The Journey Never Ends
Chapter 37: Of Memories Forgotten
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Allie Dogwood was falling. She was falling from the giant airship, the Rocket Aircruiser Ubume.
Bulbasaur hadn't vine whipped her. Ash had pushed her out of an emergency hatch. None of it made sense, but she was more focused on her current predicament than on the circumstances that had led to it.
Without any Pokémon, she could do nothing but fall. And so she fell through the freezing-cold upper levels of the atmosphere toward the deep blue ocean beneath her. From her vantage point, she could see Cinnabar Island in the distance, and the southern beaches of Kanto just past it. In the other direction, a chain of islands dotted the sea. She assumed these were the islands of the Orange Archipelago she had learned about in school. Unfortunately, she was likely going to land too far away from any island to swim too, and even if she did land close enough, the impact upon hitting the water would kill her.
The chances of her survival weren't great.
A birdcall sounded shrilly from somewhere below the girl. She looked down and saw a Pokémon with broad wings, hovering stationary below her. She shouted for it to move so that she wouldn't hit it, but as she grew nearer to it, she realized it was waiting for her.
She landed on Pidgeot's back with a thud. The large bird descended to accommodate the impact and additional weight, but continued circling the same section of the sky. Not far above them, Allie could still see the massive airship flying through the sky.
In Pidgeot's mouth, there was a black backpack embroidered with the Rocket Nation logo. She guessed that Ash must have sent it for her. Did that mean he hadn't actually betrayed Kanto? Now that she was safe on Pidgeot, she started trying to process all that had happened.
A few minutes later, a green speck came hurtling down toward them. Pidgeot flew adjacent to its path of decent. They dipped a little as the speck grabbed on and pulled them down with it. Allie looked down to see Bulbasaur barely hanging onto Pidgeot's legs with a vine. The brown bird hardly reacted except for adjusting his flight course, indicating that he knew that the grass-type would be coming.
"Are you okay?" Allie shouted down to him. She wished she hadn't tried to look down at him; their distance from the ocean below made her feel sick.
"Bulba," the Pokémon said weakly. The sprout on his back was covered in ice from the cold temperatures of the upper atmostpheres. Allie knew she would have to warm him soon or he could suffer permanent damage. As they were still thousands of feet from the ground, Bulbasaur would have to hold out until they found land.
With his second passenger secured, Pidgeot began a gentle descent. They hadn't gotten far before there was a loud explosion from the Ubume. Allie almost lost her grip on Pidgeot, but regained it at the last second. She thought the ship appeared to be losing altitude, but perhaps it was just her imagination. There were too many people aboard that ship for it to crash. The deathtoll would be enormous. No, the ship must surely be indestructible.
Eventually, an island appeared, rising tall out of the ocean. Pidgeot banked toward it and landed near the edge. The island was entirely green, covered from end to end with grass. It wasn't very large, but any amount of land was a huge relief to Allie.
The trainer and two Pokémon watched from the grassy field as the Ubume continued losing altitude at an alarming rate. It finally hit the ocean with a deafening thud that could be heard throughout Kanto. The crash landing sent a massive wave that thundered against the cliffs of Allie's island. The ship broke apart and slowly sank into the deep blue sea. Even though she hated the people aboard it, the destruction of the mighty craft stunned Allie. No life rafts appeared around it.
None of the several hundred passengers had escaped.
There was nothing the girl could do now. The ship was gone, totally submerged. It was too late for what-ifs. Turning her focus back to her own predicament, Allie decided that she shouldn't sit around. She stood up and walked toward the center of the island. She found a nice place to camp. Pidgeot tossed the backpack to her.
In the bag, Allie found a tent, some blankets, extra clothing, and her Pokéballs. She hadn't known what happened to them when they were taken away from her, so she was very relieved to see them. Ash must have stolen them back for her. Had he not, they would have been drowned along with the rest of the Ubume's passengers.
Ash had been on the ship. His Pokémon understood what had happened. Pidgeot had tears in its eyes. Allie felt like crying too, but their survival depended on her next few actions. Ash had saved them; it would be a waste of his sacrifice to die on the island.
