177. Missing Flames

By leaving Larvitar with his mother in the Pokémon Sanctuary, Ash has completed his mission of taking Larvitar to find his mother.

And he also received his mission reward that he wanted so much, that being his Tyranitars Bond Value had reached 245/255!

This means that his Tyranitar has gradually come close to completing their Bond Evolution and will soon become the real Desert Tyrant! Ash has high hopes that he can train his Tyranitar to be one of his strongest Trump Card like his Pikachu and Charizard.

Tyranitar, the Pseudo-Legendary of the Johto Region is one, and Gyarados, the Red Beast, is another for this role.

Now, their strength is becoming more and more reliable! He really hoped that in the next Silver Conference, there will be a opportunity where he can use them to challenge against others!

Going down the mountain from another path in the Pokémon Sanctuary, Ash and his party soon arrived at Silver Town!

From afar, they saw a lot of people gathered around the entrance of a temple. Everyone was curious, so they looked at a young man who came up to ask.

"I'm sorry, may I ask what is happening here?"

The boy turned around and said, "We are all here to watch the Sacred Flames! The same Sacred Flames that begins the Pokémon Alliance Silver Conference!"

The temple that everyone came to at this moment is called the Ho-Oh Shrine. The Sacred Fire of the Silver Conference always strays from here and the was carried by the Holy Fire Runners to the Conference venue in Silver Town.

No wonder everyone is gathered here waiting, this is a sacred moment worth looking forward to!

"So it turns out to be the Sacred Fire of Ho-Oh!" Ash and the others all smiled.

During their time at the Indigo Plateau Conference in the Kano Region, the past Ash happened to catch up with the torch relay event and served as the torch runner at that time.

That Sacred Fire from then comes from the Legendary Fire Bird, Moltres!

At that time, the Rockets came out to try to snatch the Holy Fire, but the Holy Fire turned into the shadow of Moltres and knocked them away, thus truly protecting the progress of the Indigo Plateau Conference!

"Ohhh! That sounds so cool! I want to see that fire with my own eyes!" Molly cheered up.

Of course they all wanted to see it, but after waiting in the crowd for some time now, the group did not see the Sacred Fire being sent out from the shrine like they wanted to.

"Why are they taking so long? Did something happen inside there?" Misty became confused. They were waiting for around half an hour, which is really unusual because it was supposed to come out around 20 minutes ago.

Because she had waited too long, she also placed Togepi on the ground who was looked after by Pikachu.

At this moment, the door of the shrine was opened, and the staffs of the Ho-Oh Shrine looked at everyone with a bitter look on their faces, "Sorry to keep everyone here waiting! It will probably take some more time for the Sacred Fire to come out. Please wait a bit longer."

When no one was paying attention, the little playful Togepi actually got in through the courtyard door that was opened a crack, which then Pikachu quickly followed after her.

"Huh, Togepi, Pikachu!"

Molly was the first to notice their movements. As soon as she called out, the staff at the door immediately spotted them and hurriedly chased after them.

Before he could close the door, Ash and his party also quickly followed him in.

"No, you can't come inside without permission!" The staff stopped Togepi and Pikachu, and Ash and Misty quickly picked them up before anything could escalate anymore.

"Sorry that out Pokémon has caused you guys trouble." The two apologized repeatedly. As Trainers, they have to be responsible for their Pokémon and the trouble they cause.

Fortunately, the staff member didn't seem to care about this matter too much, "Forget about it, just pay more attention to them in the future!"

At this moment, two Trainers ran out of the inner courtyard in a hurry, carrying their Pokémon that were injured and incapable of fighting anymore.

Seeing them, the staff member quickly asked anxiously, "How's it going there?"

Unexpectedly, the two Trainers immediately criticized, "Are you kidding? Why should we do your work? Who can handle such a dangerous Pokémon!"

"We are here to participate in the Silver Conference. What should we do if our Pokémon is too injured before even participating in it?"

Looking at the backs of these two people running towards the Pokémon Center, Ash just shook his head.

Although they were both Trainers participating in the Silver Conference, he did not think they could be the strong opponents he wants.

Their lack of strength caused their Pokémon to be injured and lose their combat ability, but they also had to blame others for their weakness. This shows that these Trainer's character is compromised.

"We litterly hired you guys do this! We are Pokémon Trainers, we are the workers here! If we were strong enough, we would not have hired you!" One of the workers went off.

"Excuse me, have you guys encountered any trouble?" Brock asked with concern. They were very interested in the "dangerous Pokémon" they just mentioned.

"If you are in trouble, just ask Big Brother for help. Big Brother is the strongest and the best!" Molly betrayed Ash decisively.

Although this is the case, if it is about Pokémon, so Ash will not leave it alone, "Hello, I am also participating in the Silver Conference. Whats happening here ?"

Hearing this, the staff member immediately cheered up again, "That's great. I have something I want to ask you to help me with!"

"Before this, we hired for help from many Pokémon Trainers, but they all ran away like the two Trainers just now!"

"So the th-!" Before the staff could tell the reason for their problem, another Trainer walked through the courtyard gate and walked in. He was a few years older than Ash, maybe even older than Brock. He also had a Houndoom walking with him, and his eyes were very strange.

This is a powerful opponent!

This was Ash's first reaction!

"It looks like that you are in some kind of difficulty. If you don't mind, I'd be happy to help!" The young man said, his manners calm, generous and very decent.

"Amd who might you be?"

"My name is Harrison! I am a Pokémon Trainer from Littleroot Town in the Hoenn Region!" Harrison's word was said with a lot of confident.

Ash took a step forward, "And my name is Ash, from Pallet Town in the Kano Region. Nice to meet you!"

"Yes, I'm glad to meet you too, Ash!"

The two shine their hands together, as if they were seeing what the other person was made out of. They recognized each other's prowess just by making eye contact.

It turns out that in the Ho-Oh Shrines courtyard, the torches for igniting the fire and the torch runners were all ready, but the most important torch was missing.

There is a legend circulating in this Ho-Oh Shrine.

A long time ago, a large-scale war occurred in this place, and many Pokémon were injured and died during the war. In the end, even the lake dried up, and the once green land disappeared.

At that time, a Legendary Pokémon appeared, that is Ho-Oh himself!

Ho-Oh breathed out the his Sacred Fire, burned all human weapons, and forcibly stopped the war.

However, all that is left is a barren land where no living thing can survive. However, from the ashes of Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire, the earth, lakes, and green spaces all came to back to life.

People reflected on their mistakes of beginning the war in the first place and prayed for peace and prosperity. They collected all the remaining flames, made this shrine, and kept them in this Ho-Oh Shrine to br shown to future generations.

And now, the Sacred Flames are being used as the flames for the Silver Conference's grand opening!

"So, where is the Sacred Fire now?" Obviously, the problem now is that the main Sacred Fire seems to have been taken away by some "dangerous Pokémon".

Now they just have go and get it back from them!