Cinnabar Island - -Secret Rocket Labs - 1625 hours local time - Day 72 of Ash Ketchum's Journey
Kyoji poked his head around a corner, finding a collapsed wall with wounded or dead Rockets and Plasma grunts, seeing them full of bullet holes or otherwise injured by Pokemon.
"Ouch." he said as he looked at one of the bodies before a rifle cocked from the direction of the ruined wall.
Which happened to be a tunnel. "Identify yourself." asked a young woman with brown hair, looking rather pretty for her age. Looked like a bit of a bitch, though.
"Kyoji Akamura. Lower the weapon, lady: I'm looking for a friend." he said, standing up with his hands raised.
"If your friend is with either of the teams, he's dead," she deadpanned, rifle still pointed at him.
"Actually, he's been kicking their asses." Kyoji said, lowering his hands slowly. "You heard of Ash-"
"Ketchum?" she said, cutting him off, lowering her weapon. "We're actually here because of him. He saved us because of Team Rocket and we decided to deal with them." she smirked. "Did some damage, too. Giselle, formally of Pokemon Tech."
"Well, a friend of Ash is a friend of mine." Kyoji said with a smile, with Gible poking around the corner.
"GIBLE!" he cried before launching towards her head, latching onto her head with a mighty chomp.
Before anyone could react, an explosion shook the ground below. "That's not good," Giselle said before there were MORE explosions.
"There's a security room this way." Giselle said, gesturing down the hall. "We'll find out what's going on using the cameras." She then pried Gible off her head, staring at the fact he was yellow for a moment before running towards the security office.
Kyoji followed, Gible trailing after him as they entered the room, finding a bunch of kids in school uniforms manning the place. "Your… classmates?" he asked Giselle.
"Yes. The school was gone and Ash served as a bit of inspiration against Team Rocket," she said before they found a camera on the lower floors, seeing a Garchomp ripping apart the Plasma grunts on the CRT, sometimes literally.
"Ash's Garchomp evolved." Kyoji deadpanned. Gibles were nice and calm, Gabites had a temper...Garchomps were 'piss off and die'. His eyes focused on a tank, with something…
"Zoom in on that." he said to one of the IT students, who looked to Giselle.
"Do it, Joe," she said, with him controlling the camera's pitch and zoom, closing in on the tank.
"What the hell kind of Pokemon is that?" Kyoji asked, horrified at seeing something like a Mew in a tank. "It looks like a bigger… deformed version of Mew…"
"Project Mewtwo." Giselle said. "We came across files of the project in some of our raids. I'm more concerned with that." she pointed at a figure kneeling in extreme pain, clutching his hand. It was Ash.
"What the hell did he do this time?" she said. "Alright, Joe, find out where enemy forces are, we'll take care of them. Mr. Akamura, if you don't mind helping Ash get out of here?"
"His girlfriends would kill me if I didn't," Kyoji said, getting a look from Giselle. "It's a bit of a joke. We have two ladies traveling with us that… REALLY like Ash. He's trying to be nice and not get involved and all-"
"I know," she said, waving it off. "He and Misty weren't together when they got to the school. Just get him out of there before his Garchomp accidentally kills him."
Giovanni got to a control panel as Ash's VERY pissed off Garchomp engaged Ghetsis' equally pissed off Hydreigon with the assistance of Charizard.
The Charizard was NOT happy at seeing the thing. As in 'trying to rip off one of its' heads' and very close to succeeding.
"Note to self: never piss off that Charizard," he said as he lowered one of the tanks to the floor below, where he and Shelder would teleport it back to Viridian. Blaine could torch the place if he wanted: the other Mewtwo had already teleported away, the signature heading for Unova, if the equipment for teleport tracking was still working properly.
Any hope for the plan to work now was gone: with Ash, those students and his sister destroying everything in sight across Kanto, Team Rocket as it was couldn't do much to the League. Still, he was alive and could rebuild. Maybe actually take control of the underworld and actually make sure they WEREN'T a pain in the League's ass just to keep his sister off his.
As for the Mewtwo? He was keeping it under the Gym: that thing was dangerous, emanating psychic power even while unconscious.
Another explosion went off, unrelated to the war between the pseudo-legendaries.
"Blaine." he muttered before going down a ladder. This was not his day.
Garchomp bit down on the Hydreigon's middle neck, fully intending to rip the dragon/dark-type apart, Charizard using Metal Claw on his wings to try and cripple him. Needless to say, Garchomp was having a VERY bad day after evolving.
He didn't consider himself a violent Pokemon - in fact, he prefered being cute and happy as a Gible, hence why he was so envious of Kyoji's Gible, able to Chomp as much as it liked without endangering anyone. But he could get angry when his friends were hurt.
But this man, and his Hydreigon… they hurt Ash. His Trainer… his 'father' in a way…
…that cute and innocent stuff would have to wait. Garchomp wanted to vent his anger out, and this Hydreigon was… unfortunately the closest thing he could vent his anger on.
The Hydreigon was more powerful than both of them, but it was also blind and they were an enclosed space. They both roared to confuse it, making it attack a wall before they latched on, biting, clawing and otherwise injuring the dragon.
It was cheap. But it was also much more powerful then both of them and a threat to Ash, who was unable to assist, given he was barely conscious.
Having a Pokeball melting onto your hand was NOT something that anyone wanted. Especially since it was akin to pouring molten metal onto you without having dipped your hand in water first. Ash was lucky to be conscious.
An explosion and fire flooded the corridor outside, Ghetsis scowling. "That old bastard is STILL alive?" he said, scowling for some reason. "I don't have time to deal with Ketchum's spawn AND Blaine!" Ghetsis returned Hydreigon, glancing at the gun he was forced to leave behind before shaking his head and ran to the lab. "N! We're leaving!"
The injured greenette, nursing a bruised throat and several cracked ribs, dragged himself up, limping.
"CHOMP!" 'GET BACK HERE!' yelled Garchomp, only for him to fall on his face, exhausted. "Chooommmmppp…' 'So tired…'
"Char." 'You fought a pseudo-legendary after evolving,' Charizard said, winded himself. "Har." 'I'm not in the best shape myself, but I didn't just evolve.'
Garchomp blinked. "Chomp?" 'I evolved?' he said before looking at himself, seeing the bigger fins on his arms and back. "Chomp!" 'I evolved! I can be a Gible again!'
Pikachu then entered the lab, seeing the damage and what happened to Garchomp. "Pika?" 'What the hell?' he asked.
"Char." 'Long story. Check on Ash. He has… well…'
Charizard explained.
Pikachu's reaction was beyond description, beyond saying he wanted to kill N now.
Outside the Cinnabar Mansion - 1650 hours local time
Eevee laid down to take a nap, finding grass to be better than metal.
She thought to that trainer, Ash. He freed her, taking no award for it.
"Pony?" 'What's an Eevee doing here?' asked a fire horse about five times taller then she was if she was rearing on her hind legs as he sniffed her.
Eevee panicked, jumping away. "Vee!" 'Who are you?!' she yelled, gathering ghost-type energy for a Shadow Ball.
"Pony." 'No need to yell at an old horse,' the Ponyta said before he laid down. "Ta." 'Eevees don't normally come around on Cinnabar.'
"Vui." 'Aren't they?' she asked, laying down again, relaxing. "Vui." 'I have no idea what it's like out… here.'
"Pon." 'A breeder farm Pokemon,' the horse said. "Ta." 'That's sad. You don't know what it's like to be loved, what the world is like… a good trainer…'
Evvee scoffed. "Eeveui." 'No such thing,' she spat.
The fire horse sighed. "Ponyta." 'Once, there were thousands. Millions. Then the Shadow came. My trainer had to release me here to take care of what few he had left,' he said, sighing in melancholy. "Ponyta…" 'What I wouldn't give for a trainer that gave more of themself for nothing more then the feeling of doing the right thing.'
Eevee blinked. Ash let her go for no reason. He didn't catch her, didn't promise to come back for her and sent Pikachu to get her out of that place.
"…Vui." 'I think one freed me,' she admitted.
The horse nodded, laying his head down. "Ta." 'That's nice. You should see if he's ok. Trainers get in so much trouble…' he said, yawning. "Onyta…" 'What I wouldn't give… to see my trainer again…'
Eevee got up. Maybe trainers weren't all bad. "Vui." 'I think I will. Where would he be?' she asked, tilting her head.
"Ta." 'The Pokemon Center. It's white with a Pokeball on the front,' the old fire horse said before laying down, sighing.
"Vui!" 'Thanks. I'll see if he can catch you, too,' Eevee said, not noticing he wasn't breathing before she ran off.
Cinnabar Labs - same time
Blaine was an old man, but not a heartless one. He loved riddles, just to amuse his challengers and himself.
But seeing that Pokeball melted onto this young man's hands…
"Team Plasma. They just won't DIE," the man all but sneered. "I'll have to talk to Gaffery and Delia about this." He turned to two of his Ace trainers, both young Jennies with Growlethe, training to take over for their older counterparts in Unova. "Get him to the Pokemon Center! They'll get that shit off his hand!"
