RMS Olympic, Gateton Port Harbor - 0324 hours local time - Day 167 of Ash Ketchum's journey
Light filtered into his eyes as he opened them, his body feeling so very sore.
He did it.
"You need to stop risking your life, young one." Ash tried to sit up, struggling with how sore he was before he saw… her.
White hair and strange red and gold eyes, a simple sunhat and white sundress with no footwear to speak of. The woman Froakie saw in Oblivia, the one Kyoji saw at Cinnabar and he saw at Indigo.
The so-called priestess of Arceus. "You take risks that would cost many their lives." she said gently, but sternly. "You are lucky I was there."
Ash blinked before thinking about what happened. Did it work?
Airspace above Mount Battle - 0921 hours local time - Day 165
It had been years since Ash even tried using his Aura, so it took a few minutes to relearn, on the fly, how to manifest it. Thankfully, it was once said that the best way to learn how to use Aura was to have it used in front of you.
And after a moment of radiating it, Lucario reawakened the skill in him, his hands glowing with blue fire.
(BGM: JENOVA Dreamweaver Phase 1 - Final Fantasy 7 Remake OST) (I hate the other two phases; techno gives me a goddamn headach-WHACK!)
"Lu!" 'Keep it coming! I will merge it with an Aura Sphere!' Lucario said as he formed the orb of fighting energy, slowly incorporating Ash's aura into the move.
"Shouldn't I help? Put my hands in it or something?" Ash asked, not sure how this would work.
"Cari." 'If you want to LOSE your hands, go right ahead,' Lucario said sarcastically as he merged the two together. "Car." 'This will take time.'
"Pidgeot!" 'If you don't MIND, Yveltal's glaring at us!' Pidgeot cawed as the Eternal Bane of Life glared at them and roared, right before more missiles hit it, fired from the Ranseian fighters.
"Ash!" called Kyoji over the roar of the barrage of fire. "I told command what you were planning! It's crazy, but given you've done crazier, they're going for it! MAKE IT QUICK!"
This was punctuated by Yveltal swatting one of the fighters out of the sky, before another volley of shots came from offshore, the armada's guns roaring and belching fire at Yveltal. Time was against them.
And so, Ash focused harder, willing his life force to the surface, subconsciously mimicking Lucario's actions to enhance the Aura Sphere, Pidgeot getting antsier by the second. Not making ANY sort of maneuvers in a battle was essentially a death sentence after all.
Hyper Beams smacked Yveltal around, a Dragonair that was seemingly incapable of flying gracefully firing Dragon Rage at him while Goodra led the other ground-based Pokemon in attacking the Bane of Life.
Lucario then nodded. "Io!" 'It's ready!' he said, Ash not hearing it at first. "Lu!" 'Ash, STOP!'
The trainer snapped out of his trance, his hands no longer glowing. "R-Right. Sorry." he said. "Now what?"
"Lucario." 'I must hold it. Pidgeot, it is time to attack! Pikachu-'
"Pika!" 'Feeling better already! Let's hand this bastard his ass!' the starter declared, Ash grinning. It was time to end this once and for all.
"Let's do this!" Ash ordered, Pidgeot glowing before her Mega Stone she still wore transformed her, the now Mega Pidgeot flying straight into the storm of hell. And Yveltal saw the orb in Lucario's hands.
The flying-type opened his maw, Dark Pulse forming in his jaws before another missile hit, dispelling the attack.
"DO IT NOW!" Ash yelled as they got closer, Mega Pidgeot getting them as close as was possible without going down Yveltal's throat, Lucario tossing the ball charged with purifying power down the flying-type's throat.
It did not end well for anyone involved. Yveltal was pushed back, moaning in pain before his left wing started heading towards them, swatting some of the remaining fighters out of the sky… and heading for Ash and Pidgeot.
"Oh, shit." Ash muttered as they were hit, Pidgeot squawking as they were smacked high into the air, Lucario flailing while Pikachu clung to his brother, Ash looking at the near-abandoned Gateon Port below. He wasn't afraid to die.
Why would he? After all, he had died too many times. The piper was due to be paid. Misty and the others could handle Cyrus.
THe ground approached at speed. Ash closed his eyes and readied himself for the end.
"This is not your time, son." came a voice he barely recognized. "We'll meet soon."
