Ashley: Um, where is everyone else?
AKCC: Busy. Like I am. Just do the disclaimer.
Ashley: Well since you asked so nicely.
AKCC: Don't do that to me. Just say the disclaimer and get on with the chapter.
Ashley: Fine. AKCC doesn't own any part of Pokemon or anything else she refers to. She only own me and any other OCs she created.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Ashley's POV
I was on top of the balcony again. The wind blew my hair into my mouth as I looked around. I felt the air around me get hotter and hotter. I suddenly realized that it was coming from behind me.
When I turned around, I saw Lavana standing there with a Magmortar. The Magmortar fired a Flame Burst and I could only stare at it as it whizzed past me, just missing my face. I followed I behind me and saw that the attack was heading straight for Ash and his Staraptor. I watched as he fell over the edge of the railing.
I was still screaming his name when the world blurred and I was on top of some tower. The sky was pitch black overhead, while some people were flying around. I spotted Brendan, Lucas, Luana, and Sven on Staraptor flying around. Sven and Wendy had two shining gems with them, one red and the other blue. However, it looked like they couldn't get any nearer to the rooftop. I looked up ahead and saw a black crystal.
I felt a strange power compelling me towards it. I felt a dark energy fill my body and I suddenly saw black bolts of lightning hit Brendan and Lucas. They dropped from the sky and then Luana also went down. Tears filled my eyes as I watched Sven go down as well.
"Stop it! Make it stop!" I yelled, dropping down to my knees. "Make it stop!" Tears fell from my eyes.
"But don't you see?" the voice from the factory and forest appeared.
"See what? Stop messing with me!" I shouted.
"You're the one making them suffer." a black pool appeared in front of me and I looked at myself. She looked like me, but her eyes were red and an evil smirk was on her face.
"That's not me!" I said, but when I moved my mouth, the reflection moved her mouth.
"Yes, it is. It's what you really are on the inside. What you're destined to become." the voice said. It laughed and my reflection laughed as well.
No, this is not going to be me! It can't be!
"No!" I shot up in bed. I turned over to look at Keith's bed. The redhead himself was mumbling in his sleep, but he didn't wake up.
"Are you okay?" Pikachu said as she woke up next to me.
"I'm fine. Just another nightmare." I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair.
"Must be a bad one," Pikachu said. She took a look over at the clock. "It's 5. I don't think you can even sleep anymore."
"You're right. It's best if we get ready for the day." I said as I got out of bed. I went into the bathroom and did my morning routine.
I went out to the main area in my ranger uniform. I saw that Rhythmi was already up.
"Oh! Ashley! You're up early." Rhythmi said when she spotted me.
"I couldn't sleep much. Had a bad dream." I explained as I poured myself a cup of coffee.
"What about?" Rhythmi asked.
"Nothing you have to worry about." I shook my head. "Why are you up so early? Not even Audrey is up."
"Oh, this when I usually get up. If you're and Keith aiming for Top Rangers, then I'm also aiming for Top Operator. And for that, I have to get a head start on all of my work." Rhythmi explained.
"Same old Rhythmi. Always hard-working. You never change, do you?" I smiled as I sip a bit of my coffee.
"No, I don't. But you certainly have changed. Haven't you?" Rhythmi replied.
"There are some things that can change a person. Sometimes for the best, sometimes for the worst. All I know is, throughout all the changes I've been through, it made me the person I am." I said as I touched my sides. I winced a bit. The burns still hurt the same way they did when I got them.
"What's wrong?" Rhythmi asked. She must have seen me wince.
"I'm fine. Don't worry." I waved it off. I finished my coffee and went to the sink to wash the cup.
"What do you usually do right now? You're not supposed to be reporting for work for two hours today." Rhythmi said.
"I don't know. Since it's really early right now, I'll take an early patrol or something." I said as I placed the cup to dry.
"Oh no. You are not going to work yourself too hard on your first full day here. You are relaxing until everyone else is up." Rhythmi scolded me. "I heard about how hard you worked in Fiore."
"Rhyth, it will be fine. I'm used to this." I insisted.
"You may be, but your Pikachu isn't." Rhythmi pointed to my partner who was sleeping on the couch.
"We woke up early yesterday to get here and we were up late in Fiore time last night. And then I woke her up this early. No wonder she's tired." I said as I sat next to Pikachu and petted her while she was sleeping.
"You can't exactly go out patrolling while your partner's asleep, now can't you?" Rhythmi smirked.
"You're right. I'll just stay here like you said." I rolled my eyes at her.
"By the way, do you know how those grunts popped in yesterday?" Rhythmi asked. And here comes the tough part.
