The Inspirer

by Seanic - Professor of Alchemy

Time circles over, civilisations rise and fall, and the ancient legends have trapped Ash and Pikachu inside Unova. As the world descends into the final days of the current era, and reality collapses with the rise of the Plasma Empire, Ash must finally discover his true potential and redefine the meaning of a Pokemon Master to the world – the power that's inside.

"The gravest error a thinking person can make is to believe that one particular version of history is absolute fact."

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The Inspirer

Book 1 – The Great Work of the Alchemist.

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

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Chapter I-1: The Last Hurrah of Days Past.

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A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

The circle of life and death.

A sole ray of light cutting through the dark.

His soul burned full circle.

An ocean of papers and drawings buried his feet: sketches of magic runes and a world-sized tree piled around his feet, trophies of league tournaments stood by his side, and the certificate of the Sinnoh League lay tucked away in the corner of his desk – a collection of photos reflected in his earth-brown eyes.

Resting.

Waiting.

Teetering the young man over the last page sketched.

The book closed shut as a rainbow feather withered out of his wrist. He sucked up one last deep breath and clapped his hands together.

The curtains parted ways to the world of a rainbow dawning in his eyes: leaves of green and pink sweeping over a field of sunflowers, shadows of pokémon rustling and whispering among the cover of plants, and the hills steeped in twilight as they enveloped over the field. The world on the other side of the horizon waited behind glass windows.

A lean Pikachu popped out of the wood-layered papers and beamed up at the young man towering over the ceiling - the book held firm in his mouth.

The young man smiled and reached out an open palm.

Pikachu scurried up the sleeve of his lab-coat and wriggled the book.

Ash scratched Pikachu's chin and took the book, burying it inside a suitcase; flames roared over his window.

They nodded together and turned their backs on the room: his left-hand holding onto a sachet behind, his right-hand opening the door ahead, and his partner Pikachu resting on his shoulder as they glided across the walls. Time withered away at the ceiling weighing over his eyes.

Ash frowned as he stared into empty-space.

…

He closed his eyes and opened again, turning away from the corridor of portraits as he sat on the stairwell and cruised down its slope; walls of earth blurred beneath his vision.

Pikachu barked and pounced straight onto the ground; Delia popped over the room with a pile of clothes.

Ash's eyes bulged as he flung himself off the slope, slipped over his footing and spun around.

THUMP!

He cringed as the back of his head struck against the wall, falling down to earth in a heap; a sole painting above shook loose on the wall.

Delia scrambled down to him as luggage bags spilled over their feet: layers of clothes and garments sprawled over the floor, covers of books and papers strewed out of order, and a mother and son fiddling back n' forth as Ash shook off his headache. He waved off her hands as he hefted himself up the wall.

BUMP!

Ash winced.

The painting popped off the wall.

Delia gasped as the frame juggled in her hands and slipped out. The frame doubling over in a twirl, Pikachu's tail flicking it upward as he slipped out of the giant feet trampling over him, and Ash flailing about as the portrait bumped and lumped about. His hands clamped the frame, caught one foot in the baggage and wobbled over on his other heel.

Pikachu shot up the staircase, snatched onto the thread of the portrait as his body was stretched rubber-thin, and winced as he tugged it off to the side; Ash twirled over and dropped it straight onto its same old hook.

The frame hung stiff yet the picture inside wrinkled: a sole tree bridging the field and sky together into view, a younger Delia cradling a baby in her arms, and the one strand of cracked glass cutting over the face of a third figure.

Ash and Pikachu grimaced as they clutched their heads.

Delia closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She smoothed out Ash's sweat-shirt, rubbed his shoulders and shook her head as she tugged him away. Both mother and son turned their backs on the cracked portrait.

Pages of circles and symbols peaked out of the piles of garments; Delia's gaze furrowed as she peered closer-

Pikachu's head popped out of the sea of luggage, the notebook and its pages clamped shut in his mouth as he shook himself free and scurried back up Ash's shoulder; the pages buried themselves in Ash's grip, hiding them away as he zipped down and recollected the stray piles of luggage together.

Delia dropped her gaze as she scooped up the last pile of clothes from Ash's hands, clearing the mess between them and lining the bags straight; both mother and son breathed out a slow sigh and looked at each-other again.

Delia held up a white lab-coat.

Ash swung it up and over onto his frame.

Delia held up a gold and silver ribbon-wrapped parcel.

Ash beamed as he clutched the parcel and sealed it inside his own bag.

Delia held up his League cap.

Ash shook his head and smiled as he waved it off. He took hold of his cap, spared one last glance at its worn fabric and dropped it onto the rack; the cap hung retired.

Pikachu tilted his head at Ash's smile and the retired cap.

Delia tapped her cheek as she stepped back clear of them.

Ash let out a deep breath. He lunged back up the staircase, retraced his steps across his bedroom, pushed the windows open and jumped out; Charizard swooped underneath them as they took to the sky.

The wings of a fire dragon took flight and carried them up towards the hills.

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

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A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

The winds of a white forest swept their faces clean.

The hills awaited them as they soared over the plains of a sun-drenched land: fields of grain and vines carved out of the woodlands, dirt tracks criss-crossing each-other in and out of the village of white shacks, men and women farming the fields side-by-side with flocks of butterfree and diglett. Humans and pokémon alike waved and voiced themselves up at them as Charizard soared the skies.

Ash and Pikachu waved back at their greetings; petals and leaves brushed their limbs in the breeze.

Charizard grunted and snorted embers against the flora-ridden winds.

Ash held onto him and gazed beyond the wind; a rainbow valley of hydrangea flowers laced the fields together through their song, their petals leading up into the glass dome of the nursery.

The wind flared up.

A bundle of snow-white leaves splashed his face.

Ash coughed and spluttered, raking the leaves off his face as he shook his head clear. The trail of leaves dissipated behind.

He looked back over himself as his eyes followed the trail.

The seashores faded beneath the flower fields, yet the waves of the salty docks roared louder: concrete suites converged around the cobblestone of a central fountain, scarlet sages bloomed out from the base of its bare feet, men and women from all walks of life hustled and bustled together as they crossed paths in its centre – the golden statue of a robed man watched over the sea and skies from the seaport's grounds.

PALETTE DE OAK

Ash's smile wavered.

Pikachu tugged him and pointed ahead.

Ash shook it off and patted him. He sucked up a deep breath, tapped Charizard's back and gazed ahead once more as they dived into the corral's clearing; the hills walled out the rest of the outside world from sight.

Oak-trees enveloped them as the grass gave way to their weight.

Ash sprung onto the grass as he grinned and shot a thumbs-up.

Charizard shot back with a fist-bump, sucked up a gulp of air and bellowed a bomb of flames; the sky rippled in the twilight of a fireworks shower.

The earth rumbled.

Pikachu skedaddled onto Ash's shoulder and held firm.

Ash folded his arms, smiled and stood still: a stampede of tauros rushing over in a wave of dust, Donphan barrelling past and around them, and Squirtle and Totodile perched on top of their horns as they surfed atop the herd. The dust clouds swept the ranch.

A pair of vines whipped around his shoulders and reeled him in, the stampeding dust fading beneath the cover of leaves as Ash and Pikachu perched themselves on clean grass; pollen twinkled over Bayleef as she nudged and nuzzled him over.

Ash chuckled and rubbed down her cooing murmurs. He smoothed her skin clean, savoured the honey-scented air and patted her head as he glanced elsewhere around himself.

Branches of oak-wood enshrouded him inside a bubble as he wandered over the green shade: Sceptile lay slumped on a trunk as he chewed his twig, Gible swimming beneath the web of thick roots as footsteps perked him up, Bulbasaur perched on top of Torterra as they watched over the woodlands and called out at their passing trainer. A streak of sunlight passing over his eyes, a jolt of Pikachu zipping past his feet into the tall grass, and a wave of his hand as Ash wandered up to the shade's border.

A small boy sat in front, dark hair combed back as his glasses drew between his sketchbook and his sister's Venusaur.

The girl perked up, brunette hair tied in her emerald bandanna as she smiled and waved back.

Ash smiled and gave a slap to Max's back. "I never thought I'd see the day that I'd say this: I'm getting too old for this routine."

May raised a brow. "You? Getting old? Since when did you of all people become a hermit?"

Ash shrugged. "Since I arrived."

"... Hope you have another spot saved in that retreat then." May let out a sigh with a smile and shook hands.

Ash raised a brow as he grasped her hand. "Yep, Johto also left you with a bad case of frost-bite."

May's smiled strained. "Yeah, enough for a sea change for both of us… can't be worse than Sinnoh, huh?"

"… Right back at you." Ash gave her a squeeze, smiled and released his grip.

Max groaned as he smoothed his wrinkled shirt straight and scratched his hair. "Hey come on, you're supposed to say how much I've grown bigger."

Ash chuckled and patted his shoulder. He lifted Max up onto his back, picked up a stick and held it up for him as he dropped the little boy on top of Torterra's shell; Max wobbled over and clutched onto the tree.

He let out a breath and glanced back down.

Ash flashed him a thumbs-up and patted Torterra away.

May nudged him in the ribs as she stood by Ash's side. "Really now, I almost mistook your lab-coat for some other old man. Anymore surprises your pokémon team is waiting to show?"

"Nah, just a few tricks here and there, paying more attention to the farmers nearby, learning how to make tea of all things; you know, standard home routine." Ash chuckled as he took out a tennis ball and tossed it out; Bulbasaur caught it in his vines.

"Oh? Home routine?" May prodded.

The ball whipped out and flew back into Ash's hand.

"Believe it or not, I appreciate a proper bed with a thick blanket every now and then." Ash tossed it out again.

"… Right back at you." May nodded to herself. She rested against Torterra as they watched Bayleef join in the juggling act; the ball circled around the three of them in a triangle.

Bayleef juggled the ball on her leaf and flicked it back.

Ash's hand slipped up the bounce and scrambled it back into his grip. "Ha hah, guess we're not cut out for circus performances as an alternative."

May dropped her smile.

"Here, why don't you and your team show us rookies how it's done?" Ash tossed the ball out once more.

May waved it off and slumped back. "If you're asking for an expert teacher, better start looking elsewhere for someone better, right?"

Ash caught the ball to a standstill and looked into her eyes.

"Hmm?" May glanced up at his stare-

A palm tapped her.

"Huh?" May glanced over her right shoulder-

Another tap.

"Uh, what?" May glanced over her left-shoulder.

The grass rustled around her.

"Oh come on." May groaned as she looked back at the tree, narrowed her eyes and glanced the other way; Dawn held a finger to her mouth.

Ash grinned. "Whoa, I didn't know Kenny was visiting!"

"Wait, what!?" Dawn jolted-

"Gotcha!" May grabbed her shoulders and seized her grip, shaking the smile off Dawn's face.

Dawn held her palms up. "Okay, okay, you got me this time. Want me to hand over my spotlight?"

May rolled her eyes, released her grip and jumped her palms into a double-clap with Dawn. A high-five to the left, a clap in mirrored synch, a low-five to the right, another clap back to centre, and a high-touch topping off their outburst; the two girls burst out into a laughing fit and clutched their stomachs.

Dawn let out a breath. She tidied up her beanie, glanced past May's head and stretched her hand up high as she waved back n' forth; Piplup popped up on her head and flattered his flippers over Dawn's shouting.

Ash chuckled and gave a single wave, strolling over towards them with right-hand held up high.

Dawn stretched up on her toes and stretched her hand up high.

Their hands fell short in thin-air.

Ash's smile lowered as he craned his neck downward; Dawn hopped up and down over and over, swiping and missing just short of Ash's hand above as she moaned at the gap in height.

May stifled a giggle.

Max slid down Torterra's stumpy shell and watched from afar.

Dawn's eyes struck wide and lit up. She climbed on top of a flat tree-stump, twirled on the spot of wood as she spanned her hand around and reached over with a high-touch; the bark grinded beneath her boots.

Ash craned his head up and applauded his hands. "Bravo, little princess. Great to see you haven't changed by an inch."

Dawn tucked her hands on hips, puffed up her stance and beamed as she towered over from on top the tree stump, head held high.

A palm shoved her back.

"Uwah!" Dawn lurched over, arms flailing as she stumbled off and fluttered on her feet through the grass; May snickered from behind.

Dawn blew out a huff and slouched over.

Ash stifled a chuckle as he nudged her shoulder. "Hey no need to worry, May and I've done worse. Last I checked, no one said there were any rules around here."

May sighed with a smile and strode over.

Dawn scratched her head and chuckled with her tongue stuck out.

"Besides, the more the merrier, we can't keep the others waiting forever. Hey Max, show her the reigns around here!" Ash patted Max in the spine and ushered him forth.

"Uwah!" Max stumbled over, skimming past Skitty and Pachirisu as they zig-zagged through his shuffling feet and left him wobbling up to Dawn, front and centre.

Dawn bent onto her knees and waved at him.

Max coughed and straightened himself. He pointed beyond the woodlands, hustled around Venusaur and waved over at the others; a tunnel of hollow wood behind him gaped wide open.

May tagged Dawn on the back and ran ahead of her.

Dawn sprung off and flew into a sprint, racing May as they crossed over the wooden tunnel. The crunching of leaves gave way to bark rumbling beneath her boots, clouds of moss twinkled out of the roof, and a forest of mushrooms bopped n' bounced her off as she overtook everyone else.

She grabbed onto a wooden stalagmite, swung around in thin air and zoomed out the end of the hollow wood.

Sunlight swept her up on her toes: a sky gleaming over a golden mist of sunlight, Swellow and Staraptor racing out of the woods and skimming over their heads, and a breeze brushing her skin amongst a field of scarlet-sage flowers. A whirlwind of red and white petals stirred her eyes around and up at the sky as Dawn spun in place, spanned her arms out wide and sprawled down onto a cushion of leaves.

Piplup rolled over the grass, wobbled around and dropped behind Dawn's head.

Dawn breathed in the sunlit mist and gazed up at the sky; one tree extended its shadow over her entire world.

She stretched her neck over the shadow and glanced behind herself at the rest of the upside-down field; May circled around and cartwheeled down over the sky, slipped over Cyndaquil and fell up onto the grass in front of Dawn's eyes.

The two girls laughed it off and struck a low-five; Piplup flailed his flippers in between their heads and reached for their high-five.

Cyndaquil and Quilava tilted their heads and glanced at each-other, scurrying circles around them; May waved them off as she surrendered her strength into the grass.

Max stuck his neck out overhead and extended his small hand, pulling May up onto her feet as he pointed elsewhere.

Dawn let her eyes drift over his finger and follow the trail of the shadow: evergreen branches reached over the sky and gripped it, roots twisted and spiralled up and over the mist, and Ash perched himself on a middle branch in between as he gazed out at his own horizons. The earth and sky circled around the tree trunk.