Present Day
Ash groaned as he remembered. "How…" he asked before seeing the woman was gone. Typical.
The door opened, allowing Kyoji and Sabrina to poke their heads in. "So… who were you talking to?" Kyoji asked. "Because apparently, talking to yourself is a sign of-"
"That priestess lady showed up again." Ash cut off with some annoyance. He KNEW he was a bit crazy, thank you, he didn't need it thrown in his face.
"Again?" the Ranseian asked. "Huh. She REALLY gets around."
"Bad joke." Sabrina deadpanned before walking into the cabin. "How do you feel? According to Natu, who talked to Lucario, you did fall from a high place."
"About 8400 feet, which is why everyone's shocked as to how you're still alive and why Rota's been apparently shitting bricks according to your shrink." Kyoji added. "By the way, he wants to talk to you after you're… well, up and about."
Well, he was expecting this, so might as well get it over with. Wait…
"Where's Pikachu and Lucario?" he asked, worried that they didn't survive.
"Pika." 'You are lucky.' came the voice of his starter as he poked his head out from the other side of the bed, hidden from view until now. "Pi." 'Lucario and I were returned to our balls after you blacked out. Also, good news.'
"Oh yeah?" Kyoji asked before his Gible popped out of his pokeball. "How good?"
Pikachu then fired a Thunderbolt at Gible, who simply eyesmiled. "Gible!" 'It tickles!' cried the Ranseian land shark.
"Pika." 'It gets better. I can't do Shadow Bolt.' the electric mouse said smugly. "Pikapi!" 'You purified me, Ash!'
The Aura Sphere must've done it. Which begged the question… what happened to Yveltal?
Captain Haruo Nakajima was not a man to break under pressure. He was calm, collected and knew what to do.
But having the massive form of Yveltal, now white and red, just sitting on Mount Battle was...not exactly comforting.
"Sir, how long do we have to keep our guns pointed at that thing?" his XO asked. "I mean… we won't be able to hurt it."
"We'll keep them pointed at that thing as long as we NEED to." he answered. "It doesn't matter if we can hurt it, it matters that the crew feels better about having SOME form of security."
"Truer words were never said." Both men jumped at the voice of Agatha just appearing behind them.
"FUCK'S SAKE, WOMAN!" Nakajima snapped as he spun around. "Stop DOING that! We can't even hear you when you do that!"
"If you can't hear an old woman, well, that's not MY problem." Agatha retorted before looking at Yveltal, who was… confused and frightened, like a child. Perhaps fittingly.
This was only his first week as a sane being. He was like a child, not knowing whether or not he was safe. Giratina would be able to tell his eldest what had happened.
This was going to be a LONG day.
Bruno could not put his finger on this… Lacus girl. She looked familiar.
He and Lorelei had the same thoughts on the matter, but did not say anything aloud for one reason. The woman was the… suitor… for the Ranseian soldier.
And as Ketchum was his friend and harassing him was akin to harassing Ash, which the Rotans via old Gaffery… advised against, they did not press.
Though they wanted to. She looked far too much like Lovrina, even though according to Ash's companion (and eventual concubine, given she was showing all the signs she was in love with him, but didn't seem to UNDERSTAND she was in love with him) Robin Ryuto said she was killed in the nuclear explosion that destroyed Pyrite Town.
Perhaps Ash would tell them.
On the Olympic, the TRio+BC were sprawled on the poop deck, all exhausted.
"Given we were dodging Yveltal's buttboy during that fight, we got every right." Butch muttered.
Indeed. That was half the reason XD-001 took so long to actually join the fight.
"Forgot to add that?" Meowth demanded. "Or are you overworked?"
Both. Given the demands of the readers for faster updates and all, things DO slip past. Good thing the sidefic is going to take a long time to plan out and give me time to add more material to make up for it.
"Well, it can take forever as far as we care." Jessie said. "I need a nap."
"Me too." James added.
You do realize that you're just BEGGING for me to shit on your parades, right?
"Like what, dropping Ash's Snorlax on us?" Cassidy demanded.
No, because this is a fic where reality is realistic and that four metric ton beast would actually end you. I was referring to something almost as bad.
"Glace." the sudden call got all of their attention as Robin's Glaceon glared at them.
