The Princess and the Kennel Boy Part 10
Seven days later, Ash and Pikachu were waiting outside the door to Dialga's quarters. Ash was feeling queasy with nervousness, and couldn't stand still. Pikachu felt Ash's apprehension, and purred to try and calm him down, but to no avail. His trainer was too tense and fearful to be calmed.
"Well Pikachu, what do you think?" Ash asked quietly, part to his partner and part to himself. "Are we ready to go into the Ursaring's den?"
"Pika," said Pikachu firmly.
"If you say so," Ash shrugged and knocked on the door.
"Come in," droned Dialga's icy voice. Ash gulped and opened the door, inched into the room, and closed the door again.
"You sent for me, my lord?" Ash asked, bowing. Pikachu, knowing that Ash was going to need all the help he could get sucking up to Dialga, jumped down from Ash's shoulder and bowed as well.
"Ah, yes, my new kennel master, Master Houndour," Dialga said genially, getting up from the large desk he'd been sitting at. He smiled at Ash, but the warmth of the expression never reached his dead, cold eyes. "So glad you decided to join me. We are setting out for my manor today. There you will have the privacy to train pokemon however you wish. I will have some guidelines I would like you to follow, but we will discuss those when we arrive. For now, I suggest you pack your things if you have not already done so. We leave here in two hours. You are dismissed."
"Yes, my lord," Ash said, bowing again. He left the room, holding the door for Pikachu before exiting himself. He wandered around until he found himself in the kitchen, where he begged a few rice balls from the cook, a kind, portly lady named Munchlax who always made sure that pages and young servants like Ash always got plenty to eat. Breakfast in hand, he went back to the kennels and got out the writing supplies that Palkia had given him, and wrote out a report of his meeting with Dialga. It was short, and when he was done, he ripped off the unused portion of the parchment for safekeeping (he only had a limited amount, and had no idea how he was going to get more when he ran out), folded the report up as small as he could, and slipped it into a small leather pouch, which he then tied around Pikachu's neck.
"Pikachu, would you mind taking that to Palkia for me?" He asked.
"Pika!" Pikachu said, nodding.
"Thanks, buddy," Ash said appreciatively. "Don't let anyone but Palkia read that message, and try not to let anyone see you, okay? And no electric attacks, you'll burn the paper up."
"Pikachu," Pikachu nodded again.
"Be careful, and come straight back here, okay?"
"Pika!" Pikachu waved, and was off. Ash watched him go, feeling a bit lonely. He and Pikachu rarely separated; if they did, it was usually by accident. This was the first time he'd intentionally sent Pikachu away without following him. But he couldn't risk having Dialga find out that he was spying for Palkia and Lugia, at best, Ash would be imprisoned, at worse, Dialga would kill him where he stood. He could only hope that Pikachu could get to Palkia and back without being captured.
Pikachu ran from the kennel to the paddock and hid in the bushes. The Growlithe pack paid the small yellow mouse-like pokemon no notice. They were well used to him by now, and accepted him as part of the pack. Some of the younglings wandered over to him, wanting to play, but Pikachu shooed them off with a growl. He had work to do, and would not tolerate any distractions. He hated being separated from Ash as much as Ash himself did, and wanted to get his job done as soon as he could.
From the paddock he zigzagged across the palace courtyards until he was in the castle. Then he simply followed his nose. He found Palkia in the far corner of the library, going over books on Celebi, the Time-Travel Pokemon.
"Pika, pika pi pikachu," Pikachu said, jumping up onto the table Palkia was sitting at and waving his paw to get the knight's attention.
"Ah, Pikachu, I didn't expect to see you so soon," Palkia said, smiling. He untied the pouch from around Pikachu's neck, read the message, and grimaced.
"They're going to his manor? But that's halfway across the kingdom," said Lugia, dismayed that his friend was going to be so far away. "How is Houndour going to tell us about Dialga's plans? It's three days from here to Dialga Manor, there's no way Houndour's Pikachu can make the trip here and back every single week."
Palkia, Lugia, Azelf, and Raichu were gathered in Raichu's cabin near the kennels, to discuss Ash's report on his meeting with Dialga.
"It will be difficult, but there's nothing I can do," Palkia said. "Dialga has already left, and Houndour and Pikachu are with him. We won't know how he'll communicate with us until he does."