A trail of footprints burrowed inside the trunk and disappeared behind its roots.

Dawn grinned. She kicked up onto her feet, twirled on her heel and swept May and Max into a whirl as she rushed past.

Cyndaquil and Quilava squeaked as their backs flared up.

May and Max wobbled over and staggered on their feet, picking Piplup up as they hurried up by the heels.

Dawn weaved n' breezed her feet clear across the walkway of clay gnomes, their frozen eyes lined up on guard as they watched her hop and skip onto a log. She traipsed across the wooden tight-rope, ducked beneath an arch of roots and flew inside the trunk's rabbit hole.

Roots enveloped her inside the chamber of dusk: moss-ridden bark murmuring amongst the shadows, purple-bell flowers glimmering upside-down overhead, and the rest of the trail hiding behind the corner-turn.

A cluster of vines stretched out of the corner and lay on the slope.

Dawn scrambled up the sliding burrow, fingers wheeling the frosty air itself and boots slipping n' sliding off chunks of dirt as she grabbed onto the vines and climbed the corner. She spiralled higher and higher as the tunnel narrowed into a crawl, barged past Heracross as he skedaddled up and away from his patch of sap, and sprung out through the window of light.

Heracross fluttered down from her face.

A shadow blazed past her face and swept her hair up.

Dawn rubbed her eyes clear and opened her eyes to a forest hovering in the sky: clouds of leaves rustling in the voice of the wind, branches of iron-wood criss-crossing into a labyrinth of wooden tight-ropes and ladders, and Blaziken perched overhead as he dropped Max onto a nest of branches clustered together.

She stretched her neck back, wobbling about as she squinted her eyes through the streaks of sunlight; May pulled Ash up onto a cluster of branches as they grouped together with Max.

Ash smiled and waved as he looked down upon her.

Dawn pumped her fists and puffed up her spine. She wobbled up the slope, fluttered onto a plank and hustled across by the tips of her toes, passing by Noctowl's alcove as the shiny Pokémon tilted her head at the little girl catching and shuffling thin air.

A puddle of dried leaves slipped under her boot.

Dawn yelped as she plunged onto the sleeping Snorlax, bounced up n' down on his belly and sprawled over in the tall grass; Piplup shuffled through the grass and looked over her soil-muffled groans.

Ash and May winced as they dropped down onto the ground at Dawn's side, kneeling over her.

Dawn blew out a deep sigh and slumped on her knees, dirt clouding her eyes as she wiped her palms over.

"Here, let me help." A feminine voice knelt down and held her back, wiping a wet towel over her face.

"Huh? Oh, thanks." Dawn took the towel, washed her face clean and shook her head loose.

She opened her eyes up at a young woman kneeling over her: orange hair flowing down to her shoulders, a yellow vest and shorts overlaying a red undershirt, and moss-green eyes reflecting herself back at her.

Dawn lost herself in her eyes as she stared at her figure; Piplup peaked out and eyed her from behind Dawn.

"Hmm? Oh, hello there, Piplup?" The orange-haired woman extended an open palm.

Piplup stood in front of Dawn and puffed up his chest.

The woman smiled and tickled him over.

Piplup lost his glare and surrendered himself into her fingers, purring as he sprawled into her cuddle.

The orange-haired woman tapped Dawn in the back and held out a palm. "Come on, there are better places than a forest of grass for getting lost in daydreaming naps. Here, I'm Misty."

"Huh? Uh, right. Dawn's my name." She blinked back, took her hand and pulled herself up onto her feet. Her eyes met short of Misty's chin.

Misty smiled. "There you go, Dawn. Now you be careful with who you take after, I once knew a… certain someone… who had bad habits of overworking himself alone. I wonder who else took after his habits?"

May whistled to herself as she tip-toed away from them, tugging Max away from the scene.

Ash let out a sigh as he looked elsewhere. "Yep, that certain someone was quite the ten year-old boy. His kicking and screaming used to put wild mankey to shame."

Misty glanced up at him and searched for his eyes. "As if he didn't grow up and stayed a ten year-old forever? What happened to him with all that endless time in the world?"

Ash looked into her eyes and found his own reflection. "I think that little kid got tired of being a ten year-old forever and ever, being stuck in time would drive even a wild mankey and primeape to boredom."

"And what would that ten year-old say if he were here now?" Misty closed the gap between them and stood before him.

Ash bared open his grazed palms. "Can I ask for a pair of helping hands?"

Misty smiled as her head shook about. She rinsed the towel through his hands, wiped his skin clean and squeezed his palms.

Ash tugged back and pulled her into a hug, twirling around as he held her in their embrace.

Misty chuckled as she tightened her grasp around him, relented and pulled Pikachu into a hug; Pikachu cooed as he nuzzled her arms and forehead.

Ash beamed back as he relented and let her go. He patted her in the back, tugged Max to their side and waved over; May beamed back and huddled over to them.

Misty tugged May into a hug and patted her in the back, smoothing out her emerald bandanna.

May scratched her head as she stood back.

Misty knelt down to Max's eyes and shook his hand, patting him on the shoulder.

"… I'm starting to wonder if I stumbled into the wrong age group." Max mumbled.

Ash waved it off and stepped up to him. "Don't worry, Max, this is strictly grown-up talk between two very mature adults."

"Ugh." Misty groaned as she rolled her eyes and shoved Ash aside; Ash and everyone else laughed it off together, sighed and let themselves loose.

Misty smiled back for the group, kneeling down and cuddling Piplup again; the wind stirred again and rinsed her hair over her eyes.

Dawn's eyes lay furrowed as she gazed over Misty's figure.

"Oh, is something the matter?" Misty asked.

"Is it just my imagination or have we met before?" Dawn wondered.

"We have?" Misty's head tilted as her face scrunched up.

"Hmm…" Dawn scratched her chin as she popped up in front of Misty, probing her figure top to bottom and around as she probed her figure all over.

"Uh, excuse me? Uwah, hey, hold up." Misty's palms shot up as she staggered backwards from Dawn's eyes. She glanced over her shoulder at the others.

Ash and May both raised a brow as they shrugged back.

Misty gawked back at Dawn's eyes and shuddered.

Dawn snapped her fingers. "Ah hah! Yellow clothes, fondness for water, and hair as orange as carrots. I knew it, aren't you the one who designed that chibi fishing lure Ash carried around?"

"Oh, that?" Misty blinked back and dropped her arms, smiling.

"Yeah, it helped us catch Buizel!" Dawn added.

Misty's smiled twitched as she glared over at the river behind them; Buizel sniggered and looked away from her face.

"Oh yeah, that was a great catch! He was a strong contender when I saw him in the Wallace Cup." May noted.

Max perked up. "Whoa, speaking of which, the Wallace Cup was based on the theme of water. Hey Ash, how come we didn't see Misty in the competition on TV?"

"… You know what, sometimes I ask the questions to myself." Ash folded his arms.

Misty groaned as she rubbed her face, shaking her head at herself.

Dawn snapped her fingers again. "Ah hah, I have a brilliant plan: You and I team up for a one-time partnership. You bring in your water-type expertise as my assistant, and I'll take care of the performance. Now that's what I call double trouble!"

Misty groaned louder.

Dawn stroked her chin and doodled around Misty as she set her eyes on the sky. "Yep, you and I will be unstoppable with my brains and your brawns. No matter what those adults throw at us, we'll beat them at their own game-"

Misty caught and held her in a vice-grip. "Alright alright, that's enough window shopping for you now. May can help me find a toy for you, but I'm not a doll for anyone, little miss."

"Hey!" Dawn barked back.

"Welp, I'm out. Your battle for today, Dawn." May brushed her off and waddled away.

Misty shook her head with a smile. "Yes, May, I'll take care of our cute little sister."

Ash snickered to himself as he gave a thumbs-up. "Well then, sounds as though you have a plan of initiation for us."

Misty chuckled back as she ruffled Dawn's beanie off her head.

Dawn popped up in between them and crossed her arms. "Hey, listen! I'll have you know that I was a runner-up in the Sinnoh Grand Festival, and I was only this teeny little hair-strand of points away from taking home my trophy!"

Misty smiled and patted down the little girl's head; Dawn puffed up her cheeks as she straightened herself against Misty's patting.

Togekiss joined Misty's side and wagged her finger; Dawn narrowed her eyes down at Togekiss as she mumbled under her breath.

Piplup cuddled up Misty's leg and reached for her fingers; Dawn crossed her arms and turned away with a huff.

Ash and May laughed it off, patting Dawn on the back as they waddled around; Max stood back, staring at the grown-ups.

Misty knelt down and nudged Max's spine, pushing him forward as she tugged Dawn's arm.

Dawn opened her eyes and looked around herself, watching Misty smooth out her beanie and prop Piplup back on top of her head.

Ash let out a breath and wandered ahead of the group.

A sea of fog dissipated amongst the rays of sunlight: a river cutting down the hills and disappearing away from view, pebbles and boulders guiding the riverside as the water weaved around them, and a rainbow of droplets shimmering out of its waves. The clear surface beneath reflected the sun's growth above.

Ash sat back against a boulder and gazed into the water; an abyss surrounded his entire world, its bottomless depths staring back into his lone eyes.

Pebbles crunched around his bare fingers as Ash peered at the opposite side of the river beyond his reach. He picked up a flat stone, flicked it out of his fingers and watched it skip across the water; ripples stirred up the flow, yet each step shrunk further and further away from Ash's eyes.

The pebble sunk short of the river's opposite end and disappeared beneath its surface.

Ash sat back and stared into his reflection again; the water's ripples reached the two opposite sides of the river.

Silhouettes shot out of the ripples and shattered the water's surface.

Ash's smile returned as he watched Totodile and Corphish scuttled over on a wave, washing up to him and dancing along his arms as he tussled and wrestled them all over. A pair of pincers clicking as Kingler waved by his side, another wave of droplets rinsing over his face as Buizel rushed past Politoed and Marill hopping around, and the water's surface settling down again – humans and pokémon alike filled his reflection.

Another shadow grew bigger and bigger beneath the surface at his feet.

Misty's reflection huddled by his side and folded her arms.

Ash chuckled as he shook his head. "Nah, forget about it, too risky."

Misty nudged his shoulder. "Come on, I thought I was the one who would be playing it safe."

Ash shrugged. "Okay, I'll take a dive for now."

Misty grinned and kicked off her shoes. She crept up to the water in her bare-feet, placed two fingers in her mouth and whistled.

Max hurried over and stood behind Misty.

May strolled away from Dawn and peered back at the river.

"Um, what? Hey, listen, where's everyone going?" Dawn darted her vision side-by-side and around the scene.

The river stirred in the wind.

Waves rippled out of a shadow.

Buizel skedaddled off and away from the water rumbling and churning ever darker, its depths swallowed up in the jaws of the shadow beneath its surface as it grew larger and larger.

The ground shuddered Dawn's feet.

The air shivered around Piplup's nerves.

A roar shattered the surface and shot up to the sky, sundering the air in an eruption of water as the shadow loomed over the earth. The sun disappeared behind its head, a deluge of rainfall thundered the ground, and Dawn sneezed as she shrivelled in her drenched clothes and looked up at the shadow staring down at them; Gyarados reigned over the sky.

A chill of frost shot up Dawn's skin as she sneezed again. She glanced up at Piplup, both of them rubbing their eyes, then looked up at the beast's draconic eyes.

Gyarados gazed at Beautifly fluttering around, his jaws and face twisting into the shape of a smile beaming at Beautifly's wings.

Dawn and Piplup shuddered.

"Okay, who wants to go first?" Misty asked.

"Me, me!" Max flailed his arm and scuttled up to Misty's side.

"Dawn said she wants to jump the queue!" May pushed Dawn forward.

"Wait, what? Me!?" Dawn staggered and stumbled over.

"Alrighty then, the more the merrier!" Ash exclaimed.

"Hey, wait up!" Dawn cried back.

May whistled as she retreated away from the river, huddling up together with Munchlax and Mamoswine at the tree's roots.

Dawn glared back at May and stuck her tongue out.

Gyarados plonked his head onto the ground, shaking the earth asunder beneath his jaws. He stretched his neck towards Dawn as he tilted and looked over her; Piplup tilted his head and stared back like a mirror.

"Goodness, are you always that eager to jump up and about?" Misty teased.

Dawn blew against her own loose strands of hair and stared at Misty; water shivered her bare skin and dripped off her clothes.

Misty winced and dropped her smile. She pulled out another dry towel, wrapped it around Dawn and straightened her hair dry and smooth; Dawn breathed out a sigh and hugged the towel tighter.

Ash waved it off. "Oh well, no need to worry, there will always be a next time."

Dawn grinned and held up two fingers in a V-sign; Politoed hopped and clapped around her.

Gyarados craned and tilted his head about.

Misty rubbed down Gyarados and patted his face. She took hold of Max's hand, hoisted him up and seated him on top of Gyarados; Max slipped and tugged her hand as he wobbled about.

Ash took Misty's hand and swung himself up alongside them; Misty kicked her heel into Gyarados' neck.

Piplup beamed and waved at them as Gyarados raised his head over the sky; Dawn groaned as the sun disappeared again.

Max gasped, holding onto Ash and Misty as the world lay bare beneath his feet: the ocean rising out of the hills, fields of treetops and flowers blurring into smudges, and a waterfall standing eye-to-eye with him. A wall of wind surged through his face and frosted his skin into a heart-pounding shiver.

Ash looked straight ahead and squinted his eyes at the top of the waterfall; a brown-haired man sat cross-legged atop a boulder.

A smile steeled his gaze. He tapped Misty's shoulder and pointed ahead, hopped off Gyarados and marched in a straight line up the slope; boulders and pebbles mirrored each-other left n' right as they carved through the grass.

Brock smiled back, stood straight up on the boulder and marched down the same slope; stone ledges blocked the waterfall and led him down dry dirt.

Ash and Brock waved and met halfway on a patch of flat earth, standing face to face. The two men shook hands, solidified their grip, bumped shoulders together and patted each-other's backs.

"Am I late?" Brock asked.

"Is a full foot in height considered late?" Ash asked back.

Brock nodded to himself as he tussled Ash's hair. "Yep, can't leave any of my little brothers alone for a moment."

Pikachu scuttled up Ash's shoulder and squealed as he waved at Brock.

Brock nuzzled Pikachu's chin. He reached into his backpack, pulled out a cluster of tomato berries and held them up; Pikachu's eyes lit up and he zapped the berries to a crisp. He burrowed his face into Brock's palm, chowed the fried food down and squealed. His face beamed fire-red.

Ash grinned. "And that's why we need our big brother in the house."

