Like the final pieces of the puzzle fitting, the team was finally complete.
The seven from Kanto, the three from Johto, the two from Hoenn, and the three from Sinnoh – and their respective pokémon, all gathered loosely within the secret sanctuary near Pallet Town. Three lamplights acting as their campfires.
Ritchie, the blue-eyed Trainer from Frodomar City – Kanto region, gathered the data of everyone else's pokémon with his pokédex – excited with every new information.
Tracey, the traveling sketch-artist currently based in Pallet Town – Kanto region, shared drawings and tips with the young woman that eagerly went through his notebook.
Bianca, the fellow sketch-artist from Alto Mare – Johto region, shuffled through her scraps of paper in the hopes of finding one that could impress the veteran artist beside her.
Casey, the baseball enthusiast from New Bark Town – Johto region, continued reading the book that was lent to her – her mind completely entranced by the epic battle occurring within its pages.
Angie, the tomboy from the Solaceon Town Day Care Center – Sinnoh region, read over Casey's shoulder – waiting for a chance to ask for the girl's opinion of the book she had grown up with.
Solana, the traveling Pokémon Ranger from the Fiore region – now currently based in the Hoenn region, struck another embarrassing pose with her plusle, much to the delight of her photographer.
Todd, the professional photographer from the Kanto region, snapped several shots of the famous Pokémon Ranger. He happily anticipated the day when he could publish all the photos he had earned in this venture.
May, the now Empathic Coordinator from Petalburg City – Hoenn region, chatted awkwardly with her old friend – trying her best to hide any personal stories she had with their crush.
Misty, the Gym Leader of Cerulean City – Kanto region, conversed with uncomfortable casualness – wondering what her friend was hiding from her.
Slightly away from the rest, Liza, the guardian of the Charicific Valley – Johto region, prepared an empty grave for her fallen charizards. Her remaining charizards helped and mourned with her.
Dawn, the talented Coordinator from Twinleaf Town – Sinnoh region, eavesdropped a private meeting between four members hidden deeper in the woods.
The four that attended the concealed conference were Pokémon Trainer Ash of Pallet Town – Kanto region, Psychic Gym Leader Sabrina of Saffron City Gym – Kanto region, Fighting Gym Leader Maylene of Veilstone City Gym – Sinnoh region, and Salon Maiden Anabel, Frontier Brain of the Kanto region Battle Tower.
…
"I can't sense her." Ash sighed and scratched his chin. "I can sense her, but it's not… in her. It's around her." he tried his best to explain it.
Anabel, her face still expressionless, nodded. "I feel the same way… I can't feel anything inside me. But I know it's still there. Just not inside." She leaned against Ash, hoping the closeness would help her feel again.
…
Nothing.
Sabrina studied Anabel's thoughts carefully, trying to solve the mystery that had bothered them since the Empathic Trainer's rescue.
Her eyes squinted, as lapses of tortured memories flashed from Anabel's mind.
"They blocked it." Maylene interrupted the psychic investigation. "And they succeeded."
The three turned towards her.
"Team Rocket…" the fighter continued. "…This is similar to the training manuals I read. The ones that I learned how to make myself blank with. But this is a different kind."
She sighed and looked up into the night sky, the faraway lamplights giving the leaves above an orange reflection. This place is beautiful… she thought to herself, ashamed that such dark confessions would ruin the scenery.
"…I saw some prototype manuals on it… some kind of experiment for the researchers. They can block out someone's own thoughts, emotions, or aura from themselves."
Sabrina's slightly weakened state suddenly went alive in reaction to this new information. "Team Rocket can do this? Why have you not mentioned this before?"
"Because it was just an experiment… they didn't get very far with it." Maylene shrugged. "Those they blocked out thoughts, supposedly only had temporary forms of amnesia – so that test proved too minimal in effectiveness to be of any use. The ones that blocked out auras, made no immediate effects, but would eventually give random side-effects in the long run – so that test proved to be too random to be anything conclusive. But the one with emotions…"
The fighter paused. She stared at Anabel… watching her emotionless eyes, feeling absolute pity for her.
