Who I Am - Lightning99

Chapter 8:

Normality

"Infernape, Flare Blitz!"

"Nape!" Infernape's body ignited in a flaming, sizzling blue inferno and he pushed off, rocketing towards Staraptor; little flames spitted from his fire, charring spots on the dusty battlefield.

"Aerial Ace to dodge!" Staraptor crouched then swiftly glided away from the blue blaze. The tips of his grey feathers briefly caught fire but were quickly extinguished to a warm tingle during his speedy dodge; the Predator Pokémon didn't even feel it.

The battlers stopped, facing one another, jockeying around in a tight circle, scanning for even the slightest tap of a toe. Seeing them so close, Ash knew what he had to do. Infernape had learned the move only a day before, and he could not wait to let them spar with it. "Now, both use Close Combat!"

At the sidelines of the drawn-out battlefield, Rockruff carefully watched the battle. Its blue orbs were diamonds of amazed reverence.

Infernape's fists glowed a fierce red while Staraptor's talons shone white, and they quickly thrust punches and kicks back and forth, each talon and fist equalling one another, ricocheting in recoil, then thrusting back into the fray. Each rapid punch or kick sparked almost like metal grinding metal as they clashed.

Infernape was nimbler, in mind and body. Stamping his large feet firmly onto the ground, driving his hands so fast they blurred, Staraptor was forced to use his wings as shields. Staraptor batted the fists away as best he could, but against Infernape's specialty, he was disadvantaged. Infernape's speed reached Mach and the large bird couldn't combat.

But he didn't concede. Staraptor leaned to the right, coaxing Infernape's assault to change course, then he quickly curved left, making Infernape punch the nothing that remained in his dust. Finally seeing an opening, he tapped his talons down and sprung into the air. Staraptor gyrated, kicked the back of Infernape's head with as much force as he could. Infernape, knocked off balance, jumped away, separating himself from Staraptor. They both turned to face each other again, poised for the next command.

"Woah! Nice feint, Staraptor! Almost like the actual move!" Ash called, cupping his mouth like a megaphone. Staraptor chirped back powerfully, his gaze unwavering. "Alright, let's call it a night! Well done, everyone!" Ash announced, and the two Pokémon dropped their competitive stares. They shouted respectfully across the battlefield and retreated to the side where they welcomed drinks and snacks Nurse Joy had graciously provided.

Basking in the deliciousness of the food that his exhaustion enhanced, Ash delivered a short analysis of their session to his team before heading to his room. Ash found that talking over their sessions afterwards had become significantly easier now he could understand them properly. Talking to them was no longer like talking to a person fluent only in Unown script. He was no longer interpreting; he was talking to them as normal friends. It made him feel significantly closer to them. Rockruff, however, he couldn't decipher. He had no idea why.

For a few days following the official inauguration of his Island Challenge, Ash rode the Rhyhorn last. While the rookies to Pokémon training – Hau, the twins Hala mentioned – studied the basics at the local Pokémon school and shared their essential first days of bonding with their starters, Ash decided to familiarise himself with Melemele's city. Lillie, Hau, Kukui, and Hala acted as his tour guides for the three days, showing him where everything was and how to get around, for which Ash was very appreciative. Now, Ash wanted to storm the forests and routes, to get back to adventuring. To his changeable normality.

Amidst his calm mapping of the city, Ash learned more about those escorting him as they vaguely detailed themselves in silence-filling chatter. Lillie told him she was staying in Kukui's attic-room for reasons still undisclosed, Hau announced how his biggest goal was to defeat his grandfather in an all-out battle, and Kukui explained his research topic as a professor was Pokémon Moves and Z-Moves.

Hala, on the other hand, was more questioning of Ash himself. He was especially curious about his journey so far. Ash explained as much as he felt he could in simplistic terms, focusing on his travels, vaguely saying he challenged Gyms and Leagues, rather than the unordinary, extraordinary events that always seemed to transpire around him. Ash never knew how to talk about them with people that hadn't been there. It was odd: he thought they wouldn't believe him, that they might not understand. Nonetheless, to Hala, it was as if needing to know everything about Ash was a necessity.

