Hitokyu, above Denkijima - 1840 hours local time - Day 170 of Ash Ketchum's journey
Hunter J had heard of Ketchum's royal harem, even if she thought the concept was barbaric and insulting. After all, the idea of multiple women serving one man in any way he wanted? It made her sick.
But as she walked towards the cage, she saw Ketchum giving them worried looks, not out of concern that he wouldn't be getting any 'fun' that evening, but...worry for their well-being.
She had seen many people in her life, all with some issue or another. All of these girls were VERY fucked in the head. The only thing keeping Sabrina Natsume from breaking them out was the fact that there were explosives on the impromptu cage and if she did anything… boom.
She looked at Ketchum, who glared at her with such raw, unrelenting HATE. It almost made her recoil, it was that intense.
He wanted her dead. He wanted her dead and wanted her to suffer before she went to the grave.
She also saw it in his eyes. He had seen more death then any man has or would ever see. It weighed on him to the point where guilt demanded he end his life to end the images of death.
That made him more dangerous. After all… what was more dangerous? The man that wanted to accomplish his mission? Or the one that would gladly die smiling knowing he ended you before going into Giratina's embrace?
Ash Ketchum was the latter. And the only thing keeping him from killing her was the fact that escaping would end the lives of the others.
"You scare the fuck out of me." she finally admitted. "I can see it in your eyes, boy. You don't fear me. You don't fear death. You're only afraid for their lives. If they weren't in danger… you would die ending my life gladly."
Ash did not answer. He didn't need to.
"What, the soldier and the psychic you aren't afraid of?" the soldier, Kyoji, demanded of her, to which the woman huffed.
"You're useless without your equipment and if she tries anything, the explosion will kill all of you. Despite everything, you're afraid to die." she pointed out. "But him? He's only stopped by the fact that any attempt to escape would kill YOU. He doesn't care about his life."
"Taking out one of the most evil people in the world in exchange for my life would be a very good exchange." Ash finally said. "You take, torture and brainwash pokemon for profit. Even Team Rocket didn't do that."
"Two-thirds true." the bluenette wearing a Rocket Grunt uniform said. "Stealing Pokemon, sure. Selling, sure. But torture? Not only is that just wrong, it's unproductive."
"I'll take that under advisement." she said before looking at the two legendaries. "Wasn't expecting his capturing technique to work with these two. But it did."
"You should know the League has an unofficial 'do not catch' order on them." Sabrina mentioned. "It has 'you will die' written on it, all capitals and underlines and everything."
"I am aware of the League's 'do not touch' orders." she added. "And they are duly ignored." Then the command chair, as she coined it, began lowering, revealing her brother, smirking.
"I do apologize for the accommodations. But given your respective histories, I and my sister thought it best you be...contained." he said, very kindly. "Ash Ketchum, Crown Prince of Rota, Conqueror of Orre, Sabrina Natsume, the most powerful psychic of our age...indeed, measures had to be taken."
"You're insane." the redhead said. "Seriously, do you not know what's going on?! Have you LOOKED outside?!"
J did indeed. It was beginning to snow. Which was now beginning to worry her: they were in the tropics. Even if it DID snow, it was the wrong time of year for that. ...Oh HELL.
If even HALF of Shamouti's importance was real, this was going to end badly.
"Articuno's influence is spreading, true." Lawrence admitted. "That will no longer be an issue once it is here."
"You won't catch Lugia!" Ketchum suddenly said. "He needs to stay HERE, to regulate the ocean current! If you remove him from here-"
Lawrence scowled for the first time since this debacle began. "While I am aware, young man, that legends have a basis in fact. The Shamouti Lugia does not 'regulate' anything." he said, somewhat in annoyance. "He is the so-called 'Beast of the Sea'. Now, I will have all of you released once Lugia is in my care. Do understand this is for your safety as well as the completion of this little… task."
"My god, you are an idiot." the soldier - Ranseian, which was a shock, given everyone thought they were a mythical civilization like Pokemonpolis or something - spat. "The evidence is right in front of you and you refuse to see it?! Arceus have mercy on your dumb ass, because we won't!"
Lawrance chuckled before flicking a switch on his chair. "Empty threat, my friend." he said. A chime sounded from the control board.
"Approaching Kōrijima." said the ship's AI. "Articuno detected on intercept course."
"If you'll excuse me." With that, he rose to the command center.
