@Scytherwolf; @Soups;

Episode 83a: Steeling Peace of Mind! (part 1)


"So long, Canalave." Ash smiled as he packed his stuff. "It's been fun."

"From here, we're off to Chocovine Town for Dawn's next Contest and my next Fantasy Stage." Brock smiled.

"Have you decided what you want to tell for the Chocovine Fantasy Stage?" Dawn asked.

"Not yet..." Brock admitted. "I'm leaning towards some kind of dragonslayer tale, though..."

"Sounds fun!" Dawn smiled.

A trill of a PokeNav snapped Ash to attention. After looking at the caller ID and seeing Danielle's name, he quickly swiped the "Answer" icon. "Hello?"

"Hey Ash, it's Danielle." Danielle's voice began on the other end. "How'd your match with Byron go?"

"Wonderful!" Ash smiled. "My risk of using Erin against a big Pokemon paid off--she evolved! That meant I could induce her against Byron's Bastiodon, Escudo."

"Yeah, Escudo was a challenge for me too." Danielle remembered. "So, I'm here on Iron Island, as I said; and something's wrong with a lot of the Pokemon!"

"What happened?" Ash asked.

"They've begun to turn wild--many of them even attacking their own masters!" Danielle explained. "But here's the weird part--this is only happening to Steel-type Pokémon."

"That is weird..." Ash mused.

"Lucky for me, I have no Steel types with me at the moment." Danielle assured Ash. "But you know this is more than a routine outbreak when even Nurse Joy doesn't know what to do."

"We'll be over there as soon as we can." Ash replied. "I won't summon Erin unless I have to--as much as I really want to show you Erin right now."

"I'll hold off inducing Argent unless I have to, as well." Brock agreed.

"Good idea." Danielle replied. "The ferry departs to and from Canalave hourly, so one should be arriving at the docks on your end very soon--my team and I will meet you there!"

"We're on our way." Ash replied as he ended the call. "Well, Chocovine's gonna have to wait..." he began.

"We can't just sit idly by and watch if someone's in danger." Dawn vowed. "Danielle's done so much for us--let's go help her in return!"

---------

Ash hurried to hug Danielle as the group arrived in the Iron Island Pokemon Center. "Ash, you made it....good." Danielle smiled. "As you can see, a lot of the owned Steel types that are out of their Poke Balls have gone wild." She gestured to an Alolan Sandshrew trying everything in its power to break free from a gurney as it was rolled to an open medical bay.

"That poor Sandshrew..." Dawn noted a team of interns did everything they could to restrain an angry Scizor.

"Let's start by looking around the island." Brock suggested. "There has to be something here bothering the Steel types."

"Lead the way." Ash smiled, allowing Danielle to lead the group out of the Pokemon Center.

"I was exploring some of the rocks nearby, so we can start there." Danielle suggested.

The group made good time climbing through some of the crags nearby the Pokemon Center. However, Dawn gasped when she spotted a huge Aggron charging in their direction! "Oh no!"

"Mother praised for her indigo life, break apart and raise thy clear new voice! Wataja!" a male voice called, sending a massive wave of water at the Aggron. A large Aura Sphere sent the soaked reptilian Pokemon flying seconds later.

"Who cast the spell?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah, friend or foe?" Ash agreed.

He gasped as a young man in a majestic royal blue, grey, and gold mage's costume emerged from behind a crag. "Friend, travelers." he smiled. "I am Riley of the Order of the Celestial Aura."

He gestured to the Lucario at his side. "And this is Vivian, my Lucario--Vivi, for short."

"Well then, Riley...we came here because we heard rumors of Pokemon going nuts." Danielle explained. "We were also told that for some weird reason, this strange phenomenon only affected Steel types..."

"...so how can Vivi not be affected?" Ash asked.

"Vivi is safe because she can also use her aura to protect herself from the phenomenon you describe." Riley explained. "We are also trying to figure out how to stop this odd phenomenon ourselves. Maybe if we combined our powers, we could find the masterminds behind it!"

"You're not gonna betray us later, are you?" Brock was a little skeptical.

"At ease, Sir Loremaster. It would be a shameful act for a member of the Celestial Aura to betray others working for the same cause as they are." Riley replied. "So, are we a team?"

"I'd say we are." Ash smiled.

"All right, have you all found any clues or information pointing to the cause of the wild phenomenon?" Riley asked.

"We know it only affects Steel types..." Dawn explained as the group started down a path into a cave. "Nurse Joy has no idea what it is or how to treat it..."

Danielle pulled up a picture of an odd plane-like drone on her PokeNav and showed it to Riley. "Dunno if this counts as a clue, but I've seen three of these headed to the northwest..."

"That is a perfect clue!" Riley smiled. "If we continue through the caves, we should be able to follow the drones to their launch base."

"Let's go!" Ash led the way into the cave...

To Be Continued...