Naturally, sight-seeing and gossiping wasn't all Ash accomplished that week. He trained during the nights with all his Pokémon, accompanied relentlessly by the energetic, apprenticing Rockruff. He had originally questioned why Rockruff was following him, but now it didn't matter so much. Catching Rockruff wandered in his bubble of thoughts recently.

Resulting from his guides' efforts the past few days, Ash was finally feeling somewhat content again. His training sessions reclaimed their dynamic and enthusiastic nature, and he enjoyed conversing and sometimes joking with Hau and Lillie. The lingering, painful shadow of the events earlier in the week did not fade from his heart, but it was now like a patch of shade rather than a pitch-black room, only a corner of darkness under an endless, radiant light filling him. The elation he had re-acquired was Ash's light. Annoyingly, he still had nightmares, near-perfect replicas of the first he felt just as annoyed about, but they were infrequent and tolerable.

Just before Ash drifted to sleep, he heard the floorboards creak and the hinges of the door squeak as it slid open, the click of it closing again seconds after. Every day so far, he heard somebody leave around the same time. Ash wanted to know who it was, but the fact that they were sneaking around meant it was a secret endeavour. It was definitely not Pikachu, though. He was too far immersed in his sleep to get up and leave. Ash was glad he was. Pikachu was one of his top priorities.

On Saturday morning at dawn while waiting for Lillie, Ash was tousling his messy hair which dropped handsomely across his face as he watched the large TV in the Poké-Center document a failed break-in attempt last night.

According to the report, a group known as Team Skull attempted to infiltrate Hau'oli's shopping arcade. They nearly escaped with some jewellery. They were stopped just in time but not apprehended.

Apparently, as explained via a quote from the lead policeman, the Alolan Police department was unable to apprehend the suspects due to being understaffed. He claimed that several officers quit under the pretence that nothing police worthy ever occurred on Alola's shores. While that attitude wasn't good, Ash imagined it wasn't wrong either. It seemed the region forever rested in an idyll state.

Lillie arrived a few minutes later with her too-formal greeting Ash lightly teased, which she seemed to enjoy given the noticeable flush on her fair cheeks when she smiled, shyly diverting her gaze. Grabbing his bag, they head out of the door just as his room-neighbours clambered down the stairs – he had still yet to see their faces.

Ash and Lillie had planned the previous evening to have breakfast with her friends from the festival, the to-be trial captains, to introduce Ash to more people and maybe gain some insight into the challenge. Meeting new people was a big part of his journeys, so Ash contentedly agreed. He thought it would be nice to have some more acquaintances, maybe friends. If the latter was to happen, Ash knew he would have to ensure events were not repeated.

Lillie stopped outside an establishment branded as 'Melemele's Malasadas' advertising an imposing head-shot of a Slurpuff grinning enticingly on a sign. It was a busy shop for so early in the morning: customers lined outside the door. No other area of Hau'oli city was quite as packed, except the café he previously visited at the end of the street.

They entered the shop and headed towards an, in Ash's opinion, overcrowded booth whence he and Lillie joined. Everybody introduced themselves genially, and Kiawe immediately turned emotionally passionate over Ash's battle with Hau, claiming what an amazing battle it was and the raw skill he witnessed. Ash swore he saw tears cornering his eyes as he ranted with some sort of brotherly pride Ash could compare to Brock. Ash was exultant to receive the praise; he could not deny the gratification the compliments gave him. It was nice to hear after being degraded so heavily.

Mallow explained next how she made all the food for the festival by hand, asking what he thought of it, of which he praised. The table soon became one friendly chat where everyone chipped in. Lana was quiet, though she did make a funny joke about catching Kyogre that left everybody but him reeling in their own child-like ignorance. Ash didn't mention he actually had met Kyogre, more than once. How could he? It was just as hard to do as mentioning his adventures to Hala. He didn't want to live in incognito, but he worried about their reactions. He didn't know why.