"Well, you see-" I started, but a pink flash of light stopped me.
"It was me!" Mew exclaimed.
"A Mew?!" Rhythmi gasped.
"Mew! What did we talk about? It might have been okay with Keith, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't know any legendary pokémon!" I scolded Mew.
"I can't help it!" Mew whined.
"I didn't know you were friends with a legendary pokémon! That's so cool!" Rhythmi squealed.
"It's not only me. She knows all of the legendary pokémon." Mew said.
"Say one more word and I'm ratting you out to Mewtwo!" I warned Mew.
"I'll stay quiet," Mew said.
"I knew you were an amazing trainer, but I never expected this!" Rhythmi exclaimed.
"It's best that you know now. The rest of the base does, except for Keith. Luana can be a big mouth when it comes to the legendaries. Especially when they pop in on you at any time." I rubbed my temples. "Literally."
"CRAWFORD! GET BACK HERE!"
"Sounds like Luana is up." Rhythmi sweatdropped.
"Some things will never change." I sweatdropped.
"What happened?" Pikachu woke up dazed.
"That's my cue to leave." Mew teleported away.
"GIVE BACK MY BRA, YOU PERVERT!" Luana chased Crawford into the main area.
"Buddy use Grass Knot!" Crawford shouted.
"Oh no, you don't! Sweetie! Ice Beam that afro!" Luana countered.
"This is too early for this," Buddy complained as he and Sweetie walked after their partners.
"Let's just get this over with." Sweetie sighed. She jumped into the air and used Ice Beam on Crawford.
"Great job." Luana praised her Buneary.
"Even after six months, the base doesn't change," I said as I walked up to Luana.
"It doesn't, but the way Crawford steals my clothes does. He stole it while I was still wearing it!" Luana exclaimed as she got her bra out of Crawford's unfrozen hand.
"Is that even possible?" Rhythmi asked.
"I don't even know." I shrugged while Luana quickly went back to her room to put it back on and came right out.
"What's with all the noise? You woke me up." Ash yawned as he walked out.
"If they didn't, then you would've woken up at noon." Audrey and Elaine pointed out as they walked out to the main area.
"Why is Crawford frozen?" Keith asked as he walked out last.
"If I got to guess, he bugged Luana again." Hydro sighed as he jumped on the couch next to Pikachu.
"Hmph!" Pikachu turned away from him and walked over to me.
"Come on babe! Don't be like that!" Hydro called after her.
"Don't call me 'babe'!" Pikachu snapped at him.
"Do I need to know what's going on with them?" Ash whispered to me.
"Ash, if I try to explain to you then you won't understand. You're too young to understand." I sighed.
"I'm the same age as you!" Ash exclaimed.
"No, you're not. I was born two minutes before you so you are younger than me." I pointed out. "Besides you are way too immature than me."
"I am not!" Ash pouted.
"Yes, you are. That face you're making even says so." Ash's Pikachu pointed to his trainer's pouting lips.
"See I told you." I patted Ash's head before walking over to the Crawford ice sculpture.
"What? What did you say Pikachu?" Ash asked his Pikachu, who sighed at his trainer's stupidity.
"I think you punished him enough, Luana," I said as I examined Crawford.
"Fine." Luana huffed. "Sweetie, use Dizzy Punch."
"Why can't they admit their feeling to each other already?" Sweetie complained as she smashed the ice block around Crawford.
"Because our rangers are too incompetent to say it," Buddy said flatly as he jumped on Crawford's shoulder.
"D-D-Did you h-have t-t-to do that?" Crawford asked. His skin was blue, he was shaking, and his teeth were chattering. Yep, just another day at the ranger base.
"If you touch my stuff again, yes. You're just lucky I don't have my sledgehammer with me." Luana glared at him as Rhythmi answered the phone which was ringing.
"Keith," Rhythmi called.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Barlow needs your help in Boyleland. Head over the docks in Pueltown, there's a boat there waiting for you." Rhythmi said.
"Fine," Keith said. He walked out of the base with Hydro following.
"And Ashley, Luana." Rhythmi turned to us.
"Hmm?" we turned to look at her.
"Barlow also told me to give you two the day off. He knew that you might want to catch up for a bit." Rhythmi explained.
"That sounds good to me. Ashley?" Luana looked at me.
"Me too. Let's go visit Aunt Nessa and Uncle Caleb. I haven't seen them in a long time." I said.
"I'll come with you guys. I don't want to sit around here." Ash said.
"Okay. Just wait for us to get changed." I said as Luana and I walked to our rooms.
I changed out of my uniform and into something more casual, a red and white baseball tee with a denim jacket over it and a pair of jeans with red converses.
