exciting stuff so to think another might be in the sealed tomb made it a pretty easy decision to make in unsealing it."
"So, when you unsealed the tomb, you found what?" Polly asked.
"We found the tomb of Tarin Saurwolf and Alvalor Mooncrest along with a book called the Spell of the Unown and a box of what looked like tiles with letters of the alphabet on them" Mark said "as you can imagine we were pretty excited as the two guardians disappeared at the same time centuries ago. They were part of a quartet known as the Elemental Guardians as they had the ability to fuse their aura with their Pokémons attacks hence the name Elemental Guardians and all four of them mysteriously went missing at the same time, we only found out recently about this after we uncovered the first tomb."
"And you've not found the other two that went missing?" Polly asked curious.
"We think we have done yes, but unfortunately we're being prevented from doing so" Mark said wryly.
"By whom?" Polly asked.
"Ash Ketchum" Mark said looking irritated "his Charizard recently became the new Alpha of the Charicific Valley and has decided the area where the other dig site is part of his new territory and is preventing us from accessing where we believe the other two are buried."
"So, it seems that Ash knew what would happen and tried to prevent it. So, he was right in doing what he did?" Polly asked, "given what's happened now that is."
"No, he isn't" Mark said "we had no idea this would happen but if we stopped digging every time someone tried to prevent us we'd never find anything out about the past. Ash didn't tell us of the severity of what could happen, he kept us in the dark."
"It sounds like you're blaming Ash for something you and your team did" Polly remarked looking conflicted.
"Not at all" Mark said, "but we all share the blame on this, Ash Ketchum included."
Walking away towards the mansion Ash brought out his Pokégear and typed in Lizas number.
"Hello Ash" she said picking up "we've just seen you on TV. You certainly have a way with words. You walked away before the interview finished though and it sounded like he was placing some of the blame on you."
"Honestly, some people should be neutered at birth." Ash said muttering under his breath "I didn't think I'd need to wipe peoples arses for them Liza, I don't usually do things on a whim, anyway I need to speak to Charizard. It's really urgent."
"Hang on" Liza said as she walked outside with her phone and over to where the alphas nest was located. She was probably the only person the Charizard would tolerate being near the area due to her dedication to their species, so they didn't think anything of it. Walking up the steps she stopped as she took in Ash's Charizard. It was still wounded slightly from the battle but looked very alert as she approached. "Hey Charizard, we have an issue. Ash, I'll put you on loudspeaker."
"Charizard, I need you to do me a favour. I don't know if you know what's happening, but despite your best efforts some idiots have activated a thousand-year-old tomb and unleashed a mythical Pokémon that has the power to alter reality and cause untold damage. They've taken my mother so I'm going inside the mansion they're located at to get her back.
My dad is on his way to Greenfield where I am, but I've asked him to head to the ruins first to see if there's any failsafe located in there for what's happening. Can you ask your patrols to let him through and direct him please, he'll be at Union Mountain in a few hours. Hopefully I can stall whatever they're doing in time for dad to find out whatever he can." Just as he finished relaying his request the phone tone dialled and Ash's voice disappeared.
Immediately Charizard became alert at his trainer's voice and his thoughts cleared up immediately at the request. Standing as tall as he could he roared to the heavens and soon five other Charizard landed in front of him, one to Lizas surprise was her own Charizard.
"You two, go and inform the patrols over the mountain that a former Alpha will be arriving with my trainer's father soon. They're to direct them to the forbidden ruins where they're to help however they can. Chance, you and Griff are coming with me, I suspect my trainer will need our help. Charla, while I'm gone, you're in charge."
Flaring his wings Charizard he flew up to the ruling perch and roared, causing every other Charizard to turn to him.
"Despite our best-efforts humans have done something idiotic near the forbidden ruins, and my trainer is trying to resolve it. I am going to help him so while I am gone Charla is in charge. Do not test my patience on this, I have enough to be getting on with, with trying to prevent my trainer from sacrificing his life again to clear up others mess." Flaring his wings he rose alongside the five he called to him, and they split off to go to their duties. Charizard just hoped he could get to his trainer in time.
Ash cursed as his phone went dead as he drew closer to the mansion. Obviously, whatever was going on inside of the mansion was interfering with the airwaves around Greenfield. He was thankful that on the walk to the mansion his Pokédex lit up and his belt became full, he suspected he'd need quite a lot of his team to fix this situation. He had sent Cyndaquil, Chikorita and Heracross to his home, they would be far too inexperienced to deal with a situation like this. Walking down the path he noticed that the crystal seems to crumble underneath his feet but reappeared the moment he stepped away.
