35: (Shortly after 34)
"So, how's my son doing?" Delia asked.
"Well," Aaron's Lucario said, after a moment of thought. "There is but one badge to go before he may face the League, if I understand it correctly. Though... I imagine you are asking more about what happened atop the Spear Pillar."
"That's kind of... yes," Delia admitted.
"From what Ash has told me-"
"I probably know what happened better than you," Delia interrupted. "I was there."
Lucario blinked. "You were - ah, I see. Your ability to change form. But - why did you not let Ash know?"
"It's what I did when I was there," Delia explained. "I... you know who Hunter J is?"
"I have heard. A bounty hunter and criminal, who steals and tortures Pokémon to make them obedient." Lucario's palm flickered blue for a fraction of a second, and he sighed. "I had hoped such people were behind us in this time, in truth..."
"She captured Ash, and his friends, as they tried to protect the Lake Guardians. Latias too."
"I know that much," Lucario informed her.
"Right. And - I got aboard, and disguised myself as her." Delia stirred her tea, but didn't take a sip. "Partly to free Latias, partly... I'm not sure. We have a history, she and I, and I suppose I wanted to get some kind of closure."
A pause.
"She's one of the reasons I fled to Kanto. She actually got hold of Ash's egg at one point, for a few minutes - fortunately, I managed to retrieve him. But..."
Delia sighed.
"The ship was going down - I didn't see why, maybe the Lake Guardians attacked it. And I ordered everyone else off the ship, in J's form."
"Else?" Lucario asked, noticing that word.
"Else. I found J, and... stopped her from escaping before it crashed into the lake. Before it sank."
Another sigh. Delia glanced around, then dropped her illusion. "And I smashed the window, went Floatzel and escaped."
Lucario absorbed that.
"I think you are unsure about what you've done."
"No!" Delia replied, with an unusual vehemence. "No, I'm not! She tried to kill Ash - tried to kill me - she's a menace and a monster! I'm not sorry!"
A pause.
"Not sorry at all."
"You are certainly unsure," Lucario stressed. "I lived through a time of war and regret, and I recognize this at least. What you did was not, inherently, wrong. Rather, it removed a threat and a horrible person... and your penance, I suppose, is how you are feeling now."
"It'd help if I knew what I felt now," Delia muttered.
36: (Middle of the Lt. Surge episode)
Ash mechanically chewed through his lunch, thinking about tomorrow.
That Lt. Surge had beaten him, and Pikachu - and both he and his Pokémon wanted revenge. But they weren't going to give Surge the satisfaction of evolving Pikachu.
Pikachu didn't want it, and as far as Ash was concerned that settled it. Pokémon didn't have to be fully evolved to be able to win, and Ash was going to prove it!
He took another bite, and blinked. This was actually really good.
"Hey, Brock?" he said, wiping his mouth. "This is great! What is it?"
Ash gradually became aware that Brock, Misty and Pikachu were all staring at him.
"Ash..." Misty pointed out. "That's Pikachu's lunch."
Ash looked down, and blanched. "Uh... oops! Sorry, Pikachu!"
"How dense..." Pikachu shook his head, sighing.
"I'm more concerned how you didn't notice," Brock said. "That makes me wonder if I made the Pokémon food too sandwichy."
"Yeah, I guess you did," Ash chuckled nervously.
Internally he was trying not to panic. And, at the same time, wondering if he could snag some more...
Or, at the very least, ask Brock about spicier food.
37: (Episode N)
"Stop messing with my hair," N hissed.
"Your hair's itchy," Ash replied, trying to remember not just to speak Pokémon but to speak Zorua to boot.
It was not precisely easy.
"Quiet," N reminded him. "Just try to listen. I will want to know what you think."
Ash nodded, and gripped N's shoulder a bit tighter.
Without his pendant, he felt... vulnerable. Like the slightest knock would break his illusion.
And the itchy hair wasn't helping either.
"Come forth!" Ghetsis intoned. "Come forth, Reshiram!"
