Ash's Just Reward Chapter 43
"Entire sentence." = Normal talking.
"Entire sentence." = Psychic talking.
"Entire sentence." = Powerful being talking.
'Entire sentence.' = Person's thoughts.
Bulbasaur seethed silently as he glared at Mewtwo, though he restrained himself from acting out like he had just moments ago, a level of composure having come over him.
That, and he knew he'd be quickly restrained by Heracross and Infernape, who had been assigned to keep him under control. Heracross was eyeing Bulbasaur intently, just looking for any reason to act out his threat of sucking the sap out of the bulb on Bulbasaur's back. And Infernape was cradling Bulbasaur's egg for him, watching the small grass type with a look of both worry and concern.
Though that didn't really matter to Bulbasaur, who was just watching Mewtwo dutifully, as the Legendary isolated himself from the massive group, an intense look of hurt and regret lingering on his face.
'Good.' Bulbasaur thought resentfully, before finally breaking his gaze and looking over the rest of the group.
Pikachu and Charizard both, like Bulbasaur, had small teams of bodyguards surrounding them, to prevent them from acting out again and attacking. Pikachu's group seemed more made up of people who were able to influence him emotionally, as he had his daughter Absol curled up next to him, as well as Espeon and Raichu sitting next to him, who seemed to be offering words of council toward the small mouse. Charizard on the other hand, had a full group of muscle to restrain him if need be, with Goodra, Krookodile, Snorlax, and Tyranitar all standing at the ready in case he exploded again. Yet the only thing that seemed to be keeping him calm was the young Eevee currently in his arms.
It almost insulted Bulbasaur how much smaller his group of bodyguards were in comparison to the fire type's.
But regardless, he circled his attention round to the only person who really mattered at that moment: Ash himself. As it currently stood, Ash was in the midst of consoling his mum, and was informing everyone who hadn't been there, which was a fair majority of the group, the story he had only just regained the memories of. And as he spoke, a sombre silence hung over the group, hooked on every word that came out of his mouth.
As Bulbasaur watched over the group, his focus was shattered by the arrival of another Pokémon, causing him to snap his head over to the side.
And sitting next to him, not making eye contact with him and instead staring over at Ash, was Suicune. Heracross and Infernape shared a look with one another, and after a wordless discussion, nodded in mutual agreement. The only action they took before leaving was when Infernape passed Bulbasaur's egg to him, before they walked off silently, returning to the main group which had amassed around Ash.
The grass and water type sat in silence for a moment, neither having much to say to the other. Bulbasaur simply cuddled his egg with a multitude of vines, while Suicune continued gazing at Ash stoically. It was a good while before one of them broke the silence.
"While I knew you were capable in battle, our little spar proving as much, I didn't think you were capable of such reckless rage." Suicune said, earning a deep sigh from Bulbasaur as an initial response.
"Truthfully, neither did I." Bulbasaur replied, looking down at the ground as he spoke, his eyes glazing over as the recent battle played over in his mind's eye.
Suicune looked at the Kanto starter with a sad look, before she continued speaking.
"If my eyes weren't mistaken, which they haven't been in many years, I could have sworn to Arceus that I saw the glow of evolution from you. Would you like to speak about it?"
Bulbasaur just chuckled bitterly, shaking his head.
"No, not really. I'd like to forget it almost happened. But I don't think you're the kind of Pokémon to just drop those type of topics, are you?"
Suicune merely shrugged as she began to lower her body, so she was laying down, making herself more comfortable as she continued to speak.
"Truthfully, the topic of evolution is not one I have much interest in. A product of not being capable of doing so and not often associating with those who could. But I'm aware of what it is and its implication to a Pokémon. When I first heard of you, a Pokémon who was part of the Chosen One's first team, and yet had remained unevolved, I assumed you were the sort who preferred your current form. An uncommon, but not unfathomable principle. And after meeting you, I was surprised to find it had worked for you. Unevolved, yet capable of keeping a Legendary like myself on my toes in battle. There are some Legendaries who have fared worse than you."
