The Burned Tower

After going through many adventures and Pokémon training, the gang finally made it to Ecruteak City.

"Finally, we're here." Misty sighed, tiredly.

"Let's go." Volkner sighed.

"Yeah, to the Pokémon Centre." Ashlyn said.

"I'm with you." Brock agreed.

The gang headed to the Pokémon Centre, handing their Pokémon to Nurse Joy, booking two rooms, took a nice warm bath and finally have a small nap.

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After napping for two hours, the gang was refreshed again.

"Phew I needed that rest." Misty sighed in relief.

"Yeah so did I," Brock agreed, "especially our Pokémon."

"Speaking of Pokémon, I've been thinking about something," Ashlyn said, "Since I got that item Metal Coat from my new Steelix from the swap meet and Santa, I've been thinking about evolving my Scyther into a Scizor and Chrystal into a Steelix."

"I call that a good idea. Scyther must be very strong, so I think it is time for Scyther to evolve into Scizor. Not to mention Chrystal as well." Volkner agreed.

"You know I have been thinking about evolving my Onix as well." Brock stated.

So he and Ashlyn decided to evolve their Scyther and Onix now.

Ashlyn got her Scyther from Prof Oak and told Scyther about becoming a Scizor. Ashlyn showed Scyther a picture of Scizor on her Rotom phone and Scyther became eager to evolve into that. Brock asked Onix if he wanted to evolve into a Steelix and Onix did. Ashlyn and Brock gave their Pokémon metal coats to hold, returned the Pokémon to their Pokéballs, and went to the Pokémon center's trading machine to trade their Pokémon.

Once they were traded, Ashlyn and Brock released Scyther and Onix from their Pokéballs, and as soon as the Pokémon were out of their Pokéballs they began to glow.

Onix evolved into a Steelix and Scyther evolved into a red Pokémon, with wings and two big pincers. After the evolution, Brock and Ashlyn traded their Pokémon back. Brock was happy with Steelix just as Ashlyn was happy with her new Scizor. Brock also gave his Steelix his Mega Stone which Steelix was happy to get. Misty also did the same for her Gyarados while they were there.

Ashlyn looked at Scizor on her phone:

[Scizor, the pincer Pokémon. The evolved form of Scyther. It raises its pincers with eyelike markings for intimidation. It also swings them down dangerously.]

"Wow, I can't wait to use Scizor in a battle." Ashlyn said.

Volkner decided to help Ashlyn with her next trade. So she put the metal coat on Chrystal and put her in her Pokéball. Volkner traded his Electrode with Chrystal. So Chrystal evolved into a Crystal Steelix which was fascinating to everyone. Then Ashlyn and Volkner traded their Pokémon back. Ashlyn gave Chrystal her Mega Stone and she happy to have it.

"So where to next?" Brock asked.

"I want to see the old Burned Tower." Ashlyn replied.

"Why do you want to visit that old burnt tower, Ashlyn?" Misty asked.

"Well Misty, that old burned tower was actually the place where Ho-Oh once lived before it perished." Ashlyn replied.

"Really? Then let's go." Misty said.

So everyone agreed to go to the Burned Tower which was located in the far east of Ecruteak City.

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When the gang arrived they stopped and took a good look at the Burned Tower.

"Wow it really is a burnt tower." Misty spoke up.

"Yeah it says that this tower has been like this for 150 years." Brock read from the guide book.

"I'm surprised it's still standing after all this time." Volkner commented.

"Let's go see inside." Ashlyn opened the door and the gang all went inside.

Inside, the burnt tower was more burnt inside than it was outside.

"We better be careful in here." Volkner warned.

"Yeah, the wooden planks above us are probably unstable and they might fall down on us." Brock added.

Ashlyn was in awe at the moment; she was fascinated with the old Burned Tower. She knew that this is the tower where Suicune, Entei, and Raikou were born.

Suddenly fire appeared out of nowhere, surprising the gang and scared some.

"Fire!" Misty yelped as she stepped back.

"Let's get out of here!" Brock shouted.

Ashlyn stared at the fire. "Hold on a minute," She touched the fire and didn't feel any heat coming off of it, "this fire is an illusion."

Volkner touched the fire too. "Ashlyn's right. This fire isn't real." He said.

Ashlyn sensed some presences around them. "We're not alone in this Tower." She released Noctowl from his Pokéball.

