SS Libre bow section, moving across the Orrean Desert - 0736 hours local time - Day 161 of Ash Ketchum's Journey
Two peons sat in a tent, waiting for their Taillow to finish their search for Ketchum's hideaway.
"Hey." said the female peon, wearing maroon armor to her orange-wearing counterpart, who was laying down and almost asleep.
"Yeah?" he replied, half-asleep and very bored. Being brainwashed didn't cure that, it only made them zealous towards their god.
"You ever wonder why we're here?" she asked, actually curious.
"It is a good question. Why ARE we here? Why did Arceus create the human race? Does Arceus even exist?" he postulated, Maroon giving him a look.
"What? No! I meant here, in this desert!" she yelled, gesturing to the outside. "What was all that about questioning the existence of the Grandfather of All?!"
Orange shrugged. "Has anyone seen Arceus in thousands of years?" he asked, making the woman stop before actually thinking about it. He had a point.
"True...but…" she stopped as she saw the shadow of something approach the tent. "Hey, what the-"
It then slammed into the flimsy structure, hooking onto it before dragging it along. "SON OF A BITCH!" both of them yelled as they were dragged along.
"ROAD KILL!" Butch and Cassidy called out as the Libre's bow, or the Parrot Express as they were calling it, hit the tent.
"You know they're not dead yet, right?" James asked as he put sunscreen on his face, then a very dark pair of sunglasses. "The authors might let those two live. It's really up to them."
"Yeah, we know, but it's fun to say." Cassidy said, aware of the wall smashing. "I mean, they haven't been using you three as punching bags for a while now."
Jessie huffed as James began applying her skin protection. "We're not in the line of fire as much because we're supposed to be in the background, keeping Ash out of trouble he can't get out of!" she snapped.
It also keeps you out of our combined line of fire. You got him into more trouble than was necessary in the series and we're not happy with that. He had the local team to deal with; he didn't need YOU as well.
"We got better!" James retorted. "You wouldn't've included us if we didn't!"
I was in a pitying mood when that happened. Be glad for the scenes you get.
"Well, you'd been stalking Ash trying to get his Pikachu for decades." Cassidy said, shrugging. "Twenty-three, at the current date. After a Pikachu, which isn't that uncommon. Any WONDER they consider you as the bottom of the barrel."
You two aren't any better. More competent, but just as successful. Which is not very.
"Backhand or not, we'll take the compliment for what it is." Butch said before he saw Ash approach. "And there goes our conversation with the authors."
For now.
Ash walked towards the bow of the psychically-propelled wreck, where the Rockets were sitting, apparently having a bit of a conversation.
He had little ill-will towards the usual trio that chased him around, what little there was being mild annoyance that they hadn't left Team Rocket and were STILL after Pikachu (seriously, one rooftop blowout thanks to a Pikachu overcharge and you get them after you for nearly a decade) while Butch and Cassidy… well, he didn't hold any real hate to them either. He saw them less and they were never after Pikachu directly. They were also about as successful as the TRio whenever he was around.
And he got his wish in the end: they were out of the thieving business. They were still stalking him, but they weren't trying to steal Pikachu or any other Pokemon in his company. He'd take what he could get.
"Hey guys!" he called out, getting them to notice he was on approach.
"Need something, twerp?" Butch asked, getting glares from the usual TRio at that. "What's that for?"
All three closed their eyes and pointed a singular finger upwards. "WE are the only ones that get to call him 'twerp'." Jessie said haughtily. "It is the way of things."
"Indeed!" James added. "It's a sign of our relationship with the Boss' nephew!"
Butch rolled his eyes. "You three are fucking WEIRD," he muttered. "So, when are we getting to where we're going? The near-endless sand is threatening to burn my retinas."
"The base is near the Ferran border, so… another day or so?" Ash said. "I wouldn't know: I don't know how big the desert is. Or what Ferrum is."
All five rockets groaned. "Fucking commies!" they said as one. Ash did not get it.
What the hell was a 'commie'?