Suicune paused for a moment, mouth hanging open as she struggled to find the right words, before pressing on.
"So when I saw you nearly evolve out of anger, I couldn't fathom what was going through your mind. And to answer your question; no. I'm not going to drop this topic. For your own wellbeing if nothing else."
Bulbasaur didn't respond. Or at least, not in any way that Suicune could detect, as Bulbasaur stood stoically, gazing off into the distance. For a moment, Suicune began wondering if he had heard her, but before she could ask, Bulbasaur finally replied.
"I've been afraid of evolving into Venusaur for so long now. I'm not really sure why, or at least not in a way that I can describe with words. It might be partly because I know that you change when you evolve, and I had seen enough Venusaurs to have an idea of what they tended to be like. And I didn't want to be like that. I didn't want to change from how I am now. It might be for a similar reason as Pikachu; I need to prove to others, and myself, that I have worth in this form. That I am strong with evolving."
Bulbasaur paused, shimmying on the spot as he dwelled on the topic a little more.
"But whatever the reason, it all seemed so distant when I was fighting Mewtwo. I know for a fact that I could evolve into a Venusaur at any moment. I have the experience; I know I do. I've been holding off my evolution in Ivysaur for years now, so I doubt going all the way would be hard. And in that moment, when I was lost in my rage, and shock, and grief, I almost lost it. Lost myself."
Bulbasaur's entire body sagged, his legs giving out as his body plopped onto the floor, with Suicune looking even more concerned than before. But her eyes landed on his egg, still cradled in his vines, and an idea sparked in her mind.
'Nothing like a bit of responsibility to help one cope.' She thought to herself, before she quickly rubbed her paw over the surface of the egg, causing it to begin glowing brightly.
Bulbasaur quickly perked up, his attention now entirely on his egg and any previous thoughts were cast aside in favour of the new focus.
The egg began contorting, elongating and becoming longer, and much, much thinner. The top of the egg began expanding outward, flapping and flailing in the wind, changing into a material that was much lighter and malleable than the eggshell it previously was, looking almost like a sash. And when the glow began to fade, the bronze colouration that the egg was covered in prior began to become dominant in the Pokémon's colouration.
When the glow finally dissipated entirely, there, hovering there with an amazed look in its solitary eye, was a Honedge. Who then looked at Bulbasaur curiously before speaking its first words.
"Fa, father?"
Bulbasaur found his breath being hitched by the word, tears brimming in his eyes.
"Wow. I think I finally agree with Charizard on something."
Suicune just smiled sweetly, mentally congratulating and patting herself on the back for a job well done.
Emboar frowned as he stared at the cards in his hands, sweat building up on his brow as he thought out his next move.
Looking up from his cards, he stared at the towering Legendary sitting across from him, the embodiment of the moon itself, before he finally decided on his next move.
"Do you have any twos?"
"Go Magikarp." Lunala said in a monotone voice, causing Emboar to shout in frustration before he threw his cards down.
"Arceus damn it!" He yelled, causing the other present Pokémon to burst out laughing as they watched the display of anger.
The large group of mismatched Pokémon were still waiting outside the fan club turned Pokécentre, waiting patiently for both Dawn and Hoopa to be released from care. They had been waiting for a good while now, and had, rather predictably, gotten bored.
And at this point, Max was beginning to regret suggesting that they play some card games.
Squirtle chuckled to himself, wiping a lone tear from his eye before he looked at his cards. But as he mused on what he might do next, a flood of memories suddenly washed over him, hitting him like a ton of bricks.
Squirtle suddenly found himself struggling to breathe, and he was struggling to focus, his vision blurring as the memories remained at the forefront of his mind. And soon, there was more tears falling down his face, but these ones weren't the same as the joyful ones he had just moments prior.
These ones were born from grief.
Squirtle sat there quietly, his cards falling from his hands as his grip loosened. As he sat there, completely lost in his own thoughts, Hawlucha began nudging him on the shoulder.
