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Chapter 12 — Search for the Girl
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Ash ran through one of the museum’s rear doorways as fast as he could. He stopped when he came to an elevated terrace framed by a beautiful arched rail and gawked at the sight that greeted him, as it offered the young trainer an expansive view of a lively park teeming with people, Pokémon, and activity.
Unlike the dull yellows and oranges of the ornamented tiles that made up the square on the museum’s other end, the lush park was a verdant sanctuary. Enormous trees towered throughout the park and provided extensive shade areas, and smaller pine-shaped trees complimented them, scattered across the greeneries in ample groups. A centuries-old well stood in the park’s center, where many cobblestone roads converged around a discrete shrine framed by a ring of dark green trees and several ponds.
“It’s really pretty, but…” Ash sighed and adjusted his treasured cap to block the intense sun rays while the distinct earthy scent of plant life reached him. “Man, I won’t find her like this… There’s people and stuff everywhere.”
Pikachu let out a sad murmur and shrugged. His eyes sharply scanned the park and the many exits between the elegant buildings that enclosed it from all sides to no avail. He turned, glanced at the museum, and made several vocalizations.
“I know it was weird to run out like that, but yesterday Latias told us to come find her. I think this looks like it could be what she meant. Maybe she needs help or something?” Ash wondered. He gestured at the museum’s exit. “I understand if you think we should go back.”
Pikachu’s sensitive ears twitched. Without missing a beat, he jumped to the rail, shouted his name, and pointed into the distance with a paw.
Ash followed Pikachu’s paw, catching a distant glimpse of red and white feathers floating playfully above laughing children and barking Houndour almost beyond the park. “There she is! Good job, Pikachu!” Ash ran along the terrace and down a nearby flight of stairs. He dashed through the crowd gathered at the park’s entrance, dodging the artists and vendors who displayed their wares by the edges of the open green areas.
Ash glanced at the handmade jewelry, colorful masks, and watercolor paintings that depicted the city’s beauty. Despite the temptation to pause and observe, he pressed on toward the spot where he had noticed Latias.
Pikachu ran behind Ash at a matching pace and shouted several shouts of encouragement to his trainer as they ran through the central park.
“I know, I know!” Ash replied as the pair moved past the crowds, the greenery that framed the well, and multiple stone benches that offered a place for rest or feeding the many wild Pokémon that went about the plant life to the many parkgoers.
Ash looked at the scene surrounding him with a soft smile as he ran by. Alto Mare’s peace and friendliness reminded him much of his hometown, Pallet Town. As he neared the park’s end, he slowed his pace, breathing deeply to relax. “Great, Latias is nowhere to be seen again,” he mumbled. “Figures she’d be good at hiding.”
Pikachu stopped at Ash’s side and sniffed the ground. Surveying the many alleys as potential park exits she’d taken, he expressed his disappointment with a cry.
“It’s okay, Pikachu,” Ash said while crouching down and petting Pikachu on the head. “I imagine it’s hard to pick up the trail of a Pokémon that never walks.” He wandered to the closest exit and entered the alleyway. He ignored the occasional call of vendors or coffee shop servers as he moved through it and came out to a large street with a canal running through its center.
Ash waited for cyclists to pass by, then walked to the canal. He shook his head and watched a couple of traditional gondolas drift by. “Well, we lost her for sure,” he said. “I wonder if she even knows we’re following her. What if I got it all wrong?”
Pikachu’s ears dropped flat against his head. He squeaked a soft vocalization of his name in encouragement to his best friend and stopped when the faint sound of a swoosh of wind caught his attention. He cried out and pointed at the closest bridge down the canal.
