Chapter 203: Reunited with Old Friends
"Will our Aura Guardian please step forward and accept the staff," Queen Ilene said, holding the traditional scepter. As Will walked up, she handed it to him.
Hmm, the staff that sealed Lucario, Will thought, taking it. In his hands, it looked like a short-handled hammer.
"Thank you all for coming. And now, let the ball begin!"
After the announcement, the old maidservant led Will to a seat below and to the side of the Queen. In the grand hall, people began to pair up and dance.
"Meow?" Meowscarada came to his side, tugging on him. She wanted to dance too.
"No! The Guardian must not leave his seat," the old maidservant quickly said, shaking her head. This was the rule, and she couldn't let it be broken on her watch.
"Meow!" Meowscarada huffed in annoyance. She snatched the staff from Will's hand and started swinging it around.
Smack!
Will slapped her on the head, took the staff back, and then bopped her on the rear with the round crystal on top. "You're a big girl now, stop messing around!"
"Meow," she turned her head away, pouting.
"Look, there's a Lucario sealed inside here," Will said, patting her and pointing at the crystal.
"Meow?" That got her attention. What's a Lucario?
"It's a dog Pokémon. You're more likely to see them in Sinnoh, but even there, they're very rare," Will said, stroking the crystal.
"Meow," Meowscarada said, nodding. They had been in Sinnoh for a long time and had never seen one.
"Meow? (Do you like cats or dogs more?)"
"Huh? Why are you suddenly asking that?" Will was baffled. "They're both fluffy animals, what's the difference? Besides, can't I like lizards, dragons, and bees?"
"Meow!" she insisted, patting his leg.
"Fine, I like cats, I like cats, happy?" Will said, rolling his eyes. "You just don't understand the value of a Lucario."
Their species' ability to use Aura was a top-tier ability among all non-legendary Pokémon. That's what he meant by "value."
"Meow," she huffed, uninterested.
...
Time passed. Meowscarada got bored and fell asleep on Will's lap. Will, too, was getting bored, but the old maidservant was watching him like a hawk, so he couldn't sleep.
Finally, the ball ended. Will tossed the staff back to Queen Ilene and immediately left with Meowscarada.
"Hey~ Sceptile~ Come with us! We rented a house in Rota!" Shigeru called out from the distance.
Will just waved his hand, rejecting the offer. It wasn't that he was being rude; he just found Shigeru's three sons to be too noisy.
"? It really is you, Sceptile! And Meowscarada!"
Just then, three men pushed their way out of the crowd. One had long blue hair and a large belly. The other two, one with sky-blue hair and one with fiery red, were middle-aged. Will recognized the two in the back. They were from the Dragonite Clan.
"Haha! I knew you'd recognize me! That's right, it's me, Leaf!" the portly man said, pulling Will into a hug. "I just arrived this afternoon and heard the winner of the tournament was a Sceptile! I thought it might be you, and it really is!"
Leaf, now in his thirties, was thrilled to see his old companion again after twenty years.
"It really is you... Time really does a number on people," Will said, poking Leaf's large belly. This guy's proportions were starting to look like his own had been in his past life.
"Meow?" Meowscarada woke up, looked at the man, and had no idea who he was.
"Haha, Meowscarada's different from before, huh? Back then, she was such a proud little tomboy, and now she's sleeping on your back in public," Leaf laughed. He then pulled the blue-haired man over. "Look at this, familiar?"
"Jace, I know," Will nodded.
"Hehe, yeah, the same kid you beat up. This is his older brother, Ken. He's been a trainee for two and a half years."
"How many times do I have to tell you, it's 'Coordinator'!"
"Hello, Sceptile. I've heard a lot about you. When you visited the homeland, I was traveling in Hoenn," Ken said, shaking Will's hand.
After chatting for a few more minutes, Will left. He had a feeling that if he stayed, the three men would try to drag him to a place where he could "experience the passion of the Rota maidens."
He carried Meowscarada and headed north. Their goal was clear: The Tree of Beginning.
...
The next morning, Will woke up to find a woman with long black hair sitting beside him, smiling.
"...Meowscarada, what did you do now?" Will groaned, instinctively reaching out to grab the big cat's ear.
"Meow?" Meowscarada woke up, confused.
"You don't recognize me?" the woman smiled. "It's me. The woman who drew a lot of your blood."
"Platane?!"
"Meow?!"
Will and Meowscarada were both stunned. They couldn't connect this graceful, mature woman with the crazed girl from the lab.
"Hehe, I knew my guess was right. Sceptile, you've already begun to leave your own story in this world," Platane said, pulling a syringe from her black dress. "By the way, it's been so long. How about a little blood as a welcome-back gift?"
"..."
"Oh, and if you can, I hope you can find the time to... produce some essence of life. It would be a shame for such a powerful bloodline to be extinguished. I'll do my best to select a worthy..."
Smack.
Will clapped his hand over her mouth. If he let her keep talking, who knows what shocking things she would say.
...
After chatting, they found out that Platane was also heading to the Tree of Beginning. She had heard rumors that unknown Pokémon lived inside, and she was hoping to find ancient Pokémon to study.
"Meow?"
"Don't worry about them, let's go. We're also heading to the Tree of Beginning... to visit a friend," Will said, getting up.
"A friend? Ah! That's wonderful! Then let's go together! I've already chartered a blimp, we can be there in two days!"
"Blimp? That's great!"
This was a surprise. He had thought they would have to walk. With a blimp, they would save a lot of time.
"Meow!"
"Yes, we'll go with her."
Will and Meowscarada followed her onto a large airship.
Two days later, they arrived at a platform near the Tree of Beginning.
"Wow, this is the Tree of Beginning? It's so much bigger than the pictures!" Platane was in awe.
"It's just a rock."
"Hm? Sceptile, what did you say?"
"I said, be careful. This place is not as simple as it looks. And, there are guardians here," Will said, his eyes scanning the area.
"Guardians? Like the Regis?"
"Let's go, I'll take you... to find the 'friend' I was talking about. Whether we can go in or not, that will be up to her."
Will led the way, with Platane and Meowscarada following close behind.
They were about to embark on a new journey.
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