A Journey's Link

Chapter 55 - Intuition

Ash and the others followed Sanpei, who knocked on a small, makeshift door that was constructed of columns of bamboo. "My brother's right in here," Sanpei explained as they waited for the door to be answered. "I'm not surprised that you came to find him," he added, crossing his arms as his impatience for waiting grew.

Sycamore took a few steps forward and said, "I thought about the last time that Ash had visited this place, and when I saw his connections, I knew this was the place to come to." Sanpei nodded, not looking back at Sycamore as he spoke.

"Since my brother is chief, I'm sure he'll be willing to help you out in any way you can," Sanpei said. Ash nodded and looked at Greninja and Lucario, who both stood next to each other patiently. I wonder how the chief could help me? Ash thought to himself, his voice echoing in his head unusually.

He shook his head and told himself that he was just making things up, so he turned his attention back to Sanpei, who was now opening the door on his own. "I guess we'll have to barge in since he won't open the door," Sanpei said with an edge to his voice. Ash looked at the other travelers and nodded, knowing that they were about to have an interesting conversation.

Sanpei pushed the door open and walked through, causing the thatched floor to squeak. "Brother, I know you are in here!" Sanpei shouted, causing the large, empty room to echo his voice. "Guess he's not in the main area," Sanpei said to himself. "He must be meditating in his personal room."

"Meditating?" Clemont asked out loud. "What is he meditating for?" Bonnie asked, causing Clemont to roll his eyes at his sister. "He only meditates when something is on his mind," Sanpei admitted, frowning. "I wonder what must be distracting him," he added, walking towards the back of the open lobby area, which consisted of a few chairs and a lantern in the center.

Ash and the others began following Sanpei, who stopped and turned around. He shook his head and said, "Only a select few people are allowed in this room, so I'll have to ask that you four wait out here while I explain the situation to my brother." Bonnie frowned and said, "I wanted to see a ninja meditating," causing Sanpei to smile apologetically and say, "I'm sorry, but that's just our way of honoring tradition."

Bonne crossed her arms and pouted while Clemont tried cheering her up by promising to show her some ninjas that he saw training just outside of the building, which Bonnie happily agreed to and demanded that they leave then to go find them. Sanpei entered the room in which his brother, the chief, was meditating, leaving just Ash and Sycamore in the room together with Greninja and Lucario.

"I've been meaning to ask, Ash," Sycamore said, breaking the silence. "Is Greninja doing well?" He guiltily looked at the Ninja Pokemon as he asked this, remembering back to his desperate attempt to empower Greninja after Garchomp was taken. Ash looked over at Greninja, who nodded back in forgiveness. "Greninja forgives you, don't worry," Ash answered, filling Sycamore with relief.

"I'm glad to hear that," Sycamore responded, a smile on his face. It dissipated when he saw Sanpei walk through the door with a concerned expression. "What's wrong, Sanpei?" Sycamore asked, seeing the clear turmoil in Sanpei's face. "I-I just talked to my brother," Sanpei responded, tripping over his words.

"He says he wants to see Ash," he said, earning looks of confusion on both Ash and Sycamore's face. "What's so bad about that?" Ash asked, not understanding why Sanpei was concerned. Looking at Ash intensely, Sanpei responded with something unheard of in the Ninja Village. "He wants you to meet with him in the room. That's what's bad," Sanpei answered.

Sycamore's eyebrows shot up, understanding what that meant. Ash, on the other hand, shrugged his shoulders and asked, "Again, no big deal, right?", looking around at two faces of concern. "No Ash, it is a big deal," Sanpei corrected. "I have a feeling that he wants to discuss the threat with you, which means that it's pretty important," he explained to Ash.