J shook her head. "If it makes you feel any better, I think he's insane for continuing this course of action." she said. "If this keeps up… the world will turn to Ash."
Ketchum was unamused. Perhaps he had heard the joke before.
Pallet Town - 1854 hours local time
They were plotting something.
Belladonna knew it. Squirtle and Mimikyu were organizing the Ashmons for war. Again. Oh, sure, Charizard and Pikachu were in charge, but those two were basically their mouthpieces.
"Dear, can you stop glaring at them?" her mother asked from the coffee table. She had decided to visit with her siblings as the weather went to hell. "You glare at them as if they're your worst enemies."
"They might as well be." Belladonna groused. "They're constantly trashing everything, running me over, getting me in the middle of their training sessions…"
"Sounds like they like you." Yellow said as Ash's Natu sat on her head, staring.
"Nearly getting me killed while doing research on them is not what I call affectionate, little sister." Belladonna retorted.
Red scrubbed Cyndaquil's head with a brush, making the fire-type give off a happy 'quil'. "Didn't Crobat used to bite you all the time as a Zubat?" he asked. "Constantly poisoning you and all that?"
Belladonna was insulted by the comparison. "Crobat never ran me over, tried to crush me or nearly incinerate me!" she snapped. "He was a cuddlebug."
"So is Natu." Yellow said as Natu spread her wings in response. Then the bird began flapping like mad.
"Natu! Natu-Natu-Natu-Natu-Natu-Natu-Natu-Natu!" cried the bird before jumping and teleporting away.
Belladonna sobbed. "Ash is going to kill me if I lose one of his team." she said. "I mean, they're pains in the ass… but they're all HIS pains in the ass. I'm supposed to be the big, awesome sister, the inspiration for him to recover from… that. How is his team that much more dangerous?"
"Mi." 'Ok, everyone, we're going to be helping Ash at this Shamouti place!' Mimikyu said to all the Pokemon gathered, mostly Pokemon from Paul that that Joy traded to him. "Mi!" 'Anyone wanting to help out out of combat, go to my left, anyone wanting to hand the Legendaries their butts, go to my right! Don't worry, the vets will keep you safe!'
A Houndour barked as Sceptile walked over, the grass-type looking them over. Houdour growled at the unsaid challenge.
"Scep." 'You have spirit.' he said in amusement.
"Houn." 'And type-advantage!' barked the dark dog. "Hound." 'I was tired that day, overwhelmed by numbers. I don't get why that son of a bitch just ditched us!'
Sceptile knew Paul, saidly. Third-hand, but Monferno-ah, correction, after last week's incident with Snorlax, Infernape-knew the asshole's mindset. If you're not good now, you never will. Contrasting Ash's 'work for it, you'll get it eventually'.
"Scep." 'Your former trainer was an asshole that only saw you as meat shields.' Sceptile drawled. "Tile." 'He had his 'elite' set on hand and just used you to shield them from further injury, then got rid of you when you stopped being useful.'
Houndour growled, but Sceptile's stare cowed him in seconds.
"Sce." 'Thankfully, you're with us, now and Ash doesn't ditch Pokemon for no reason.' the archosaur said. "Tile." 'Now, we need to have a quick assessment of your skills. Nothing personal, it's just we're going up against literal gods and we don't want to lose anyone.'
Houndour then looked at Sceptile in horror. "Hou…" 'Which…' he started.
"Mimi." 'Legendary birds from Shamouti, apparently.' Mimikyu answered, much to the horror of all of them.
"Bell…" 'Fuck that. I'm out.' Bellsprout said. "Spou." 'Gods, I do not want to fuck with.'
Houndour agreed. Perhaps one day. But not now.
"Lap." 'I haven't gotten much action thanks to my nature.' Lapras said, annoyed that he was mostly water-bound and any time he got on land, he was slow as hell.
He wanted to help with the Shamouti birds. Curse his plesiosaurid body form! He couldn't move worth shit on the ground! He could freeze the ground, but that wasn't worth much. At least once the ice was broken, he could be an AA Pokemon.
"Squirt." 'Snorlax can't help us worth a damn either.' Squirtle said, crossing his arms. "Squir." 'Too heavy for the ice.'
Then Natu appeared on his head, wings spread. "Natu!" 'Are you done?' she asked. "Natu." 'Ash needs our help.'