"You ready to go?" Luana popped her head into my room. She was wearing a red sleeveless shirt with black jeans and white sneakers. She had a tan jacket on as well.
"All set." I nodded.
We walked out to the main room to see Crawford running around with his pants on fire.
"PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!" Crawford screamed as Rhythmi chased him around with a fire exhauster.
"How did this happen?" Luana asked as Crawford tripped and landed on his face with his butt sticking right up.
"I was trying to warm Crawford up with Charizard's Flamethrower, but I guess it was too much." Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Rhythmi put Crawford's flaming butt out with a fire extinguisher.
"Let's just get going. I do not need another one of my family members burning a building down." I rubbed my temples.
"Why are you looking at me?" Luana asked as everyone turned their eyes on her.
"You're the one who burned down our house in Sinnoh and almost burned down Professor Oak's lab at our last family reunion," I answered.
"How was I supposed to know that having a firework display inside a tent was a bad idea?" Luana shrugged.
"I'm not even going to answer that," I said as I walked out the door of the base.
"Wait up!" I heard Ash and Luana behind me.
We walked south of Vientown until we reached Chicole Village. It was pretty small. There were only four houses here. But that's to expect from a town that was recently built.
"Aly!" a little girl with black hair yelled. Her pigtails bounced up and down as she ran.
"Faye!" I picked her up and spun her around. "Look at how tall you grew!"
"Hehe! It's good to see you again cousin Aly!"
"You too, Faye. Where's aunt Nessa and uncle Caleb?" I asked her.
"We're right here." a man with black hair and a brunette woman walked up to us.
"Auntie! Uncle! It's so good to see you again!" I put down Faye and hugged them.
"Oh, my little Ashley! You've grown so much ever since I saw you!" Nessa squealed as she pinched my cheeks.
"Now, honey. Don't hurt her any more than she is right now." Caleb got her off of me.
"Oh right! How are your burns, dear? And what about your scars?" she started inspecting me for them.
"Auntie, it's fine. Celebi did a good job healing them. Though I did tell her to leave the pain in the burns." I said.
"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You couldn't have stopped what happened." Caleb said.
"I know, but I still feel like it was my fault," I said quietly.
"Hey, Ashley!" Faye had no idea what was going on. "Do you want to see our farm?"
"Sure sweetie." I nodded.
"Yay! This way!" she grabbed my hand and dragged me down south. She stopped when we got to a large clearing with several plowed fields on either side.
"This is nice. How were you guys able to afford this?" I asked my aunt and uncle.
"They used the insurance money they got when the house in Sinnoh burned down," Luana answered.
"The one good thing that comes from your inability to cook," Ash said.
"Quiet Ashton! Or else I will tell Dawn about your crush on her!" Luana warned.
"W-What crush?" Ash blushed.
"The one your blush is showing." Ash's Pikachu pointed to his face.
"Just admit Ash. You like her." I smirked.
"I do not!" Ash huffed.
"Ashy likes a girl! Ashy likes a girl!" Faye sang as she skipped around him.
"Now Faye, it's not nice to say that." Nessa scolded her.
"But isn't it true?" Faye asked innocently.
"I have to say, that Dawn girl seems like a keeper to me. You better tell her your feelings soon or else she'll be gone forever." Caleb patted Ash's shoulder.
"Why does this have to happen to me?" Ash pulled his hat down over his face.
I finally felt sorry for my brother and decided to get him out of his misery. "Hey Ash, it's been a long time since we've battled. Why don't we see who's stronger now?"
"Oh yeah! It's going to be me!" Ash pumped his fist in the air.
"Don't be so cocky. Just because I haven't had a real battle in a long time doesn't mean you're better than me." I said.
"Let's settle this with that battle than!" Ash exclaimed.
"You're on!" I grinned.
We moved to a part of the farm where it was big enough to battle in and not be destroyed.
"This is going to be a one-on-one battle! With only our Pikachu, are you okay with that?" I shouted over the battlefield.
"Fine with me! Let's win this Pikachu!" Ash shouted as his Pikachu jumped into the field.
"Show him what you got Pikachu!" I shouted as my Pikachu jumped onto the battlefield as well.
"Finally some action!" my Pikachu exclaimed, her cheeks were sparking.
"May the best pokémon win!" Ash's Pikachu exclaimed, giving a cocky grin.
"Let the battle begin!" Luana was our referee.
"Your move, Ash!" I offered him.
"Let's go! Use Quick Attack!" Ash ordered. His Pikachu nodded and bolted towards my Pikachu with a streak of white light following him.
"Dodge it!" I commanded. My Pikachu managed to step out of the way.