"Hey man, are you alright?" He asked, as Squirtle's breathing became more and more laboured.
"Erm, I don't know." Squirtle started, mumbling slightly as he shook his head, unable to clear it of the vivid memories that were now flashing in his mind. "We need to find Ash. I… I need to make sure he's ok."
The others shared a concerned look, confusion being evident as they all shrugged at each other, but before any of them could ask him to elaborate, they were interrupted by a crack of rumbling thunder.
The sound echoed out throughout the city, causing the already damaged to shake and shudder from the pure force of the sound, sending dust and rubble falling as a result. The various people who were working on recovery and medical aid all began to panic and flee, fear of another attack being at the forefront of their minds.
The group of Pokémon save for Squirtle, all began to stare at the sky, eyes peeled for any sign of trouble or conflict to appear.
Lunala in particular was especially on edge, eyes darting back and forth, as she began charging up her energy within so that it pulsed within her widespread wings, primed to attack at a moment's notice.
Another crack of thunder sounded out, this one even more intense, and even causing the group to stumble, and the very earth beneath them to shudder and groan, on the verge of cracking and splitting from the intense pressure.
Glalie was the first to spot it, and quickly shouted it out for the rest of the group as well.
"Portal, six o'clock high! Get ready!"
The group span round, now all charging their own attacks as they stared into the sky. But they faltered as they looked at the portal, and Ash's Pokémon all reached the same consensus with even a quick glance.
"Is it just me, or does that portal look different from the last ones?" Swellow asked, getting a number of murmured agreements. Though Lunala now had a look of horror painted on her face.
"No, no, no, no, no." She muttered to herself, her gathered energy briefly faltering as she stared at the cracks that tore through the sky.
This portal wasn't one that looked controlled, like it was opened by someone who had a clear intent and the proper means to sustain such a bridge between dimensions. Instead, it was closer in relation to a tear, a rip in the fabric of reality, leaving a jagged hole in the skies above Alola.
And around the holes were dark lines, which seemed to be sucking the colour from the vicinity around them and were spreading out like cracks in a glass window, shattered by some unseen force.
A force which was now trying to ply its way through the crack, with dark claws pawing at the edges of the unstable portal.
Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and the two Genesect all tensed at the sight of those claws, having just been victim to the power those claws wielding not too long ago, though the rest of the Pokémon just stared in confused horror.
"What, in the name of Arceus and all she's created, is that?" Seismitoad half-shouted, with Lunala giving him a haunted response.
"Necrozma."
With the name of the creature uttered, the portal suddenly was torn wide open, with the Prism Pokémon forcing its way through, seemingly bolstered by the mention of its name.
The body of Solgaleo still formed the bulk of the creature, with Necrozma's actual body parts covering it to create something akin to armour for the Legendary. Though unlike the last time Lunala saw the creature, she noticed that around the pieces of dark armour on Solgaleo's body was small dark lines, which seemed to be spreading slowly across his body.
With his new form now all the way through the portal, Dusk Mane Necrozma roared, the sound wave taking physical form and slamming into everything around it, with a few buildings which had been just barely stayed standing finally giving out, and crumbling into nothing more than a pile of dust and rubble.
It was at this moment when Squirtle finally snapped out of it, propping himself up and taking one look at the creature in the sky before he reached into his shell and began barking orders.
"Ok, I have no idea what's going on, with this thing or Ash. But here's the plan: we're gonna knock this loudmouth out, we're gonna grab Hoopa, and then we'll find Ash. So, let's get on it!"
Everyone then shouted an affirmative, even the reluctant Legendaries, before they recharged the attacks they had let dissipate, before shouting a massive battle cry in response.
And with this prompt, Necrozma charged forward, claws primed, and its gaze fixed on Lunala.
"How long is 'his gonna take? I'm starving here!"
"Will you shut up! We're all starving!"
Guzma felt his eye twitch as he listened to the Team Rocket trio bicker about food, the temptation to smack them causing his entire body to twitch impulsively.