I don't think Robin's Pokemon like you very much.
"SHIT!" all five yelled, knowing their lives were going to suck for a while.
RMS Olympic- Infirmary - 0952 Hours Local Time
The most private room on the ship at the moment was the medical facility, Ash having an uncomfortable amount of familiarity with this place due to the last time he was on this ship.
"I don't think I need to ask what you were thinking when you did whatever it was you did to make Yveltal…" Gaffery then paused to think of the right term. After a moment he settled on "Less evil."
Ash nodded. "I was fully expecting to die." he admitted. "I was actually… looking forward to it. It's messed up-"
"Ash, I was briefed on your being from another timeline by Professor Oak." Gaffery deadpanned. "It's not as messed up as you think. You literally saw the end of reality as you know it and was sent back in time. If you didn't have survivor's guilt or a tendency to be somewhat suicidal, THEN I would be worried."
Ash blinked in confusion. "…This is normal?" he asked. "I thought this was… anything but."
"I can't say anyone's ever seen the end of the universe before, but other, less extreme, cases have been shown to have the same damn result." the old man answered. "Lone survivors of attacks or massacres, feeling like they didn't deserve to live after so many others died, finding some excuse to end their lives. The only difference is, in your case, you want your death to mean something, to have some purpose. You wanted to end Yveltal's threat and didn't care if you died in the process."
Ash didn't bother refuting it.
"Ash, I won't say you're wrong." Gaffery continued. "But death is not the answer. You can't afford to die. Not because you're the so-called Chosen of Arceus-" he then looked up, as if expecting the hands of God to whack him upside the head. There were none… but his Natu DID give him a horrified and warning look of 'do not do that again'. "But because you owe it to all you've lost to live on and keep their memory alive. As long as you live, their memory will live on. The moment you die is when they finally fade away."
"Insipid fool." the King spat in the back of Ash's mind, seeing the two cracks in the wards keeping him from freedom. One being the cause of a contradiction: Ash's refusal to break a promise, yet consideration of breaking his 'no romance' vow.
Idiot didn't realize that vow was keeping his mind together. The more he rejected it, the closer he came to freedom.
And as for all those in the other timeline… fuck them. Children, fools and those he would have killed as a threat to his rule anyways.
So when Ash passed into the void, no one would give a flying fuck about them.
Ash closed his eyes, now feeling very guilty.
"Live for the ones that can't?" he asked.
The old man nodded. "You have no idea how many people I've watched die. And how many of them would look at me in disappointment if I didn't die of old age." Gaffery said. "I know you want to jump off a cliff, end whatever pain you feel. But you don't have that luxury. You owe it to not only your friends and loved ones, but yourself, to live on. Only when you're 150, have a small horde of children and grandchildren and are dying in your bed do you have their permission to die." He gave Ash a minor death glare. "You're not even a tenth of that age yet."
Ash's traumas under that glare did the same act as vacuum sealing and heat did to just about any kind of food: shrivel up and shrink.
That's the Adama Glare for you. (WHACK!)
"And while I don't encourage underage sex or anything like that…" the psychologist said as he got to his feet, his Gible looking at Ash. "Do get laid at some point."
Ash blushed at that last one, even as the old man left.
"Pika." 'He has a point. And as you might not want to hear, it is GREAT at relieving stress.' his traitorous starter added at last.
"Pikachu, I am FOURTEEN." Ash all but shouted. "That is not something I should be thinking about at this age, even if others DO!"
"At least you recognize that." came a haughty voice Ash hadn't heard in a while, looking to the door and seeing… Serena, wearing the pink dress he saw her in the first time they meet again in this timeline, her purple eyes…
Wait, purple? Serena's eyes were blue.
"Most boys have their minds in the gutter, but you… you keep out of it." she said, sounding more like the Mirror Serena from that time he was sent to that weird-as-all-hell Mirror Universe. He REALLY wanted to forget that happened. "Refreshing, if disappointing somewhat."
"And you're not acting like the Serena I know." Ash retorted before looking into her eyes. "And your eyes…Who are you?"
The girl walked to the cot beside the one he was sitting on, regally sitting on it like a throne. "You're familiar with the concept of multiple personalities?" she asked. "You can simply refer to me as Serena-hime, the aspect of her pride and noble training given a voice. We've been around for a while, but it took Mewtwo's… attack to give us true life."