Brock raised a brow as he looked over Ash's shoulders: Misty helping Max off Gyarados and tidying his hair dry, Dawn shivering as she hugged her towel, and the grass littered with the pokémon scattering about as May tip-toed away from the scene. She darted her eyes, perked up at Brock and waved alone.

…

Brock sighed as he shook his head. "Darn, I look away for one moment, and the whole place becomes a mess."

Everyone else laughed together as they gathered around Ash and Brock; May went quiet first.

Brock reached into his backpack again, pulled away a wrapping and unveiled a jumbo-sized steaming cookie. "Here, my homemade lava cookie. Packed with extra-hot cinnamon and a punch of oran berries for the gut."

May blinked wide-eyed, gawked at the cookie, up at Brock, then back at the cookie. She strained a smile, accepted the cookie and nibbled away at it.

"Make sure to stay warm." Brock warned.

May nodded to herself as her eyes wandered lost; Ash kept quiet.

Dawn's face scrunched up. "Stay warm? What are you talking about, summer's already beating us over our heads this morning."

Max's gaze sunk in his thoughts.

"Besides, that's no fair!" Dawn stepped closer–

"Here." Brock extended his palm.

Dawn flinched back and blinked; a snow-white bun of congealed rice sat in Brock's palm.

"Now extra-cool with peppermint." Brock added.

"Oh… uh, wow, thanks." Dawn took hold of one bun.

Misty bopped Dawn on the head. "And don't go forgetting your manners this time, little miss."

Dawn groaned. "Yes, mom."

Misty smiled. "Good girl."

Ash smiled as he let out a deep sigh. "Ah, that takes me way back… few things in the world beat good ol' homemade jelly-filled donuts."

Dawn stopped her mouth short of a bite and gawked at him. "What? These? Jelly-filled donuts? These are just rice balls plain as day–"

Brock's face zoomed over her eyes. The world disappeared from sight as he wrapped one arm around Dawn's shoulder and held her in a vicegrip.

Dawn shuddered as she leaned away from Brock's face. "Brock? Um… Brock? Why are there daggers in your eyes?"

Brock's smile twitched. "If I say they're jelly-filled donuts, then they're jelly-melly freaking belly-filled donuts. Everyone loves my donuts."

Dawn's smile quivered as she darted her eyes around; Ash and Misty shook their heads faster and faster as they swiped their necks together.

"Uh huh, uh huh, yep, I'm just jelly!" Dawn nodded and scuttled behind May's back, the snow-white bun probed by her eyes; May looked at Brock and Dawn, shrugged it off and went back into her cookie as she nibbled away at it.

Dawn took a bite… and gaped. "Whoa, jelly-filled rice-balls! Why didn't any of those idiot grownups in the cooking show contests think of this?"

Misty spluttered and burst in laughter; May stopped eating and stood quiet.

"For you, Misty." Brock dug deeper into his bag and unveiled a blanket of fabric; a rag-doll of a little girl lay worn-out. Its long-sleeve blouse dangled loose in rips and its fabric skin lay tattered in tears, yet its smile still beamed off its face as it stretched near ripping point.

Misty furrowed her gaze as she took hold of the rag-doll. She looked into its face, winced and averted her eyes away from it; the doll's glass-layered eyes reflected the full sight of Misty's face back at her.

"And for you, Ash. Exactly as you described." Brock pulled both hands out and held them up; a miniature treasure box of a monochrome sheen sat locked and dormant.

Ash and Pikachu's eyes hardened as they took hold of the miniature box.

Misty shook her thoughts away as she hugged her doll. "Alright then, what's the plan, Doc? Any ideas on what to do with the kids here?"

"Let's take it inside." Brock stated. He tapped Ash's shoulder, pointed ahead and ushered them forth.

Ash and Pikachu nodded as they broke away from the collective. They descended the hill down to earth, looked straight ahead and ventured into the darkness of the forest; the rest of the group passed by Dawn and followed Ash towards the forest.

Dawn darted her head back n' forth and around herself. "Huh? Hey, what? Where are you going?"

"Hmm?" Misty blinked and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, just a talk in private quarters. Scared of the dark?"

"Hey, wait up!" Dawn hustled down the hill and trailed after the group's heels; the forest closed away the world at their backs and enshrouded the group in dusk.

Dawn overtook the group in front, spun on her heels and perched herself in the lead as she faced the group. She clasped her hands behind her back as she walked backwards.

Brock perked up.

Dawn eyed him. "So… long time no words, anymore new surprises? Fresh studies? Crazy college science experiments gone bananas in the kitchen? A new recipe cure for cancer? An unexpected case of gigantism in front of you? C'mon, spill the beans!"

Brock smiled and patted down her head. "Dawn, I'm glad you haven't changed at all throughout these years."

Dawn's eyes twitched. "No, Brock, read the script properly. It's supposed to read wow, Dawn! I can't believe I didn't recognise this case of gigantism!"

Max snickered to himself.

"Oh shut up, midget." Dawn hissed.

Misty patted Max's head. "Good boy."

Dawn groaned. "Ugh! May, teach your midget a little lesson."

May kept quiet as her eyes wandered elsewhere in darkness.

"Oh come on, don't go deserting on me now." Dawn prodded.

"Hey, no need to worry." May whispered to herself.

"Hey, no need to infringe on copyright... eh? eh?" Dawn prodded as she nudged her elbow.

Brock chuckled. "That's the spirit. Atta girl."

Dawn blew out a sigh and shook her head. "Nevermind… new topic: Where exactly are we going? Why are the trees getting dark as night around us? And is it just me imagining those shadow beings stalking us?"

Brock stopped in his tracks and knelt down.

Dawn furrowed her eyes and gawked as she stumbled to a halt; Brock unravelled a blanket and rolled it over a circular stump, pulled out a tea-set from the unseen depths of his bag and brewed tea on the wooden table.

Ash and Pikachu sat down on the furthest end of the table-stump. They lay their backs against the trunk of a tree, breathed in the moss-filled mist and relaxed as they glanced up at the others; Max and the females gawked down at him.

…

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "What, never had morning tea all alone in a dark forest?"

Dawn gawked at Ash and Brock, then glanced at the others; Misty held up her palms as she shrugged.

Ash waved it off. "No no, it's fine, Pikachu and I will just have all the elixir of life to ourselves: Oolong leaf and ginseng root – mom's brew always gave me a good kick of energy for the rest of a day."

"Gimme!" May hustled herself to the edge of the table, sat down opposite of Ash's end and reached her palms over the table.

Brock chuckled as he propped the brew. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

Misty smiled to herself as she sat herself in between May and Ash. "Glad to know we have more than one voice of reason among us."

"Meh, whatever. Fill me up!" Dawn shrugged and hustled herself next to May and Brock; Max nestled himself between May and Misty as he shrunk from view.

Ash snickered to himself. "Darn, and here I thought I'd have to give a speech to defend myself, that was easier than I thought. Come on everyone, what happened to giving me a challenge in debates?"

Misty rested her chin on her palm as she tapped her cheek. "If a fight is all you wanted, ask and you shall receive."

Ash smirked back. "Glad to know we're all on the same page so far."

The rest of the group chuckled amongst themselves.

Ash sighed to himself. "Yep, just like good ol' times… oh by the way, Brock, pour me an extra second mug."

Brock's head jerked up.

Ash tapped his nose with a grin. "And make sure to brew both of them extra-strong on the caffeine. Don't worry, I'll need it for the long road ahead."

The rest of the group went quiet; Brock raised a brow. He glanced at Misty, looked around at everyone else's eyes staring at him, then back at Ash's grin.

"If you say so." Brock warned as he brewed a separate pair; the steaming aroma of bitter heat swept the group's noses as they eyed one individual mug.

Ash's eyes gazed elsewhere in his thoughts as he nodded to himself. He clenched the mug firm in his grasp, downed the brew one gulp at a time down to the last sip and let out a long sigh as he lay back; everyone else kept quiet as they watched Ash wipe his mouth dry.

"Ahh bravo, patisserie master Brock. Good job." Ash slapped a pat on Brock's shoulder.

"What have I created." Brock muttered to himself.

"Yeah, good job, Brock." May whispered.

Pikachu folded his arms as he shook his head at the humans.

Ash nodded to himself as he closed his eyes. "Who'd have thought, huh?"

"… Thought what?" Dawn's face scrunched up.

"That the meaning of life might be a never-ending ride around one big circle." Ash answered.

Everyone else eyed him.

Ash twiddled the mug around and amidst his fingers as he stared into its empty bottom. "The same wave of rookies chasing after the same old goal of the championships… the same old league opening ceremonies replaying over and over… the same kids going into the same old school day in and day out… the same old hills watching over me – I swear the hills have eyes – and coming back home to the same old forest… you know what? Yeah, whoever invented all those carnival carousels must've be an inhuman clown super-villain bent on brainwashing reality into a matrix."

May shivered. "Oof, clowns."

Dawn's eyes shifted elsewhere as she whistled to herself in private.

Ash waved it off. "Don't worry, I'll teach them a lesson when I'm looped back around to home."

Misty reached across the table and poked Brock's arm. "Uh, Brock, are you sure you or your parents didn't mix up any alcohol by accident?"

"Never a trace." Brock affirmed.

Pikachu blew out a sigh. He shook his head and massaged Ash's shoulder.

Ash traced his finger around the circular base of his mug without end. "Life, dreams, chores… where do they come from, and where do they go… where does the circle end one way and begin anew?"

…

"… Meh, it was worth a try." Ash shrugged and lifted his finger off his mug's circle base.

"Should we get you a rocking chair while we're at it?" Misty mumbled.

Ash smirked. "Gee, sounds like another fun ride around… better start packing your bags, everyone, I told you we had a long road ahead of us."

A smile warmed May's face as she chuckled to herself.

Ash let out a breathe as he grasped his second round of tea. "Yep, maybe another trip around rainbow road is just the training boot-camp we need."

"Huh?" Everyone else echoed together.

Ash chuckled. "Hopping from one region around and into another, hitting plateaus in pokémon training, dealing with league officials, delving into obscure history and lore, leaving and coming back home, seeing the rainbow and having a painfully clear mirror in your bedroom… riddle me this: What do they all have in common?"

"Tiresome?" May mumbled.

"Mundane?" Dawn wondered.

"Eyesore?" Misty reacted.

"Restrictive?" Brock questioned.

…

"…"

Brock and Misty glanced at each-other, then looked at the others, before they looked at Ash again; everyone raised their brows.

Ash shook his head and laughed against himself. "They show no mercy and never hold back their punches to the gut."

…

Misty chuckled to herself as she shook her head back n' forth. "Oh you are so not leaving this place alive, Ashy-boy."

Ash looked inside the tea-water and gazed ever deeper into the eyes of his reflection.

…

He smiled back at himself, nodded and shrugged it off. "It was a good run while it lasted."

Misty and everyone else laughed it off and raised their mugs of tea in a cheer; the woods stirred and rattled as the voices echoed in the few streaks of light.

Ash and Pikachu let out a sigh as they settled into silence. Their eyes wandered lost in thoughts, all alone.

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

---

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

May gulped the last sip of her tea and dropped her arms onto the table. "Alright, Ash, real talk now. Why did you gather all of us together so urgently here?"

Ash pulled his half-finished mug away from his mouth and propped it without a sound. He straightened his lab-coat, placed his palms on his knees and took a deep breath. "What if I told you I found a system of power, one that has the answers and could forever change the course of our lives?"

Brock folded his arms. "And that power is…"

"The power of alchemy." Ash declared.

…

Brock's face furrowed. "Alchemy?"

"Huh?" Misty mumbled.

"What even is alchemy?" May asked.

Ash opened his eyes, pulled out his notebook and spread its pages across the stump. "Alchemy, the ancient art and science of transforming matter and energy from one form into another. This is the alchemic process of transmutation, and the ancients who understood it were called alchemists."

May raised a brow. "Alchemists, huh… guess that makes you Ash Ketchum the alchemist trainer?"

"… Sometimes I wonder if alchemists themselves were the pre-cursors of modern trainers and our technology." Ash noted.

Misty folded her arms. "Okay then, old-man Ash. This sounds interesting and all, but it's my turn to riddle you this: How does any of this alchemy stuff fit in with the world today?"

…

Ash's eyes searched empty-space. "Alchemists were extremely fascinated with the rainbow."

Everyone's eyes perked up and zoomed into him.

"The rainbow was said to be the life force of a prominent symbol in alchemy: The legendary Phoenix."

Brock and Misty gawked closer.

"The Phoenix was the alchemic symbol for death and rebirth, its sacred fire said to bestow the rejuvenation of one's youth and immortality."

Everyone inched closer to Ash's words.

"The Phoenix and its rainbow were also integrated into another goal sought by alchemists: The Tree of Life."

"The what tree?" Max asked.

Ash peered over the pages and up at his friends. "The Tree of Life was described as being the home of deities and legendary beings, the realms beyond us mortals. It is also said there are three major roots interconnecting the land, sea and sky together."

May and Max furrowed their gaze.

"Furthermore, out of the nine realms of the tree, alchemists claim stories of exploring and mapping them out – one of them was called a realm of dreams: A world dominated by crystal towers, where pokémon manifest out of thin air and take form via crystallisation."

Misty and Brock shuddered as they peered closer to Ash's words.

"However, the Tree of Life was not the only name used. It also had other monikers: the World Tree Yggdrasil, the cosmic axis of the universe, the central pillar of the aether… and the Tree of Beginnings."

May and Max's faces jumped and bawked wide-eyed.

Ash delved back into the pages. "It is believed that alchemists sought the Tree of Life – the Tree of Beginnings – because its rainbow was the bridge between mortal earth and legendary realms of the heavens. If one gained access to the Tree of Life, travelled across the Rainbow Bridge and climbed its axis trunk up to the peak, the ancients claimed they found the ultimate form of gold."

"Gold?" Misty's gaze furrowed into her thoughts.

Ash nodded. "I don't know which interpretation of this ultimate gold is real or make-believe: universal knowledge, the elixir of life, the fruit of life and knowledge, sunlight, the AZOTH… and the Philosopher's Stone."

"Philosopher's Stone?" Max wondered.

Ash nodded. "The Philosopher's Stone was believed to hold universal knowledge and had the power the transmute any metal into gold. It was also described as a red crystal."

"Come again!?" Dawn's eyes bolted wide open.

Brock tensed up.

"And the alchemic symbol for gold is this." Ash turned the page over to a standalone symbol…

A sphere with a button in its centre.

…

"No… freaking… way." May muttered.

Ash shrugged. "What happens when a pokémon goes inside a pokeball?"

"They get turned into some sort of…" Max's voice doodled away. "Energy… and stored inside… no way! Hasn't anyone else noticed!?"

"And what colour is pokeball energy?" Ash added.

"…"

"Exactly." Ash affirmed.