"…it would normally drive a person insane when their emotions were locked out." she finished. "But to an Empathic? I can only assume they were able to successfully do it without that side-effect."
Ash's hand gripped onto Anabel's ruined coat. "What… What in the world would they gain from that experiment?"
"A weapon." Sabrina answered.
"A weapon?"
The Psychic nodded and explained, "During the battle on the isle, Anabel was able to use her Empathy as a projectile weapon. I'm no expert on Empathy, but I doubt it ever had that capability on its own."
"We don't have that capability. We can only read emotions and intentions." the Empathic Trainer supported. "Other than that, we can send emotion-fueled shouts and commands… but nothing actually physical."
Ash could feel sadness from her, but not from within her. Inside, she felt empty. Hollow.
Sabrina flexed her mind and produced a small orb of purple and blue energy. "When Psychics and Aura users focus their power, they can produce physical manifestations of their thoughts or energies. But to constantly use them drains us physically. This is because the energy directly comes from within us. It uses our mental or life force to fuel itself…
"In essence, we are extensions of our powers, and not vice versa."
She stood and faced Ash and Anabel. "I would assume you Empathics have this ability as well… however, due to the nature of emotions, it cannot be concentrated into physical form. Physical energy is solid, similar to rocks or other obviously physical objects. Psychic energy is sharp yet fluid, similar to water. Aura energy is attached yet free, similar to fire. Emotional energy, on the other hand, is more akin to wind – soft yet intangible.
"You can hold rocks, you can push water, you can transfer fire, but you cannot control the wind. You can only block it, redirect it, or suffocate it. It is not yours to control or hold."
"Lovely poem, but what does that mean?" Maylene leaned back and sighed. Metaphors were not her specialty.
"When wind is prevented or funneled, it becomes erratic." Sabrina completed the allegory. "If Anabel's emotions are not allowed to go through her, she cannot be drained from her Empathy like Psychics and Aura users become when they use their powers – and as a side-effect, it will also cause the Empathy to fall out of her control. All things need energy and must release energy, and if that energy is not taken or given, the object without energy will release energy into and sap energy from others to fuel and spend itself."
"That's like the anti-thing I learned!" Maylene sat up, finally interested now that she understood. "The technique I learned creates an empty power that eats up other energies!"
"Except yours can never be satisfied." the Psychic warned. "Anabel's Empathy can be. It releases itself physically and overloads itself into those who can hold emotions. Energy taken and emotions given, at the cost of the victim's emotional sanity."
Maylene whistled, impressed. "That's deadly." How in the world does this lady figure out this stuff?
"As we speak, every emotion Anabel is feeling is feeding off Ash's energy."
Maylene and Anabel turned towards Ash.
Tears were flowing down his eyes, he didn't notice them.
Inside, he felt angry, upset, depressed, panicked, and absolutely confused. He had thought they were his own feelings… but Sabrina's explanation had revealed to him otherwise.
These are Anabel's emotions…
He faced her. Her worried emotions transferring to him and through him.
"How do I stop this? How do I fix me?" the Frontier Brain's volume escalated, but no emotional tone came from them.
Ash felt her desperation.
In a flicker of light, a large ring of energy shot out from the lilac-haired girl.
Everyone ducked out of the attack's path. The ring exploded into a sparkle of colors as they collided with the trees.
"I can't… feel… anything…" the young man whispered. "I can't… FEEL ANY-"
His scream was cut short by Maylene's hand.
She held him close as he continued screaming into her.
The fighter glared angrily towards Anabel. "Stop it! You're driving him insane!"
Sabrina was ready to silence the female Empathic's emotions by attacking her mind… but the bond had made her take a different approach.
Her hand rested on Anabel's shoulder. "It's alright. We'll find a way to fix you…"
Ash slowed his breathing and began sobbing. "I wish I could feel something…"
…
Dawn quietly backed away and turned…
"Ow!"