Mewtwo was going to get a stern talking to when he saw him next. Where the hell WAS the Mew clone, anyways? He caught the damn thing.
"As for the eyes… we suspect Serena is a latent psychic. Their eyes tend to change color a lot." the princess said. "And someone else wishes to speak to you."
'Hopefully the core personality, someone closer to the Serena I knew.' he thought to himself before she closed her eyes… which turned red upon opening again.
"Well, at least I get to talk to you, sweetie~" she purred, much to Ash's horror. It showed, apparently. "Oh calm down, Ash. I won't do anything to you… unless you ask, that is. Just call me Jade. You can probably guess what part of Serena I am."
Pikachu chuckled. "Pikapi." 'Serena's libido given a full-blown consciousness, I'd say.' he said, resisting the urge to cackle. Ash was forced to agree.
The seemingly possessed girl sighed. "I know we all came… strongly onto you when we met again, but you must understand… we hadn't seen you in years. You were the only one we, Serena as a whole, fell in love with. So we were… understandably a bit excited. Perhaps too excited for your health."
Ash almost laughed. "Far too true." he said. "I was afraid you'd-"
"Rape you in your sleep?" Jade cut off. "Ash, if I am going to have any form of lovemaking done, you will be awake, consenting and eager. And older. I might want to share your bed, but we're both too young for sex. In the old days I might be considered an old maid, but now I'm very underage."
Well, THAT was a massive load off his shoulders. Still… "Can I talk to Serena? The actual Serena?" he asked.
Jade smiled. "Wanna talk to the sweetheart you know? Ok." she said. "Be warned, though, she wants to glomp you. She missed you and ever since we got bit… you get the idea."
"Pika." 'Yeeeeessss… begin the long path to giving me Ashlings.' the yellow starter said, getting a look from Ash. "Pika-pika." 'What? I have my priorities straight. When I retire from battling, I want to be cuddled by your kids.'
"So nice to know you have my best interests in mind." Ash said sarcastically before Serena glomped him.
"I'm so sorry!" she sobbed. "I just… I was so excited. It's been years… and I was worried about you. You always tried to help."
Sounding more like the Serena he remembered. Scared out of her mind, but familiar. Like the day they met back in the old timeline. "It… it's ok." he said.
"No, it's not. I've got five voices in my head and all of them are part of me! You're the only thing they agree on!" Serena shouted, blubbering. "I don't want to be some… living trophy like what other noble wives are. I want to live."
"I don't see you that way, Serena." Ash said as he hugged her. Confused feelings or not, she needed this. "You can be whatever you want. Even if-"
Serena cut him off by kissing him, surprising the Pallet Town trainer. Pikachu cackled to the side. She released him from the liplock after a moment.
"If you were going to say 'even if you want nothing to do with me', you have another thing coming." Serena said, steel in her voice. "I want you in my life. I want to be married to you. But I will not be some damsel in distress. I want to be able to do my own thing and travel. I don't need to be a battling trainer to do that, do I?"
That sounded… couched. One of her 'houseguests' must've advised her on that little speech. But he wasn't going to argue, because, in a trend for people talking to him lately, she was right. May and Dawn were coordinators and he had no problem diverting for their contests. He wouldn't mind having someone doing the gym challenge with him, but they didn't need to.
"No. no, you don't." Ash admitted. "Serena, I-"
"The time travel thing. I know. It doesn't make you not Ash." she said, cutting him off before hugging him, placing her head on his shoulder. "It just makes you a bit more."
On the forecastle, Misty, Iris and Anabel all stared down the new girl, Janine having decided to speak with Kyoji on matters involving Ransei.
Robin Ryuto. Like Ash, apparently she had a heroic lineage, descended from both the men that gave Cipher hell a century prior.
Honestly, none of them wanted to have another girl join the party, as it were. Ash already had them, as degrading as it sounded without context. Anabel aside, they had memories from the last timeline and knew him inside and out: they loved him. And Anabel had fallen for him because of his kind nature and empathy in spite of not having a counterpart hanging around her head.
They accepted May and Dawn as inevitabilities. This girl was another story.
