Aoi Hyoudou: Just a reminder if you guys didn't read my author note from the previous chapter. Ash's first visit to Traverse Town will only be cut into two parts. After that, he's off to visit the master of all beards, Master Yen Sid at Mysterious Tower before heading back to Radiant Garden to celebrate his 17th birthday with the Restoration Committee and maybe…have a little run-in with Sora and the gang. Also, I'll give a little hint as to who it is that Ash will meet after reuniting with Paul. It's someone with blonde hair. That's all I can say. Enjoy the chapter!

Traverse Town

1st Visit - Part II

{...}

"Paul!?"

Paul flinched at the sound of his former rival's voice calling his name. He slowly looked over his shoulder as his lips pursed into a scowl when he locked eyes with the black haired teen. "Oh, it's you."

Ash made a face. "And I'm glad you're alive and well, too, Paul." he said sarcastically.

The purple haired teen grunted inaudibly with a sigh. "If you're here to help, don't even bother." He turned away quickly, leaving no room for argument as he returned his focus back to the Heartless. "I can handle these things without your help."

Ash smiled softly.

Same old Paul.

"Then you wouldn't mind if I stick around?" No response. "I'll take that as a yes."

The purple haired teen's lips curled into a small smile, and then shook his head before facing the latter once more and snarled. "Do whatever you like, just don't get in my way." Message sent.

Ash gave his former rival a mock salute. "Don't worry I won't." Then he summoned Oathkeeper and charged forward at the Shadows and Neoshadows.

Paul's eyes widened at the sight of the strange familiar weapon that his former rival was wielding. 'Is that….'

Paul stood carefully by as Ash and Electivire took care of business, mopping the floor with the Shadows and Neoshadows. The Heartless didn't provide much of a challenge. Most were taken out quickly by Ash's swift strikes and spell attacks while Electivire and Pikachu out of the blue provided the support, releasing Electric-type attacks when needed. And when the battle was over, Paul recalled his Pokémon back to its Pokéball and approached the Keyblade bearer. "Mind telling me how someone like you is wielding the Keyblade?" This immediately caught Ash's attention.

"Wait, you know about the Keyblade, Paul?" he asked after pocketing Pikachu's Summon Gem, a surprised look appearing on his face.

The purple haired teen grunted. "More or less, but that still doesn't answer my question."

"Oh, well, the thing is—" Ash scratched his cheek sheepishly as he didn't know how to tell Paul under these circumstances.

His former rival sighed dejectedly and shook his head. "It's best if we all hear this." The black haired teen blinked.

"Wait, did you just say we? Who else is here besides you, Paul?" He tried to pry for more answers. 'I hope it's Mom. I miss her so much and everyone else of course.'

Paul sighed again. "I don't want to give you any false hope."

"Is it my mom, Professor Oak, Gary? Who?" The purple haired teen said nothing. Instead he just turned away and walked off. "Paul!" He briefly paused in his steps with his back turned to his former rival.

Ash held his breath as he waited patiently for Paul to speak up again. The suspense was killing him. "If you want to find out, then follow me. Otherwise, I'm leaving you behind." Then he proceeded to walk ahead, leaving the latter to ponder over his choices. It didn't take long for him to make his decision.

"Paul, wait up!" The young Keyblade wielder immediately ran after the former Sinnoh native as they headed off to the Third District.

Elsewhere within the Third District, an unfortunate scene was taking place.

{...}

"Hmm…" A familiar blonde woman in a light-blue blouse and gray skinny jeans with gray high-heels was holding up a huge line to the ice cream stand. She couldn't decide what to get as she was looking over the flavors for the umpteenth time with her hand cupping her chin in a thinking manner, oblivious that she was causing a scene.

"Uhh, ma'am," The young woman lifted her head up and locked eyes with the female employee who was running the stand. "I know I said to take your time, but could you please tell me what you want?" she asked in a polite manner. "It's been half an hour and there are other customers waiting." The blonde smiled.

"I will. I just can't decide if I should stick with plain vanilla or strawberry. What do you think I should go with?"

"Any flavor is fine, just please pick one already!" The female employee pleaded with teary eyes.

"Hmm…" The latter paused briefly to think over her decision, cupping her chin again. "But chocolate chip sounds good too."

The poor ice cream girl cried her eyes out.

She wasn't getting paid enough for this.

"That woman…" Arriving on scene, Paul pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, a little irritated to see the current Pokémon League Champion of Sinnoh acting so childish. As much as he respected her, he questioned if she was still the same 'Champion' who defeated him so easily back in Sinnoh with just her Garchomp.

Ash, while surprised, smiled at the blonde woman's silly little antics. 'She hasn't changed one bit.' He walked over in her direction and approached from behind. "Hey Cynthia, long time no see," He spoke up suddenly, causing the Sinnoh Champion to snap out from her thoughts.

'That voice…' She immediately spun around and locked eyes with the young teen who she had met countless times in Sinnoh, and then back in Unova where he, Dawn, and his new friends Cilan and Iris stayed at her summer villa for that one week. "Ash?!" She hoped that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. "Is that really you?" Ash laughed good-naturedly.

"Of course it's me. Who else would I be?" he responded with glee, a grin plastered on his face.

Cynthia's eyes softened with relief, and she was about to respond back when she was interrupted by an angry customer in the line. "Hey kid," The pair looked to the random guy who was shouting. "Tell your friend to move it along. We'd been waiting here for almost half an hour. We want ice cream too, you know." He was greatly supported by the other customers.

Ash sighed dejectedly and shook his head before approaching the ice cream lady. "Excuse miss, I would like to get three vanillas please."