Only to bump heads with another person.
"Watch where you're going!" May hissed as she rubbed her forehead.
"May? Misty?" Dawn nearly shouted in surprise. "Wh-What are you two doing here?"
"Misty?" May tilted her head and turned around.
She nearly yelped at the sight of the orange-haired Gym Leader standing behind her.
"Wh-What are you doing here?"
Misty sighed at their shocked reactions. "Seriously? Why else would I be here?"
The three girls looked down… each one feeling the heavy weight of depression, as none of them could do anything to improve the situation that had befallen Anabel. Powerless…
"Ahem!"
The three girls jumped back, frightened by the sound.
It was Maylene.
She stood with a hand on her hip and annoyance in her eyes. "What the heck are you four doing eavesdropping on a private meeting?"
"Four?" May looked around in confusion.
"Angie! Get down here! I know you're up there!"
Rustle.
Angie's head popped out from the leaves above. "How the heck did you find me?"
"Because Sabrina's a Psychic, you idiots!" Maylene tapped her foot inirritation. She turned towards May. "You know, for an Empathic, you sure are terrible at sensing people."
Dawn, Misty, and Angie glared at May. "EMPATHIC?"
May didn't feel cornered, she was literally cornered.
She waved her hands apologetically and gave a nervous laugh. "I – I was going to tell you guys l-later…"
"When did you become an Empathic?" Angie growled from above. "Us normal folks are seriously getting outnumbered!"
"That's exactly what I said!" Maylene laughed.
Her face turned serious soon after. "No time for stories or jokes. May, we need you."
The Empathic Coordinator pointed at herself. "M-Me?"
"Seeing that I'm the only other May here, and I don't think I'd be referring to myself, yes. Yes, I was referring to you May, May." The fighter grabbed her by the wrist and began walking. "Oh, and we also need Misty and Angie. So come on over."
"Wh-What about me?" Dawn was about to cry. She felt Ash getting further and further away again. His life becoming far too involved with others to need her anymore.
No… don't go without me… I need you Ash…
The four girls were wandering away into the darkness… slowly leaving Dawn by herself.
She had never felt more alone in her life.
"Dawn! Can you bring Espeon's poké ball? It's by Ash's backpack!" May called out from the distance.
"Y-Yeah! I can do that!" Dawn ran back to the sanctuary, happy to be able to join them.
…
The new Empathic wasn't used to sensing people's emotions without being blindfolded, but it was impossible for her to ignore the Coordinator's distress.
Despite Dawn being a threat to her personal relationship with Ash, May couldn't stand seeing her friend that hurt and alone.
No one deserves that…
That thought lingered in her mind when she finally realized an extremely important question that everyone else had seemed to ignore…
At the end of all this… who is Ash going to choose?
"What do you think they're doing in there?"
"Technically we're in, they're out. So… it'd be 'out there'."
"What's with the grammar police here?"
"Is that really grammar? Or is that situational definition?"
"Is that even a thing?"
The group chatted amongst each other – their individual activities suddenly halted after Dawn had entered and left in a hurry. Curiosity of the missing teammates took over everyone's interests.
Latias put her finger to her lips, gesturing for the others to go silent.
She blurred, turning invisible in seconds.
"Oooh, sneaky. Tell us all about it, Latias!" Tracey encouraged.
"SHHHHHHH!" the rest of the team hushed him.
The sanctuary turned quiet.
…
"Wait." Casey broke the silence. "How can she tell us what happened?"
Several within the group hung their heads and sighed.
"Well, I can understand her." Bianca pointed out. "I can talk for her."
"Nice!" Ritchie cheered. "That's pretty cool! Having a friend who can go invisible and mimic you? Sounds like you can get out of some pretty messy situations with a friend like that!"
Bianca laughed in embarrassment. "Actually, she gets me into more trouble because of it."