He and his boys had travelled dutifully to the Ruins of Abundance, the place where one of them Island Deities were said to sleep. When they'd gotten to the Ruins, they'd set up the pieces of tech they'd carried there in the crates with… minor difficulty. It had taken a few smacks from Guzma to get his boys to 'stop being so thick!' but they had managed to set them up, and now half a dozen of the gizmos was positioned around the Ruins.
Staring at the advanced pieces of tech appraisingly, Guzma just smiled widely. The boss lady sure was good with this technology thing, and these gadgets were the perfect proof. Standing at nearly double his height, and looking like miniaturised pylons, they cackled with electricity, especially at the tip of the rod that jutted out from the top, which sparked ominously.
Apparently not ominously enough, as Guzma had already been forced to yank the ears of some of his boys who had been about to touch it, like a bunch of idiots.
Guzma didn't know why he put up with them sometimes.
Though despite their questionable stupidity, his boys had done their jobs. They'd done all the heavy lifting, they'd managed to get the machines all set up, and now they were lying in wait for the Legendary to show itself so they could spring their trap. So Guzma couldn't really find it in himself to be too angry at them.
He could, however, find it in himself to be angry at the Trio of idiots who were representing Team Rocket. Quite easily as it happened.
The trio had been nothing but incompetent the entire time and were driving Guzma insane. During the long walk to the Ruins of Abundance, they had done nothing but moan and complain, all of which they sent his way. What, did they think they were special? They were ALL TIRED! SHUT UP!
And when they had finally gotten there, they had decided to just arguing amongst themselves, hurting Guzma's ears and distracting his boys as they tried to set up the machines that the boss lady had given them. The only time when they weren't bickering was when their interest had been caught by one of the machines, which they then proceeded to nearly break.
Lusamine had said these three were meant to be good with machines. But from what he had seen, it didn't seem likely.
And now they were moaning about food, and all Guzma wanted to do was smack them to next week. Repeatedly.
"Oh wait, I just remembered. I packed myself some lunchies. Joy!"
"Oi James, you better share that food, or I'll scratch your eyes out."
"Not if I beat you too it furball!"
He really hated this trio.
Guzma's attention was then drawn to a few small specks in the distance, just at the edge of what his vision could make out. They seemed to cut through the air like rockets and were steadily growing larger.
Like they were travelling towards him.
'Showtime.' He thought to himself, as he spun around to his boys.
"'ight you gits! Hide! They're coming!"
The Team Skull members all began diving behind various pieces of cover, doing their best to hide their bodies from the incoming creatures.
The Team Rocket trio on the other hand.
"This smells so good!"
"Let us have some James!"
"Yeah, sharing's caring, now share with those who want it more!"
Guzma just growled as he ran toward them, diving at them and knocking them to the ground behind a slab of rock, before he rounded onto them.
"Can ya idiots focus for two damn minutes?! What's the matter with ya?"
Though they didn't pay him any mind, with James in particular checking over his container of pasta, sighing in relief when he saw it was fine.
"Oh good, I didn't drop it."
"Shut-up!" Guzma ground out, slapping the container out of his hand and causing its contents to go everywhere.
"My pasta." James whined, just as the Legendaries flew into the vicinity.
Tapu Bulu fumed silently as he and the others flew to his temple. They had spent the last day heading to multiple locations across the globe searching for Ash, trying locations that had some significance to him.
Some of the locations included Alamos Town, Petalburg City, Twinleaf Town, the Village of Dragons, Striaton City, Vaniville Town, Lumiose City, and even Altomare. That last location was particularly frustrating since apparently some of the Chosen One's Pokémon had been there, but they had missed them.
Which left only Kanto and Johto left to be properly searched for signs of the elusive trainer, and it was decided that their party would rest briefly in the Ruins of Abundance before taking the long trip, something that Tapu Bulu was more than happy for.
