Chapter 53: The Greatest Bug Catcher
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Ash was seen walking in a long hall. The walls and ceiling were grey and looked quite old and even ready to collapse while the floor was colored red. As he kept walking, he started thinking that the path was endless.
"Is anyone there?" Ash then yelled with his voice echoing the whole place but no one responded.
"What is this place? I don't get it at all…" He claimed as he kept walking.
"Did anyone just said something?" A female sweet voice was suddenly heard across the hall.
Ash instantly recognized it. "Mom? Mom, is that you?!"
"Ash! Is it you? Come here and give me a hug, sweetheart! I missed you!" Delia answered.
"Mom!" Ash while shedding tears of happiness started running as fast as he could to reach her.
Suddenly the path ended at a dead end.
"Mom, where are you?! Answer me!" He yelled like crazy hitting the wall but there was no response.
As he turned his back he noticed that the floor was no longer red but white with red footsteps leading to Ash's way.
"These are my own footsteps." Ash claimed and looked his shoe's sole which was also red. With his finger, he touched his sole and examined the red sticky liquid with his fingers. "This is…"
"I think you have found out the answer…" Then the Arceus cult leader suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Why are you here?! Where is my mom?!" He retorted angrily at him.
"What are you talking about? She is already on your hand right now."
"What?" He looks at his hand which touched his sole. It was blood. Unable to process what was happening he suffered a mental breakdown. "AAAAAARGH!"
"Ash! Ash! It's ok! You were having a nightmare!"
Ash woke up at his bed heavily breathing. Lillie was sitting on his bed holding his left hand having a worried look in her eyes which were the only thing he could see clearly since they were glowing due to the faint moonlight entering in the room.
"It's the second night in the row I have had such a dream. But this one was way more intense." Ash said putting his other hand on his forehead confused. "Did I wake you up?"
"Sort of. You were talking loudly in your sleep." Lillie answered.
"I see… Sorry for waking you up and making you worry." Ash apologized to her and smiled.
"Don't worry about that. Whatever you saw must have been awful." She stated with a sad.
"You cannot imagine how much… but I think I can sleep again though. I feel already better now that I know that I have you on my side." Ash's statement made Lillie blush but Ash couldn't see it since the room was dark enough to obscure it.
"Goodnight, Ash." Lillie said with a soft voice before getting up but Ash wasn't letting go of her hand.
"I know it's too much to ask for but… can you sleep with me?" Ash reluctantly asked as he blushed too with Lillie being unable to see it as well.
"Wait, why?!"
"Well, when we slept together back in Johto… it was one of the best sleeps I have had recently. You were also smiling a lot when you were asleep so I guess it was the same for you too." Ash revealed.
"B-but that was… I…" Lillie tried to deny it but she just couldn't and gave in. "Sigh, fine but only for tonight. You will still owe me big time for that."
"I promise that I will pay for all of our food for this week." Ash chuckled at the statement.
"Eh, money isn't the problem in my case but fair enough. Now, move your butt away so I can get in too."
"Pfft…" Ash was trying to hold his laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"You said butt…"
"So what?"
"You always talk in a formal and elegant way so this was really uncalled for." Ash made fun of her.
"Really? This is how I talk to my brother whenever he is being dumb and annoys me." Lillie revealed.
"Who would have thought…" Ash grinned with Lillie playfully punching his shoulder as she joined him.
"Come here otherwise you might fall down." Ash wrapped his arms around Lillie and brought her closer to him and the latter buried her face on his chest.
"Goodnight, Ash/Lillie." Both said to each other at the same time right before they both go silent and fall asleep.
Next morning – Hearthome City's main plaza
Ash was sitting on a bench in the city's main plaza which was more crowded than usual due to the local festival but he didn't seem to mind. Lillie wanted to check the festival and buy stuff there but Ash decided to not join her and have a small walk by himself instead and think some things that they were bothering him lately.
"I don't understand… Everything started with that sudden headache. Then the last two nights after that I have been seeing nightmares which I had a long time to see. This cannot be a coincidence. What's happening to me?" Ash kept thinking about what happened during his battle against Bertha two days ago.
Two days ago
"I don't know what is going on with you but I can make some assumptions. As you thought earlier, the blurry image you saw might be a part of your past or future. But you this is also might be just a random vision which meant nothing or some kind of α PTSD symptom which is heavily involved with your past." The voice replied once Ash asked it.
"So you just threw a bunch of assumptions implying that you have no idea…" Ash sighed.
"What do you mean by 'implying'? I don't like your tone."
"I mean that you might be behind that. You have been surprisingly silent the whole day instead of bubbling every few minutes."
"Is that so? The main reason I'm not talking much is because you never listen and being all lovey dovey with that blondie instead."
"She has a name, you know and no, we are not doing that." Ash started losing his patience. "But you are right about the former. I still don't trust you at all."
"Then why go into the trouble to ask me for my own opinion since you don't take me seriously in the first place?"
"Because I wanted to see how you would react if I asked you. I'm still not sold with your answer and think you are plotting something."
"Whatever, do as you like! I won't stay here to listen your dumb suspicions. Don't bother to talk to me again, I'm not going to respond."
