Chapter 8: Committing Sin-noh


The team growing, the Savers now appeared outside an arena with their latest recruits, Soul Reapers Ichigo and Renji. Ash was back in his original gear but everyone else had significant changes. The Soul Reapers wore black jackets and tighter black pants while Renji's headband was now a white baseball cap, all bearing an emblem that looked like Ash's Pokéball. Chad didn't look too different aside from a black undershirt beneath his lavender spring jacket with the Pokéball emblem as well. Erza now donned a gray jacket over a blue blouse and blue jeans. Gray didn't change that much either, aside from the Pokéball emblem on his jacket. Ruby now wore a lighter black jacket atop a red blouse and black shorts though still wearing the nylons and boots but did gain a red baseball cap like Ash's. Weiss' top didn't change much but her skirt had been substituted for some white windbreaker pants and boots were high-tops. It took a little while for the group to gather their bearings. "So now where the hell are we?" wondered Renji. "And what the hell are with these damn clothes? I'm not complaining, it's just... they feel so loose and comfortable."

"I was about to say the same thing, minus the 'hell' and 'damn' parts," Erza agreed. That's when Weiss found a poster which helped them with an understanding.

"What's this?" she asked.

VEILSTONE CITY POKÉMON CONTEST TODAY

To know that the poster addressed Pokémon meant this was Ash's home world. "So this is where my Ashy-Poo is from," she concluded, much to Ruby's paining chagrin.

"Okay, it's official," she grumbled. "I may act brash and a bit hotheaded but she's making me look behaved." Weiss heard Ruby's complaint, coming over with a finger to her face.

"Hey, if he was defending you over me, you wouldn't be arguing about it. Besides, there's not another girl worthy of this young man than me." Now Ichigo felt the bragging being a bit far from Weiss.

"We get it, you like Ash enough that you want him in the same bed," he groaned as he approached. "But who knows. There might be someone for Ash, and perhaps someone for you, too." Now Weiss jabbed her finger on Ichigo's chest.

"You think so, huh? Who would he be?" As if called out of hiding...

"Ash!" another young man yelled. All turned to see a tanned spiky-haired brunette man in a brown vest over a green t-shirt and slacks. When his squinted eyes found him with his new group, a sense of deja-vu troubled him. "Here we go again." Ash found the brunette, surprised about being located.

"Brock!" he called over. Brock came to see all the hubbub surrounding Ash.

"So you've been called back to duty in saving the worlds, I see." That's when he found Weiss and passed Ash... and a few others to reach her, hearts in his eyes. "Be still my aching heart! The girl of my dreams has fallen in my sights!" He snagged her hands, bewildering the white-haired. "A pure snow has cooled my search for the one I want to call my own." Unfortunately to Brock...

"Sorry, big guy but I've declared Ash as my significant," she turned down. Brock stood shock at the denial.

"Another one I came too late for..." Everyone looked befuddled with Brock's deadpan, defeated appearance.

"Am I missing something?" questioned Gray. To Ash, this happened all the time.

"He wants a girl for himself," he clarified. All wasn't lost just yet as he saw Erza, doing the same thing when confronting Weiss.

"A crimson bevy of beauty can help the heart of loneliness this breeder has long suffered." Erza wasn't sure whether to take Brock seriously or laugh.

"I beg your pardon?" she tried to understand.

"A woman with that fiery complexion needs hands to ease the frustration you pain from!" Before she could reply, someone... or something helped Erza. Glowing purple fingers punched Brock's side which paralyzed him, releasing his grip on Erza. Those fingers came from a bluish frog with its midsection taped up. Once Brock fell, the frog dragged him away. Again, Ash has seen it before and sighed.

"Poor dude," Renji shrugged. "I'm surprised that frog didn't do that to you or Weiss." Erza dusted her hands free of whatever Brock put on them.

"That's Croagunk for you," Ash summarized. "Anyway, that last general is probably inside. Let's make sure she doesn't ruin the contest." All three entered to a halfway packed house with a stage at the bottom. With them as a group and in the second deck, they had a good view if Zoisite attacked.