"Interesting" Ash said looking down at his feet "it seems aura counteracts the crystals, to a degree at least."
"That's to be expected though, isn't it?" Pikachu asked, "after all its well-known aura counteracts psychics."
"Yeah, but this is something else" Ash replied "it's reappearing right behind me which means this is some serious psychic power on display. It's quite worrying."
As he wended his way up the garden path, he looked around him, as far as the eye could see the crystal structures were still forming and moving slowly outwards, expanding but stopping at the edge of the mansion's grounds.
"It seems they have a limit on where they can go to though" Ash commented "hopefully if we keep them contained in here, they can't do any more damage than they have done."
"It also seems like it can't interact with water either" Pikachu said as they looked at the stream that ran through the grounds "that looks like it could lead inside without anyone knowing."
"Yeah" Ash said as he started heading that way "call me crazy but walking through the front door doesn't seem like a good thing."
As they neared the stream, they heard a noise and looked up. Overhead a few helicopters were flying around the mansion with various news outlets plastered on the side. From seemingly nowhere a huge purple ball came from the top of the mansion and impacted the tail of one of the helicopters sending it spiralling downwards where it crashed into the field exploding upon impact. The other helicopter swerved out of the way of another ball and quickly shot away not wanting to receive the same fate as the downed one.
"Holy shit!" Ash exclaimed "no one's surviving that. Those poor people."
"What did that?" Pikachu asked shocked "the power behind those moves was incredible."
"I'm not sure" Ash replied "but that seemed like a Fire Blast infused with a Psychic and not many Pokémon have the power to do that. I suspect we'll find out soon and won't like the answer. Keep an eye out Pi."
Inside the mansion Molly was sat in front of the TV with Entei at the side of her and Delia on the couch. The appearance of Delia didn't seem to surprise either of them as Mummy and Daddy often invited Auntie Delia around.
"Ae you here to look after me Auntie Deedee?" Molly asked.
"I am" Delia said in a monotone voice "while your Mummy is away, I'll help your Daddy look after you."
"Thank you, Auntie Deedee" Molly said happily "can we go and bake? I used to do that with Mummy a lot."
"Of course, sweetie" Delia said standing up and holding her hand out for Molly to take. As they made their way to the kitchen Delia switched on the TV so they could watch the news as they baked.
"This is fun" Molly said as she stood on a chair and mixed butter with cocoa powder getting a lot of it on the countertop. As Mark came onto the screen Molly frowned at him, she didn't like that man. He was always taking her Mummy and Daddy away from her and she was happy he had gone away. As Ash walked on the screen and berated him, she smiled happily, that was until Ash mentioned there was something harmful in the mansion with her.
"That's not true, is it?" Molly asked her Daddy "there's only us here isn't there?"
"There is" Entei said soothingly "You're perfectly safe here Molly. If you don't want anyone to come here, then just say the word."
"I like it being the three of us" Molly said going back to baking "I wish it could be the three of forever until Mummy comes back."
"If that is what you wish" Entei said his eyes glowing briefly "would you like some friends to play with?"
"Oh yes" Molly said her eyes shining "I've always wanted friends."
In the office the Unown pulsed and undulated as they heard what Molly said and sent out another wave of psychic power that passed through the mansion as they read her mind. Latching on to an image they started chanting her name again and in the centre of them the image appeared. Encircling the image, they chanted and sang until the picture came to life and dropped onto the floor, quickly followed by another one. As they rose up onto their feet they looked around before their eyes glowed purple and they walked out of the room heading to the kitchen.
"Daddy, why won't people leave me alone?" Molly asked as she heard the helicopters encircling the house "I just want to be left alone."
"If that is what you wish" Entei said as he padded out of the room and quickly made his way up the stairs to the master bedroom which had a balcony. Opening the door he looked around and spotted the nearest helicopter and took aim. Without so much of a breath he used Fire Blast only this one was very different as it was purple and had an undercurrent of electricity around it. The impact to the helicopter was incredibly loud but he paid it no mind as he charged up another attack and sent that one flying, cursing as it missed but he had made his point. No one was going to harm his Molly. As he was walking back he noticed the other two newcomers leaving the office and led them into the kitchen.
"Look who's here Molly" Entei said as he entered. Molly looked up and squealed as she jumped down from the chair she was standing on and ran to the two newcomers hugging them.
"Raikou and Suicune?" she gasped looking at her Daddy with shining eyes "they're here to play with me?"
