Gotta Catch That One

Chapter 31: The Threat Approaches

Pidgeot landed softly at the entrance to Anistar City and Ash climbed off. "Thanks, Pidgeot. Awesome job as usual." He recalled Pidgeot to his pokeball and he and Pidgeot made their way into the city.

It had been three days since leaving Snowbelle City. Ash had flown on Noivern on Pidgeot the whole way, alternating between the two so as not to tire them out. He had wanted to get to Anistar City as soon as possible, so he had decided against his usual walking that he'd done with the others. Since he was just travelling with his Pokemon, it was much easier to just fly.

"Ready to go, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded.

They'd gone to a Pokemon centre earlier in the day, so Ash decided to head straight for the Anistar Gym. As they headed towards the gym, Ash slowed down when he saw the Sundial in the distance. He squinted as he looked at it. It looked slightly different than before. He looked up at Pikachu on his shoulder and noticed the electric mouse also looking at the Sundial in curiosity. He decided to wait on the gym and go and look at the Sundial.

As they rounded a corner and got a full view of the Sundial, Ash was surprised to see Professor Sycamore with a couple of his assistants peering at the Sundial with magnifying glasses and other scientific instruments. "Hey! Professor Sycamore!" Ash called, walking faster as he approached them.

Sycamore turned around, looking surprised, but then he smiled. "Ash? What are you doing here? I thought that you'd be in Snowbelle City by now."

Ash sighed, not enjoying that he'd have to explain, but he did so anyways. "Snowbelle City didn't exactly go as planned." He explained how Serena had received her training offer and how things had kind of unravelled after that.

Sycamore nodded, looking sympathetically at Ash. Then, he narrowed his eyes in confusion. "I understand why Serena, Bonnie and Clemont are in Lumiose City, but why did you comehere?"

Again, Ash felt dread at having to explain a painful story, but he managed to do so once again. He had a hard time keeping eye contact with Sycamore as he explained Greninja's departure. He felt guilty since he'd received Greninja as a Froakie from Sycamore himself. "I'm sorry, Professor. I just didn't understand Greninja as well as I thought I did."

Sycamore looked at Ash for a moment and Ash was relieved to see the professor didn't look mad. "I wouldn't worry too much, Ash. Greninja loves you and from what you told me, that is the main reason he left." He paused for a moment. "I think Olympia will be able to help you out. As you know, she can see things we can't."

"Yeah...I hope so." Ash stopped and then looked at the Sundial. Sycamore's assistants were still examining it. Now that he was close, Ash was now able to see what was different about it. It seemed to have a light pulsating within it. The last time Ash had seen it, it had been pink and although it was an interesting sight, nothing about its colouring seemed strange. Today, though, it was alternating between different colours inside of it. It remained pink on the outside, but through it, there seemed to be green, blue, red, white and basically every other colour flashing inside of it. "What's happening with the Sundial?" He finally asked.

Sycamore looked at the Sundial, his eyes lighting up excitedly. "I'm really not sure. Olympia called me a couple of days ago, letting me know that I might find it interesting so I came here immediately. As you know, there seems to be some kind of link between the Sundial and mega evolution. I'm wondering if there is a connection here." He stopped, appearing to realize something. "I'm going to need to see Bonnie in Lumiose City. I have a feeling Squishy could be connected to this somehow."

"What?" Ash asked. "Why?"

Sycamore held his chin and tapped it thoughtfully. "Well...I'm not too sure. But...Olympia mentioned that there seemed to be a spike in energy from the Sundial when all that stuff in Geosenge Town happened. Perhaps...the energy from Squishy and the other one that Lysandre has...have caused the Sundial to act up. It would be very interesting to research."