Immediately releasing her Pokémon, the girl embraced them each in turn. Even Vigoroth accepted her affection, although he acted like a little boy being hugged by a relative.
Bulbasaur was still shivering, so the trainer instructed Ruby to start a fire. Since there were no trees on the island, the red fox set a bush on fire. Bulbasaur collapsed next to it, exhausted but relieved to finally warm up.
Meanwhile, Allie changed into the set of clothes in the bag, just an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants. She then began setting up the tent. Ash had always taught her to make camp and rest when it was necessary, and they all certainly needed to recover after their most recent ordeal.
In the heart of the fallen airship, Ash opened his eyes. He was still in the flooded hangar of the aircruiser. The ocean had filled the entire room, making breathing impossible. The salty sea water stung his eyes as he tried to look around. The blurry outlines of crates were visible through the dark water, but he couldn't see any signs of other humans or Pokémon.
He gagged, reminded that he was underwater. This must be what drowning felt like, he realized. What a miserable way to go. He'd rather die in a blaze of glory.
This would be the end. He just hoped that Allie could someday understand and come to respect him again. His sacrifice was a necessary evil.
Ash's vision suddenly turned pink, and he blinked, startled. Was it an effective of air deprivation?
The pink bubble solidified around him, and he disappeared from the great sunken aircraft.
On the mysterious island, Allie had begun to explore her surroundings. She had finished making camp, and her Pokémon were all resting around the fire. Her assumptions had been right; there really was nothing else on the island.
That was her assumption, but it changed just a moment later when she saw a body lying face down in the grass. She would have screamed, but didn't want to alert whoever else might be around. Instead, she crept closer.
"Ash," she said, panicking as she recognized her friend's black hair and soaked commander uniform. She ran over to him and tried to see if he was breathing.
He wasn't.
The girl closed her eyes and breathed deeply, hoping that she knew what she was doing. She rolled him onto his back, then knelt down beside him and started trying to resuscitate the half-drowned trainer.
She knew it might be a pointless effort. Wishing she had Pikachu or another electric-type with her to act as an AED, she continued to try to bring him back. There was a cracking noise, and Allie knew she had broken a couple of ribs. It was a small price to pay if it saved Ash's life.
Finally, the champion stirred and began coughing up water. He blinked slowly, trying to adjust his eyes to the light. Looking up at Allie, he coughed. "Alive?" he wondered. "How?"
"I found you in the grass," Allie explained, filled with relief. "How did you get off the airship?"
"I-I didn't," he struggled to say.
"But you're here."
"But I'm… I'm here," he repeated, still not entirely sure of his bearings or how he was alive. All he could remember was that pink bubble forming around him.
Allie helped him back to where she had pitched camp. Pidgeot and Bulbasaur bounded over to him, thrilled to see their trainer alive. He smiled weakly at them, and then Allie helped him peel his wet clothing off to avoid hypothermia. She looked away when he moved to take his pants off and threw a dry blanket at him.
Ash curled up next to the fire, trying to get warm. His companion, meanwhile, busied herself with getting a meal ready.
"Where are we?" she asked him, once he had amble time to recover from his near-death experience.
"New Island. I had Pidgeot take you here because I think it may be connected to Cerulean Cape somehow. I don't know how I ended up here, though. I expected to die."
"You… you expected to die?" she repeated, horrified at his revelation.
"I didn't mean to," replied Ash solemnly. "It became an unfortunate necessity. I guess I got lucky."
Allie had no idea what he was talking about. She had meant to leave this conversation until he recovered, but she couldn't just let it go. Until she understood whether he had betrayed her or saved her, she couldn't stop wondering about his motives.
"What happened up there?" she inquired, staring accusatively into Ash's brown eyes. "Why were you working for them?"
Ash groaned, but decided to reveal the truth. "When I started investigating Rocket Nation after the Dante Club Incident, I was approached by a mysterious gentleman who requested I joined them. It wasn't the first time they asked me. But this time… this time they had May."
"What?" Allie stared at him dumbfounded.
