//------------------------------// // All-Seeing Gravesite // Story: My Little Pokémon: Grander World // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Unova. Celestial Tower. Day. Celestial Tower. A tall tower with a large bell whose tones are said to purify the spirit. According to what Professor Oak found out, Alpha Scyther was either here or at Chargestone Cave. As a bonus, Rainbow Dash was eager to find some eager Pokemn here since Spike once found a Druddigon during his small journey. But for Hisuian Zorua, showing up here brought some familiarity to her mind. She felt as if she had been here before but couldn't quite put her paw on it. But perhaps, the surroundings here could. Celestial Tower and its surroundings were ancient. Ancient enough for Zorua to stare at it for a while with a rather frozen expression. Inside the bag where no one else could hear her, she spoke to herself. "I remember this place." Over at the tower, there were open gaps for anything to take a peek through. And in this case, the eyes of a Golurk. A Golurk looked through the hole, taking a gander outside. Within its sights, the first thing the Golurk noticed was Ash and Pikachu. Two familiar faces. But beyond that, there was another that it fixated on. And that was Hisuian Zorua. After spotting the Hisuian Variant of a Unovan Pokemon, Golurk would move away from the gap, no longer taking a peek. "Okay. If it's not here then it might be at Chargestone Cave. But Celestial Tower's got a few floors to choose from." Ash said as they all entered the tower, standing on the first floor. There, they witnessed the large stairway that twisted to the next floor while a few gravestones were placed there. "Then again...why would an Alpha Scyther show up here of all places?" Sci-Twi wondered. "A bit strange, right?" "On the bright side, at least it isn't creepy." Pinkie Pie added. "I heard from Spike that Celestial Tower's actually a comfortable place to be around. The Pokemon here are pretty friendly too." "Elgy? Elgyemn." Some of the Pokemon that lived here were Elgyem. Strange Pokemon that presumably came from the stars. They would poke their heads out of the corners of the walls and gravestones, spotting Ash and his friends. "Mew!" Mew would fly out of Pinkie Pie's mane just to meet with his fellow Psychic-Types. The moment he showed himself to the Elgyem, he would transform. Mew decided to appear just like the Elgyem, taking on the appearance of these otherworldly Pocket Monsters. "Elgyem!" "El?!" "Just be careful in here, you guys," said Ash. "This is a place where many come to rest. And there's more higher up except for the very top." Poking out of Sci-Twi's bag before showing her entire head was Hisuian Zorua. Upon taking a peek, instead of focusing on the Elgyem, her eyes were focused on the gravestones. She had a good view of all of them, viewing the names of those who have moved on. And she specifically focused on the names, shifting her eyes at each gravestone here. But for the first floor, there weren't many at all. That's when the Spiteful Fox Pokemon would show more than her head from the bag. "Twilight...Can I walk out for a while?" "Of course, you can. Nothing's stopping you, Zorua. Go right ahead." Sci-Twi allowed it but she really didn't need to make that call anyway. Hisuian Zorua was free to do so even if she spends most of her time inside this backpack. "What's up?" "I just...I need to look for someone." Zorua then jumped out of the bag before taking off. It wasn't a walk at all. Rather a run and a fairly swift one too. She would pass by the Elgyem, instantly going upstairs. "Oh! Zorua, wait!" Twilight Sparkle cried out, holding her arm out. "Where are you going?!" Down here, Zorua couldn't find what she was looking for. But the second floor could change that as she went up the twisting stairway. "Well, we're here searching for Scyther so we might as well follow her lead." Carlita shrugged. That much was true so it was best for them to keep moving. But Zorua wasn't looking for Alpha Scyther. Instead, it was someone else. When running up the stairway, Hisuian Zorua would look at her surroundings, seeing what she could gather. Gaps in the tower showed the outside of the tower with the sun's rays beaming through. She already felt a sense of familiarity thanks to the surrounding nature. And from this angle, it was only resonating more. Her memories helped conjure up a mirage vision. And that vision showed two individuals. A human and a Pokemon. Specifically, a Zorua. But it was this region's native Zorua. Black, red and all. Hisuian Zorua saw this Unovan Zorua in her memories, chatting and playing with this mirage of a human. Going up these stairs, other Pokemon here would gander at the Ghost-Normal-Type from the walls. Mainly the Golbat that reside here. Once the Golbaat spotted Zorua, she was immediately a target. In reality, most of these Pokemon were friendly and would not engage with others unless needed. But for Golbat, they would always engage once someone new was within their sights. And poor Zorua just happened to be a target. "Golbat!" They descended from the walls, holding out their claws as they went for a diving attack. "Huh?" Zorua looked up before then squealing out of shock, flailing her little legs. They instantly surrounded her from all sides with how many walls they were latching onto. Going on her own all of a sudden might've not been the best call. And with how swiftly she left to run up these stairs, she was already ahead of Ash and the others. "Golurk!" But intercepting the Golbat was a Shadow Punch that flew in, knocking these Flying-Poison-Types away. And that someone was a Golurk. It retracted its arms after slugging the Golbats. Upon arriving, Golurk would stand before the Golbat, giving