The bluenettes saluted, getting a stretcher before a Rocket was shoved into the room by a jet of water, a young, pretty redhead with a Staryu… 'Ah, Misty. How the hell did she get here?' Blaine thought. Misty wouldn't've been able to get any further then just south of Viridian before she had her panic fests.
He scowled, his moustache twitching at being cheated of killing those Shadow Pokemon. He liked Misty: sharp girl before the incident.
"Misty!" he said, getting her attention.
"Uncle Blaine!" she cried, happily walking over to him. "You were busy."
"I had to nuke my way into the place. I hope my old Ponyta wasn't nearby." he said, feeling sorry that he didn't go back for him. "Why are you here?"
"I came here with a trainer-ASH!" she cried, seeing the Jennies carrying him out on a stretcher, seeing the Pokeball melted onto his hands. "How in the name of Arceus?!"
"Team Plasma. They like doing that to unsuspecting trainers," Blaine said, sighing. "Ghetsis won't DIE and make our lives easier, will he?" Of COURSE he wouldn't: life support, surgery, deals with Giratina, he used ANYTHING to extend his life.
"It's… melted onto his hand," Misty said, wincing at the sight.
"They can remove it at the Pokemon Center. That being said… he's going to need new skin," Blaine was NOT looking forward to that.
Cinnabar Pokemon Center - 15 minutes later
"SWEET FUCKING CREATORS!" the local Joy yelled as she saw what happened to Ash's hand as Blaine and Ash's group entered the Center. "Who did THAT?!"
"Team Plasma. Get that laser powered up!" Blaine ordered. "He needs this thing off his hand pronto or he'll lose it!"
The Chancey grabbed his stretcher from the Jennies, taking him to the back of the Pokemon Center.
"A laser?" Kyoji asked. "You're not serious. You can't just take a chisel to the melted ball and pry the pieces off his hand?"
"You've never seen a Pokeball melted into someone's hand, have you, boy?" Blaine asked the Ransaian. "It bonds to the molecules of whatever is attached to it: that's why they're so difficult to destroy. You need either ionized plasma or the heat of a sun to do that. Even crushing one only merely damages the internal mechanisms!"
"…shit," He muttered, looking at his own Pokeball. "…never realized just how near-indestructible these things were…"
"The older they get, the more fragile they get. But the newer ones can take a nuclear explosion and survive, the Pokemon inside unharmed." Blaine said before they heard Ash scream from the back, the old man wincing. "That laser's going to do damage to more than that Pokeball. I'll call for a reconstructive surgery team." Blaine then looked at Misty. "Tell your boyfriend that he doesn't have to look for the key. Forcing them off my island is worth a lot more than a gym battle."
"Uh, Blaine-" Misty started before Blaine looked back at the redhead, grinning.
"I know he's not really your boyfriend. Yet," he said, smirking happily. "Give it time! I want to see at least one of you girls happily married." With that, the Cinnabar Gym leader left the Pokemon Center.
"Your sisters…" Iris started to ask before Misty sighed.
"Too busy with the gym. Besides, they're lesbians," Misty said before another scream caught their attention. "They couldn't find ANOTHER way to get that thing off his hand?!"
"Cipher War," Anabel said as an answer.
"If I ever see a Cipher Peon, I'm going to shoot him." Misty muttered, Iris looking away sheepishly.
RMS Aquitania - Docking at Cinnabar Island - 0915 hours local time - Day 76
While lacking some of the Olympic-Class' features, the Aquitania was a lot faster. And the two teams were glad for it.
"Instead of five months, we're here in two," Grace said, checking everything. "I'll be going back to Kalos after I talk with Delia. You sure-" Serena glared at her mother for even thinking about that suggestion. "Ooook, then. Well, you'll be seeing more of the Rotan Palace then Vanille Town, anyways."
"Froak." 'It is time to leave. Ash has been in intense pain for the last few days,' the frog said, his right hand twitching.
"Rowl?" 'How would you know?' Rowlet asked, not in the know on this.
"Haw." 'The Bond Phenomenon,' Hawlucha answered. "Cha." 'It boosts Greninja's strength and power by giving him a form we dubbed 'Ash-Greninja' because it looked like him and Greninja. There IS a drawback, though.'
"Meow?" 'Let me guess,' Meowth asked. 'What one feels, the other feels?'
"Froakie Fro." 'Yes. It feels like my hand was dipped in molten steel,' Froakie said. "Froak." 'Come. He needs us.'
"Grub." 'You even know where to go?' Grubbin asked, eating a pellet of food, everyone glaring at him for eating while talking.
"Froak." 'The local Pokemon Center,' he answered before Serena screamed in pure rage.
"THEY DID WHAT?!"
Cinnabar Pokemon Center - roughly the same time
"The good news is, your nails will grow back," the doctor said as he poked Ash's palm with a pin, getting a pain response each time. "The problem is, you will not be able to use this hand for anything save picking up a spoon for the next two months."
Ash glared at the doctor, but said nothing before wincing again.
"The pain's a good thing. It means your nerves are intact. You can cut that time down to a single month with a Pokemon using Heal Pulse." he said, looking at the only Pokemon that refused to leave, other than Pikachu. "Your Riolu should be able to handle that."
"Ri!" 'Anything to help you recover,' Riolu said, making an adorable salute. It made Ash smile. Riolu had been working his rear off back at the Ranch, but came to Cinnabar with a transfer, putting Natu back at the Ranch while Charizard flew back to get recaught in a new ball.
"Thanks." Ash said before the doctor left, allowing Kyoji and Iris into the room, Misty and Anabel dealing with a rather excitable Garchomp.
"So… how's it going?" Kyoji asked.
"My hand hurts and I can't throw Pokeballs with it." Ash answered sourly. "I haven't been doing too many captures other than the old guys, but still… That's kinda how I switch Pokemon in battles."
"Well, at least you got three very pretty nurses!" Kyoji said, Iris blushing before glaring at him. "That reminds me, what was your relationship with Iris back in the old timeline? I've been meaning to ask."
Ash sighed, even as Iris looked at him expectantly. "We didn't meet under the best terms," he said. "My Pokedex identified an Axew, I threw a ball in a bush… I hit her in the head."
Kyoji stifled a laugh at that. "I'm serious. She refused to leave me alone even as I made my way further into Unova. It took weeks before we stopped arguing." Ash said seriously. "Mostly because of Cilan joining us after our battle."
"And when did you start-"
"It was slow," Ash said cutting him off. "I only really noticed after we encountered the Swords of Justice, Unova's version of the Legendary Beasts," THAT got Iris' attention.
"We encountered the Swords of Justice?" she breathed out, awed by even being mentioned in the same sentence as them. "How?!"
"Their apprentice, Keldeo." Ash said, before rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand. "Or something like that. Didn't figure it out: didn't care at the time. I was too interested in just wanting to help them with Kyurem."
Iris shuddered at the mention of the Legendary Ice Dragon of Unova, duo master for the long-since missing Tao Duo.
"Anyway, I just ignored it. Vow of celibacy and all that," Ash said, getting serious again. "Which I am doubling down on now."
Koyji sighed, annoyed at the subject. The Ranseian didn't get it. "Ash, I know you're not comfortable-"
"My father is Giovanni!" Ash snapped, making Kyoji recoil at the utter rage in his voice. "The Boss for Team Rocket. He said he wasn't, but he's a habitual liar, so I'm not believing a damn word out of his mouth. And I am not going to add to HIS legacy."
"…he said he wasn't your father?" Kyoji rose his brow.
"Yeah, made some bullshit excuse about my mom being a former Rocket," Ash rolled his eyes, "Yeah right… I'm not even sure I want to believe that tall tale he made about my 'real' Father…"
"…let's play some devil's advocate then," Kyoji mused, as Ash rose his brow. "Let's say, on one hand… he was lying. What would he gain from lying to you in the first place? If anything, you'd think him saying that he was your dad would help him in some psychological way - find a way to use that against you. On the other hand… let's say he was telling the truth - that he's not your father, and your mom is an ex-rocket… what would it mean if that were the case?"
"It doesn't make sense. Both times I've seen him, he's-"
"Twice?" Kyoji asked.
"Once in Unova. Long story. But I'll trust a Gible more then I trust Giovanni." Ash said, looking at Iris. "Where is that Gible?"
Iris then proudly produced a Pokeball, beaming. "He wanted me to catch him." she said happily.
That made Ash smile somewhat. "Iris' Gible said I smelled like Giovanni. And family do share some similar scents. My Gible was able to sniff out my Sinnoh Pokemon out of all of them in the region." he said, unwavering in his belief. "And I'll only believe otherwise when told by my mother."
"What if she confirms it?" Kyoji asked. "Again, what changes if he did tell you the truth?"
Ash seemed like he was thinking about it, but before he could answer - something pecked at the skylight, trying to move the window open. "What in the name of?"
Eventually, it was forced open, and down dropped… an owl.
"…awwww," Kyoji muttered, "He's cute… never seen that type of Pokemon before, but he's still cute…"
"Rowlet?" Ash asked as the owl looked at him, then did the usual owl thing of flipping his head one hundred and eighty degrees.
"Wait, he's one of yours?" Kyoji said before almost pouting. "He's so cute. I want one."
