Hello everybody and welcome back! Thank you for commenting. Now I will answers some questions asked last chapter:
Espeon44: If it goes that far, then yes, Ash will have kids with the girls. And thank you for the OC.
Rams34: I think that he will so that the readers can get to know the girls better in a one-to-one environment.
LonelySoul935: Thanks! And don't worry, he won't be Ash's father.
TravellingMan93: Thank you for the OC but can you send me some details on what he looks like please, I don't want to choose what your character looks like.
Guest (No name stated): Thanks for the feedback! And yes, Legendries will be involved but you will find out more next chapter…
Red the Pokémon Master: Thank you and… ok? Sure!
DemonicStories: Thank you for the help and the suggestions!
Aurora Wesker Fox: Got to mix it up somehow…
Stallion6: Thanks, I guess?
DonutMatter: Thank you but I don't think I deserve that much praise…
MidnightRebellion86: Thank you for the feedback and the OC.
Quickly, I want to thank Merc9136, ScottD92, XVenomX159, McShaka87, Raven1986, OptiMusk, Crofty666, FirstLast123, Red the Pokémon Master, JchElton88tc, , DarkAuraMaster, CuteSaralisa, SteveXClaw, Jace Cither, 0ZeroOMegaOuroboros, NarutoHarem123, Duke Drake, Scaler91, BlueEclipse395, Axc-O, Aurora Wesker Fox, ZeromRock, BoomingMaster, DemonicStories, Razor200972, SandMan001, The-Most-Holy-Ogre, AshKetchumDarkSide, Ky Karno, ToonLink13, MidnightRebellion86, Danny. , JazalGoldMane, Clones501, Beast94, Cjf05, Draph91,HootieRickyRoza and BlazeStromm22, Batman1998, Pharotand, Smeng15, .75, Revolution of 1776 and KalahNikow for following and favourite-ting.
Also want to say thank you to everyone who sent in a suggestion for the harem! Now let's get on with Chapter 3!
Speech- "Go Pikachu!"
Thoughts- 'Go Pikachu!'
Pokémon Moves- Thunderbolt
Aura Speech- 'Go Pikachu'.
Past Tense- Go Pikachu!
"God dammit Gary. For the last time, Ash is nothing like his father." Brock spoke in a hushed tone towards his companion, Gary Oak. The two were talking about their friend Ash Ketchum's father. He, personally, had not known his father and nobody had told him anything about him, apart from the fact that he had been a trainer. Had been.
Gary started to speak.
"But what if he is? Hm, Brock, what if he is like that monster of a man? You know how that weird, creepy aura shit works, don't you? About how the traits pass down from parents to their children? Well, his was destructive, deadly, and capable of levelling cities so what happens when Ash gains that trait? You said it yourself, dammit, he already unlocked his aura in Hoenn and it has been growing… the best thing to do is-"
"Kill the bastard." Drew said in an off-hand comment.
"Shut the fuck up, rose boy!" Gary said, his voice laced in venom due to what he was implying. "Do you know what would happen if we even attempted something like that?"
Drew simply flicked his hair and said, "Then May would be mine. Simple as."
Everybody in the room let out a sigh at his stupid idea. Once again, Brock stepped up to speak.
"Is it really worth it? Doing all of this? You want him to drop everything and leave because of his father?" He said, calmly.
A chime rang through the air, signalling that Gary had received a text message. He read it before he stated.
"Not because of his father, Brock. It's because of Ash." He took a deep breath.
"He will kill us all, don't you understand?!" Gary suddenly exploded from his seat, face to face with the older gym-leader.
"Yea, he is a monster that needs to be irradiated." Paul muttered just loud enough so that he could be heard.
"The dumb bastard would probably kill himself if he knew how much of a liability he was to everyone, and that would make our jobs a whole lot easier." Drew sniggered.
Everyone in the room, minus Brock and Cilan, laughed and agreed with the Hoenn native. Bonnie and Clemont were in the kitchen: what Gary and the others were saying was upsetting the small girl and so her brother took her out for a bit.
Brock was about to speak, when a loud banging bought everyone's heads towards the door. Behind it they heard a scream and 4 different pitched voices saying the same word.
"ASH!"
Brock slowly opened his thin eyes, sunlight breaking through the cracks in the skin. It forced him to awaken and signalled a new day: the day that he would arrive at the Contest of Champions as head cook. After he went off to pursue his dreams of becoming a Pokémon breeder, Brock left the gym in the hands of his eldest-younger brother, Forest. He was quite formidable, and the Pewter City gym had been harder to conquer since he took the role.
The man let a smile cross his features before he practically leapt from his bed and ran over to his wardrobe to obtain his clothes. Looking down at the clothes in his possession, he decided to go simple and wore his old gym-leader gear: a long-sleeved, dull orange shirt with dark olive cargo pants and simple bronze trainers, with black soles. As an added addition, he wore a simple black watch on his left wrist.
Smiling at his attire, Brock walked over to his balcony that he received with his room. Gazing out at the rolling mountains of water, he noticed a small island of green and yellow off in the distance. Putting one hand under his head, he stood there, content and happy with how life had gone.
Well, kind of how life went.
Brock gritted his teeth as he tried to block the memory out of his head: Ash was gone, and it was his fault. He didn't stop Gary, or Drew, or Paul, or Barry, or Kenny… or Ash. The picture that was painted that day had forcefully imprinted itself into his mind, the last time he saw Ash Ketchum in real life: and he saw him as a monster.
Deciding that now was a good time for some extra rest, Brock hiked back to his room, each step weighed down by his un-breakable guilt and sorrow. He really missed Ash. He knew of many of people who met Ash. He knew of people that wanted to tell Ash many things… and they wouldn't get the chance because of him.
Crashing down onto the soft mattress, Brock let his eyes slowly fall shut, thinking about what he could have done differently.
Walking out of the Pokémon Centre, Ash looked around to make sure that no-one had seen him with Nurse Joy, or heard who he really was. Letting out a soft sigh, the boy began to shift his feet down the street as his mind began to wander.
'Is the day of the Tournament really a good day to tell everyone who I am?' He thought, bringing his hands into his pockets after pulling his cap downwards more to obscure his eyes. Shaking his head from left-to-right, he let that thought drain out of his ears.
'Of course I need to, I promised mom after all…' Eyes of brown fell to floor, observing every feature until a small yellow hand tugged at the cloth encasing his mouth. Casting his thoughts away from him, Ash turned to face his partner.
