Aries

Deceive Your Eyes

"How are we even lost again?" Brock laughed nervously as they sat by the rushing water of the nearby waterfall, which Ash had seemed sort of entranced by the entire time they were near it. Brock had Vulpix curled up on his lap, while he ran a brush through the red fox's fur.

Steven fidgeted with his Pokenav, waving it around furiously as if that would cause the signal to get better. "I can't get a connection, so- no map."

Brock nodded in understanding, glancing to where the waterfall was. "That waterfall is gorgeous, isn't it?"

"I've seen a bigger waterfall before, it was so cold there." Ash began. "I don't remember it well."

That was a bald-faced lie if he ever knew it. He remembered every second of that harrowing day like it was bible - the Dodrio chasing him as he could barely move was not a nice introduction to the new existence he would have. The others believed it, so whatever. Brock hummed in response to that. "Well, the biggest waterfall is Tohjoh Falls."

"Wow. What is it like there?" Ash inquired, while Brock tapped his chin in thought. "Well, I was there once for a league thing. Lance thought it would be a nice place, but it was just really cold, and we kept getting bothered by the wild Pokemon."

Ash still seemed incredibly interested in the experience, so Brock continued. "It was a nice place to be, honestly! I kind of miss all of that, in a way. When Lance isn't chasing fairies, he can be a cool boss."

Steven stayed quiet and stood up, flicking his eyes to his Pokenav, showing it to Brock and then Ash. "I think I know where we are supposed to be going now."

-

"This can't be right." Steven decided, as they stood in front of the odd looking mansion, which seemed far too nestled in the woods for normalcy. Ash shrugged. "Well, it can't hurt to try to go inside!"

When they came inside, it seemed to not end in strange occurrences. Ash didn't really know what to think of the place. Fuschia, and the surrounding area, was very cold. The mountain winds and air was thinner. The grass had a slightly different feel to it than the grass near Pallet, probably from the more northern nature of the area. He took a deep breath, taking in the mansion.

Something was above him. Someone, even.

"Pinwheel! Use Thunderbolt!" Ash pointed in the direction where the mansion had felt off. A shadow moved, yelping loudly as the bolt of electricity narrowly missed her. The young lady stumbled a little as she tried to grab her bearings. "How did you spot me!"

She had purple hair in a high ponytail, and wore a long flowing purplish scarf. She rubbed her head. "That was crazy. Now, welcome to the Fuschia Gym!"

She spread her arms out dramatically.

"I'm the subsitute leader, Janine! Normally we'd have a bunch of traps for you to go through, but.." She knocked the air, where an invisible wall was. "Lance said that the gym was too inaccessible. So now the challenge is just finding it."

Brock smiled and waved to Janine. "Hey again!"

Janine seemed to finally notice the fellow gym leader. "Oh, hi, Brock! I'd be battling today, but Koga is actually back..."

She sighed, placing her fingers to the bridge of her nose as she leaned on her heels. "Except he got called to help with something, so he's not even here. But I can't take challengers."

"That's fine. We can stick around for a little while." Steven cut in. Janine laughed. "Sure, I'll get us to chill in the waiting room."

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