"Rowl!" 'Hi Ash! Sorry we took so long!' he happily trilled.
"Pika." 'He can understand you,' Pikachu deadpanned as Rowlet looked at him. "Chu." 'Freak out and I zap you: we've had this song and dance WAY too often.'
"Rowl?" 'You're crankier than usual,' Rowlet said, somewhat confused as to why.
"Pika." 'I haven't slept in nearly three days: too worried about Ash,' Pikachu said, blinking his tired eyes before realizing something. "Pi?' 'Wait a minute… if YOU'RE here… and Fletchling said you were with the other Kalos-'
"ASH!" cried a voice more familiar to Ash then ever as a honey-blonde girl wearing a pink dress rushed in, shoving Kyoji aside and jumping towards him.
'Out of all the people I wanted to see today, she is not one of them,' Ash thought, seeing the VERY happy Serena latch onto him, laying on top of him and not wanting to stop snuggling. It was a VERY good thing Ash had control of his lesser urges, otherwise something embarrassing would be happening.
"…Ow!" Kyoji groaned, as he stood back up. "Who are…?" He glanced up to the sight of Serena cuddling Ash. "…and another one joins the harem…"
Iris looked at Kyoji. "…Harem?" she asked, confused before realizing it. "I JUST MET HIM!"
"I was more talking about the others," Kyoji clarified, and Iris went 'aaahhhh'.
"Lady, if you knew Ash, you're going to have the same problem Misty has," Kyoji said, referring, of course, to Misty's 'other self'. Of course, no one explained WHY, just that it happened over time.
Serena then looked at the other two, emotionlessly staring at Kyoji before directing her hostile gaze at Iris.
"Ash, me amour…" she asked in Kalosian. "Who is this?" Ash had to think fast, given that Serena was now CRAZY, seemingly. Another thing he could blame himself for.
"Serena, I think I know what you're thinking and she is not my girlfriend!" Ash said in the same language, which he learned back in the old timeline. "I don't-"
"Think you're worthy?" Serena asked, rage disappearing in a flash, replaced with gentle empathy. "My dear Ash… You never thought you were worthy of womanly affection. But don't you worry." she then hugged him, snuggling her head between his neck and shoulder. "I will show you you are worthy."
Iris just blinked in confusion. "Does… anyone speak Kalosian?" she asked, Ash realizing he just swapped without thinking.
"...and like that, we've got Yuno-fucking-Gasai…" Kyoji muttered, as Iris looked at him in confusion.
"Who?"
"Character from a show back home - crazy psycho girlfriend." He explained, "Just… we're gonna have to keep her away from axes and knives…"
The door then banged open, Kyoji getting jumped on as a flame-colored Pokemon jumped onto the bed, using him as a springboard. "What is with every… thing…" he said before seeing what it was.
An eeveelution. The adorably fiery Flareon, a rare sight anywhere and sure as hell not one that was wild.
"Aw…" he started before the Flareon looked at him. And he knew that stare.
"…The Eevee from the lab?" he asked. "Where'd he find the fire-" WHACK!
"Flare!" 'I'm a girl, damn it!' cried the Eeveelution as she glowed… and reverted back to being an Eevee without even noticing.
Ash sighed before summing up everything in Rotan. "Fuck my life."
Outside, Misty was fighting with Garchomp, trying to keep him from rushing into the building.
To be blunt, the Joy didn't want Garchomp in there. They had a reputation and he refused to go back in his ball.
"Chomp!" said the Mach Pokemon as he argued with Misty.
"No, Garchomp! I can't understand you: that's Ash's thing!" Misty said as she latched onto the dragon's neck. "They won't let you in outside of your ball! They think you're dangerous!"
Garchomp glared at her for that. "Well, you know it's true!" she snapped back. "I'D rather be in there right now, talking with Ash and not fighting YOU!"
"Maybe wearing one of Nurse Joy's spare uniforms?" her past self said suggestively.
"And YOU, stop being a pervert!" she snapped vocaly.
"Between Ash being the ultimate gentleman and refusing to look below the chin and a lifetime of being pent up, one of us has to be." the mental clone replied. …Well, she couldn't argue with that.
"Noi." cried a fuzzy batlike Pokemon as he landed on Garchomp's head. "Noi-Noibat!"
"Chomp?" questioned Garchomp before eyesmiling like a Gible. "Garchomp!" He threw his head back, making the bat panic.
CHOMP!
Misty just stared as Garchomp practically ATE Noibat. Then he realized it and spat him out. The bat was pissed.
"Froak." said something before Misty looked up, seeing a frog on her head.
"…I take it you guys are from Kalos?" she asked, getting a nod from the light-blue frog. "That explains the screaming in Kalosian I heard earlier."
Anabel, laying on the ground, groaned at the reminder. "Her mind… it BURNS…"
Misty decided not to pry. "He's inside. Just don't piss off the locals. They're touchy at the moment." she said, the frog jumping off her head and guiding the bat and another group of Pokemon inside.
"How many does he have?" she asked herself.
"About 50…" Anabel moaned.
"What the hell happened to you?" Misty asked, actually worried this time. Anabel passively read minds all the time: this was new.
"So many voices… too many…" she said, holding her head.
Ash stared at the Eevee. "So… what are you doing here?" he asked. "I broke you out so you could live freely, not for personal gain."
Serena all but swooned at that, making Ash feel VERY creeped out.
"And why does he keep kicking me?!" Koyji asked, a paw print very prominent on his face.
"She's a girl." Ash deadpanned, making Kyoji facepalm.
"WHY do they all not have gender differences…" he groaned. "And you STILL need to-"
"Talk to Natu. Get her to plant a Pokemon's mind in your head. It's what happened to me," Ash said, wanting to put a stop to this. "The only other ways are telepathy and Aura and I have no idea how to use Aura intentionally."
"…Ruin my fun." Kyoji said, pouting.
"Vui." 'He is weird,' she said. "Eveui." 'As for why… I was born in a human facility. I've never BEEN outside until you freed me.' She sat down, Serena keeping an eye on her like she was a threat.
Ash hated this timeline more every day.
"Vui." 'And then came you. The trainer that broke my expectations of all trainers. I thought you'd ball me and be done with it. But instead… you let me go. But I can't go into the wild. I don't know what to do.'
"Make me hate Team Rocket MORE, why don't you." Ash deadpanned before petting the Eevee, scratching behind her ears and making her almost purr. This had an effect as she glowed and evolved, turning into the ribbony, pink Sylveon.
"Eon…" 'That feels goood…' she moaned.
"…aww, she's adorable…" Kyoji mused, being certain to emphasize the correct gender.
"But not right." Serena said, almost exactly as Ash remembered. "Eevee aren't supposed to do that. They evolve to one stage and… don't revert."
Ash tried to get up, but Serena refused to budge. And while Ash could very easily throw her off him, he didn't want to make her cry. He might have wanted her together with someone else, even if that wasn't happening anymore due to this engagement, but he would NOT stoop so low as to make her cry.
"Serena, could you… please get off?" he asked gently.
"You need to stay in bed," Serena said, now sounding like his mother when he got sick.
"My legs fell asleep and I would REALLY like to sit up," Ash said, both of those being true. Serena was on top of his legs and he had lost feeling in his feet.
"Oh!" the girl said, getting off him, then helping him sit up. Sylveon reverted back to an Eevee as Ash was no longer petting him.
Then she was pounced on by a teal frog, who held her hostage.
"Froak." 'Identify yourself, Evolution Pokemon,' said the frog, rather testily. Ash sighed as he looked at his Kalos team's starter powerhouse. His hand was probably hurting as much as Ash's was.
"Froakie." Ash said softly but sternly. "She's a friend. Let her go." Froakie hesitated before Eevee glowed again, then shocked the frog away with a mild thunderbolt.
The glow died down, revealing an annoyed Jolteon, who snarled at him.
"Jolteon, he's a member of my team!" Ash said before the Eeveelution could try and kill Froakie, glancing back at Ash curiously and furiously. Unfazed, Ash sighed. "It's a long story."
Kyoji just looked at the little frog. "…Ninja frog." he said. "I didn't even see him come in!"
As per usual, a Pokemon did him harm.
Off the shore of Cinnabar Island - 1024 hours local time
Celebi hated her job sometimes. In the old timeline, it was easy: keep idiots from screwing up the timeline. Cyrus was a major oversight. Besides, Giratina said they would handle it.
The older legendaries were so weird. They swapped their gender like a human would a shirt. Mew was the most guilty and the Creation Trio were the worst of the lot.
Regardless, Giratina said he-she-IT would handle Cyrus and they considered it case closed. Three years later, timeline ended and the rest was history. Or chapters, as the case may be. (WHACK!)
Now, she had to deal with other things not involved with time, like wormholes randomly opening for no reason. Or simply because the Solar Idiots in Alola were doing it for shits and giggles. More the latter then the former, sadly.
But Celebi had a job to do. So she would do it.
"Poi!" 'Hello!' cried something above her, sounding a mix between male and female. Celebi looked up to see a purple being that could, cautiously, be described as a purple child with an oddly shaped head flew above her, waving.
