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Cracking Cryzanthum; An Interview with Ashton Burnswell
Topic Started: Jul 26 2007, 01:20 PM (246 Views)
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~ * ~ * ~
"I'm telling you, we should've called the whole thing off after Aquan's... you know."

"We can't call it off after all this publicity! Besides, if something's being hidden out there, it needs to be known. We could be in real serious stuff here!"

"Of course we're in real serious stuff here! A man was killed!"

The bickering was coming from Charlie Candon, Samson's director, in his ever changing tropical colored shirt, and Krystal Gowles, a dried-up fashionista that now served as Samson's trend advisor, wearing the coolest primpy dress she could find in the hot weather. Charlie was ever for pressing on, while Krystal had been having second thoughts since before it even began; with the death of the first and last person they interviewed, Aquan Delphinius, who was a lead advisor in the now-defunct Team Aqua, her paranoia had only grown.

Samson himself, wearing a brand name t-shirt and plaid shorts, was the only one who did not seem to mind the ash and the heat. He had been here before many times, though it was the first time for his friend Zak Freckles, the best photojournalist this side of New Jersey. Zak was coughing almost nonstop and routinely had to wipe tears out of his eyes, and Samson felt an obligation to hurry so his friend didn't have to keep suffering.

It was why delays like the following one were even more annoying than usual. A young teenage boy approached the crew, who were walking down a moderately populated street of Ashdell, and began talking.

"You're Samson Salsbury, aren't you?!" he said, excited beyond all belief. "Oh my god! Oh my fricking god! It's really you! I've read so much about you, I'm your biggest fan, oh my god!"

Samson looked at him. He was used to receiving some level of fanfare, but he wanted to make it quick today. He smiled. "You've got the one and only. Did you want an autograph?"

The boy's eyes widened, and Samson noticed that the boy was, in fact, wearing a Samson Salsbury shirt.

"Why don't I sign your shirt there, eh? What's your name?" Samson stooped and kneeled down so he could write correctly.

"Jackson, sir... Jackson Constan!" Samson made his flamboyant signature and added 'To my Number 1 Fan Jackson' underneath. As he was putting the cap back on his marker, Jackson began talking again. "Sams- er, Mr. Salsbury, ah, your pokeballs!"

"What about them?" asked Samson, standing up. Jackson had caught a good glimpse of his belt when he had kneeled down.

"You've got five of them!" Jackson said. "What's your new pokemon?"

Samson raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand, what do you mean?"

"Everyone knows the pokemon you used to beat the league. You were the famous Four Star Trainer... four balls on your belt! And everyone can recite the famous plays that you made."

Samson only stood, not sure how to break in and say goodbye.

"For instance, when Glace used Mirror Coat right amidst the hailstorm she made! It was like a shining fox, running in and out of the ice, with that thunderbolt attack reflected right back at the enemy! And that's the Gorgeous Ball on your belt. And the Rizer Brothers, that's what everyone calls them, you know, both finishing their opponents off with Thunder Punches! And that's the Great Ball and the Ultra Ball on your belt! And of course you can't forget about your famous Ra-"

"I'm sorry, but we have to go." said Charlie, clearly irritated.

"Oh... right, yes, sorry, but... please, what's the fifth pokemon?" said Jackson as the group began to move away.

"Can't tell you yet, sorry dude!" said Samson, moving on. "You'll all see in good time."

As they walked away towards the house of their next interview, Krystal eyed Samson's belt, looking intently at the normal red and white pokeball next to the infamous purple one. "Samson... what IS in that normal ball?" she asked, but Samson only smiled.

***

Ashton Burnswell was a younger man by far than Aquan had been, a mere fifty years old compared to Aquan's eighty-five. He greeted the crew with a warm smile, and let them into his house. In a predictable trend, his interior was all colored a soft red, and he led them to his sitting room, with large red couches around a gigantic fireplace, surrounded by equally enormous shelves full of books. He had very little clutter, speaking of a very different personality than his Aqua counterpart. The man himself had medium-short straight black hair, brushed nicely, a square jaw, and was clean shaven, which made him look ten years younger still.

The cameras and microphones were quickly set into place, and after the theme music faded away, Samson began.

"Hello there, friends and fans, and welcome to the second episode of Cracking Cryzanthum. I'm your host, Samson "Slick" Salsbury," he said, with a wink and a grin, "and today, we'll be talking with Ashton Burnswell, a former member of the once powerful Team Magma." Ashton gave a broad smile at the mention of his team. "So, Ashton," said Samson, smiling as well, "what was your position in Team Magma?"

Ashton spoke with a surprisingly deep, soothing voice. "I was the treasurer of all of Magma's funds."

"As the overseer of the budgets, you must've known where every single zeni was going, right?" said Samson.

"That's right, yes. Most of the time it was I who decided the allocation, in fact."

Samson nodded, and then leaned to the side for a different angle. "We've asked many people on the street, but none have been able to tell us. Was Cryzanthum in ruins by the time that Magma had made its base there, or was the Kingdom destroyed by the Land War?"

"We believe it to have been destroyed in the past. Far before our time, I have heard. No one knew about it because the walls of the city were left intact."

"What would you say destroyed it?" said Samson, looking a slight bit troubled.