"Briii~" Shiny Noctowl appeared, with a sparkle.

"Noctowl, use Foresight." Ashlyn ordered.

Shiny Noctowl's eyes glowed red and it released a red beam of light from them, it scanned the whole floor. As the Foresight scanned the entire floor, the illusion disappeared and revealed lots of Gastly's and Haunter's.

"Raichu? (Gastly's and Haunter's?)" Tesla asked.

"The Burned Tower must be their home and used the illusion to scare us away from here." Brock commented.

Ashlyn turned, facing the Gastly's and Haunter's and gave a small bow, "If we have evaded your home, we're very sorry for doing that but we only came here to explore the Burned Tower." She told them.

"Gastly..."

"Haunter Haunter..."

All the Ghost-type Pokémon stared at Ashlyn.

"Rairai Raichu." Tesla nodded.

"Brri?" Shiny Noctowl turned his head to the stairs.

The gang heard footsteps from the staircase area.

"Calm down Gastly, Haunter." A male voice spoke up from the staircase area and a blonde man appeared, "This Pokémon trainer speaks the truth. I can tell."

Ashlyn returned Noctowl to his Pokéball to prove to the ghost Pokémon that they were not here to cause trouble. All the Gastly's and Haunter's stared at the gang again and they all disappeared from sight.

"Raichu." Tesla blinked.

Misty sighed in relief.

Ashlyn recognized the blonde man; Morty the Ecruteak Gym Leader.

Morty walked towards the gang, "Sorry about that. The Ghost-type Pokémon here get really nervous when someone enters this place." He explained.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Ashlyn spoke up. "We understand what Ghost Pokémon are like."

"So far we've met the mischievous type." Misty grumbled.

"Prof. Oak does complain about my Gengar and Misdreavus's pranks. Lucky my other Psychic Pokémon keep them in line." Ashlyn stated, smiling.

Morty chuckled when he heard that, "Ghost-type can be mischievous when they want to be." He said. "I'm Morty Matsuba, the Ecruteak Gym Leader."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ashlyn."

"I'm Misty."

"Volkner."

"And I'm Brock."

Morty looked at Ashlyn in question, "Ashlyn? As in Ashlyn Ketchum, the girl who has a Lugia and a shiny Entei? Bugsy told me about you." He said.

Ashlyn nodded, slowly, "Yes that's me. If you like, I'll gladly show you Poseidon and Searius." She offered.

"I would like to see your Lugia and shiny Entei." Morty smiled, "But not here, at the gym if you don't mind."

"Not at all." Ashlyn said.

Just then Ashlyn notice a wooden plaque on the wall, "Is that..." She took a better look at it, "Ho-Oh?"

Morty nodded, "Yes it is. The truth is that a Ho-Oh used to live here in this tower a long time ago before it was burnt." He answered.

"What made this tower into a burned tower?" Brock asked.

"I will tell you." Morty replied.

The gang payed attention.

"A long time ago the Burned Tower was originally known as the Bell Tower, it was built to promote the understanding between humans and Pokémon." The Ecruteak Gym Leader explained, "The Bell Tower became a special place because Ho-Oh used to make contacts with humans here, it visits there were a sign for peace between humans and Pokémon but Ho-Oh would only show itself to a chosen few; those who guarded the tower."

Ashlyn felt the pulse of the Rainbow Wing underneath her shirt, she placed her hand on where it was underneath her shirt.

Morty looked at the wooden plaque of Ho-Oh, "But one day something horrible happened, a group of invaders entered the tower, they wanted to gain Ho-Oh's power for evil. A fight broke out and in the process, the Bell Tower was set up in flames. Ho-Oh fled from the Tower and never returned again, nor did it come in contact with humans again."

Ashlyn, Volkner, Misty and Brock were fascinated by Morty's story.

"How come this tower was never rebuilt?" Misty asked.

"Because my ancestors wanted to keep it like this, that way it would stay a witness forever as man's brutality." Morty answered.

Ashlyn agreed to what Morty had said. It was true that some people are quite brutal towards other living beings. Giovanni is a perfect example of the word 'brutality'.

"If this was the Bell Tower from long ago, then what's the Bell Tower that's near here?" Volkner questioned.

The gang saw the Bell Tower in their way to Burned Tower.