He stood on his hind legs and looked at Ash with worry and concern in his still tired eyes.
"Don't worry about me, buddy. Go back to sleep." A gloved palm made contact with Pikachu's head, sending him into a small purring fit, nuzzling against his hand and sending small sparks dancing up his veins. After he removed his hand, Ash gave him one last look of 'I'm fine' before he started walking again, feeling the weight on his shoulder increase due to the rodent curling up on the flesh covered bone.
Deciding to cast his eyes to the ocean, Ash noticed a boat not too far off in the distance: if he was not mistaken, then it was a luxury cruiser to carry important figures like gym-leaders or champions. He was tempted to use his aura to figure out who was on there, but decided against it as, hey, surprises are better.
While he looked at the calm, morning blue, a pair of brown eyes found themselves drawn to the near empty beach. Finding that enticing, Ash decided that he would like to feel the sand while he was here. Taking his shoes and socks off of his feet, he pressed one foot into the hot, golden sands, sending thousands of grains collapsing into the man-made pit. He continued this until he reached the ocean.
The water felt relaxing and cold on his toes, his nerves were setting themselves alight with the sudden change in temperature and density. Letting out a shudder, Ash decided that he was going to have fun on this trip: he was here to battle and he hadn't done that properly in over 5 years.
Then it dawned on him… 'I've been gone for 5 years.'
Up high on Mt. Silver, the cold and the haze had always clouded his judgment, made him lose his perception on time. The only indication was the ever changing sky and even that was covered by cloud most nights so he hadn't really thought much of it. And it wasn't like he had to worry about everyday essentials: he had shelter, he learned how to make and find food on snowy climates from Brock, his Pokémon helped him out with the cooking, the cleaning of his clothes, re-sewing his clothes when he got too rough during practice, heating up the place, producing some sort of light and being his friends.
But that was all he had: don't get him wrong, they were great friend, and he had shared so many good times with them up on that cold piece of risen rock, such as when one of them evolved, which they had all done by this point. And he wouldn't trade any of those moments for anything… but he really lacked human contact, human interaction, and human love.
Yes, he thought about certain girls now and again but he would just shake away the feeling and go training or something, because it was never that difficult, due to the fact that he was about 100 miles away from them at any one time. But now, they were here and he couldn't avoid them: he already let his rage absorb his entire being when Drew touched May, so what was he going to do to anyone else who tried it? They were all still very beautiful women and he knew he couldn't stop every comment or touch but they are strong enough by themselves, right?
Damn, thinking about this made his head hurt.
Red rings hung high over black and purple lines on all 5 girls faces when they woke up. They all gave each other a stern, yet comforting and understanding look before sitting down on the rugged and soft carpet.
Once they all touched the rug, all eyes fell to the floor, everyone unable to account for the irritated skin around each teen's eye that had been caused by restless fits of crying throughout the night. After a few moments, Dawns voice broke through the lifeless air.
'So… I guess that you had trouble sleeping as well, huh?' She asked with innocence and compassion in her voice, but none of the girls wanted that right now. All they wanted was a certain missing boy.
'Yea.' Was all that anyone could muster. Today was going to be a very long day.
Glancing at their bedside clock, Iris noted that it was already 7:00, around the time when the other Gym-leaders started to get up. Looking at her companions, Iris spoke in a playful tone to try and
'It's time to hit the showers, I think. After all, we do have that party later today…'
Everyone's heads rolled round to meet her gaze before they stood up and made their way over to the shared showers in the dorm. In all the chaos, they had almost forgot about the party being held later on tonight for tournament participants.
After a few minutes of walking, they reached the showers. It wasn't too big, or too small and had room for everyone in their small sector, which was all the female gym leaders and one strange person at the end of the hall.
Disrobing and stepping into the shower, the girls immediately felt soothed by the hot water cascading down their bodies, the heat acting as a blockage to all the problems in the real world. With their minds and bodies covered by steam and pellets of liquid, they began to think.
Misty was staring down at her body in dismay: she had filled out to a C-Cup since her younger days but her body was unhealthily pale for her kind of athletic lifestyle. After the disappearance of Ash 5 years ago, the teen had been spending a lot of time in her families inside pool, hidden away from the world unless it was for gym battles. And she had even started to lose her edge in battling as well. However, she had a bit of a tan from going out into the outside pools at the resorts she frequented with her friends, but that was about it. She needed to regain her confidence, but didn't know how without him: yes it was pathetic to rely on someone else but she had been feeling pathetic for 5 years now, so she was used to it.
May, on the other hand, was just standing there staring at the marble wall. She, like Misty, had filled out more but in her earlier years, boosting her to a D-Cup like Serena, but that attracted a lot of unwanted attention. She had been cat-called for years now, but it still didn't stop herself from feeling dirty and disgusted with her body. Boys had asked her out countless times for her looks but she only wanted one boy… and he was probably dead. She had tried to get over her fear on her own and she could handle herself if anything physical did happen, but having someone like Ash there, someone who would protect you just feels right.
Dawn was sitting down against the cool stone, contrasting to the searing heat that she had put her shower onto. She, unlike May, didn't have to really worry about cat-calling or anything like that due to her normal C-Cups but what disturbed her is how often she tried to get over Ash with some else. There was always some new, some old, some that could make her feel happy for a few weeks. But that was all she could cope for without thinking of him and ending it then and there: thinking of Ash broke her inside and out. There were times were she would think of him alone but she tried to limit them moments in order to thinking about her Co-ordinating but her thoughts would always do a 360 and go against her will.
Iris was cleansing herself with soap and hair gel that reminded her of the forest, the first place where she met Ash on his Unova journey. Her cheeks lit up in a bright pink hue as she examined her own body: small-ish B-Cups covered her chest, which she wasn't all that bothered by, but her darker skin was rare and 'exotic' some would say to her. She, like Misty, had started to isolate herself more and more as the days went by, hiding in the forest until she was called in for a Gym-battle. Axew had evolved in a Haxorus but he was still one of her best friends, even though she couldn't keep him in her hair anymore. However, the forest reminded her of Ash and all the times that they spent together.
