1.Ash's Story (Part 2: Johto)

Chapter 38

Just after we leave the preserved area, Daisy decides to bid farewell to us and give me the Silver Badge, which is silver colored. And we continue towards Silver Town until we notice people gathered at a large closed gate.

"Excuse me, are you guys waiting for something special?" Ash asks a pair of bystanders when they get there.

"Yeah, you haven't heard about that? The Torch!" The man says.

"What Torch?" Reisa asks.

"We're talking about the Johto League Silver Conference Torch!" The man says.

"We can see the torch here?" East asks.

"You're standing in front of the Ho-Oh shrine. The torch starts its journey right on this spot." Another man says.

A shrine attendant finally opens the gate and explains that the torch runner is currently delayed. I rush forward and ask, "What is wrong here?"

Great, a lot of people started to recognize me as the one who won the Kanto League and the Johto Grand Festival. The attendant says, "If that's case, I want a giant favor to ask of you, is that okay?"

"I guess so..." We say. Then he tells us that the trainers so far have been running away in fear after asking them.

"I see. No sweat. I'll be happy to help all out." We turn around to see a boy with a Houndoom step in front of me.

"Um... who are you?" Lillie asks.

"Oh, my name is Harrison. I am a Pokemon Trainer from Littleroot Town."

"Littleroot Town, so you are a Hoenn Native." Reisa says. "Both of us are also from Hoenn."

"Well, it is nice to see two more people from Hoenn here, are you here to join the league as well?" Harrison asks.

"No, I am here to cheer my friend Ash." Then we introduce ourselves to him.

"Oh, I have heard of you. You have had a lot of achievements. Nice to meet you." Harrison shakes hands with me.

With Harrison now on board, we follow the attendant to the shrine building.

The attendant shows us the torch and he says, "There is one little problem. We can't get to the actual flame to light it."

"How come?" East asks.

"You see...the Ho-Oh Shrine was where a terrible war was fought. People ravaged the place so badly that the Pokémon suffered because of it and the vegetation was wiped out. Ho-Oh appeared after a battle and unleashed a rose-colored flame that set the area alight and destroyed the weapons of war. From the ashes came new life and the area was restored to nature. But a bit of a tree was left burning for the longest of times. And we placed the fire in a shrine declaring the Sacred Flame that is now housed in the Ho-Oh Shrine." The attendant says.

"Wow...that is a new thing to hear." Kris replies.

"You need the sacred flame to light the torch, but where is the flame?" I ask.

"It is in the shrine way on top of the stairs. And the sacred flame is stored inside." The attendant says, "There is a wild Sneasel up there that lives very close to the shrine."

"Sneasel... that's one of the Pokemon we haven't gotten yet." I say. "I'm going to capture that Sneasel."

"That Sneasel is quite a terror. It is quite territorial because they will attack every trainer or Pokemon that approaches the shrine no matter what. Every Trainer who volunteered to try to stop the offending Pokémon ended up coming back with hurt Pokémon, broken bones, and other serious injuries. It gets worse when he's teamed up by Machoke and Machop." The attendant says. "Without the fire, the ceremony for the Silver Tournament can't start, and then it will be no tournament this year."