The debate on "Why isn't Tropius, which only produces bananas and no other tropical fruits, called Banana Dragon?" was shelved at Erina's strong insistence.
Thus, after breakfast, the group set off toward the outskirts of Ecruteak City.
"Ecruteak City has two towers nearby," Hayashi said, consulting the information in his hands. "One is Bell Tower to the east, and the other is Brass Tower to the northwest—though it was destroyed in a fire 150 years ago, so now people call it the Burned Tower."
Sabrina added, "According to legend, three unknown Pokémon perished in the fire at Brass Tower. Just as people were mourning their charred remains, Ho-Oh appeared before them and resurrected the three Pokémon—thus giving rise to the Legendary Beasts: Entei, Raikou, and Suicune."
Erina remarked with a touch of emotion, "To die in a fire and be revived by Ho-Oh—it feels somewhat romantic."
Hayashi scratched his cheek, grumbling inwardly, 'Yeah, right. The anime team has pretty much ruined the mystique of the Legendary Birds and Dogs.'
Especially Suicune... Suicune, what are you looking at? Yeah, I'm talking about you!
Hisako suggested, "Miss Erina, why don't we visit the Burned Tower later?"
"Pika!" Pikachu, having heard the story of the Burned Tower, nodded excitedly.
Let's go see it, let's go see it!
"Syl—"
Sylveon, now too large to perch on Hayashi's shoulder, walked gracefully by his side.
I don't mind. Wherever Master goes, I'll follow.
"Geng?"
Gengar, wearing a tiny sleeping cap, rubbed her eyes as she emerged, yawned sleepily, then retreated back inside.
I stayed up all night cultivating immortality—time to sleep!
Erina thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright! We'll visit Bell Tower in the morning, come back for lunch, and then head to the Burned Tower in the afternoon!"
...
...
Bell Tower is located east of Ecruteak City.
According to rumors, Ho-Oh once perched atop the Bell Tower, but due to people coveting its power at the time, Ho-Oh became disappointed with humanity and ultimately chose to leave.
After that, the local residents sealed off the Bell Tower for a period. However, as time passed, the Bell Tower eventually reopened to tourists, becoming a unique attraction inhabited by wild Pokémon.
At least, that's how it was supposed to be.
"What's going on here?"
When Hayashi and his team of four arrived at the Bell Tower, they found that the entrance—which should have only required purchasing tickets to enter—was now cordoned off with police tape. A middle-aged man dressed as a monk was speaking with Officer Jenny at the gate.
Hisako remarked with a complicated expression, "This clearly looks like something bad happened—was the interior damaged? Was something important stolen? Or is there a dangerous individual inside?"
Erina took out her phone and searched for information about the Bell Tower, only to find that news of its closure had already caused an uproar online since last night.
"According to online reports—" Erina said while reading from her phone, "Hmm, it seems that between the tower's closing time (5:30 PM) and when the monks went in to clean (8:00 PM), the Pokémon inside suddenly went berserk. The reason given is that there were no abnormalities before closing, but the monks who entered to clean were attacked by the wild Pokémon inhabiting the tower—"
Because the cleaning monks were attacked by Pokémon, the locals urgently sealed off the Bell Tower, banned tourist entry, and contacted Officer Jenny to investigate the cause.
This was an extremely, extremely abnormal situation! The Pokémon inhabiting the tower had coexisted peacefully with humans for many years—many visitors even fed them homemade treats! Why would they suddenly break this harmony and maliciously attack humans?
As for stress reactions? Come on, Pokémon aren't like cats or dogs that lose their minds and attack anything in sight due to stress. Even if such a reaction did occur, would every single wild Pokémon in the entire tower simultaneously become stressed?
Moreover, according to online information, the attacked monk had been responsible for this duty for over a decade. Even if the Pokémon were stressed, why would they attack a familiar face?
Weird. Too weird!
Weirder than Akemi Homura helping the Absolutians attack the Land of Light to steal the Plasma Spark Tower so she could marry Madoka Kaname, ultimately turning into the "Hito Hito no Mi, Mythical Zoan: Light Giant Form - Kizaru"!
...
...
"Tch—"
Hayashi pulled the other three into an empty corner with a grim expression. "Something feels off about this. A sudden Pokémon rampage at an important location—isn't this the start of a movie plot?"
After a few seconds of silence, Erina said, "You mean we might be caught up in some major incident?"