The group shared small laughs.
"So Bianca…" Todd leaned forward. "We all talked about what happened in our crazy little adventure… but we never heard what happened when Ash came to visit you."
"Yeah, even Dawn kept avoiding that conversation." Tracey pointed out.
"And Casey here won't say a word about it." Ritchie bumped his shoulder against hers.
Casey grumbled and bumped back.
"So that leaves you to tell us what happened." The Pokémon Photographer smirked mischievously – extremely curious of what her reaction would be.
Solana and Liza, who had been quietly playing cards in the corner, both quickly crawled over.
"I'll admit that even I want to hear this." Liza pulled over a backpack and sat on it.
Solana flopped onto her stomach, and leaned her chin against her forearms. "How is Alto Mare this time of year?"
"I… uh… uhm…" Bianca looked around her. She was completely surrounded.
"Come on! Tell us!"
"Did something 'special' happen there?"
"She's blushing! Something DID happen!"
"You can't back out now. Tell us! Tell us!"
"Er… the thing is…"
"Oh for crying out loud!" Casey stood and walked over to Bianca. She sat down beside her and stretched her limbs. "We'll tell it together."
"Wait! I – I don't think we should!" Bianca panicked.
"Well good thing I'm not thinking right now." Casey took off her baseball cap and slipped a stick of bubblegum into her mouth. "Gather around kiddies! Cuz Auntie Casey and BiBi have a tale to tell!"
"BiBi? What kind of name is that?"
"Hey, I started the story – storytellers get to choose names. You're BiBi, I'm Auntie Casey, and this is the magnificent tale of Sato! The Man Who Hit the Reset Button!"
The audience applauded eagerly.
Bianca buried her face in her hands in utter embarrassment. "Ash is going to kill us…"
A large wave of emotion crashed out of Anabel, tears fell from her eyes – continuing to soak her already drenched coat.
Her nails dug deep wounds into her two closest extensions…
Espeon yowled in agony. The emotions the Sun Pokémon recognized most from Anabel ran through her… memories flashed within her mind, each one attached to an emotion the Empathic would always remember for her beloved pokémon…
She wanted to falter – to forever be sucked into the Empathy and give it everything it ever wanted. It was Anabel, her master, her partner, her friend. Why shouldn't she? Why shouldn't she sacrifice herself for her?
Espeon! Focus!
The psychic call returned the pokémon's consciousness back into reality.
Sabrina kneeled a short distance away from her, with palms spread open.
Control the emotions. Form them into memories and transfer them to me.
Espeon growled, the gem on its forehead glowing bright in response to its mental struggle.
Sabrina could feel its mind on the brink of insanity. She could no longer keep her own safety as a priority.
The Psychic took a step forward, reaching out towards Espeon.
Sensing the intrusion of an unwanted entity, the fury and rage of Anabel flared out – attempting to consume the Psychic that had wandered too close.
ESPEON!
Sabrina planted her palm against the pokémon's gem.
TRANSFER THEM!
A glimmer of violet light entered Sabrina's arm.
Success!
Espeon fainted.
"Move out of the way, Sabrina!" Maylene called out.
A roar of violent energy dove down, missing the dodging Psychic by inches.
Sabrina rolled and exited the threat zone.
The energy halted in its hunt and returned to patrolling the area around Anabel.
She let out a sigh of relief.
Now it's up to Misty…
"Anabel, it is Ash's turn."
Anabel looked towards Sabrina, her eyes still red from tears – yet remained emotionless. She nodded.
"Ash…"
Another wave of emotion released.
The female Empathic grunted in pain. Tears rained from her eyes once again.
Her grip renewed, digging deeper into a bare shoulder. Blood ran down Ash's skin, as Anabel's nails widened the wounds she had already set on him.
Ash's breathing quickened. He tried his best to hold back the howls of pain.
"Focus on your center, Ash. Just feel the Aura in your center." Maylene coached from afar – using the lessons she had learned with Lucario to improve their pain tolerance. "Focus on your breathing. Feel it go to your center, then back out."
