Disclaimer: No ownership of Pokémon.

The 12 Elements of AshMas, Volume XI

Type: Fire
Shipping: PearlShipping

One-Shot 1: Oración, the Song of Peace

Alamos Town was disappearing. Dialga and Palkia fought each other as the people and Pokémon felt helpless. They were trapped within a Spacial Rend. They could not escape. Alice found a musical disk that she recalled, being Oración. She gave Ash, Dawn and the Pokémon friends had a mission in order to save everyone: find a way to play Oración to quell the fighting between the legendary Pokémon, including Darkrai. They flew up with Tonio and Alice to the Space-Time Towers. Brock and his Pokémon helped Nurse Joy with evacuating the townsfolk to a safe place as the town continued to evaporate. The clash between Dialga and Palkia knocked Piplup off the basket, but Ash's Staravia caught him in the flight. Then, Palkia attacked Darkrai with Draco Meteor. Darkrai defending the balloon and those inside, but one Meteor struck the basket, destroying a side. With nothing for her to hold on, Dawn fell from the basket and yelped. "DAWN!" shouted Ash as he grabbed Dawn's arm, catching her from falling. Their momentum caused the balloon to shift and Alice grabbed Ash around the torso, hoping to pull the two back. Palkia passed by and nudged the basket enough to where Ash lost his grip. Dawn fell, but it was a short drop to a tower. She was safe. Ash also spilled out, holding Oración, but his was a step that he slid down and made a giant leap onto the tower. Staravia arrived and Piplup reunited with Dawn.

"Piplup!" she cried as they hugged. Staravia flew up to retrieve Pikachu as Dawn glanced at her hand that was briefly held by Ash. 'No hesitation… He may be…' The battle raged on as Dialga used the Roar of Time, nailing Darkrai and propelling the balloon away from the tower. Time running out, Ash had to climb the tower's stairs.

"Dawn, let's go!"

"Right!" Ash led the way up the tower with the Pokémon covering all sides should Dialga or Palkia attack the tower. As they climbed, more of the tower disintegrated. The Pokémon attacked the oncoming attacks from the two brawling Legendary Pokémon after Darkrai fell. As the two climbed, the tower began to dissolve.

"Oh no!" The pathway gave way. Dawn was quick with a response.

"Hold on!" She released Buizel and Buneary. Every Pokémon Ash and Dawn had were helping with the tower's climb. On command, Buizel fired Water Gun while Buneary spat Ice Beam, trying to buy time for the trainers to reach the top. They created makeshift stairs.

"Perfect, you two!" Walking on ice, Ash gingerly stepped forward since he's still holding Oración. All of the Pokémon used various attacks to keep the town from disappearing. Dawn stayed behind Ash, hoping that he didn't fall and lose Oración.

'Seeing him do this… to save everyone…' Dawn stopped and felt her heart skip a beat. She quickly caught back up as the tower's side dissolved. A massive explosion occurred. Darkrai got in the middle of an exchange. Ash and Dawn stopped, horror dreading their faces.

"STOP!" shouted Darkrai. "This garden is everyone's!" Darkrai was defending the people and Pokémon who wanted to live.

"Darkrai…" hushed Ash. This gave the mission new life.

"The disk!" shouted Dawn. "Let's hurry!" Ash nodded and the two and their Pokémon resumed the climb up the tower. The stairs deteriorated from behind and the wall on the side of the staircase vanished. A rupture caused Ash to lose his footing. The shoe on the other foot, Dawn caught Ash, but the combined weight was too much for Dawn's little hand and Piplup's body. They began to fall when Buizel fired Water Gun. The power was enough to propel Ash, Dawn and Piplup to another part of the tower. They stuck the landings, but the force sent Dawn into Ash's body. He held Dawn to keep balance with one arm and Oración with the other. For a moment, Dawn couldn't move. She didn't want to move. She felt a desire to stay on Ash. The unintended hug had Dawn's cheeks become bright red. 'This is like how Mom held me. I feel protected with his arm like this.' Loosening his grip, Dawn stood up and gazed her sea blue eyes to Ash's chocolate brown ones. Ash looked to the Pokémon still on the tower they fell from.

"Buizel, thanks a lot!" The Pokémon breathed a sigh of relief after that moment. "Pikachu, take care of everyone!"

("On it, Ash!") the Mouse Pokémon accepted as Ash's Turtwig and Buneary rejoined. ("Let's climb!") The Pokémon resumed their climb up the tower. Ash, Dawn and Piplup got inside the tower with rocking pendulums that were also dissolving. They ran, hoping to play Oración in time when they watched Dialga and Palkia attack Darkrai. The combined attacks were too much, and he also disintegrated. Dawn gasped, horrified. Ash cringed, knowing Darkrai was helping and the two Legendary Pokemon were free of the distraction.

"But… how?" shuttered Dawn. Now, they had to save Alamos Town in Darkrai's memory. They ran down a corridor, hearts heavy.

"I'm not gonna let Darkrai down, now!" growled Ash. Finally, they reached a giant machine. The Pokémon also arrived. Ash pressed on a pedestal and it ejected a disk which Dawn removed. Ash replaced it with Oración, but a problem reared itself. He tried to fit Oración, but each way he tried to adjust, it wasn't going into the slot. "It won't fit!" Dawn gawked, believing the effort was in vain. That's when Dawn realized the problem with Oración and scanned the machine. The back of the disk, a flower pattern, and a slot with the same pattern. She quickly came to a conclusion.

