Chapter 5 A Talk with Family
After leaving the gym, Ash and Alice are now at the Pokemon Center as Ash is now talking on the phone. Delia says, "So you said that there are 18 gyms in the Ceolis Region?"
"Yes, Mom. I am not sure if I can come back soon. How does Professor Oak feel when he knows that I'm still alive?" Ash asks.
Delia says, "He is surprised, considering his old age. Though he is guilty that he manages to give away your Pokemon..."
"It's fine. They will be happier with other trainers." Ash says. "And Mom, I have something that I want to tell you."
"And what is it?" Delia asks, and Ash tells her everything about Alice, and Delia smiles, "Ash, what you are feeling is love."
"Love? What does that mean?" Ash asks, and Delia can only sigh at his denseness. Then Delia decides to tell him everything she knows about love, and Ash says, "So you think I am in love with Alice?"
"That is what I can think of for now. But I think you should take your time before you try telling her about this." Delia says.
"But what if she doesn't like me back?" Ash asks, and Delia says, "There are some circumstances that it will happen, all I can tell you is that if she doesn't love you back, then you should try to remain friends."
"Okay...I'll try. Thank you for everything, Mom." Ash says as he ends the call. Alice is already waiting for him outside the Pokemon Center, once Ash comes out, she asks, "How is it? Did you make your mother worried?"
"Relax, she is doing fine back in Kanto." Ash says. "Since we have explored everything in Virima City, let's go to the Virima Trail."
"Yeah." Alice says as they head north.
When they get to the gate, they see a man standing in front of them and he says, "Hello! Would you like to have a walk with Furret through Virima Trail?"
Alice says, "I'll do it, what about you, Ash?"
"I'll ride a bike." Ash says, and the man says, "Great, I'll get you settled right away."
After Ash gets on his bike, Alice is given a Furret with the leash, the man teaches Alice how to hold the leash, and after they are prepared they set off on the road.
In the Virima Trail, Ash and Alice are marveling at the sight of the trees and a lot of Pokemon, it gives them an Autumn feeling.
"This place is amazing..." Alice says.
"I know, is that a Virizion Statue?" Ash asks as they check out the statue, and Alice says, "You're right. It is made in honor of Virizion, guardian of Virima."
As they continue forward, they meet some trainers who want to battle, and Alice also tries out the battles herself, and her Blipbug evolves into a Dottler in the end.
Once they finish the trail, they find Emily standing at the gate waiting for them. Alice asks, "Emily?"
"I've been waiting for you, Ash. Alice. So you choose to walk with Furret, too? Alice?" Emily asks.
"Yeah, I do." Alice says.
"Furret is a very cute Pokemon and really fun to walk with!" Emily says as she strokes her Furret's chin. "I'm guessing your first gym battle went well? Ash?"
"Of course." Ash says as he shows his gym badge.
"Congratulations! That means we both have a badge now! We still have a long way to go, but we reached our first milestone." Emily says. "Alice, you don't mind if I battle with Ash so we can see our progress when we both got a gym badge?"
Alice smirks and says, "Not at all, but I'll tell you that you are not going to beat Ash that easily."
"Oh really?" Emily says with the same smirk and she says, "I may have watched over you for your whole life, but I won't hold your hand in battle!"
Alice rolls her eyes and says, "You said you are battling Ash, not me. Remember?"
"Oops, sorry, Ash." Emily says, "I sometimes get carried away when it is about my sister."
"It's fine." Ash says.
The battle begins with Emily sending out Lily, her Petilil, Ash uses Gengar to battle. Gengar has the type advantage and with the Hypnosis and Dream Eater, Petilil faints. Her second Pokemon is Naomi, her Vulpix, and Ash decides to use Lycanroc to battle. Vulpix is doing a good job by using Confuse Ray and some Fire attacks, but Lycanroc manages to snap out of it and defeats the Vulpix with ease.
The third Pokemon is Azura, her Marill. Ash uses Lucario for this one, which causes Alice to be confused as Steel Type is only neutral effective against Marill, but in the end, Marill is defeated by Lucario using Bone Rush. And finally, Lucy the Buneary, the same one which defeated Alice in the hotel, Ash uses Lucario to defeat the bunny Pokemon as well.
Emily says, "Wow, you're definitely on the ball! I may be able to win against my sister, but not you. I think it is good for us to practice against each other from time to time. It'll keep us sharp, and our Pokemon seem like they had a blast just now! Speaking of which, I'll heal up your Pokemon."
When she is healing up her Pokemon, Alice says, "Emily, Ash is really strong. Don't you think?"
"He is, after all, he is already a champion level and I was just underestimating him." Emily says, "So how did you two go? Are there any fireworks happening?"
Alice blushes and she says, "Why do you think like that?"
"You are my sister, and I know how you have feelings for Ash since we saw him on the big screen. Now you are traveling with him, I am sure that he has been taking good care of you, right?"
