Chapter 22
"Got any more bright ideas?" Shouts Serena at the raven haired teen sprinting ahead of them.
"Maybe if you talk less and run more, you wouldn't be so far behind!" Dillon chimes back, making Serena glare at him. She really doesn't like Dillon, but Ash always wants to help people.
After infiltrating the base, the team battled a few grunts before being found. Since there are too many grunts, and Dillon doesn't want to waste his time, he ran off down the hall. Of course, Ash followed, which resulted in everyone else coming with too. They're all currently being attacked by Team Flare's Pokemon from behind.
"We can argue later!" Ash tells them.
"Pika!" Pikachu agrees as he sprints in front with Pika.
"Turn left here!" Clemont informs the group once Dillon nears a corner. Everyone makes the turn, and Clemont now says, "She shouldn't be too far now."
"Good!" Bonnie can't wait to stop running. They're so close, and today's adventure is enough for her for some time.
"Where, Clemont?" Dillon calls back to the blonde boy once they near the end of the hall.
"Make a right!"
"It's a dead end!" Ash exclaims as everyone stops in their tracks.
It's weird. There is no door, but this hall extends a few feet. "Maybe there's a secret door?" Serena suggests.
Dillon hears the grunts quickly approaching, so he moves to the back where the entrance to the hall is. Pika, Ash, and Pikachu follow him. "Find the door. We'll hold them back." Dillon informs the group.
Ash nods in agreement. He's always ready for a battle. "Thunderbolt, Pikachu!"
"Iron tail!" Dillon commands.
"We have to hurry!" Serena worriedly tells the siblings because she doesn't want Ash to get hurt while he's stalling for them.
Nodding, Bonnie rushes to a wall. "I'll look here!"
Clemont goes to another wall. "I'll check this one. You get that one, Serena!"
"Got it!" The girl and her Braixen start feeling around a wall.
The grunts are piling in, and the Ketchum boys are fighting to keep them back. Dillon mentally curses himself for not training his Johto team enough because these grunts would be no match for his Kanto team. Shaking his head, he knows to stop thinking about the past. He's supposed to be in Johto with new friends and a new team. There's no use reminiscing about the past if it'll only hold him back.
Throwing out a pokeball, he shouts, "Fuck this! Brick break!"
Teddiursa curiously looks at Dillon because he summoned her facing the wall adjacent to the dead end. She isn't facing the battle at all. "Teddy!" She cries at him.
"Break the wall, Teddiursa!" Dillon commands. He then faces Pika fighting off a Bisharp. "Quick attack, Pika!"
"Ursa!" Teddiursa throws a fit since she wants to battle the Pokemon too. She's not weak. Just because she's Dillon's new pokemon doesn't mean he needs to treat her like she's not good enough. She wants to fight!
Dillon shoots Teddiursa a sharp glance when the bear Pokemon hops in on the battle beside Pika. "Do as I say!"
"Why won't Teddiursa listen?" Bonnie asks aloud for her brother, though everyone hears. This makes Dillon's brows furrow deeper together.
"Greninja, waterpulse them back!" Ash yells when he tosses out a pokeball. The grunts and their Pokemon have slowly started pushing Dillon and Ash back, cornering them against Bonnie, Clemont, and Serena.
Once Greninja's waterpulse attack pushes back the attacking Pokemon, Dillon rushes forward to tackle Teddiursa away from an incoming bullet seed. Teddiursa glares at him and jumps out of his arms to partake in the battle again, but Dillon holds onto her tightly. "Protect us, Pika!"
"Pi!" Pika nods while delivering a powerful thundershock.
Dillon winces when he feels Teddiursa's sharp teeth on his arm holding her back. Biting his bottom lip to prevent himself from screaming in pain, Dillon's hold on Teddiursa remains strong. "I'm your trainer. You either listen to me or you go back in your pokeball." He's always known Teddiursa to have a mind of her own. Mew. All of his Pokemon have their own minds, but Teddiursa is the most rebellious, like she has something to prove. Dillon was once that way, so he won't give up on Teddiursa.
