The Hunchback of Lumiose Cathedral: A OC/Pokemon/Amourshipping story

Chapter 13

By the time Timothy, Ash, Electchu, Shockwave, Odyssey, and Pikachu exited the cathedral from one of the side entrances, the fires all over the city had died down. Citizens and their Pokemon were cleaning up the things the soldiers destroyed or scavenged for items that survived the fires. Many were crying or trying to help their neighbors who lost their homes. Ash, Timothy, and their Pokemon looked at what was happening with crestfallen faces as they walked to the graveyard. Timothy kept his hood down to keep people from seeing him as they passed by.

When the six of them reached the city graveyard, Ash took one of the torches hanging beside the gates before they went in. The cemetery had hundreds of tombstones, crypts, and tombs as far as the eye could see. Ash, Timothy, and the Pokemon looked at each other with anxious looks.

"I guess there's nothing else to it but to spread out and look for something that'll lead us to the hideout," Ash said.

Timothy nodded before he, Electchu, Shockwave, and Odyssey began looking around the graveyard in different directions. Ash and Pikachu took a moment to let out anxious sighs before the mouse Pokemon hopped off its partner's shoulder, and they began to look around.

For the next twenty minutes, the six of them looked at every grave they could find. One by one, they read the name on a tombstone, crypt, or tomb, but no matter what they looked at, there was nothing that looked like a clue leading to the Court of Miracles. Timothy became discouraged with his idea until he heard Electchu called out.

"Hey, guys, I found something!"

Timothy, Ash, Pikachu, Shockwave, and Odyssey ran over to Electchu, standing in front of a crypt. Ash knelt down in front of the crypt and saw the symbol on Timothy's necklace etched above AZ's name.

"Well, what do you know?" Ash said before petting Electchu on the head. "Nice job."

Electchu squealed in delight from being pet while Shockwave and Odyssey pat it on the back.

"Great work, Electchu," Timothy said. "Now we just need to figure out what we're supposed to do next."

Ash rubbed his chin and said, "Yeah, but I have no idea how we're going to do that when all it shows is the symbol and the letters 'A' and 'Z.' Best guess I have is that those words could be some sort of code, but it'll take a while to figure it out."

The raven-haired man hummed in thought as he studied the inscription. Pikachu, Electchu, Shockwave, and Odyssey sat on their bottom and began brainstorming with Ash. Timothy furrowed his brow and circled around the crypt, but there were no other markings or inscriptions around the stone block. He then looked at the lid and debated with himself before taking a chance and began pushing the top away. Ash stood up, having heard the lid moving, and looked at Timothy in disbelief until the hunchback pushed it all the way and smiled at what was inside. Ash held his torch over the crypt and found a set of stairs leading underground.

"How did you know that there wasn't a corpse inside?" Ash asked.

"Lucky guess," Timothy said. "Come on."

Timothy climbed inside and began walking down the steps. Ash smirked at the hunchback before climbing in, followed by Pikachu, Electchu, Shockwave, and Odyssey. The group went down to the bottom of the steps to find themselves in a narrow catacomb. The floor was covered in sewage water that went up to everyone's feet, and there were skeletons of people and Pokemon piled up against the walls. Timothy, Electchu, Shockwave, and Odyssey struggled not to throw up from the smell as Ash took the lead with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Of all the places leading to the Arceans' hideout, why did it have to be a place like this?" Shockwave complained.

"Remind me to find a spot where we can bathe in the river on the way back to the cathedral," Odyssey said.