"They certainly are" Entei said.
"Yay" she shouted, "come on, I've got lots of toys for us to play with." As she left and they all followed Delia was still sat at the kitchen counter unmoving. In her mind however was a different story as the miniscule amount of aura she had inherited from her marriage to Red was warring against the psychic hold of the Unown, desperately trying to free her mind from the rip of the Mythical Pokémon. She was lucid enough to know what was going on and understand that something was wrong but was otherwise powerless to do anything about it. Feeling another command from the Unown she rose and followed the procession up a set of stairs made entirely of crystal that seemed to go on forever. The Unown had picked up on several fantasies Molly had and in the last few hours recreated what seemed to be a castle inside the mansion proper. Delia though could only wonder at it but do very little else other than walk up the endless staircase and enter the brank new oak door to Mollys room. Walking in she saw her playing on the floor and strangely the TV on displaying the news outside.
"Look Aunty Deedee" Molly said as the TV panned to a drone live streaming the house "Isn't that Ash?"
Looking at the TV Delias mind focused on Ash and unbeknownst to Entei she broke the psychic hold before quickly realising that if they knew she would be in trouble.
"Yes" Delia said in a monotone voice "He's on his journey through Johto."
"Why?" Molly asked curiously.
"He's currently travelling to become a Pokémon master, so he needs to visit a lot of places" Delia replied.
"Oh" she said looking at the screen "but why is he trying to get in here?"
"Possibly to rescue you" Delia said, "he thinks you're alone in here."
"But I'm not" she said confused "Daddy, can you go and tell him I'm not alone."
"If that is what you wish" Entei said as he rose from the floor and quickly bounded out of the room. Delia tried to mask her alarm at the legendary leaving the room because she had seen on the TV what happened the last time he was asked to do something by Molly. The fear she had for her son nearly outweighed the fear she had at being found out, hopefully Ash would be ok.
"Do you not want to play with Ash?" Delia asked risking a lot by asking.
"I mean, he could come and play with my toys but why would he want to play with me? I'm only small." Molly asked confused.
"Well, he's very knowledgeable about Pokémon" Delia said "didn't you say the last time I visited that you wanted to be friends with Pokémon?"
"I do" Molly said nodding "but I have two friends already and Daddy said I needed to be big to have my own Pokémon. I'll ask him when he gets back if I'm big enough yet."
Delia sat in fear as she knew she would be unable to convince Molly of a change of action as her 'Daddy' wasn't in the room. It was very strange, she thought. Why did Molly believe Entei was her father? And where was Spencer anyway?
"Molly, where is your father?" Delia asked.
"He's just left silly" Molly said whistling as she played with her toys.
"No, I mean Spencer, where is Spencer?" Delia asked again.
"I've just said" Molly said looking at Delia confused.
"No, that was an Entei, is Spencer not here with you?" Delia said frowning "Is Spencer Entei?"
"Daddy told me he would never leave me again" Molly said resolutely "and this morning there was a big bang. When I found it Daddy was there and he's been here ever since."
That answers nothing Delia thought frowning. Surreptitiously she looked around the room and noticed it was covered in photos of her and her parents, along with various drawings of the three legendary beasts. Wandering over she picked up a book and noticed it was the one Ash made for her, leafing through she smiled before stopping as the page that gave information on the three Johto Legendaries had the pictures missing. Taking it over to the chair she sat down and looked at Molly who was happily playing with the other two beasts and noticed something off about them. They looked like they'd been drawn as their fur seemed to be made up of brush strokes rather than solid mass. As Molly leaned down to pick up another toy Delia noticed a glint of silver as the necklace briefly flashed before disappearing again under her dress.
"That's a pretty necklace" Delia said pointing it out.
"Oh" Molly said looking down and pulling it out "yes, it's Daddys office key. Because I was such a brave girl before he asked me to look after it."
Before she could ask another question there was a huge bang from somewhere in the mansion, which made Molly and Delia jump, the former quickly stuffing the key back into her dress. Raikou and Suicune automatically jumped in front of Molly, but then relaxed when a minute later Entei wandered into the room looking bruised.
"Daddy" Molly shouted leaping up and running over to him "you're hurt. Who hurt you?"
"Ash" he said as he lay down "he didn't want to leave us alone, but I eventually made him leave."
"Ok Daddy" she said hugging him "thank you for keeping me safe. I'm glad you're here Daddy."
Delia though tried her hardest not to cry out loud and quickly wiped a tear away as it fell. She just had to hope her son was ok.