Chapter 11: Letting it Flies

It's the new morning in Hoshido. Ash began to wake from the morning sun as he felt warmer than when he slept. He looked down to find arms around his torso, and breathing to the back of his neck. 'Oh no…' he thought. 'Not again…' He turned his head as much as possible to find Reina snug on his back. It confirmed Ash's thoughts and made his nerves grow. 'First, Camilla and now, Reina? Just how many want to consider me a son?' That's when he noticed Reina wasn't holding him as tightly as Camilla. He rolled out of bed and stepped outside, knowing he had a full schedule ahead. He looked to Reina, still asleep. He realized that unlike Camilla's morning chaos, Reina was peaceful. He stepped outside to enjoy the morning sun. Taking a breath of fresh air, Ash smiled. Suddenly, Reina appeared behind him and embraced another hug, surprising the trainer. "Reina?"

"Morning, Ash," she welcomed as she gave Ash a kiss to the cheeks. It made Ash realize how much different Reina was to Camilla.

'Okay, she's not Camilla. She's not as wild.' Later on after breakfast, Ash was led to a stable by Hinoka who had Pikachu on her shoulder. "I'm positive that you'll be riding my Pegasus after meeting Pikachu," she informed.

"You sound positive," Ash noticed. The three of them arrived at the stable where the Pegasus was having its own breakfast. Hinoka petted the Pegasus' head.

"How's my steed this morning?" The Pegasus neighed to the soft petting. It took a break from eating to see Ash and Pikachu. Ash approached and offered to pet the winged horse. The Pegasus hoofed back. It snorted, a warning for Ash to back off.

"This reminds me of Lara's Ponyta when I tried to pet that." Hinoka gasped to the name.

"Is she a Nohrian!?"

"No, she's a rancher back home with her Pokémon. It's now a Rapidash." He brought out his PokéDex and selected Rapidash. "Here it is." Hinoka looked as well as the Pegasus, somewhat curious.

"Rapidash, the Fire Horse Pokémon," it registered. "Rapidash is the evolved form of Ponyta. At full speed, Rapidash's hooves barely touch the ground." Hinoka's eyes barely stayed in her head.

"A blazing… unicorn…" she muttered. "Wow…" This told Hinoka more about Ash. "So, you've ridden horses before coming here?"

"Well, a horse, a Charizard, a Lapras…"

"Okay, more Pokémon that you can ride, I gotcha." Seeing how close the Pegasus was, Ash tried again to pet it and made contact. It responded with a kick that launched Ash out of the stable. Hinoka and Pikachu raced out to see if Ash was okay. "Ash?" The trainer staggered to a seat to which Hinoka had to apologize. There was a huge dent with the plate. "So much for the experiment. You got along fine with her, why not him?"

("I'm not sure,") Pikachu shrugged. Hinoka helped Ash back to his feet. A little while later, Ash and Pikachu reached Takumi who laid a few bows onto the ground.

"Hey, ready to aim?" he asked. Circular targets hung on trees. Ash and Pikachu eyed the targets at different heights and distances.

"So, this is what we're shooting at?" the trainer asked.

"Indeed. I practice everyday before I use Fujin Yumi." He picked up a bow and a quiver of arrows with bronze heads. "How good is your aim?" Ash brought out a Pokéball to show Takumi.

"This is an empty Pokéball, so no Pokémon are involved." He eyed a target which was the third closest. Ash cocked his arm back like a pitcher on the mound. "Go, Pokéball!" He heaved the Pokéball which reached his target. The ball nailed the target, rocking the wood it was designed out of. Takumi nodded to his arm strength and accuracy.

"I think you'd be great for a javelin." The item left Pikachu a little confused. Takumi made the glow emerge to his Fujin Yumi. An arrow formed. He pulled the string of light before firing it. The arrow of light destroyed the target, making splinters from the impact. "My Fujin Yumi isn't a normal bow to shoot with. It bonds with the spirit energy. Those it deems unworthy cannot wield its destructive properties." He brought up another bow which was a lot smaller. "These yumis can only shoot normal arrows, but they also have different strengths and ranges. This short yumi can't hit a target from yards away." He pointed to the furthest target which was also hung the lowest. Takumi handed the yumi and an arrow to Ash. He pulled the bowstring back, not able to reach his face. He soon realized the issue.

"I can see why… you can't get enough pull on the string." He aimed for a new target, spotting the highest from the tree. He loaded the arrow the same way Takumi's arrow came out, but noticed that the arrow had a slip at the tail. He fitted the slip to the bowstring and aimed. He looked to the target and released. The arrow hit the target, but it was at the lower corner. Ash bobbed a nod to the arrow hitting the target.