"So how does a... Pokémon Contest work, Ash?" asked Chad.

"A contest consists of two stages: the Appeal Stage and the Battle Stage. The Appeal Stage is where the coordinator shows the Pokémon's beauty and grace. The eight with the highest scores from the judges compete in the Battle Stage where the coordinators have five minutes to lower the other's score by damage or making the Pokémon's moves against them." Not a lot to think about. Renji didn't think it was worth waiting.

"Sounds boring," he yawned. "I'd rather be hunting Arancarr than watching little creatures in a dog show." Pikachu snarled at Renji in offense to it.

"Maybe what you can do is patrol to make sure there isn't a threat to this building," Ichigo suggested. On that idea, Renji exited his seat and headed to the door.

"That actually sounds like a good idea. About time that genius came to light." Renji left and Brock took his spot.

"What's up-" he wanted to ask.

"It's Renji," Ichigo interrupted. "Don't get use to it. By the way, what brings you and Ash to this contest?" Brock sat down to help discuss the matter.

"Dawn's one of our friends and is following her mother's footsteps in becoming a Pokémon Coordinator." This enlightened some of Ash's new friends.

"The old 'like mother, like daughter,'" Gray simplified. Once the crowd gather to their seats, the lights dimmed and the stage became the focus with a couple of spotlights on the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a female voice rang out. "Welcome to the Veilstone City Pokémon Contest!" The curtain rose to show four silhouettes. The spotlight hit a young auburn-haired woman wearing a yellow jacket over a peach blouse and skirt. "I'm Marian, your emcee. With me, as always, our three judges!" Marian stepped aside and the first silhouette approached, showing a gray-haired man in a red suit. "The first judge is the Pokémon Contest Committee Director, Mr. Contesta!"

"The Veilstone City Pokémon Contest," he repeated the event's name. "Our coordinators should rock." The next silhouette approached, revealing a stout brunette in a gray tuxedo.

"Next is the Pokémon Fan Club President, Mr. Sukizo!"

"The Veilstone City Contest," he copied. "Remarkable!" The last silhouette came up, only to have a young pink-haired woman in a rather cute pink/white nurse's uniform.

"The last of our judges, Veilstone City's very own, Nurse Joy!"

"Let's give all our coordinators a rousing applause," she acknowledged. When the three judges reached podiums...

"Okay, the crowd's set, the judges are set, our coordinators are ready... Let the Veilstone Pokémon Contest begin!" The Savers and most of the help watched different boys and girls with numerous creatures show off abilities that only those in the Nosebleed Section could only do. "Now for our next coordinator... from Twinleaf Town, it's Dawn!" On the stage came a blue-haired girl in a pink ball dress.

"Aipom, spotlight!" she summoned as she threw up a blue ball with a gold star sticker. The ball opened and out came a purple monkey with a paw on the tail with a shower of stars. "Now, Aipom... Spin and-" The spotlights shut off unexpectedly. "Huh?" No one expected the lights to go out... or hear a familiar laugh to the Savers.

"She couldn't make her appearance any sooner, could she?" shook Ruby. Zoisite appeared in a cloud of petals, hovering over Dawn who looked perplexed.

"You remind me of a Sailor Scout, if not younger," she assumed before launching a flurry of petals. Dawn and Aipom dove away to escape the flurry.

"What are you talking about?!" she pleaded while the crowd dispersed toward the exits. Watching the crowd from the hall entrance, Renji realized the trouble going on... sort of.

"Fire drill?" he guessed. With the crowd gone, Zoisite glanced back to find Ash with Weiss still hanging over him.

"He has new guardians... Ash Ketchum!" she sneered. Dawn glared up to see Ash grabbing his blades, ready for combat. Her back turned, Dawn pointed Aipom to attack.

"Focus Punch!" she ordered. Aipom leaped to the air with a glowing white fist of a tail. Zoisite heard it and palmed the air, a burst of power blowing back Aipom to the stage.