"They took her while she helped evacuate people from the Dante Club. Normally I would just hunt them down, but I panicked and tried to hurry my investigation. The best way to do that was to pretend to join them. I knew they meant to take advantage of me, but I thought I'd be able to turn the tables on them if I could just uncover their plot."
There it was: that sense of childish pride that had possessed him throughout his early life. He had become cautious in the past few years, but threw it all aside in a careless attempt to destroy his foes. Perhaps his friends were a weakness, just as his greatest foe had taunted him three years ago.
"Why didn't you tell me that they had May?" Allie wondered, hurt by his lack of faith in her.
"It was too dangerous. I didn't want them to use you as bait too. Anyway, I was assigned the title of commander and given access to many resources. I used them all to find out what Rocket Nation's objectives were. The files about The Creature were encrypted, except for one about the old Team Rocket's mission to Mount Quena. I interviewed a former agent named Domino to see if she remembered what happened there. I was there in person, but I wanted a second opinion. She confirmed my suspicion of The Creature's identity."
"Really?" said Allie, surprised by how much he had figured out while he was away.
The battered champion shot her a look reminding her to be quiet while he finished his story.
"But even then, there was a missing link in the story. It felt like I couldn't remember something important. So I tracked down another member of Team Rocket, an old woman who had broken her affiliation with the group. She told me about her mission to the Andes to track a legendary Pokémon. She sent me here. That's why I was in Cinnabar: I was on my way here. I still don't know what I'm supposed to find on a deserted island.
"We were never supposed to meet back in Cinnabar. I was furious that Pikachu led you to me. The poison was meant for me, but all of you were endangered by it. It was a test from Rocket Nation to see if I was up to the assignment they had planned for me. When we confronted the grunts on the beach, one of them told me that I was to command the troops on the Ubume. He taunted me for it and threatened to tell you; that's why I became so aggressive toward him. Even then, I was an idiot. I shouldn't have let you come. I fooled myself into thinking that I could protect you with my title of commander.
"When they found you as a stowaway, I tried to protect you. The captain would have had you executed immediately; but I told him I wanted to interrogate you in person. That's why I pretended not to know you. I'm so sorry that I had to be so rough on you. I needed you to hate me so much that you wouldn't let on that you knew me. Allie, you played your part perfectly. That gave me time to finish sabotaging the Ubume."
He broke off for a moment, and when he continued, his voice was even weaker, as if he were about to break down. "I am so sorry for what I had to do to you. I'm sorry for leaving you and doing all this, but I thought it was the only way to keep you and everyone else safe. In the end, I even failed at that. You have every right to hate me for letting you get hurt."
"I'm not mad at you because you hurt me!" she said scathingly. "I'm mad that you lied to me."
The edge to her tone surprised Ash, and he looked up from the fire.
"Ash, I would have done anything for you," the girl insisted. "If you had just told me what was going on, I would have played along. And then I wouldn't have been so angry at you for taking me prisoner. I could have helped you investigate Mount Quena and all of that. And maybe we could have stopped Rocket Nation without killing so many people."
"If you were aware of what was going on, you would understand," Ash mumbled. "Rocket Nation is evil. I had to stop them."
"You murdered them."
"I did what I had to do."
Allie stared at him. An anger that she had never felt before filled her. "And what about people like Christina? Or Gorrick? They might have been working for the wrong side, but they weren't evil."
"I wish they weren't there. I told them to leave."
"I didn't see anyone else escape," Allie told him.
The truth hit Ash hard. Despite his moment of compassion, Gorrick's squad had still ultimately been destroyed. "I thought I was going to die with them."
"Risking your own life doesn't give you the right to play God with other people."
In silence, Ash prepared his sleeping bag next to the fire, wearing nothing but the blanket as a toga. He knew that she was totally right in the accusation. "I did what seemed right in the moment."
"I'm going to bed," said Allie, ignoring his last justification. She was tired of this discussion. Until she could decide what to think about Ash, she couldn't listen to him talk about his choices. Whether or not his actions were essential to the security of Kanto, Ash was wrong to indiscriminately punish Rocket Nation.
"Good night, then," was the response she received. Ash crouched in front of the fire to warm himself.
Allie slept in the tent that night, even though the skies were cloudless and the night was young. She didn't want to be anywhere near Ash. She didn't think she ever would again.