"So… you're the one hanging around Ash." Misty said, resisting the urge to run and tackle-hug him to the deck. It might be under control now, but her issues still existed and probably always would. "I thought you were staying in Orre."
'Given Ash's track record for attracting girls in every region, I am surprised we never thought this would happen.' Astral Misty groused. 'Can't entirely blame Ash. He does this shit without even TRYING to.'
"I am a soldier, not a politician." Robin answered. "I fought for Orre's freedom from the idiots that would try and fail to restore the old Empire. Even my grandfather knows better than to try and enter office."
"Grandfather?" Iris asked.
"That would be me." said a man walking out of the ship. "Surrogate only. I have no blood tie with her."
They looked at the man, now wearing a uniform like the one the old man, Ash's shrink, wore, only with a pair of metal plates on each upper arm and a badge on the left breast, which was a stylized Pidgeot standing, facing a Lucario with a shield between them, a tree on the shield with two pearls, one black, one white, under the Pokemon.
The uniform was of the Rotan military, but the fancy stuff was new.
'He's a member of the Royal Guard.' Anabel supplied telepathically. 'The pauldrons are a sign of rank; he used to be the Commander of the Horusians, the elite of the Royal Guard. And he's old; those jewels were the ones used by Jaemon, Ash's great-grandfather.'
'And you know this, how?' Iris asked, Anabel making it like a telepathic conference call.
The psychic shrugged. 'I was bored while we were waiting for the League to get its' act together and read about Rota's history. I mean, let's face it, we're getting married to him. Might as well know what to expect.'
He looked at all of them, seemingly unimpressed. "You are the ones His Highness is… seeing?" he questioned. "Standards must have dropped."
"He wasn't raised in Rota, you know!" Misty snapped.
"I am aware. But I will not retract my statement." he said. "His Highness will need a warrior queen, not someone more suited to wearing a dress." his eyes glanced down to her chest for a moment. "You certainly fit the bill on that."
Astral Misty wanted to KILL him. 'MOTHERFUCKER! I'm quite happy with having a bigger chest! I was flat in the last timeline!' she screamed.
"They spent time with Ash. Perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to judge them." Robin suggested to the guard.
"They didn't come with him." he said, as if disgusted by that fact.
"They didn't have much choice." came the voice of Lance Wataru, holding a massive bundle of papers under his arm. "I see Cipher's eternal thorn lives on."
The guard turned to face the champion. "Reluctantly." he spat. "They kept me alive for my forgework. They didn't know I was leading the resistance movements. And what do you mean they didn't have a choice? If they were brave enough, they would've come here and burned Cipher to the ground with him."
Lance sighed. 'Royal Guards: competent, loyal, have an EXTREMELY high standard for the spouses of their king.' Anabel informed. 'Dates back to the old days of warrior-kings, apparently. If we weren't at Ash's side while he was in Orre fighting Cipher… well, low opinion.'
"They were at Indigo when Cipher attacked. None of them saw it coming, but they did fight back." Lance said. "Got quite a tally, too. But they were injured and some fell into comas. If they weren't, they would have joined Ash in reaping a bloody revenge."
The older man looked at them, scowling, as if he was the judge of who was worthy for Ash's hand. He probably was, in his opinion.
"We shall see." he finally said. "The last queen of Rota prevented us from doing our duty and training him to be able to defend himself. Manipulative bitch got inside his head and got him killed. If I see anything like that from any of you…" he trailed off before leaving, Robin following him and Iris shaking her head.
"Who the hell does he think he is?!" she demanded once they were gone.
"A very protective man." Lance answered. "And one who thinks his granddaughter is a better match for Ash then any of you. I half-expected this once I heard a member of the Guard was still alive."
"And what's that?" Misty asked, gesturing to the folders under his arm.
The champion grinned. "Hope." he answered. "Surge found the partial blueprints for the Purify Chamber. And once we raided Citadark, we found the rest. The Age of Shadow is officially over."
Near the reactor core in the shielded hideout, Kyril Pernon was half-drunk and laughing his ass off. Rin had no idea why, seeing as she was still cleaning up after the mess the URN had made. But she was going to learn anyways.
"And what the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded of her half-drunk husband to be. "I thought you'd be happy. We got an exclusive deal, even if we have to share half the damn money with Rota, given the URN practically gave them occupational authority over Orre."