"Time." Ashton nodded his confidence in his answer. "It was a natural destruction. The people left, the last king passed away before he could produce an heir, and time was left as master."

"Do you know why the people left?" asked Samson, now veering into uncharted waters.

"I can't really say." said Ashton after considering the question for a few moments. "After the king died, they say that the kingdom was never the same... but this is all legend, you understand, and could be completely wrong."

"Of course." agreed Samson quickly. "How do you know all this?"

Ashton slid his hand through his slick black hair and smiled. "This was all common Magma knowledge, my friend. The ruins were one of our best hideouts, back in the day."

"What sorts of funding did you decide to allocate regarding the ruins, if any?" asked Samson, getting back on topic.

"Odd that you mention that, actually." said Ashton, with a frustrated look on his face. "The research center was one of our most expensive projects- the one situated in the upper ruins, that's now sitting at the bottom of Loch Neeru, I mean. They always needed the most outrageous sums of money, and our leader always consented to give it to them. I could never understand that."

"Did you know what they used it for?" asked Samson.

"I really haven't the slightest." said Ashton, regretfully shaking his head. "Experiments, I suppose."

"Some say that the Red Orb was thought to be located in the Kingdom, and that's why the lab was located where it was." Samson was going to ask a question after this statement, but Ashton started talking before he could.

"No. Hahaha, no. Definitely not, my friend." said Ashton, laughing to himself.

Samson raised an eyebrow. "How can you say that with such confidence?"

"It was I who found the Red Orb." said Ashton, who looked satisfied seeing all four members of the crew drop their jaws in surprise. The camera on Ashton faltered a bit, Charlie's, while Zak was professional enough not to let his surprise take away from his job.

"You... you found it?" said Samson. "You... what, where? Where was it?"

"I'm sorry, but I've sworn not to reveal that, though I can tell you, what a fierce and dangerous journey it was. But it doesn't matter anyway." said Ashton. "After losing control of Groudon, our leader decided it was too much of a risk to keep free, and imprisoned it again, though I'm not sure how. That wasn't my department. He also hid the Red Orb in a new location, far more hidden than it was before."

Samson was speechless. He had not known any of this was going to come out, nor that it was there to come out in the first place. Eventually, he collected his thoughts. "The leaders are said to have either died or disappeared. Does anyone alive know the location of the Orb, then?"

Ashton chuckled. "There are clues that lead the way, so the story goes. The first is said to be under a fire that is never put out. And that's all anyone knows, that it is."

Samson could not remember if he had any more questions planned or not, for the interview was more revealing than he had dreamed it to be. "Amazing." he concluded, with a broad grin. "That's all the questions I have for you, and I'd like to thank you for allowing me to ask them. You've been a great help in our journey." He reached out and shook hands with Ashton, on camera. "That's all for this installment; watch out for my next one! And remember, you heard it here first!" And with a wink and a grin at the camera, and another fade of theme music, the episode was over.

"That was really amazing, sir." said Samson afterwards. "I really didn't expect... I didn't know that it was you who found it."

"Not many did, before now." said Ashton. "But I need to ask you to leave quickly. I'm expecting a dinner guest and I must prepare."

"Sure thing. Thanks again!" said Charlie, and they gathered up their equipment and left.

***

"So they were already ruins before the team even got there." said Zak, between coughs. "So all this Aqua/Magma business, it's not getting us any closer to Cryzanthum itself."

"It is." said Samson. "Magma had a lab there, and now we know that it wasn't because of the Red Orb. And it couldn't have been for fire pokemon."

"There's no one left who would know what that lab was doing." said Zak sadly. "We've checked everything, gone over member lists, everything. There's just no one."

"It's a good thing we'll be goin' to Cryzanthum ourselves soon, huh?" said Charlie, butting in on the conversation.

"Yeah, but the lab is at the bottom of Lake Neeru. Nothing can get that far down. There's no giant squid pokemon." said Zak, while Samson shuddered at the prospect of giant squids.

As they approached the Magnet Train station, a large destructive noise behind them made them all turn around. The shockwave that soon followed knocked Krystal off of her feet. Sirens were sounded and people rushed from every corner of the town.

"What was that?" said Charlie.

Krystal had a grim look on her face. "Magma. Magma's back, just like Aqua! And they're going to kill Ashton just like they killed Aquan...!"

The crew looked at one another for a short moment, and then took off in a mad dash to find where the sirens were congregating at. Sure enough, and to everyone's horror, the four quickly found themselves back in front of Ashton's house... or what remained of it.

It appeared that Ashton himself was alive. He was sitting in a corner, white faced, surrounded by friends and townspeople. "Horrible... such horrible... glowing eyes... black shrouds... horrible... horrible..." was all he could say, muttering crazily to himself.

Samson noticed that the house seemed drenched in water and completely wet, though there wasn't a firetruck at the scene. He could see a large crater in the ground where they had just sat, destroying everything from the chairs to the bookshelves. It was full of water, too.

Samson and Zak then heard something that made the hair on the backs of their necks stand up straight. A villager, apparently a neighbor, talking to another citizen nearby in the crowd.

"...such a shame, this must be the first time he's let his fireplace go out for thirty years!"
Sydney Snow - APL: 00 - LP: 04
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