His companions flew quietly behind him, all feeling the same frustration that was plaguing Tapu Bulu, even though he was the only one who was physically showing it. Tapu Fini was gliding through the air with the same grace she normally had, though she was doing so while encased in her shell, shielding her body from the intense winds that were being generated by their high speed. Something which, Tapu Bulu knew from experience, was a sign that she was seething but didn't want to show it.
The three Genesect were quite difficult to read, due to their robotic nature, but Tapu Bulu could tell they were just as annoyed. The amount of times they'd reanalysed the list of potential locations where Ash had been, doing it again after every location they successfully checked, just reeked of aggravation and frustration.
So they could all deal with a break.
But as they flew through the desert which surrounded the ancient structure, for reasons that he couldn't explain, he felt like he was in danger.
Before he could ponder on this feeling for long, six bolts of blue electricity suddenly cracked into existence, shooting up from the ground and ripping through the air toward the group of flying Pokémon, with a crackle and an ominous hum as it travelled.
Tapu Bulu didn't have time to react, getting hit by two of the bolts straight away, causing him to spin wildly out of control and crash into one of the pillars that still stood, sending chunks of rock crashing down and he collapsed into the ground.
The other bolts each began tracking one of the other Legendaries, breaking off and homing in on one each. First to be hit was Tapu Fini, having been flying right behind Tapu Bulu. The bolt smashed into her shell with enough force to send her flying backwards, causing the Genesect to dive out of the way as she spun wildly in the air.
Having dove out of the way of Tapu Fini's body, the Genesect were unable to react in time to the bolts that had hit both of the Tapus, with the remaining three bolts hitting one of the three Genesect's with pinpoint accuracy. The bolts caused the three bug Legendaries to convulse in the air, the voltage running through their bodies causing immense pain and damage.
Two of the Genesect were quickly knocked unconscious, the surprise attack being too much from them to shrug off, and soon their unconscious forms were dropping toward the ground, their dead weight crashing into the ground with immense force that kicked up a cloud of dust.
The third Genesect, the red Genesect, stayed suspended in the air, resistant enough to retain consciousness, but now trapped as the bolt persisted, causing his muscles to spasm in the air and his train of thought to be filled with nothing except the overwhelming indication of pain running through his body.
Tapu Fini managed to recover, opening her shell and catching herself in the air, before she began scanning the environment with keen eyes. She wasn't able to look for long, as she managed to catch a glimpse of six glowing points in the distance before another volley of lightning bolts were fired, coursing through the air toward her.
She shot forward, flying up toward the red Genesect with as much speed as she could summon, crashing into it with her own body and knocking it out of the bolt that had held it pinned. Now freed, the red Genesect quickly charged up an attack in the cannon on his back, but Tapu Fini quickly flew to his side and placing a hand on his side.
"We must leave, now!" She said in a panicked manner, before they both dived out of the way of the bolts which had arched round to hit them.
"But my brothers! I cannot leave them!" The Genesect said in frustration, eyes darting to the points where the bolts had come from, only to see that there was now another six points of energy, each looking nearly ready to fire again.
"If you stay, you'll just be captured as well. For now, we need to run!"
Genesect quickly shot a conflicted look at the Tapu, before glancing at the other Genesect, who remained unconscious on the floor, small crackles of left-over electricity still coursing around their bodies. With tightly clenched eyes, he nodded, before the two shot off backwards, placing as much distance as they could between them and the Ruins of Abundance.
But as they flew away, Tapu Fini shot a quick glance back at the Ruins, where the bolts had finally fizzled out in the air, and she could faintly see the outlines of several humanoid figures appearing from the ruins, walking towards the unconscious Legendaries.
Ash stared at his Pokémon as they all conversed, the recent reveal clearly still on their minds, and a twinge of sadness made itself known in his heart.
The recent morale boost that Ash had felt was now gone. His victory over Gary, one of his oldest rivals, the addition of new team members provided by Mewtwo, and the return of some more of his waylaid Pokémon had sent Ash's mood over the moon, as he finally felt like things were looking up. All for that mood to come crashing back down with the resurfaced memory.