Kyril looked at his hot wife-to-be. "Nevveeeeerrrrr… aaagggggggggaaaainnn…" he slurred.
She raised an eyebrow. "The alcohol consumption? I would think so." the aide quipped.
"No, no… Helping Ketchum!" he clarified drunkenly. "Suuuurrreee, we can help him, but no more… God fights! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccckkkkkkkk that!"
...This explained the two wine bottles that were empty and the third he was nursing. Yveltal WAS a horrifying thing to deal with. And Ash apparently was planning on facing MORE Legendaries.
With that in mind, she grabbed a bottle of her own.
Ranseian Aerial Battlecruiser Musashi - 1620 hours
Kyoji was somewhat pleased with himself.
Not only did he accomplish two missions in short succession (find out what the hell was going on in Ferrum and help Ash in Orre afterward) his superior gave him a new, longer-term assignment: keep Ash safe. While it was hard for them to believe he was the Chosen of Arceus at first… well, a few conversations with the Priests and Priestess of the Temple of Arceus made EVERYONE believers in a matter of seconds.
Word to the wise: when the literal go-betweens of the gods, actually blessed by them, say jump, you are in the air before they finish the first syllable, especially since Arceus has been seen to be a LOT more active nowadays.
"So…" said Lacus as she walked towards the smiling soldier. "How did it go?"
"Amazingly. The General pretty much said 'your job's to cover Ash's ass', so I'm sticking with him." he answered, looking at her. "And you?"
The redhead (well, dyed redhead, but she had the right) sighed. "Agatha knows who I really am. Old woman just glared at me and I just spilled everything I knew about Cipher's operations." she said.
"Well, according to Sabrina, she's blessed by Giratina and… well, all of Cipher's Admins had a low-key blessing of Yveltal according to you." he said, as she explained it to him while Ash was in his coma. "Kinda makes her your aunt by divine relation."
She just stared at him in horror after that. "…Ok, sorry." he apologized. "Anyway, we're going with Ash on the Olympic."
"Not the Olympic." Lacus corrected. "Agatha said the Rotans want him on a faster, armed ship. The Heart of Indigo's the best option for that: Faster than those big battleships, better than any destroyer for arms and armor."
"I don't have a problem with that." Kyoji said before remembering that white haired girl, the resistance fighter. "I think I need to talk to Ash's new girlfriend."
"Which one?" she asked, smirking.
"The newer one." he clarified.
NS Heart of Indigo - 15 minutes later
The blacksmith/Royal Guard was making the rounds, apparently not content with Captain Nakajima's Marines while Robin was busy thinking.
He was never content with anything anyone else said, always having someone he actually trusted. Like herself, but she was too… confused to join him.
All the time she was with Ash, her heart was always beating faster, her cheeks were a touch hot and she didn't understand WHY. It made no sense.
"Thinking?" came the voice of that Ranseian specops soldier, Akamura, as he walked over, that odd Gible following him. "I thought you'd be with Ash."
And there came the problem. "I have enough problems in regards to Ash Ketchum." she said.
Kyoji smirked. "Trouble in paradise?" he asked. What in the name of Grandfather Arceus was THAT supposed to mean?!
"There is no such thing as 'paradise' and even if there were, why would there be a problem?" she asked.
Gible just looked at his trainer. "Gible." said the land shark. "Yeah, I think you're right, buddy." replied his trainer. "So… what's the problem with you and Ash?"
"Beyond confusion?" she said.
"Confusion?" Kyoji rose his brow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean…" Robin sighed "I… I feel weird whenever I'm around him - I think he might be infected with something, and maybe I'm just not immune to it or whatever… but it's not with anyone else, and my heart rate goes up, and my cheeks feel all hot." She touched her cheeks - which were a little red. "I… I don't know what any of this means."
Kyoji slowly blinked - along with his Gible as they glanced at one another, shrugging before looking back at her. "Robin… this may be a dumb question but… do you now what the concept of 'love' is?"
"Not exactly. I wasn't given an education on anything except guerrilla warfare, firearms maintenance and general history." she said, getting nothing but blank, horrified stares from man and mon.
Seriously, what was with them?
"Gible…" said the land shark.