Misty rubbed her eyes and blinked over and over. "Alright, alright, stop messing with me, old man – who are you and what have you done with Ash Ketchum?"

Ash looked her in the eyes with a gaze that pierced through her spine; Misty flinched and went quiet.

"Whoa. Um, just… whoa." Dawn mumbled as she scratched her cheek. "Cool… what does it do on people and pokémon? How do the mechanics work?"

Ash fiddled with his chin. "I'm not a know-it-all. However, as far as I could find out, alchemists were able to perform transmutations by tapping into a form of energy: The aether fabric."

"The aether… fabric?" Dawn's face scrunched up.

Ash nodded. "The aether fabric was described as the fabric of all reality, the fabric of space-time itself."

"As in synonymous with the fabric of space?" Brock added.

Ash nodded again. "Aether is said to go by other names of universal energy: chi, life force, aura, empty-space, and zero-point energy. The aether is the universal medium, the fabric from which all existence arises out of and manifests as reality."

Dawn nodded with each word. "Okay, sounds awesome! So, mister alchemist, when do we start warping reality?"

"In order to transmute the elements of matter, the alchemist needs to tap into the aether fabric and resonate with its energy."

"And how do you tap into the aether fabric?" Dawn asked.

Ash sighed. "Unfortunately, the first step is always the hardest, even for me."

May nodded to herself as her eyes faded into the table.

"However, apparently it was normal for alchemists to use various orbs, key-stones and crystals." Ash clarified.

"Orbs?" May and Max perked up again together.

"Key-stones… and crystals?" Dawn echoed.

"Before anyone asks; no, I don't know what they meant. All I know is that they supposedly used various stones and crystals as assistance. Somehow, these relics apparently helped alchemists practice tapping into the aether and make it easier for them to achieve resonance."

"And once they do achieve resonance?" Dawn asked.

Ash shook his head. "That is said to be when the alchemist gains the power to transmute matter from one form into another. When they resonate with the aether, they act in sync as one, and as aether is the medium of all existence, changing the structure of the aether changes the form of whatever they are transmuting. That is the power of transmutation."

…

"… Unreal." Dawn mumbled as her head wobbled about.

"However." Ash added. "In addition to the difficulty of achieving resonance, there is another limitation: Elemental affinities."

"Aww, always a catch twenty-two." Dawn mumbled.

Ash's eyes remained fixed on the pages. "From what I could piece together, an alchemist's elemental affinities apparently affects what kind of aether they can resonate with."

Misty huddled closer to Ash and the pages. "And those four elements are…"

"The four directions of the Aether Compass." Ash swept the pages over into a picture.

A circle wrapped around the four points of a cardinal square: fire of the north, air of the east, water of the south, and earth of the west. All four directional elements travelled inward and united into one star – aether of the centre.

Everyone else peered closer to the drawing; Brock sat back, tense as he watched the scene.

Ash traced his finger around the circle. "The idea I'm trying to understand myself is something like an equivalent exchange: The more an alchemist leans towards one element, the more they must sacrifice control they are in one element. This makes it easier for them to resonate with their preferred element and perform stronger transmutations, but at the cost of their control over the three remaining elements being weakened. In order to dominate a specific element of the aether, you are in turn sacrificing resonance with aether of the other three elements."

…

Misty opened her mouth, stopped and swallowed her voice. She sat back and lay her eyes in the pages; May and Dawn gaped back.

Brock folded his arms and looked Ash in the eyes. "Time to wrap up this interrogation. I speak on everyone's behalf, Ash, with one last question: How is any of this alchemy and its historical connections to regional lore the least bit relevant to our own everyday lives right now?"

Ash paused in his thoughts. He took a deep breath, pulled out another page and traced his eyes down the notes. "As I mentioned before, the one aether – the fabric of reality itself – separates from unity into the four elements. These four elements are the forces of nature and all creation, the building blocks of all that exists, and they also express themselves as personalities."

…

"Each element also has its own weaknesses that harm people and pokémon – the more one leans towards an element, the more those weaknesses are exacerbated and affect human and pokémon alike with restrictions."

Everyone else leaned over the table towards Ash's words.

Ash pointed at the north-point. "Fire, the element of volatility and willpower. Its strength is in its proactive force to take action with its own will and push forward, but at the cost of running out of control and burning out with fatigue. It risks burnout and lack of energy."

May winced as she bit her lips.

Ash followed the circle clockwise to the east-point. "Wind, the element of mobility and creativity. It is the most mobile and adaptable of the elements as it constantly seeks new pathways and rises upward, but the limitless freedom of this energy also means losing sense of direction and sight. It risks losing orientation and connection with reality."

Dawn perked up as her vision darted across the runes.

Ash followed further down to the south-point. "Water, the element of fluidity and emotions. As the opposite counterpart of fire, this elemental energy is the most sensitive towards reading and reflecting the emotions of others around it, but this level of sensory awareness risks being swept out of control and being unable to see itself. It risks losing sense of identity and personal agency."

Misty looked away from herself as her frown took over.

"And the circle ties itself with earth, the element of solidity and materialistic substance." Ash pointed at the west-point. "Being directly opposite to air, it is the most stable of the elements as its energy stands firm with endurance, but this endurance comes at the cost of adaptability and with it repetitiousness of old habits. It risks the inability to change and adapt."

Brock stiffened dead quiet.

"The more an individual leans towards one element, the more they swing out of balance, and the more they are harmed by their respective weaknesses."

Everyone else went quiet.

Ash spiralled his finger around the circle and pointed into its star centre. "On the flipside however… each element counter-balances another as all four cover each-other's limitations. If an individual pokémon or human has the patience and discipline to balance all four of their elements and unite them into one force – the one aether star – then one can resonate with the fabric of reality itself and create anything out of the aether. Alchemists called it the ultimate sense of self-worth and peace from life-long fulfilment: The power that's inside."

…

…

…

Ash caught his breath, sat back against his tree and folded his arms together; everyone else's faces lay pale and bare for all to see.

"I told you all of us were caught in the circle." Ash stated.

Dawn rubbed her temples as she groaned. "Welp, I don't know when you became a mind-reader, but all those grownup zombies in my fashion industry would be ravaging for this."

Ash sat still as he eyed Dawn.

"In fact, while we're at it, let's all grab a baseball bat and start smashing up TVs and radios!" Dawn blew out her words and threw her hands up into the air. "Yes, creepy stalker butler, I know what a private washroom is, and I know how to rinse my own hands through soap! So can you please stop spying on me while handing out towels at the door!?"

"TVs and radios? Even these?" Max pulled out his PokeNav–

Dawn's eyes loomed over Max's face as her fingers wrangled and strangled ever closer towards his neck.

Max scrambled on his seat and buried the PokeNav away from sight.

Brock's face softened. "Got your first taste of adulthood a few years too early, I see."

"Ugh, so much for a dream job." Dawn blew out a huff and leaned over to May. "Meh, oh well. Your turn to spill the beans and steal my spotlight, Princess. Where are you hiding your Grand Festival trophy?"

May sat as dead as a frozen corpse.

"No no, no need to worry, the fashion industry taught me to look away from anything on the TV and radio so you can surprise me. Besides, don't we all hate spoilers?"

May crunched her lips.

Dawn nodded to herself and beat her fist against her chest. "Yep, I'll show them, I'll show them all a performance that'll pop their eyeballs out of their sockets! I'll beat the game in my second contest tour, and if not that, then definitely my third! Yep, third time's the charm!"

May sighed as she let out a chuckle. She sat down next to Dawn, wrapped one arm around Dawn's shoulder and shook her head. Her fingers clawed into Dawn's skin.

"Owch, what?" Dawn winced, her eyes darting back n' forth as she wriggled about. "What did I say? Something on my nose?"

May took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. "Dawn… when you get to my age, the world on-stage looks much darker and colder than the peak of Mt Coronet."

Everyone else stared at Dawn and stayed quiet; Dawn shuddered. "Hey, um… what's going on with everyone? Why–"

"Oh for crying out loud, I still think both of you got cheated out of winning the Sinnoh League and Grand Festival finals!" Max yelled.

Dawn's spine jumped as she gasped and gaped back.

"You didn't know about it!?" Max let loose his words. "I swear May got cheated out of the final match! I'm telling you, the judges were rigged when they decided May's loss by a hair-strand of a point! It was all that Clown's fault!"

May clenched her fists as she narrowed her brows at Max; Dawn winced as she backed off.

"And you too, Ash!" Max continued. "I swear the Sinnoh League cheated against you!"

Dawn stiffened at the memory; Ash narrowed his eyes at Max's mouth as he sat still.

Max wrangled his hair into a mess. "Seriously, not one single paper or news report made any big deal out of a trainer having a legendary pokémon! Not one word! Zilch! I don't believe you–"

WHAM!

"Ow!" Max clutched his head as a fresh bruise throbbed off it; May drew back her fist and sat down.

Ash restrained himself and sat still as he looked into Max's eyes. "The championships were far higher than I realized, I wasn't ready for those heights, and I wasn't responsible enough to prepare beforehand. Therefore, I lost fair and square. End of story."

Max grimaced. "But–"

"End. Of. Story. Now." Ash warned.

Max swallowed his voice and shrunk away from view.

May blew her hair-strands off her face. "Go ahead and have all the fun in the world underneath my spotlight; those grown-up shoes are getting colder while waiting."

"I…" Dawn bit her lips. "Um… maybe those shoes are too big of a fit just yet?"

"Then you better enjoy your childhood playtime while you still have it, little miss…" Misty twiddled her doll's torn blouse nowhere as she stared into space. "It doesn't last forever."

Dawn shot her palms up and flailed about as she gaped across the table-stump. "Wait, what? No, um, hey! I meant–"

"Dawn!" Ash spoke up. "The Indigo League is reforming with Johto! They're preparing to take all titles and livelihoods away from Misty's family because she fell behind on gym leader competency standards, okay!?"

Dawn cringed as she recoiled.

Misty coughed out and chuckled against herself. "I guess this is what all the Johto monks meant by karmic retribution, huh… aren't we all guilty as charged?"

Dawn grimaced as she shook her head back n' forth in a shiver. "What about you, Brock? What happened to studying as a Pokémon Doctor?"

Brock's smile twitched and forced stiff. "Those who were accepted are in class as we speak."

"Oh… but, um, I… oh." Dawn swallowed her words, shut her mouth sealed and shrunk down into the stump's ground; the rest of the group went quiet as they stared into nothingness.

…

…

…

"… Since when did any of you start thinking I was invincible?" Ash whispered.

Every companion around the table raised their heads and glanced up at him.

"Wait a minute, are you serious?" Ash raised his voice. "You actually thought that? Why else did you think I pushed you for alchemy and the power of the Aether?"

Brock furrowed his brows. "Where are you going with this?"

Ash blew out a breath, placed his palms onto his lap and looked straight-forward at the group. "Let me ask everyone this question: What is the official definition of a Pokémon Master?"

…

Max scratched his head. "Well it's obviously it's one of the top calibre trainers in the entire world–"

"What are the official qualifications of a top calibre trainer, Max?" Ash questioned.

"Uh…" Max's voice dawdled away.

Dawn raised her hand. "Hey, what about becoming the Champion? Isn't that obvious enough?"

Ash huffed. "And I thought my memory was bad enough, Dawn. Back in Sinnoh, Cynthia herself specifically stated she is not a Pokémon Master, and she's still one of the strongest champions in the entire world."

Max blinked. "Really?"

"Oh, that… uh, nevermind." Dawn withdrew her hand and sat back.

"Hmm…" Max fiddled with his chin. "How about catching every single pokémon in the world and filling the Pokédex?"

All eyes gaped straight down at him.

Max held up his palms. "What? What did I say wrong this time?"

Ash looked into his eyes. "Max… do you have any idea how much effort and resources it takes for the lab assistants to look after all of my pokémon – just over a measly forty species – here in Oak's Corral?"

"Mhmm hm." Brock nodded his head with every word.

Max scratched the back of his head. "Yeah… so much for the phrase Gotta Catch Em All, huh? Whoever came up with that childhood phrase, bad idea in hindsight."

Misty furrowed her eyes. "Okay then, what about those of the elite four? Aren't they considered type masters?"

"The Elite Four? As in the same trainers who are beneath the Champion?" Ash answered.

"And the world championships reserved exclusively for champions?" Misty responded.

"Cynthia never said the title of the reigning World Champion is a Pokémon Master." Ash shot back.

"Oh…" Misty blinked over and over as she searched Ash's eyes again. "Uh oh."

"So then what else do we have left?" May asked.

"You tell me, everyone. Please." Ash answered.

…

Ash blew out another breath as he crossed his arms. "As of yet, there exists no officially concrete definition of a Pokémon Master. Even now, none of the regional leagues and its officials have ever agreed on a clear-cut definition and the legal qualifications of this title."

Everyone else went quiet around the table.

"Where is my life going? What will I be doing next year, next week or even tomorrow for that matter…" Ash threw up his arms. "How many more times do I have to keep going around the same circle!?"

Brock glanced up. "Where did you start off your goal in the first place?"

"Where does the circle finish one loop and begin another?" Ash answered back.

Brock went quiet; Dawn nodded to herself and sat still as she stared into her thoughts straight-forward.

May held up her palms. "Why did you need us to listen?"

"Why did I keep on dragging all of you around my shenanigans and demands?" Ash answered back.

May blinked back. She opened her mouth, stopped short of a sound, swallowed her voice and looked inside her own thoughts.

"Then what do you want, Ash?" Misty whispered. "What more do you expect out of us? What do you want now?"

"…"

Misty frowned against herself. She dropped her eyes, searched for her doll's smile and fiddled with its torn blouse once again; Pikachu lay his eyes entranced in the drawing of alchemy and the unity of the aether star.

…

"… That brings us back full circle." Ash whispered.

All other faces furrowed as each and every companion perked up.

Ash lifted himself off his knees, stood up straight and his palms onto his hips. "I pledge this oath to all of you: Starting today on this summer solstice, if I can't find my answer on how to either define or re-define the meaning of a Pokémon Master by my next birthday – my 16th birthday by the twenty-second of May next year – then I will give up on the goal for the rest of my life and settle for town work."

"…"

…

"… ?"

…

"… !?"

…

…

…

"WHAT!?" Everyone else bellowed at once; the trees stirred amongst the darkness.

"I said what I said." Ash stood his ground. "Pikachu and I will use alchemy and the Aether System to help me find clues, use the power of an alchemist to uncover the pokémon that's inside and get to the bottom of this. Eleven months from now or bust, the clock's ticking away its last cycle."

"No way! You can't be serious!" Max cried out.

Ash narrowed his eyes. "Anyone else want to try me?"