And that had clearly spread to his Pokémon as well, as the happy interactions and mingling between his Pokémon had completely stopped, with his Pokémon breaking off into smaller groups and refusing to interact with others. The clones that had joined his team with Mewtwo had been completely isolated, and were now sitting off in the distance isolated, and looking glum.
Ash then looked to his human companions, who had also adopted a rather sombre mood. When Ash had explained what had happened to trigger all of this, it had hit all of them hard, with varying reactions from pure shock, tears, to stress eating, and even a few surprise hugs.
Though none of them had been hit as hard as Misty.
Once the battles had been resolved, Misty had broken down into tears, throwing her arms around Ash and clinging onto him tightly, the bottled-up grief all spilling out at once, and it had left Ash completed floored.
What had made it worse was when she punctuated this grief with her talking about all the near misses with death that Ash had experienced with her, and with each one she retold, her crying only intensified.
And Ash couldn't say a word to console her, since he didn't know what to say. He was still in shock.
The memories that had been restored were still constantly replaying in Ash's mind, and Ash was still analysing these memories with as much focus as he could muster. He replayed the journey to New Island, and how he and his friends had almost drowned. He re-watched the events of his battle with the clone Charizard, and how outmatched they had been. He remembered the despair as he chased after the Pokéballs that had taken his friends, stolen from him, and how he had refused to let them take Pikachu. He remembered leading the liberated Pokémon to fight against Mewtwo, and how the fight had escalated to a point of no return.
And how he had thrown himself in the middle of the fight with Mew and Mewtwo. How he had died.
Waking up again to all the Pokémon crying their eyes out, and with Brock and Misty on the verge of a breakdown. To Mewtwo giving up his goal of global extinction and the creation of his super race.
Ash's eyes widened as Mewtwo's revelation on life played through his memory, before his last words before leaving became the prominent focus.
"I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."
Ash looked at Mewtwo, and he began remembering the other times he had encountered Mewtwo, and how much he had changed. How he had changed from being destructive and vindictive to protective and measured. And the fact that when his life had been in danger, under threat from the Ultra Beasts, it had been Mewtwo who had saved him.
With this in mind, Ash turned to Misty and placed a hand on her shoulder, catching her attention and flashing her the most reassuring smile he could manage.
He wanted to say something, but he decided not to, knowing that he'd probably botch it somehow and make it worse. So he just continued to smile, lightly rubbing on her arm to try and reassure her.
Somehow, it was starting to work. Misty slowly began to stop crying, and with a few snivels, she was soon smiling back. She leant forward, placing her forehead against Ash's as they sat in silence.
"I'm here Mist, and I'm not going anywhere. Not that you'd let me."
A slight giggle came from Misty, before she quickly stopped herself, causing Ash to break out into a full on laugh.
"That never happened." She said seriously, with Ash just continuing to laugh and placing a hand over his heart.
Before she could back up this statement with a threat, a small group burst from the treeline, four shapes quickly bouncing through the field before landing in front of Ash.
Standing in front of Ash was Sceptile, Blaziken, Greninja, and Primeape, and slung over Sceptile's shoulder was Brock, who wasn't looking very pleased.
"Ok, we're here now. Can you PUT ME DOWN NOW!"
Sceptile obliged, huffing slightly as he did, placing Brock down in front of Ash.
Realising where he was and who he was in front of, and with tears lingering at the edge of his eyes, he stepped forward and flung his arms around Ash and Misty, hugging them tightly.
"This is nice." Ash muttered to himself as he began making a mental list of people he'd have to speak to. Chances where he needed to console them.
And he was going to do exactly that.
The sound of constant rumbling and thunder broke the silence at the lakefront, as the Tauros herd charged into view.
The herd came to a stop by the lakeside, before the leader of the herd stepped forward.
"ALRIGHT BOYS! DRINK UP! THIS'LL BE THE LAST STOP FOR A WHILE, AND WE DON'T WANT TO WASTE TIME! SO HURRY IT UP!"