Oak Ranch, Pallet Town - 0831 hours local time
Turning a liability into an asset was sort of an Ash Ketchum Pokemon staple, not that Eevee knew this as she turned into a Vaporeon and blasted a Water Gun at Meowth, blinding him and allowing her to seek cover.
With the serious exceptions of Snorlax, Grotle (eventually Torterra, as much as he didn't like it, he knew it was going to happen eventually and was resigned to it) and Torkoal, almost all of them were low defense/high speed fighters and Ash turned that into an advantage and even the ones that weren't glass cannons were still speed-biased in the end.
After a talk with Monferno, she started to agree. So what if she couldn't hold a second evolution for longer than a few minutes? She didn't NEED to! She could turn into all seven of her kind's potential stages and swap them out at will.
Much to the annoyance of her two sparring partners, who were ROYALLY pissed off at her for changing types on a whim, becoming immune or resistant to their attacks.
"SPEAR!" 'YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET THIS, CHILD!' Spearow cawed, almost like his mad flock from all those months ago. Fortunately, he wasn't infected with prions, so he wasn't like them in that way.
He was just pissed off that Eevee was putting him through hell worse than anything Ivysaur could think of.
Meowth, too, was livid, his fur filled with dirt and clumps and bags under his eyes. "Meow…" 'When this is over, you will burn.' he declared, Eevee chuckling as she turned into a Flareon, smirking.
"Flare!" 'Go ahead! Try it! Fire only makes me stronger!' she cackled as Spearow charged at her, talons out as he lunged at the fiery Eeveelution, before spinning and using Drill Peck, only for Flareon to turn into Jolteon and deflect him away with a low-powered Discharge.
Nearby and making notes on Ash's Tauros was Belladonna, who stopped as wind blew past her, tearing her ribbon off and making her hair fly all over the place, making her look almost like a swimmer instead of a researcher's assistant.
"What in the name of the gods is going on over there?!" she demanded as the Tauros herd moved off, marching towards Snorlax for their favorite game of ramming speed, which consisted of all of them ramming into Snorlax's gut at once.
It was a behavior that only started after Ash went to Orre and she was wondering what the hell that was about before deciding to find out why Spearow used Whirlwind or something and ruined her ponytail. It took her a long time to get those sorts of things!
Trees were upturned as a massive form charged out of the forest, knocking her over, the crested and long-billed shape of a Fearow ascending into the sky, Ash's odd-as-hell Eevee clinging to his underbelly.
Belladonna sighed. "Brother, WHY do you have the weird ones?" she muttered as something laid on her legs. She sat up to find the Aloan Meowth also owned by Ash sleeping on her feet.
This was a sign the family she was a part of was VERY screwed up, discounting the whole royal connections and all that.
She just hoped Red's Pokemon would be less maddening.
He had to admit it. He wasn't planning on it, but it happened as he was so LIVID he wanted Eevee to pay for the hours of sleep he hadn't gotten.
Speaking of the fluffball…
"Eevee!" 'I have you now!' said the normal-type as she clung to the massive bird's back, Fearow turning his head slightly before gaining a glint in his eye. Eevee blanched. "Vui…" 'Oh, hell.' Fearow then rolled over, dumping Eevee off his back.
"FEAR!" 'That's for keeping me up for nearly two days straight!' he declared before realizing one problem.
Eevees… didn't have a flying-type evolution. He did not think that one through as he dove for the fluffy normal-type, intending to fix his mistake.
Mid-dive, however, a red and black avian caught Eevee, both of them tumbling into the lake, where Dratini and Goodra were having a game of 'ice the dragon'. It was pretty much what you think it is: each dragon-type trying to hit the other with ice-type attacks.
Due to the power gap, Goodra was intentionally missing and taking more hits from Dratini's Powder Snows then he was hitting Dratini with Ice Beams.
That meant little to Swellow and Eevee as they hit the water, drenching both dragon-types, though they didn't mind, as one lived in water and the other absorbed it.