Celebi groaned. Great. A Poipole. Solgaleo and Lunala MUST have wanted to see how far they could push her. Usually, they just dumped a random, more common, Ultra Beast somewhere and Celebi had to teleport it to Alola for them to deal with.
Poipole were… less simple to deal with. Especially one that had a mild temporal aura like this one. That meant it belonged.
"Celebi." 'Fuck my life,' she muttered before sighing, putting on the most fairy-esque face she could imagine and flew up to the alien Pokemon. "Bi." 'Hello, young one. I'm Celebi.'
Poipole laughed. "Pole!" 'I'm Poipole! Can you tell me where I am? I'm… lost,' it said, trailing off. "Poi." 'the big steel lion said I was supposed to be here, to meet my new family. But there's no one here!'
'Note to self: forcibly age Solgaleo until he rusts.' Celebi thought murderously.
The Lunar Duo of Alola were as in tune with the effects of the timeline as she was. Of COURSE those two would make something happen. They couldn't go through time as willingly as she did, but that changed nothing.
…Did this mean Ash could've caught this Poipole in the other timeline?
WHY did the Chosen One have to be a pain in the ass?
Celebi sighed before looking at the Poison Pin Pokemon. "Cele." 'Follow me. I think I know where you have to go,' she said.
Poipole cheered happily. Celebi wanted to get a drink. That heavy ale made in the south of Galar sounded like a good idea.
Oak Ranch - 1034 hours local time
"The ball does not lie." Professor Oak said as he looked at the readings, even as the freely released Eevee glared at him hard enough that Snorunt had to use ice beam on her and drag her off to meet the rest of Ash's Pokemon. "Team Rocket's scientists altered this poor thing's genetic structure to make it unable to evolve to one of the successor stages for any longer than a day."
On the vid phone, Ash grimaced along with Serena, the Kalosian having arrived earlier that day and refused to leave Ash's side. Or let go of his hand.
'Yanderes,' Oak thought to himself before sighing. "While this would be a boon for you in battle, I don't think Eevee should be in combat. Ever." he said. "The fact she can't maintain an evolution-"
"That's not my choice or yours, Professor," Ash said, cutting him off. "That's Eevee's choice alone."
Of course his prized pupil would bring that up. "Speaking of lack of choices, your Pokemon have started training with my Dragonite." he said before aforementioned Dragonite returned for more. The noise complaints would be overwhelming in the coming weeks before the Conference. "Your Snorunt is on the cusp of evolving and-" BOOM! "I suspect half of your Pokemon will be joining him." he finished drily as his second Pokemon, a gift from a friend, fought Ash's team.
He hadn't seen the dragon so active in years.
"Anyway, I will be sending her back to you soon. With a gift." Oak then produced a piece of jewelry, which was shaped like part of a Gible's fin, with a clip where the universal notch would be, with a spring in the front position.
"Ok," Ash said, blinking. "What is it?"
"A solution to your Garchomp's depression. This has a piece of eviolite in it." Oak said proudly. "Just slip it onto his fin and… well. You'll see the results."
A black haired man snorted on the other side. "What's evolite going to do for a Garchomp?" he said, crossing his arms.
"You will find out soon, mister…?" Oak trailed off, waiting for a name.
"Kyoji Akamura," he answered.
"Akamura, then."
A block of ice was thrown into the lab and shattered, the genetically engineered Eevee having turned into a Glaceon in the damn thing before she glared at the old man.
"I'm going to send you back to Ash," he said, the Eeveelution gathering ice energy before being returned to her ball. She was going to be mad.
Regardless, he placed the ball and the clip into the transfer machine, the clip being turned to energy and sucked into the ball as a hold item before being transferred back.
"Now, if you excuse me, I have to avoid another-" Oak said as he looked outside, seeing Ash's Swaddle on Dragonite's back, hitting him with mostly ineffective Energy Ball. "Oh, hell."
This would end poorly.
Cinnabar Island - same time
Glaceon popped out of her ball, pissed off. But Ash kneeled down and rubbed her head with his injured hand, the Eeveelution purring at his touch as he removed the clip that was frozen to her back.
"I am really jealous of you," Kyoji said as he watched Ash just pet the Fresh Snow Pokemon. "One touch and they become puddy in your hands."
"Years of handling Pokemon." Ash said before opening Garchomp's ball, unleashing the dragon-type, much to the terror of all in the Pokemon Center.
"Chomp!" 'Ash! You're awake!' he said, smiling.
"And I have something for you," Ash said, holding the clip. "Mind if I put it on?"
Garchomp blinked. "Chomp?" 'It's so small. It won't fit.' he said looking at it before Ash started climbing, his right hand aching as he did.
"Ash! You have to rest your hand or-" Serena started before Kyoji looked at her and tapped her shoulder.
"Lady, please speak Kantonian," he asked before Serena snarled at him for merely touching her. "Sheesh! Freaking yandere."
Ash ignored the pain and slid the clip onto Garchomp's fin before jumping down, Serena rushing over to him and fussing over his hand. "Uh… Serena?" Ash asked nervously. "I'm ok."
"Yandere…" Kyoji repeated before Garchomp glowed, then began...shrinking. "Buh?!"
The shrinking lasted a mere moment before he was the size and shape of a Gible, the glowing stopping before revealing…
"Gible?" 'Huh?' said the reverted land shark, making Kyoji and his own land shark stare at him, then look at each other, then at the Garchomp-in-a-Gible's body.
"Gib-chomp.' Kyoji said, coining this event as such as the aforementioned Pokemon looked at himself.
"Gible? GIBLE!" 'I'm a Gible? I'M A GIBLE!' he cried before looking at Ash's head and jumping into the air.
CHOMP!
Kyoji just stared at the land shark on Ash's head, unable to process this.
"Once again, my dad does something impossible." the Ranseian looked at the entrance to the Pokemon Center, Ash looking with him to see someone he wasn't expecting.
"Hey, dad," said Sabrina as she entered the building, smiling. "I heard you were hurt and thought I'd help you recover."
Kyoji was used to a lot of things in life. Ash Ketchum was a strange experience, but… he liked excitement.
However… seeing this woman… this utterly stunning woman walk in, looking close to his and Ash's age come in, wearing brightly colored clothes and dark hair… and then calling Ash 'Dad' made him do a triple-take at what he was witnessing.
'Dad?' He thought before he paused, 'Wait… didn't Ash say he kinda-sorta brainwashed that psychic woman Sabrina that was…' it clicked in his head as his eyes widened. 'OH SHIT PSYCHIC!' As if on reflex, he began thinking and focusing on something - anything to keep his mind off of her. He knew his mind, and the last thing he'd want to do is offend the deadly but sexy psychic woman that could probably snap his head off with a thought. 'Thinkthinkthink, uh, uhhhh… NEVER GONNA GIVE-YOU-UP! NEVER GONNA LET-YOU-DOWN! NEVER GONNA RUN AROUND AND, DESERT YOU!'
Sabrina drily raised an eyebrow, making an amused smirk. "Really? That song was old when that psychotic bitch was young." she said. "And believe me, I've had to hold off on the urge to snap the neck of anyone that stares at my chest longer than necessary."
Kyoji just closed his eyes - he wasn't trusting himself right now. Like hell he was gonna try and guess how long 'longer than necessary' is in her definition. 'Something else, something else!... Ba-by land shark Dodo dodo dodo, Ba-by land shark Dodo dodo dodo, Ba-by land shark dodo dodo dodo…'
"Speaking of land sharks…" Sabrina said before kneeling and looking at Kyoji's land shark. "I've never seen a yellow Gible."
"Gible!" happily cried the Pac-Gible, making Sabrina giggle.
"Yes, your trainer Is being overly cautious." she said before petting the Gible, making him warble. "You can open your eyes, Mr. Akamura: I'm not going to hurt you if your eyes stray."
…How the hell-
"I'm a psychic: I had my Kadabra translate what he said." she said, answering his half-formed question before picking up the Gible. "Seriously, though: why is he yellow? All Gibles I've seen in the outskirts of Vermillion are purple with red bellies."
Kyoji very cautiously opened his eyes, and did everything in his power to lock his gaze only on her eyes. 'Whatever you fucking do, don't look down.' He thought. "He's… yellow because we're from a… different part of the world." He said. He had to word it as best he could without sounding suspicious - the last thing he'd want is for her to find out about his mission and where he's actually from… among a lot of other things he'd rather a pretty lady-person like her to go poking in his-
'EYES FORWARD!' He mentally berated himself as his his mind and gaze began to wander, refocusing on her eyes again… '...focus on the eyes, the beautiful eyes… are they pink? That's actually really cool… FOCUS!'
"I'm flattered. Usually everyone's too scared of me to say anything about my eyes." Sabrina said before putting Gible down, making him 'Gib!' happily. "Besides, Dad's an open book when he wants to be: he told me while you were panicking in the most adorable way possible."
Kyoji looked at Ash, betrayed. "You're going to be spending time around her, anyways." Ash said, shrugging, the Kalosian girl giving the older psychic a death glare before Ash said something to her in Kalosian.
"He's right: I'm on vacation and want to visit my dad." Sabrina said, making Serena let go of Ash's hand and look her in the eye.
