The next day, Ash and Lillie are now meeting Alice at Gaea Town's House. Lillie says, "Hey, Alice. Where is Taen?"
"Oh, with your father's help, Taen is now in a place called the No Man's Land." Alice replies.
"No Man's Land? What is that place?" Ash asks.
"How about we show you instead of talking about the place." Alice says as they find the enigma on the wall. Ash asks, "Was that supposed to be there?"
"Of course not." Alice says. "Mr. Adam place it there on purpose. Now let's go in."
After having Mew use Transform into Hoopa, they head inside the Hyperspace Hole and enter the No Man's Land. Both Ash and Lillie are surprised to see they are no other trainers to be found in this area, leaving snow and harsh wilderness as far as the eye can see.
"This place is so quiet... but also empty..." Lillie says.
"Indeed, and here is my challenge. The Challenge for you is to find where Taen is." Alice says. "To make sure he is not going to be easy to find, we set up some obstacles on the way."
"Okay. That sounds easy." Ash says as they all try out the challenge.
First, they scale the wall with the Rock Climb, and they travel to the right and start weaving through the ledges to reach the Rock Climb wall to the left of the maze of ledges. Third, they head left and proceed to scale up the next 5 sets of walls that require Rock Climb to bypass, ignoring the Strength boulders and Manaphy statue in the process. After scaling the last Rock Climb wall, head northeast, once again ignoring the Strength boulders, and they reach the Alpha Temple.
"What is the temple doing here?" Lillie asks.
"This is the Alpha Temple. Ash, you are an Arceus, and this temple is where the flute to summon you, the Azure Flute, is placed." Alice says.
"Okay... so I have to assume that Taen is in the room where the flute is located?" Ash asks.
"Of course. Now let's see how you do it." Alice says.
Ash and Lillie are a little annoyed since Alice knows the puzzle and she refuses to tell them how to go through it. But they aren't scared and they decide to continue. They enter the left doorway first, then the northern doorway. They scale up and then down the sets of Rock Climb walls and then navigate all the way to the eastern side of the room to go down through the next doorway. Then two more doors appear, they go through the east one, ignore the doorways leading east and south, and progress through the doorway heading to the north after entering the next room.
"Just how many doors are there..." Lillie says. "Maybe I should float around the area instead..."
"Yeah, you have the Levitate ability, while I only have Multitype." Ash says.
They finally reach the final room, and they find an ancient keyboard surrounded by different colors of pillars. Alice says, "You're in the final stretch. Now you just need to answer the riddle."
"Okay..." Ash says as they read the riddle.
You can give me, but you cannot take me. It takes one to give me, but two to make me. The biggest circle I begin. And it is I that lies within. To all living things, I give breath. But I am not "god", nor "life" nor "death". And like the Phoenix from an urn, though me from ashes it returns. What am I?
"Wow... this surely is a troublesome question..." Ash says.
"Don't worry, I know the answer." Lillie says. "It is "Birth". Right?"
Ash presses the letters and then the okay button, in the end, the door slides open, revealing Taen with the Azure Flute inside.
"Congratulations on finding me here." Taen says.
YOU ARE READING
8. Ash's Torren Story
FanfictionAfter being betrayed by his so called friends, Ash is kidnapped to a region known as Torren. With new and old friends with him, he will try to destroy all 5 cults with the help of the Legendaries and beyond. Warning: Lemons and Dark intents.