Ash followed Pikachu’s paw and blinked, taken aback by the fact he came face to face with Latias, who beamed at him from her spot at the center of the nearby bridge. Her claws rested on the security railing, and her neck craned over it ever so slightly. He looked around and noted that the people in the vicinity failed to react to her presence, which he expected to at least turn heads despite most people’s familiarity with her. “Latias!” Ash called out as he walked closer to the bridge’s ramp. “There you are. I wondered—”
The wind blew and ruffled Ash’s hair, almost knocking his hat off. Latias’ ears moved with the breeze for an instant until she melted into it in a wave of multicolor mist that drifted into a nearby alleyway.
Ash blinked, and his jaw dropped. “Uh, did you see that, Pikachu? I’m not crazy, am I?”
Pikachu stared at the scene and walked along the bridge to where Latias had disappeared. Ash followed his companion and stopped at the same spot. He looked ahead and noticed a faint trail of red wind billowing away at a turn in the distance.
Without hesitation, Ash hurried into the cramped alleyway, drawn by the guardian goddess into the labyrinth of narrow paths that seemed endless at every corner. As he ventured further, the bustling central canal’s sounds faded.
The alleys Ash found himself trapped in felt like a stone labyrinth, so narrow that if he stretched his arms, he’d almost touch the buildings on both sides, which appeared to lean inward and threatened to block off the view of the blue sky above. Overhead, laundry lines crisscrossed like webs, hung with colorful garments traditional to Alto Mare that swayed in the breezes.
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Ash followed wisps of red mist through narrow alleyways. Occasionally, he heard the distant echoes of a violin or the lilting notes of an accordion from street musicians who serenaded the occasional passersby, adding to the mysterious atmosphere he felt trapped in.
“Latias, wait! Hey!” Ash called out to no avail as he rounded a corner. Several people nearby stopped and stared at him in confusion as he dashed by, though he paid them no mind and kept his stride. Groaning under his breath as the alleys grew longer with every step, Ash glanced down and breathed in relief when he saw Pikachu still at his side. “Am I going nuts, or are they getting weirder the more we run?”
Pikachu shrugged and panted, ears upright to listen for any hints of Latias.
Ash adjusted his cap, and a determined expression settled on his face. “Let’s go. We can’t lose her.” And thus, he ran after the faint hues of red once more. Left. Right. Straight ahead. Left again. Left once more. Then right. Turn after turn came and went with Latias nowhere in sight. The young teenager panted, and sweat matted his upper shirt and brow. He stumbled upon hidden courtyards or gardens, where he paused and reflected on where to find Latias amidst serene surroundings of lush greenery, fountains, and sculptures. Yet, a distant twirl of light renewed his efforts and motivation if Ash threatened to give up.
Throughout the run, Ash noticed quaint little shops out of the corner of his eye, their windows adorned with trinkets, artistic glassware, and leather-bound books themed after the local Pokémon he found familiar. He made mental notes to check them later. The enticing aroma of pastries came through from a nearby bakery. “Man… It’s becoming really tempting to have a snack,” Ash commented as he stopped at a corner where a turquoise canal ran before him. “Each place looks tastier than the last one, huh? I’m probably just hungry.”
Pikachu let out a soft cry and nodded in agreement. The pair strolled past the bridge and ventured into the nearest alleyway. He frowned and stopped in front of a tight four-way intersection. “I’m also lost,” Ash admitted. “How am I making it back to Brock and Dawn?”
Pikachu chuckled in amusement as he stopped next to Ash. He surveyed his surroundings, a shrug showing his shared confusion and lack of sense of direction.
The young trainer felt disoriented, finding every direction indistinguishable as he lost a sense of time the further he meandered. “How do people not get lost in this place?” Ash wondered. “I swear, Pallet Town is so much simpler. Just a few roads, some houses, and we’re done.” He pouted. “Where’d she go to now?”
“Well, we’ve got three alleys to pick from and—” Ash stopped and gasped when he saw Latias levitating at the end of one alley. However, the lack of any apparent tricks or illusions worried him. “There you are, Latias!” He ran down the alleyway toward the red dragoness. “Don’t you dare!”
