Ash's Story (Part 5: Modern Sinnoh)

Chapter 54

When we're back at the Survival Area, we find Buck in front of his house. Buck says, "Yo, if it isn't you guys! This! It's my place! Drop in, hey?"

After heading inside, we find the staff at the counter and he says, "Oh, so you're Buck's friend. I've heard about you from both Buck and Wake. Well, my young friend, you're always welcome here from now on!"

"What's this about?" I ask, and he says, "This is a private club for only Sinnoh's Gym Leaders, or those vouched for by those selfsame Gym Leaders. It's a place where the best seek to better themselves. Welcome to the Battleground."

Buck says, "My place is open only to the toughest Trainers-I'm serious. You're supposed to be introduced by a Gym Leader, but you're special. Well, I'm off to Battle Tower. I feel like seeing how far I can go up the Tower."

After he leaves, we also find Dad again in his Riley form. I ask, "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"I'm also a part of the Battleground." My Dad says, "So how are you doing?"

"We got three Elite Four medals already, one more and we can face Cynthia." Lillie says.

"I see. That reminds me, Yellow has heard about what you've done to Team Galactic and she wants to give you these."

I'm not surprised, she is giving me new badges. The Tranquil Badge, Wing Badge, Toxicity Badge, Shadowbane Badge, and Enchanted Badge. I say, "So I'm really getting 18 badges for a region, huh..."

"And that reminds me, how's your Pokdex in Sinnoh doing?" My Dad asks.

"I think only Heatran's left." Lillie says. "It's in Stark Mountain."

Then we bid farewell to our Dad and head back to Stark Mountain, and that's when we finally meet Heatran and he wants to join our team.

Heatran: The Lava Dome Pokemon: Fire and Steel Type. It dwells in volcanic caves. It digs in with its cross-shaped feet to crawl on ceilings and walls.

Now that we're done, we go across Route 228, which has a sandstorm that makes it hard to see, and after Route 229, we finally arrive at the Resort Area. We are given a villa in the resort area, much to our surprise, and we can actually make it our own house. I mean, we already have a lot of houses...

After Route 230 gets us back to the Fight Area, we all decide to head back to Veilstone City to see what has become of Team Galactic Building. Saturn is inside and he says, "So, it's you... I've heard about you and what took place at the Spear Pillar. Our leader, Master Cyrus, hated the very idea of spirit. He hated spirit for being incomplete. And yet, using fiery exhortations, he rallied the spirit of others. What he hated most, he used to control others. Isn't that ironic? That fascinated me. I wanted to see what he would do. And I did. At his side. But it's over. A world without spirit... Who would want such a thing?! So, what now...? What to do with Team Galactic? But I've learned that extremism is never the solution... Perhaps we should really be searching for new sources of energy. Instead of lying about it through our commercials."

We decide to leave him alone since we've already dealt with Team Galactic. And then Gina decides to invite us to the Turnback Cave, and once we get there, I ask, "What actually is this kind of place?"

"This is my favorite hideout: The Turnback Cave." Gina says. "I have a challenge and a prize for you if you manage to go through this cave."

We sigh as we play the game, and we find the board that says, "... Past three pillars... to the sleeping... before 30 is surpassed..."

Each room has four doors— one on each side. Before advancing to a door, we have to check the pattern of the rocks on each side. If rocks on a side has a pattern that is different from the opposite, the room on that side is where we need to go through. If we find a room with a pillar, we read the inscription. The first number that appears is how many pillars we've found. The second number is the number of rooms we've been through. All we can do is keep going since Escape Ropes can't be used here. If we get lost or want to start over, we can go through where we enter the room, and we'll be back to the first room. If we go through 30 rooms and still haven't gone through the third pillar, any door will bring us back to the first room.