Hau dashed in after a while, his Rowlet hovering by his shoulder, shouting about the Malasadas, and ran out without noticing them.

Yep. Ash simply thought. Hau was exactly like he had been on his first adventure.

Nothing at all seemed amiss with the group's attitude, and Ash was warmed to feel so easily welcomed. Somehow, that deep, comforting warmth felt foreign to him now. Absently twisting his Z-Ring, Ash remembered it, the sensation of the Z-Crystal pleasantly warming his palm as he held it. Somehow, the Z-Crystal's physical warmth matched the current emotion in his chest identically, as if the essence of his own emotions was shared with the stone, embedded into it. It was indescribable, almost a physical manifestation of euphoria. It sounded so bizarre, childish even.

Is that what Kukui meant when he said we need a close bond to pull off a Z-Move? Ash wondered, thinking back to him saying bonds were Alola's speciality. Is this what it feels like? Is that the warmth of a bond?

"So, Ash, you've begun the Island Challenge?" Kiawe asked, and Ash nodded, returning from his reverie to put down the remaining half of his delicious delicacy. "Is there anything you'd like to know about it? See, I've done it too."

"Oh, really? Did you complete it?" Ash asked.

"I did! It was tough, but I finally got there!"

"And we've never heard the end of it!" Mallow said, causing a round of laughs.

"Anyway, is there anything you'd like to know?" Kiawe asked, ignoring Mallow's jest.

Ash thought for a moment. He heard everything expertly from Lillie, so there wasn't a lot to know. "I guess… What do Z-Moves feel like? And… I'm from Kanto, which is famous for its gyms, so is it anything different to Gym Challenges?"

"Good questions! Firstly, as weird as it sounds, Z-Moves are like a surge of determination you share with your Pokémon, something that overtakes both of you, allowing you to perform something spectacular. And let me tell you, Z-Moves are very spectacular! Burning like the mountain of Akala, Inferno Overdrive is my favourite!"

"Oh, yeah, Ash, Kiawe is in love with a volcano," Lana deadpanned, causing Ash to laugh again along with the rest of the table. Kiawe complained, berating Lana for misinterpreting things.

"Anyway," Kiawe resumed, "that's just for me. Other people have said they feel differently, such as Professor Kukui saying it's a feeling of closeness he had with his Pokémon when they use them. Z-Moves are reliant on the Pokémon's bond with the trainer, so it can feel different to everyone."

"Uh-huh… So, just as an example, if the trainer and their partner Pokémon were to both feel, say, selfish, they could still pull off a Z-Move?" Ash asked.

"I assume they could," Kiawe said, thinking a little bit afterwards.

"I-I've read somewhere that they would be able to, yes," Lillie added. "They could pull off the move because that is the basis of their relationship and bond, the thing that makes them very close to one another. Bonds between humans can be all different things – loving, spiteful – and the same can be said with people and Pokémon. Therefore, you don't have to be the happiest and most excitable of friends to pull the moves off. T-That's what I read, anyway. You are just required to be very close with your Pokémon and they with you…"

Kiawe clicked his fingers. "That's right! Thanks, Lillie! Now, along with the normal Z-Moves, there are Z-Moves that are unique to specific species of Pokémon. As an example, it's rumoured that the Mythical Pokémon Mew has its own Z-Move. But, of course, nobody has ever seen Mew. It is only known of in mythology: only people who lived years ago have seen it."

Ash sat there awkwardly, flicking his eyes to his food. After all, he had seen Mew.

"The more common ones are the Alolan starter Pokémon's final evolutions. But, for every Z-Move, you must perform a couple of actions, like a dance. To me, they're quite… empowering," Kiawe resumed. The mention of the actions got Ash thinking to the day before and of Hala hula dancing.

"Ahh, that's in my mind now…" Ash muttered, clenching his eyes, sighing. Pikachu's ears flopped over his eyes and he held them there as if he shared Ash's thoughts.

"What is?" Sophocles innocently asked.