"Aipom!" shrieked Ash and Dawn. Zoisite now focused back on Dawn for her sneak attack.

"You dare try a cowardly attack?" she snarled. "Then die! Zoy!" A powerful blast of force "threw" Dawn and Aipom from the front to the back of the stage where another redhead girl caught the two before they hit the back. The girl wore a maroon suit, no dress. Zoisite grew annoyed with the new addition.

"It's Zoey!" figured Ash. Erza tapped Ash on the shoulder, a plan in mind.

"If you want to save your friend, let's go," she suggested before leading him to the stairs down to the first level.

"Dawn, are you okay?" wondered Zoey. Dawn found the redhead holding her to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Zoey!" she gasped. "How's Aipom?" The Pokémon looked shook up but okay. The group reached the lower sections to fight Zoisite.

"Zoey, get Dawn and Aipom to safety!" demanded Ash.

"Okay!" she obeyed and gathered Dawn to which all three left.

"She said that I remind her of a scout!" recalled Dawn. "But what did she mean?"

"I don't know and I'm not willing to risk my neck finding out!" Now it was the Black Moon General against a team.

"You should really start running with our team as it is," Gray warned. Zoisite scoffed the threat.

"All I see are a bunch of amateurs," she teased with her arm sticking out. "If you want to mock me, show me some bravado. Zoy!" A force of energy knocked everyone but Ruby back as she anchored her scythe to a row. Ash was flung to the façade of the upper deck where he hung out, literally. Everyone else scattered from the force, landing in different seats. "Now, I saw you whip up that fire to burn the petals." She formed a fireball in the palm of her hand. "As you can see, so can I!" She fired her flaming orb at Ash when a dust of ice and snow formed around him. The blast looked bad. Each side of the deck got scorched from an explosion with the fireball. When the smoke cleared, however... a shield of ice appeared. Ash stood by Weiss below while Ruby converted her scythe to rifle mode and shot away. Zoisite remained quick in the air with each shot whizzing by. That's when the petals converted to spikes. They rained on the group, scattering them some more and even pierced the ice shield. The shield cracked and crumbled now exposing sitting ducks. Suddenly, a voice entered Ash's head.

"Hey, Ash!" a young woman's voice called out. It wasn't that girl calling for help but it was a Zoisite Ash recognized. He looked around while keeping out of sight of Zoisite.

"Kuriko?" he guessed. Weiss heard Ash call a name but wondered why he said that.

"You have the watch again! Open the portal! Yuna, Kazuki and I will help out!" To Ash, backup was near. Somehow, Ichigo and Erza got their swords to fight Zoisite. Ash came up with a plan to save everyone.

"Chad, Gray, Ruby! Keep her busy!" Ash was ready to go when Weiss snagged his shoulder. To Ash, Weiss continued to worry about him. "Let's go." A nod from Weiss and both sprinted around the outside pathway. The two stayed low to the ground where even the white-haired kept her hand on his waist. Zoisite searched around for any sign of Ash. Weiss tugged the curtain, perhaps a means for leverage. Ash had a different idea and clicked his blades. "Let's spray her a bit..." Weiss placed her hands on top of Ash's before he fired jets of water, spraying the fiend. Before she knew what soaked her, the jets started freezing up. She couldn't move but Ash knew it was a matter of time before she broke free. Ash grabbed the watch and activated it. A portal soon opened just as Zoisite thawed out of her cube.

"That dirty little..." she seethed. She was about to get more trouble.

"So you're the one who kidnapped Rin!" another young woman spoke out. Hearing, Zoisite twisted to see a young messy brunette man in a white t-shirt with sky blue stripes on the sleeves and jeans, a pigtail pink-haired girl in a light blue t-shirt and matching skirt wearing white knee-socks and dress shoes, and a voluptuous blond young woman in a white midriff and blue slacks while sporting stiletto high-heels. The pink-haired stepped up. "Now you want Ash Ketchum? We won't let you!" Zoisite didn't feel intimidated by the threat.