"Goo?" 'Do I want to know?' the Dragon Pokemon asked before he saw Fearow land at the edge of the lake. This set Goodra on edge, as he and all the others were AWARE of the Spearow Incident in both timelines. "Goodra." 'If you're Ash's Spearow after evolving, speak now or get iced.'
Dratini poked his head above water, looking annoyed. "Dra!" 'You better be a friend…' he trailed off.
Fearow had the decency to look guilty. "Fearow." 'My fault. I dropped her from ten thousand feet.' he said sheepishly.
Eevee turned into a Vaporeon and poked her head above the water. "Pore." 'In his defense, I had him awake for two days straight, so he wasn't in his right mind.' said the aquatic Pokemon before she walked onto land and turned back into an Eevee. "Vui!" 'Now I have to test this against Charizard!' With that, the brown fluffball ran off to find the third-or-fourth most powerful Pokemon at the Ranch, discounting Pikachu being with Ash, Oak's Dragonite and Hunter J's Salamence, who was… learning his place in the pecking order.
Salamence cowered in fear as the two Pokemon slowly walked towards him, one pink and balloon like, the other like a Pikachu.
And no matter what he did… he couldn't hurt them!
"Mi!" "Puff!" 'Hiiiiiii.' the two fairy-types said before Salamence screamed in terror.
Cipher Factory, on the Ferran/Orrean border - 1354 hours local time - Day 162
Venus was a woman past her prime. The former diva and model still looked young, vibrant and beautiful, but that was only because, like all Admins of Cipher, with the exception of Lovrina, who instead had a family to take up the title, she underwent the Chansey overcharged Heal Pulse treatment.
Her loyalty was not in question, but Wes defeating her robbed her of her true fighting spirit. She had no desire to go out in the name of Yveltal and fight for the empire anymore. So she sat out of the Second War of Expansion, merely churning out Shadow Pokemon after Shadow Pokemon from the facilities throughout Orre until the Unovan retaliation, barely surviving.
"You seem as depressed as usual." Venus didn't even acknowledge Dakim's jab as he entered the observation room, Venus sitting in a chair flanked by Peons on guard duty. "Why do you not show pride in our work?!"
Venus sighed before looking over her shoulder, her idol-esque outfit long replaced with a simple Nihon-style yukata. "I was beaten, Dakim. Three times." she answered before just staring at their pride and joy of a project. "And we didn't defeat him in battle. We dragged him and his wife out of bed in the night and shot them in cold blood." Venus sighed. "You're the martial artist. Where is the honor of doing such a thing to a worthy opponent?"
Yes, she bitched the times she was beaten, but she was not petty, viewing Wes as someone that had to be beaten in battle, outwitted in combat, not dragged out like a thief in the night and shot in the head without ceremony.
Dakim flinched at the comment. It stung his pride, too. "There is no honor in such an act. But he stood in the war of the rebirth of the Empire." he half-heartedly reasoned away. A lie on his part. He was the first to object to the cold-blooded murders-and yes, it WAS murder, no matter what Nascour or anyone else said-of Wes and Rui Leo as well as Michael Ryuto and his wife.
At least the great-grandchild of both of them lived. Robin, the one with the blood of the two men that defied Cipher. A shame she was not one of them. Venus would have welcomed her as a sister in arms.
"How is he?" Dakim asked, looking at their project. Venus sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You and I both know they don't have genders save the personality." she said. "IT is contained. But I don't want to ever unleash this abomination."
Dakim turned to look at her. "Abomination? This is the greatest Shadow Pokemon since Lord Yveltal!" he exclaimed. "A Legendary!"
Venus scoffed. "An insult to his name. There should only be one Shadow Legend." she said, XD-001's corrupted form hanging in containment cuffs, a collar around the neck and suspended by cables. "Only Yveltal."
Dakim nodded. "Understandable." he said, not agreeing but not calling her a heretic either. "Vengeance is at hand. A century overdue. But Orre WILL rule this world again."
Venus could not bring herself to care. So they conquered the world. It wasn't worth it if the only things in their way were long since dead.