"Squirt." 'Think Fetchy can survive the trip? No offense, but out of all Ash's Pokemon, only Mewtwo can do what you're thinking of doing.' the tiny Turtle said before looking around. "Squirt?" 'Where IS that guy, anyways?'
Natu shuddered. "Natu." 'Have you ever stared into the Distortion World without a filter?' she asked. "Natu." 'Ash has. It's what killed that Hypno a while back. And Mew weaponized it to take down her clone.'
Squirtle still didn't get it.
Natui sighed. "Natu." 'Fine. You want to see the little bastard?' she half-suggested. "Natu." 'Porting time.'
With that, Natui and Squirtle teleported away.
"Lapras!" 'Don't leave me behind, you asshole!' the transport Pokemon demanded.
Chaos. Death. Pain. He could not block them out.
He saw the end of reality, the end of life, the end of death, the end of all things. How could he handle it? How could a human withstand such… insanity? How had Ash Ketchum not simply killed himself to end the pain?
Mewtwo did not know. Mewtwo could not understand. What force of will did this human have to endure where he could not? Why was he so resilient that a human could take it and the most powerful Pokemon outside of the Creator itself couldn't?!
He was vaguely aware of the arrival of two Pokemon, one of them being a psychic-type, but he ignored them.
He had no choice. He had to endure. He had to lock these… images away.
Squirtle now understood. Under the guard of a dozen dark-types and ghost-types, some even being both, was Mewtwo, curled up in the fetal position, hugging himself like he was scared shitless.
He then remembered the Hypno Incident that led Anabel to joining them. Mewtwo was lucky to be alive at all.
"Natu." 'This is why Mewtwo haven't been helping. He saw whatever Ash saw at the end of the universe.' Natu explained. "Natu." 'He's not going anywhere until he finally gets over it.'
Squirtle winced. "Squirtle." 'Shame. Having him around would help.' he said, glancing at the bird. "Squirtle." 'Go get Fetchy. He'll be a great help breaking Ash out of that cell if he got locked up again.'
"Natu." 'I was planning on it.' the parrot said, jumping and teleporting away.
Squirtle glanced at Mewtwo and felt only pity. An arrogant and powerful being, turned into this pathetic shell.
No wonder Mew made him look. He needed humility and what was a greater form of it than watching all that was and would be die?
Hitokyu - Near Korijima - 1920 hours local time
Hunter J was now a believer. Her brother was not only blind for not accepting the blatantly obvious, but Ash Ketchum was clearly Arceus' Chosen for all the shit he got into and more importantly LIVED through.
Her sources in the League indicated he survived and caught a sort of 'super Mew', took down Cipher, PURIFIED Yveltal, FUCKING YVELTAL, the original Shadow Pokemon…
And he was still alive in spite of that.
…fuck that. She wasn't going to deal with facing something that dangerous.
Perhaps she would garner good will with the Prince. Just to keep him from killing her. Because if he had a chance, he would. She saw that Ash hated her, not just her profession, but personally, like she did something to him in the past.
Well, time to bite the bullet.
"Natu."
She looked up to see one of the infamous green parrot messengers of Arceus nesting on her head.
"Damn bird. You're lucky my petrification equipment needs repairs." she growled before realizing something.
Ketchum had a Natu.
With this realization in mind, she returned to the main deck and the ad hoc cage holding the prisoners.
Only to find them released, the base of the cage cut away from the bars, a Galaran Farfetch'd wielding his massive leek to remove the stubs enough for them to just walk out.
"Surprise." said Kyoji. "I would've just used my Natu, but Ash's had access to Fetchy here." With that, he gestured to 'Fetchy', clearly the eternally pissed-off looking Galaran Farfetch'd.
"Fetch." said the bird, giving her a look of disgust. WHY did she have to lose Salamence?
"So…" Sabrina added, just before ALL of Ash's Pokemon came out of their balls, with a Pidgeot glaring at her, Ivysaur looking ready to cut her with leaves, Charizard glowering at her and Goodra and Frogadier…
Wait...Goodra and Frogadier? She ran into a Goomy and Froakie on the Germanic during…
'Oh, FUCK!' she mentally screamed. 'Those were Ketchum's Pokemon! No wonder he wants my scalp!'
'Oh, it gets FAR worse than that, you bitch.' came the mental voice of Sabrina, J trying in vain to block her out as she put her hands to her temples.
