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. He checked the darkening sky. "If we only look around the entrance, we can still get back before it gets too late."

Kris adjusted her bag. "After everything at the theater, I want to understand why Morty and the tower matter before the Gym."

Lillie walked beside me with Espeon and Umbreon at her sides. Togetic floated near her shoulder. Espeon had only evolved that afternoon, but he already moved comfortably beside Umbreon.

Espeon's forked tail angled toward the old tower while his eyes narrowed. "The streets feel calm. The tower doesn't."

Umbreon watched the broken windows in the distance. "I smell old rain and smoke. There is something alive underneath it too."

Togetic tucked closer to Lillie's shoulder. "I want to stay near everyone when we go inside."

Lillie glanced between the three Pokémon. "They all feel something around the tower. We should be careful."

Near the Gym, a Trainer stepped from the house east of it carrying a small device with a round screen and antenna. "Are you going to Burned Tower?"

"Yes," I said. "We wanted to see it before meeting Morty at the Gym."

The Trainer held out the device. "Then take this Dowsing Machine. There are hidden items all over Ecruteak, especially around the older parts of the city. Follow the signal, but watch your footing in the tower."

Kris accepted it with both hands and turned it over carefully. "Thank you. I'll make sure we return it if you need it."

"You can keep it," the Trainer said. "I have another one. Just don't stare at the screen so hard that you walk through a rotten floor."

Burned Tower stood in northwest Ecruteak, blackened beams exposed through walls that had never been rebuilt. Bell Tower rose intact to the east. Seeing both made the damage here harder to ignore.

Kris stopped near the entrance. "So this really is the old Brass Tower."

"It was once as tall as Bell Tower," I said. "About a hundred and fifty years ago, lightning struck it. The fire burned for three days before a sudden downpour put it out."

Reisa looked through a gap where an entire section of wall had collapsed. "And the three Pokémon died in the fire."

I nodded. "Ho-Oh revived them after the blaze. They became Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, linked to the lightning, fire, and rain."

East studied the support beams instead of the skyline. "Then we stay off anything that looks loose. Those beams are old."

The Dowsing Machine chirped in Kris's hand. She followed the signal to a cracked stone beside the outer wall and brushed away ash-colored dirt, revealing a reddish stone.

Kris lifted it carefully. "A Fire Stone."

Archy's Poké Ball shifted at her belt. Kris rested her fingers against it, then looked back at the stone. "You noticed too, didn't you?"

"Keep it somewhere safe," Lillie said. "Archy can decide what he wants when the time comes."

Kris wrapped the Fire Stone and placed it in a padded pocket. "I'm not using it just because we found it."

Inside, the tower smelled of damp wood and old ash. Missing upper floors left beams open to the evening sky. Golbat flew near East, testing the spaces before East stepped forward.

Golbat circled back from a cracked section of floor and gave East an urgent cry. "The boards ahead are hollow. Go around the beam."

East could not understand the words, but he understood the warning when Golbat blocked the path. "All right. We go left."