Finally, there was Serena, who hadn't even turned on her shower. She simple stood there, tears streaming down her face, before she quickly flipped the switch, setting it to a burning cold. She had sins that needed to be washed away from her body: like Dawn, she had spent her time with other people, more specifically one boy from her hometown. Calem. Just thinking about him made her skin crawl. After Ash's disappearance, Serena just cried for days and days in Ash's room before returning to Kalos and crying some more. But then Calem appeared, like an angel sent from heaven to watch over her at her worst time. Oh boy, was she wrong. He was a horrible man, and all Serena wanted was Ash.
They all wanted Ash to help them through the dark times.
They all wanted Ash to protect them.
They all wanted Ash to hold them and tell them that they were safe.
They all wanted Ash to spend time with them.
They all wanted Ash to help them.
They all wanted Ash to… to… be there.
And they all felt terrible for it.
The first to leave was Iris, then it was Dawn, then Misty, then May and finally, Serena. All of them got changed in a cubical before exiting and meeting back up in the room. By now it was 7:35 and they needed to get out now, or they would be stuck here all day.
Making a unanimous agreement, they decided to go buy outfits or tonight. Stepping out of the Pokémon Centre, they were met with blinding lights from the blazing sun, forcing them to shield their eyes from the scorched sky. Talking small steps onto the hot concrete, the group of friends slowly started to make their way towards the main shopping area, until they got to the beach and May saw someone quite familiar sitting on the golden sands.
Ash did not want to get up.
He had fallen onto the sand in an attempt to leave the closing tide, and now he just sat there, enjoying the early morning sun. No problems. No aura. No girls… Actually, there was going to be a problem, it had to do with his aura being off and there were going to be some girls involved, 5 of them to be exact.
Hearing a distant sound across the shrunken desert, Pikachu started to move about from his position on his trainers chest, having taken another quick sleep to make up for lost time, before noticing a certain brunette heading towards them. Quickly, he dashed up to Ash's face, which wasn't covered by a hood, before nuzzling quite deep into his neck to remain hidden from view.
Before Ash could even comprehend wat Pikachu had done, he felt the sand shift beneath him and saw the shadow of a figure standing behind him. Changing his eyes and tightening his bandanna, he fell backwards onto the sand, colliding with the person's feet. Gazing up over his cap, Ash's breath caught in his throat: he hadn't sensed or heard the person until they were directly on top of him due to turning off his aura. And that person happened to be May Maple.
She was just as Ash remembered her from Sinnoh; beautiful. Of course, he had seen her yesterday, but that was through tinted vison of crimson red that had been circulating through his veins. She was standing there with a smile plastered on her face.
Quick as a bolt, Ash flew up to a sitting position before he stood up and backed away. Lowering his voice using aura manipulation, Ash spoke.
"I'm, uh, sorry." He apologised as he picked up his discarded jackets off the sand.
May simply smiled back.
"Oh, that was nothing. I just came here to say thank you for yesterday."
"Now that was nothing; I hate seeing anyone like him getting all touchy feely with girls. Although, you looked like you could handle yourself pretty well, am I right?" Ash replied with a smug smile under his 'mask'?
Her eyes became downcast as she spoke once more.
"I guess you're right, but it feels nice to be the one protected once in a while, you know?" She asked innocently.
"No, can't say that I do." Ash replied with a harsh tone coming to his words unintentionally.
"Well, I'm sorry about that. I just came here to say thank you." Her words began to wander as her eyes locked onto Pikachu's, who had come unattached to Ash's pale skin. Slowly walking over to him, May placed a gentle and fragile hand on the rodent as if he was a piece of glass.
"You know," she began, "My friend had a Pikachu. It was always springy and bouncy, and I almost never saw it without a smile." Her own smile grew as she recounted fond memories, "And he always loved it when I scratched him… here!"
Her once gentle hand turned into a monstrous machine when it reached the back of Pikachu's right ear, sending him into a fit of purring and nuzzling against the teenagers hand. May was sent into a little fit of her own as he squirmed beneath her hand. Another smile threatened to rip Ash's bandanna off his face.
'I heard from the Pokémon Professor in Hoenn, Professor Burch, that Pikachu love it when they get scratched here.'
Hesitantly taking her hand off of Pikachu, May turned back to Ash.
"Oh, I'm sorry for not asking." She replied, before bowing slightly.
"Don't bow, I'm not that important, and Pikachu seemed to enjoy it, right?" The electric type in question nodded his head at such a high speed that his cranium threatened to disconnect from his spine if he kept going.
"Well thank you again, again". May giggled.
But now it was Ash's turn to look sombre as his mind and heart wandered to one question that he needed to ask.
"What did you think of this friend, if you don't mind me asking?" He asked almost silently, and his eyes widened a fraction when she responded almost immediately.
"He was special. I know that I shouldn't be telling some random stranger this, but I need someone to talk to that isn't one of my best friends and someone who has heard the story a thousand times over. I think that I fell for him… and hard. And what's even weirder, was that my other friends fell for the same guy. Weird, huh?" She said bluntly, with a hard blush painted onto her face.
Ash was a little shocked by this response and was about to speak when his aura pinged.
'Why now, dammit?' It was 4 other auras all calling for May. Ash didn't take any time to guess who it was as he knew their auras by memory alone: it was Misty, Dawn, Iris and Serena. He had a small panic attack before replying to May.
"Are those your friends?" He asked, pointing his gloved hand over by the pavement.
May spun round quick, to see her friends looking around everywhere with Misty yelling at the others for losing her.
"Yeah, they're my friends alright. Thank you for this talk, Mr..." And he was gone. She was shocked. Maybe he didn't want to be seen by the others? Or maybe he didn't want to give her his name? Either or, he wasn't there anymore, but now some stress had been lifted from her shoulders.
Before she could think anymore, a very pissed off Misty yelled, "MAY! YOU STUPID… UH! GET BACK OVER HERE, NOW!" Letting a smile grace her lips, May proceeded to run back to her group.
Ash stood in his room, panting.
He had quickly light stepped out of there to avoid another meetings. Plus, he had to mull over what he had heard.
5 girls, that he had a crush on since he was 13, liked him.
This information was new and interesting: it was like a double edged sword. For one, he was really happy. He had people who still liked him, people who might love him! This was what he wanted up on that mountain, human love and affection, for someone to accept him after what he had become that dreadful night.
He felt happy, very happy.
But in the other hand: he had left for 5 years. He had probably destroyed these girls lives, so many hours, days, years wasted looking for him while he was being a coward up on that fucking mountain. They couldn't have functioning love lives because of him, they had to waste away their careers because of him, they couldn't perform to the standards that they could because of him.