off a strong presence to intimidate them. The Golbat were successfully intimidated by Golurk's hulking presence. So much so that they immediately retreated. Whatever attack they were planning to launch on Zorua had been ceased by this Golurk. Zorua, who was currently shaking rapidly after being startled by the Golbat, wasn't exactly feeling at peace with the stature of Golurk being shown to her. But soon, Golurk would stand casually instead of trying to appear as menacing as possible. After saving Hisuian Zorua, Golurk held its arm out to its fellow Ghost-Type. Seeing that Golurk intercepted to save her, Zorua's shaking would cease. There was no hostility coming from Golurk. Not when this species was built to be a gentle giant most of the time. "T-Thank you..." Zorua thanked the Golurk before bringing on a sigh of relief. "Zorua! Are you alright?!" Crying out for Zorua was Sci-Twi as she and the others finally caught up to the Spiteful Fox Pokemon. "I heard you screaming! And-" Right as Sci-Twi showed up, her eyes would shift from Zorua's figure to the larger figure that was close to the Normal-Ghost-Type. That would be Golurk. Even if it wasn't trying to be as intimidating as possible, Sci-Twi still found this Pokemon to be menacing as she came to a screeching halt, grimacing. Sci-Twi nearly fell off the stairs, only for Carlita to keep her steady. "Slow down there. It's just a Golurk." Carlita said, knowing how gentle a Golurk can be. Her mother has one as well and there was enough proof across the world. But since this was her first time coming across a Golurk, it was easy to see why she was intimidated by it. "Golurk." Golurk would then turn to face the next room. But it wasn't ready to leave just yet. The Automaton Pokemon swivelled its head to face Hisuian Zorua, calling out to her. "Lurk." "You want to show something?" Zorua repeated what Golurk said. Afterwards, her eyes widened once Golurk explained what it was to her. "Really?!" "S-Show you what?" Twilight asked. "What's going on?" "Golurk." Golurk would advance and before Twilight knew it, her partner was off, following the Ground-Ghost-Type. It was up to the second floor now with Golurk being the guide in this instead of Ash. "Did this happen before, Ash?" Sunset questioned, wondering if Ash experienced something like this before, just for some clarity and safety. "Nope. But looks like Golurk knows something that interests Zorua." Ash replied. However, he could tell that Golurk was doing this for Zorua and only Zorua. After all, those words were directed towards the Spiteful Fox Pokemon. "I couldn't tell you either. But it's obviously something in this tower." Carlita added. "After all, that Zorua of hers is originally from this region." "Yeah, and it's only just a variant. Do you think..." Rainbow Dash paused for a moment as her mind instantly thought about what this was implying. But she shook her head, not wanting to come to that conclusion just yet. The second floor of the tower which was one less from the very top of it. And here, the most gravestones could be found. The twisting stairway went even higher and had more steps until they could reach the very top. And yet, they still have not come across Alpha Scyther. There was not a sign of this Alpha Pokemon anywhere. Zorua's eyes once again focused on these gravestones, only looking at their names. This mysterious individual's name was still within her sights. "No Alpha Scyther. It could be at the top but...I didn't see a bit of it when we approached this tower." Rainbow Dash pointed out. The chances of them finding Alpha Scyther here had dropped dramatically. Which meant that there was one other option. Chargestone Cave. "But uh...what did Golurk want to show Zorua anyway?" "Gol." Suddenly, Golurk would place its hand on the walls, staying there for a moment. With a slight push, Golurk showed off a secret entrance as this part of the wall acted as a door, making everyone gaze in wonder. Even Ash had no idea this was here before. "Lurk," Golurk spoke, entering this secret room with everyone else following. This room was staggeringly dark, having little light to support it. Thankfully, Pikachu and Alpha Pikachu would act as lightbulbs, bringing light to the darkness. Zorua would stand next to the Automaton Pokemon to then see something rather disturbing and unsettling. Everyone else would gaze at this unsettling sight as well as it threw them all off guard. The gravestones in this dark room had faces instead of the usual shapes that gravestones appear in. Downright unsettling, these faces were all varied and unique in how they appeared. They even had hairstyles while having the names of these people and Pokemon on them. "W-What is this...?!" Sunset Shimmer's teeth were rapidly chattering. Just looking at this was uncomfortable in so many ways. No one had ever seen a gravestone like this, especially with so many of them being varied and distinct, minus the ones that had Pokemon within them. "Why are we here?!" Twilight shrieked. "Why do they all have faces as their moulds?!" "No clue." Ash shook his head. "I didn't even know this room was here before. But they've gotta mean something if they look different from everything else here." "Pika..." Just to make matters worse, the eyes from some of these gravestones would move. One would open up, gazing at the group who ended up in this room. "GYAAAAAA!" Twilight and her friends yelled at the top of their lungs once they saw the eyes move. Poor Ash and Carlita had their ears assaulted by this. Ash received the worst of it as Twilight gripped onto his arm with impressive strength, making him grace. "Ow-ow-ow!" Ash cried out. And it didn't help that multiple of them were opening their eyes within this dark room. At this point, they