"That's actually a copy of the original Bell Tower, when they built the new Bell Tower, they hoped that Ho-Oh would return here again, but it was never seen since." Morty explained.

"Do excuse me Morty, but I've seen Ho-oh." Ashlyn spoke up.

"Huh?" Misty, Brock, and Volkner looked at Ashlyn.

"I hardly believe that. Ho-Oh hasn't been sighted over 150 years now." Morty retorted.

Ashlyn had a feeling that Morty wouldn't believe her.

"I speak the truth Morty, and I have proof with me." Ashlyn said.

Her Rotom phone came out of her pocket and played the small video of Ho-Oh flying towards a rainbow. Then she took out the Rainbow feather that was attached to her necklace. It was a green, white and red feather.

Volkner, Misty, Brock and Morty were amazed by Ashlyn's feather.

"The Rainbow Wing." Morty said, breathtaking,

"Wow, what a beautiful feather." Misty said.

"Yeah, it's something that I've never seen myself." Brock agreed.

"Me neither." Volkner added.

Morty gazed at the feather, "Ashlyn, that's a Rainbow Wing, a real feather of Ho-Oh's. I want you to tell me how you got this feather."

"Yeah I want to know too." Misty said.

Volkner and Brock wanted to know too.

"Well I got this feather on the first day of my Pokémon journey." Ashlyn started, "It had just started raining when Tesla and I were heading towards Viridian City. Strangely, the rain ended rather quickly. Then suddenly we heard a screech in the sky and looked up. We saw a big red, white and yellow bird Pokémon flying between the clouds. I recognized it as Ho-oh because I have a book about all the legendary Pokémon in Johto. I couldn't believe it myself that I had seen Ho-Oh for the first time. Suddenly, just as Ho-Oh was about to disappear over the clouds, something fluttered down towards me; it was this feather, and I've kept it ever since."

Volker, Misty, Brock and Morty were fascinated from what Ashlyn told them.

"Amazing." Brock said.

"Why didn't you tell us about this that day Ashlyn?" Misty asked.

"Well Misty, would you have believed me and Tesla if I did tell you?" Ashlyn questioned.

Misty pondered. "Now that you mention it, I probably wouldn't." she confessed.

"I have to say Ashlyn that you are very lucky because you got to see Ho-Oh and you have a Lugia and shiny Entei on your hand." Morty commented. "But don't ever show people that you have the Rainbow Wing to anyone else because that feather is proof that Ho-Oh is still around and people would try to go after it for themselves." He warned.

"I know. Its not the first time I've seen people who wanted Legendary Pokémon for themselves." Ashlyn said, placing the Rainbow Wing away, "We've all had our share of meeting evil people."

"Ashlyn's right about that." Brock agreed.

"All of you come to my gym with me. I have something for your Rainbow Wing Ashlyn and I would really love to see your Lugia and shiny Entei." Morty told the gang.

The gang and Morty exited out of Burned Tower and headed towards the Ecruteak Gym.

===========================

The Ecruteak Gym looked like a temple and it was made out of wood.

"Why is your gym based on a temple?" Misty asked.

Morty chuckled, "Yes. I use Ghost-type Pokémon and I also teach kids here about them." He said.

"That makes sense, after all temples is were said to be the home of spirits and ghosts." Brock explained.

They entered the Ecruteak Gym and headed to the battle arena, where the battles will take place.

"Poseidon, Searius, Azure, Thor." Ashlyn sent out her diving Pokémon and shiny beast trio.

"Auuu~" Poseidon cried out happily as he appeared and he happily flew around.

Poseidon had fully learnt to fly and swim thanks to Ashlyn's flying and water Pokémon and he had grown up a bit.

Searius, Azure, and Thor appeared in front of Ashlyn and walked over to her and nuzzled against her. She smiled as she petted them. Searius had grown even bigger since his battle with Bugsy. He was almost past Ashlyn's shoulders. The same was for Azure and Thor.

Morty couldn't believe his eyes once he saw the legendary Pokémon of Johto. "Wow Ashlyn, Bugsy was telling the truth when he told me that you had a Lugia. Not only that, you also have the beast trio who are all shiny and from the look of them..." He took a good look at the flying Poseidon and the beast trio who were nuzzling against Ashlyn, "I can tell that you have taken good care of them."

