Riddle Me This

Ashlyn and her friends were taking a ship to head to Cinnabar Island. By morning, they were getting closer to the Island, on the deck, looking over the ocean and the approaching Island.

"We almost there." Ashlyn said.

"It's supposed to be beautiful." Misty told them.

"It's got an awesome volcano, best of all, it got Pokémon research laboratory's one best in the world," Brock informed, "Trainers come all over to learn the latest Pokémon technique."

"And Blaine the Gym Leader lives there." Flint added excitement with starry eyes.

"He's really excited to see Blaine, isn't he?" Ashlyn whispered to Volkner, amused.

"He really is. Blaine is one of his idols." Volkner whispered back, amused as well.

"How many idols does he have actually?" Ashlyn asked.

"Well, well, well, isn't it little Ashy."

An annoying voice came from behind the gang. They looked over their shoulders and saw Prof. Oak's arrogant grandson, Gary, laying out on a pool lounge chair with his cheerleaders next to him.

"Gary." Ashlyn deadpanned, "What are you doing here?"

"I've earned so many badges already so I'm taking a break to work on my tan." Gary taunted.

"While you're tanning, I'll be at the Cinnabar Gym." Ashlyn said, calmly.

Gary just continued to smirk, "Cinnabar Island doesn't even have Pokémon Gym."

"Yes it does! Blaine lives on Cinnabar." Flint insisted.

"Who are these losers?" Gary asked.

"Flint Ōba of the Sinnoh Elite Four." Flint introduced.

Volkner stood next to Flint, "Volkner Denzi, Gym leader of the Sunyshore City Gym in the Sinnoh Region."

"Eh?" Gary blinked in shock.

"You just insulted two Sinnoh elite trainers, Gary." Ashlyn pointed out.

Gary turned to stone at that.

"Well, let's get going." Ashlyn decided and walked away.

"Good idea." Volkner nodded and followed after her with Flint behind him along with Brock and Misty to go to their rooms to get their backpacks.

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After the ship finally stopped at the dock, Ashlyn and her friends had got off the ship and looked around. There was a lot of people around but they weren't trainers. They were tourists, much to Ashlyn's disappointment.

"I guess Gary was right." Ashlyn stated.

"This place is a tourist attraction." Misty commented.

"No sign for a Pokémon Gym but there sure are a lot of tourists around here, there so many nice Islands, I wonder why this one became so popular." Brock said as they looked around the people.

Suddenly a man with long hair, sunglasses and a mustache stood in front of them. Ashlyn recognized this man as Blaine the Cinnabar Gym Leader, in disguise.

"The answer is in the riddle; what's the tourists think is hot and cool?" he asked.

The gang blinked at him.

"Hot spring are really hot and..." Misty trailed off and smiled as she looked at the man, "And tourists think they cool."

Blaine nodded, "That's right. See kids, because of the volcano, there's a lot of hot springs here on Cinnabar Island, and every year more and more tourists come visit 'em. Now they even taken over Cinnabar Island, trainers don't even come anymore. Tourists! They've ruined the Island!" The man feel to his knees in depression.

"Um, sir, you wouldn't happen to know where Blaine's gym is, do you?" Ashlyn asked gently.

"His Gym is right where you put your glasses on." Blaine said.

"Glasses...In front of your eyes." Ashlyn said.

Blaine nodded, "That's right. Blaine's Gym is in front of your eyes." He pointed to the side, which a small looking house that looked destroyed and abandoned.

"Huh?!" the gang exclaimed.

"Rai?!/Pika?!" Tesla and Levina exclaimed.

Blaine walked toward the house and the gang followed. They all stood in front of it.

"That's it?" Brock asked.

"Blaine got tired of battling tourists who care more about post cards and t-shirts than about Pokémon, that's why he abandoned the Gym." Blaine explained.

"Does Blaine still live here?" Flint asked, desperate to know.

"I'm afraid that he left the island to get away from the tourists for the time being." Blaine replied.

Flint sulked and went into a fetal position with depression lines over him, "This journey was for nothing." He said in a hollow tone.

The gang sweat-dropped at Flint's change in mood.

Ashlyn sighed, "I guess I won't be able to get the Volcano badge."

Tesla nuzzled Ashlyn's cheek, trying to cheer her up.

"Don't worry, Ashlyn." Volkner assured her, "We'll figure something out."

Ashlyn smiled softly at Volkner, "Thanks, Volkner."

"Here's my card," Blaine said as he pulled out a card and handed it to Ashlyn, "If you need anything."

Volkner, Flint, Misty, and Brock gathered around Ashlyn as she read from the card, "The Big Riddle Inn."