believed that these gravestones were sentient since they could move these faces. Sunset Shimmer backed up, only to bump into something. She would turn to see more of these gravestone faces being plastered on the walls as well. The light would reveal their eyes to her, making her heart beat rapidly. Sunset squealed before nearly falling over, only for Carlita to catch her. That was the second catch for Carlita today. "This one...That's him!" Zorua was the only one unphased by this uncomfortable scene. Instead, she exclaimed with a different tone compared to the rest, spotting a gravestone with the one she was searching for. "Wait! Zorua, don't get close to them!" Sci-Twi yelled while still holding on to Ash. Terrified to go any further, she would shake Ash's body violently, making his hat fall off as it landed on Pikachu's face. Zorua found what she was looking for. None of the other rooms had the right gravestone aside from this secret one. And it was the one Golurk was standing next to. A gravestone of a man was found who had the name 'Raine'. "D-Do you know him Zorua?" Sci-Twi asked before finally letting go of Ash's arm which was now shaking from all the holding that Twilight did. "Wait...Why isn't his opening up?" Zorua nudged her face on the gravestone, noticing that Raine's Gravestone was not reacting. Out of every other gravestone here, this was the only one that did not open its eyes. "Raine?" "Oh yeah. It is the only one that hasn't opened up. What gives?" Rainbow Dash wondered. The mystery of this one gravestone not opening up as enough to at least calm everyone down. But the fear factor was still there. There was just something so unsettling about all of these eyes staring at them. It didn't help that they followed their eye movement as proven by Pikachu, Alpha Pikachu and Mew skittering across the place. Zorua would continuously nudge the gravestone of Raine, hoping for a response while the other gravestones watched her. But there wasn't a thing. "Zorua. Who's Raine? Was he your trainer back in the day?" Twilight asked, wondering if Raine was Zorua's partner before she found her. Judging by how Zorua was reacting to this gravestone, that seemed to be the case. "He wasn't my trainer. Just my friend..." Zorua confirmed it herself. This Raine character was not the trainer of Zorua but rather a good friend that Zorua knew. And of course, being that she originated from Unova, this friendship was definitely present within this region. Everyone could see that this was a case of Time being a major factor. By this point, Raine was gone. Hisuian Zorua came from the past after all where Sinnoh was once called Hisui. But to Zorua, this didn't surprise her. It was the expected outcome. Despite the fact that she lowered her head, subtly shaking with her eyes closing, she knew that being flung this far into the future was to be expected. ' That didn't stop her from tearing up. No response from the gravestone definitely made it worse as one of Zorua's friends from the past and most likely many others before she became a Hisuian Variant, was gone. "Golurk." However, Golurk had something to say, kneeling to face Zorua. The Automaton Pokemon grabbed Zorua's attention immediately, making her gasp after what was spouted. "W-What?" The saddened Spiteful Fox Pokemon uttered. "You mean...he's out there right now?!" "Out there?!" Everyone repeated. This greatly implied that Reine was still around even to this day despite the massive time gap and even the regional gap considering where Zorua ended up to become this Hisuian Variant. "Lurk. Golurk." Golurk continued, pointing at Raine's gravestone and everyone else's gravestone. It was wonderful that Zorua could translate for everyone here otherwise this could've been hard to figure out. "What's it saying, Zorua?" Carlita asked. "All of these face Gravestones...they're from people and Pokemon who are waiting to reincarnate into new Pokemon." Zorua translated. "Reincarnated?!" Twilight gasped. But this shouldn't be surprising to the others but it certainly was to Twilight considering how new she was. "Oh yeah. Some Ghost-Types used to be human." Ash nodded, understanding immediately. It certainly wasn't uncommon for the deceased to reincarnate as Pokemon, especially Ghost-Types. "So then...what's up with Raine's Gravestone?" "Golurk said that Raine already reincarnated into a Pokemon. So his is closed and at peace. Everyone else here is waiting for their turn to reincarnate." Zorua explained. "Which means...I can go and find him! Golurk! Which Pokemon did he become!?" "Amazing...so when are they gonna reincarnate?" Sunset Shimmer looked at the other gravestones of these people and Pokemon. Judging by how far into the future Zorua was sent into, it was safe to assume that Raine reincarnated many years back. Potentially, that meant that these people and Pokemon had only passed away not too long ago. "So...He's a Dusknoir now?" Zorua found out from Golurk which Pokemon Raine returned as. And it turned out to be a Dusknoir. "Okay...I see. Thank you, Golru, Thank you so much!" Just as much as she shows love for Sci-Twi, Zorua would show her love for Golurk, hugging the Automaton Pokemon. "Gol." Though it was incapable of showing emotion, Golurk was glad to have helped. Twilight...Everyone. Please help me find him. Please?!" Zorua faced her friends, pleading that they all chime in to find Raine. "Of course, I will. Just say the word of where we can find him Golurk and we'll get there. Alpha Scyther can wait." Sci-Twi did not hesitate to help. The search for Alpha Scyther was halted just because of this. It was for Zorua's own happiness. And once Golurk tells them what they need to hear, it was off to find a reincarnated Dusknoir. As the journey continues. Chapter 38 End.