Parrot Express - Ferran/Orrean border - 1400 hours local time
The keel of the Libre gently hit the ground, the Natus and Xatu being exhausted from their extended telekinetic trip. So when all of the natus and their pirate-hatted evolved self actually closed their eyes and started sleeping, that was a shock to all.
"Holy shit, they CAN close their eyes." Surge said as he and his red Magneton examined the birds.
"Mag." 'Statement: the birds can now be electrocuted.' the red abomination said before mud was splattered onto it. "Mag!" 'OWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOOWOW!'
"Phanpy." 'Don't hurt the parrots.' said Ash's Phanpy, who transferred in the day before for a bit of vs Pikachu training. And to discourage Surge's team from doing something stupid like electrocuting the parrots.
Surge just looked at Ash. "The hell did your elephant say?" he asked, wiping the mud off his rusted assassinator. "I know you got that Pokespeech translator, so out with it."
"Don't hurt the Natus. We're going to need them to get out of here." Ash said, adding to Phanpy's statement before returning him and transferring him out for his own Natu, knowing this was going to be an infiltration thing and he might need Natu's teleporter powers.
The parrot then released herself from the ball, nesting on Ash's head and daring anyone to remove her with a glare that made even Surge back off.
Ash checked his team. Pikachu, Riolu, the reluctantly-caught Meltan, Natu, Gligar and Totodile. While not as powerful as any team he could build, they were more for speed and quickly taking down patrols, not a brawl with a physical god. If that was the case, he would've brough Goodra, Charizard and Gible to replace Meltan, Gligar and Totodile.
Meltan… he wasn't entirely happy with that, but he had a message from Professor Oak telling him to not release the steel-type legendary or there would be consequences. The old man did not make threats that often and Ash didn't want to find out.
On the Olympic, Samuel Oak sneezed as he looked at photos of Ash as a baby.
Embarrassing blackmail was always the best option, especially if Ash didn't know what he was being blackmailed with!
Still, Meltan was small and barely made a sound as he moved. Perfect for stealthy things like breaking into a Pokemon torture factory. He still intended for him to be free once this was all over. Be anything like Tobias he would not.
"The entrance to the facility was nearly destroyed during my great-grandfather's assault here nearly a century ago." Robin said, checking her revolver. "Regardless, Cipher might have repaired it or put in another one. We should be prepared for all possibilities."
Ash sighed as he attached the holster for his homemade pistol to his leg, hoping not to have to draw it and maybe leave it in Orre to the desert after he was done. "And what does it look like?" he asked, Pikachu hopping onto his shoulder.
"I honestly do not know." she answered. "Apparently, we'll know it when we see it."
Normally, Ash would've loved hearing that line, but given everything over the last seven months, he dreaded it.
It was also that time for what may as well have become his catchphrase nowadays.
"I hate this timeline." he muttered.
RMS Olympic - 1159 hours local time
Who knew getting kissed by a girl would be so confusing? Especially since in both timelines, Misty was never interested in girls.
The only boys she showed any interest in she quickly LOST interest in, save Ash, as she spent years travelling with him, learning that the passing interests in those boys were just that: passing, because she didn't know them. And after going home, she learned they REALLY weren't her type. And Misty had… issues in this timeline, compounding the problem and only solidifying that Ash was the man for her.
The Misty of this timeline was nearly back to her old state, thanks to her Astral self, allowing her to be brave enough to survive without Ash and helped her be assertive enough to kiss him on New Island.
And now someone else kissed her. And not just someone else: Serena, a girl that in the past timeline, she considered a bit of a rival for Ash's affections. May and Dawn weren't a serious enough threat in her opinion and Iris needed to get over herself to confess. Serena's only issue was bravery. And she proved that kissing him in the other timeline before any human girl could.
And she was now questioning whether or not she wanted to do it more, as she watched Gyarados and other Pokemon blast away at the minefield.