Kyoji felt a bit… worried at the glare the Kalosian Yandere was giving Sabrina… while he knew that if Sabrina was as strong as Ash hinted at, she could probably take her… he's known its a bad idea to underestimate what a Yandere can do when they put their minds to something. He subtly moved a bit ahead of her, ready to jump in if things… escalate.
After a moment, Serena backed down, Sabrina being completely unfazed as she walked back over and grabbed Ash's hand. "Stay as you are, step-daughter." she said in Kantoan.
"I have no intention of being anything but Ash's daughter. Well, that and Saffron Gym Leader once the next league season opens up again." the greenette said before looking at Kyoji again. "So… Ransei?" she asked in the language in question.
Kyoji physically jumped when she started speaking Ranseian "H-how did you do that?!" He spoke in the same language, "We've barely been in the same room for more than two minutes!"
"I'm a telepath: this is kinda what we do." Sabrina replied. "And it's half the reason Anabel started travelling with Ash: to learn how to be… well… more than just the next host for some psionic parasite."
"And the other half?" he asked drily.
"You don't want to look into his head. Apparently, I tried and ended up like this." Sabrina replied with a smile. "I mean, took me a while to relearn a few things, but hey."
"WHERE'D HE GO?!" suddenly cried Serena before the pair turned to find Ash just gone. Sabrina sighed, holding her nose.
"Celebi," she said wearily.
Outside and behind the Pokemon Center, Ash glared at the time traveling Pokemon. "You could have waited." he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Serena's pretty clingy, but I could've convinced her to let me go for a bit."
"Celebi." 'Trust me, with her mind as it is, the only thing you could convince her of is to let you go to the bathroom for three minutes,' Celebi answered, Ash not wanting to know. "Bi." 'She was bipolar back in the old timeline but she had meds for that: throw in some psychic being an idiot and you got this timeline's Serena.'
"You have got to be kidding me." Ash deadpanned.
"Bi." 'It was an accident. Don't worry, it can be fixed, it'll just require, oh, the Lord of the Dead to do it.'
"Anyway…" Ash said, to get back on topic before something slammed into him, nabbing Pikachu.
"Pole!" 'Fuzzy friend!' cried a… whatever it was as it rubbed Pikachu's cheek, making the starter chuckle nervously as it floated above them.
Ash just stared blankly. "Bi." 'Poipole, the Poison Pin Ultra Beast.' Celebi explained. 'The Solar Duo of Alola don't have the ability to see the timeline as clearly as I do, but they know when something is supposed to be somewhere else.'
Ash looked at Celebi when she said this. "You're telling me-" "Bi." 'Apparently, you caught this thing. Or were supposed to. Cyrus and all that.'
The child giggled as it played with Pikachu, flying around in the alley. Ash then drew a new Pokeball from his belt.
"Who am I to argue with destiny?" he said in jest.
"…Celebi." 'Ash, that is literally your JOB. You turn a situation that's supposed to be the end of the world and turn it into a fighting chance to live.' Celebi said, facepalming before going over to the pair, Pikachu looking like he was going to get sick.
"What's his type?" Ash asked, worried for his starter's health if he was turning color like that.
"Bi." 'Poison.' Celebi answered. That made up Ash's mind.
"Nope." Ash said before tossing the ball at Poipole, turning it into energy, the ball shaking violently, making Ash think he was going to need a few balls. And a talk about accidentally poisoning people.
15 minutes later
Five balls and an explanation as to why Poipole had to go into the ball AND why Pikachu looked so sick after a few minutes later, Ash had a unique Pokemon in his possession.
He would have to explain that to Professor Oak.
Before he got the chance to even get to the doors, he was bowled over by Serena, who knocked him to the ground.
"Enjoying being with your new wife?" asked Kyoji with a sly grin as he exited the Pokemon Center.
"Just because I'm being forced to marry her doesn't mean I'm not going to find a better option." Ash said in Ranseian, making Kyoji recoil before he facepalmed.
"Didn't we talk about this?" the shinobi asked, Ash sighing.
"Later." he said before Serena looked at his right hand, grabbing it.
"Your hand! It… looks normal now." she said, finding a lack of patchy skin on it. Ash blinked. Then he attributed it to Celebi and her time abilities.
"Huh. Guess I heal faster then I thought." he said, Kyoji giving him a light glare. "Serena, mind getting off? I need to get my Pokemon for my gym battle with Blaine."
At least he wouldn't have to hunt for a key or look for Blaine's gym.
"It can wait until tomorrow," Serena said before glaring at the Pokemon Center, or rather who was in it, as Ash saw Misty, Anabel and Iris trying to get out of Serena's line of sight.
"May the harem building begin," Kyoji said cheekily. Ash wanted to sic Poipole on him, even if that was a bad influence on him.
Outside the Cinnabar Gym - 1059 hours local time - Day 77
Ash was not a happy camper. Serena was uncomfortably close (for Ash: she was actually keeping back just a bit) while the other girls were forced to his left.
Serena had shown them her crossbow and they wanted nothing to do with it.
"I have never seen anyone so resistant to pretty girls before." Kyoji said from the back of the group to Sabrina, who was holding his Gible and making him a happy land shark. "Anyone back home, they'd see who was the most compatible with. Ash? Nope: he wants nothing to do with it."
"It's self-punishment." Sabrina said, Gible looking up at her curiously. "He could have stopped Cyrus a long time ago, but didn't. That and not wanting to be like his father, obviously." Kyoji gave her a curious look. The gym leader blushed and looked away. "I can read surface thoughts. Looking too deep, THAT is a bad idea."
'Arceus she's cute…' he thought, but quickly shifted his thought. "…well, he did tell us how he met with Giovanni, but according to him he was saying that he wasn't his father - that he was in fact his uncle."
"Uncle?" She glanced back at him.
"Yeah, on his mom's side." Kyoji elaborated, "Said something about how they both started Team Rocket, but her mom left to have a family or something… and it sounded like, according to him, his real father was a nice guy."
"And he probably thinks he's a liar," Sabrina nodded.
"Pretty much," Kyoji sighed, "Normally I'd agree with him, but… in this situation, I can't see what Geovanni would get by lying about that… If anything, he'd get more mileage claiming he was his father and use that as some form of leverage… but from Ash's story, Geovanni's been doing everything in his power to keep Ash safe so his mom doesn't come after him… and when you think about it, if that were a lie, it'd be a terrible one since that would make him seem weak."
"How so?" The psychic tilted her head.
"Well… I'm not sure how the criminal networks here work," Kyoji mused, "But back home, the Yakuza - our equivalent to Team Rocket - would never admit that their organization could be cut down by a single individual - be they a man or a woman. It would be a sign of weakness, and other competitors would use that against them in dealings… it'd be illogical to make such a lie if you want to maintain your own image in the criminal underworld."
"Well, Delia Ketchum IS a very scary lady." Sabrina said. "Former Elite Four. And… well, Giovanni is her brother, but-"
"Good, we can just tell him." Kyoji said before Sabrina grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. "What gives?!"
"He wouldn't believe you. He wouldn't believe ANYONE except his mother. And she's…" Sabrina waved her hand around. "Out of retirement. Apparently, when dad got shot, she went on the war path and hasn't been seen since. That was over a month ago."
"…That's just dumb. We can tell him the truth. You know the old saying." Kyoji said before Sabrina fixed him with a stare.
"He is suffering from so many issues that his psychiatrist is surprised he's able to tie his own shoes, let alone think in a Pokemon battle." Sabrina said. "I'm not going to make things worse. Besides, if Delia is involved, she'll go to Viridian Gym. That's where Giovanni is most of the time. She'll hammer it into his head."
Kyoji still thought it was stupid, but decided to listen to the pretty lady.
Sabrina blushed at that before giggling, making him confused… then he remembered she was a telepath. Why must he be flustered around cute girls?
"Pikachu?" 'So, are you going to improvise like last time?' Pikachu asked his trainer. Ash closed his eyes, thinking about it.
Gible, or Garchomp, was chomping at the bit to fight in a gym battle again, Sliggoo wanted to fight as well, to get ready for his evolution to Goodra.
Charizard was a must: denying him this was stupid at the best of times, suicidal at the worst. It was a good thing he was in his new Pokeball.
Squirtle, for training. He might not want to evolve, but it was not a bad idea. Lapras as well.
Froakie was nowhere near ready for Blaine. None of the newly-recaught Pokemon were, even if Froakie objected.
"Ready to conquer this old timer, me amour?" Serena asked, a sickly-sweet tone to her voice with a fair hint of bloodlust. Ash REALLY did not like it.
"I'm not so sure about conquer. I'll do my best-" Ash said before Serena suddenly hugged him, cooing happily.
"Your fiance-" Misty said, spitting out the word. "Is INSANE." Anabel agreed, even as her Natu tried to filter out her fractured personalities. Apparently, they all argued over everything except him. Well, not true. They all wanted him, they just wanted different THINGS from him that Ash did not want to even consider.
"Uh… can you let go of me?" he asked. Serena looked into his eyes with… a strange mix of puppy-dog eyes and lust. It was WEIRD.
"Beat him. I'll be waiting for you~" she said before letting him go and stepping back, with everyone else doing the same thing towards her. Ash sighed. Well, he was stuck with the insane Serena. Maybe he would get lucky and she'd off him after he dealt with Cyrus.