The Light Stone rippled with heat, and began to glow. Softly at first, but getting more and more intense.
"This might be bad news," Ash whispered. "The one in the vale-"
As suddenly as an explosion, Reshiram appeared.
Its wings went down, and the turbine skirled faintly for a moment.
"My Hero of Truth is here?" he asked, voice touching all present - including Ash, who couldn't hear the telepathic part but could understand the regular speech. "I can sense him..."
"I am here," Ghetsis said, raising his staff.
Reshiram brushed past without even looking. "My hero is... ah!"
The enormous white dragon-type frowned. "Wait... there is another. The Hero of Ideals is present as well."
Ghetsis blinked. "What?"
He pointed to one of the other Sages. "Look for him! That boy must be in the bushes or something!"
"No, closer than that," Reshiram denied, still frowning. He looked up, and straightened. "Or perhaps not! Zekrom comes!"
Turbine roaring, the Fire-Dragon shot skywards - towards an approaching black dot.
"Father!" N called. "I thought I was the hero you sought!"
"Don't be silly, that was-" Ghetsis began, then blinked. "No, wait-"
Overhead, Reshiram bore in on Zekrom.
Much to his surprise, though, Zekrom shot past - riderless - and plunged towards the ground. The Dragon of Truth did a double take, then turned over in a dive and followed.
"Father?" N repeated. "Was it all a lie? Just for power?"
"How can anything be just for power?" Ghetsis asked. "But yes, if you-"
Zekrom landed with a slam and a whirl of electricity.
"Hero of Ideals!" he called, facing N.
Ghetsis was actually a little shocked.
"But... I thought the brat was... how can it be N?"
Reshiram landed right next to Zekrom. "Hero of Truth!"
"Is he both of them?" someone asked.
"No!" Zekrom denied. "MY hero is on HIS hero's shoulder!"
Dead silence.
"Pardon?" Reshiram asked, blinking.
"Oh, this is just..." Ghetsis sighed. "Fine, we'll do this the hard way."
He bashed his staff on the floor again. "Kyurem! Absofusion!"
Then the third Tao dragon came bursting out of the caverns, and things got loud.
38: (Early Unova)
"Greetings."
Ash jumped. "Wha-"
"Didn't you hear him coming?" Iris asked, rolling her eyes. "And you're supposed to be the-"
"That's not important!" Ash interrupted. "Who are you?"
"That's not really polite, Ash..." Cilan said quietly.
"I am known as N," N introduced himself.
"Is that a normal name?" Latias asked.
"Not really, no," Iris informed her. "Okay, so you're called N. Well... what do you want?"
"I wish to speak with your Pokémon," he said.
"You can do it too?" Cilan blinked. "Okay, now Iris and I feel really left out..."
"Speak for yourself!" Iris said tartly, and Cilan spread his hands.
"Don't you?"
"...well, yeah, but I can just ask if I want something translated..."
N had been listening with some confusion. "What do you mean, do it too?"
"Oh, right." Iris shrugged. "Ash and L-Laura can both understand Pokémon. They've been trying to teach us, but no luck so far."
The green-haired teen was a little taken aback. "I see."
Rallying, he smiled. "Well, I suppose greater understanding between humans and Pokémon is always welcome, especially if it shows how bad the situation truly is."
"What situation?" Pikachu asked.
"The situation of how Pokémon are enslaved by humans and kept in Pokéballs," N explained matter-of-factly.
Ash and Latias, both of whom had a very carefully guarded Pokéball at the bottom of their respective bags, made strangled noises of amusement. N looked at them with confusion, then dismissed it as something people just did sometimes.
AN:
Just to reiterate, this is basically something I've been doing in the cracks between Ashes of the Past. I'm sorry if the order's hard to follow, but it's that very jumping-around nature which lets me produce as much as I have been.
As for the bits...
Delia's not certain about what she did to J.
Ash may be used to human food, but he's still a Pokémon.
And two bits with N.
I do have the N arc pretty much worked out... there's some more bits in the middle written out, expect them soon.