When Ash got halfway through it, Latias’ form blurred and dissolved into the sun’s rays in a beautiful red and white sparkle shower. “Oh, come on!” Ash shouted as he arrived at the end of the alley. He panted and glanced around the rather quaint, open area. Old runic paintings adorned the floor’s worn cobblestones, and the sound of a few Pidgey bathing in a nearby fountain filled the otherwise empty place.
Pikachu glanced to the side and dashed down the right-hand alley, prompting Ash to follow his trusted Pokémon. They skidded to a halt in a rather inconspicuous corner when they noticed Latias. The guardian dragoness offered them a gentle smile, amber eyes glimmering with mirth.
“Latias, don’t you dare—” Ash started.
Latias giggled and levitated backward.
Ash gasped when Latias melted into the wall nearby and disappeared within it. He rubbed his eyes and stared at its brick surface. “Uh, you saw that, right, Pikachu?” he asked.
Pikachu nodded and approached the wall, ears perked and tail bristled. He leaned forward and sniffed at it. He let out a rapid series of cries while pointing at it.
“You think she wants us to go through?” Ash asked, which elicited a nod from his best friend. He stared at the plain, uninteresting wall and took a deep breath. “Well, here goes nothing, I guess.” He stepped forward and—half expecting to bump into it—walked into the wall.
To Ash’s surprise, the bricks gave in with a kaleidoscopic ripple of light, allowing him to walk through it along with Pikachu. The endless flashing ripples faded and revealed a tunnel held only by a metallic frame, painted in shades of lavender and soft, alluring blues from the myriad of wisteria flowers that ran through it.
With his jaw dropped, Ash stepped onto the cement pathway and followed it to an open terrace with flights of stairs that led down to a sight he felt appeared magical, almost straight out of a fairy tale. The vast garden that greeted him eclipsed the one behind the museum, and the air carried a heavy scent of blooming flowers and ripe berries. A curtain of mist veiled the entrance to the sanctuary, like a divine shroud that separated the ordinary world of Alto Mare behind him from the extraordinary paradise ahead of him.
“What is this place?” Ash wondered, struggling to find his voice. Pikachu appeared just as astonished as his trainer, looking around with widened eyes and perked ears. The air shimmered with an ethereal luminescence from above, casting a gentle glow on tanned skin and yellow fur.
Ash’s ears picked up the sound of distant waterfalls and fountains, their rhythmic cascade a soothing backdrop to the garden’s sounds of a melodic chorus—a lively blend of birdsong from flying-type Pokémon, the gentle chitters of bug-type Pokémon, the cries of grass-type Pokémon, and the ever-present rustle of leaves.
Before the garden steps, immense trees far grander than any Ash had seen extended their limbs skyward, dissolving into the peculiar misty roof. Ash descended the stairs and walked through the worn walkway that allowed passage through grass and flowers of every hue imaginable; their petals glistened with dewdrops that caught the veiled daylight. It looked calm and alive as if the earth pulsated with life’s energy.
“Wait, wait a minute.” Ash blinked when he realized the pulsations weren’t his imagination. He crouched and ran his hand over the soft grass. He looked ahead to their origin and noticed the environment’s colors appeared more vibrant and saturated around a beautiful silver shrine atop a staircase at the garden’s distant center.
As Ash ventured deeper into the garden, the foliage grew denser, into a canopy that filtered the misty sunlight into dappled patterns on the ground. “This place is so cool,” he murmured, breathless, and stopped, not yet daring to approach the sacred shrine in the distance.
Instead, Ash walked over to one of the enormous ponds that dotted the garden. Its pristine surface reflected the world around it in stunning detail, and colorful water-type Pokémon, mostly Goldeen and Chinchou, darted beneath the water in his presence. He gasped when a vibrant image of red and white on the water’s surface came upon him.
“Hello,” Latias said as she descended from the treetops with a gentle smile. “I see you managed to follow me.” Her grin widened. “Trust me, it’s harder than it looks.”
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Chapter End
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