It was all very confusing. Did Ash really have to treat her that way to maintain appearances for the Rockets, or was it he who was accountable for the way the organization had treated her? Allie had a hard time believing that Christina and Gorrick were willing to resort to torture, but some of the other Rocket squads and leaders seemed keen on the concept. She couldn't imagine Ash would have hurt her without necessity. But was he so determined to believe the Rockets were evil that he acted as he perceived they would?
And he hadn't had any qualms about murdering hundreds of deluded people. What did that say about who he had become?
They were all questions Allie had to think about before deciding what to say to Ash.
It was dawn when Ash arose. He wanted to get a head start on his investigation of New Island before Allie woke up. Miyamoto had directed him here, but he still wasn't sure why. The mysterious woman hadn't given him many answers, promising that most of them could be found on the island. The sooner he found the answers, the sooner they could leave the uncharted place.
And if he wasn't around when Allie woke up, he wouldn't have to face her frustration again so soon. It crushed him to see her so angry with him, but he had known that was a risk from the outset. He had told her that he couldn't assure her safety, but at least she was alive and safe now. She had a point though: his actions may as well have been murder, justified or not.
As he walked across the grassy island, he listened for the rustling of Pokémon, but none could be heard. It was almost like the entire place was deserted apart from him and Allie, but why would Miyamoto send him to a deserted island? It seemed unlikely that she would lie to him.
He strode gingerly, trying to avoid the pain of his broken ribs. He'd have to get them looked at when they returned to the mainland. If Allie hadn't resuscitated him though, he'd be dead. Ash wondered if she'd be happier if she had let him die.
Mew…
That sound. Ash spun around, looking for the source. He seemed to be alone in the dewy grass. Allie should still be way back at camp. "Hello?"
He continued searching the grass and nearly toppled backward when Mew spontaneously appeared above his head.
Mew. The small psychic type grinned at him, floating down to meet Ash at eyelevel.
"Mew? What are you doing here?" he asked, recognizing the Pokémon the few times they had met. "It was you who saved me, wasn't it?" the champion realized, recalling the pink bubble that had teleported him from the wreckage.
Mew nodded. Mew, Mew Mew Mew. Mew Mew.
It was times like these when Ash wished he could speak with Pokémon. Perhaps it could perform telepathy.
"Is there any way you can tell me so I can understand?"
Mew did more than simply tell Ash. Its prehensile twirled around behind it, then touched Ash on the forehead ever so gently.
Images flashed through his mind as Mew reopened memories that had been sealed away for nearly ten years. Memories of a Dragonite delivering a challenge returned to him, followed by a near death experience with his friends in a storm, and finally, his first encounter with Mewtwo.
Not all of the memories were his, however. Many seemed to be the very memories of the land on which they stood. New Island had seen its share of chaos throughout the years. There was a massive laboratory, and Ash somehow knew that it must be the birthplace of Mewtwo. He witnessed the fire that consumed it. He saw the man he hated the most offer Mewtwo power. And then he saw himself die trying to calm Mewtwo. He watched in amazement as the tears of the Pokémon restored him to life. And finally, the island returned to its natural grassy state.
Almost ten years ago it had all happened. And yet, Team Rocket's misdeeds continued to plague the land.
He had met Mewtwo at Mount Quena, and he had always remembered that. But his memories of his first meeting with the psychic Pokémon had remained hidden until now. And now that his memories were returned, he knew for certain that his suspicions about The Creature were correct. He now knew more than he ever had about its origin and his own encounters with the mysterious Pokémon.
Armed with the power of knowledge, Ash was ready to face whatever the genetically engineered Pokémon could do. He resolved to return to Allie and accompany her back to the mainland. Whether she would want to come with him or not was still in question, but he at least needed to see her back to safety. Perhaps she would join him once she understood what was at stake.
"Will you come with us?" he asked Mew.
Mew shook its head, staring at the ocean.
"Okay." It was understandable. With a few exceptions, Mew tended to avoid conflict. Ash presumed it would return to help if it was needed. It had fought Mewtwo before; they were approximately equals in power. "Will you at least share these memories with my friend?"
