Ash's Story (Part 6: Unova)

Chapter 92: Shrine and Treehollow

Back at Undella Town, the sea wind still smelled like salt and old ruins.

Alice noticed me looking back toward Undella Bay. She slipped beside me without saying anything at first.

"You are thinking about the ruins again," she said.

"A little," I admitted. "Unova has a lot of places that keep telling the same story in different ways."

Golly adjusted the strap on her bag. "Then we handle one place at a time. Route 14 first. No rushing ahead because something looks meaningful."

I smiled faintly. "That sounded very official."

"It was supposed to," Golly said.

Iris stretched her arms above her head and grinned. "Finally, somewhere with cliffs, waterfalls, and real travel again. Undella was pretty, but I want a path that moves."

Cilan clasped his hands together. "A route after ancient ruins? A refreshing course after a deep historical appetizer."

Eve glanced at him. "You are going to make every place sound like food, aren't you?"

"Only the ones with flavor," Cilan said proudly.

We left Undella Town and followed Route 14 into higher ground. The road rose between trees and water, with cliffs leaning close enough that our voices echoed back at us. Streams broke into waterfalls before gathering in calmer pools below. Wild Pokémon watched from rocks and branches, but none challenged us. Maybe they sensed Landorus's presence before we even brought him out.

Pikachu sat on my shoulder, his ears twitching toward the higher path.

Pikachu's meaning came softly. "The ground remembers a strong wing here."

I touched his side with two fingers. "Then we are close."

The path opened suddenly into Abundant Shrine. Fields of mounded soil spread around small bodies of water, and the grass bent in the wind like it was bowing to something unseen. In the center stood a small shrine, simple and weathered, but it held the air around it with quiet strength.

Golly looked over the land, then at me. "So what is special about this place?"

"This is Abundant Shrine," I said. "The land around the actual shrine is full of mounds of soil and water because people connect it to harvests. It is the shrine where Landorus is honored."

I almost said resting, but stopped myself. Landorus was not a story sleeping inside a shrine anymore. He was part of our journey, even if he still belonged to Unova's sky and fields before he belonged to any Poké Ball.

We walked closer and saw two children near the edge of the shrine path. One of them pointed at the clouds like he was trying to draw a legendary battle in the air.

"So you know what Landorus is like when it means business, huh?" the first child said to the other.

"Yeah, I do!" the second child said. "It changes into another Forme and flies around the sky! Tornadus and Thundurus change Formes, too! Well, that is the story, anyway."

"That is good, then," the first child said, nodding like a scholar. "You know, I have only heard about it in stories, too."

They noticed us watching and immediately looked embarrassed. Iris laughed before they could run.

"Do not worry," she said. "Dragon stories sound even better when people argue over them."

"That was not a Dragon story," the second child protested.

"Still a good story," Iris said.

The children hurried away, whispering about whether Landorus had wings like a bird, a cloud, or a storm. I watched them go and felt the difference between legend and memory. They had heard the shape of the truth. We had stood inside the storm.