A Journey's Link

Chapter 13 - Central

"Ash! Wait up!" Gohexclaimed, trying to keep up with a jogging Ash who was quicklymaking his way to the entrance door of the Devon Corporationbuilding. "Why are you jogging?" Goh asked, out of breathfrom Ash's sudden burst of speed.

Ash turnedaround with a perplexed expression on his face. "I was jogging?"he asked, clearly not realizing his actions. Pikachu, who sat onAsh's shoulder, looked as confused as Ash, as they both thought theywere traveling at a moderate pace.

Goh caught up tothem and looked up at Ash, studying him. "You know, this isexactly like the day you caught Riolu," Goh explained. "Youwere rushing to get to the Pokemon Center where Riolu's egg was anddidn't even realize it then either."

Ash thought fora moment, recalling the day he received Riolu. "I guess I kindof rushed that day," he said. "But it's not like I wantedto, it just kind of happened to me, if that makes sense?" Heshrugged as he said this, not fully making sense of the situationhimself.

Goh just shookhis head, thinking that Ash was getting weirder and weirder by theday. "First the Z-Crystal with Espurr, now this..." Gohsaid, his sentence dwindling. "Ash?" he then asked, a hintof worry in his voice. "Do you know what happened back therewith the loud noise and the crazy weather and the crystal changingcolor and Mr. Stone being all weird and-"

"Stop, Goh!Too many questions!" Ash interrupted. He could only take so manyquestions before his head would explode. He's not wrong in asking,Ash told himself. That entire situation in that office wasweird.

Ash thoughtabout all the questions, before settling on an answer that wouldcover all of them. "My answer is," he began, giving Goh ahint of hope that maybe Ash did have a solution to everything thathappened. "My answer is, I don't know," Ash said, defeated.

Goh almost fellover from the absolute disappointment but recovered pretty quickly.It was likely that if Ash didn't know something, Goh most likelywouldn't either, except when it came to battling. Ash had a certainflair when he battled that Goh couldn't quite replicate.

"Besides,we can ask the Professor about it when we deliver the package tohim," Ash suggested, offering a viable solution. Goh smiled,knowing that if anyone could solve an issue, it was Professor Cerise.With this in mind, both of the Research Fellows exited the buildingand were met with the bright sun.

Underneath thatbright sun was the aftermath of the dark storm. People werefrantically running around with injured Pokemon and trying to gethelp for people who have hurt themselves. There were ambulanceseverywhere, all leading back to the now crowded Pokemon Center;complete and utter chaos plagued the city.

Ash and Gohlooked around in shock at the situation; they hadn't seen the effectsof the weather on the top floor of the Devon Corporation building.They exchanged glances at each other, having more questions thanbefore.

Just then, afamiliar voice rang out across the chaos. It was Officer Jenny, whowas leading a group of people with injured Pokemon to the PokemonCenter. She and her Growlithe were desperately trying to guide theconglomeration of people through the panicking city. Ash and Goh ranup to her and, without hesitation, Ash asked, "Officer Jenny,what happened here and why is everyone injured?"

Officer Jennylooked at Ash in confusion but explained anyway. "A sudden stormpassed over the city," she explained. "And for some reason,the rain is causing some major damage to anyone who touches it."

Ash and Gohglanced at each other in disbelief. The storm that happened rightafter my Z-Crystal changed color caused this much chaos? Ashthought to himself. They couldn't believe it but ultimately decidedthat for right now, helping the city was the best course of action.