"Or maybe not us?" Hisako speculated. "Could it involve another Champion?"
Hayashi scratched his head and said, "Hard to say! The main thing is that chaos suddenly erupted the night before we arrived—ugh, could it be that instead of the protagonist's script, we got the 'pitiful nameless side characters who ignored warnings, sneaked into Bell Tower, got attacked by Pokémon, and ended up dead' script?"
That's just too ridiculous.
Erina said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "Then why don't we just not go? If the Bell Tower is off-limits, we can just visit the Tin Tower instead!"
Hisako nodded in agreement. "Anything unusual is bound to be trouble. Staying away from danger is the wise choice."
Sabrina shrugged indifferently. "I don't care either way. I wasn't particularly interested in the Bell Tower to begin with."
Hayashi pondered for a moment before saying, "Alright then! Let's check out the Tin Tower first. If everything goes smoothly, we'll head back to Hoenn this afternoon and help Hisako get her Tropius as soon as possible."
Hisako: "It's Tropius!"
Hayashi: "Whatever you call it! The important thing is to steer clear of trouble. Safety first!"
And just like that, the four of them reached a unanimous decision.
One word: scram!
Meanwhile, atop the Bell Tower, an unusually petite Fletchling tilted its head as it observed Hayashi and the others. When it saw the four of them making their escape, it immediately flapped its wings and wobbled after them.
...
...
Compared to the Bell Tower, the Tin Tower's attractions were pitifully few—no matter how much they tried to embellish it with words like "once," "ancient," or "historical," its essence was still just a ruin.
After briefly experiencing the remnants of the great fire that had once ravaged the Tin Tower and paying their respects in front of the ruins for a few minutes, Hayashi's group returned to the Pokémon Center.
"Woof—"
As soon as Vulpix was released from her Poké Ball, she energetically shook out her fur before happily prancing around Hisako in circles.
"She wants to play with you," Hayashi said with a chuckle. "Seems like she hasn't had enough of the frisbee game from last time."
"I don't mind, but…" Hisako looked helplessly at Vulpix, who was now sitting in front of her with expectant eyes. "Vulpix, you're a fox, aren't you?"
Normally, wouldn't dogs be the ones who enjoyed playing fetch? So why was Growlithe uninterested in this game while Vulpix couldn't get enough of it?
"Woof—"
Vulpix paid no mind to Hisako's conflicted feelings. She simply hopped a few times in front of her and let out eager barks, urging her to start the game.
"Hisako, if Vulpix wants to play, just indulge her," Erina said from her seat, where Pikachu and Sylveon were sprawled on either side of her lap, enjoying her gentle petting. "We've got plenty of time, so there's no rush."
Originally, their morning had been reserved for touring the Bell Tower. But with the Bell Tower closed and the Tin Tower offering little to see, they had already returned to the Pokémon Center by 8 a.m.
With a resigned sigh, Hisako pulled a red frisbee from her backpack. "Alright, Vulpix, but only for a little while! I still need to prepare ingredients for lunch—"
"Woof—"
Vulpix nodded happily, wagging her six tails as if to say she was ready.
"Then—"
Hisako threw the flying disc with all her might and shouted, "Klahh, go—"
"Woo—"
The moment the disc flew out, Klahh pushed off with all four limbs, dashing swiftly toward it. In less than two seconds, it had already caught up to the disc and was about to bite down effortlessly when—
"Ah—"
Amidst a startled cry, Klahh's head collided squarely with a sudden black shadow that darted out from the side. The little fox let out a pained whimper before tumbling awkwardly to the ground, while the other figure crashed heavily and lay motionless.
"Wh-what just happened?"
Hisako was the first to rush over, with the other three close behind, fearing something might have gone wrong.
"Klahh, are you okay?" Hisako crouched down and picked up Binog, then turned to the Florges on her wrist. "Flora, use Floral Healing on Binog!"
"Yah—"
Florges nodded with a serious expression, closing her eyes as the flowers on her body bloomed. A pink glow enveloped Klahh.
"Woo—"
Soon after, the little one opened its eyes and buried itself in Hisako's arms, whimpering about how its head hurt from the collision.
"There, there—"
While comforting Klahh, Hisako and the others turned their attention to the other victim of the collision.
A tiny, emaciated figure lay sprawled on the ground, mouth agape and eyes shut—
Hayashi: "Fletchinder?"
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