"Oi, wait! I'm not done with you!"
After that Ash never talked with the mysterious voice again.
Back to present
"Were you looking for me, Ash Ketchum?" Suddenly someone called Ash which brought him back to his senses.
"Huh? Who are you and what do you want from me? Ash saw no one and was averting his gaze to see who was calling him.
"I'm up there!"
Ash looked at a nearby tree where a young man with short green hair, a black sleeveless top shirt and orange pants was sitting on a tree branch.
"Aaron!" Ash yelled excited at him once he saw him.
"Long time no see." Aaron jumped off the tree and shook hands with Ash. "Bertha told me that you want to challenge me in a Pokemon battle for the Elite Four badge."
"Exactly! I stayed in the city for two more days just for that!"
"Haha, interesting. I'm surprised that I didn't see your Pikachu around though. Bertha told me about this too." He said and raised an eyebrow.
"Well, he is not around for now. I want to work with some other Pokemon I have so I had to free his slot." Ash lied with Aaron not truly believing him but decided to not keep talking about that topic.
"I see. Let's go at the battle field where you battled with Bertha. She showed me the place a few hours ago and then I went to look for you." Aaron stated and went ahead.
"Sounds good to me." Ash said and followed from behind.
A few minutes later
Just like two days ago, Ash was standing on the same side of the field.
"We don't have a referee though." Ash noticed.
"No big deal. Most of my battles against other league candidates didn't have one so this is not an issue. Anyway, our battle is a 3 on 3." Aaron stated and grabbed a Pokeball. "Beautifly go first!"
"Ok then! Torkoal, I choose you!"
Torkoal came out and released smoke from its nostrils.
"Beautifly use Shadow Ball!"
"Torkoal block it with Flamethrower!"
Both attacks were equal in power triggering an explosion.
"Beautifly use Bug Buzz!"
"Torkoal use Heat Wave!"
Beautifly emitted a loud buzz with red waves while Torkoal unleashed a wind of flames towards Beautifly's direction.
Both Pokemon received each other's attacks but both were able to continue.
"Beautifly, return!" Aaron decided to switch in the middle of the battle. "Drapion, go!"
"Ok we are staying as we are! Torkoal use Heat Wave!"
Drapion took the attack head on but looked ok.
"Drapion use Cross Poison!"
"Iron Defence!"
Torkoal hid under its shell with Cross Poison being ineffective for the most part.
"Use Flamethrower!"
Torkoal came out from its shell and hit Drapion once again but it was still durable enough to withstand the attack.
"Drapion use Pin Missile!"
Drapion fired a white stream of pins from its claws and tail.
"Use Iron Defence again!"
"I wasn't aiming your Pokemon." Aaron smirked.
The pins hit the ground in front of Torkoal triggering an explosion which turned Torkoal upside down.
"Torkoal try to get up quick!"
Drapion end this with Hyper Beam!"
Drapion launched its beam which engulfed Torkoal which was unable to dodge or defend. When the smoke of the explosion faded Torkoal had fainted.
"I guess this round goes to me." Aaron claimed.
"Indeed. Thanks, Torkoal. Rest for now." Ash praised his Pokemon for his effort before recalling it. "Boldore you are next!"
Ash revealed his second Pokemon.
"Now prepare for this!" Ash then showed his Z-Ring with Rockium-Z attached on it surprising Aaron who looked nervous.
"Let's do this, Boldore! With our full power!" Ash performed the pose with Boldore summoning multiple rocks from the ground, forming a huge boulder.
"CONTINENTAL CRUSH!"
The boulder was hurled at Drapion which was unable to move because it had to recharge from Hyper Beam earlier ending up getting crashed by it and fainted.
"Good job, Boldore!" Ash congratulated his geode Pokemon as it went to play with its trainer.
"Wow, just wow. Bertha didn't tell me anything about Z-moves." He looked surprised as he recalled his defeated Pokemon.
"Well, I didn't use that in the battle against her because I didn't have time to work the move on one of my Pokemon so using a Z-move with a Pokemon that never tried it before would be very risky during the battle." Ash revealed.
"I see. That explains it then." He smiled as he grabbed another Pokeball. "Beautifly, it's your turn again!"
"Boldore use Rock Blast!"
Boldore started firing rocks at Beautifly which it managed to dodge easily.
"Nice try! Beautifly use Whirlwind!"
With a strong wind Beautifly hit Boldore which was automatically switched with Glalie which looked surprised and out of place.
"Didn't see that coming." Ash claimed.
"Having Boldore around would be really problematic for Beautifly. If you try to bring it back I will just spam using Whirlwind so you are stuck with Glalie."
"Really? This is not a problem at all." Ash smirked while fixing his hat. "Glalie use Icy Wind!"
Glalie blew sparkling snow from its mouth freezing parts of Beautifly's wings making it slower.
"Beautifly respond with Shadow Ball!"
"Dodge with Double Team!"
Glalie successfully dodged with Shadow Ball hitting one of its copies instead.
"Whirlwind!"
Glalie switched with Boldore.