"Ah, nothing! That honestly sounds awesome!" It sounded similar to Mega-Evolution in the bond viewpoint, but it was obtainable for any Pokémon. Ash couldn't wait to get started and figure out Z-Moves.

"As for your other question, I don't know a lot about Gym Challenges, but something I do know is that the Island Challenge is a lot more relaxed on the moves you can use. From what I know, it's customary in Gym Challenges to only have your Pokémon recall four specific moves throughout unless they learn new ones to override it. Here in Alola, you can chop and change your movesets between battles to come up with different strategies at different times. That's the freeing aspect of it I really liked. You're limited to four moves per battle as always but between them, you could change all your moves if you wanted. You can probably do that with Gym Challenges, but it's more lenient out here," Kiawe concluded.

"Wow, so you could be going up against a completely different Pokémon if you battle somebody twice on different days," Ash said, pondering just how much that would influence his journey. With Pikachu, he could implement Volt Tackle during his more serious battles but then return to Quick Attack for less-serious ones. That certainly did sound freeing.

However, Ash frowned. "There's an issue with that, isn't there? If somebody was to change their moveset immediately and give their Pokémon new moves all of a sudden, they would be at a disadvantage. I mean, a Pokémon's moves become stronger and better with training. If at the last minute, you changed, they wouldn't be as good at using those moves. You'd have to swap between moves the Pokémon already knows to exploit it."

"Exactly!" Kiawe said, jumping up. "That's an impressive pick-up so quickly! That's the kind of way professional Trainers out here in Alola use it."

"I see, so it gives you freedom but you've gotta be careful with it… I like it! Thanks for letting me know, Kiawe! I'm honestly looking forward to this so much now!"

"Pikachu!" And Pikachu was too.

"See ya later!" Ash called to Lillie and Mallow, the last two to leave him at the threshold to the route a few hours later; Ash had enjoyed their breakfast so much it had become mid-day as quick as one blink.

"Bye!" Mallow called back, skipping along the road with Lillie, who waved. The pair were heading to the café Mallow worked at – he found out it was her family's earlier. Lillie had kindly offered to taste some of Mallow's new dishes and her excitement was evident.

Finally on his own, with Pikachu and Rockruff perched on either shoulder, Ash ran out onto the route and began what he did every year: exploring.

It turned out that a day spent back in his life of adventuring was something he desperately needed. Walking along the nature paths between the groves of green, encountering wild Pokémon on his every side, battling trainers every-so-often who provided him with some much-needed money as he trounced them one after the other; it made him feel like himself again, even if it would only last a few hours.

Amongst the wild, Ash discovered Alola's local bird Pokémon, Pikipek, a small Bug Type called Grubbin – he checked them with Rotom – and several Caterpie and Metapod. Rockruff had a blast fighting all of them while Pikachu watched from the sidelines, unchallenged at their low levels. At about mid-day, Ash found a Growlithe stealthily circling a pile of berries, specifically two large blue ones that seemed much too large to be berries.

The route desired to be followed trailed along a dusty path up and around the large mountain centring Melemele like the curve of a boomerang, but Ash was never one for sticking to what was suggested forever. He followed the trail up beyond a house he heard yelling from within and a small farm of berries – possibly oran and sitrus from what he peeked – checked out the small bay beside a motel but got restless of conforming to the path. When he saw a group of people clustered around and chatting by a Poké-Center lodge up the trail, he wandered off the dusty track.

He found a stray trainer deep in the uncharted forest late into the afternoon, after hours gained clambering through the vines and bushes, acquiring countless berries, battling the wild Pokémon he gave oran berries to after their battles.

The boy had a black Ratatta. Ash was immediately intrigued by Ratatta's Alolan variant, as Lillie had called it. It was interesting to see the differences by comparing them with Rotom's dex. This Ratatta was a Dark-Type, something which Ash found incredible. It was as if he was in a different world.