"Iron Tail!" Ash shouted. His Pikachu's tail glowed a metallic grey and swung it towards my Pikachu.
"Dodge it again!" I yelled. My Pikachu jumped out of the way and landed on the other side of the field.
"Use Electro Ball!" Ash ordered. His Pikachu charged up a ball of electricity at the end of his tail and launched it at my Pikachu.
"Iron Tail!" I yelled. My Pikachu's tail glowed a metallic white and slammed it into the Electro Ball. A cloud of smoke was made when the two attacks collided.
"Now Quick Attack!" I ordered. Out of the smoke, my Pikachu came bolting out with white light following it. She tackled into Ash's Pikachu.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried.
"Use Iron Tail!" I commanded. My Pikachu used Iron Tail again and hit Ash's Pikachu up into the air.
"Quick! Use Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered. His Pikachu straightened up in the air and fired a bolt of lightning at my Pikachu.
"Stick your tail into the ground!" I ordered. My Pikachu obeyed and stuck her tail straight into the ground. She let the Thunderbolt hit her and it just got absorbed into the ground.
"Use Volt Tackle!" I shouted. My Pikachu used her tail as a springboard and jumped up into the air. A yellow light surrounded her as she tackled Ash's Pikachu midair. It caused another cloud of smoke and Ash's Pikachu fell towards the ground.
"No! Pikachu!" Ash cried.
"Finish it up with Iron Drill!" I ordered. My Pikachu used Iron Tail and spun so her tail turned into a drill. She hit Ash's Pikachu with it and crashed him into the ground. When the dust cleared, My Pikachu was on all fours on my side while Ash's Pikachu was in a crater with swirls in his eyes.
"Ash's Pikachu is unable to battle! That means Ashley's Pikachu is the winner! Ashley wins!" Luana announced.
"Yeah! We won, Pikachu!" I cheered as I opened my arms for Pikachu to jump in.
"We still got it!" Pikachu cheered.
"Great job, buddy. You were amazing." Ash said as he picked up his Pikachu.
"Heh. We could never beat them." Ash's Pikachu said.
"So let's see, that makes 151 for me and 0 for you!" I teased Ash.
"Just you wait; someday I'll catch up to you!" Ash said.
"Yeah, when Diglett fly!" I retorted.
"You never know!"
"Have you ever seen a Diglett with its entire body above ground? I thought so!"
"Hey guys, do you mind if Audrey and Rhythmi send that video of you guys battling to the other bases? I recorded you guys during the battle." Luana asked.
"It's fine with me." I nodded.
"Me too." Ash nodded.
"Alright then," Luana said as she talked into her styler.
"Wow! That was awesome I want to be a trainer one day!" Faye hopped up and down.
"I thought you wanted to be a ranger like your big brother," Nessa said.
"I do, but I also want to be a trainer!" Faye nodded.
"Faye, you can do the same thing as I did. I was a trainer first then I became a ranger." I suggested to her.
"I'm going to do that than! I can be both a trainer and a ranger!" Faye clapped her hands.
"Alright, I think it's time for lunch. Do you kids want to come?" Caleb offered.
"Sure. None of us had breakfast this morning." I said.
"Yeah, because someone had to wake us up." Ash glared at Luana.
"I would've woke you up anyways. You sleep like your Snorlax." Luana retorted.
"I do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Can you two stay quiet?!" I yelled at them. "You're louder than an Exploud in a rock concert!"
"Ah, sibling bickering. I remember when your mother and I was your age." Nessa said. "We used to fight all the time. Then your Uncle Joel would have to break us up. Then we would fight him. And all of our siblings would join in!"
We walked back to the house in Chicole Village and had a nice lunch made by Nessa. We chatted about my adventures in Fiore. Ash and Luana had to cover Faye's ears when I got to any parts involving blood. We finally sent Faye up to her room when she got tired and Caleb and Nessa took her up for her nap.
"Ashley, you got to stop blaming yourself," Ash said once our aunt, uncle, and cousin was upstairs.
"It's not your fault," Luana said.
"Yes, it is," I said. "I was too slow to save Hastings. I was too careless when Gyarados went on a rampage. I wasn't quick enough to keep Charizard from suffering. I was too stupid to prevent Entei from coming alive. I was too absentminded to save Charizard! I was too busy to pay attention and help Entei!"
"Enough! Stop blaming yourself! It's not all your fault!" Ash exclaimed.
"Why do you keep doing it?" Luana asked.
"Because it's true!" I exclaimed. "The chaos that Fiore went through all started because I wasn't fast enough to keep those Go-Rock idiots away! I keep the scars I have to remind me of the mistakes I made which was my fault in the first place."