Everyone else tensed up stiff and quiet; Max zipped his head back n' forth and left n' right, shuddered and bit his lips as he shrunk back.

"Going all in on this one, I see." Brock muttered.

"I think that's understatement of the year, Brock." Misty spoke up. "Read my lips, Ash: What is going through your head right now!?"

Ash's eyes sunk down and drifted away into his thoughts, all alone; all eyes bore into him as one.

…

He raised his head up and looked forward again. "Call it a gut feeling but I think there's a storm approaching us, a white squall nothing like we've ever seen out of reality… if it even happens. Whatever it is, I'll be here front and centre in Pallet Town, waiting with all of my pokémon in Oak's Corral."

"But what if you can't handle the storm?" May asked.

Ash's fingers dug into his hips. "What if I am the storm?"

May's eyes softened and opened ever wider. She lowered her gaze, took a breath and stared into her cold palms as they lay sprawled before her eyes; Brock sat still in his own thoughts as he eyed Ash and every companion.

"And what if you don't find anything by next year?" Misty questioned. "What if you're wrong about everything?"

A grin lit up Ash's face as he folded his arms together. "Then we'll go down fighting and make this last year the best year of our lives. Let's do it, let's make this year our last hurrah – our last stand at adulthood!"

Misty blinked back, closed her mouth and stared at him.

The rest of the group withdrew into silence as eyes shifted around: May twiddled with her fingers as her eyes wandered inside her thoughts, Dawn stayed quiet as she stared straight-forward, Misty looked into her doll's eyes and lay entranced in her reflection, and Brock eyed Ash and everyone else as he sat tense and stiff.

…

…

…

"… I hope you're also ready for blood and sweat." May spoke up. "Are you geared up and psyched for your first challenger approaching?"

Everyone else glanced at her; Ash stood still as he eyed her.

May took another look at her palms, squeezed them shut into fists and rose up onto her feet. "I'm going back home to begin training under Dad for the next eleven months. Afterwards, if I still don't conquer my next Grand Festival, I'll stop pursuing contests and start training up to be an official gym leader."

Misty's face jolted and gawked wide-eyed. "Come again!?"

"Not you too!" Max cried out.

May stood firm on her ground. "I'll use the next eleven months as the time limit of my training. During this time, I'll ask Dad to take me on as an apprentice, train me just as much as my pokémon in the gym and prepare me for serious League challengers. After training myself and attempting, I'll let the end result decide my future path of profession."

Brock raised a brow.

Misty rubbed her temples and blew out a breath. "Take it from me, sister, are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?"

May placed her fists against her hips with a smirk. "No pain, no gain. I'll give it a try, anyone else happy to sign up as a challenger of my bootcamp?"

Ash smirked back; Misty went quiet as her gaze withdrew into her own thoughts.

May raised a brow and nudged Dawn's shoulder. "Hmm? You missed your cue, some little Meowth or Glameow got your tongue?"

Dawn shook her head. "I changed my mind – someone else can takeover that spotlight."

May's face furrowed; Misty perked up.

Dawn raised her chin, slammed her palms onto the table and looked straight into Brock's eyes. "Brock, Misty, I'll give you my ears for this: If the world is that dark and cold… how do you navigate through it?"

Brock blinked back; Dawn stood as tall and still as a statue and met Brock's gaze.

Dawn pushed herself off the table and lifted herself up straight. "Both of you are going to answer that for me because I'm going to visit your gyms, train under your watch and live your lives. Go ahead, say and do whatever needs to be said, I'm all yours. Now."

Misty gasped as her eyes struck wide open; Ash eyed the two of them.

May fumbled on her heels, rubbed her eyes clear and gawked. "Am I hallucinating?"

Dawn held her ground as she clenched her fists firm against her sides. "I'll sit myself in a chair, let the two of you take centre stage and lecture me firsthand on how you live out your lives. If there's that big of a storm heading our way, then I need all the lighthouses I can get because you know more about managing work and home life than I do. Simple as that."

Misty held a palm to her chest as she stared back.

Dawn turned on her right to May, planted her heels into the ground and looked straight into her eyes. "You too, May. You and your Dad better have a spare slot in your training grounds, because it's going to be taken until it's worn out."

May smiled. She pulled back her gloves, patted Dawn's shoulder and gave a slap to her spine; Dawn tidied up her beanie and straightened herself with a smile.

Ash breathed out a sigh and smiled.

"So how about it, mom?" Dawn reached her hands over at Misty with a smile. "Got any torches to spare for your gym class?"

Misty gasped back as she blinked over and over, her eyes turning away and sinking down into her thoughts once more as she grasped her chest.

…

"…"

Misty sucked in her voice and bit her lips. She blew out a long breath, took hold of the teapot in her palms, stood up tall on her own feet and turned her back as she walked away from the group.

Dawn's face furrowed into a frown, drawing her hand back to her side as Misty's spine stared back at her and the group; the surface of the teapot's water reflected the full extent of Misty's face back at her in a dark shade.

She took in a deep breath and steeled her gaze into her reflection's eyes. "I am Misty, leader of the Cerulean Gym, and I choose to accept full responsibility for my life. Now."

Max blinked back and grimaced; everyone else's head jolted over at Misty's spine as she faced her reflection.

"I am solely responsible for the state of the Cerulean Gym and the League's threat of disclosure." Misty spoke to her reflection. "I was not competent enough to look after myself and the gym, I failed to uphold the League's competency standards because of my choices, and so I am the one who brought these threats upon me and my sisters."

Brock shook his head against himself as the rigidness dissipated off his limbs.

"I am solely responsible for… for…" Misty winced as she stopped short, grimacing at her reflection.

"…"

Misty took in another deep breath and looked straight into her reflection's eyes even firmer. "I am solely responsible for my family life and the departure of our parents. I chose to respond with the nuisance of a naïve child, I encouraged my sisters to treat me in the manner of a brat, and so I hold myself responsible for the breakdown of our family life."

May's eyes softened as she nodded to herself.

"I am solely responsible for how…" Misty hiccuped and flinched back; the doll shuddered in her arms.

…

"For how I treated other people. I chose to lash out at other people, I dealt physical injuries upon Ash and Brock throughout our travels, and so I am responsible for all of the problems I brought upon myself and those around me."

Ash's face softened as his eyes sunk down and watched Misty's self-confession.

Misty hugged her doll ever tighter into her chest as she breathed deep breaths in and out. "I am responsible for anything and everything that happened to me because I allowed others to judge me, and so I have brought all of the problems of my life upon myself. I and I alone am responsible for my life. That's why – more than any other time in my life, Misty – I want out of you…"

…

Misty's throat choked into hyperventilation, her limbs shaking as she forced her gaze to stay locked into her reflection's eyes. "I want… I want… I…"

"… ?"

"I…"

"… !?"

"I…" Misty's voice cracked ever quieter as her eyes sunk down; the doll's smile never stopped beaming up at her.

The dam burst open and flooded tears out of Misty's eyes. She wailed, broke down and buried her face into her knees as she cried out the bottom of her heart.

May gasped and huddled over to Misty's side, hushing to herself as she cuddled Misty's frame on their knees; Dawn's face plummeted and froze over with the downpour of Misty's sobbing.

Max winced, shuddering on the spot as he grimaced from afar.

Ash ruffled Max's hair and grasped his shoulder with a pat. He walked forth, knelt down next to Misty's sobbing and rubbed her spine; Misty buried her face even deeper into her palms, her crying bared for all to see as the deepest pits of her heart poured out of her tears.

…

…

…

"… Burn the ships." Brock spoke up.

Dawn's face scrunched up as she looked back n' forth between him and Misty.

Brock dropped his arms to his side. He narrowed his brows, reached into the deepest pit of his bag and pulled out a photo; the colossal shell of the St Anne loomed over the sky, its vanguard of sailors and soldiers watching over three figures – Brock stood before the presence of Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny as the three of them shook hands and saluted each-other.

Ash and May glanced over their shoulders as their gazes furrowed; Misty stifled her throat and forced her mouth shut against her whimper.

Brock picked up his firelighter, set it aflame and incinerated his photo into ashes as he released his grip altogether; all other eyes bulged out and gawked at the ashes fading in the wind.

He dusted his palms clean and and wiped the table-stump clean as a slate. He picked himself off his knees, turned away from the shine of its blank surface and hustled Max over as they joined together with the rest of the group; Ash stilled his tongue and eyed him as everyone else gawked wide-eyed.

Brock knelt down and opened his hand out for everyone. "You teach me – an old growlithe – new tricks as your student, I'll teach all of you the ins and outs of managing official businesses and home-life. Deal?"

…

Dawn steeled her gaze, looked at Brock in the eyes and shook his hand.

Ash smiled to himself.

Pikachu scurried onto Misty's lap, burst open his paws with a squeal and beamed at the humans as he waved and reached out for them; Misty dropped her doll and hugged Pikachu, shaking as she held him tighter towards herself.

May smiled back. She pulled Max into the group, wrapped one arm around him and extended her other arm to tap Brock and Dawn's handshake.

Ash breathed out a sigh. He sat himself onto one knee, pulled Brock and Misty together by his sides, reached forth and ruffled Pikachu's head; Pikachu cooed as he pecked each companion's cheek and tugged each and everyone closer together into a circle.

Misty strained a hint of a smile through her tears and nodded.

"…"

Her voice choked. Her face crumbled once more, her throat shook loose of her grip, and the tears poured out as she wailed and buried her face in Pikachu's head; Pikachu cooed as him and Ash hugged back Misty.

Pikachu and the humans sat still together and cuddled each-other as one circle.

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

---

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

Sunlight washed over their eyes.

The leaves and branches parted ways and released Ash's group into their world of light: the shadows of the forest departed by their heels and shrunk away, the moss-ridden air of dusk followed their heads into clear skies and vanished in the breeze, and the fields embraced them as Ash and his group sifted their way over a log and the tall grass.

Pikachu scurried ahead, popped out of the grass and perched himself on top of a log. He lit up his paws as he looked back and waved at the humans trailing behind; Ash lifted himself off all the hands of his group, reached over the log and climbed on top of it.

Ash ruffled Pikachu's head. The two of them looked back, leaned over and reached down for the earth.

The rest of the humans followed suit and reached for each-other: May lifting Misty off her palms and catching Dawn's back, Misty wiping the last of her tears dry and pulling onto Ash's hand, Brock lifting Max onto the log and holding up his bag, and Dawn pulling herself by their hands as she steadied herself – Ash and the rest of the humans dragged Brock's bag onto the log as it toppled to a standstill, caught each-other's hands as they stumbled to a stop and sprawled over the stretch of the log's roof.

Pikachu and the rest of the humans sat side-by-side atop the log as they laughed it off and relaxed; Ash let out a breath and smiled at himself as he sunk into his thoughts again.

The group stared out at the horizons of the land and sky resting before them: May pointing at Max's paper as he scribbled notes of her words, Dawn resting her chin on Piplup's head as him and the rest of Dawn's team tilted their heads at her, Misty hugging Psyduck as him and the rest of the team peered over at her, and Brock watching the humans and pokémon playing with each-other as Sudowoodo and his team beneath huddled.

Pikachu nestled himself onto Ash's lap and slumped down.

Ash took a long and slow breath of air, smiled to himself and breathed. He rested his chin on his fingers as him and Pikachu gazed over the corral.

All of Ash's pokémon sprawled across the four elements of the corral: Charizard tanking blows from Quilava and Torkoal while Infernape and Heracross slept on the sidelines, Gliscor slumbering upside-down while Noctowl watched Staraptor and Swellow succumb to a roost, Buizel and Squirtle chasing and sparring in the river while Totodile and Corphish laughed at them alongside Glalie, and Bulbasaur cleaning up potholes around the sleeping Torterra while Gible and Donphan together popped in and out around Bayleef and Sceptile.

Each and every single one of his pokémon lay dispersed throughout the fields and trees, yet all gathered before him within the same bubble of oak trees encircling the ranch.

Ash sat entranced in the wind.

…

…

…

Pikachu twitched his ears and scurried off his lap.

Ash pressed his palms onto his knees. He hefted himself off the log, dropped onto the ground and straightened his clothes up. "Okay, playtime is over. Time to start work."

The rest of the group stopped and looked straight at him; Pikachu's ears wilted as he looked back n' forth at Ash and the humans.

"So… you're already leaving to forget, huh?" Misty mumbled.

Ash held up his palms bare. "What, do I look like an amnesiac who would randomly disappear off the radar?"

Misty and Brock glanced at each-other; Dawn grimaced from Ash and the group.

…

All of the humans kicked themselves off the log, rushed over to Ash and swarmed around him; Ash stood still and quiet as he watched them.

May stood in front of Ash and looked him in the eye. "Should I challenge you to take a look at your track record?"

Ash shook his head as he folded his arms together. "I never said my work – the Great Work of an alchemist – was outside Kanto. I already told you the clock's ticking closer to my deadline, and that includes time I spend away."

"… Right back at you, Ash. Right back at you." May chuckled and shook her head with a smile.

"Sounds like a pipe dream to me." Brock stated.

Ash sighed as he closed his eyes. "Dreams, huh… you know, I remember Mom used to sing a lullaby about that."

Brock perked up and peered closer; everyone else furrowed their eyes.

Ash nodded to himself. "It also reminded me of another quote: When one life meets another, something new is born."

"Where exactly are you going with this?" Dawn spoke up for the group as they inched closer.

Ash turned away and walked small steps away. "Life, dreams and my oath to order… you know what they have in common with the Phoenix of alchemy?"

"… ?"

"At the end of every cycle, the Phoenix always returns to the starting point: Its nest." Ash answered.

"…"

Ash treaded across the dirt as his eyes lay entranced in space. "Supposedly when the Phoenix senses the last breaths of its old life, it returns to the nest of its birthplace and incinerates its body in its own flames. Afterwards, it dies in its own ashes and sleeps through death."

"…"

Ash knelt down onto the ground, reached into his sachet and pulled out his miniature treasure chest. "After sleeping long enough, the Phoenix re-manifests its body out of its old ashes and uses them to span its wings open as wide as possible."

" … !?"

"Those new wings are the power that allow it to break out of its nest and take flight anew. That is my oath to order." Ash opened up his miniature treasure chest, stood up and turned away from it.

Brock blinked wide-eyed as him and the rest of the group peered into the treasure chest. They group stared at the design of the emblems waiting inside: Wings of light spanned out of a golden star – the unified element of aether.

The Wings Of The Phoenix.

Ash turned around and extended his empty hand out at his group. "Will you become my wings? All of us, the Wings of the Phoenix?"

All of his friends sprung forth and hustled around him: May nudging Ash's shoulder as she put forth her fist beneath Ash's hand, Dawn as she put forth her high-touch over Ash's hand, Misty smiling at everyone as she grasped Ash's hand and squeezed it, and Brock tussling Ash's hair as he put forth palm and wrapped his fingers over the entire pile of hands held – all of their hands sealed together and held each-other as one.