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ash roared in agony… not from his own pain, but from Anabel's.
Her emotions of love, loyalty, and care passed through him – bringing memories of the female Empathic's countless tortures.
She had endured for him. Held out for him. Gave nothing away… all for him. She protected Ash in the only way she could. No one would hurt Ash. Not her Ash. She'd never give him up. She never did. And she was punished for it.
They tried nonstop to break her. If her heart would not break, then perhaps her mind? Perhaps her body?
The fear she felt when she read those emotions – were real to Ash… his body shivered, his mind locked itself away. It would only be the beginning. If only she would just give in, if only she would give them what they want – they'd comfort her, please her, free her from this pain that she kept inflicting on herself. They weren't bad… they were trying to protect her from herself.
Anabel had shaken and fought those thoughts away. They tried controlling her into obedience. They tried manipulating her into submission.
But she never obeyed. She never submitted. And she was punished for it.
"ANABEL!" Ash cried out. "ANABEL! ANAAABELLLLLL!"
Everyone that watched, now turned away – unable to bear the pain they saw in his blank eyes.
Dawn covered her ears and began sobbing. "Stop it, Ash! STOP IT!" His cries were too much for her.
She wanted to run to him, to comfort him, to stop his pain. But she couldn't. She wouldn't be allowed in.
"Misty!" Sabrina yelled.
"Ash…" The Cerulean City Gym Leader held out her hand. "Let it go… let me hold it."
"NO!"
The voice that had come out of Ash was not his.
"It's Ash's! I gave it to him! It's his!" Ash and Anabel yelled in unison.
The swirling fireball of fury and rage blocked Misty's way.
Sabrina turned towards the tomboy.
"Looks like I'm up." Angie cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders.
Confidently, she stepped into the hazard zone.
"Hey, Anne! Over here!"
Anabel, along with her enraged ball of emotions, turned towards her.
"That's right, right here!" Angie taunted her to strike.
"Anj…" the female Empathic's voice was cold, influencing the red and orange energy of anger to turn ice cold in colors. "…step out. Right. Now."
"And what if I don't?"
"Then I will kill you."
"Why? Do you really have that much of an inferiority complex?" Angie shrugged as she continued to mock the heartless Empathic. "Afraid I might… win Ash over?"
That was it.
Anabel let go of Ash and forced her raging emotions to strike at the insolent young woman.
"Misty! Now!"
"Ash!"
Ash exhaled and released all his held emotions into Misty.
Anabel turned. "NO!" The cold fury turned hot and burned towards Ash's extension.
"MAYLENE!"
"On it!" The fighter ran towards the infuriated force and controlled her breathing.
Come on, Maylene. You got this. You got this. Just like before.
A slow breath out.
A slow breath in.
Maylene closed her eyes and let the Emptiness return.
Everything went silent.
Ash, Misty, and Sabrina fainted immediately.
The Empathic and Psychic energies in the immediate area separated themselves from their physical containers – their powers becoming inhaled by the void that rested in the pit of the fighter's center.
Churning to a single point, the mixed emotional and mental forces glowed in a wonderful display of light and warmth within Maylene's hands.
Dawn, Pikachu, and Latias leaned closer – dazzled by the sight.
Angie scratched her nose and watched carefully.
Maylene's eye twitched.
Finding the fighter's signal, Angie pushed the blank-faced girl towards the ball of emotion. "Soup's ready, Anne. Drink up and feel better."
Maylene instinctively gave the energy to its rightful owner.
The light and warmth touched Anabel's chest.
"Ah-!"
She let out a gasp as her emotions and memories returned. Her eyes lit up. "I can…!"
"Not done yet!" Angie patted Maylene on the back, gesturing the fighter to stop. "May! Close her up!"
"Just did." The pink-haired woman blinked at her.
"Not you. The other May!"