"Aright, not bad for your first shot. No one's gonna get it on their first try." Ash laughed to the shared information.

"Tell that to Max." The retort had Takumi befuddled.

"Who?" The name made Pikachu remember.

("You mean with the fishing master?") he squeaked. Takumi handed Ash a larger yumi.

"Max traveled with me in Hoenn…" Ash explained. "And he wasn't old enough to train Pokémon."

"There's an age limit to be a trainer?" asked Takumi.

"Yeah, ten years old. You can easily pass for one. Anyway, we came across a fishing 'legend' and Max showed him up with everything. I was laughing at the inside and tried not to embarrass him anymore than he already was." He pulled the bowstring back to where it was adjacent to his face. "He tends to speak his mind." Taking aim, Ash eyed the target which was smaller than other targets. Releasing, the arrow flew from the yumi. It missed the target and Ash grunted… but then another groan sounded before a thud. It didn't sound like anything Ash had heard.

"That's not good… Let's go check." Takumi led Ash and Pikachu to find a muscular gray, decrepit-skinned man with an iron mask hiding the face. Ash's arrow had pierced the neck, dead center. "A Faceless… man-made mindless monsters from Nohr." To Ash, he inadvertently killed a Faceless. "That was an impressive shot, Ash. You killed a monster before it attacked our home." Ash wasn't sure if he should be proud for the death of the Faceless. "You may be worth Sakura's hand… if I deem so." Ash and Pikachu blinked before returning to practice. After about two hours, Ash had used all the yumis except for the Fujin Yumi. After his time with archery, Ash and Pikachu headed to the dining hall when they heard music. Strings… To Ash and Pikachu, it seemed a little familiar.

"Another slow guitar…?" he asked.

("It's not a violin,") Pikachu realized. It led them to Sakura's room as the Pokémon knocked on the door. ("Sakura?") Hearing Pikachu, Sakura stopped playing.

"Pikachu?" she recognized. She reached and opened the door, only to also find Ash among the doorway. She balked, nearly falling onto a stringed instrument on a board. The instrument had a baker's dozen strings from one end to the other in different lengths from the shortest on top to the longest on the bottom. Ash came to Sakura's side and offered his hand.

"Here you go…" he insisted. Sakura retracted her arm seeing Ash's offered hand. Ash and Pikachu blinked in confusion. "What's up?" After a minute, Sakura reached for and grabbed Ash's hand. Her heart raced and she clutched her chest, bringing fear to Ash and Pikachu. "Are you okay!? Do we need to get a-" Sakura's hand came up to his face. She slowed her labored breathing and began to relax.

"I-I'm sorry… my heart tends to race when I'm near you." Hearing Sakura's explanation, Ash sighed. "Please don't think of me as… awkward." Ash smiled and allowed Pikachu to be carried by her.

"Just relax. I'm not doing anything but visiting and hearing music." Listening, Sakura turned to her instrument.

"You were listening to me playing my koto?" The instrument made Ash and Pikachu blink.

"Ko… to…" Ash knelt to the koto and saw the build. "This is a… koto?"

"Yes… I play the koto while we aren't in battle. I've loved how the koto is constructed and how it sounds." Ash sat down and Pikachu joined on his lap.

"Can you play some?" A smile came from Sakura. She began to strum the koto. The music from the koto was elegant. "Must be hard to play this instrument."

"With 13 strings, it's a trial and error… but I've practiced it for years, so I have a hang of it." She continued to play the koto with an alluring rhythm. It began to delve on Ash and Pikachu's consciousness.

'Not again…' After a few minutes, Ash and Pikachu collapsed. Sakura saw the trainer and Pokémon fall and became scared.

"Ash!? Pikachu!?" She ran out, looking for something to stir them. About an hour later, Ash and Pikachu began to stir. Ash's eyes opened, finding Reina above him. His head was on his lap.

"What?" he groaned.

"Morning, sunshine," Reina teased. Pikachu saw Sakura who was giggling at the boys who slept.

"I now wish I was with you at night!" she laughed. "You actually look cute!" This made Ash red in embarrassment.

"Oh boy…" he muttered. The girls chuckled. Night started to fall and after a day of traveling around Hoshido and training, Ash and Pikachu found the bathhouse and soaked themselves inside. They're relaxing and feel at peace.

("The tea leaves they have…") noticed Pikachu. ("It feels nice…") Hearing the happy squeaks, Ash knew Pikachu's having a good time.

