Kael left Cherrygrove just after sunrise. The town was still yawning awake—shopkeepers unlocking doors, Wingull calling from the docks, waves lapping against the harbor. He didn't see Lira that morning. Part of him wondered if she was already ahead of him. Another part hoped she was watching from the shadows, still curious about his connection to Morty.
He adjusted the straps of his pack and stepped onto Route 30.
The trees thickened quickly, their boughs twisting overhead to form a canopy that filtered sunlight into golden beams. The air smelled of damp moss and wildflowers, and the sounds of early-morning Bug Pokémon buzzed in and out of earshot.
Echo padded beside him, unusually alert. Her ears flicked at the slightest rustle, her silver fur bristling with every step.
"You hear something?" He asked.
Echo didn't respond, but her body stiffened.
It started as a flicker—a faint shimmer in the trees, like heat haze. Then, the wind stopped. The forest, just moments ago alive with Pidgey calls and Caterpie chatter, fell eerily silent.
Kael slowed. "Okay, that's not normal…"
A low hum filled the air. Not loud—almost like the ringing in your ears after silence lingers too long. Echo growled, crouching low.
Then, it happened.
The shimmer materialized into a shape—vague at first, then clearer. A Pokémon, but not one he recognized. It hovered above the ground, cloaked in shadows, its eyes like pale lanterns. It looked like it was made of mist and flickering embers.
He stumbled back, heart thudding. "What… is that?"
The creature didn't move closer, didn't threaten. It simply watched.
Then, as suddenly as it appeared—it vanished. The hum stopped. Wind returned. A flock of Pidgey scattered from a nearby tree as if nothing had happened.
Echo stood up straight again, ears still twitching.
He tried to steady his breathing. "Okay. That was either a ghost… or I'm losing my mind."
He pulled out his Pokégear and tapped into the map. They were near the halfway point to Violet City. But what caught his eye was a side trail—a faint path not listed on the official routes. Something about it felt… wrong, but also familiar.
"Let's check it out," he said, already stepping off the main road.
Echo hesitated before following.
The trail narrowed into a winding, root-choked path. Vines draped from the trees, and the light dimmed to an amber glow. After twenty minutes of careful trekking, he saw a clearing ahead—and something in the center.
A shrine.
It was old, moss-covered and cracked with age. Strange markings were etched into the stone—a symbol that looked like a crescent eye, surrounded by jagged lines. Offerings lay at the base: faded berries, broken Poké Dolls, even a few Pokéballs rusted with time.
He approached cautiously. "You ever seen anything like this, Echo?"
The Eevee sniffed the air, ears angled forward. Her fur glowed faintly in the strange light.
He pulled out his notebook—the one he'd kept since childhood, filled with sketches, theories, half-finished maps. He traced the symbol on the shrine, comparing it to some of the notes he'd copied from his father's old journals.
His breath caught.
One of the symbols matched almost perfectly. His father had scribbled it into the margin of a page marked 'Mt. Silver—Eastern Face, Level 5'. No explanation. No name.
"What were you trying to find out there?" He whispered.
Then, a rustle.
He spun around—but it wasn't a ghost this time.
A figure stepped out from the trees. A man, maybe in his thirties, with shaggy brown hair and a heavy coat. His belt held four Pokéballs, and his eyes were shadowed beneath his hood.
Kael instinctively reached for Echo's ball, but the man raised a hand.
"Not here to fight," he said. His voice was rough, like he hadn't used it in days. "You saw it, didn't you? The shade in the forest."
Kael hesitated. "Yeah."
The man stepped closer. "Name's Arden. I track anomalies like that. Energy surges. Sightings. They've been happening more often, especially near ruins like this one."
Kael glanced at the shrine. "What is it?"
"No one knows for sure," Arden said. "But that symbol—it's tied to the old legends. Ones that predate the League. Some say it's the mark of a guardian. Others say it's a warning."
Kael felt a chill crawl up his neck. "Why are they appearing now?"
Arden looked at him for a long moment. "Something's waking up. The veil between the physical world and the spirit world—it's thinning. Not everywhere. Just… here. Johto."
He turned his gaze to Kael directly. "And you. You're at the center of it."
Kael's heart pounded. "What do you mean?"
"You carry echoes," Arden said, cryptically. "Your father stirred something when he went to Mt. Silver. And now it's found you."
Kael's mouth went dry. "You knew my father?"
Arden nodded slowly. "Briefly. He was looking for something. Said it was older than the Indigo Plateau. Something that had been sleeping for centuries."
Kael took a step forward. "What was it?"
But Arden was already backing into the trees. "I don't know. But Morty might. Find him."
The shadows swallowed him before Kael could say another word.
He stood in silence, staring at the empty woods where Arden had vanished. Echo pressed against his leg, quiet and steady.
He looked at the shrine one more time. His fingers brushed the stone, and for a heartbeat, the symbol glowed.
Then it was gone.
He turned back to the path. "Come on, Echo. We need to get to Violet City."
Because now, it wasn't just about his father.
Something ancient was waking. And he was caught in the middle of it.