He was hurting them by being away.
He felt so horrible, but so happy. He was hurting himself thinking about his. Looking at the clock, he noted that it was about 7:45: a perfect time to head out into the forest and train for a few hours, which would help clear his head.
Looking at Pikachu, who was staring at him, he nodded, signalling his partner to fetch his pack. After retrieving the item full of coveted Pokémon, Ash gave him a little scratch before he took off out of the window and into the dense forest that lay near the edge of town.
Today was going to be a long day.
Letting his feet hit hard land felt good after a week at sea.
Brock had disembarked from his luxury cruiser after another 30 minutes of travel to the island. From his view: the island looked amazing! Lush greenery filled rocky cliffs on all sides of the land mass while sandy beaches coated the outline, trapping in the small town at the islands core.
Checking his watch, Brock noted the time as 8:00, so around the time that most of the island's shops started to open, as well as when most of the beaches would become packed with people.
Drool threatened to pool out of his mouth as thoughts of bikini-clad girls filled his mind palace, but he pushed them thoughts away to focus on the task at hand: getting to the Pokémon Centre.
While he walked along the mile long stretch of glorious golden, his mind started to shift and fix itself onto the subject he thought about for most of his boat journey up to this point: how he could have helped Ash stay.
He could have confronted him, got him to calm down by explaining the situation to him.
He could have stood up to him, it would have gotten rough but he would still be here.
He could have done ANYTHING and it almost certainly would have been better than what he actually did.
Losing himself in his thoughts, Brock let his feet glide along the stone paved road up to the Pokémon Centre, saying hello to anyone who recognised him on the way there.
Finally setting himself free from the chains of guilt for a few minutes, Brocks eyes focused on the white tinted glass of the Pokémon Centre's sliding door. Staring blankly at it for a few moments, Brock quickly smartened his outfit, before striding in with confidence and grace.
And once his eyes crossed the room, his eyes met hers.
She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, yes, she was a Nurse Joy but the way she had her pink hair in twin pigtails and how her skin seemed to shine against the sun. He had seen many Nurse Joys in his time, all of them most likely related to this one here, but she was outstanding.
At a speed that could beat the world's fastest man ten times over, Brock sprung over to the front desk, losing all sense of grace or glory. Once positioned at the desk, he noted the second Nurse sitting next to her who had some different coloured dye in her hair, also looked good but his beauty was right in front of him.
*Cough* "Why hello ladies, how are you today?" Brock asked with as much suave as his sweating body could muster.
Looking up from her desk, 'his love' quickly blushed before turning back to her table, staring at it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"H-hello, head chief and previous P-pewter City gym leader." She stuttered, trying to hide her embarrassment, as she was hopelessly attracted to this man: it was almost as if some other world force had drawn them together…
Her sister, however, was not attracted to this man.
"Ha, ha, ha! This is perfect! Oh my Arceus, this is perfect!" She laughed and chuckled while slapping the desk.
"R-Rose, don't be rude."
"Are you kidding me, Joyce? This loser tries to chat us up and you fall for it?" Her sister responded in a snarky tone.
"So, your name is Joyce, huh? Pretty name. And please, just call me Brock, we are colleagues for now." Brock stated, clearly ignoring the statement presented by Rose.
"T-thank you, B-Brock." She stuttered once more while her sister sat on, starting in amusement and disbelief that this was actually working. Sure, she knew who this guy was and respected him for his position, but at this point in time, she saw him as a womanizer.
"Now, how about you and I go-AH!" He started to try and ask this woman out, but luckily for everyone in the Pokémon Centre, Brock's very own Toxicroak soon shut him up. Joyce and Rose stared down at his limp body before Rose flew into a fit of laughter, while her sister started to look over Brocks wounds.
"Ju-just give him his room key, already!" Rose managed to say through her current fit.
"Which room?" Joyce said back.
"Eh, he is a member of staff and there is only one of them, plus I highly doubt that he will be pulling anyone, so just stick him in one of the one person bedrooms." Her sister shrugged, clearly not-caring about the current situation about the poor man in front of the front desk.
"What, in one of the rooms that you could've given to A-I mean that trainer that came in here earlier?" Both members of the Joy family felt their breath catch in their throats, before they looked around to see if anyone had heard their little mix up. Fortunately, no one had.
"Yea, one of those ones will do."
"Okay, I'll help him to his room." Her sister swung Brock's arm around her neck before she dragged him to the predominantly male section of the building, where he would be staying.
'I wonder where she gets it from.' Rose thought as her sister disappeared behind the wooden door.
Gary Oak was sitting quietly in his room.
On his desk, were 4 pictures that he managed to snap of that mystery man that had beat up Drew. He couldn't get his face in just right, but the managed to nail a few shots of neon trails leaving blue or red eyes.
Smirking in disbelief, Gary spoke to no-one but himself.
'Welcome back Ketchum."
After a few hours of shopping, the girls were all getting ready in their room.
Misty had decided to buy a dress, a sea green dress that highlighted her eyes. However, the dress wasn't long or flowy, but was short and ended at her knees. She wanted to wear her normal clothes but was coaxed into buying the dress by the other girls. One thing that they did get right, was the black and white trainers that adorned her feet.
May was wearing her new Coordinators outfit: a neon pink skirt wrapped itself around her form, with a white and pink waist coat covering her chest. She had ditched her bandanna for a pink bow and a pair of matching pink heels. She decided that she couldn't find anything while shopping, but wanted to look good.
Dawn, on the other-hand, was wearing a outfit similar to her original outfit: a pure white waist, fluffy coat covered a long white dress. However, her beanie remained on her head and white boots remained at her feet: at least she matched.
Iris didn't bother that much and just did up her hair a bit and retained her usual attire.
Finally, Serena was wearing an outfit similar to her first one when she was out travelling: a black, long-sleeved top covered most of her torso and a red skirt covered her waist. However, black tights and shoes were replaced by simple black socks and red shoes that matched her skirt. Like most of the other girls, she had chosen to keep her hat off for tonight.
After making themselves look as good as they could, all 5 smiled at each other before heading out towards the main hall of the Pokémon Centre. By now, it was already nightfall and the moon shone almost as bright as the sun in the pitch black.