"Really? Considering I removed the biggest threat to your school, what can you do about it?"

"They don't need to..." Ichigo answered as he and Erza jumped on stage, literally.

"That's for us to deal with!" shouted the redhead before delivering twin slashes at the surrounded general. The strike propelled Zoisite at the new kids.

"Let her have it, Yuna!" the blond allowed. The pink-haired wound a miniature tornado as the blond pelted Zoisite with multiple slips of paper which had multiple Japanese symbols on it. Those held the general in place and weighed her to the stage floor.

"No way!" grunted Zoisite. "This can't be!" Yuna fired the tornado and entrapped the general in a whirlwind. She couldn't move again.

"Ginji Childran!" The slips morphed to samurai soldiers and sliced her from neck to toe. The tornado vanished but waiting in the wing was the scythe.

"Allow me!" spoke Ruby before she swung. All Zoisite could do was watch. SLASH! The Beryl's chambers, the last candle went out. Needless to say how upset the queen became.

"They all failed," the hooded one stated the obvious.

"Looks like it's my turn to make the next move," Beryl concluded. Back at the contest, the blond was excited to see Ash and wrapped her arms around him.

"Okay, Kuriko," he settled. "I get that you miss me." One who didn't appreciate Kuriko's welcoming embrace...

"Get off him, tramp!" shouted Weiss as she shoved her away from Ash.

"And who must you be?" groaned Kuriko.

"Weiss Schnee, Beacon Academy student and Ash's girlfriend." Kuriko snorted a chuckle from Weiss, not intimidated in the least.

"Really? You, Ashy-Man's new dame?" Kuriko let out a small laugh before grinning in Weiss' face. "Or is it that you don't want to be alone in your little 'Beacon'?"

"Excuse me?!" Hearing enough, Ash snagged both shoulders of each girl and pushed them apart.

"That's enough, you two!" he ordered. "We've got bigger problems than whoever wants me to date." His statement had Gray and Renji forward to acknowledge Ash.

"While I am jealous that Ash has a couple of hotties hanging around him," Renji murmured. "He has that point. Queen Beryl should know by now her generals are gone. She could make her move on New York at any moment, or the entire world while we've been busy playing peacemakers in our respective dimensions." No one had an argument to Renji's view. Kazuki, Yuna, Zoey and Dawn came back out to see the chaos. Dawn now wore a black tank-top, pink frilly skirt and pink boots. Zoey wore an orange vest over a maroon long-sleeve shirt and slacks.

"All the coordinators are accounted for," Kazuki reported. "No serious injuries." Kuriko nodded to the news.

"What in the world happened?" questioned Dawn. "It looks like some wild Ursaring fired Hyper Beams throughout the arena." Ichigo shook his head, not because he didn't know what Dawn referred...

"Trust me, it's worse," he groaned. Pikachu hopped on Yuna's shoulder to see what all the fuss was about. Watching Kuriko and Weiss struggle for Ash's hand couldn't keep the pink-haired or the Pokémon's eyes away.

"Well, with all the generals down, we can hit this... New York City again," Erza repeated. To the coordinators, they seemed left in the dark... for a second.

"Sounds like a fun ride!" spoke Zoey. All turned to the redhead coordinator and Dawn's lifesaver. "I could use a step outside the Pokémon World for a bit." Dawn wasn't sure about seeing her lifesaver go with Ash.

"Zoey, why do you wanna go with-" she wanted to ask but Zoey cut her off.

"Dawn, I'm saying this for your own good..." She placed a hand on Dawn's shoulder for support. "Head back to the Pokémon Center with Brock. I don't know what damage that crazy flying woman did to you and Aipom but I don't want you to risk your health." The words she spoke came to heart. She didn't want to see either Ash or Zoey go.

"I suppose so." A new teammate to the lineup, Kuriko had an offer that she'd bet no one would refuse.

