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

Chapter 42: Burned Tower

"The Burned Tower is this way," East said as we left the Dance Theater streets behind, his eyes moving from the road to the older rooftops and narrow side streets. "If we are only checking the entrance, we can still return before it gets too late."

Kris adjusted her bag and glanced toward the darker shape beyond the buildings. "After what happened at the theater, I think we should at least understand why Morty and the tower matter before challenging the Gym."

Lillie walked beside me with Espeon on one side and Umbreon on the other. The two evolutions looked like daylight and night sharing the same path, but both of them kept their ears high as we moved through Ecruteak.

Espeon's meaning brushed against me quietly. "The city is peaceful, but the old tower is not asleep."

Umbreon's meaning followed, lower and firmer. "Something there remembers pain."

I looked at Lillie, and she nodded before I could ask. She had heard both of them too. "Then we should be careful."

Near the path to the tower, an older man stopped us and looked at our group with a careful smile. "You young Trainers are heading toward Burned Tower, aren't you?"

"Yes," I said. "Is something wrong?"

"Wrong? Not exactly." The man held out a small device. "Ecruteak has many old things buried where people forget to look. This Dowsing Machine can help find hidden items. If you are respectful, perhaps the tower will let you find something useful instead of something dangerous."

Kris accepted the device with both hands after I nodded. "Thank you. We'll be careful with it."

The man looked toward the tower's blackened shape. "Careful is the only proper way to walk near that place."

Burned Tower stood in front of us like a wound that had learned how to stay upright. Bell Tower rose elsewhere in Ecruteak, graceful and alive with the city's prayers, but this tower was different. The wood was dark, the beams scarred, and even the quiet around it felt heavy.

Kris stared at the ruins. "This is not Bell Tower."

"No," Lillie said, pointing toward the other tower visible through the city. "Bell Tower is over there."

"This is Burned Tower," I said. The name felt too simple for what stood before us. "It used to be called Brass Tower. Ecruteak's legends say it was once as majestic as Bell Tower, built centuries ago as part of the bond between the sky, the city, and the legendary Pokémon connected to this place."

Reisa folded her arms, but her voice stayed soft. "The air feels different. Like a song after the instrument broke."

I nodded. "The story says a lightning bolt struck the tower about one hundred and fifty years ago. Fire burned for three days. Rain finally put it out, but three Pokémon had already died inside. Ho-Oh returned, revived them, and those three became Raikou, Entei, and Suicune."

East looked toward the broken entrance. "My mother told us part of that when we were little. Raikou for the lightning, Entei for the fire, Suicune for the rain."

"Then the tower is not only a ruin," Kris said. "It is a record."

"Exactly," I said, keeping my voice low.

The Dowsing Machine gave a small pulse in Kris's hand as we neared the entrance. She followed the signal to a cracked stone near the outer wall and carefully brushed away ash-colored dirt. A red stone glowed faintly beneath it.

"A Fire Stone," Kris whispered.

Archy's Poké Ball shook once at her belt, not with fear, but with attention. Kris looked at it, then lifted the stone carefully. "I don't think this was left here by accident."