Mew nodded, and followed Ash back to the camp.
Allie was fuming. Not only was she stranded on a deserted island with someone who had lied and hurt her, but now she was losing her mind.
She had set several granola bars out on the ground next to the tent for breakfast. Every time she turned around to stoke the fire, another bar disappeared. Ash had packed only a limited amount in the bag, and they were running low. If any more vanished, they wouldn't be eating a very substantial breakfast.
The Pokémon were all back in their balls, resting comfortably. Ash had gone off somewhere, not that Allie particularly cared. It was better that he wasn't around right now; Allie still had a lot of thinking to do about how she felt about him.
But to her knowledge, they were the only people or Pokémon on the island. So where were the bars going?
The next time she walked over to the fire, she acted like she was prodding it, but instead cast a discreet glance over her shoulder. She was surprised to see a tiny Pokémon poke its head out of the tall grass.
"Stop!" she shouted at it, as it snuck toward her breakfast.
Startled, the small bird hopped into the air and started to fly away. Allie lunged after it but tripped in the long grass. The baby war eagle hadn't managed to get enough height, so Allie accidentally knocked it to the ground as she fell.
The Pokémon flapped about wildly, but it was stuck beneath Allie. The girl grimaced as its powerful talons tried to tear her skin.
The backpack wasn't far away, so Allie tried to reach for one of her Pokémon. Her hand clasped around a Pokéball. She rolled off of her attacker and threw the ball toward him.
What happened next took her totally by surprise. The trainer had meant to grab an occupied Pokéball: one belonging to her current team. Instead, she must have selected an empty one in her haste. The small eagle had started flying toward her, not noticing the Pokéball. The ball collided with the Pokémon, capturing it without any more struggle.
Stunned by the accidental capture, Allie released the Pokémon to make sure it was unharmed.
"You're a Rufflet, right?" Allie checked. She thought she had seen such Pokémon on television, but she just wanted to make sure.
The flying-type nodded, still slightly irritated he had been caught so easily. His species was known for its warrior spirit, so Rufflet felt a little embarrassed to have been caught without a proper battle.
Even though Allie didn't know much about Unova Pokémon, she still recognized that the little eaglet was put off by the inelegant capture.
"If you want, I can release you. I didn't mean to catch you." The words were strange to say, but if he didn't want to be her Pokémon, he shouldn't have to be.
Rufflet clicked at her, resigned to his fate.
Allie stretched a hand toward him, but he hissed at it.
"Don't be afraid." It was then she noticed how thin his body was. Even though she had never seen an Rufflet, Allie had a feeling that this one was malnourished. "You've been stealing food because you're hungry, isn't that right?" she asked compassionately.
The little bird froze, nervous, but then nodded his head.
"It's okay now. I'll take care of you, okay? You can be part of my team."
He looked skeptical, but then Allie pulled another granola bar from the backpack. He hopped into her lap and began munching on it. He was cute and had quite a personality.
She was feeding her new Pokémon when footsteps alerted her to her companion's return.
"Morning, Allie," Ash greeted her. He noticed Rufflet, but decided to inquire after he had explained about meeting Mew. "Did you sleep alright last night?"
She didn't respond. Evidently, she was still furious at him for his heartless actions.
"Look, Allie," the champion began. "I know you're mad at me for what I did. But I stand by my decisions. If I could stop Rocket Nation through diplomacy, I would. If I need to blow them up, that's what I'll do. I wish it could have gone differently, but it didn't. That ship could have destroyed half of Kanto."
They stood there in silence for several minutes, neither making a noise. Allie continued to feed Rufflet. Finally, she said, "They're humans, Ash. Like me or you."
He knew it was true. "I know. I'm sorry Allie."
The girl turned to face him and the two met eye to eye. "You're dangerous to everyone when you try to do everything alone. You stop caring about others when you only worry about your mission," she rebuked him. Her voice softened as she continued. "Promise me you won't do something like that again. Please Ash. It hurt me to see you like that, and I know it hurts your other friends too."