Alice says, "I admit that he did...but I don't know he knows about my feelings for him."
Emily says, "Maybe you should try it out, or else he is going to be taken away by other girls."
Alice widens her eyes in horror as she says, "But what if he doesn't like me back?"
"There are some circumstances that it will happen, all I can tell you is that if she doesn't love you back, then you should try to remain friends." Emily says as Alice can only sigh.
Ash notices the two siblings are talking and he asks, "What are you two talking about?"
Alice blushes at how Ash is very close to them, and Emily says, "Oh, it is nothing. I guess we should get going to Cianosa City now. It's just past this gatehouse."
She turns to Furret and pets it, she says, "Thank you for walking with me, Furret! The next time I come here, let's walk again!"
Then she bids farewell to Ash and Alice as she leaves, causing Alice to sigh. "How do things turn out to be like this..."
"Did you say something?" Ash asks, and Alice blushes as she turns away, "Nothing."
When they enter Cianose City, they see a Bunnelby on the road, Ash asks, "A Bunnelby? What is it doing here?"
The Bunnelby spot them and it quickly leaves, as they chase after the Pokemon, they get to a burrow. "Should we enter it?" Alice asks.
Ash says, "We should." Then they jump down from above, and then they can see a lot of Bunnelby lurking in the area. They also find a lot of medicines, evolution stones and also some berries around the ground.
"This place looks like a big treasure location..." Alice says.
"I agree...just...wow." Ash says.
They hear a commotion and they decide to check it out, they find that a Scorbunny is being beaten by a bunch of Bunnelby, Alice yells, "Hey! Knock it off!"
The Bunnelby spots them as they quickly stand aside as Alice picks up the injured Scorbunny. Ash asks, "What are you doing? Why are you attacking this Scorbunny?"
The Bunnelby then tries to say something, and Ash realizes that before coming to the region, Arceus has given him a gift to understand what the Pokemon are saying. The Bunnelby is telling Ash about how Scorbunny has been causing trouble in the burrow.
"How did this Pokemon cause trouble?" Ash asks, and then they say something like the bunny keeps kicking the items and how they get hit, and also some other bad stuff that Scorbunny does.
Scorbunny is looking helplessly at Alice, who sighs and says, "What you have done to those Bunnelby are wrong, but that doesn't mean you can gang upon him. I want both sides to apologize to each other."
The Scorbunny realizes that Alice is right, and he apologizes to Bunnelby, and Bunnelby also does the same thing. After that, one of the Bunnelby tells them that some of the items are not useful for them, so Ash and Alice can take one. Alice notices the Ice Stone and she says, "I think my Vulpix can evolve by using an Ice Stone."
"Are you sure you want to do it?" Ash asks, and Alice says, "My Vulpix has been with me ever since I was little, so it will be fine for me."
Alice gives the stone to the Vulpix, causing it to evolve into a Ninetales. And the Scorbunny notices how kind Alice is, and he wants to join her team.
"You want to join me?" Alice asks in surprise, and the Pokemon nods. Alice smiles and she takes out a Pokeball, "Welcome to the team, Scorbunny."
After Scorbunny is captured, Ash says, "Alice, you really look like a mother when you are scolding those bunny Pokemon."
"I do?" Alice says with a blush. "It is because of your help that I know why they are arguing."
"Yeah." Ash says, "But you did your work, and I am sure that it will be lucky to have you..."
Ash stops as he isn't ready to say it out loud. Alice says, "Have me what?"
Ash says, "Nothing. Let's go to Pokemon Center and rest." Alice can only nod as they follow Ash.
That night, Ash and Alice are sleeping in the same room with different beds, both of them are turning away against each other and Ash is thinking, "Why did I say that? Did I really want Alice that much to compare her to a mother? Alice is kind, and she cares about Pokemon and others the most. She is quite cute and beautiful as well..."
As for Alice, she is also thinking the same thing, "I can't believe I get to travel with Ash ever since I started my journey from today...Ash has been my role model as he always helps others in need...but did I really love him? Or was I just fangirling him? I don't know...this is driving me crazy."
"Unknown to them, they sigh and they think the same thing, "I wish I can spend the rest of my life with him/her."
Here is a new chapter, and in this chapter, I decided to write Ash and Alice's feelings along with the Virima City Trail. I know that a lot of you haven't played this game before, and in Virima Trail, you can choose either way to travel, and there will be different wild encounters and different trainers to battle. You can just do both to get more experience, and I hope you like this chapter. The next chapter will be the Trainer's School and the Cafe.
Ash's Pokemon: Snorlax, Sirfetch'd, Noivern, Krookodile, Lycanroc, Heracross, Gengar, Lucario, Charizard, Greninja, Sceptile, Pikachu, Pheromosa
Alice's Pokemon: Alolan Ninetales, Dottler, Scorbunny