The Empathic Coordinator slid in and ran towards the off-balanced Frontier Brain.
"Here goes nothing!" May pulled her bandana over her eyes and rubbed her hands together. She pressed her warmed palms against Anabel's heart.
…
…
"A lot… better." Anabel sighed and smiled.
She fainted.
…
Latias began clapping.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Angie bowed.
"Will you be here all week?" Maylene joked as she bowed too.
"If I have to carry all these bodies back by myself, probably."
They looked back. Ash, Anabel, Espeon, and Sabrina were dead asleep. Misty simply raised her hand, gesturing for assistance.
May walked over and lifted her up. "You okay?"
"…that was…" the orange-haired Gym Leader mumbled inaudibly.
"Huh?"
"…was mine…" She lost consciousness.
May shrugged her shoulders and turned towards the others. "Can I have some help?"
They nodded.
Pikachu and Latias carried the downed Espeon.
Angie threw Anabel onto her back. "Come on, Anne. Can't rest out here."
Maylene picked up the Psychic. "I have no idea where this lady gets her insane ideas for cures, but man is she effective."
The tomboy raised a brow as she carried the Empathic through the woods. "What I don't get is why she just didn't ask you to absorb all those powers when Anabel here built up her emotions. We could've skipped out on all that other stuff."
Maylene laughed in response. "Well she did say that if we didn't filter out those emotions that it would've been bad. Something about handling it all at once could've ended me or something."
"I guess that's important." Angie laughed with her.
…
"Dawn?" May turned towards her fellow Coordinator. "…can you carry Ash?"
The blue-haired girl sat in silence, tears rolling down her eyes.
"I… don't…"
With the bandana still over her eyes, the Empathic Coordinator sensed for the girl's emotions carefully.
She had hoped the others would leave Ash so that Dawn would feel useful, as she had been considering herself useless throughout the entire experience.
But now… Dawn felt worse.
"I… I don't deserve to."
"Dawn…"
"All of you do so much for each other… I didn't even know what was happening half the time you were all doing that." The Sinnoh Coordinator looked away with shame. "I'm so useless…"
Her words broke May's heart. She knew exactly how Dawn felt, almost far too exact. But unlike Ash, she didn't know what she could do to change her mind.
"You're a talented Coordinator, Dawn… in fact, I think you're even a better Coordinator than me." she admitted, recalling their match in the Wallace Cup. "You're not useless. Ash needs you for this mission. More than he probably needs me as a Coordinator. I just had years of a head start over you. Give yourself a few years and you'll surpass me."
May gave an encouraging smile, hoping that the young girl wouldn't mimic the 'and what are you' speech she gave to Ash in the Rocket Tunnel. I honestly would have no idea what to say to that…
Dawn crawled over and slowly lifted Ash onto her shoulder.
She walked silently into the thick trees.
I'm glad she's moving at least…
The blue Coordinator stopped and plainly admitted, "I… don't really care about being a Coordinator without Ash…"
With a grunt, she continued her march back to the sanctuary.
…
"…you and me both, kid."
The private meeting had ended, and its participants returned to the sanctuary.
First to arrive was Angie, with Anabel piggybacked. The tomboy's hair was a mess, and the others could smell that it was slightly burnt. Oppositely, Anabel's hair remained perfectly intact, though her clothes were soaking wet.
Then came Latias, with Pikachu and Espeon lying on her illusionary shoulders. Latias, as always, looked perfectly clean – though her eyes suggested recent shock and worry. Pikachu also seemed perfectly fine visually, though showed obvious concern for the other pokémon riding with him. The Sun Pokémon was in horrible shape… her fur stiff and frayed, and with four noticeable wound marks on its back. Despite this, she was sleeping soundly.
Dawn and Maylene appeared together, one carrying Sabrina, and the other carrying Ash.
Maylene, as usual, looked slightly unkempt yet cheerful. Stains of all kinds marked her already dirty clothes. The Psychic on her back looked in similar condition. Though unlike the fighter, she was unconscious and mumbling in a fitful sleep.