"We don't have time for this!" Serena calls over to him, but Dillon pays her no mind.
Ash eyes Dillon curiously. Even though Dillon seems like the type to care little about others, Ash has noticed Dillon just doesn't express himself much. When Amy got taken, Dillon was emotional. Right now with Teddiursa acting out, Dillon won't give up on her. There's a lot more to him than he lets on, which makes Ash smile. Ash knows to never judge someone right away, so he's glad his traveling partners are starting to see a different nicer side of Dillon.
"Teddi!" the bear tries to shake herself free of him.
"I need your help, Teddiursa!" Dillon exclaims to the struggling Pokemon. "Amy's on the other side of one of these walls. I need you to break it!" Dillon winces again as he feels Teddiursa's teeth on his arm once more. Through grit teeth, he continues, "I need your help rescuing Amy! You're the only one who can do it!"
Only one? Teddiursa freezes at these words. She always wants to feel strong and wanted. She looks up to meet her trainer's hopeful blue eyes. So he doesn't think she's weak? He needs her to break the wall to rescue Amy? Teddiursa smiles and salutes Dillon, making the boy let her go.
Sighing, Dillon checks on Pika before looking back at Teddiursa attacking the wall Bonnie was just searching. Seeing as how the wall crumbles to reveal another thicker cement wall behind it, Dillon tells Teddiursa to "Attack the other wall!" Teddiursa moves onto the wall Serena was just searching. Fortunately, this wall easily crumbles to reveal more grunts, two admins, and a redhead with a gag in her mouth.
"Pichupi!" Pika exclaims as his cheeks spark. He, Pikachu, and Greninja have fought off most of the grunts on their side of the broken wall now.
"Amy!" Dillon rushes forward, but a powerful flamethrower keeps him back. He glares at the Pyroar staring menacingly at him.
"Let her go!" Ash shouts at the admins who only laugh.
"No way! We're gonna use her to catch Celebi!"
"Legendaries aren't meant to be captured!" Clemont tells the Flare members.
"And children aren't meant to be here!" one admin cackles as he signals for Pyroar to send an attack their way.
With Serena being closest to the broken wall because she was searching it before Teddiursa broke it, the flamethrower is headed dangerously close to her. She tries to back up, but trips over broken wall debris. Fortunately for her, Ash rushes ahead to tackle her away as Greninja uses a waterpulse attack to push back the flames.
Serena looks up at her crush who is dangerously close to her face, making her blush, though Ash is focused on the Pyroar. "Thanks, Ash."
The boy gazes down to smile at her. He then stands up and extends a hand to help her. "What are friends for, Serena?"
Dillon, too caught up with Amy, doesn't pay any attention to the interaction that has been annoying him this whole journey. He looks down at Teddiursa and Pika. "We're getting Amy back!"
"And we're helping!" Clemont informs him. "Luxray, thunderfang!"
Dillon gratefully nods at the blonde boy. "Agility to Amy, Pika!"
"Help clear a way, Greninja!" Ash gets up and extends a hand to Serena as well.
Greninja, Luxray, and Teddiursa help clear a way for Pika to reach Amy. Once Pika is near the grunts, he delivers a powerful thunderbolt attack on them, sending them away from Amy. At this point, Dillon and the group have caught up.
With everyone focused on the battle, Dillon pulls out his pocket knife to cut away at the ropes bound around Amy's wrists and ankles. "We're gonna get you out, Amy!" the focused teen tells her.
Bonnie notices Amy trying to speak, so the young blonde moves her gag. "Better." Bonnie smiles at Amy who gratefully nods, though Amy has no idea who these people with Dillon are.
The redhead's eyes open wide in shock after Dillon manages to cut the ropes binding her wrists. She pushes her brother and Bonnie while also falling to the ground with the chair still attached to her ankles. Before Dillon can yell at her, a powerful flamethrower shoots over their heads, making Amy smirk at him. "You're welcome." She knowingly tells him.