Kyoji looked to Sabrina. "I know that look. You're in her head." he said to her. "What are you doing?"
"Showing her what she's responsible for." Sabrina said. J saw images of her, making a deal with Cyrus Akagi for capturing the Lake Trio, taking them…
Oh. That explained everything. Ketchum's prowess as a trainer was due to him being a time traveller and his Pokemon were from that future. A future she, through giving the Lake Trio to Cyrus, helped destroy.
'Normally, this would kill me.' Sabrina 'pathed. 'He saw the Distortion World as it is-' HOW WAS HE STILL ALIVE?! 'When he went back in time. But seeing YOU brought those images to the surface, allowing me to safely see them. Look upon your works, ye mighty and despair, for you aided in the annihilation of all existence.'
In reality, it took only seconds, but for her, it was years. And thus, Hunter J saw what she had wrought and why Ketchum wanted to kill her.
Not just because of her methods. She helped kill everything in existence. Killing her was justice for the deaths of everything in the universe.
What had she done? Did she even know in that timeline?
"You broke her." Iris deadpanned as Hunter J just… stood there with a horrified expression on her face.
"That's what happens when you see what happened last time." Sabrina said, psychically grabbing a key card from the Hunter's pocket. "I'll get our stuff. Dad, if you don't mind?"
Ash nodded. "I'll get Moltres out of his cage." he said. Melody blinked and looked at Kyoji.
"'Dad'?" she asked, the soldier sighing.
"It's a long story." Kyoji said before looking at Ash. "Any ideas?"
Ash looked at his Pokemon, who nodded. "It's explosive, but it worked last time," he said. "Pikachu, Charizard, Thunderbolt and Flamethrower! Ivysaur, Goodra, Vine Whip and Water Pulse! Break the field holding Moltres!"
"Goo?" 'How do we break the shield?' he asked. "Dra-dra." 'It's almost like a Protect bubble. No attack save Judgement can break one of those.'
"Pika!" 'Overwhelm it! It'll fail eventually!' Pikachu said, charging up a Thunderbolt and striking the shield. Moltres gave them a look before resting again. Charizard then breathed fire on the field, making it flicker faintly.
Goodra shrugged, then spat Water Pulses at the shield, Ivysaur whacking it.
Iris realized what was going to happen first and voiced her concern.
"Ash, Pikachu's thunderbolts are going to separate water and turn it into purified oxygen!" the purplette yelled. "Purified oxy-"
"GET DOWN!" Misty yelled, right before the result, like last time, was a large airburst, the explosion, combined with the continued flamethrower and thunderbolt overloading the shield. Technology was no alternative for the Great-Grandsons and Grand-Daughters of Arceus.
That said… there was one thing better.
The Grandsons and Granddaughters of Arceus. Otherwise known as the Legendary Birds and Beasts.
Unknown to Ash or the others, the stasis fields used the same technology as Pokeballs, but with the drawback of not being strong enough to withstand attacks from a Pokemon for long, as they were thin rings, not solid balls.
Moltres screeched, fire welling in its' throat and unleashing a Flamethrower in equal power to a Blast Burn, hitting Zapdos' cell, releasing the Thunder Bird, who took flight, hovering before launching a Thunderbolt that was more akin to a Zap Cannon at Moltres.
"What the fuck is going on in there?!" Sabrina yelled as she came back in, right before she saw both birds escape. "Don't tell me you let them loose!"
Ash chuckled. "It'll bring the ship down." he said. "And honestly, after everything? I kinda want to ruin Collector Boy's day."
Sabrina rose an eyebrow as Hunter J finally came out of her shocked state.
"What the hell was I thinking? There's no point in money if the world is destroyed!" she yelled before the ship rocked, noticing the birds were gone. "…You know what, fuck this. I'm leaving. I'll do you a favor and disable this thing, just… stay the fuck away from me!" With that, the woman ran off, heading for wherever there was a docking port or to wherever her ship was.
Misty scoffed. "Bitch." she said derisively.
Serena just shook her head. "Now what?" she asked. "The birds are loose and we all know they'll destroy this ship."
Kyoji just looked at Ash. "I think that's what he's counting on."
Lawrence watched in no small amount of horror as the birds fled from his flying fortress, joined by the final member of the Legendary Birds, Articuno.
"You have got to be-" the ship lurched from a direction that didn't come from the damn birds.