With that pleasant thought, he knocked on the door, which automatically opened to allow them entry.
"We'll wait in the observation room," Kyoji said, Serena glaring at him for suggesting being seperated from Ash again after being back with him only a short time, but her more reasonable side prevailed and she relented.
Inside Cinnabar Gym - 1134 hours local time
It was hot, dark and most of all humid inside the battle area.
Ash had to navigate a small maze to get to the place, the only way through being answering riddles. And while Ash was not an idiot, he wasn't good at riddles unless they were Pokemon-based.
It took 15 minutes to get past the first one, but the rest were mostly puns based on Pokemon with the last riddle being a poem about Moltres, where he had to guess the bird Pokemon. It was actually hard, given how many flaming birds he'd run into.
But he was here, now.
"Riddle me this!" cried a voice in the darkness. "Coals are my food, for I cannot start fire without them! I am small, but grow to be mighty with stick and flame! What am I?"
Ash thought about this one for a second, even if he could ruin Blaine's fun. But he wasn't a member of Team Rocket or just one of the general villains of the day. He was a gym leader.
Ash looked at the closed off observation deck, covered in reflective glass. THERE was the answer.
"Fennekin." Ash said, remembering Serena's starter couldn't start a fire on her own.
The lights kicked in, revealing Blaine, not in his suit from a few days ago, but a VERY tacky pair of shorts and an Alolan shirt. "Well done! You know your Pokemon, at least." he said, smiling as he leaned on his cane. "But I shouldn't be surprised: you ARE Delia's brat after all."
"What does my mother have to do with this?" Ash asked, getting tired of everyone seemingly knowing his mom. First Brock, then Surge, now Blaine? Who WAS she in this timeline?
"Well, I'll make you a deal: beat me, you get the answer. But I will make this hellishly hot, son!" Blaine said before steam rose from the sides of the arena, making him jump. "Well, I guess the volcano's making a comment on the matter. Good thing we have an evacuation plan in case it blows."
Ash had no comment on that. "So… six on six?" he asked. Blaine laughed at that, as if it was a joke. "I'm being serious!"
Blaine stopped laughing, coughing somewhat to stop himself. "Sonny, I'm one of the oldest and most powerful Gym Leaders in Kanto! Hell, in Kanto AND Johto! And you know how I did that?" he asked. Ash shrugged. "Sticking to a smaller team! I mean, I regretted releasing some of my Pokemon early on, but I gained the most powerful three-mon team in the URN in the doing! I mean, you DID read the sign on the gym doors, right?"
Ash barely noticed a sign on the door, which was actually waterlogged from all the humidity. "…Kinda?" he said, shrugging.
"I need to invest in a metal sign." Blaine said facepalming before getting back to it. "Alright! Three vs your six! I hope you stocked up on burn heals, son!" Blaine then drew a Pokeball, the red and white worn to the steel base before throwing it. "Go, Arcanine!"
The ball popped open, releasing the Legendary Pokemon, called so for the fact that its' loyalty was beyond reproach, who then howled. Ash could see the power in this dog's frame. He needed the right one. He reached for a ball on his right belt, then tossed it. "Go, Gible!" he cried, releasing the land shark, who dove into the ground, popping up his fin before surfacing. "Gible!" 'Ret-to-go!' he cried happily.
Blaine sighed. "I admit. In the cuteness department, your Gible beats my Arcanine." he said, the dog looking back at him before shrugging, as Arcanine were not exactly cuddly. "But a first-stage Pokemon, dragon or not-"
Gible then threw off the evolite clip and started glowing. "Well, shit, someone figured out the evolite trick." Blaine deadpanned as Gible became Garchomp. But that only made him grin. "That just makes it more interesting! Fire Blast!" Arcanine took in a deep breath, igniting the air in his throat.
"Dragon Pulse!" Ash commanded, Garchomp inhaling and spitting out dragonic energy just as Arcanine released the attack.
Kyoji knew little about Blaine, but he wasn't just some riddle-happy old man. He was WAY too spry.
But his current concern was getting Ash to stop being an idiot. And maybe, just maybe, heal his wounds. But there was no magic song to do that. The ladies in his life would ease his pain. Especially given that Rota legalized polygamy thanks to most of their noble houses getting reduced to three or less in the Cipher War. The royal house was allowed as many as were practical, if they ever found a living heir.
The problem was… Serena would kill the three girls here if Ash didn't stop her. Sabrina was barely keeping her from trying. And while Iris wasn't exactly the tsundere from the other timeline - at least according to Ash - he could try and get them together, even if her and Misty somewhat butted heads on occasion.
But to do that… he needed help. He wasn't getting it from Ash and his Pokemon...Pikachu didn't give a shit who as long as there was a who and the ones from the regions the girls came from fought like rabid fanboys for 'their ship'.
'The biggest obstacle is getting Serena to stand down…' He thought to himself, 'If we can at least get her to accept the other girls, we could make this work… I guess if they all came to some mutual agreement that Serena gets first dibs maybe?' He sighed as he shook his head. "Matchmaking is hard…"
"Indeed it is." Sabrina said. "Serena needs to have something stable in her life. Right now, she's getting used to Ash being around full-time. Once her excitement dies down, it should be.. .easier to reason with her." The gym leader crossed her arms under her bust, which only made them better to get a look at. "The bad part about that is it will take weeks, if not months." Kyoji nodded, trying not to look at her. But he did.
"Stop staring at my chest," she said coldly, making him snap his head forward before she giggled. "Relax. To be honest, I'm not even sure how to start a relationship. I mean… dad is dad and all, but… I don't think I'm ready for a romantic relationship just yet. I have to help my dad with his."
'Considering you were a crazy lady last month, apparently, we have our work cut out for us.' he thought.
"Yes, we do." Sabrina replied.
"Would you stop that!" Kyoji hissed, covering his head.
"I'm a telepath, so… no." she said, smiling like a schoolgirl. "It could be worse. I could be like Anabel over there."
Anabel was sitting in front of a garbage can, all thanks to Serena's… crazy.
'We need to deal with that, but the only one that can handle split personalities like that are Pokemon from the Distortion Realm. Giratina, Darkrai, Unown…' Kyoji looked at Sabrina. Her mouth wasn't moving.
Great, she was starting to beam her thoughts into his brain. Next thing he'd know, he'd be signing up to take over the world for psychic supremacy.
'Not worth it: too much work to keep the mundanes in line.' Sabrina 'pathed into his head with a smile.
'I need tinfoil.' he thought morosely.
'That doesn't work on psychics. Believe me, it's been tried.' she replied.
Kyoji sobbed, Gible deciding to try and make him feel better with a nice chomp.
'...Would Gible-'
'He's not a dark-type.' Sabrina said, making him more depressed.
While Garchomp was far younger than Arcanine, he was, perhaps fittingly, the one with more potential.
Garchomp, Goodra and the like did not have the title of 'pseudo-legendary' for simple rarity. It was commonplace for their fully-evolved forms, after a certain amount of time, to seek out the godlike beings of their world to test themselves. Arcanine would need his trainer's instruction and his own instincts to defeat Garchomp.
But, Blaine noted, while he was good, he was also old and slowing, that boon from Moltres or not. Ash Ketchum, on the other hand...Pokemon combat was in his blood. His mother was his student at one point, his father was known to wipe out trainers with ease and Ash seemed to have inherited all that skill.
And he was only two months into his career. Kanto was the smallest of the provinces of the former URN, so something like this wasn't that uncommon, but still.
The explosion of regular and dragonic fire forced Blaine out of his introspections. Now was not the time.
"Take him down!" he commanded, Arcanine rushing into the smoke as normal-type energy surrounded him like a cloak, preparing to use Takedown on the Mach Pokemon.
"Take to the air and use Draco Meteor, shotgun style!" Ash countered, the Mach Pokemon's horns blowing out superheated air to allow him to take flight, his maw generating the orb of dragon-type energy in his maw.
"Play Rough!" Blaine commanded, knowing the fairy-type attack would shield Arcanine from the worst of it, even if it didn't hurt the dragon currently out of his reach.
Garchomp spat out the dragon bomb, which turned into a wide spread of bomblets, exploding around Arcanine, making him somewhat dazed.
"Bulldoze!" ordered Ash as the Garchomp dove on Arcanine, Blaine hastily thinking of a move that would save the round. It wasn't the type energy that was going to hurt. After all, it wasn't the bullet itself that kills you: it's if the bullet is going fast enough. And Garchomp, at a dive, could quickly go to mach 1 in seconds.
"Quickly, use Extreme Speed!" Blaine ordered, Arcanine trying to jump, but Garchomp dove in, slamming into Arcanine fast enough that he was going to feel it for a while after this.
"Chomp!" said the air shark VERY happily before tossing Arcanine in the air, then zooming upwards, his maw open like a shark ambushing a seal.
'Well, it could be worse,' Blaine thought to himself as Garchomp used Bite on Arcanine hard enough to break some of his ribs. 'He could be a Shadow Pokemon.'
