After everything they had been through, Ash and his friends finally arrived at Ecruteak City.
"Look, that's Ecruteak City up ahead," Brock said, pointing toward the city in the distance.
"It's huge!" Misty exclaimed.
Since they were looking down from an elevated viewpoint, they could clearly see just how large Ecruteak City was.
Brock glanced at the guidebook in his hands before pointing toward a towering structure.
"That over there is the city's landmark, the Bell Tower. The Ecruteak Gym is nearby."
"Just hearing about a Gym battle is enough to get my blood pumping!" Ash said excitedly. "Alright! First, we'll head to the Pokémon Center, then we'll challenge the Gym."
"The Pokémon Center? What for?" Misty asked.
"To transfer Noctowl back."
After training Noctowl in the Valley of Wind, Ash had swapped it with Scyther, and then they had gone through everything that happened at the Ninja Academy.
Now that Scizor had successfully evolved and Gloom had finished competing in the Grass Type Pokémon Tournament, this was the perfect opportunity to transfer Noctowl back to his team.
Ash had already decided on the lineup he would use against the Ecruteak Gym.
Noctowl, along with his two Psychic type Pokémon, Ralts and Alakazam, would be more than enough.
After all, Ecruteak Gym Leader Morty specialized in Ghost type Pokémon. His team consisted of Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar.
The group first visited the Pokémon Center to transfer Noctowl back before heading to the Gym.
"Hello there! Hello there! I'm the fire breathing Infernando!"
Without warning, a stream of flames shot toward them.
Ash and the others quickly dodged before spotting a chubby middle aged man in a clown costume walking over, holding a flaming torch.
"This is your first time here, isn't it?"
"How did you know?" Ash asked.
"I saw you walking around while reading a guidebook, so I figured you must be first time visitors."
"Sir, you can talk all you want, but could you stop breathing fire while you do it?" Misty complained. "That's dangerous."
"Dear visitors, since you've come to this city, you really should buy one of these!"
The man immediately began trying to sell them his so called treasure finding machine.
Ash wasn't interested in the slightest. It looked fake at first glance.
Misty quickly followed after him, and when she noticed Brock already trying to ask the nearby girls for information, she grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away.
"We're here. This is the Ecruteak Gym."
Looking at the courtyard before them, Misty frowned in confusion.
"This doesn't look like any Gym we've visited before."
"Actually, this isn't the Ecruteak Gym."
After walking into the courtyard, Ash looked toward the charred remains of an old tower.
"This is the Burned Tower."
"The Burned Tower?" Misty repeated.
"That's right. Seven hundred years ago, Ecruteak City built two towers, one in the east and one in the west. The eastern tower is the Bell Tower. The western tower was originally known as the Brass Tower."
"The eastern tower was used to awaken Pokémon, while the western tower was where Pokémon rested in eternal sleep. Ho-Oh lived atop the eastern Bell Tower. Then, one hundred and fifty years ago, lightning struck the western tower, setting it ablaze. The fire raged for three days and three nights before a great rainstorm finally extinguished it. By then, almost nothing remained of the tower."
"Three unknown Pokémon perished in the flames. Ho-Oh descended from the sky and revived them."
"They later became the three Legendary Beasts."
"Raikou, Suicune, and Entei."
Ash finished recounting the ancient legend.
"Amazing! I had no idea there was a story like that," Misty said in amazement.
"That's only one version of the legend. There's actually another theory," Ash continued. "The first three known evolutions of Eevee were Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon. Their types match those of the three Legendary Beasts. On top of that, the kimono girls of Ecruteak City, who serve Ho-Oh and Lugia, all use Eevee's evolutions. Because of this, some people believe that before they were resurrected, the three Legendary Beasts were actually Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon."
"You even know about that?" Brock asked in surprise.
"I just happened to read about it somewhere," Ash replied with a shrug. "In any case, this place is considered a historical site, so it's worth taking a look around."
With that, Ash took the lead and walked inside.
Seeing this, Misty and Brock had no choice but to follow.
After entering, Brock ran his hand over the charred walls.
"These burn marks look completely authentic. They're definitely not something made recently."
The group continued deeper into the tower until they reached the basement.
Suddenly, towering flames erupted all around them, surrounding them on every side.
"Ah! Why is everything suddenly on fire?!" Misty cried in panic.
"Don't worry. These flames aren't real."
Knowing exactly what was happening, Ash calmly walked toward the fire and reached out to touch it.
"I thought so..."
"It's your turn, Noctowl! Use Foresight!"
A flash of light radiated from Noctowl's eyes.
The blazing flames instantly vanished.
In their place floated several Gastly.
Needless to say, the illusion had been created by Gastly's Hypnosis.
"There are so many Gastly!" Misty exclaimed.
"There's a Haunter over there too," Brock pointed out.
"It looks like we've wandered into their territory," Ash guessed.
"So... what do we do now?" Misty asked nervously.
"We were only here to look around. We can just leave."
But before they could turn around, a Gengar suddenly appeared, blocking their path.
"I didn't mean to disturb your resting place," Ash said politely. "Would you please let us leave?"
"Everyone, stop!"
A voice echoed down from the staircase above.
The Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar immediately gathered near the stairs.
A young man descended the staircase.
"Gastly love darkness," he explained. "They mistook you for people who had come to disturb their home, so they used Hypnosis on you. Please forgive them."
With a wave of his hand, all of the Ghost type Pokémon dispersed, leaving only Gengar by his side.
"We're sorry as well, Gym Leader Morty."
The young man blinked in surprise.
"You know who I am?"
"With just a single command, you stopped all of the Gastly," Ash explained. "That tells me they all have a Trainer. From what you just said, it's obvious you're extremely knowledgeable about the Gastly evolutionary line. So I took a guess that you must be the Ecruteak Gym Leader."
"You're pretty sharp," the young man admitted with a smile. "That's right. I'm Morty, Leader of the Ecruteak Gym."
"This isn't the Gym. Please, follow me."
The group followed Morty to the Ecruteak Gym.
Earlier, he had been teaching a class of students about Ghost type Pokémon when someone informed him about the disturbance at the Burned Tower, prompting him to rush over.
"Ash, would you like to show my students what an official Gym battle looks like?"
"Of course. In fact, I specially prepared a few surprises for this challenge."
"Oh?" Morty smiled with interest. "Then I'm looking forward to seeing them."
Thus, a unique Gym battle was about to begin.
...
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