He could deal with the blood on his hands. He could deal with a brush with death. But he couldn't deal with the fact that by trying to protect Allie, he had failed her and caused her pain. The knowledge caused no shortage of internal turmoil for Ash.
In his heart, he knew he would always do what he felt necessary. Allie was still important to him, though, and he couldn't betray her trust again. Perhaps if he worked harder to find alternate solutions, he could still fulfill his duty to Kanto and earn back the trust of Allie and his other friends.
"I'm sorry Allie. I'll try… no, I won't let that happen again."
Allie continued to scrutinize him for several minutes, before sighing. "Okay. What did you find?" The excited expression on his face when he returned had told her that he discovered something important. Discussing the consequences of his actions, however, had taken priority in the girl's mind.
"I found answers, Allie, answers." His broad grin indicated to her that it wasn't a small discovery.
Mew appeared from the grass at Ash's feet, nodding in agreement. Allie jumped back, surprised by its sudden appearance.
"This is Mew."
"But… but Ash," the girl gasped. "Isn't it a legendary Pokémon?" She never expected to see the legendary Mew, least of all on a seemingly random island.
"Yeah. They may be rare, but they definitely exist. I've seen plenty of legends come to life during my travels," he closed his eyes, reminiscing for a moment before returning to the present. "Show her," he said to Mew.
The pink Pokémon rose from the ground and touched Allie's forehead with its tail.
The same flood of memories Ash had experienced filled her mind. She wondered who the redhead was in the memories, but didn't think this was the time to ask. Ash seemed very close to her, but he had never mentioned her before.
"I told you yesterday that I had figured out the identity of The Creature," Ash said to her, speaking very quickly now. "But I wasn't able to confirm how it was all connected until Mew showed me those memories."
"That… thing…" she shuddered, remembering the horrible metal thing that had lured her to Cerulean Cape and kidnapped Mina. "That's Mewtwo?"
"Indeed."
"But how come you didn't remember? You were in some of the memories."
"The first time Mewtwo tried to destroy the world, my friends and I came to this island."
Allie nodded, she had seen that one. He had selflessly thrown himself into the line of fire to stop the fighting and died. By a miracle, he had then been miraculously restored to life through the mysterious powers of Pokémon.
"After the battle, he and his fellow clones fled to Johto where they wouldn't be disturbed anymore. He made us forget what had happened to protect his fellow clones. But Mewtwo forgot to wipe the mind of… of a real monster." His voice trailed off and Allie saw his fists clench in reaction to a painful memory. "We met him again, and that time he didn't erase our memories. That's how I knew he existed. But until now, I didn't know for sure that it was him. It makes sense, since Rocket Nation is using clones. They must have rediscovered the cloning process."
Allie suddenly remembered the words of the Clefable in Mount Moon.
Farewell, Allie Dogwood. Beware the one who was not born.
"He was cloned," she mumbled. "Not born…" The fairy Pokémon had foreseen her ill-fated trip to Cerulean Cape, she just hadn't realized it at the time.
"That's right."
"And Rocket Nation is controlling him?"
"Yes. When he was possessing Sabrina, he said that 'what man does through him is not his crime.' It didn't make sense then, but now we can assume that he's not acting of his own free will."
"Do you think the metal armor has anything to do with it?" she wondered, thinking about the differences between Mewtwo's appearance and The Creature's.
"It's probably some kind of power-focusing system that simultaneously strengthens and controls Mewtwo."
"So we'll have to break its control on him if we want to set things right."
"Exactly," Ash nodded, proud of how fast his friend had caught on. Perhaps he should have trusted her with the knowledge of his involvement with Rocket Nation. Maybe everything would have ended better that way.
"What do we do now?" Allie asked. She was more or less engaged in a staring contest with Mew, as they both found each other so interesting. Mew was especially interested in her ponytail.
"We head back to the mainland," the master declared. His determined expression wavered slightly as he looked at his companion. "That is, if you still want to come with me."
"Of course I do," she answered, though not very confidently. She had thought about it all morning, considering everything Gary, May, and others had told her about Ash. In the end, she decided that he made bad decisions when he tried to do things alone. "I'm not leaving your side again." It was in everyone's best interest. "Just don't ever betray me again," she added.