"Pikachu." 'THAT was a bit extreme,' Pikachu said, Ash nodding as Garchomp backflipped, landing on his feet.
"Chomp-Chomp!" 'That was awesome! And kinda tiring. I don't think I can do that again,' Garchomp said, sounding dizzy. Garchomp had been training while he was bedridden, but it was mostly him flying around, conditioning his new body, not learning anything new. And it wasn't enough: his stamina was almost the same and he had to rely on Ash's surreal ability to read a fight and unconventional tactics to win.
It helped that Ash had learned to let them act on their own accord in regards to dodging and attacking, only giving commands when he saw something they didn't.
"I think that's enough, Arcanine." Blaine said before returning Arcanine. "If that keeps up, your Garchomp is likely to kill him."
"Chomp!" 'No I won't!' Garchomp objected. He wouldn't kill anything not hurting Ash!
"Think you can fight, Garchomp? Ash asked, not touching that subject.
The young Garchomp shook his head. He may have wanted to fight, but that Arcanine drained him. He would have to work on that. Ash gladly returned him, letting Garchomp rest.
"Well, you certainly don't disappoint!" Blaine said before withdrawing a new Pokeball. "But you haven't won yet!" he opened the ball, releasing a snail seemingly made of lava, which spat it out onto the ground.
"Ma." 'Great. The Ketchum boy. I haven't seen him in years,' the snail, which sounded female, said, glancing back at her trainer.
"Well, Magcargo, you got your wish." Blaine said, grinning. "Show him what you got!"
Ash would figure out that later. "Go, Sliggoo!" he said, tossing out Sliggoo's Pokeball and unleashing the middle-stage snail dragon.
"Goo!" 'Battle time!' he said, scanning the arena. "Sliggoo?" 'This place is hot as hell.'
"Another pseudo-legendary?" Blaine deadpanned.
"He wants to evolve. And yes, I know, he needs a rainstorm, but he needs to train first!" Ash said, cutting Blaine off before he could say anything about Goodra's need for rain.
"Most Goomy either go Goodra or they stay as Goomy. Rarely a middle ground," Blaine said, nodding. "I'm not making it easy, son. Magcargo! Incinerate!"
The lava snail took in a breath, spewing a wall of flame at the dragon-type.
"Rain Dance!" Ash commanded, not that he needed to as Sliggoo was doing it anyway. THAT was not something he wanted to get hit with, not at full power.
The rain clouds formed, water falling from them just as the fire wall hit, Sliggoo flinching from the hit.
"Good, but rain won't help you. I'm not letting you use healing items-" Blaine started before Sliggoo's burns faded away, faster then they were formed. "…Hydration. I hate Hydration. MAGCARGO! SUNNY DAY!"
"Keep using Rain Dance until it sticks!" Ash said, Blaine just staring at him in confusion as the 'weather duel' began, sun and cloud fighting for dominance. This had a side-effect.
It made wind. A lot of wind. A lot of WORRYING wind.
"Oh, hell." Blaine muttered as the struggle continued.
"Sliggoo, spit!" Ash commanded, Sliggoo looking back at him before getting it.
"Sli?" 'Oh, right!'
"Spit? Wait-Magcargo-" Blaine started before Sliggoo spat out a stream of mucus, splattering on Magcargo. Normally, this wouldn't do anything, but as she was getting hit with water, which cooled her skin, it… burned.
"Car!" 'Gah, fuck!' the snail cried as she closed her eyes to stop it from burning. That gave Ash an opening as the Rain Dance stuck.
"Dragon Pulse, then Ice Beam!" he said, Sliggoo breathing in, then blasting out dragonic energy, slamming into Magcargo and sending the snail back, knocking her onto her rocky shell.
"Well, that's unfair." Blaine said before Sliggoo Ice Beamed Magcargo. It hurt less, but that wasn't the problem.
The problem was Sliggoo's lopsided, evil grin before he gathered water energy into an orb.
"Magcargo, get up or-" Blaine demanded before Sliggoo shot off the rain-enhanced Water Pulse, slamming into the snail. Blaine was unwilling to let this go further, returning Magcargo. "That was dirty. Creative, but dirty."
"Use what you've got. I don't think I could beat you in a straight fight." Ash admitted. "And even if I could, Sliggoo would have been hurt too badly for my liking. Your Magcargo will heal a LOT faster then Sliggoo would."
Blaine cupped his chin as he thought about it. "Too true, sonny boy. Still not happy." he replied, before fans kicked in, sucking the clouds out of the gym.
Sliggoo was winded. Willing to fight, but Ash was not allowing him. All of his Pokemon could hit hard, but Sliggoo wasn't Goodra: he couldn't take those hits and keep going. Not yet.
Besides, Ash had a pretty good idea who was up next.
"You're good, Sliggoo. Take a rest." Ash said, returning the snail dragon to his Pokeball as Blaine tossed out a new Pokemon. One Ash knew all too well.
It was the only time Charizard ever obeyed him before that incident in the Orange Islands, as a bipedal Pokemon with a body colored like flame formed from the Pokeball.
He looked at Ash, huffing. "Mag." 'Give me something worthy of my time,' said the Magmar.
…Ash didn't want to enjoy this. But he got a kick out of beating the shit out of arrogant pricks anyways due to his MANY years of dealing with Teams Rocket through Flare. And Magmar SCREAMED arrogance.
"I choose you, Charizard!" Ash declared before tossing out the new ball, releasing the Flame Pokemon onto the field, who roared and breathed out a very healthy burst of flame.
"HAR!" 'About damn time!' Charizard said, beating his wings in anticipation.
Magmar only grinned. "Mar." 'I don't face too many of you. Prove you're worth my time!' he declared before Blaine gave his command.
"Fire Spin!" the old man declared.
"Flamethrower!" Ash countered, Charizard belching flame at the same time as Magmar, the flaming tornado forming between them, making Ash and Pikachu sweat.
"Open the roof! DO IT NOW!" Blaine ordered as the ground under the epicenter of the two attacking Pokemon reached 500 degrees c. While no one had a thermometer to measure it, the fact the rock the arena floor was starting to liquify was enough of a sign that that thing NEEDED TO GO.
Kyoji saw the tornado of fiery death and promptly got everyone the hell out of there, knowing this would be… bad.
Serena resisted until her Pancham and Ash's Riolu (borrowed for just such an occasion) forced her to realize the error of her ways by knocking her out.
She got better once they left the building, with the roof moving to allow the tornado of doom to explode outwards.
"Charizards are scary when they do things like that." Kyoji said as the fireball rose upwards. "So…" he looked at Serena, still fuming at him. "Look, you're Ash's. I'm not going to bother TRYING to fight that. But… can you not be murderous if he talks to a girl?"
Serena reached into a pocket in her dress' skirt, pulling out a pill bottle and putting one in her mouth, swallowing it before sighing. "I have… conditions. And voices. I can barely keep them in check half the time, but… they're all so EXCITED to be near Ash again after so long…" she said, trailing off. "Some want to do things to him. Some want him to do things to us. I'm… just sure I love him."
Kyoji resisted smirking. Progress! It required medication, but any progress was progress.
"So… why don't you tell me how you met him?" Kyoji asked, hoping this would help him gain an insight into Serena's… yanderism.
Yes, he knew this wasn't a word: YOU try figuring out a word that works. (WHACK!)
Serena closed her eyes. "It was nine years ago," she said. "I was four, almost five, he was a bit older. My mom was on some trip in Rota: some trade deal. I didn't care. I just wanted to go home. She left me with Professor Oak, when he was holding some training day."
The heiress' eye twitched. "I was terrified. I didn't know anyone, I was somewhere I wasn't familiar with… I got lost in the woods." she then sighed. "Then I was attacked by a Pokemon. Just a wild Oddish, but I was alone, no one to help me." The girl then made a happy sound. "Then he came, black hair and brown eyes, throwing a rock at the weed before it ran away. And all he did after that was ask if I was ok."
"And… that's how you fell for him?" Kyoji asked. It was so cliche, but sweet.
"Oh, no. It was all the little things after that." she replied. "He spent all day with me, leaving his other friends alone. We talked a lot. He taught me Kantoan, I taught him Kalosian...Before I knew it, I was happy. Then I left, went home. I didn't forget him. And he didn't forget me. We stayed in touch for months before… it happened."
"It?" Kyoji pried before Serena glared at him, making him recoil.
"That's not my place to say. All I was told was something happened to Ash." the Kalosian noble snapped. "I stopped getting letters from him. I thought he forgot me until his mom sent one to me a few years later, saying he was in a bad way, but still cared about me. That's when I fell in love: when he was in the worst way imaginable, HE was worried about ME."
Koyji said nothing. He didn't have a chance before something exploded inside the gym.
Explosions of any kind were never a good thing, as Ash watched the smog clear, finding half the gym floor turned to molten rock and Magmar on his knees with Charizard flapping his wings to hover above the floor.
"At this point, I don't really CARE if you do any damage to this place. I've been wanting to renovate for MONTHS!" Blaine cried. "Just cut loose!"
"Are you sure-" Ash started before Charizard looked at him, his gaze begging to say yes. Magmar did the same to Blaine, who was waiting for Ash.