Max twiddled his fingers as he stood back withdrawn from the group; Ash and May dragged him into the group, shoved his hand into the chest and wrapped his fingers around the last copy of the emblem.

All six humans held an emblem in one hand, shared one hand-shake in the middle and threw their arms up into the air with a hurrah.

Ash grinned and flicked a thumbs-up; Pikachu squeaked back at him and plucked a camera out of Ash's sachet. He held up a paw in his own V-sign, tapped the camera's button and skedaddled over to the humans as the camera counted down.

The rest of the humans jumped and scrambled around each-other: Brock pulling everyone else in and around him and resting his arms crossed on top of Ash's head, Misty pulling Dawn into view as she looked forward and clutched her heart, Dawn tidying herself clean as she straightened herself on the left, and May wrapping one arm around Max as she pulled both of them next to Ash's right – all of Ash's pokémon lay sprawled and gathered behind the humans as they got their backs guarded.

Ash raised his V-sign front and centre.

CLICK!

The camera flashed and printed the photo onto the ground.

…

Pikachu snickered and pushed off Ash's head.

Ash yelped as he stumbled backwards and fell.

The rest of the companions bellowed as Ash dragged them down, twirled around a complete one-eighty and collapsed all over the base of the slope. Their backs lay sprawled all over grass.

…

Ash and his friends laughed it off as they lay sprawled around each-other. They let out a deep breath of air, sunk deeper into the grass and breathed in a shared moment of silence as they gazed up at the sky; a clean slate of ocean-blue awaited them.

…

…

…

Ash rested his eyes in his thoughts – he reached a hand up at the sun, clenched his fingers shut and seized its streaks of golden light inside his grip.

Pikachu popped over Ash's face, his teeth clutching the group photo as he perched himself onto his shoulder.

Ash took in a fresh breath of air and let out a sigh. He lifted himself off his back as he glanced at the fields of the ranch ahead, looked over all his pokémon waiting behind and nodded; all of Ash's pokémon kept their eyes peeled as they guarded his companions.

Ash shuffled around, planted himself onto his knees and looked back at each and every companion in their eyes; the rest of the humans sat up as they and met Ash's gaze.

"I will be back in two weeks, and I will be waiting at this exact spot – I swear over my dead body. I promise." Ash declared.

All of his friends nodded, picked themselves up onto their feet and huddled together, one after another.

May pumped her fist and bumped Ash's chest; Ash shook hands, wrestled over their grips and tussled each-other as the two of them stumbled about in laughter.

Max clutched his League books to his chest and looked up at Ash's eyes; Ash smiled back and patted his head.

Dawn planted her heels on the ground and stretched her palm skyward; Ash tapped her palm in their high-touch and patted her head.

Misty smiled and hugged Ash as her eyes watered; Ash hugged her tighter and rubbed her back.

Brock patted Ash's shoulder and held forth a fist; Ash fist-bumped him, shook hands and pulled each-other into their shoulders with a pat on the back.

Pikachu pecked each companion's forehead and cooed as they broke away from their arms; Brock held the rest of the companions around him as they huddled back and waved at Ash and Pikachu.

Ash forced himself out of their arms as him and Pikachu broke further and further away from the group. They gave one last wave, tore their eyes away and ventured outside the fence of the ranch. The two partners faded away into the outside world.

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

---

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

His memories faded in and out amongst a sea of clouds.

The rumbling and churning of the plane's engines whispered throughout the corridor of seats.

Ash lay his head slumped on his right, lulled against the plane's window: clear skies watching over his head as they followed him, grey waves of the ocean slumbering under his eyes as they waited for him, and clouds fluttering in and out of his vision.

…

…

…

Ash kept to his thoughts as he stared out at the world before him; Pikachu slept through time on Ash's lap.

"Hm?" Professor Oak raised his head out of his papers. He looked over on his right, past Delia's book-reading and found the window-seat; Ash stayed entranced in silence.

Professor Oak cleared his throat. "Okay, our deadline is catching up to us. Ash, can you help me put it together?"

Ash tugged himself out of his thoughts. He sifted through his own pile of pages, picked out a handful of sketches and passed them around Delia's seat; Professor Oak took hold of the pages and sorted them into a folder.

The old man chuckled as he skimmed over the pages. "Mhm hm, nothing gets potential ground-breaking research done better than deadlines, now if only I could ask that Professor's peers for the same demands out of my poetry – while we're at it, we can do it over a pot of their region's tea."

Ash perked up; Delia kept quiet in between them.

Professor Oak tapped his finger on his nose with a smile. "We'll find ourselves a spare seat, our laboratories could always use another sketcher with a sense of humour."

Ash coughed out a chuckle. "You can write your poetry without humour just as successfully as I can be an immortal kid without infuriating mainstream physics… how many more years do you and the other Professor until a rain-check for that position expires?"

"Well at this rate, you'll make me forget the name of my own grandson." Professor Oak laughed it off and released Ash from his sights.

Ash chuckled as he nodded to himself. He sunk his gaze down again, a pencil twiddling in his fingers as his eyes wavered in and out of the pages; a sketch of the Aether Compass accompanied the next page.

Monochrome sketches lay doodled and shaded before their eyes: An aura of energy drawn radiating out of Ash's hands, the empty-space of the aether fabric rippling around Ash's fingers like drops in an ocean, and flames of ethereal energy manifesting out of the aether itself – Ash's figure and the aether lay synchronised as one body in resonance.

…

The pencil stopped.

Ash slumped his head over his right and against the window again; the same depths of the ocean slumbered beneath him.

His eyes wandered and down to his fingers as he twiddled through the pages. He brushed aside the drawings, clutched a photo in his left-palm and rested his head on his right-palm as he dropped his gaze and stared.

Pikachu blinked as he stirred out of his dreams. He stretched his limbs, shook his head loose and glanced up at Ash's hand; the two of them went quiet together.

Delia furrowed her eyes as she lowered her novel; Ash and Pikachu's eyes lay sunken in their group's reunion photo.

The Wings Of The Phoenix.

…

Delia's face softened. She reached over, wrapped one arm around his shoulder and pressed her forehead against his head as she rubbed his shoulder; Pikachu cooed back and nuzzled her cheek.

Ash sighed. "I–"

CRASH!

Lightning shattered their entire world dark.

…

… Ash toppled and wobbled nowhere. He clutched his head, ears ringing as he swayed in a haze – the carpet muffled his face.

He shoved himself up onto one knee, sucking up shallow breaths as the seats blurred in his eyes. He clutched his chest, rubbed his eyes and glanced down the stretch of carpet; Pikachu lay curled up in a ball.

Ash dragged himself across the gap and cradled Pikachu in his arms – a shudder of cold sweat against his nerves, a patch of fur moulted in his palm, and eyes sealed shut as Ash ruffled his partner's body.

Pikachu shook his head, crying back and burying his face away from sight.

A drop of cold sweat slid down Ash's face as he stammered back. He blinked again and looked through the window.

Darkness swallowed their entire world into the black-hole of a storm: clouds swirling thicker and thicker in a vortex, stars and meteors raining downside-up and scarring space itself, and a sea of nebula churning the clouds alight as it sucked them deeper and deeper into the storm's belly.

CRASH!

The second flash of lightning sundered the plane blind.

Bones wracked and cracked amidst the light.

Ash's spine and skull crashed against the wall with a thump, lungs choked stiff as he collapsed onto one knee. He coughed and spluttered, drops of spit stained red as he clutched his chest and wheezed breathless on his spare palm; the carpet blurred amidst a purple-mist.

His arm buckled.

He coughed and gritted his teeth, reeling over on both knees as he huffed and puffed. He blinked, zipped his eyes around the purple-mist and down at his side; Pikachu's eyes crumbled bleak at radiance of starlight before him, backing further and further away on his heels as he shuddered pale.

Ash's blood froze over – he tore away from his petrified partner and looked up ahead.

He gasped and went pale.

The fabric of reality itself burned in a purple haze: empty-space shimmering aglow in a purple mist, the bodies of Delia and every single passenger disintegrating into clouds of souls, and a mire of grey-slime leeched out of the end of the corridor as it congested into a sphere – the churning and squirming of flesh wrung out.

The sphere wrangled itself and opened up a giant eye – the sole Eyeball seared in a radiance of starlight. It squirmed inside its shell of grey-slime, its veins bulging and throbbing as it looked around and stared down the corridor.

Ash's head wavered back n' forth, his back pinned against a wall of heat as he crumbled on his knees – his limbs trembled nowhere, skin shrivelled pale and lungs wrenched dry as he stared ahead, eyes petrified in the starlight; the Eyeball's gaze pierced his eyes and choked his mind.

He flinched and shielded his face.

Ash shrieked, shaking on his heels as he gaped at his arms; the purple-mist seeped into his arms and disintegrated him into an ethereal mass of light.

Pikachu lay curled up beneath, his entire body disintegrating into a cloud of light and fading away.

Ash opened his mouth and screamed–

CRASH!

The third flash of lightning exploded and flooded the entire plane in raw light.

Ash lost his voice and collapsed into a swamp of grey-slime – his limbs numbing from his grasp against grey-waves swallowing him, vision dimming amidst a haze of miasma seeping into his soul, and all thoughts drowning into the emptiness – reality faded away into the dream of oblivion…

…

…

…

… Paper fluttered over his vision.

Ash strained his thoughts, squirming his eyelids open. The walls of the plane burned back into view, a piece of paper shielding his face from the light as he squinted into it; the photo of all his friends and their reunion flashed over his face.

The Wings of The Phoenix.

Memories of his life surged through his head: the fields and hills spanning out of Pallet Town, all of the pokémon at Professor Oak's Corral, and the faces of his companions flashed through his eyes – all of it screamed out of his limbs as he drove thoughts into his hand and reached up into the air.

The photo slipped out of his grasp and fell into the abyss; the Eyeball disintegrated it into ashes.

Emptiness laid bare in his hand.

Sparks flared in his eyes.

A flame struck inside his heart anew and seared out of Ash's eyes. He wheezed as he sucked up a breath, wrenched his hand through the mire and clutched onto Pikachu's tail; grey-slime congealed over their bodies.

Pikachu yelped, eyes bolted open as he released a burst of electricity and fried their bodies; the grey-slime roasted to a crisp, crumbled away and disintegrated into the purple-mist.

The Eyeball winced.

Ash grunted and heaved himself up onto one knee, wheezing gulps of air as he shook. He winced, muscles seized stiff as he let out a deep breath, and his body relaxed his weight on his right-hand.

Pikachu ruffled his head and tussled all the dust off his body, the tips of his fur bristling as he darted his eyes around the plane. He scurried up to Ash's ribs and clutched onto his arm; Ash hugged him, rubbed his head and lifted himself onto his feet – the two partners let out a breathe and rested their foreheads against each-other.

The entire plane quaked and grumbled.

Ash and Pikachu stumbled over and looked up again.

Reality collapsed into the eye of the storm: the purple-mist swelling thicker into a sea of energy, all of the human souls dissolving into one collective cloud of light, and the Eyeball's shell cringing as it reeled back in a grumble – it swelled up the purple-mist, resonated as one with it and transmuted it into a pool of grey-slime around its shell.

Ash and Pikachu's throats lumped, the waves of grey-slime looming overhead as they quivered at a standstill. They glanced at their bodies, darted their eyes at each-other, then back at their hands as they glimmered in ethereal transparency; the purple-mist merged with their limbs and harmonised together in ripples of golden wisps – their bodies and the aether resonated with each-other as one being.

They clenched their fists.

Ash and Pikachu steeled their gaze and stared down the Eyeball – with tears burning out of their eyes, they kept their chins up and made their last stand together against the eye of the storm.

Pikachu crackled his cheeks.

The Eyeball bulged out and unleashed a wave of miasma down the plane.

Raw instincts possessed Ash's eyes as he slammed his palms together and struck his right-hand into the ground; spikes of flames erupted out of the aether, one after another as they tore their way up the alley and incinerated their way through the flood of grey-slime.

Pikachu bared his teeth and zoomed off Ash's shoulder, zig-zagging around the pillars of flames as he charged into the abyss. He braced himself ever thinner as the parted waves crashed down over the tip of his tail, barrelled out of a deluge of slime and slammed his tail down through a wall of slime; a wave of sparks rippled throughout the aether.

The Eyeball winced as the aether swelled over its flesh, congealed into another wall of slime and dropped its weight overhead.

Pikachu sprung off and whipped out his tail, cleaving the wave apart against his tail as he charged electricity out of his entire body. He pounced forth, incinerated a glob of slime into dust and fired away bolts against the deluge of slime as he weaved around pushed his way towards the eye of the storm; the plane creaked and groaned with the slime as one.

The scattered puddles and ashes swarmed back together, regenerated into grey-slime and shape-shifted into ethereal crystals as they gathered into a cloud overhead.

Pikachu flung back and tumbled onto the ground.

The cloud stormed down and plummeted into a deluge of crystals.

Pikachu threw his back into the ground and spun around as he released electricity everywhere; the aether flowed together with the sparks as one and ignited with a flash – a pillar of lightning surged ablaze as it shredded away the deluge of crystals and scattered them onto the ground.

The Eyeball puffed its shell and bore its gaze into the electricity.

The bombardment of crystal fragments recollected onto the ground together and encircled up the pillar of electricity.

The hurricane of electricity thinned as the slime shape-shifted into a cluster of tendrils and ensnared a net around its swirling motion – the streams of electricity scattered away, collapsed altogether and dissipated into aether as the tendrils weaved together into a net.

Pikachu yelped, a stream of crystals scraping past his ear as he rolled onto all fours. His heart straining harder and louder, bolts firing without aim and snapping back at his face, reeling as the net of tendrils condensed into a cage and swallowed him.

The net enshrouded Pikachu's face and congealed into a sphere of light.

…

A spark jetted up the sphere and ignited ablaze.

Spikes of ethereal flames tore out of the sphere and ripped out its surface, bursting away as the flames and tendrils alike dissipated back into the same aether.

Pikachu spluttered and ruffled his head clear, eyes zooming down the corridor; Ash retracted his palm off the ground.

The Eyeball grumbled as it squeezed its shell upon itself.

The plane shuddered as the aether flooded into the Eyeball's shell.

Ash bolted off his heels and scrambled over, the aether following his arms alight as he set his eyes on the collective cloud of souls; the slime darkened as it parted ways, swarmed at Ash's heels and crystallised into ethereal chains.

Pikachu bolted on his hind-feet and cried out at him.

The chains wrapped up Ash's left-arm and clamped shut in a chokehold.

