Ch 26. A day to relax

A few days had passed by since Ares had challenged the Vermillion gym. He had spent that time visiting libraries, to find a clue about his origin, eating at restaurants, going shopping with his pokemon to get a new tent and supplies, finally ending that week with a stop at the pokemon spa.

With the help of professor Oak, who had dropped by to visit the Ceris laboratory, he had managed to make a reservation. It was really hard, as the spa was often booked completely full, so he was gratefull for the professors help. His pokemon really needed this, as they had been training a lot. While constant training would keep them in peak condition, they would also become strained and metally tired from it. They needed their relaxation as much as they needed sleep and food.

Now standing in front of the door of said spa, his pokemon couldn't help but be excited. This was the first time they visited such a fancy place. The decorations and the building itself screamed luxury, something they all wanted to try out just once. They were all standing at his side, as none of them wanted to be left inside their pokeball when they were doing something like this. Even Mew had come out, though she took on the shape of a Skitty, not wanting to skip out on such a nice thing.

"Now everyone. If you want to enjoy your stay here, you have to behave. Not that I worry, but accidents do happen. You don't want to be banned from this place, so be nice."

Having that said, he walked inside and was greeted by the staff. After checking his reservation, they were led further inside, where his pokemon were each shown to a room according to their body forms and their elemental types.

Lapras was brought to a specific room for her pokemon species. It was a big pool, where in some places big pieces of ice were drifting about. A cold wind was flowing through the room, which Lapras seemed to enjoy very much. In the background, Ares could even hear the song of a group of Lapras, all meant to make Lapras at ease. Lapras happily joined them, as she sang along. A staff member soon arrived to give Lapras a massage and some special treatment for her shell.

Leaving Lapras to herself, Ares dropped of all his pokemon to their specific caretakers. Pichu was left with a woman who wore specialized gloves, ones that prevented the electricity from shocking her. Apparently they had a lot of Pichu and Pikachu the last few days who had a little bit of a problem in controlling their thunder. Ares couldn't help but laugh at the thought and moved on.

Clefairy was brought to a dark room filled with stars and a moon. The moon was made from a high quality moon stone. It was meant to help the pokemon relax under its energy waves. Even the gravity had been adjusted to satisfy Clefairy and give her the comfort she needed as she jumped around the moon stone in glee.

Pidgeotto was being helped in grooming his wings and removing the smallest knots in his muscles to truly relax. The ever so prideful figure was nowhere to be seen as Pidgeotto had devolved into a small puddle of feathers on the massage bench. He chirped in delight as each knot was gently loosed by the skillfull hands of the caretaker.

Umbreon was sprawled on a heated cushion with headphones on, no doubt listening to music. While Lucario had decided to get out and enjoy a bath made for steel type pokemon.

Every one of his pokemon was enjoying their time to the fullest.

Ares too left with one caretaker, as he too wanted to enjoy the spa day. He had no worries about his Pokemon, as they were all capable of taking care of themselves. Not wanting to stick around with the others, Mew dutifully followed after Ares to share in the pleasantries he would be going through.

Ares and Mew were led to the room meant for the trainers, a small cushion placed near his head for Mew to relax in comfort as Ares too underwent a full relaxation treatment, including massages, scented oils and hot springs.

Mew was given the same treatment alonside Ares, though hers was a bit shorter, as her Skitty form was a lot smaller than his.

The things he enjoyed most was the hot springs, of which the hot water was pumped up from deep below the ground. There weren't any volcano's closeby, so the water was mixed up with some herbs and other minerals to make it more like a natural hotspring. Needless to say, it was great. It was no wonder that they were booked full everytime he checked. Thank Arceus the professor had certain privileges he could use. It was truly godsend.

At the end of the day, both Ares and his pokemon were completely recovered from any fatigue and other things. He had booked a room in the spa center, so he didn't have to travel back to his hotel.

Once his head hit the pillow, he was gone to dream land.

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.