"I have an idea," she voiced. "We can head back across to the Aoi Academy where we can give you a night to recharge yourselves. Food, massages, spas, a bed to plan your attack and sleep..." Sounded convincing but someone had to play spoiler.

"As nice as it sounds, we're pressed for time," Chad denied. "The Spirit Detectives should have found Beryl's hideout by now. Once we arrive, it's an all-out attack." If Chad's words weren't enough...

"...And besides, you would do this to get Ashy-Poo under your bedsheets!" bellowed Weiss. Kuriko never budged.

"I'm just repaying someone who saved my life and my dignity from demons during the first go-around," she replied with a smirk. Yuna saw this, believing a past moment inspired her motivation.

"She's probably doing this since we revived Kazuki," she whispered to the mouse. "His magical lineage was distilled. Not that I should worry."

("What's a magical lineage?") quipped Pikachu. Unfortunately, the language barrier made Yuna not understand the Pokémon. Meanwhile...

"Your dignity?" copied Weiss, a finger near Kuriko's face. "I'll be surprised if I learn you didn't sleep with any other men!" A deep breath told Ash to end it all.

"I am probably gonna regret this but..." he sighed as he pulled both women apart again. "Perhaps all three of us can be in the same bed so that I hear no more arguing." The grit on his face told even Ruby that he didn't want to go through with the concept. The idea, however, did stop the bickering between the blond and the white-haired.

"Perhaps we'll see who Ash sides with. I can't wait to see your face when he and I cuddle in nothing more than our undergarments."

"You are so on!" Even though the matter found a resolve, Ruby understood Ash's anguish. Still, he opened the portal back to an academy. Once through, the Savers, the inhabitants and the teammates including Zoey emerged. The men had matching uniform t-shirts with blue dress pants, though their colors differed: Ash had a black shirt with yellow cuffs, Gray had all white, Chad had lavender with lilac cuffs, Kazuki had white with blue cuffs, and Ichigo and Renji had matching black with white cuffs. The girls had schoolgirl uniforms with skirts but with key differs in color as well: Ruby had a black top and skirt with a red front; Weiss had sky blue top and skirt with a white front; Erza had a silver top, blue skirt and a gold front; Yuna had a lavender top and skirt with a white front and Zoey sported a maroon top and skirt with a white front. She also had the least about arguing.

"I may be a girl but I'm not one for skirts," she complained. Chad rested a palm on her head.

"It's only temporary," he summed up. Kuriko wore a lilac business suit with skirt, black stockings and high-heels. All faced a skyscraper.

"Everyone, my dorm," she informed. "Sure, it's a lot bigger than what Kazuki and Yuna live under but that's what happens when you're part of a wealthy family." she led the gang to the lobby, greeted by about 40 young maids.

"Welcome back, Miss Kazetsubaki," they greeted in unison with bows. Kuriko stood between the Savers and the maids.

"These members will need the deluxe. Make sure they're fed and garnered with the beds provided. Also, prepare a King-Size for three of us."

"Yes, ma'am!" Before tagging along with the rest, Yuna tapped Ash's back, getting his attention.

"I know it's last minute but..." she stuttered. "Can Kazuki and I watch over your Pikachu tonight?" Kazuki came up with a reason that might suit Ash.

"We want to repay you for saving me and Yuna when the demons attacked and she sprained her ankle," he remembered. Ash didn't see any harm in allowing the two to keep his friend company.

"I see nothing wrong," he agreed. "You think you can behave for them?" Pikachu squeaked in obedience. The rest of the day, the Savers got fed as Gray and Ichigo plotted strategies on how to approach the hideout. Baths and massages relaxed tensions around and within the group, a last preparation for their fight aiding them. Night fell. The Savers had individual beds to sleep in, the girls on one side with the boys on the other. However, none included Ash, Weiss or Kuriko. In a luxury suite, the three slept snug with each other with Ash's head tipping toward Kuriko. It also didn't help that the clothes were scattered, including undergarments near the foot of the bed. It may be the last night the Savers have together with Beryl waiting to make an appearance.


TO BE CONTINUED...