"That goes for the both of us-" Ash started before he heard feet slapping the puddled floor. This made Ash a bit defensive when he turned. There, he saw Reina without anything on her but a towel. Her hair had been free of restraints as she came closer to the bath.

"How's the water?" she asked as she removed her towel. Ash watched in shock as he saw a young and somewhat busty woman with a few scars among her torso and waist. Ash gawked to the young Reina now approaching his back. He couldn't mutter a word out with the shock. As she entered the bath, she was behind and reeled Ash to her breasts. "Take a deep breath. I bet it's hard to keep composure with a woman like me who wants to help clean you." A few seconds later, Ash breathed to relieve himself.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Don't… It's kind of a surprise to see your innocence emerging… and cute, too." Ash blinked to her wording.

"Innocence… That's not the same thing I remember."

"How so?" Outside, Sakura, Hinoka, Hana and Oboro had towels around their skinny bodies. They open the door where they hear Ash and Reina talking.

"Sounds like Ash and Reina are bathing," Oboro noticed. Sakura blushed, a shriek of knowing Ash was in the bath.

"Ash!?" she gulped. Hinoka got behind and pushed Sakura to the bath.

"Let's go," she urged. All four reached the bath, but Sakura gasped at Ash in the tub. She hid behind Hinoka.

"Don't let me near him!" she shrieked. Hana came to Sakura and allowed Hinoka to enter the bath.

"Come on, Sakura!" she urged. "We know how close you want to be with Ash." She and Oboro forcefully escorted Sakura to the bath and pushed to the water. That wasn't all. Hinoka undid her towel and revealed Sakura's bare, slender body, her breasts somewhat large but not to Reina's size. Sakura caught herself before standing up from the water and Ash's nose squirted blood. The girls closed the door after taking the towel.

"Hana!" yelled Sakura as she turned back to the door. "Oboro!" Ash covered his nose to keep the blood from spilling into the bath.

'Okay, it's not so bad as when Camilla and Elise did this to me,' he thought. He looked to Sakura as Reina came to her as she hid her rather moderate-size breasts from Ash while looking red from embarrassment. 'Innocence… Suddenly, I get Reina.' Ash wiped the blood with a towelette Pikachu brought.

"Come on, Sakura," Reina urged. "You can bathe with Pikachu if you want." Before Sakura could breathe in calm, Reina saw Ash's back turned. A plan unfolded. She looked to her back. Nothing but some bathwater. "Looks like there's some dirt on your back." Sakura gawked to Reina's lie.

"There is?" she bought.

"I can reach it but we need to be deeper in the bath." Her hands on Sakura's shoulders, Reina escorted her to Ash while her head wasn't looking at him. Ash recovered but when he turned around, Sakura was in front of him. Sakura had her arms out and embraced Ash who can't help but catch her. With blood trickling down his face, Sakura's mind sped and she couldn't help but awe at his muscular tone as she gulped to her crush's reaction.

"A-Are you okay?" she shuttered. Reina had Pikachu and scrubbed him to his delight.

"J-Just fine…" stuttered Ash.

"A-Are you sure? Your nose is-" It made Ash want to come clean.

"W-Well, your… uh, I mean that I haven't seen a figure like yourself. It also helps that you're Hoshido's princess and… now I have my heart running laps." Hearing Ash's returned confidence, Sakura eased as well.

"Then again, I can tell you take great care of your body. You may be able to lift Takumi and I may not be a problem." Ash giggled to Sakura's beliefs.

"You're caring yourself. After all, you got worried over my nosebleed. Makes me wonder how Brock does it without his nose leaking?" Feeling better, Sakura's arms linked around Ash and hugged him. He felt her breasts pressing his chest and a leg around his waist.

"Thank you!" Hinoka, Oboro and Hana joined the bath, thinking their mission was a success and bathed alongside. The three girls had slim figures, but their breasts were smaller than Sakura's, though bigger than Elise's, except for Oboro. Her breasts were not as big as Sakura's, there were bigger than Hinoka's and Hana's. After the bath, all came out and night had fallen. That's when Sakura had a request. "Ash, can I ask you something?" Ash and Pikachu turned to the Hoshian princess.

"What's up?" With a second to think, Sakura pointed to Pikachu.

"Is it possible if I sleep with Pikachu tonight?" The request made Ash smile.

"Of course. I'm sure my buddy will keep you company." Pikachu leaped to Sakura's arms who giggled. They broke after wishing each other goodnight. Ash began to feel better about Princess Sakura and vice versa. What else could link the two together?

TO BE CONTINUED…