Entering the hall, the teens weren't that surprised to see so many people as it was already quite late. The hall was dressed up like a party at least: streamers and banners welcoming battlers to the contest, reds and blacks dominating most of the empty space around the pure white font. What looked like hundreds of food plates were swamped on top of the tables, delicious cakes or meat draped delicately on to the metal, enticing many party goers to go over to the cuisine before they die of dehydration from drooling.
Looking around, they noticed a few faces, mostly gym-leaders but they also saw the twin Nurse Joys hanging around: the one with dye in her hair was talking to a boy in a red sweatshirt while the other was waiting outside of the kitchen doors, they couldn't see Delia but she had told them the day before that she wouldn't be going out today as it was 'her time of the month'. Drifting their eyes, across the room, they saw a certain group that they didn't want to go anywhere near at the moment.
However, fate was a bitch.
A duo consisting of a messy haired brunette, and a young boy with thick black glasses waltzed over, trying to fit in snuggly between May and Dawn.
"Hey sis'!" Max called to May, managing to get above the loud chattering and different sounds. He was dressed in a simple black tuxedo styled t-shirt with black cargo shorts and smart black shoes. May sighed, before replying.
"Hello Max." What Max got from that, was boredom?
"What's up?" He asked, puzzled as to why his sister was acting like this. He knows that they haven't had the best relationship in the last 5 years, but he still cared.
"Nothing." She replied.
"So… how are you Dawn?" Kenny smiled smugly as he asked, it seemed like he had learnt a few tricks off of Drew. Apparently, the bluenette had said that out-loud, because the teens smile grew ten-fold before he spoke up again.
"He also taught me how to make-out with girls: wanna be the first one I try it on? It'll be a privilege."
Everyone there, shuddered at his flirting attempt, thinking of him as disgusting.
Dawn was furious; how dare he even consider that. However, before any profanities made it out of her mouth, Iris stepped up for her. Eying the teen up and down, she noted his blue jumper and faded red chinos with battered black trainers.
"What, did Drew give you a big sloppy kiss to teach you? I bet you enjoyed that." She replied, with an equally large. As the words travelled to his ears, Kenny's cheeks became tinted and his jaw became clenched, as words began to attempt to travel out of his locked lips.
"N-n-no, I-I-I mean… Fuck you!" He quietly yelled at her before he stepped towards her, the grin becoming apparent once more. Iris stood her ground: he was dumb but not dumb enough to hit her in a public place. But then he raised his hand and wrapped his fingers into a fist.
Just as the piece of hard skin was about to make contact, the doors opened slowly, revealing a very familiar face. As soon as his padded foot entered the door, everyone went quiet. Here was the man who had beat up the crowned 'Hoenn Prince' without breaking a sweat, the man who had left his arm in a cast,and a bandage over his nose and face. Suddenly, all the males around the 5 girls slowly backed away to the furthest corners of the room.
Slowly walking while quietly conversing with his Pikachu, every pair of eyes in the building landed on his covered face, the black cloth moving and shifting with every word that he said. His eyes were still of a dark blue and an endless black filled the rest, but they held compassion. Both of his jackets were thrown over his left shoulder, showing off a simple white dress shirt and messy black tie.
When he reached the centre of the room, his eyes began to rapidly shift over everyone in the room, as if he was analysing everybody there.
Scanning over the crowd, Ash saw many recognisable trainers. He was currently reading their auras and was checking how they were. After finishing, his training, the teen had decided to come back for this 'party' that was supposedly going on, and boy had he found it.
Wasn't much of a party if it was silent though, right?
After his eyes glazed over a few gym-leaders, Ash's eyes locked onto one aura in particular; the aura of his old friend Gary Oak. He was currently standing by his entourage of his old rivals, and a battered Drew, which pleased him to no end.
But his aura was different to theirs: they had a sense of fear or hate to their dark blue sparks, while his held admiration and joy?
Slowly making his way through the parted crowd over to the now-Professor, Ash switched his sight back to normal. Eying him up and down, Ash noted that his hair was shorter and darker, but still retained its spikey nature. His eyes were a duller version of his regular onyx coloured orbs, but his skin tone was the same. A black shirt covered his torso, while similar black jeans coated his legs, ending in some simple brown boots.
Looking at him dead in the eye, Ash stood an inch taller than him, but Gary wasn't faltering. Closing his eyelids once more, he started to talk to the younger Oak.
"You know who I am." Ash stated bluntly, his aura directing the message to Gary's brain without anybody else hearing it
Nodding his head, Gary's smirk still remained on his face. Everyone in the centre was confused at how he wasn't scared, but were frightened themselves when they saw his eyes spark blue and light up even more than they usually did.
"Have you told anyone?"
Gary shook his head.
"At least you can be respectful… at times. You better keep quiet about this, because I want to see the look on everyone's face tomorrow after they realise that I have come back, and I want to see their faces as well." Ash motioned to Gary's group when he said that last part.
"Okay then. I want to see it as well." The Professor shot back, before jutting out his hand.
Ash took one look at his outstretched hand, before he slapped it away. Glaring at Gary with all the hatred in his heart, Ash slowly started to walk back to his room. Letting his eyes move to Pikachu, he saw a similar expression to his own painted on his small, yellow face.
After enough people had moved out of the way, Ash found himself face-to-face with 5 girls that he didn't want to be around right now. Looking around the surrounding area, he saw no other way out.
"What?" He asked, with no venom in his voice, but curiosity.
"We find out about who you are tomorrow, right?" Misty asked with her hands at her hips.
"Yes, so wait till tomorrow." Ash replied nonchalantly.
"Just wanted all of these people to know, in-case you break that promise." Misty fired back. Her eyes moved over to the Pikachu that was positioned on his shoulder, whose face was buried into Ash's neck.
"Okay. Goodnight." Ash responded quite quickly before calmly pushing past the red head and into his dorm.
And as soon as he left, all eyes fell back onto Gary Oak. He was enjoying a beer whilst lightly chuckling to himself. Then, everything went back to how they were before.
Iris, scanned the room, and noticed Kenny and Max all the way on the left side of the centre, cowering after yesterday's display.
"Well that was fierce, Misty." A new voice broke through the girls thoughts, as a dark skinned man dressed in a white chef's outfit entered through the kitchen door, a certain Nurse Joy not far behind him.
"Brock!" Misty shouted back to her long-time companion.
"How's it going girls?" He asked back.
"Fine." They all responded, only Dawn and May took note of how Joyce Joy was practically hanging off his right arm, giggling when they saw it.