'You are not honestly considering making out with her, are you?' her astral self asked, sitting on the railing. 'She is, quite possibly, one of the most warped people I have ever MET! And I have met a LOT of people in my time. Dr. Yung, Mewtwo before Ash died-'
"I am WELL aware, me." Misty cut off, looking around to see if anyone else was around. Last thing she needed was to be thrown in the padded room on board. Thankfully, anyone that was nearby was too busy treating their Pokemon or preparing for a training session in the ship's gyms. "But… she had a point. What if us fighting-"
'You honestly think they're all going to stick around?' Astral Misty asked, eyebrow raised. 'I'm serious: I want to know.'
The flesh and blood Misty gave her a look. "Yes. Iris can't go back or she'd face a bunch of government goons that would scream at her until she was cowering in a corner and would get sent back to Opulucid, Anabel's got nowhere to go and the Battle Frontier won't be set up for another year and Serena's engaged to him!" she answered. "And us? As long as our sisters have the gym and aren't incompetent, we won't end up running the gym." The redhead then looked at herself. "Know what, I don't give a damn if I'm a gym leader. Ash didn't care and he still thought of me as a friend. I'll take over the gym when he becomes a champion or something."
'And Serena?' Astral Misty asked. 'What are you going to do with her?'
The living redhead looked at her ghostly counterpart. "Experiment. You know she's right. And if I happen to like it…" she said, looking out to sea. "Well, all the better for Ash. He needs… no, deserves this. Seven years of near-constant stress, trauma and pain… He deserves better. So if I have to learn how to be bisexual just to heal him, so be it."
Serena sipped tea as she watched her Pokemon train with their counterparts from Lorelei's team. While they were more performers then fighters, as she had learned, combat was inevitable and while she would learn tactics from Ash, she was not an expert in how to train Pokemon for battle and knew it.
'Yeah, if we let Pinky in the driver's seat, she'd just torch everything with Braxien.' Jade said, Serena and the Himedere persona in joint control to prevent themselves from turning into a worried mess, because these were Elite Four Pokemon and they were VERY worried for their collective health.
Rey had said they were worrying for nothing: the Elite four Pokemon knew what they were doing and would not hurt them on purpose. But Serena's core couldn't help but feel worried when Dewgong hit Braixen with a Hydro Pump that nearly slammed her into the railing or that strange Sandslash attacked Sylveon.
It was irrational, but fear was irrational.
"Hi." Serera looked to her side, seeing Misty stopping before her, looking shy and a blush dusting her cheeks. Jade started giggling and wanted to be on the forefront. Serena closed her eyes and hushed her living libido. This was likely going to be serious.
"Misty." Serena greeted with a nod and a smile. "How can I help you?"
Misty looked away, her blush reddening further. "I've been… thinking about earlier." she admitted, Jade clawing to the forefront only to be forced back for the moment by Rey. "And you're right about all of us being needed to help heal Ash's mental wounds. And that if we do something wrong, we'll only make it worse."
"Like fighting?" Serena asked rhetorically. After all, Iris and Misty would fight constantly once the former was closer to her previous timeline's self. It would eventually grow out of control and Ash was very sensitive to these sorts of things.
The redhead nodded. "So… I want to learn." she said. "I mean… That is-"
"To be bisexual?" the blonde asked, much to Misty's embarrassment. "You're blushing. That means you were already sort of open to the idea. Even if it's discouraged in your region." Homosexuality was frowned on in Nihon as somewhat unnatural. Not shamed or ridiculed, but certainly frowned on. It was a cultural thing. "Well… you're open to it. Part of me is pleased as punch."
'PLEASED?! I'm ECSTATIC!' Jade yelled. 'I mean, we get Ash AND a sexy redhead! And if we're lucky, a bit more…'
Jade WAS Serena's libido given voice and it showed.
But having Misty as an eventual girlfriend was a bonus. Ash's mental stability was her priority.
And as she noted before, he was on the very edge of what he could handle.
Orrean/Ferran Border - 1432 Hours local time
It was once called the key lair for Cipher. A facility designed to break Pokemon into Shadows of themselves.