Furrowing his brows in annoyance, Dillon roughly cuts the ropes around her ankles, which free Amy. "You cause too much trouble." He mutters to her.
Amy and Dillon now look at the rest of the group where they notice the grunts are retreating. "Yeah! We scared them good!" Serena grins enthusiastically.
"Don't come back!" Bonnie shouts after the hallway the grunts disappeared to.
In the corner of his eye, Dillon sees Amy flinch and start to run, so he quickly reaches out to stop her. "What did I tell you about running away?" He snaps angrily at her. Why is she running after the grunts? They're free now! They can leave! All Amy's done is cause trouble for him.
The girl's brown eyes plead with him. "They still have my Pokemon, Dillon!"
Pika runs up to worriedly look between the siblings. Sighing, Dillon replies, "You're not going alone." When she gives him a grateful nod, he reluctantly lets her go.
"C'mon. I know where they are." Amy then rushes off with Dillon and the group following.
"Sisters, right?" Clemont laughs as he runs along side Dillon. The older boy, though, is in no laughing mood, so Clemont just awkwardly slows down to not be next to Dillon.
Once they round a corner, Amy exclaims, "We're almost there!"
Unfortunately, a fireball shoots out at her feet, making her fly back where Dillon catches her. Greninja quickly puts out the flames, and everyone glares at the Team Flare admins blocking their path. One admin holds up 3 pokeballs. "Looking for these?" He cackles.
"Give them back!" Amy angrily shouts while standing up from Dillon's hold.
"Those Pokemon don't belong to you!" Ash chimes in. The electric mice's cheeks start sparking menacingly.
"They're in my hands now." the admin snickers. "Flamethrower!"
"Watergun!" Greninja's watergun keeps back Pyroar's flamethrower attack. More pokemon are called out by the admins, resulting in Serena's, Dillon's, and Clemont's Pokemon battling too.
Although Dillon wants to keep a close eye on Amy, Teddiursa refuses to go back in her pokeball. She wants to keep battling, despite not being strong enough yet. "Dodge it, Teddiursa!" Dillon tells the bear when he sees a sludgebomb headed her way.
Instead, Teddiursa chooses to take the attack head on so that she can land her own attack on the Scolipede. While Teddiursa does become critically poisoned, she is able to slash at Scolipede. The damage she does to Scolipede isn't enough, so the poison type retaliates with a poison tail attack.
Dillon runs out and manages to grab the injured Teddiursa as he slides across the floor. "Thunderbolt!" Pika's electric attack stuns Scolipede enough for Dillon to run away. Looking down at the panting bear, he says, "You need to go in your pokeball now, Teddiursa."
She shakes her head while looking confidently into his eyes. "Teddi!"
"You're too hurt!" Dillon scolds her. He pulls out her pokeball to return her, but she won't go in. "It's for your own protection!"
As Dillon is arguing with Teddiursa, Amy has slipped off to creep up on the admin laughing maniacally with her pokemon. She tackles him, which alerts the other admins and his Pyroar. Pyroar turns from his battle with Greninja to charge towards Amy who is wrestling with the admin for her pokeballs. "Those are mine!"
"You're about to regret tackling a Team Flare Admin!" the man shouts. For being a small girl, he's surprised by how strong Amy's grip is.
"Stop Pyroar, Greninja!" Ash commands and sprints over to Amy. Greninja manages to slow down Pyroar, but just before Pyroar can use a flamethrower at Amy, Ash stands between Pyroar and Amy.
"Ash!" Serena cries out in fear.
Ash isn't scared, though. "Mega-Evolve!" Greninja shines in a bright light. He soon emerges in a different form that even has the Flare Admins and Pokemon staring in awe.
At this moment, Dillon's attention has turned to see his sister being protected by Ash. Just what is going on? When did Amy get over there? Why is Ash over there? What is Ash doing? He doesn't know they're his future children, so why is he risking his life protecting Amy who he hasn't even met yet? Dillon is too conflicted in his own thoughts to remember the injured Teddiursa in his arms he was trying to return.