"How's Forest? Is he matching up to you?" Misty asked, curious as to what the new Pewter City gym leader was like.
"By matching, do you mean besting me in almost every single way?" He replied, with a smile gracing his lips.
"Wow, that good huh?" Iris said back, earning the eyes of Brock.
"Yea, he's really good. Speaking of really good, I heard about that guy." He said, face turning serious for a second.
"Yep. He really is something." Dawn said back in reply.
Silence befell the group before Brock spoke.
"So which of you girls is battling in the tournament?"
"Well, Iris and I are but Dawn, May and Serena are helping out with the show by… what are you three doing again?" Misty asked, forgetting what they had told her on the way here.
"Hm! I can't believe that you wouldn't forget!" May replied, her face serious but playful, her arms crossed and body turned away from the gym-leader.
"What we are doing, Misty," Serena spoke up, "Is that we are helping out with the opening and closing shows."
"Oh, thanks Serena."
"Anyway, I've got to get going." Brock said, motioning to the yawning Nurse Joy. All 5 girls froze.
"No! Not like that! See-ya!" Brock shouted back as he skulked off with Joyce behind him, causing all 5 to laugh at his error and attempt to fix it.
After partying for a few hours, Mr. Goodshow had announced that the Tournament will start at 1:00 PM. Excitement spread like a virus throughout the crowd, sending some into a frenzy of drinking and even more partying.
The group of friends were a lot smarter and had headed to their room after the announcement. Sitting on the floor the same way they had earlier that morning, Serena had a thought.
"Wait, isn't this the dorm area where that guy came in earlier?" At this information, all 5 girls froze for the second time that night.
"B-but this d-dorm only has f-female gym-leaders in it, r-right?" May managed to stutter out.
"H-hey, there's t-that room at the end of the hallway." Dawn said back. Letting out their held breaths, all of them decided to retire as it would be a long day tomorrow and they needed to be ready for one o'clock.
Ash was laying on his bed, deep in thought, like he had been doing for the last 3 hours, asking the same question over and over again.
'How the hell does Gary know?' He thought, feeling his aura become crimson as he held back his anger, the cage of blue aura keeping his rage at bay.
'But then again, Gary always had that 'know-it-all' attitude since we were little kids, so maybe he got some information out of Rose or Joyce…' That thought left his head almost immediately, "No, they said that they would keep it a secret back when I checked in earlier, so maybe…'
After 30 minutes of thinking of illogical theories and such to try and figure out why the youngest Oak, knew of his endeavours, he gave up. Curling up under the covers, Ash felt consciousness leave him, but now he was ready for tomorrow.
And he would become a champion. He would not become his father.
Five girls sat by the front door of the Ketchum house hold, each deep in though at what they had just done.
After Misty, May, Dawn, and Iris had met up on the Pallet Town docks, they had begun talking about Ash and why they were here. They had all rehearsed the same answer, and that gave them away quite quickly.
They had talked about their feelings for a long time, talking about why they liked him, what made him special, all that he had done for them and his Pokémon. Then, on the way to his house to tell his mother, they ran into another girl that they had all heard Ash's mother talk about when they had conversations over the call-system at the Pokémon Centre.
Serena had been very easy to make friends with, but they didn't really have to try hard to see that see liked Ash the same way that they did. After travelling to the Ketchum house, they saw many of Ash's friends in the living room.
When they eventually found Delia Ketchum, they told her about what they felt and she was very happy for them: a little bit too happy considering that her son had 5 admirers, but they didn't pay that much attention to it.
Now, they were sitting by the door while Delia was out at the shops getting supplies for the surprise party that they were throwing for Ash. They couldn't kind of hear what the boys were talking about, but didn't really care about it.
"Where did Ash say he was again?" Dawn asked, directing her question towards Serena.
"He said he was going to Professor Oak's to see his Pokémon." She replied with a soft a caring tone to her voice.
"Well he needs to stop messing out with those Pokémon and get his ass over here: we all need to have a serious talk with him about why he is throwing himself off of buildings so much."
"Trust me Misty, I tried in Kalos. He said that he would do anything for his Pokémon… and for his friends." Serena replied with a slight smile.
"Yeah, but that does not mean doing it 3 times in 3 months, does it?" Iris asked, stroking Axew who was currently positioned in her long purple hair.
"Like he said Iris, he would do anything for his friends." May spoke, watching Glaceon and Buneary play as they were waiting to see Pikachu.
Just then, they heard a chime signal from the living room, before Gary Oak's voice exploded throughout the house. Above them, they heard someone scurrying around, trying to get to the stairs in a rushed manner.
Then it happened, faster than anything had happened in all their lives, but it was so slow to them that they could see even piece of emotion that was etched into his face.
Iris was closest to the door so when it was violently pushed open, she screamed while all the other girls stood up like bullets, worry setting itself into their minds and bodies before they shouted the same word.
"ASH!"
His eyes turned to their direction and what they saw terrified them to no end. The boy that they cared so deeply about look like a monster, a beast, a ghoul! His iris' were of a thick red crimson with his teeth sharp and bared, hands curled into fists.
Someone had changed the boy that they loved.
Ash picked up Pikachu before he fixed his coats and exited his room.
He had woken up quite late, around 11:00 AM, allowing himself a few hours of peace before he packed up and heading over to the main hall. Every trainer he saw was buzzing with enthusiasm, ready and able for the tournament. Ash knew that he was going to have to fight his hardest, all of these people had been chosen for the 'Tournament of Champions' after all.
As he was walking, he ran into a group of 3 people, which he had apologised to afterwards.
Looking at them, he noticed the difference in character between them: the first was a man who looked around 20. He was around 5'89, so a few inches shorter than Ash, but looked a lot more mature, a short bed of oak brown hair covering his head. His skin was like Brock's, but a little darker and matching brown eyes finalised his face. He was wearing a red jumper, which seemed to be darker in colour then Ash's own hoodie, with a massive black and white 3 sown onto the front, a matching red beanie and black jean shorts that ended just below his knee, not reaching a pair of white trainers. On his head was a beautiful Flareon that was staring contently at Pikachu.
Next to him was a girl around his age who stood at 5'5. She had bright scarlet hair that ended just after her shoulders and bright turquoise eyes looked as if pierced the soul. Her skin was more tanned than his own, but it was still pale. A short-sleeved sky blue shirt covered her upper body, where-as a darker sea blue skirt covered her legs and waist. A pair of shoes similar in appearance to the previous boys rested on her feet.