Michael Ryuto wrecked it, taking Cipher decades to restore it to functioning state. And now that it was, Ash and Robin were going to actually DESTROY it. There was just one problem.
There were enough patrols to make getting in to make getting past a minefield look easy and the only gap was a massive pile of rocks...that they couldn't get past without alerting nearby patrols.
"Surprising they got competent here." Robin deadpanned as she examined the patrol routes, only finding one weak link in a two-man team who were more interested in arguing over Yveltal's position in the Legendary Pantheon then doing their jobs. "Then again, this IS their only production facility in Orre. Or on the face of the planet." And Ash was thankful the secret to mass Pokemon corruption was only limited to Orre. And he DAMN well hoped it was that way.
The natural method could be cured. Massive production of pissed off monsters was not something he wanted.
"So, we need to get through the main entrance." Ash said, looking at the main pathway leading to the massive pyramid complex. "Which has no cover, no hiding spots and is in full view of the patrols."
Robin thought about it as she looked at the building. "We could tunnel under the facility, get in that way…" she mused as Ash spotted the two-man patrol stop and have another argument.
He tapped her shoulder. "I have a better idea." he said, pointing at the two arguing idiots.
One high-grade Thundershot later, both grunts were unconscious and stripped of their uniforms, dumped into a ditch and their helmets having their brainwashing magnets removed.
Robin still didn't get why Ash hid away behind a bush. Again, privacy was a luxury and outside toilet facilities, there were no doors in the tunnels under Gateon Port. Men and women had to learn to deal with that sort of thing.
Still, she tucked her hair under the helmet, which hid most of her features while Ash struggled putting his on.
"Problem?" she asked, looking all the part of a peon.
Ash winced. "Yeah. I don't want to put Pikachu in his ball." he answered. "It hurts him. A lot."
Ah, that. She knew Pikachu was a Shadow Pokemon, likely born with the corruption, yet strangely sane. "The Pokeball wasn't designed to hold Shadow Pokemon. Their corrupted energy interacts with the mechanisms in the ball and causes them greater pain." she explained. "I don't know the details. I only know that it does."
"Pika." groused Pikachu, Ash sighing.
"No choice, buddy." he said. "They don't let their Pokemon out unless needed. I'll let you out as soon as we're inside, though."
The mouse accepted this and allowed himself to be sucked into his ball, which Ash clipped to his belt before putting the helmet on.
Now they could move on.
30 minutes later
Inside the seeming fortress, there was something dangerous. He was small, angry and prideful, armed with a deadly weapon.
And he had broken out. Again. This was starting to get old, as the dark brown bird used his massive leek to smash open a door.
And ran into another squad of Cipher Peons as soon as he got in.
"Son of a-" they all exclaimed, cut off by an enraged warcry.
"FEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHH!" cried the Galaran Farfetch'd as he lunged at them, leek charged with Night Slash at the ready, the veins in his eyes making them almost look red.
The first one of the mooks got his chest caved in, armor being useless against a ghost-type attack, another reaching for a pistol before the leeksbird swung again, Rock Smash breaking the legs of another one and sending the other two to the ground, all three crying out in pain before the bird prepared to end their lives.
Electricity then slammed into the peons, making them twitch like frogs before falling silent, alive, if crippled.
"Bit much, Pikachu." said a male voice as Farfetch'd looked down the hall, seeing a Peon removing his helmet, a Pikachu ready for war at his side, sparking after unleashing a Thunderbolt on them with another peon, a female, removing her helmet.
"Pikapi." 'Ash, the last thing we need is a bunch of brainwashed idiots sounding alarms.' the Pikachu said, Farfetch'd looking at him and his trainer in confusion. The human wasn't a Cipher Peon. He'd be spouting the same nonsense about him being better as a Shadow Pokemon if he were. The Pikachu was a Shadow, but not… insane.
"Ok, true, but-" "Ash, there is a weird Farfetch'd staring at us." the girl said, tilting her head in confusion. "The leek is massive."