"Thank you Morty. But they still have some more growing up to do because they're not fully grown adults yet." Ashlyn said.

"How did you require Lugia and the beast trio, Ashlyn?" Morty asked.

Ashlyn explained the events that happen on the Orange Islands and on Shamouti Island, Lugia the father to Poseidon gave him to her as a gift, after sorting out the weather disaster that happened. She told Morty that she raised the beast trio as eggs.

Morty was impressed, what he had heard, "An incredible adventure you must've been through." He said.

Ashlyn was glad that she didn't mentioned her other legendary Pokémon as well.

"Ashlyn, you are one amazing Pokémon trainer and a very lucky one too." Morty complimented.

"Thanks." Ashlyn said.

"She really is a lucky one." Volkner agreed.

"With incredible luck." Misty added.

"Fascinating, right?" Brock asked.

Morty agreed, "Indeed." Then he remembered something, "Ashlyn, I actually have something in the gym that you should see. Follow me." He told her.

Ashlyn returned all of her four legendary Pokémon back into their Pokéballs.

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Morty led the gang continued to Ecruteak Gym Leader to one of the rooms in the Gym, it was a room that held a lot of ornaments and items, like a collection. Morty took out two big lockets out from a wooden box in the room. One locket was made out of pure gold and the other locket was made out of pure silver.

Morty showed the lockets to the gang, "These two lockets belonged to the original Bell Tower before it was burned tower." He explained the origin of the two lockets, "They were also worn by the chosen few that could communicate with Ho-Oh... My ancestors recovered these after the tower burned down."

"Wow, they are so gorgeous." Misty said, examining the lockets beauty.

"Togi Togi." Togepi chirped.

"I agree." Brock agreed

"They look like they are glowing." Volkner commented.

"The gold locket represents Ho-Oh and the silver locket represents Lugia, right?" Ashlyn asked.

Morty gave a nodded, "That's right." He said.

The gang gasped at Morty's words.

"You see according to some legends, Lugia once perched on the original Bell Tower. Ho-Oh and Lugia were best friends with each other and of course when the tower was burned down, Lugia never returned either." Morty explained, the relationship between the two Johto Legendary Pokémon, "Ashlyn, if you don't mind, please pass me your Rainbow Wing."

Ashlyn felt the pulse of the Rainbow Wing and she also felt a familiar power coming from the gold locket, so she handed the Rainbow Wing over.

Morty took the Rainbow Wing and opened up the gold locket, he place the Rainbow swing inside and closed it again. He present both gold and silver lockets to Ashlyn.

"..." Ashlyn looked at the lockets.

"Ashlyn, I'm going to give you the gold and silver lockets." Morty told her.

Ashlyn was surprised, "B-But these two lockets belong to you." She said.

"Yes, but I'm passing them to you now Ashlyn, since you process a feather from Ho-Oh and you have a Lugia." Morty gave a small smile, "I believe you should own them now."

Ashlyn took a look at the two lockets, she accepted, "Thank you Morty and I promise to take care of these two." She said, "And I'll make sure that they'll never get stolen or broken."

"I could never leave these two lockets in better hand other than you Ashlyn." Morty told her.

Both gold and silver locket gave a slight glow before disappearing.

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The gang were about to leave the gym when suddenly a Gastly appeared in front of them. Misty yelped back in surprise.

"Gastly? What is it?" Morty asked.

"Gastly! (Intruders!)" Gastly replied.

"Intruders?" Ashlyn questioned.

"Gastly, Gast, Gastly, Gastly. Gast Gast Gastly. (One man and woman, and a talking Meowth. They're digging holes almost everywhere.)" Gastly answered.

"A man and woman with a talking Meowth?" Ashlyn sighed, "Team Rocket."

"Again?" Misty, Brock, and Volkner sighed.

Tesla sighed, "Raichu. (They don't give up.)"

"You know them?" Morty asked.

"Unfortunately." The gang said in unison.

"Anyways, we should send them packing right now." Ashlyn suggested.

"I agree with you." Volkner agreed.

"Gastly, could you lead us to the intruders?" Morty requested.

Gastly nodded and flew out of the gym. Then Morty and the gang quickly left the gym and followed after Ghastly.

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When they found Team Rocket, they were arguing about something.

"What the heck are you guys doing?" Ashlyn asked.

The trio turned towards the gang and yelped, "The twerps!"

