When I woke up this morning, I was still feeling pretty bummed about last night, so I decided to try and take my mind off things - not an easy task, I tell you - by taking a look around Mistralton. It seemed quaint enough, and would have been perfect were it not for the huge-ass airfield down the side of it. Turns out Mistralton is a landing spot for cargo planes. Huh.
I was trying to take a closer look at some of these planes when I got ambushed by a freaky old man who was raving about Klink. What the-- oh. He's Prof. Opinion's father, the one who she was looking for Klink for. He snatched my PokéDex from my bag - sneaky little-- - and did something to it, which he claimed had upgraded it. I can honestly say I had never even switched the thing on before, so I don't know what was different about it, but he skipped off chanting something about different forms?
The woman Juniper Senior was harassing came over and apologised to me, which instantly made me like her and even ignore the fact that her hair was ridiculously silly. She introduced herself as Skyla, the town's Gym Leader, and told me that while she was out flying her cargo plane (!) she had spotted an injured Pokémon and was off to go help it out (!!). Wow! After having to deal with a lazy bum like Clay, she certainly made a welcome change, and that she was willing to go so far for a Pokémon she didn't even own certainly strengthened my affable feelings towards her. She asked me to help and told me she was heading on over to the place she had seen the Pokémon fall, which was the Celestial Tower on route seven. Straight away, I set off after her.
Route seven was... unique, to say the most. It was spotted with balance beams that let you avoid the grass, but forced you to keep moving because they were too narrow to balance properly on. I tried it and fell straight away. It hurt my bottom. I ended up taking my chances with the long grass. We battled a few trainers, and I was so happy to see my team getting stronger with each fight. My happiness only strengthened when my squidgy Tardy, my Solosis, began to glow that magical white and gained a little stubby body and more goopy jelly - a Duosis! The first thing Tardigrade did was launch a hug at me with his stubby little arms! SO CUTE♥ I huggled him to death, nearly, and we continued on our way.
At some point, my Xtranceiver began to ring. I answered it half-heartedly, expecting Cheren or Mood-Killer, or even Prof. Idiot, but it was my mama! She was wondering how I was doing, since she hadn't heard from me in a while, and I told her about my team and about N (she teased me a bit) before wishing me well. It felt good to hear her voice again. It reminded me of Nuvema and I felt a little home-sick, but I remembered that Skyla had asked for my help, so I continued.
Around the foot of the Celestial Tower, which stood ominously in my path, I kept getting ambushed by tree-huggers. I wasn't complaining, though, because that special 'evolution' thing happened again, this time to my dear Fawke, who became a stunningly-beautiful Unfezant! With a happy heart, I reached the tower, and then the truth of what it was came crashing down upon me.
The Celestial Tower was a place where people laid their Pokémon friends to rest. I felt sad, but at the same time, there was this feeling of... peacefulness. I couldn't quite name it at the time, but it made me feel both heavy and light, because even though this was a sad place, it would be a beautiful place to end up in. The decorations for the inside were intricate and architectural, and brought a tear to my eye, for so much thought and care had been put into such a place. Every headstone was lovingly engraved and kept clean, truly cared for. I was so happy that a tower like this existed. It showed that Pokémon were to be cared for as much as humans, both in life and death.
What made me incessantly angry was the fact that people were using such a place to battle. Every floor I reached, I tried to go around and respect every single headstone, for these were the beloved partners of humans, lost to time, and it didn't help that every so often, someone who claimed to care insisted on battling me. I fought with anger against them, and apologised to each headstone that had borne witness to the combat. Needless to say, it took me a long time to reach the top, but I battled every trainer out of spite for what they had come here fore.
At the very top of the tower, Skyla stood. I looked around her for a Pokémon, but she informed me she had already given it a Max Revive and sent it on it's way. I was humbled by the care this woman took, even for a Pokémon that wasn't hers. Max Revives were expensive, but that faded to insignificance in the face of a Pokémon in need. Skyla asked me to ring the bell, to thank the spirits for letting her take care of the Pokémon, and I did so, marvelling in the sound of the metal and joining her in a prayer.
After she had left, I rang the bell again, and apologised to the spirits for fighting in their house. Then I made my way back to Mistralton. Seeing a landmark like the Celestial Tower strengthened my resolve and fueled my passion for the wellbeing of Pokémon, and feeling inspired, I prepared to battle Skyla, who I looked up to, at the Mistralton Gym!