Farfetch'd took that personally. "FETCH!" 'I am a proud Galaran warrior!' he cawed. "Far!" 'Show some bloody respect, ye dumb c-'
"He said he's from Galar." Ash said, cutting the bird off. That was too exact. He could understand him? And the Pikachu? Interesting.
"Far." 'Tell me, boy.' Farfetch'd asked, putting his leek on his shoulder, judging the one in front of him. "Fetch'd." 'Why are you here? And what are your intentions?'
The boy, Ash, Farfetch'd reminded himself, looked into his eyes. THAT instantly won his respect: no human was willing to look him in the eye. But the intensity, the willingness to accomplish a goal… This pleased the Wild Duck.
"I want to level this place. To free every Pokemon here and make sure Cipher can NEVER corrupt another Pokemon again." Ash answered. "Does that answer your question?"
Farfetch'd nodded. He was VERY impressed. Perhaps he would join this human later on. For now, though… "Far." 'There is a creature here we must deal with, then.' he said, turning around. "Fet." 'Come with me. I only know where it lies. Not what it is.'
Ash looked to the girl, saying something to her, but he didn't care to listen. Only that now he had allies.
"I have a very good idea what he's leading us to." Robin said as they followed the Galaran Farfetch'd. So did Ash, but he wanted to remain hopeful that he was very wrong.
"Pika." 'It's got to be that Lugia.' Pikachu added, not that Ash wanted it.
"Can we remain optimistic, please?" he asked them both. "For all we know, it's something helpful. Like Xerneas."
Robin gave him a look for that. "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment." she recited.
"Orre has all the cheer of a graveyard." Ash deadpanned as they followed the Pokemon he was privately nicknaming 'Fetchy' towards a vent hatch.
"Fetch." 'It's on the other side of this wall.' the bird said as they gave him a look. "Far." 'And yes, I am well aware you can't climb through vents. Not without being noisy as all hell. Just blow a hole in the wall or something; I did it.'
His whitehaired companion looked at Ash. He translated. "And attract the attention of every Peon in this base?" she asked. "No. We need another option."
Ash pulled out a Pokeball and looked at Farfetch'd. "Mind acting as a guide for someone?" he asked the bird.
"Far?" 'Depends. Who?' Farfetch'd asked. Ash's response was to open the ball and unleash the Pokemon within.
Which happened to be a green bird with yellow and black wings and a little violet feather on her head. "Natu." 'I am the parrot.' said the psionic pokemon.
"Ha ha, Natu." Ash said before looking at Farfetch'd. "Take her up to an overhang big enough for us. She'll teleport back here and take us there."
Farfetch'd just stared at the parrot. Pikachu chuckled. "Piiiii." 'He's stunned by her beauty.' he laughed.
"Natu." 'I know. I'm sexy.' the parrot answered before pecking the duck. "FETCH!" 'I'm awake!' cried the duck.
"Natu." 'You can pay attention to me later. For now, I believe you want to help my trainer with something?' the parrot asked.
The fighting-type nodded. "Fetch." 'Aye, this way.' said the duck as he ripped the cover off, climbing into the vent, Natu hopping inside and following.
Robin was just confused. "What was with the Farfetch'd?" she asked.
"Remember your odd feelings?" Ash asked, knowing the girl was in love with him and slowly but surely turning into something like Janine, only more interested in bedroom activities.
The whitehead nodded.
"Basically that, except he knows EXACTLY what he's feeling." Ash answered. He just hoped nothing would happen.
Natu knew the fighting-type was interested. There was a reason. He could see past her round fluffy core and saw a being of power.
All Pokemon were interested in a powerful mate. And they were in the same egg group. He could also tell Ash was the Chosen of Arceus and the Chosen's team were not comprised of Pokemon that just knew how to be pretty.
But business before pleasure. They could get acquainted AFTER Cipher was ground into a fine dust.
The parrot jumped high into the vent, her guide getting to a vent cover that opened up to a ledge, rearing back his head to smash the cover off, Natu following him out to a chamber filled with cables, all connecting to something…
"Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatu." 'Oh, sweet Arceus, preserve me from the horrors of madness.' she said before teleporting off. Ash was not going to like this.