"Ash, leave it alone," Luana said when Ash opened his mouth to say something. "We can't pressure her any more than we are right now."
"I guess you're right. I was just concern for you. Sorry." Ash said.
"It's okay. I know that you guys only did it out of love for me." I said.
"Since we have a couple of hours till sundown, do you want to go to Pueltown for some shopping?" Luana asked.
"Sounds good to me. I haven't shopped in a while." I said.
"Then let's go!" Luana exclaimed as she grabbed our wrists.
"Bye Auntie! Bye Uncle, we're going to Pueltown!" Ash shouted to them as they walked downstairs before Luana dragged us out of the house.
When we got to Pueltown, Luana wanted to go to the clothes bouquet first. Luana and I got some new clothes and we let Ash hold all of our bags.
"Why do I have to do this?" Ash asked as he walked behind us with an armful of bags.
"Because you're our brother. You have to." I said.
"And since I'm older, whatever I say goes and I say carry our bags." Luana pointed out.
"And what about me?" Ash's Pikachu had his own arms filled with bags belonging to my Pikachu and Sweetie.
"Same thing as they said," Sweetie replied.
"And don't forget that I beat you in our battle!" Pikachu reminded him.
"Ooh! There's a shoe shop over there!" Luana pointed to our right. "Let's go!" she grabbed my wrist and we ran into the shop with our partners behind us.
"Dear Arceus, please help us!" Ash cried.
"Both of us!" his Pikachu pleaded with him.
"Just put the bags on the floor. I'll have Crawford bring them to my room later." Luana instructed Ash.
"But put my bags in my room," I said to him.
"Whoa. You guys brought all of that today?" Elaine asked.
"Yeah." I nodded. "But I also bought you guys some stuff too!"
"That was nice of you, Ashley!" Audrey said.
"Don't mention it. Rhythmi, can you help me organize my stuff in my room?" I asked.
"Sure!" Rhythmi said. We both followed Ash into my room with my bags.
"Crawford! Bring my bags to my room!" Luana ordered him.
"Don't you mean our room?" Crawford asked.
"Whatever. Just bring them in!" Luana exclaimed.
"There! Wow! That was heavy." Ash wiped his forehead.
"Quit complaining! I'm able to carry things heavier than that!" Rhythmi said.
"Whatever. I'm going back to my room to rest." Ash said as he walked back to his room with his Pikachu following him.
"Okay, so what did you buy?" Rhythmi asked as we sat on my bed with my bags on the floor.
"I just got some new clothes, dresses, and shoes for my closet. Help me put them in." I said as I picked up some of the bags with clothes in them. Rhythmi helped me organize my closet and threw out some of my older clothes. We even got a box together for accessories for Pikachu. Good thing Keith has his clothes on the dresser. The closet was filled with my clothes and shoes already.
"And you said you got gifts for the rest of us?" Rhythmi said once we were done that.
"Yep. Come on." I grabbed the remaining bags and went out the main area where the others were.
"Elaine, I got this for you." I gave her a shiny new red toolbox.
"Thanks! I needed a new place to put all my tools in." Elaine exclaimed when she examined it.
"Audrey, this laptop is for you!" I handed her a slim sliver laptop.
"This is incredible! Thanks, Ashley!" Audrey said as she opened up her laptop.
"Rhyth, as my best friend, you get this tablet!" I presented her with a thin black tablet.
"Ashley! Thanks! You are so my best friend ever!" Rhythmi pulled me into a hug before checking out her new tablet.
"What about me?" Crawford asked.
"I didn't forget about you," I said as I reached into my last bag. "Here. It suits you perfectly!" I placed a rubber red ball on his nose.
"Hahaha!" Luana laughed. "You really are a clown now!"
"Enjoy your gifts, everyone! I'm going to bed now." I said before walked back to my room.
I changed out of my clothes into my pajamas and went into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and got into bed.
"Night Pikachu!" I yawned as I turned off the lights.
"Good night." Pikachu yawned as she curled up next to my head.
One night without that redhead in the same room? Good enough for me.
Ashley: Didn't you write this like two years ago?
AKCC: Seems about right.
Ashley: It does reflect that, but whatever. Since you haven't been writing lately...
AKCC: School is taking such a toll on me and home life in not so sweet either. Just a lot of work piled up and trying to balance everythign is hard.
Ashley: The things you do to be successful.
AKCC: I tell myself that everyday. However, that's it for today. I hope everyone has a happy holiday next week since I probabl will not be able to update again until the New Year. Farewell everyone! I hope to see you all next year!
Ashley: And don't forget!
Cast: Review!