The champion nodded, ashamed of what he felt was necessary at the time. "Never again," he promised.
"Good."
Turning back to the matter at hand, Ash decided that it was time to leave the island. "Well then, we should probably start back. Are you up for flying?"
"On Pidgeot?" Allie assumed. "He's pretty weak after yesterday."
"He'll be able to carry only one of us," he explained. "And we need to fly as fast as possible. That means that Rufflet will carry you."
Skeptical, Allie sized the little eagle up doubtfully. He was adorable, but not nearly as big as Ash's Pidgeot. His tiny wings fluttered excitedly when Rufflet realized they were talking about him.
"Ash, there's no way he'll be able to carry me across the ocean. Look at him."
The little eaglet puffed himself up indignantly. He hoped onto her shoulder and seized her by her ponytail, pulling her to her knees. She winced in pain and closed her eyes.
When she looked up, her new Pokémon was staring at her with roguish look of satisfaction in his eyes.
"Be careful, Allie. Rufflet are determined little things. I've seen them take on Pokémon five times their own size. Don't underestimate its strength."
"I didn't mean… I'm sorry," the girl apologized to her new Pokémon.
"Cck Chkk," Rufflet clicked at her.
The champion walked over to the Rocket bag. He had packed it with extra gear just in case they would need it. Luckily, he had included a harness for such an occasion. He returned to where Allie stood and helped her into it, taking care not to make it too tight or too loose. He pulled up on a loop on the back of it, and Allie felt herself lifted off the ground slightly.
Taking a sturdy rope and looping it through Allie's harness, Ash tied the other end around Rufflet's talons. The little eagle stretched his wings, still looking dubious about his new trainer.
Ash patted him on the head. "Don't worry. I'm sure Allie will prove herself to you in time. She certainly proved herself to me." The girl looked away in embarrassment of this praise, but he meant it. Not just anyone could have such an impact on him. Not just anyone could have set him back on the right path not once, but twice.
Grabbing the backpack containing all their gear, he released his own flying type and mounted it. Wincing at the pain of his ribs, he tapped Pidgeot on neck. "Take us to Cinnabar so we can pick up Pikachu," he directed. He felt terrible about how much he had been away from his best buddy and was greatly looking forward to being with him again. "From there, we'll head to Pallet Town."
Both birds spread their wings and took off. Allie hoped that Ash was right about Rufflet. Although the ascent started slowly, Rufflet proved far stronger than he seemed, and managed to get them into the air. Allie laughed as the harness pulled up on her body, lifting her into the air. She spread her wings as if she were the one flying.
Ash smiled at her, glad that they were together again on honest terms. The only secrets he still held weren't important right now. For the first time, they were truly a team. They were finally united for the same purpose with the same knowledge and no hidden agendas.
Allie, too, was glad of it. Even though she was still a little upset with Ash for his actions, she knew that he would never lie to her face. As much as his behavior provided evidence otherwise, he wasn't a bad person. There was no guarantee that he wasn't still hiding secrets. Still, Allie knew that she couldn't help but trust him. It just felt right.
From the cliff, Mew watched as Ash and Allie flew off into the distance. It giggled at them; Allie dangling from Rufflet was a comical sight. But mostly, the small psychic type was just happy to see them together, for even it could recognize good chemistry between humans.
It recreated its pink bubble of psychic energy and invented a game where it would jump off the cliff just to bounce right back up. Thinking back to Mewtwo's base on the island many years ago, Mew remembered the windmill it had enjoyed playing on. Mew enjoyed fun, but if necessity called, it would do anything to protect those around it.
Author's Note:
Hi everyone! Thanks for reading, especially all of you who have favorite or are following for updates! I've been planning an airship since the very beginning, along with Ash's betrayal. This is by far the longest chapter I've ever written, about double the length of most. I didn't want to split everything up though, so just consider it a bonus.
Let me know what you think in reviews or PMs. I'm always glad to hear from readers. What do you think about Ash's willingness to kill to protect Kanto? It might seem a little stretched now, but you'll find out why he's so intense soon enough.
Next Time: Homecoming! Return to Pallet Town!