Cynthia was taken aback that Ash was buying her ice cream. "Wait, Ash, you don't have to—" But she immediately cut off when he looked over his shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

"No need to worry, Cynthia, this one is on me."

Moments later, Ash, Cynthia, and Paul were sitting on the bench enjoying their ice cream cones; Cynthia in the middle, Paul to her left, and Ash to her right while discussing important matters. "So that explains those creatures that we've been dealing with lately." The black haired teen nodded at the blonde woman after telling her and his former rival all about the Heartless.

"Yup, they might look innocent, but they're dangerous." Paul scoffed at the latter's words.

"They're weak." Ash thought differently.

"Alone, perhaps but in a group, no," he stated correctly with a serious tone of voice. The purple haired teen snorted, but said nothing.

Cynthia decided to change the subject. "So tell me Ash, how did you become a Keyblade wielder?" Ash looked back at the blonde woman.

"Before I do, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for some time now." She was all ears. "How do you and Paul know about the Keyblade?" This immediately caught her attention.

"Oh, that, well you see Ash-" She briefly paused to gather her thoughts before continuing onward with her explanation. "-when we first arrived in Traverse Town, we met someone who looks exactly like-" There was a deep pause in her sentence.

"Cynthia?"

Snapping out from her deep pause, Cynthia shook her head and continued where she left off. "Long story short, we met someone who knew exactly what happened on that day and gave us the lowdown on everything that we needed to know."

"I see," Ash could tell that she wasn't telling him everything that needed to be heard.

"At first, we didn't believe him." Paul spoke up calmly, drawing his former rival's attention to him. "We thought he was making things up because his story didn't exactly make sense." Then his lips twitched and curled into a rare smile. "But over time, he proved that everything he told us before was all true; including your arrival and status as a Keyblade wielder."

"Is that so?" Ash didn't know who Cynthia and Paul had met, but whoever it was seemed a bit too well informed.

"Now it's your turn, Ash," the Sinnoh Champion said suddenly, putting the black haired teen back on the spot.

"Oh, for me, I didn't actually work my way to gaining the Keyblade." He spoke the honest truth, gaining confused looks from both Cynthia and Paul. "I inherited it"

"You inherited it?" a puzzled Cynthia repeated, waiting patiently for the teen to clarify the details. He bobbed his head.

"Yes, you see-my friend Aqua is a Keyblade Master." He briefly paused to give them both time for the information to sink in before continuing onward with his explanation. "And…she agreed to pass the Keyblade onto me if I promise to go on a journey and protect the worlds from the Heartless and rescue her from the Realm of Darkness."

"…"

"…"

Ash sighed dejectedly.

"I know all of this sounds complicated, but I have to do it. It's a promise. And I don't break promises to friends." This put a smile on Cynthia's face.

"That's so like you, Ash." The former Pokémon Trainer didn't know if he should take that as a compliment. But one thing's for sure. The young woman couldn't help but admire his determination to fulfill a promise to one of his friends.

Paul might not have said much after listening to his former rival, but he did show that he supported the latter's decision when he smirked.

Soon afterwards they talked some more about various topics until they finished their ice cream cones as the time for Ash's departure grew near. "Well, guys-" Ash stood up from the bench and stretched before facing Cynthia and Paul who also stood up. "-it's about time for me to head out."

"We understand," The blonde woman smiled good-naturedly.

The black haired teen returned the smile, but then stared at his feet, his cap covering his eyes. "I wish I could take you guys with me," he whispered softly under his breath, a hint of sadness lingering in his tone of voice.

Cynthia's eyes softened at his words. She wished that they could join his journey too, but she can't allow her personal feelings to cloud her judgment. She knows that this was his journey, not theirs. All she could do was offer him some encouraging words before he left. She approached the distraught teen and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look up to meet her eyes once more. "Ash, there's nothing to worry about. We'll be fine. Just focus on your journey. We'll let you know if anything comes up the next time you stop by, and also protect this world in the meantime." She offered him a reassuring smile.

"Thanks, Cynthia," He smiled again. Then he turned to Paul. "See you around," The purple haired teen simply nodded without saying much.

With the good-byes out of the way, Ash walked ahead a few steps before taking out his Pokégear from his pocket and punching in his coordinates to have the Mark XII Shera pick him up. Moments later, the Gummi ship hovered over Traverse Town, ready to beam him up. As he prepared to board the airship, he took a brief moment to look over his shoulder and spare one final glance for Cynthia and Paul before beaming up into the cockpit.

Cynthia and Paul stood quietly by in awe as they watched the Mark XII Shera take off into the atmosphere. "Do you think we made the right decision?" The purple haired teen broke the awkward silence when he spoke suddenly.

The blonde woman's lips twitched and curled into a genuine smile when she replied nonchalantly. "It's Ash. I have faith in him."

Paul chortled in amusement.

If she had faith in Ash, then so did he.

A/N: Did Cynthia and Paul really meet Xásh, Ash's Nobody? And for those who are still wondering why Cynthia and Paul didn't tag along with Ash, like I said before…None of the Pokémon cast will serve an important role in the story so there was no point. And speaking of Ash's Nobody, they will cross paths at some point. When will that happen? That still remains to be seen. I could always do a short chapter about Xásh beforehand similar to what fellow author Auriansmule did for Xhäs to give you guys a better understanding about the character. What do you guys think? Anyway, Mysterious Tower is up next followed by a third visit to Radiant Garden for Ash's birthday celebration and the fateful meeting.

P.S. – Give the proofreading and editing credit to my beta-reader, Vandenbz.

Aoi Hyoudou (formerly known as Johan07)