The Coordinator seemed in almost perfect condition, except for her tired eyes. Ash, on the other hand, looked… ravaged. Half of his shirt and vest were torn off completely, almost as if burned off. Blood was dripping from his shoulder. His face didn't seem to show care, as he snored loudly in a blissful sleep.
Lastly, May entered into the sanctuary, with Misty fading in and out of consciousness on her back. The two seemed mostly unharmed. May's only injury was in her hands, which were a soft off-color pink – as if its old skin had been peeled off.
In whole, the returning group was in shambles, and seemed relieved to be back to an area with light.
…
"Looks like that private meeting seemed a lot more private than it should have been." Todd joked as he gestured towards Ash.
The group laughed uneasily.
Maylene gladly helped the joke, "Oh yeah. We all took turns! It was pretty intense. You shoulda' been there."
The fighter was instantly tackled and kicked by two of her helping companions.
Angie and May's faces were completely pink from the fighter's explicit insinuation.
Even Latias seemed to blush at the idea.
"What? We d-didn't –!" May nearly dropped her passenger. She panicked to rebalanced.
"Y-You're sick, Maylene!" Angie gave another kick.
Maylene dodged and laughed. "Calm down! Calm down! It's just a joke!"
Dawn tilted her head. "Huh? Joke?" Completely oblivious.
The fighter grinned. "At least one of us is innocent." She nudged Dawn. "We'll tell you when you get older."
"Older?" The Coordinator pouted, "I'm not some kid!"
"Well you are the youngest of all of us." Bianca pointed out with an air of superiority.
"Er… BiBi?" Casey pointed at her nose. "Nosebleed."
"Hm?" She looked down. "Ah!"
Bianca covered her face with one hand as she desperately tried to wipe away the nosebleed with the other.
The group laughed.
"S-So…" The center of attention tried to recover herself. "What were you guys doing in there?"
"'Out' there." Ritchie corrected.
"Seriously, call the grammar police." Casey sighed.
"In there. Out there. Whatever." Bianca successfully stopped and cleaned her previous embarrassment. "What were you all doing without us?"
"Yeah, it looks like you all had a fight!" Solana leaned back and allowed Plusle to sit on her lap. "It definitely sounded like a fight."
"Or something else entirely." Todd coughed.
Angie kicked his head. "Shush, perv."
"The charizards haven't seen any activity above or around the forest." Liza mentioned as she sipped from her can of coffee. "So unless someone attacked underground, I'm assuming you all had a private sparring session with one another?"
"Pff! I wish!" Maylene slowly rested Sabrina against a tree.
Angie did the same for Anabel. "Actually, we were just fixing up Anne over here."
"Fixing?" Casey stuck her bubblegum to a rock and casually rested her head on her knees. "Something was wrong with her?"
Todd sat up and massaged the bump forming on the side of his head. "Well, she was going berserk back at the isle. I'm guessing that wasn't natural for her."
"Definitely not natural." The tomboy nodded. "She just needed a little tune-up. It was little troublesome, but she's all fine and dandy now."
"That's good to hea–"
Solana was cut off by a loud SNORE.
Angie had fallen asleep next to Anabel instantly.
She was not the only one to fall asleep. Maylene and May had dozed off, their expressions showing complete exhaustion.
Dawn was the last non-pokémon from the private meeting that hadn't fallen asleep.
She sat uncomfortably against a tree, as Ash's slumbering body curled up against her.
Latias put her finger up to her lip and smiled to the group. The Eon Pokémon lightly placed Espeon on Anabel's lap and silently hopped towards Bianca. Finding a comfortable spot to rest, she removed her light illusion and relaxed her body. Long day…
You have to tell me what happened later. Bianca sent her thoughts to the pokémon companion.
Long story…
The pokémon fell asleep.
…
…
"We heard the story about your trip with Ash…"
Dawn's eyes widened.