Ash coughed, tripped and crashed head-first into the ground, wincing as he keeled back on his knees. He grunted as he rubbed his head, looked back at his left-arm and gaped wide-eyed; ethereal chains choked squeezed his arm and pinned him into the ground's mist, firm as iron.

Pikachu cried out and turned his back on the souls.

The Eyeball seized its sights on Pikachu and swelled up the floor.

The aether transmuted into chains, erupted out of the floor and engulfed Pikachu in a straight-jacket chokehold; Pikachu's lungs choked stiff with a squeak, straining his neck as the chains wrung his electricity out of his body and melded into his skin – golden wisps emanated off Pikachu as his physical body disintegrated into an ethereal soul.

The Eyeball throbbed and stretched its flesh over tearing point as it swelled the aether inside its shell. Its shell bulked up into a body of slime, rippled with the churning of flesh and lay drenched in a pool of saliva as it congealed into a body of miasma; the chains and infestations of grey-slime merged with the body as its limbs and thickened the aether of its purple-mist.

The Eyeball wriggled atop as it pulled back on its own body and ripped it wide open with an earth-shaking roar – a body of jaws sucked the souls into its black-hole.

Ash screeched as he pulled and wrenched against his left-arm, flailing nowhere as he hammered his fist against it; the Eyeball tightened its chains around Ash's right-arm, slammed his face into the floor and enveloped him in grey-slime.

Pikachu cried out and fizzled away into an ethereal silhouette.

Ash snapped his head up and saw Pikachu's ethereal form draining over the edge of the Eyeball's jaws. He glanced at his right-hand, found the aether of the purple-mist seeping through the grey-slime uninhibited as it kept on resonating together with his right-hand, then looked back at the chains crushing his left-arm into ethereal energy.

He took a deep breath and tensed the fingers of his right-hand – he grit his teeth shut, braced himself and slammed his right-palm into his left-arm.

The chains seared off his left-arm and crumbled back into the slime body; the Eyeball reeled back.

Ash keeled over on his knees and crunched his teeth into his lips: veins throbbing louder than his own heartbeat, trickles of blood sizzling off his fingers, and one hand clutching onto his left-shoulder as it burned through his bones – steam hissed out of his left-arm.

He swallowed his scream and thrusted his right-palm into a puddle of grey-slime; the aether rippled across the floor's surface, ignited into an ethereal trail of sparks and carved up the tendrils of grey-slime.

Flames exploded out of the tendrils and roasted the slime into ashes.

The Eyeball reeled back and writhed as its body of jaws screeched.

Pikachu burst out of his chains in a flash of light and tumbled over the floor. He winced as he swayed about, trudged onto his paws and stared at his body in a haze; golden wisps of energy emanated out of his body – the aether rippled over his body and held it together in an ethereal form.

Ash scrambled onto his feet and lugged himself down the corridor: the plane creaking and groaning up his feet, globs of slime bubbling out of the walls and floor, and the collective souls of the passengers teetering on the edge of the Eyeball's jaws as they faded before Ash's eyes. He staggered over, swatted aside a bubble of slime and reached out with his right-hand.

Pikachu blinked back and lunged forth.

A wave of miasma roared out of the aether and flooded down the plane.

Ash choked as the energy swept over his entire body and washed him away, pounding him against the bottom-end of the plane – the shadows of the passengers shrunk and blurred in a blink of an eye as he coughed and spluttered amidst the waves.

Pikachu wailed as he scraped his paws across the floor – a wave of miasma washing over his fur with bloodied earth, the creaking and groaning of the plane ringing through his nerves, and his paws paddling through the aether itself as the floor disintegrated ever thinner at his feet; the Eyeball's body of miasma infected the entire plane and merged as one.

Pikachu clutched the floor's aether and crouched. He churned sparks out his jaws, focused his eyes on the miasma hammering Ash's body against the walls and bared his teeth; the aether swirled around Pikachu's teeth and lit up into a pair of ethereal fangs.

The Eyeball's gaze disintegrated all seats into aether and swallowed the energy down its jaws.

Ash spluttered as he flailed amidst the waves and reached out his right-hand.

The collective clouds of souls fell over the edge and plummeted inside the jaws; the Eyeball's body swallowed them and clamped its jaws shut.

Ash's eyes gaped wide and lay paralysed in petrification – the Eyeball reigned over his entire world and stared dead-straight through his eyes.

…

The face of an eyeless skull swamped over Ash's vision. An ethereal skeleton manifested out of the slime, clutched his throat and screamed in his face.

Ash lost all breath and shrivelled pale as frost. He shuddered, ears rung deaf, petrified as the scream resounded over and over inside his bare nerves; the bottomless abyss laid itself bare inside the empty sockets of the skull and stared back into his bleak eyes.

The squelching and wrenching of flesh echoed.

Ash pinned his spine against the wall and shrunk away.

The Eyeball's miasma melted the entire plane into its body and merged together as one carcass of bloodied earth: bubbles boiling off the walls and ceilings of miasmas, and miniature eyeball creatures popped out of the slime-ridden walls and wriggled around Ash's vision, and the skeletons of the passengers climbing out of the slime – one skeleton choked Ash's throat, bared its eyeless pits and unleashed an ear-splitting scream in his face.

Ash lost his breath and shrivelled up.

…

A spear of lightning struck down the ethereal skeleton and incinerated it away in a thunderclap.

Ash's muscles jolted. He blinked back, rubbed his face and caught his breath; Pikachu fried the slime, shook off the dust and leapt to Ash's side.

The Eyeball groaned and strained its gaze as the aether rippled over its body. It extended an arm of bloodied earth out of its body, transmuted the aether around its mass and crystallised ethereal bodies – a swarm of crystal pokémon manifested out of its arm.

Pikachu lashed out and ripped through the throat of a crystallising quadruped, sparks flaring out of his twin-fangs as the aether around his body flared aglow.

The Eyeball screeched.

The swarm of crystal pokémon soared out of the arm and dive-bombed Pikachu.

Pikachu clashed and exploded into a frenzy of strikes with a thunderclap: fangs ripping away the quadruped earth-dwellers piling over him, bolts and sparks scattering schools of marine swimmers to a crisp, and flares of his body roasting winged avians one after another as Pikachu wrestled and shredded away the bombardment of crystal pokémon – screams pumped his blood, burns ate his limbs, and the aether fuelled the flames in his eyes.

The swarms of crystal pokémon crumbled into a cloud of dust and ashes around Pikachu's assault; the Eyeball screeched as it writhed from its fragments. It swelled up its arm, merged with the cloud of crystal pokémon and shape-shifted into a giant's hand as it reached its fingers around Pikachu's body.

Ash winced as he tussled his head. He wiped his face clear, lugged himself onto his toes and reached out for–

Bones clamped down his ankle.

Ash winced and looked back; a graveyard of ethereal skeletons manifested out of the flood and gasped for air. Chains strangled all of their forms and held them bound within the Eyeball's body of miasma as they reached for Ash's body.

The aether swelled over Pikachu's skin as he slipped out of the giant-hand and bared his fangs.

The Eyeball's giant-hand slapped Pikachu and flung him up into the air.

Flesh stung their ears as Pikachu wailed in the air; the Eyeball melded its body's arm into the floor, swelled the miasma up its giant-hand and extended the fingers up and over Pikachu's body.

Ash shook as his eyes flew back n' forth. He glanced back at the chains binding the skeletons into the Eyeball's body, darted his eyes over the tunnel of bloodied earth aching with the Eyeball's body, and the aether resonating between his right-hand and the giant-hand looming over him; Pikachu's eyes spun around and found Ash as he fell back down.

Their eyes met each-other for an instant.

The giant-hand wrapped its fingers and crystallised.

Pikachu steeled his focus straight-down. He somersaulted in the air as he bellowed, released a shroud of electricity over his body and dived straight into the palm of the giant-hand.

Starlight burst out of the aether and showered ablaze: lightning bolts and solar flares clashing together into a maelstrom, the giant-hand frying to a crisp as its fingers kept on inching closer together, and Pikachu's shroud of electricity shrinking – Pikachu burrowed deeper and deeper into the eye of the storm as the aether rippled out of his paws and resonated with the giant-hand.

Ash whirled around, wrapped his right-hand around a skeleton's chain and shoved it into the giant-hand.

Pikachu flipped over, cleaved his tail through flesh and opened his mouth.

The giant-hand absorbed Ash's arm and engulfed it in slime.

The aether flooded into Pikachu's fangs and crunched.

Mist shrivelled dry.

Sparks ignited.

BOOM!

Starlight exploded in a wave and sundered the storm.

Pikachu wailed as his body thumped and slammed against the floor, tumbled down into a roll and sprawled over. He reeled over, gasping for air as his bones shook from the core; the air hung stiff in a haze of fumes.

…

Ash's scream resounded throughout the smoke.

Pikachu's spine jerked up. He winced as he scrambled onto his feet, huffed and puffed over to Ash's side and strained himself underneath Ash's chin.

Ash shook against Pikachu's support as he curled over his stomach and crunched his lips shut. His ears deafened in the ringing of his heart-beat, vision wobbling in a blur, and his lungs choking as both of his arms dangled limp– sparks crackled out of his right-arm and fried it stiff as bark.

The plane quaked.

The fumes cleared away into the body of miasma bubbling away.

Ash and Pikachu's hearts stopped as the world collapsed around them: the entire body of miasma dissipating back into the aether, the walls and ceiling disintegrating into transparent air, and a swarm of miniature eyeball creatures encircling the Eyeball in the formation of an atom as they resonated together – its shadow loomed ever higher over Ash and Pikachu's faces.

The Eyeball glowed in the centre of its swarm as it disintegrated its entire body into aether. It tore free out of its shell, ripped its flesh open in an explosion of light and released itself all over the entire sky in its radiance of a supernova.

The sky drowned into the eye of the storm: clouds bloodied red as they spiralled in a vortex, thunderclaps sickened blue as they roared out of the abyss, and the eye of the storm shining with the brilliance of a supernova as it held the entire storm within the grip of its own light – its radiance shrouded its true form beyond grasp.

Ash and Pikachu lost all thoughts and lay petrified on their knees.

…

The floor quaked and shook their knees.

Pikachu jumped with a squeak. He cried as he tugged and shoved Ash nowhere; the ground at their backs flickered away into the clouds of the vortex.

Ash's legs moved on their own and heaved him off his knees. His vision blurring in a downpour of tears, spine swaying side-to-side with every step dragging over, and both of his arms dangled numbed from all thought as he limped over – one foot forward shaking after another.

A flare whipped the clouds.

Ash tensed up rigged and winced, his lungs wheezing shallow breaths as the ground rattled back n' forth to a stop. He blew out a gulp of air, staggered as he placed his next foot ahead and dragged himself forward.

Another flare of light nipped the floor aflame.

Ash lurched and stumbled over his feet, his eyelids half-closed as the Calamity's radiance loomed before him. He slumped over, squeezing his mouth shut as he swallowed his voice and trembled on his legs.

The third flare ripped out a flash of lightning.

Ash spluttered, toppled over and slammed head-first into the floor, wincing as embers of light seared in his face. He tensed up into a shiver, collapsed all his strength and broke down, whimpering as tears poured out without resistance; the eye of the storm's radiance squashed Ash's body beneath its existence.

Pikachu cried out as he scrambled all over and around Ash's body, nuzzling his head as he cooed; Ash his face into his knees as he whimpered.

Thunder echoed.

Pikachu yelped as he winced. He shot his head up and darted his eyes back n' forth across the storm; streams of lightning churned out of the vortex, their strikes flashing ever brighter as they accelerated every strike and bombarded the plane's shell.

A series of lightning bolts rapid-fired across the ground as the clouds rumbled together.

Ash braced himself and shut his eyes.

Lightning crashed down into him.

…

Ash's heart stopped beating.

He looked up and gasped wide-eyed; Pikachu stood guard in front of him, his tail raised skyward as he drew the full flood of the lightning bolt into his body.

Pikachu grit his teeth as he clawed his paws into the ground. The last gulp of electricity snuffed into his tail, and he lurched over onto the ground and tensed up as he shuddered; sparks trembled out of his body and choked him stiff.

Ash stiffened his whimper and lugged his chin up. He dragged himself across the floor, nuzzled Pikachu and nestled him onto his shoulder.

Pikachu crawled onto his back and held tight.

The storm's radiance flared out and writhed amongst its storm – its tunnel of clouds bared a black-hole.

Ash raised his chin up, muscles gritted tense as his tear-filled eyes burned through the last embers and looked forward. He sucked up one last gulp of air, wrenched his spine up straight and yelled his lungs out as he lunged forth – the two partners dived into the belly of the beast together.

The radiance swallowed them and sealed its black-hole.

…

Wings of light glimmered.

The storm's radiance condensed into a sphere of light as it cooled to a whisper; sparks cracked out of space, chipping away shards of crystals as they dug through the sphere.

…

Lightning burst out, shattered away the cracks and flooded out of the storm's radiance – the light rippled with the aether as they scattered all over the vortex of clouds.

The eye of the storm merged its radiance into the electricity and discharged it into a wave throughout the sky. The radiance quelled the storm into a sea of clouds, released the plane's shell and settled into a dim glow – the single Eyeball closed its shell into sleep and disappeared back into the aether.

Life swept out of the light and breathed in its shell: the radiance reconstructing the plane out of raw aether, the bodies of the passengers re-materialising out of the light as they slept in warmth, and Delia re-awakening her eyes into the haze of a voice. A world of golden clouds and silver wisps greeted her.

A breeze of feathers whispered past her.

Delia blinked and glanced over on her left, a cloud of speckles clearing over her vision as she found a pair of eyes reaching out for her.

She gasped as her heart choked in her throat; Ash disintegrated into an ethereal body of golden light. Tears twinkled off his face as he stood before Delia and looked into her eyes, his body fading into the aether with each step he took.

Ash opened his mouth and spoke. "…"

…

Delia's ears heard nothing.

Ash caved in and fell over; Delia shrieked and lunged out as she spanned her arms out wide.

Ash's body phased through her.

Delia squealed as she met thin-air and crashed into the floor.

The world went deaf in Delia's ears as she lay sprawled over. She stared at her palms bared empty, her throat choked in a whimper, eyes blank and frozen in a world that crumbled around her – the wisps of light drifted over her vision.

Ash resigned himself on his knees as he looked back at her, his eyes disappearing as he faded into transparency.

Delia sniffled as she curled up into her knees. She looked up at Ash's transparent body, shook her head and reached out for him as she scraped and waved her hands over; Ash lay his hands dead on the ground as he watched his mom's hands phase through him.

Sparks jumped out at them.

Delia yelped as she fell back. She glanced over at her right and clutched her chest; a sphere of radiance melted itself and manifested Pikachu's body.