Misty frowned, "An Inn? How can you ran a hotel and then blame tourists for ruining the Island? That doesn't make any sense to me."

Brock looked over their shoulders, "He's gone."

The gang looked around but the man was no where to be found.

"Where did he go?" Ashlyn asked and Misty shrugged.

"Well I suppose we should book somewhere to stay." Ashlyn suggested.

Volkner nodded, "Good idea."

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They went to the Pokémon Center to rent a room. However Nurse Joy told them that they were booked. That's when Ashlyn remembered Blaine's card and she asked Nurse Joy where to find it. So she gave them directions which led them to a small park.

"A park?" Flint asked, confused.

"Nurse Joy led us to a park?" Misty asked, confused as well.

"I go in any direction she tells me to go." Brock said in a blushed daze.

Misty slammed her fist into his head.

Volkner looked at Ashlyn, "Ashlyn, what else did that old man's card say?"

Ashlyn dug into her pocket and pulled the card out, "Must be directions to his hotel." she said.

Brock looked over Ashlyn's shoulder at the card, "Mmm. 'If you look near the swing, you'll see my hand, or at least my face'."

Misty pointed to the swings, "There's the swings."

Brock frowned, "Yeah, but I don't see anybody's hand or face."

Ashlyn blinked, "'You'll see my hand, or at least my face'..." she smiled, "I know what it means! It's a clock!" She looked above the swings up to the top of a hill to see a building with a clock on it. She pointed at the building, "Look up there!"

Misty and the boys looked up at the building. "Is that..." Misty trailed off.

"That must be the Big Riddle Inn," Ashlyn turned to the others, "Let's go."

They started to ran toward the hill.

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Soon enough they reached to the building to see the sign of 'The Big Riddle Inn'. They all stepped in and saw no one around.

"Hello?" they called out.

Blaine, still in his disguise, walked around the corner, "Well look at that." He looked between Ashlyn and Misty, "Which one of you two solved the riddle?"

"That will be me." Ashlyn replied with a chuckle.

"Well done. As a prize I'll give you free rooms at the hotel." Blaine said.

Ashlyn smiled, "Thank you so much."

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Blaine had served the kids and the three Pokémon food on the table, before a phone rang and he went to answer it.

"What?" they all looked toward Blaine, who was speaking on the phone.

"Is something wrong?" Ashlyn asked.

Blaine turned to them, "The Pokémon lab is been attack by a balloon."

"A Balloon?" Ashlyn blinked and then frowned, "Team Rocket."

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The gang followed the man out of the hotel, and straight back to the Pokémon lab. They saw Team Rocket's air balloon on top of the building, with the trio holding a net with a couple of Pokémon inside it.

"They're flying away." Blaine said.

"Well I'm about to burst their bubble," Ashlyn said as she pulled out a Pokéball and threw it, "Pidgeot, go!" The Bird Pokémon was released and Ashlyn looked at Tesla, "Tesla, you and Pidgeot go bring back all those Pokémon."

"Rai," the female rodent said as she jumped on Pidgeot's back and they flew up toward the balloon. Team Rocket didn't noticed until it was too late. The female Raichu smirked and jumped up to the balloon, "Rai-chu!" she used Thunderbolt, which made Team Rocket scream as they let go of the net.

The Pokémon all fell on the roof, safe, as Tesla jumped back on Pidgeot's back. They watched as Team Rocket's air balloon flew off.

"LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" Team Rocket screamed.

The gang and Blaine looked at the Pokémon on the roof as they got out of the net, cheering. The man looked at Ashlyn, "Thanks for saving the Pokémon, Ashlyn. You deserve a big reward, so I'll let you in on a little secret. Blaine built a Gym that tourists never see."

The gang smiled at that.

"He did?" Ashlyn asked.

Blaine nodded, "It's in a place where firefighters could never win."

Ashlyn pretended to pondered for a moment, "A Volcano." She replied.

"Correct, young lady." Blaine said.

Tesla, Levina, and Togepi sighed at that moment.

"Why don't you guys relax and get some sleep first and I show you in the morning?" Blaine suggested, "Also, if you guys have any fossils on ya', I can take them to the lab to have them restored."

"Sure, that would be great." Ashlyn said.

Ashlyn, Misty, and Brock had handed their fossils over to Blaine. Then they went back to the inn.

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So gang was relaxing in the hot springs near the inn. Ashlyn had to admit that she was somewhat nervous when she would go to Viridian for her last badge and what is to come when she gets there.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Misty asked.