"…yeah, one sec…" Kyoji nodded "Follow-up question… do you know what 'sex' is?"
Robin tilted her head "As in like genders?"
Kyoji groaned as he raised his head up "SABRINA! WE NEED A WOMAN'S INTUITION HERE PLEASE!"
What did Sabrina have to do with this? It wasn't like she had any of the answers.
A pop signalled the arrival by teleport (Natu! Ok, Natuport) of Sabrina Natsume, Kyoji's unofficial girlfriend and for some reason Ash's adopted daughter. Even if she was 9+ years older then him. What was that about?
"You rang?" the greenette asked before looking at Robin and looking absolutely horrified. "Do you know NOTHING, girl?!"
THAT was insulting. She knew how to fight and survive. Wouldn't last five minutes in Orre if you didn't.
"Yeah, you can see why I think you should take over here," Kyoji nodded - stepping back. "This seems to be more of a… lady-exclusive issue - and I have no idea how to give a 15 year old girl 'the talk'."
"I don't even know how to do that! If that dumb bastard hadn't skimped on her education, this wouldn't be a problem!" Sabrina retorted.
Robin just stared dumbly. What in Giratina's name were they babbling about? Her grandfather taught her everything he knew about warfare.
"Ahem,"
Kyoji and Sabrina turned, and spotted Serena standing behind her… her eyes currently jade green in color. "Perhaps I can be of assistance here?"
"Arceus!" Kyoji jumped. "How do you sneak up on people like that?!"
"It's a gift," She giggled a bit as she looked Robin over, with a small smirk and a twinkle in her eye… and Robin felt this odd foreboding sensation as she looked at her like a prize. "You poor girl, having no idea of the pleasures of flesh…"
"You don't have to say it like that…" Kyoji muttered.
"…huh?" Robin blinked in confusion.
"Come on," She grabbed Robin by the arm - tugging her away. "We need to put you through my own course of Sex Ed 101!"
The couple just watched as the two left.
"I thought her eyes were red when that personality took over." Kyoji finally said.
"That's the biggest question you have?" Sabrina asked her boyfriend incredulously, one eyebrow raised.
"I have legit worries over Robin's safety; I'm trying to distract myself here!" he retorted.
Sabrina nodded after a moment, seeing he had a point. "Well, I doubt it'll get that far: as driven by her sex drive as that personality is, she won't do anything without permission." she said. "Also, she's a latent psychic. You've seen my eyes change color all the time."
Kyoji processed that, before groaning "Oh god I gotta shield my mind from her now…"
'Resistance is futile…' a familiar voice said in his head - followed by a flash of a scantily clad Sabrina, and Kyoji slapping his face. "IGNORING THAT!"
"Don't worry about it. She'll never develop mental abilities like mine unless Arceus himself gives her a mental boost." Sabrina said, giggling. "Or just become a touch telepath. THAT'LL be interesting for Ash later."
"Gible!" 'TOO MUCH INFORMATION!' cried the land shark as he fled… down the same direction as Serena and Robin. He realized this and ran the other way, bumping into Kyoji's legs.
Pacific Ocean, 1500 kilometers from Orange Islands - 1908 hours local time
She did NOT want to do this. But thanks to that damn suit-wearing maniac and his rockets, her ship was heavily damaged and all her money had to go into fixing it. So she had little choice.
"Come on out, you overly dramatic bastard." Hunter J demanded. "I know you're here."
The Defiance-Class destroyer soon had a shadow covering it, the clouds above parting to show the massive form of a Kalosian Lumiose-Class aerial battleship above them.
Heavily modified with propellers serving as wind turbines to supplement power to the ship, ornate stone archs and glass enclosures, the ship was a far cry from its' past as a ship of war.
This was the Hikōkyū, Flying Palace of Gelardan Lawrence the Third, collector of all things related to Legendary Pokemon.
A ping indicated that the ship was hailing them. A curt and annoyed nod to comms later and the image of the finely dressed green-haired man appeared on the viewscreen.
"My my, Jeanette." he said. "In a mess of trouble, aren't we?"
"Cut the bullshit, brother; you know why I'm here!" she snapped.
He raised his hands as a gesture of peace. "Yes, I do." he said. "And on that note… consider yourself hired, dear sister. We have a legend to capture."