Dishearteningly, the trainer battle ended too quickly, as they all did. Consecutive hits with his Tackle-Sand Attack combo and the boy's black Ratatta had fainted. It appeared Melemele was not a hive for experienced trainers but those less skilled or only beginning. Ash could see himself taking on the first trial relatively quickly, even if he currently only had Pikachu with him on the Alolan team. He couldn't make his older, stronger Pokémon fight at such a low level just to preserve their opponent's pride. He didn't want Pikachu to fight below his level, either, but Pikachu was different. He was his partner.

Thinking back to his sparse team, catching Rockruff slipped into his thoughts again while he tried to tell the young boy he didn't need the reward money. The boy thanked him, Ash gave him a stack of berries, and he ran gleefully back through the woods.

Sighing, Ash brushed his arm against his forehead to wipe the sweat away. The sun had been punishing all day, so a little shade of the trees was happily welcomed.

While Rockruff played in the shade, Ash started thinking of a reason his ability to understand Pokémon wasn't working with Rockruff. Incidentally, it didn't work with any of the wild Pokémon or other trainer's Pokémon. It wasn't faulty: he understood Pikachu's every cry. There was something more to it, he knew it. But Brock wasn't there, and he couldn't tell a stranger about it. Hala and Kukui seemed to be good options, but Ash didn't want to tell them. Hala's continuous probing into his adventures was slightly concerning and repellent, even though he knew the man had a large heart. That much was evident. Tapu Koko's actions must have meant something significant to the old Kahuna. Besides, the ability was so bizarre, so unheard of, Ash doubted anybody had heard of it.

He decided to sleep on it. Gathering Pikachu and Rockruff, he headed back to the city.

The silver peak dividing Kanto and Johto was levelled almost flat at the apex, shimmering with a sheet of crystal snow; not a footprint nor pawprint was ruinously embedded into the white.

A timid snow-flurry with whooshing, whistling wind encircled the mountain tops generating a briskness in the air that was barely tolerable to the man in red planted at the highest cliff's edge. He peered far across the white-wonderland night with such brown eyes that, if glimpsed at an angle, could have been a hot red. He silently watched the bright dots like stars fallen to earth that were city lights, and the blurred forests and roads and seas, a blended miscellany of grey and green and blue, even beyond the snow. He brushed up his red cap that shaded his eyes to broaden his view-scope, his open short-sleeved coat flapped behind him.

Time was nothing up there. An hour could pass in a minute. He didn't know how long he had been there when his attuned ears heard the crunch of feet beyond the wind, and he peered over his shoulder to see the man who ruined everything. He even ruined the perfectly beautiful snow, his inapt pointed black shoes lifting and layering clumps atop each other, digging long holes into the crystal surface. The crunching stopped a meter to his side, and he acknowledged the snow-printed black coat pulled warm against the man and his black hat with a flick of his eyes.

The man lodged his hands into his coat pockets as he, too, watched the world breeze by.

"It's beautiful," the man quietly said after a few minutes, without faux awe, his eyes solidified forwards, his lips a myth smile.

The man in red didn't reply.

"Quite an excellent location you decided to retire to. If it were me, I'd have come here too. Out of sight, out of reach… out of life. It took me a while to find you, and this was all but an adept guess." The man in black glanced at the other's unimpressed expression. "Hmm, don't give me that look. I'm here because I have news. Hah, now your expression says: how long will this go on? Until I'm done, until it's complete, this long, convoluted story we're intertwined within…"

The man in red stared. "Yes, of course, I'll get to the point. It's the boy…" The man in red tensed, "He's supposedly dead." Faster than Extreme Speed, the man in red dashed in front of his associate, kicking the snow into a frenzy. He clenched his fists tightly, physically shaking. "Anger is entirely acceptable," the news-bringer calmly said, "but no, it wasn't anybody involved. Nobody knows how. Not even I. It was on the news, confirmed by Samuel."

The man in red stepped back. The man in black readjusted his jacket and hat and turned away, beginning back down the trail, and disappeared into the blizzard with a parting word. "But if it were me, I wouldn't be so certain."

The remaining, solitary man stood for a few minutes, thinking. Then he turned, and descended the trail too, in an amble.