Finally, there was a man that looked in between the two in age, so around 19, however most of his face was covered by a hood. He was around 6'1 and his coat was white and some black jogging trousers hung loosely around his waist, ending in a pair of black shoes. Behind him stood a Hypno that was staring intently at the duo, as if he was waiting for some kind of confrontation.
"Oh, sorry man didn't see you there." The first person said, before he looked up to see who it was only to run behind his female companion at who they were in company with. "P-please d-don't hurt us!"
"Um, I wasn't going to do anything." Ash replied, looking at the other two with concern and confusion in his eyes, but they simply shrugged. The girl stepped forward and extended her hand towards him.
"Sorry about him. Hi, I'm Selina, the scared little boy over there is Quincy and the tall one is Tino." Ash took her hand and shook it.
"Hi, sorry for running into you." Ash said sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it. So, what's your name if you don't mind me asking?" She replied.
"Well… give it 3 hours. The tournament starts then and I promised some people that I would reveal my identity then." He replied, looking away as to not meet her eyes.
"Oh, okay then. We were just heading to the tournament hall now, you want to come with?"
"Sure, and if you want to call me anything, just call me A." Ash said, thinking of a codename straight away, without really thinking.
"A? Sure," Turning back to face her two companions, "Come on Quincy, he said he wasn't going to do anything. Now hurry up, we're leaving."
Standing up from his crouched position from the floor, his eyes seemed to retain some fire in his eyes before retaliating.
"Oh yea!? Well, he might be tricking you, have you thought about that?" He responded.
"Really, Quincy!? He hasn't given as much as a code-name to anybody but us and you still think that he is trying to pull something?!" Selina shouted back, "Man up you scared little boy!"
"You think that I'm scared!? He's almost a whole foot taller than you, midget, so you probably look like a ginger ant down on the ground!"
"What did you just call me!?"
"A midget, happy now!?"
Let's just say, this continued for a while. As they were having their shouting match, Ash started talking to Tino.
"Does this usually happen?"
"Yes, it does. Ever since we first met, they've always been butting heads but we've known each other for a while now, so… Can I ask you something?" He asked.
"Sure."
"Why have you given us your name?" Tino asked puzzled, dragging his two friend back from their sparring match to listen to their conversation.
"Well, I kind of know everyone here and I bet that they would know who I really was if I gave out even one letter of my name."
"Oh. Thank you for the information." After that small talk, they trekked off to the main tournament hall with two people arguing the whole way there.
2 hours later, they were standing inside the locker room, waiting for their time to come onto the field for the opening ceremony. Around them were around 30 other contestants who were trying their best to keep their distance from Ash, probably because of his previous actions.
Ash's aura was constantly going off due to the large number of people at the event and Ash was able to get a feel of excitement from almost every aura in the stands. Now that he thought about it, it was very therapeutic. Being up on that mountain for 5 years meant that he didn't get to experience these kind of things very often, so being in an arena full of thousands of people all feeling the same thing was very nice.
Just when he thought that he was about to doze off, Selina nudged him to re-awaken him. After a few blinks, Ash noticed people starting to leave the locker-room.
"You go on ahead. I'll go last."
"Okay, fine by me. Seeya later!" She called back to him after running up to catch Tino and Qunicy. Ash smiled under his mask before turning to Pikachu.
"You ready?" With that question his companion nodded his head very fast. Taking one last deep breath, Ash began to leave the confinements of the lonely locker room and take his first steps into a world he hadn't been in for over 5 years.
Slowly pulling down his bandanna, and taking off his outer jacket, he was finally ready to face his fears.
Eyes of every shade, people of every calibre watched in a trance as the contestants began to pool out of the room. Cheers erupted from every direction of the world as every region watched in awe at all the powerful trainers stroll out with their Pokémon.
In the stands, gym-leaders and citizens sat side-by-side, cheering and shouting as each person with pride and confidence. Streamers and confetti surrounded the air, blocking out sun-light as they walked to where Mr. Goodshow was positioned with all the Co-Ordinators and staff that helped out with the opening ceremony. Up in the Champions Box, every regions reigning champ watched on with the same passion as those in the stands, ready and waiting for the battles to start.
However, what everyone was excited for was a certain trainer dressed almost all in black with a Pikachu positioned on his right shoulder.
After 29 trainers emerged from the room, only one remained and he exited not 10 seconds after the last but his entrance was spectacular. He entered when no music played, when the streamers had fallen to the floor, when the crowd was silent.
Strolling out, he wore only his red hoodie with the hood up but even from a good distance away, people noticed the lack of any kind of face mask. But he continued to walk up to the crowd of people, remaining silent as he walked.
After he had made it to the rest of the trainers, Mr. Goodshow smiled and took his place on the podium.
"Hello Pokémon Enthusiasts, Gym-Leaders, Champions, anyone who is watching from home. You are here today to watch the greatest and biggest tournament of all time, the 'Tournament of Champions'!" He yelled into the microphone, earning more cheers and claps and shouting.
"And what better way to start a Pokémon tournament, then with a battle!" his eyes shifted to a certain member of the small 30 man crowd. He nodded to the young man, who nodded back before he strolled past every other person and sat down on the elevated platform next to Mr. Goodshow, stroking his Pikachu's fur.
"Who is willing to take on this young man in a battle to stand the test of time?" Almost immediately, a hand that belonged to a certain green haired Co-ordinator shot up. Goodshow took a look at the young boy, then at the teen sat next to him, who nodded his head.
"Well then folks, here you have the first fight of the tournament!" He called out to crowd, sending them into another frenzy "Will the two battlers take up their positions, while the other trainers please take to their seats, and be sure to come back tomorrow for the start of the battles for that highly coveted 'Champion' title!" Mr. Goodshow ended his speech.
After a few minutes of shuffling around, the battlefield was ready.
In his head Drew began to judge and mock this boy, 'I'll take him down a few notches. I am THE 'Prince of Hoenn' and I WILL CRUSH HIM!' Meanwhile, the other teen was standing there patiently.
"This will be a 1-on-1 Pokémon battle between Drew Hayden of Hoenn and…"The referee looked over at the second boy, who nodded before his hand fell onto his hood.
The wait for him to pull down the cloth was endless, everyone wanted to know who he was. And then it happened.
