Ch 55. Cinnabar Island

(Unedited)

The days after the sudden mystery encounter were quite mellow compared to the first day. Lapras had refused to let them wander off too far, always sticking close enough to get them out of any unwarranted situation. She was a true mama pokemon, a guardian of her companions.

While Ares was being watched over by Lapras, Lucario silently napping against her neck, Jenny was spending some quality time with her newly caught pokemon. While the first battle had gone rather smooth, with Shellder listening to everything she had said, that didn't mean that Shellder had opened up to her.

Not. At. All.

The little bugger had remained adamant in giving Jenny the cold shoulder.

She had tempted it with treats, tried to play with it and even groomed it.

Nothing.

Yet Jenny was persistent, showing her tenacity as she soldiered on, talking late into the night to share her experiences with Shellder. While the little water type was staunch, it did not mean it would not cave under her relentless attempts to break down that wall that was between them. And break it would.

Jenny was certain of it!

Ares let the two of them continue their back and forth, still trying to mellow down the sticky Lapras and the overly guarded Lucario to get some of his freedom back. It was getting outright impossible to get some alone time.

Even the most private of things was to be seen under their relentlessly following gaze.

Ares couldn't wait to get back on land to find himself some respite and movement space.

Not only that, but he was constantly looked at by a reproachful Mew, who had been stressed out a lot, especially since her psychic buddy (still in the egg) had almost been swept away.

This surely wouldn't be the last time he would get that look, but he had been sure that it was safe, especially since it hadn't even made it out of the egg incubator, even with all the chaos that had happened. It was a safe as it could be.

After an unfruitful day of only moving forward at a Caterpie's pace, the only pokemon present being Magikarp, they finally saw Cinnabar Island in the distance. Sailing next to it were three cruise ships, each going into the harbor.

From the distance they were currently at, the massive crowd of people was just crazy. Cinnabar Island had truly become a resort. What a shame when one of the strongest gym leaders of Kanto had his gym on this very island.

Stopping at a dock specialized for pokemon, Ares, Lucario and Jenny leaped from Lapras's back and stretched themselves as much as they could. They few days at sea had left them cramped and stiff.

Patting Lapras one more time, Ares returned Lapras to her pokeball as he finally took a closer look at the crowd and buildings in front of him.

The city was littered with tourists, floral decorations strewn about between buildings and along the streets. People were dressed as if they were going for a day at the beach, which was certainly possible as a rather pristine beach was on the north side of the island.

Getting a map from one of the information stands, Ares flipped through it towards the main map, skipping all the top ten must see sights. Jenny looked along over his shoulder, her eyes fixated on a few of the head lights on the map.

There was a spa present!

Jenny couldn't wait to visit.

Ares looked at Jenny, seeing her all giddy to look around. That could be done later. He had to find the gym first. At least he could make a challenge appointment with Blaine. Looking closely where they were on the map, Ares followed the directions shown and arrived in front of a dilapidated gym.

The whole building was rotting and overgrown with weeds. The windows had been smashed in, as wild Rattata were scurrying about. A few Paras and Oddish had made their home in the cracks in the walls, spreading spores and seeds around wherever they were running. When the pokemon saw Lucario standing beside Ares, they quickly scattered, hidding away beneath the broken flooring and littering tires.

The gym had been abandonned for a while if the state of the building was anything to go by.

Jenny whisteled at the sight, amazed at the sight of the poor building.

"Someone forgot to call the gardener. This place is simply overgrown."

Jenny commented, not daring to go further into the grass surrounding the building. If the few Paras were anything to go by, there would surrely be more than a few dozen present. Paras were never alone.

Lucario just scoffed, crossing his arms across the other as he looked around. He didn't sense any other human presence besides Ares and Jenny.

"The gym must have moved. Otherwise the pokemon league would have posted a notice on their website. It is a big deal if one of the top gym's suddenly shut down without any prior indication."

Ares had sensed the same as Lucario. The gym was definitely abandoned.

While he said that, Ares had no clue as to where the gym could be. The map was up-to-date, meaning Blaine didn't want tourists to visit his gym. Most of the people coming here were tourists, people who weren't interested in the pokemon league challenge at all. If anything, they would only challenge the gym as a novel experience or to get a souvenir should they manage to beat Blaine.

A mindset a lot of gymleaders would have an aversion to.

"Alright! Now that the gym is gone, why don't we go visit the hot spring while we have some time? I heard there is a beauty salon specialist present right now."

Jenny pulled Ares's arm, dragging him off towards the hotsprings. She had enough of this dreary view.

"Why don't you go ahead of me. I'm going to look a bit further into this."

Ares pulled his arm from her grasp, walking back towards the dilapidated gym.

Lucario followed after Ares, snickering at Jenny, who was staring at her empty hand as she processed what had just happened.

"Ah, right. Then I will see you later. Don't forget."

Jenny replied, running to the spa filled with confidence, losing it soon after when she realized she was on her own for the first time. This was the very reason she had wanted to go with Ares. Now surrounded by strangers, Jenny smiled awkwardly as she entered the hot spring.

Ares looked at the building in front of him for a bit longer, trying to see if there was any notice indicating they had moved.

Lucario was moving around as well, covering a lot of space inside to see if there truly hadn't been anything they had missed.

"Hello young man, what's been bothering you?"

A middle aged man came up to Ares, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. His brown hair reached just beneath his shoulders, its wavy texture looking rather meticulously maintained and well groomed. A rather bushy white mustache covered part of his mouth, but not the wide grin that revealed his white teeth.

"I am searching for the gym. The old gym in front of me certainly isn't in use right now."

Ares replied, giving a glance at the odd man beside him. The man had appeared out of nowhere.

Arriving at his side, Lucario looked the man over from head to toe, his eyes lingering on the man's hair.

The man coughed, his hand rustling through his hair.

"Why don't I give you a hand. But first, you answer me this."

[There is a thing that nothing is, and yet it has a name. It's sometimes tall and sometimes short, joins our talks, joins our sport, and plays at every game.]

"Well, what do you think the answer is?"

The man waited patiently as Ares ruminated over the words contained in the riddle.

Something that is nothing, but has a name...

Sometimes tall, sometimes short....

The last sentence would mean it is always there.

Thinking hard, Ares got a sudden hint as he looked at the man.

"A shadow?"

It would not be odd if it were. It isn't composed of anything, but it has a name. It becomes long at dusk and dawn, while short at noon. And... it is always there beneath our feet.

"Correct! A shadow is always with us from the moment we are born, no matter if there is darkness or the brightest of flames."

The man laughed in glee.

"Follow me. If I am correct, you don't have a place to stay at, right? If you don't, I can arrange a place for you free of charge. It has a nice hot spring as well."

The man pointed at a small resort a bit up the volcano.

"That sounds alright. But can I have your name first? I don't believe we have introduced ourselves. I am Ares Oak. This pokemon besides me is my partner, Lucario."

Ares introduced himself, waiting in kind for the stranger to reply.

"Oh right, I forgot. You can call me Old man Blaze. Nice to meet you."

Old man Blaze continued onwards, letting them stay at the Big Riddle Inn, of which he was the owner.

No wonder their stay was free.

What an odd man indeed.