When Pyroar shakes from his daze, he returns his attention to glare at Ash and Amy. This makes Amy gulp, and she remembers to get her pokemon back. Ash returns Pyroar's glare. "Greninja, Water shuriken!"
Greninja shoots out water shurikens at Pyroar who only dodges one before getting hit and flying into a nearby wall. Now, the other Pokemon have taken down the rest of the Flare Admins' pokemon, making the Flare Admins flee. Amy rips out her pokeballs from one of them. "These are mine!" She shouts. Throwing out one pokeball towards the now fleeing Admin after he returned his Pyroar, Amy releases Larvitar. "Rock throw!"
Larvitar throws rocks at the admins, sending them flying out of the hole in the wall Pyroar made. The group watches at the admins shoot far off into the sunset. Once they're out of sight, Larvitar looks over at Amy where he tackles her in a hug. "Lar!" He's so happy to see her again.
When she tried to return him to the daycare, he didn't want to go. He likes it with her because she makes him feel stronger. After running away from the daycare, Amy found him in Ilex Forest where she finally understood he wants to be with her. Before they could exit the forest, they were enveloped in green light and became unconscious. Once they woke up, they heard noises as well as saw fleeing pokemon, so they followed the sound to see the wild pokemon being captured. Amy then saw Dillon, but it was too late because she got captured too. Larvitar was then separated from Amy, though he's glad to be back with her. He wants to always be with her.
"I'm glad you're okay too, Larvitar." Amy smiles at him as she returns him. She then looks around at her saviors who have also returned their Pokemon. She instantly spots her brother who is still sitting on the floor with Pika by his side. Rushing over to him while she ignores the other 4 children, Amy notices the pale Teddiursa. "Dillon!"
Dillon rests Teddiursa on the ground. "You need to go back in your pokeball, Teddiursa." he pleads with the stubborn injured bear. "The bad guys are gone. You don't need to battle anymore."
Teddiursa shakes her head. "Ursa!"
"I have a full restore." Serena offers to Dillon. Even though she doesn't like him, she holds nothing against his pokemon.
Dillon too puts his feelings towards Serena aside and gratefully takes the full restore. "Thanks." he mutters. He uses the full restore on Teddiursa, which instantly makes her feel better.
"Pika!" Pika nuzzles Teddiursa.
Once the bear stands up, she gives Dillon a fierce look. "Teddiursa!" she proclaims proudly.
Dillon gives her a sharp glare. "If you disobey me again, I'll leave you at Professor Oak's lab."
"Pikapi!" Pika shouts in shock.
"Dillon!" Amy chimes in. Her brother doesn't threaten people. Even delinquent Dillon never threatened people. Now that the battle is over, Teddiursa reluctantly enters her pokeball. She just wants to show off how strong she is. She never meant to make Dillon mad. Why is he mad? He should be happy that she battled until the end!
Groaning, Dillon stands up as Pika hops on Amy's shoulder. "Now, where's Celibi?"
Amy puts a hand on his arm where Teddiursa's bite marks are. "Wait, Dillon. We should tal-"
He roughly pulls his arm away, making her flinch. "Talk about what, Amy? Talk about you running off all the time when you promised you'd stop? Or how about your recklessness? Or your inability to listen to anyone but yourself? Or-"
"I get it!" the redhead shouts with tears glossing up in her eyes. She glares at her frustrated brother. "But at least my Pokemon listens to me!"
"Because you let them run wild around you! That's why you lost Larvitar!"
"It's because they like me! I'm nice to them! Would it kill you to be nice, Dillon?" Amy fires back at him. "If you think about it, the only people you're close to are Aurora and Granite, but you guys haven't talked in months! You suck at relationships, Dillon! That's why you and dad still don't act like a family!"
"Stop it, Amy!" exclaims the angry future boy.