"So what on you three doing here?" Volkner asked.

"Looking for bottlecaps! There are rare ones around here!" James said with excitement.

Silence entered and everyone had deadpanned expressions.

Ashlyn's brow arched, "For real?"

Jessie and Meowth sighed, "Yeah."

"You must have been tricked by that street clown." Morty said.

"Street clown?" Misty asked.

"Enfernando, he's firebreathing street clown who always try to sell these 'treasure locators'." Morty explained.

"Well we did find one treasure today....your Raichu!" Jessie pointed at Tesla who was perched on Ashlyn's shoulder.

"Let's get Raichu!" Meowth declared.

"Go Arbok!" Jessie released her Pokémon.

"Charbok!" Arbok appeared.

"Go Weezing!" James released his Pokémon.

"Weezing!" Weezing appeared.

"So it's a battle, huh?" Ashlyn took out two Pokéballs, "Azure! Thor! I choose you!"

The Aurora Pokémon and the Thunder Pokémon appeared.

"Gengar!" Morty called out.

Gengar appeared between Azure and Thor.

"I shall help out as well." Morty said.

"I appreciate it. Azure, Sheer Cold!" Azure let out a blast of cold wind towards Arbok and Weezing who flinched at the cold wind.

Team Rocket also shivered at the cold.

"C-C-Cold!" James whimpered.

"Thor, Shadow Ball!" Ashlyn ordered.

"Gengar use Shadow Ball as well!" Morty commanded.

Thor and Gengar formed a black ball in front of them and threw them towards Arbok and Weezing who were still cold from Azure's Sheer Cold attack. The Shadow Balls hit them and sent them flying back to their owners' feet.

"Ar-Arb-Arbok!" Jessie stuttered.

"Wee-Weezing!" James stuttered.

"Tesla, Thor, Thunder!" Ashlyn ordered.

The two Electric Pokémon let out their attack and sent Team Rocket into the air.

"We were so close that time." Meowth whined.

"We lost Raichu and those shiny Pokémon!" Jessie and Weezing flew past Meowth.

"I even lost my treasure detector!" James cried with anime tears, flying past Meowth.

"We said before, we'll say it once more." Meowth said as Arbok flew past him.

"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" They screamed before they disappeared into the sky.

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Evening had appeared at that time and it was getting late.

"We should get going to Pokémon Centre now." Brock said to the rest.

"Before you go," Morty spoke up, "I have a request for our gym match tomorrow, Ashlyn."

"What is it?" Ashlyn asked.

"I would like to battle against Poseidon in our match." Morty answered.

Ashlyn wasn't really surprised, she nodded, "Sure fine but I must warn you Morty that Poseidon is much stronger than he was battling against Bugsy." She warned him.

"My Pokémon and I aren't easy to take down." Morty told her.

Ashlyn nodded and then she and the others headed back to the Pokémon center to rest for tomorrow's gym battle.

Morty watched as the gang leaving his gym, "Battling against a Legendary is going to be very interesting and once in a life time chance." He said.

Tomorrow would be an interesting day.

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Pokémon on hand: Raichu (Tesla)(F), Type: Null (Talos)(Genderless), Shiny Noctowl (M), Zeraora (Raiden)(M), Togetic (F), Misdreavus (F), Shiny Frogadier (Genji)(M), Shiny Quilladin (Cybele)(F), Shiny Charizard (Natsu)(M), Mew (Keiko)(F), Lucario (M), Lugia (Poseidon)(M), Shiny Entei (Searius)(M), Shiny Suicune (Azure)(F), Raikou (Thor)(M)

*Marshadow is hiding in Ashlyn's shadow

*Mewtwo is exploring

Pokémon Caught: Heracross (M), Furret (F), Stantler (F), Bayleef (F), Quilava (M), Togetic (F), Croconaw (M), Steelix (M), Flaffy (F), Girafarig (F), Misdreavus (F), Drizzile (M), Thwackey (M), Shiny Frogadier (Genji)(M), Shiny Quilladin (Cybele)(F), Hakamo-o (M), Sliggoo (F), Meowstic (Orin)(M), Meowstic (Bella)(F), Thievul (F), Gothorita (F), Rapidash (F), Houndour (M), Shiny Noctowl (M), Zeraora (Raiden)(M), Pikachu (Nariko)(F)