"Weren't you claiming just a few seconds ago that it would be better not to battle Boldore against Beautifly?" Ash asked Aaron while smirking.
"Yes but now Beautifly is slower and Glalie seems to be more versatile Pokemon than your Boldore." Aaron explained the reason.
"Oh well. Boldore use Rock Blast!"
"Beautifly you know what to do!"
"What is he planning?" Ash then thought for a moment the vague statement that Aaron gave.
Beautifly just like earlier dodged the incoming rocks easily while started gathering sun energy.
"Solar Beam…" Ash nonchalantly stated once he noticed Beautifly glowing from the energy it was gathering.
"I guess it was obvious. Beautifly keep your distance from Boldore till you are ready."
"Boldore use Sandstorm!"
"Nice try but it's too late prevent Beautifly from using the attack! Use Solar Beam!"
The butterfly Pokemon launched the beam at Boldore.
"Boldore use Flash Cannon to hold it back!"
A silver energy beam collided with Solar Beam but it was overpowered and Boldore took a direct him and collapsed while Beautifly was slightly damaged by Sandstorm.
"I guess this round is over."
"Rock Blast!"
Suddenly the seemingly defeated Boldore fired rocks at Beautifly the moment it suffered damage by Sandstorm preventing it from dodging. Beautifly was the defeated Pokemon instead.
"I wished your Boldore had any other ability other than Sturdy. I guess I was wrong." Aaron immediately found out the reason why the geode Pokemon endured the attack.
"I thought you were expecting that. As a member of the Elite Four you must have experienced that before." Ash looked surprised at Aaron's statement.
"Well yeah but the moment we were fighting I was so focused on succeeding the Solar Beam under a harsh weather condition that I forgot that your Boldore was still at full health. I may be a part of the Elite Four but that doesn't mean that I cannot do mistakes and I still have to learn a lot too." He humbly stated.
"I guess you are right. I have done countless mistakes and misjudgments before during Pokemon battles." Ash admitted as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Well, everything is up to you, Vespiquen!"
Aaron revealed his last Pokemon.
"Boldore, return. You can rest and leave everything to Glalie now." Ash said as he called out the floating head Pokemon.
"Glalie use Ice Beam!"
Glalie fired the attack from the top of its head.
"Vespiquen use Defend Order!"
Vespiquen fired many grubs from the bottom of her body straight at Ice Beam. Both attacks cancelled each other out. Both Pokemon ended up taking damage from the sandstorm which was still around though.
"This won't work, huh? Go with Icy Wind instead!"
"Vespiquen use Defend Order again!"
Glalie then blew sparkling snow from its mouth. The sandstorm was mixed with the attack causing the sandstorm to freeze and form a hailstorm instead that hit Vespiqueen from her blind spot where the grubs were unable to defend before it subsides completely.
"That was smart but we are not done yet! Use Attack Order!"
This time Vespiquen's grubs went on the offensive.
"Use Double Team!"
The grubs instantly vanished every copy and landed a direct hit at Glalie which was pushed back.
"Sorry Ash but Double Team is not going to help you this time."
"I have some other tricks on my mind! Glalie go with Icy Wind again!"
"It won't work this time. Defence Order!"
Both attacks were equal in power.
"Let's go closer now! Use Headbutt!"
Glalie used the smoke from the explosion for a surprise attack.
"Vespiquen use Power Gem!"
Suddenly Vespiquen threw gemstones at Glalie which did considerable damage to it and was pushed back once again.
"Now use Heal Order!"
The grubs then replenished Vespiquen's health with Ash looking troubled.
"What should I do? Vespiquen looks like a living fortress right now." Ash claimed in his head but once he stared at Vespiquen's movements and her grubs he smiled. "Yeah, this should work!"
"Glalie stay still and just keep dodging and blocking attacks with Icy Wind till I tell you otherwise!"
"Vespiquen use Power Gem!"
Glalie managed easily to fend off the incoming gemstones by redirecting them with Icy Wind's help.
"Vespiquen use Attack Order!"
"Now Glalie use Ice Beam at the bottom half of Vespiquen's body!"
Glalie fired a powerful Ice Beam which froze completely her exposed honeycomb-like cells where the grubs were coming out ruining Vespiquen's attack.
"Hey, Vespiquen what's wrong?"
"Now you cannot use Vespiquen's babies to attack Glalie! Your 'Order' moves are blocked!" Ash proudly claimed.
"Smart move but we are not done yet! Power Gem!" Aaron though didn't lose his cool.
"Use Double Team!"
The gemstones missed with Glalie taking the upper hand.
"Headbutt!"
"Vespiquen try Power Gem again!"
All the copies rushed at Vespiquen whose attack missed once again and got hit with Headbutt.
"Now Icy Wind!"
The already damaged Vespiquen got parts of her body slightly frozen lowering her speed.
"Power Gem!"
Even at this state though, Vespiquen managed to deal a direct hit at Glalie which was reaching its limit too.
"Glalie, hang in there! Use Headbutt again!"
"Vespiquen there's not time to attack first! Try to dodge!"
Vespiquen unable to dodge the attack got hit once again and fell down. She didn't get up again.
The match was over.
TO BE CONTINUED