"Warning! Pride of Opelucid is firing on us." the AI said as the ship began descending. "Damage to flotation units."
"Set us down on the closest island and open a communication channel to my sister's ship!" he ordered. The face of his sister appeared moments later as a holographic projection, looking shaken and resigned. "Jeanette, what the hell are you doing?!"
Her head rose, showing her eyes, now missing the visor she normally wore and her eyes… they screamed of horrible things.
"I can't let you do this." she said. "I have done things I do not regret. But I will not let your insanity kill us all. The birds will be released."
"Do you realize what you've done?!" Lawrence demanded. "Lugia will never leave the seabed now!"
"Maybe. But I don't care." she said. "The Beast of the Sea was never Lugia."
"Warning: shield failing.'' The AI said, the artificial Protect bubble failing as all three birds and the Pride of Opelucid fired on the Lumose-Class battleship. "Prepare for crash landing on Denkijima."
NS Heart of Indigo - Shamouti Island port - 1958 hours local time
"The engines are repaired, sir, but the ice is starting to press on the hull." the XO of the Indigo said to his captain.
"Ice in the Orange Islands." Nakajima sighed . "A week ago, I would've considered Yveltal being purified fantasy, yet here we are. Radar?"
"The Pride of Opelucid is in the air around Denkijima, sir." the operator said. "Hunter J's ship."
The XO looked at his commanding officer, conflicted. "Sir, we have standing orders to take her down after the shit she pulled on the Germanic." he said, but there was a caveat. "But Ketchum's protection is a priority as well, given what we know about the Rotan Royal Family."
Nakajima gave them both a look. "Knowing Ketchum, he's on that ship." the captain snorted. "Bring the engines to one-half and flood the aft trim tanks. We'll use the ship's weight to crush the ice and break free. Then we can shoot that thing down."
"That's a Defiance-Class aerial destroyer." his XO reminded Nakajima.
"And this is a Sakurajima-Class battlecruiser. We can take whatever that thing has." Haruo said with no small amount of pride. "It's the Hitokyu I'm worried about. If Lawrance fires on us, we're going to be in for a hard time." he looked to his helmsman. "Take us to sea and prepare for battle!"
Hitokyu - over Denkijima - 2000 hours local time
"THIS IS INSANITY!" Melody said as the cargo hold was torn open, the boat landing on the now-VERY snowy ground.
"Welcome to our lives!" Jessie said as she climbed onto the boat's deck, followed by her fellow Rockets, as the shrine was crushed, the bird statue flying at the group.
Sabrina's eyes glowed briefly, redirecting it to not land on the boat and ruin their escape. "Dad, if you don't mind?" she said before the massive fortress began rising, one of the propellers slowly inching towards the icy lake.
Melody just stared in horror at Sabrina as everyone else climbed onto the boat. "Are you sure that's something we need to worry about right now?!" she snapped.
"You want to calm those birds down or not?" Ash retorted as he pulled the orb out of the beak, the faint light getting all of their attention. "Without these, they'll just kill everything on the planet by either overheating it, freezing it or electrocuting everything in sight! Or flooding the world, the tablet wasn't clear on how the world would end."
"What-How do you think those will stop the Legendary Birds?!" Melody demanded before everyone looked at her and said one word.
"LUGIA!" they all cried before Moltres dived in, Ash climbing up before the Fire Titan bashed into them, the wing sending the boat flying into the water before the fortress shifted, crackign a dam.
"If you're listening, Arceus, would you mind NOT letting us die?!" Sabrina shouted as the boat moved towards the newly created waterfall, sending them falling to the frozen waters below.
Until something broke through the ice, causing a waterspout, catching them mid-fall. And the mournful cries were all too familiar, as Melody looked around for the source.
Ash already knew what it was. The Guardian of the Waters.
The Chosen of Arceus was needed here. Even if it meant Slowking's garden was ruined. While he didn't surface often, Slowking was working on a flower garden the last time he was up there, so he sent an apology to the Royal Pokemon before shoving the watercraft onto the Temple of Shamouti, then turning to face his charges.
The water dissipated, but something pricked at Lugia's mind before hearing an enraged call so much like his own echo in the waters before surfacing.
Another Lugia, only black and red, charged a corrupted Aeroblast in his mouth before firing at the Guardian of the Sea.
XD-001 had returned.