"A little bit." Ashlyn admitted as she sat on the edge of the hot spring, "This is going to be my seventh badge. Once I get the Volcano badge, then I have to go battle for the Earth badge."

"Well I'm sure you'll do fine." Misty assured her.

"I hope so, Misty." Ashlyn said.

Togepi got out of the water and started walking towards the Gyarados shaped tap. Ashlyn quickly grabbed Togepi before it could climb onto it.

"Don't even think about it, Togepi. That Gyarados is not real, it's a statue." Ashlyn explained.

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The next day, the gang was ready to head to the Cinnabar gym, however Blaine (In his disguise) didn't show up to lead them to the gym.

"I have a feeling that we have to find the gym ourselves." Ashlyn said.

"But how can we find it?" Misty asked.

Ashlyn pretended to ponder for a moment. Then she remembered that Gyarados shaped tap. "I think I know where to find the entrance to it."

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The gang went over to the hot springs and Ashlyn spotted the tap. She went over to it and pushed it down. Then the boulder moved, exposing a cave and knocking down the hot springs' gender separation screen.

"Looks like we found the entrance." Brock said.

So the group went inside and walked down the stone stairs. As they were walked down, they felt heat around them.

Misty frowned, "Is it just me, or is it seems to be getting hot down here?"

"Oh it's getting hot alright." Brock confirmed.

They reached to the bottom stairs and looked at a double doors in front of them.

"It's a door." Ashlyn said as she raised an eyebrow.

Knowing if she touched it, her hand would get burned. So she thought of a better idea. She took out a Pokéball, "Dewgong."

A Dewgong was released, "Dewgong!"

"Dewgong, can you freeze the door handles?" Ashlyn asked.

"Dew (No problem)." Dewgong smiled.

Dewgong used his ice beam attack on the door handles.

"Thanks, Dewgong." Ashlyn thanked Dewgong.

Dewgong smiled before he was returned. Then Ashlyn held the door handles and pulled the door opened to reveal a battlefield that was in the middle of the cave, on top of a lava. The group walked inside with amazement.

Ashlyn smiled, "Blaine's Gym. Well, I guess firefighters can't win in a place like this."

Suddenly the lights turned on.

"Well done there, young lady." A male voice said.

They looked forward and found the man on the other side of the battlefield.

"Before you can battle Blaine, you must answer this riddle first." Blaine said.

Ashlyn nodded.

"What can keep your head dry in the rain, but you can also where it if you already lost it?" Blaine said, giving them another riddle.

"Hm," Ashlyn frowned and then smiled, "A wig."

"That's right," Misty said, "a wig can keep your head dry in the rain, but you can also wear it if you already lost your hair."

"You're a smart young lady," Blaine smiled and took off his wig, sunglasses, and mustache, "I am Blaine the gym leader of Cinnabar Gym."

"Blaine! It's great to see you again!" Flint greeted.

"Hiya Flint!" Blaine greeted back.

Flint smiled back, "I should have known that it was you."

Blaine chuckled, "Well you know me, I love telling riddles."

"Flint, Ashlyn has something to say." Volkner reminded him.

Flint rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Oh right."

Ashlyn stepped forward, "I'm Ashlyn Ketchum from Pallet Town and I'm here to battle you for the Volcano Badge."

Blaine nodded in approval, "Good."

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Pokémon on hand: Raichu (Tesla)(F), Lucario (M), Pidgeot (F), Ivysaur (M), Shiny Charizard (Natsu)(M), Shiny Gyarados (Rory)(M), Wartortle (M), Pikachu (Levina)(F), Dragonair (F), Kadabra (M), Persian (F), Seadra (F), Dewgong (M), Marowak (F), Growlithe (F)

Prof. Oak's Lab:

Mienfoo (F), Jolteon (F), Flareon (M), Vaporeon (F), Sandslash (M), Butterfree (M), Pink Butterfree (Momo)(F), Gengar (M), Rockruff (M), Raboot (M), Braixen (F), Kingler (M), Magnemite (Genderless), Muk (M), Nidorina (M), Nidorino (F), Cubone (M), Dewgong (M), Vulpix (F), Eevee (F), Kangaskhan (F), Tauros (9), Porygon (Genderless), Shiny Suicune (Azure)(F), Shiny Entei (Searius)(M), Primeape (M), Scyther (F), Clefable (F), Jigglypuff (F), Aerodactyl (F), Boltund (M), Shiny Rapidash (Comet)(M), Shiny Raikou (Thor)(M), Shiny Umbreon (Mani)(M), Espeon (F), Glaceon (F), Leafeon (F), Shiny Sylveon (Parisa)(F), Shiny Farfetch'd (F)