Ash did not like this at all. For what they were looking at was a dark, heavily corrupted Lugia, with a massive number of restraints, a collar on its' neck and he was NOT comfortable with the fact it was almost completely black.
"XD-001." Robin said, looking at the monstrosity before her. "Shadow Lugia. The Pokemon my grandfather failed to purify."
"How in the name of… No, I don't want to know how they captured it." Ash said before eying the restraints.
"Far." 'This… to do this to a god is unacceptable!' Farfetch'd declared. "Fetch'd!" 'It must be released!'
Ash shook his head. "We can't release it; it's a Shadow Legendqary!" he declared, trying to keep it down. No need to alert whoever was in the control room that they were in there. "If we get it out, we'll-"
"Be able to destroy the base." Robin cut off. "Aeroblast will rip this abomination to pieces and all we have to do is teleport out. We'll get back to the wreck and leave Shadow Lugia to do its' dark work."
Ash and Farfetch'd both looked at her. "That's murder on a massive scale." he pointed out.
"'Murder' would imply anyone in this place was innocent." Robin retorted. "All of these people are peons, scientists and admins, all responsible for the plague that now covers this godforsaken world. Saying they deserve it would be an EXTREME understatement."
Ash mulled it over. On one hand, they could unleash Shadow Lugia and have him destroy the base, doing their job for them. On the other, a Shadow Legendary would be running loose.
Pikachu made the choice for him as he charged up and smirked.
Ash looked at his starter. "What the hell are you-?!"
"PIKA!" 'RENEGADE FOR LIFE!' he declared as he rained Thunder on the restraints, his raw power breaking them, hitting the collar and most of all… waking the Shadow Pokemon up.
Venus' eyes opened as the cell turned into the goddamn thunderdome. "WHAT IN THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THERE?!" she demanded. Then came a terrible roar.
And XD-001 was released.
Dakim stared before releasing a Shadow Abra, the Shadow Lugia charging up a corrupted Aeroblast in its' maw.
"FUCK THIS!" he yelled as he grabbed Venus and teleported them out, the beam splitting and recombining, destroying everything.
"I believe this is our cue to leave!" Robin declared, latching onto Ash as Natu hopped onto his head.
"FETCH!" 'HEY! You ain't leavin' me behin-'
Ash interrupted him by underhand tossing a Pokeball at the duck, who was too surprised to resist and was teleported away to safety.
"Natu!" 'Our turn!' the parrot declared as the beam nearly hit them, Natu barely getting them out in time.
Pallet Town - 1756 hours local time
Belladonna shook her head as she noticed a new Pokemon of Ash's appear.
"A Farfetch'd?" she asked, her frizzy ponytail shaking behind her as she checked the file. "Oh. It's from Galar. …How the hell did a Galaran pokemon end up in Orre?"
She shrugged before walking over to the machine, releasing the Farfetch'd from the transfer ball.
"Fetch?" the bird said on release, before looking around in terror. "FETCH!"
"Yeah, yeah, calm your ass, Fetchy." she said as Monferno came in, followed by… a LOT of Ash's Pokemon, all with notebooks of some kind on their person. She almost forgot he could read and write. "What, were you teaching a class or something?" she asked, chuckling as Fetchy ran towards them, screaming at the top of his lungs.
But Belladonna couldn't understand 'Fetch'. But the Pokemon could, as Ivysaur extended his vines and grabbed Ash's elder sister.
"Oh, FUCK NO! I know how this ends!" she shouted, Ivysaur just giving her a look as Monferno walked up to the computer.
"Fern!" the firemonkey said before Rowlet flew off, quickly returning with the recently evolved Charjabug.
"What the hell are you doing?!" she demanded before the bug/electric-type zapped the computer, directly manipulating the software with electrical impulses.
And Ash's profile on the CRT monitor changed, with a notification showing that the six-ball limit was deactivated.