"No! Everyone's too scared to say anything to you, but I'm not!" Amy's tears are slipping down her face now, and Pika worriedly waves his arms between the siblings. "You haven't changed at all, Dillon! You're still an asshole! I hate that you're my brother!"
A flash of hurt hits his eyes and it's soon gone as the rage returns. "Gonna run away now?" He taunts her.
"I hate you!" Amy shrieks before walking away. However, she stops before exiting the room. While she's upset at Dillon, she won't let him be satisfied in thinking she will run away again.
"Pikaaa…" Pika licks at her tears as she tries to wipe at them.
Giggling sadly, she tells him, "I'm okay, Pika. He's such a jerk."
"Brothers can be like that."
Amy blinks in confusion and then looks down where the voice came from. She spots the blonde girl from before and remembers that she and Dillon aren't alone here. "Who are you?" Amy sniffles up the last of her tears.
Bonnie extends a hand to her. "Name is Bonnie! And that's my big brother, Clemont!" She grins at Amy.
Amy smiles slightly and shakes the hand. "Hey, Bonnie. My name is Amy."
Clemont walks over to meet Amy, followed by Serena who drags Ash with her. "Hey, Amy! I'm Serena!"
Ash grins widely. "And I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"
When Amy's eyes land on Ash, her eyes open wide in shock. Dillon, who has been trying to mind his own business, heard it. He looks over in fear as Amy opens her mouth to say what she should not be saying. Fortunately, Clemont covers her mouth in time, which of course makes everyone but Dillon suspicious.
When he removes his hand, he sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "It's an oran berry. You were on a long trip, so it's to give you energy."
Amy chews on the berry in her mouth gratefully. Once she finishes chewing, she wants to ask about Ash again, but Dillon is now beside her. He grabs her wrist to lead her out of the Team Flare hideout, and everyone follows curiously. Even though Amy is still mad and fighting to get out of his grip, Dillon's hold is too strong.
"I hate you, Dillon! Let me go!"
"No." he hisses at her. In the corner of his eye, he notices Clemont has the group walking a distance behind them. Speaking through Amy's angry words, Dillon interrupts her, "We're in the past, Amy. Ash doesn't know we're his kids." Dillon shoots his confused sister a sharp look. "And it's gonna stay that way."
Now, Amy manages to free herself so she stops in her tracks to glare at him. "The past? How?"
"Celebi." Dillon keeps his reply short as he continues walking. "Don't say anything unless you wanna fuck up the future."
"How about I make sure you don't turn out like the asshole you are?"
Turning around to face her, Dillon is tired of his sister's fit. "If dad never left, I wouldn't be this asshole." Dillon closes in on his sister who is unfazed by his tone. "If I was never this asshole-"
"Then I'd never hate you!" Amy exclaims with intensity.
Letting out an annoyed breath, Dillon finishes his statement, "Then I would never understand how important people are to me." Amy's gaze softens when Dillon frowns. "You're important to me. It's the reason I get mad at you." He backs up and turns to continue walking away.
Sighing, Amy walks a few feet behind him. "I'm not ready yet, Pika." She whispers to the worried mouse on her shoulder.
"Pii…"
"I guess everyone reacts differently when their dads leave." Ash mutters to his friends who curiously look at him. They notice a sad tint in his eyes, but they know it's because of his own nonexistent father.
Nodding, Serena says, "You wanna make everyone happy because you know how much pain hurts." She then looks at Dillon's defeated back ahead of them. "While Dillon hates the world."
"Hated." Clemont tells them. "He hated the world. I think he's still trying to work through his own emotions now that he doesn't hate the world anymore." Clemont sighs because he knows Ash is the one who leaves his family in the future. Even though Ash knows the pains of losing a father, he still leaves his own family. While Clemont doesn't know the details, he can see why Dillon is so upset.
Okay. I'm trying to get them back to their time, but I need some character development right now before that. :P But I have a lot of ideas for once they're back in their time. I hope that the next chapter is the last Time Travel Chapter. We'll see. It may take 2-3 more.