"…Just don't kill each other." Ash said. "I don't want to fish your bones out of the lava this gym's sitting over."
"Ash, just so you are aware, it's magma: lava is the surface brand of molten rock." Blaine corrected before gesturing towards Charizard with his right arm. "You heard him! Give it all you got!"
"Mar!" 'I've been waiting for this!' Magmar said before inhaling and unleashing a Fire Blast, the star-shaped attack heading for the Flame Pokemon, who just smirked.
"Char!" 'I can do better than that!' Charizard said as he charged up what looked like a hyper beam, only… with fire-type energy?
"What the-" Ash wondered before Blaine's glasses fell off his face in shock, right before Charizard fired.
"BLAST BURN! Magmar, get down!" Blaine ordered as the apparent Blast Burn shot right through the Fire Blast, Magmar not getting down in time, getting a full face of it while Blaine had to hug the ground as it tore through the wall behind him.
"That was not Blast Burn." Ash said. He'd seen Blast burn twice in a row: THAT was a Hyper Beam.
"That damn well WAS Blast Burn!" Blaine said as the back wall of the gym fell away, exposing them to the outside. "Hyper Beam only works with two other elements: fire and water! Frenzy Plant's just fuckin' NUTS."
Ash did not want to know.
Charizard huffed as he recharged, roaring in triumph. But the battle was not over as Magmar stood up, roaring.
Charizard grinned. He was going to ENJOY this. The dragon flapped his wings, rushing towards Magmar. There would be no fancy maneuvering. No dodges, no evading.
This would be a brawl.
Magmar clenched his fists, rushing at Charizard, fire forming in them as Charizard's glowed with draconic energy, rearing back for a punch of his own as the two met in the middle of the field, Magmar's fist slamming into Charizard's muzzle while Charizard's Dragon Claw impacted Magmar's right eye, bones cracking as they broke.
Charizard bit the Spitfire Pokemon in the shoulder, breathing dragonfire onto the fire-type as he did, Magmar's fist repeatedly slamming into Charizard's side, Fire Punch after Fire Punch fracturing and breaking rib after rib.
Charizard tossed him into a wall, the concrete and rebar breaking as the wall dented, Magmar getting up and charging at Charizard, who took to the air once more, charging another Blast Burn.
"Oh, hell." Ash said before drawing Garchomp's Pokeball as Blaine ran out of the soon-to-be-ruined gym's back… hole.
It wasn't illegal to use another Pokemon while a battle was ongoing so long as that Pokemon didn't DO anything to aid in the fight. Garchomp would be used to avoid the literal tons of molten rock Charizard was about to force up as he fired, the beam in excess of however hot Blast Burn could get to instantly turn rock to lava.
About 2500 degrees kelvin. (WHACK!)
Charizard grinned as Magmar sank into the lava, floundering like a liferaft in a storm.
He'd survive: Magmar lived in lava in the wild. And if he was right… things would get interesting.
The rock exploded like a cannon was shot out of it, a large roaring Magmar-looking Pokemon with cannons for arms emerging from the pool.
Charizard liked a good fight. He, like Ash, also liked a FAIR fight, that Sliggoo thing just being his way to keep the snail from getting too badly hurt. Magmar was only a second-stage Pokemon to his final stage: it wouldn't be satisfying, or fair, to beat a Pokemon like that.
He would be in severe pain for a few days while he healed. It would be worth it as he dove at the Magmortar, roaring and laughing.
He loved a good fight almost as much as he loved his mate. One step closer to winning her heart again.
Ash, on Garchomp's back, watched as Charizard dove in and tackled the newly-evolved Magmortar, flying them both into the volcano's slope.
"The League is going to kill me." Ash said as the two Pokemon punched, kicked and in blasted each other with dragonfire and regular fire.
It was brutal. It was so… uncivilized.
But the Magmortar got what he wanted.
"Pika." 'I don't think they'll mind. I mean, Charizard tore down that gym for Blaine.' Pikachu said, hanging onto Ash's shoulder.
"Chomp…" 'I'm torn. I want to be the little land shark… but that's AWESOME,' Garchomp said as Charizard grabbed Marmortar from behind, cackling all the while, looking at Ash to just give the word.
"SEISMIC TOSS!" Ash yelled. Charizard BEAMED with violent glee before climbing higher. And higher.
Eventually, the pair climbed high enough that Ash couldn't see them until about a second later, when they came back down, spinning, Charizard's roaring, while intimidating to all, to him was merely joyous laughter as he released Magmortar, who was still glowing with fighting-type energy as he slammed into the side of the volcano, making a small, but very visible, crater.
Garchomp set them down outside the gym, Serena and Misty being the first to approach, the latter to just congratulate him, the former… let's say it was a good thing he hadn't returned Garchomp yet as she latched onto him.
Kyoji was staring at the volcano, specifically the new crater on the side, then at Charizard, who was tired, in pain, but clearly VERY happy.
"That… was awesome." he said, before one of his Pokeballs activated, releasing another Charizard. Somewhat older, but less battle hardened.
He looked at the crater, Kyoji pointing at Ash's Charizard as if saying 'he did it'.
Ash's near-dragon landed, weary, but ready for more.
Kyoji knew Charizard. He was as interested in awesome things as he was. And Ash's flame dragon slammed a Magmortar into the side of a volcano from an altitude a hell of a lot higher than fifteen thousand feet, give or take a foot.
His Charizard's eyes gleamed. But Charizard would wait to fanboy over his new senpai. The guy needed to rest.
Cinnabar Island PMC - 1245 hours local time - Day 78
It was 'suggested' that Ash spend a night getting an excessive amount of water into his system. Sliggoo and Garchomp as well, especially Sliggoo, who was back at the Ranch, soaking in a pool. Garchomp just used the evolite and… basically turned into a land shark water balloon.
Even Serena, who Gible wasn't a fan of, thought it was adorable as sin as he rolled across the floor.
Everyone stared at him and how he could be so cute, Ash smiling as Gible eyesmiled, then rolled outside, sluggishly digging into the ground just as Blaine entered, looking a bit charred, but still kicking, carrying a small box with the assistance of a young Magby. "Ash Ketchum, I damn well hope you're in here!" he yelled, making all in the Pokemon Center flinch, with Ash as the exception as he just stood up.
"Here, sir." he said before the gym leader and his young assistant approached him, Blaine taking off his shades with a grin.
"Young man, you gave me a run for my money, and your Charizard certainly gave me an excuse to remodel my gym." the old man said, Magby offering the box. "That being said, your big dragon has a long while to go, promise or not. On that note…" Blaine flipped the latch on the box, opening it, revealing that it contained massive polished gemstones, all with different colors and all with a double-helix at their core, with one very small pearl, also with a double-helix within.
"Mega Stones? And a Key Stone?" Ash asked, confused as to why Blaine would give him Mega Stones of all things. "Why?"
"Because I can't use them and you can!" Blaine said, laughing. "I don't have a Charizard or a Pidgeot and I'm not getting a Sceptile or Gyarados. I don't even know what the other two are for! Maybe a true Master like yourself will find them more useful!"
Ash blinked. A Master? He wasn't even close. To him, a Pokemon Master always won the Leagues he fought in. Ash hadn't even won one.
"I'm no master, Blaine." Ash said, doubt in his voice. "I just started." The old man just chuckled, putting his hand on Ash's shoulder.
"You are. A Pokemon Master isn't some type-specialist. He is a jack of all trades that just so happens to be the master of all." Blaine said. "I've seen your gym battle footage. You had type-disadvantage and still beat your opponents. I have no idea how you survived Sabrina's onslaught or made her how she is now, but even your two losses to Brock weren't due to your own failings, but your Pokemon not having something down pat. Your tactics were sound, your faith in your Pokemon total. You are your mother's son."
Ash didn't agree. Six league failures begged to differ. A dead timeline begged to differ.
"Now, there's a ferry to Pallet Town leaving tomorrow and your siblings are no doubt wanting to see you." Blaine said, 'suggesting' Ash's next action. "That and I have no doubt after beating me, you've got Giovanni in your sights."
Ash's doubt burned away, replaced with cold hate and loathing for the man he believed to be his father. "You have no idea." he said.
Viridian Gym - 1345 Hours local time
Rockets dressed as regular trainers packed their gear, preparing to hide until Giovanni called once more, the boss himself ordering the destruction of all Rocket-related items built into the facility.
That Mewtwo stasis tank was to be armored to the point of madness and equipped with a teleport dampener. NO ONE was getting that thing out without a small army.
"Go underground. I don't care how far you have to go, just do it." Giovanni ordered, having a new plan to avoid his sister's wrath: take control of the underworld and hand over the keys to Lance. You couldn't eliminate crime, just regulate it.
The doors to the gym opened, making all the grunts draw their weapons and point them at the intruder.
They then dropped them in terror at who walked in.
An otherwise motherly looking woman with brown hair and eyes, dressed in jeans, a jacket and simple shirt, a rifle hung over her shoulder with a younger woman that looked like her, only with long and incredibly frizzy black hair tied into a ponytail with a black jacket and matching skirt.
"Hello, brother." said Delia Sakai-Ketchum, her smile hollow and expression anything but cheerful. "I think you and I need to have a discussion."