"Don't worry, Lugia, Houndour will find a way," Azelf said quietly but confidently. "You know he will. We'll just have to be patient."
Ash collapsed on the ground next to a campfire, pulled off his boots, and massaged his sore feet. Next to him, Pikachu was laid out flat on his back, already deep asleep. They had been walking nonstop since dawn, and it was already past sunset. Ash was in top shape from walking a few miles every day for the past five years, but he'd never gone for a full day before, and wasn't sure if he was going to be able to do it again tomorrow. His legs were already screaming in agony, and just the thought of walking made them hurt even more. He wished that Dialga's caravan was already at the manor, instead of being two days from it.
"Don't worry, lad, after a while you don't even feel yourself walking anymore," said a man next to him, looking at Ash with kind red eyes. "Name's Gallade, son. I'm captain of Sir Dialga's private guard."
"Houndour," Ash said, shaking Gallade's hand. "And this is my buddy Pikachu."
"You a new page?" Gallade asked, helping himself to some of the stew that was bubbling on the campfire.
"No, I'm just a pokemon trainer," Ash said.
"Houndour… hey, I know you!" Gallade said. "You're that kennel boy Dialga picked up in Ho-oh's Keep, to be his new kennel master. Everyone knows about you."
"Glad to know I'm so famous," Ash muttered, getting some stew for himself and Pikachu. "Hey, Pikachu, wake up. It's dinnertime, buddy."
"Pika?" Pikachu mumbled sleepily.
"I know you're tired, buddy, but you gotta eat something," Ash told the exhausted pokemon. He put the bowl of stew in front of Pikachu, and watched closely as Pikachu ate, ready to act in case his friend fell asleep in the stew.
"That's a nice Pikachu, lad," Gallade commented, watching the boy and the pokemon.
"Thanks," Ash said, not taking his eyes off of Pikachu, who was having trouble keeping his eyes open and was very slowly working his way to the bottom of the bowl. Finally he was done, and he sleepily washed his face and curled up in Ash's lap. Ash refilled the bowl, grabbed a spoon, and tucked in, maneuvering around the already fast asleep Pikachu in his lap.
"You two must be very close friends," Gallade said quietly.
"Yeah," Ash replied, inhaling stew. "Pikachu's the only family I've got. Been together just about five years now. Trained him myself, and now he helps me train pokemon."
"You can control pokemon," Gallade said. It was a statement dressed as a question, and Ash looked at the man sharply.
"Who told you that?" He asked, wondering who on earth could have spread such a ridiculous rumor.
"It's been going around Ho-oh's Keep for about a month now," Gallade said quietly. "Is it true?"
"Of course not," Ash said. "I train pokemon, I don't control them. They choose to obey me. Pikachu is my friend; I don't control him any more than you can control an arrow in flight."
"But you must have done something to get him to obey you," Gallade pressed.
"I earned his trust," Ash said plainly. "Five years ago I found him on the side of the road, badly beaten up. I was taking him to a healer when we were attacked by a flock of Spearow. Pikachu was in no shape to fight, and those Spearow were definitely looking for a fight. So I gave them a fight. I wasn't about to let those rats with wings get Pikachu, not while I was still alive. Just when they were about to attack in a whole swarm, Pikachu somehow managed to shoo them all off with a Thunderbolt attack. It wiped him out, though, and I barely managed to find a healer in time. But ever since then, we've almost never been apart. We look out for each other."
Like brothers, Gallade thought, vaguely surprised. He'd thought that the boy used some kind of magic to get pokemon to obey him, but now the soldier saw that Ash simply trusted and respected the pokemon, which in turn made them trust and respect him back, and made them want to obey him. And Ash's relationship with his Pikachu was much deeper than just plain friendship. Gallade could see plain as day that Ash truly loved Pikachu, and instinctively he knew that Pikachu loved Ash just as much. They truly were like brothers.
Ash finished his stew, wiped his mouth, and yawned. He gently moved Pikachu from his lap to the ground next to him, and stretched out.
"Nice talkin' to ya, Master Gallade," Ash yawned, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.
"It was nice talking to you too, Master Houndour," Gallade said, but Ash was already fast asleep.