Pikachu reeled over and screeched as his physical body dissipated beneath a shroud of radiance: feathers as white as clouds flaring out of his fur, scales as black as iron searing inside his skin, and a mane of storm-clouds bellowing out of his spine as starlight tore out of his body.

He strained his head upward, unleashed an ear-splitting roar up at the sky and drowned beneath his own shroud of light – the roar of a colossal dragon resounded throughout the storm.

CRASH!

A spear of lightning tore through the plane.

…

Time slowed to a crawl near frozen.

…

Their hearts thumped against their chests.

…

Pikachu fainted as he plummeted out the window and down into the storm; Ash's eyes bolted wide and lay bleak.

'PIKACHU!' Ash sprung out, jumped out the window and dived into the storm.

Delia shrieked as she scrambled across the floor and clawed around the broken window. She blurted, spluttered and coughed, her mouth flapping as she choked on her voice. Her limbs seized up, the clouds surged faster and faster around the plane, and her pupils shook as the bodies of Ash and Pikachu faded further away into the abyss.

KABOOM!

A flash of purple light exploded and engulfed reality.

…

…

…

The aether solidified the plane and released it into clear skies: the vortex of the storm disappeared behind the plane, clouds drifted overhead, and Delia's eyes found the depths of the ocean deserted beneath.

…

Delia's mind shattered and screamed her lungs out; the scream forever scarred the plane.

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

---

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

The door hissed open.

Delia wailed as she barged aside the passengers, pushed and shoved her way across the corridor and scrambled for the door.

"No, wait, Delia!" Professor Oak urged as he trailed after her, shuffling through the passengers as he reached out for her; the rest of the passengers gawked at them and stood back amass.

Delia shoved aside Oak's hands and bolted out the door. She stumbled across the stairway bridge, staggered onto the concrete over her left and rushed up to the pier's edge. Her chest heaved and wheezed as she looked out at the ocean's horizons; the sun sat upon the waves in twilight.

"… Ash." Delia wheezed.

…

Delia clutched her chest as she inched closer to the edge. "Ash!"

…

"ASH!"

…

… Gray waves swayed at a standstill.

Delia's throat lumped as she clutched her face. Her eyes went blank, heart-beat drowned to a stop as she teetered over the edge.

"No!" Professor Oak caught her in a hug and wrenched themselves back from the pier's edge; Delia collapsed into herself as she lay pale as ice.

Professor Oak tightened his grip around her frame and looked around the pier: the plane shimmered without a hint of damage, and the rest of the passengers stared at Delia's breakdown as they backed away on their heels – the crowd of passengers shrugged as one collective and abandoned them.

'What on earth is going on with the world!?' Professor Oak bit his lips.

"What's going on, Professor Oak? What happened?"

Professor Oak's head jolted up and peered straight down the pier; a young woman broke through the collective as she waved at them. Her lab-coat flailed over her green-skirt and grey-shirt, yet her brown-hair stay fixed in a bun as she rushed over to Oak's side.

"Ah, Professor Juniper! You–"

"Save the welcoming morning tea for another time." She knelt down and placed her hands on Delia's forehead and shoulder; Delia's eyes lay blank and dead, her body on its own as her skin grew colder.

Professor Juniper's face tensed up as she squeezed Delia's shoulder.

The waves ruptured as a seaweed-ridden creature popped out of the waves and plopped onto the pier – a little otter-esque Pokémon tussled his head clear and beamed a smile off his snow-white face. The little otter untangled the seaweed off his blue body, piled all of it into a flower-esque bouquet and held it up at the humans as he yapped–

"Not now, Oshawott. Shush." Professor Juniper warned and shook her head.

Oshawott winced. He dropped his smile and went quiet, shuddering as he scrambled around the humans from afar – his face melted as Delia's cold breakdown lay clear in his eyes.

Professor Juniper glanced back at the humans. "Where is the other boy and his Pokémon partner? What happened to them?"

Professor Oak grimaced and looked away at the ocean; the depths beneath the grey waves slumbered before them.

…

Oshawott darted his head back n' forth at the ocean and Delia's whimper. He looked at Delia's tear-burned eyelids, back at the ocean stretching into the horizon, and once more at Delia's broken face – the little otter steeled his eyes.

Professor Juniper stood up straight and pointed at her assistants. "Samantha, call everyone else in my Lab and prepare for an admission into emergency care. Now!"

A brunette-haired girl nodded and darted away to a quiet corner of the pier.

"First Aid, on the double!" Professor Juniper continued.

A raven-haired woman readjusted her glasses, took off down the end of the pier and hustled into the Seaport's Office Building.

Professor Juniper took out her phone and hunted through her contact list. "Alright you volunteers, if there's ever a time you wanted to regret your coastal guard training, it's now or–hey, wait! Oshawott, what are you doing!?"

SPLASH!

Oshawott dived into the water and shot away beneath the waves.

Darkness immersed his body inside the ocean's underbelly: a chasm of currents washing his fur clear of the bubbles and foam, sunlight dimming speck by speck amidst a trail of seaweed, and Oshawott's body skimming the sand over the ocean's bottom-floor as the slope pulled him deeper and deeper into the earth – his eyes darted left–right and up–down around the neverending tunnel of the ocean's currents.

A twinkle of light pulsated from afar.

Oshawott cocked his head as he squinted his eyes at the light's space: the waves of the ocean's surface bended and twisted over its rays, an ethereal forest of seaweed and coral flourishing beneath its warmth, and the currents slowing to a whisper around Oshawott's body. He glanced around his own flipper limbs, fluttering about freely as zero gravity as wisps of light twinkled around him.

He tussled his head and looked forward. He swatted aside the seaweed, launched himself off the coral and soared up into the radiance; the sound of a heart-beat echoed out of the the starlight's centre.

Oshawott's mouth dropped at a pair of bodies shrivelled and paled; Ash's arms held Pikachu locked to his chest in a vicegrip – both of them lay curled up in death's sleep as their bodies pulsated aglow.

The starlight's pulse dimmed.

Oshawott slapped himself in the face and grabbed onto Ash and Pikachu. He wrapped strips of seaweed around Ash's chin, tied the opposite end of the loop around his own belly and pulled their bodies away – Oshawott wrenched and strained his paddling against through the weight dragging him back, yet he kept his eyes glued up at the surface above as he climbed the sea-floor uphill.

A shadow blocked the sun.

Oshawott yelped and whipped out his shell-sword, smacking the shadow aside with the sting of flesh; a green piranha-esque Pokémon with a red-stripe tumbled amidst the currents, its eyes shaken as they bulged out of its sockets.

Another shadow skimmed Oshawott's head.

Oshawott jumped and whirled around.

Another green piranha-esque Pokémon with a blue-stripe scuttled over the bodies. Blood bulged out the veins of its eyes as it chomped at the water and into their skin.

Oshawott barked back and swatted away.

The blue-stripe Pokémon snapped back and chomped at his flipper.

Oshawott screeched as he flailed and wrestled against the blue-stripe's chomps: the water ripping and shredding out of their barks and chomps, blood-soaked jaws slashing away the tips of Oshawott's fur and skin in a tussle, and the shell-sword flailing over their faces as the blue-striped Pokémon tackled Oshawott into the bodies – he bumped back, sliced away a chip of scales and swatted it aside.

The blue-striped Pokémon hissed and wrangled itself against Oshawott's body.

Another shadow crashed into them and snapped away.

Oshawott reeled with a cough and shoved himself out of the scuffle; the red-striped Pokémon bumped aside its blue-striped counterpart and tore into it. The two striped pokémon loss their focus on Oshawott and lashed out at each-other, their jaws snapping and ripping away at the water around them as they wrestled over one another.

Oshawott caught his breath as he watched the two piranha-esque pokémon maul into each-other. He tightened his grip on his shell-sword, lunged forth –

THUMP!

– Smacked the red-stripe's jaw up and aside with the crunch of bones –

THUMP!

– And smacked down the blue-stripe's skull into a pulp of flesh.

The two piranha-esque pokémon of red-stripes and blue-stripes fluttered away, their eyes bulging out of their sockets and shaking loose as they floated in between two opposite schools; the two packs of the piranha-esque pokémon stopped and paved way – their sides of red and blue stripes divided opposite each-other, yet both sides gawked at the remnants of their collectives fluttering in between their hives.

The two schools of red and blue zipped their attention down the slope, eyed the two bodies behind Oshawott, then back at each-other – the two sides bared their fangs as they glared at each-other.

Oshawott gulped and went pale.

The two schools dive-bombed and raced each-other into their prey.

The sea-floor exploded in a deafening cacophony of bloodlust: the collective masses tearing the sea-floor in their wake and engulfing everybody in an underwater sandstorm, countless jaws of red and blue stripes tackling and ripping away at each-other for dominance over the prize of the bodies, and Oshawott's breathes shrinking with every strike as he struck and cracked one set of jaws after another.

He smacked aside one; two more jumped into the opening and shoved each-other about as they snapped for Oshawott's face.

He tussled another two off his body and smacked their jaws aside; four more surrounded them, dive-bombed and crashed into Oshawott's body at once.

Oshawott spluttered as his limbs seized stiff.

All of the piranha-esque pokémon torpedoed into Oshawott and piled together into a hurricane of scavengers: waves of shredded foam and sand blasting his ear-drums numb, flashes of red and blue stripes scraping and wrestling over every inch of his skin, and an infestation of green drowning Oshawott's senses as each and every single scavenger turned on each-other for dominance – the swarms swallowed Oshawott deeper into the abyss of the ocean's underbelly as they crowded tighter and tighter.

Oshawott cried and curled himself into a ball, clutching his shell-sword as he braced himself against the ever-growing bombardment of scrapes and bruises; the starlight's energy trickled out of Ash and Pikachu's bodies, seeped throughout Oshawott's flippers and flowed into his shell-sword.

The collective swarm of all the piranha-esque pokémon piled together and squeezed the bodies in a chokehold.

Oshawott screamed and swung his scalchop in a whirl.

SWOOSH!

A flash of light spun out and resounded throughout the ocean's depths.

…

…

…

Oshawott squinted a peak.

…

He blinked and rubbed his eyes clear.

…

His lungs choked as he gasped from his surroundings; the bodies of all the piranha pokémon lay ruptured and shredded – blood poured out of their gills as the currents washed them away, shaved away clouds of roasted scales and swallowed their husks inside the ocean's underbelly.

Oshawott winced and looked away. He glanced at his shell-sword; the starlight dissipated into the currents and left his shell-sword clean.

The starlight's pulse dimmed to a faint glow and exposed Ash and Pikachu's bodies.

Oshawott gritted his nerves and forced a breath into his body. He fluttered underneath Ash's body, clutched onto Ash's back and winced as grazes throbbed out from all over his entire body; the surface's sunlight shrunk over his eyes.

The currents twisted and swirled around them.

Oshawott gaped as the depths of the ocean surged out of the darkness and encircled their bodies – the depths swarmed together into a whirlpool, swept them up to the surface and tossed all three of them onto concrete; the downpour gave way to fresh air and settled over the pier's dock.

Oshawott let out a huff and sprawled over the puddle.

Professor Oak and Juniper gasped and rushed over.

Delia gasped as she lunged over and pulled her arms around Ash's body, embracing his weight on her lap as she dropped and wailed into his hair; Ash and Pikachu's bodies lay cold and pale in death's sleep.

Professor Juniper knelt down and placed two fingers over Ash's neck.

…

Ash's arms caved in and lost their grip on Pikachu's body.

Professor Juniper looked at Professor Oak in the eyes, nodded and squeezed Delia's shoulder; Professor Oak scooped Pikachu and Oshawott into his arms.

"Professor Juniper!" The raven-haired assistant called out as she hustled across the dock. "There's a complete blackout throughout East-Unova! All electricity grids and communication systems are down!"

"What!?" Professor Juniper shot up onto her feet.

The brunette-haired assistant rejoined their side

Professor Juniper gritted her teeth. She took in a gulp of air through her nose, closed her eyes as she rubbed her temples and let out a slow breath; the two assistants stepped back, a chill running down their spines as their eyes glanced over at Delia's whimper.

"Okay… okay now…" Professor Juniper breathed out and straightened herself. "We're going to make it through this day the old fashioned way – let's get moving by ourselves. Now."

The two assistants reached out and took hold of Pikachu and Oshawott in their arms; Professor Oak freed himself and knelt down to Delia's side. He rubbed her spine, reached his arms underneath Ash's back and groaned as he strained the body-weight off the concrete.

Delia forced her nerves stiff and held up Ash's head.

The two assistants took off ahead of the group and hustled over to the jeep.

Professor Juniper took hold of Ash's bare-feet and led them out of the dock: the office's sliding doors and watch-tower passing by their sides as they lay dormant, security officers clearing all other life away from the buildings as they crossed the fence, and the roads of a city's coastal-front enshrouded in darkness as they reached a red jeep – the coastal town's air hung thick and still.

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

---

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω

The door opened.

Delia's head jolted off the bedside and blinked into clarity; Oshawott hid behind Professor Juniper's leg as he peaked in – bandages wrapped around his flippers and belly as he held up a bouquet of rainbow flowers.

Delia strained a hint of a smile.

Professor Juniper knelt down and patted Oshawott's head; Oshawott limped across the doorway, his bandages tugging him side-by-side as he plodded over to Delia's side.

The door closed, blocked out the humming of backup generators and left them alone; the beeps of a heart-reading monitor took over the silence.

Oshawott held up his bouquet.

Delia took the bouquet and planted them on the bedside's tabletop. She picked up Oshawott, rested him on her lap and stroked his head as they glanced at the bed; a hand lay sprawled on the edge.

Oshawott twiddled his flippers as he looked over the bed.

Delia's eyes bore the full reflection of Ash's body buried in sleep: machines stood guard and watched over his readings, heat flushed out of his breathes, and his eyes lay locked shut inside another world – reality burned its image into her eyes.

Delia breathed in and rubbed her head, all hints of a smile collapsed once more as she stared at her son – her eyes lay frozen and dead in silence.

…

…

…

Delia took in another breath and clutched Ash's right-hand.

Oshawott cooed as he nuzzled Delia's arm. He glanced at her reddened eyelids, looked into his flower bouquet and settled his gaze down into Ash's right-hand; a pokeball lay buried beneath the flowers as it waited.

The back of Ash's right-hand bore a mark; a black half-sphere burned out of his skin. A blue-streak marking pierced its black centre, punctured its darkness out of the circle's edges and leaked outward – the markings carved through his skin and reached as far as his wrist.

Delia grimaced at herself as her fingers fiddled over the mark; the lines of the black mark throbbed their own.

Oshawott kept his eyes glued on the black mark.

Delia pulled Ash's right-hand and held it to her face.

A~~~*Φ*~~~Ω