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The next morning Ares had an early breakfast, along with Mew, as his other pokemon were sleeping in, still enjoying the sensation from the day before.

While Ares was eating fruit, sandwiches and a glass of orange juice, Mew was sitting in Ares's lap, looking at the food stalled in front of him.

[Ares, pass me that thing on a stick! Hurry!]

Mew tapped impatiently on Ares's arm, as she was pointing at some berries on a skewer.

"Yes, yes. Here you go."

Ares handed Mew more than a few skewers, knowing that he would be bothered by Mew if he didn't. She was a real glutton. It was a mystery how she hadn't gotten fat. The only thing she ever did was eat and sleep.

With Mew preoccupied, Ares began to watch the television.

[--more information on pokemon diets can be found on our website, PokeHealthy.com. Another remarkable thing is a future visit from professor Oak to the Kalos region in the next coming days. Professor Oak has recently been studying the various different species that are found in that region and has made an appointment with professor Sycamore, who is the leading researcher in the Kalos region. Professor Oak has no further comments to share with the public till this day, but once we know, you will be the first to hear of it.]

A man came up towards the presentator and handed the woman a note.

[ Really? Right now!? I have a program to follow. Instructions from officer Jenny? But..! No of course, I understand. If it has to be told, I will have to do it.]

Everything was said in a lower voice, but the viewers could still hear what was said. The news anchor cleared her throat as she once more looked back to the camera, a note in her hand.

[A News Flash! A warning for any travelers going towards Saffron City. The road between Vermillion City and Saffron City has been blocked. A pokemon riot has destroyed the road and the authorities are on the scene. Twelve travelers have been injured and sent to the hospital. No deaths have been confirmed. It will take more than a week for pokemon activity to calm down, as well as for the road to be repaired. Trainers have been helping the authorities with their work, but it will still take some time before it can be traversed again. Travelers are recomended to travel around towards Lavender town. Oh boy, the viewers are not going to like this information one bit.

Further information added to the subject, sightings of strange pokemon have been noted near Lavender town. There are various reports of civilians disappearing and reappearing. Eyewitness reports state that said pokemon were big in size and have red glowing eyes. No further descriptions have been made, as the people in subject claim to remember nothing of the time they have been missing. How scary! I certainly don't want to be caught by those pokemon. Sounds more like the content of a horror story if you ask me. For all who want to remain safe, don't go outside in the evening near Lavender town. Those are the presumed times on which the attacks take place.

That was all the pressing news, we continue with our usual program.

Now we get back to our talkshow about pokemon detal care. It is one of the more worrisome problems pokemon seem to be dealing with when they get older. We welcome-]

When the talkshow went back to their usual program, Ares muted the tv. He wondered what kind of pokemon would be able to do such things. The prime suspects he had in mind were ghost pokemon. These types of pokemon enjoyed to prank and frighten bystanders, so it wouldn't be strange if they were the prime suspects. That didn't exclude other pokemon though. Those were a lot worse tough, as they certainly won't let the captives remained unscathed. Yet ghost pokemon were still his main guess, as Lavender town was known for the ghost type appareances.

'Too bad I need to pass through there. The road to Saffron city is still under construction, so there is no other way. My next stop is Celadon city after all.'

Finished with his meal, Ares packed up and checked out of the spa.

All set to move on, Ares let Lucario out as the two- ahem, three of them moved towards route 11. Unfortunately for him, the only way towards Lavender town now was throught route 11 and route 12. The chance he would encounter the terror pokemon were high. Luckily he had Umbreon to guide them through the night, as well as his and Lucario's fighting skills to deal with any problems that might occur on the way.

If need be, he would travel route 12 by water, avoiding the high risk road all the same. Something he would like to avoid if possible. It would be a lot easier to just go on foot and it was a lot faster as well.

With all these scenarios open to him, Ares didn't worry about the things further up the road. If things happened, they happened. That would be a problem for future him. Present him would just enjoy the trip.

With a road in front and a plan in mind, Ares and his pokemon moved on towards route 11.