"Try the one in the middle!" This made Ash blink before turning Oración over. The slot matched and he put it in the slot. The puzzle complete, Ash and Dawn reached a lever. Together, they pulled it to the bottom. There was a bit of sparking at the top of the machine… but then… nothing. Something was wrong.

"The power!"

"It's dead…" It seemed all was loss. "Let's give it power!" Ash nodded.

"Pikachu and Pachirisu can do it!" He turned to Pikachu and quickly had an idea. "Staravia, fly Pikachu to the top!" Obeying, Staravia carried Pikachu to one rod and Dawn released Pachirisu to the other. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pachirisu, Discharge!" The Mouse and ElecSquirrel Pokémon released their electricity to the circuit. The attacks added power to the machine which began to work. Pikachu and Pachirisu shocked as hard as they could when the bells began to ring. Everyone heard it. Palkia and Dialga stopped their attacks as the melody played. It was Oración that was being played. Oración echoed over what remained of Alamos Town. The towers were alight, a bright gold shimmering as Ash, Dawn and the Pokémon stepped outside The Space-Time Towers seemed to have grown wings. Dialga and Palkia soon recovered from the injuries they suffered. A white light illuminated the city. A truce made, Dialga left. Buizel saw Palkia flying to the tower.

("Company!") he alerted. Hearing Dawn's Pokémon, those on the tower's railings turned to Palkia who seemed curious to the song played. Ash faced Palkia as Dawn came from behind and held his free shoulder. Ash was upset at Palkia and Dialga, even though the latter left.

"Palkia, can't you see what you did!?" he shouted as he wallowed with grief, Darkrai on his mind. "You destroyed the town! All the… Pokémon! You bring this town back to normal!"

"You've got to do it!" added Dawn. "Palkia, please!"

("We never asked for it!") roared Pikachu. Palkia roared itself, removing the Spacial Rend from Alamos Town. It looked like nothing had been damaged at all. Everyone on the tower laughed.

"We're back!" cheered Dawn. Ash sighed, relieved that the crisis involving Dialga and Palkia ended. They reentered the tower as Oración continued to play. Exhausted, Ash plopped his butt by the pipe closest to the balcony.

"We did it!" sighed Ash. "It's over…" The Pokémon sighed in relief.

"I can't believe how close we came to losing it all," Dawn awed as she sat by Ash. Pikachu and Piplup joined the two. "To think, Alice's grandma's song is what helped stop the fighting between the three. I wish Darkrai didn't pay the price." The Pokémon moaned, somber realizations to the loss of a new legend who wanted to protect Alamos Town.

"Yeah… It reminded me of Lucario back at the Tree of Beginning in Kanto. I know Pokémon tend to give their lives to keep us safe… but I'd give my life to the Pokémon in a heartbeat." Dawn smiled as she looked to Ash.

"I'd rather you not do that. We're still young and… Well…" Her stutter made Ash wonder.

"What's up?" Rather than words, Dawn sat by Ash and held his hand

"I say not to throw your life away… and not so soon until we have more adventures with our Pokémon." Her words made Ash smile.

"Yeah…" He remained unaware of Dawn gripping his hand. Ash listened to Oración, admiring the tune that played from the Tower. "Oración… listening to it… I wouldn't mind hearing this in the future." Dawn glanced to Ash from his opinion.

"Like what, to play at a wedding?" The guess made Ash shoot a look to the only person in the room with him. He then laughed.

"That can work. I'm just still surprised that the power of Oración is this strong as it sounds beautiful." He lifted his hands, or tried to when he finally noticed Dawn holding his hand. "Dawn?" Realizing the moment, Dawn smiled.

"You've done so much in your short time in Sinnoh that I… Well…" Quickly, Dawn was flustered. "Oh gosh… I can't… I can't really say that it was love at first sight, but you were never really upset at what I did or what I said. You've been really nice… that I forget years ago when I was teased at school." The confession left Ash rather dumbfounded.

"Dawn…" The Pokémon gathered around their trainers, curious to the behaviors. "Are you telling me something that… I should know?" Dawn spun her body to and sat on top of Ash's before she reached up and pulled his cap off of his head.

"Let's just say that I wasn't sure… until now." Finally, Dawn reached up and kissed Ash on the lips and held it with Oración still playing. The Pokémon ate the scene as they watched Ash and Dawn have their first kiss. No one outside knew about Ash and Dawn, let alone their conditions. Buneary came over to Pikachu and gave him a similar kiss. Dawn became happy, a hero that has helped her become the trainer today is now the one who she can't let go. Revived, Darkrai saw the two in the moment.

"Thank you, Ash," he praised. "Thank you, Dawn." He vanished, perhaps to find Alice. For Alamos Town, another dawn would be on the horizon. For Ash, a new Dawn began his life once again.

END of FIRE
Next up: NORMAL
(Yes, this time, Ash's companions are on the list and Dawn does have a Quilava so why not! Anyway, get in your votes soon for the next entry before I get the first reset.)