The herd began to comply, all lining up along the lake and beginning to take in as much water as they could with big gulps.
While they were preoccupied with this, the two Pichus jumped off the back of the lead Tauros, both stretching their limbs as they did.
"What should we do?"
"Wanna grab some fruit?"
With a motive quickly figured out, the two began wandering over to the nearby trees, eyes peeled for any tasty looking fruit. After a few minutes, they found a few pieces of fruit which had fallen off the branch of one tree and were sitting there; ripe for the taking.
"FRUIT!" The two yelled excitedly, running towards them. But just as they were about to grab the sweet treats, a large claw scooped it up, causing the two to stop in their tracks.
"What do we have here?" The Ursaring who had scooped up the fruit said haughtily, taking a bite out of the fruit as he spoke, causing juices to run down his face.
"Looks like troublemakers to me." A Pangoro added, cracking it's knuckles as it walked.
"Maybe we should teach them a lesson?" A Skuntank said, a massive grin breaking out on their face as they stepped from the treeline.
"Hey, these fruits aren't yours!" One of the Pichu Brothers shouted, with the other one puffing up their chest as well.
"Yeah, you can't claim all of these, you should share!"
The trio stared at the two electric mice Pokémon for a moment before breaking out in a mighty laugh, the sound like a bellowing animal and causing the two small Pokémon to flinch.
"And who's gonna make us share, you?" The Ursaring asked, leaning down and smiling in a way which put his fangs on full display.
"We will." A voice added, "So back away."
"Or what?" The Ursaring asked as he straightened up, before turning to address the new voice.
And to immediately regret asking that question.
Standing in front of him, forming a solid wall of muscle and fur, was the entire Tauros herd, all of whom were glaring at the three wild Pokémon with a furious glare, all of them snorting loudly.
"Hey now, let's be cool about this." The Ursaring said while throwing his claws up, slowly backing away from the horde along with his cronies. "We were just playing; we didn't mean no trouble. They can have the fruit, it's there's. No problem."
The herd didn't do anything, save keeping their glares tightly focused on the three Pokémon, with only the lead Tauros bothering to give a response.
"Leave."
"Sure, no problem boss." The Ursaring said in a slightly high-pitch voice, before he and the other two Pokémon broke out into a sprint, darting into the tree life as if their lives depended on it.
Something which greatly pleased the lead Tauros.
"Punks." He muttered to himself as the two Pichus began snacking on one of the fallen pieces of fruit.
Hey everyone, TWoS here, back with another update.
Sorry this one took a while, but I encountered a few difficulties while writing this. While I did get some time off work due to the current situation, I ended up burning myself out writing wise, pushing myself to work on too many projects at once. I had this chapter entirely planned out like two weeks ago, but I just couldn't seem to write it properly. So if you find that this chapter is of a lower quality than usual, then I apologise. I wanted to get this chapter done now because I'm going back to work soon and might not be able to do this for a while, so I figured I'd get it done now.
Other than that, this chapter has some fun elements. My only gripe is that I feel like I've not handled all of them properly. The moment with Ash and Misty I was torn on, feeling like it could have potentially done with more to make it more impactful, but also felt like keeping it short, especially dialogue wise, was truer to how they'd interact. Honestly, I'm not sure what to think on it, so if you could let me know what you think about it, I'd really appreciate it.
Also, with this chapter, the final egg has finally hatched. It's been about 35 chapters now (I think, I might need to double check that) since they were introduced, but they've all hatched now. All that's left to do now is work on their character development.
This chapter definitely sets up a lot of interesting events for the future, including a big battle, the reconciliation of characters, and the first move by Team Rainbow Rocket. Who will make the next move? Only time will tell.
Other than that, that's it from me. Thank you for supporting me on this story, I really appreciate it. I do enjoy reading your reviews and look forward to seeing what you have to say about this one.
Until the next time I find myself uploading, much love and peace – TWoS.