The cloth came down like a wall onto the bottom layer of fabric and the trainer removed his cap, revealing a head of messy ashen grey hair that curved in unnatural angles and ways. The black that had been eating away at his eyes for the last 2 days was gone, replaced by pure white, while the blue had been ripped apart and thrown away, a chocolate brown taking its place. Two zig-zag like lines that had previously been un-viewable were now out in the open.
The referee was frozen at who this person was. The cameras hadn't yet zoomed I n on his face so he took his opportunity to shout the boy's name.
"A-a-and ASH KETCHUM OF KANTO!"
In the stands, silence.
In Kanto, silence.
In Johto, silence.
In Hoenn, silence.
In Sinnoh, silence.
In Unova, silence.
In Kalos, silence.
Tears burst from many people in the crowd, running down their cheeks like waterfalls. The boy that had 'died' 5 years ago was alive. The boy that had risked his life for Pokémon on numerous occasions, was alive. The boy that had an infectious happy-go-lucky personality, was alive. The boy that had lost every league he entered, was alive.
The boy that had captured the hearts of certain girls in the crowd, was alive.
Misty, May, Dawn, Iris and Serena held each other as they cried, enough water to fill the whole ocean falling from their eyes: he had been next to them the whole fucking time they were here. Cynthia was silently sobbing in the Champions box, nothing could stop the tears, not the soothing from Lance, not the hug from Hilda or the gentle words from Steven. They didn't know how happy she felt. Many others in the stand also burst into uncontrollable sobbing at the reveal of this information.
Ash Ketchum was alive.
"Come on then Drew, let's give them a show to remember." Ash spoke, reaching for a Pokeball on his belt, as he surveyed the crowd, pleased but saddened by the reactions. He had finally revealed who he was, but he done what he never wanted to do again: make the girls that he loves cry.
Snapping out of his trance, Drew gritted his teeth a before grabbing a Pokeball from his own belt and throwing it into the arena. Out of the bright white light, came a beautiful green Pokémon with a plant-like appearance. A red and blue rose bud sat atop each of its arms and white thread moved around tis body.
"CRUSH HIM ROSERADE!" Drew shouted, bringing life back into the stadium.
Smiling, Ash threw his own Pokémon out into battle. Out of the light, came a monster of a Pokémon.
A blue sea-serpent on his hind legs came out, a light yellow painted on his lower jaw with small patches of armour scattered across his body. Huge dorsal fins of a deep red ran up and down his scally back. Opening his black slit eyes, he let out a roar that not even Kyogre could match.
"Match him, Feraligatr." Ash spoke with a smirk.
The world leaned forward with interest or fear at this new challenger, wiping away their tears and watching with awe at the training put into this majestic Pokémon. This would truly be a good fight.
"You get the first move, Drew." Ash said with confidence.
"Screw you! Roserade finish this quickly with Leaf Storm!" Drew shouted at his opponent. The grass type leapt into the fray, leaves of all shapes and colours cutting through the air as a mighty wind was sent throughout the stadium, as it began collecting the razor sharp plants for attack.
"Feraligatr: Ice Armour Technique." Ash called out, calm and collected. The stadium was still silent, but now everyone was intrigued by this new technique. Slowly, Feraligatr used Aqua Tail to coat itself in a thick layer of water before a fast jet of ice from an Ice Beam erupted from his mouth, freezing the rolling water into a block of ice around the form of the Pokémon. After that had solidified, Feraliagtr broke some of the ice to make a place for his jaw to come through: he was as heavy as a tank and as sturdy as the rock that made up the Earth.
Many gasped in awe at the technique, praising it for effectiveness but also shunning it for how dangerous it was: Feraligatr could suffocate in the ice if it had been too thick or the armour wouldn't have been strong enough if the ice was too thin. He really had perfected this technique.
As he finished the Ice Armour, Roserade's Leaf Storm flew through the air towards the lizard. However, due to the armour, a moves that usually 1 Hit K.O'd against a water types, was reduced to nothing more than a nuisance, only mildly starching the armour.
"Feraligatr, Crunch." Ash asked to his companion before the Pokémon broke away at speed to match the fastest of flying types, even in the armour, before mighty jaws of bone came down on a leaf body which was still recovering from using such a strong attack out of the gate.
When the teeth came down on its torso, Roserade let out a cry of pain. The audience saw the discomfort in its eyes as Feraligatr raised it high up into the air. Ash saw the discomfort and so sent it a message through aura.
'I am sorry.'
Roserade looked at Ash, its eyes full of forgiveness and thanks for apologizing, before its body made contact with the hard floor. The blow was so massive that it had left a crater, where a fainted Roserade now lay.
"A-Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town is the winner!" The referee said, raising his flag in Ash's direction, as Drew fell to his knees. The audience was silent for a second before erupting into cheers about how strong Ash was now. Many who knew of how he was 5 years ago were shocked to see how strong he was, but 5 girls were currently exiting their seats and running to the locker rooms that lead to the arena.
Slowly walking over to Roserade, Ash picked it up, carefully as to not injure it any more. He turned to Feraligatr.
"You did great Frealigatr, thank you." He said before returning the serpent. Walking over to Drew, he held out Roserade to the fallen boy, allowing him to return the injured Pokémon.
"You worthless-"He started before Ash spoke up.
"He fought his hardest. Blame the trainer, not he Pokémon." Ash said, glaring down Drew before said boy looked up at him and ran out of the stadium.
"Stupid fucking idiot." Ash stated before he heard something that he hadn't heard in a long while.
"ASH!"
And done! That you all for reading Chapter 3 of my fanfiction and for sending in harem suggestions. I hope you liked this chapter, it took a while to write but now the story really starts to move! And don't worry, in the future the Pokémon Battles will be longer, I just wanted to show off the strength of Ash's Pokémon. Also, I hope I did the OC's justice, if I didn't he owners can message me and I will re-draft that part of the story. And don't worry, that weird shower scene wasn't just to show you the girl's cup-size, it does have importance later in the story. No, it's not just for sex scenes.
Now, onto the harem: the winners of the pole were Korrina, Clair and Sabrina. Thank you to everyone who voted and I'm kind of surprised about who got chosen: it'll be a fun experience to write. Anyway, thank you for reading once more and I will leave you with the final Harem for this story:
Misty
May
Dawn
Iris
Serena
Cynthia
Anabel
Skyla
Elesa
Korrina
Clair
Sabrina
Thank you for reading!
-Jack
