Chapter 6: The aftermath of the attack and arrival of a friend
Disclaimer- I do not own pokemon or any of its characters (I wish I did though. That way the pokemon adventures would have turned into an anime.) but I do own the Oc's of this story.
ENJOY!
"Pi pikapi pikachu?"
"It's just…. I was thinking about the night before yesterday… Ahh well…. anyways I don't think We'll get any where by just thinking about it let's forget it for the meantime. I'll ask about it later if we run into them again." Ash told his starter as they stood in the ranch, a few feet away from the Lab doors.
"Pi….."
"Don't worry…. I am sure everything will be fine and it's safe for the meantime atleast or they wouldn't have left."
"Hey Ash!" Leaf called out to him before Pikachu could say anything.
Ash turned towards the direction of the voice and saw Leaf and Gary coming towards him.
"Let's go to your place and get some stuff for the beach."
"Ok. But don't you think that you are forgetting something?"
"I am? Hm….. I don't think so."
"How long has it been since you have been in Pallet?"
"A day. Why ask?"
"And you don't feel like someone should know about this?"
"I don't think so…. Oh! Oh mom…"
"What?" Gary asked.
"You see, Leafy-girl here haven't yet told either uncle Silver nor aunt Blue that she is in Pallet. You get the point Oak tree?" Ash grinned.
"Oh! Yup! I know what that means! I think I should go and check if there are some snacks left. We can't miss this opportunity, can we?"
"Nope! Since who knows how often-"
"OUCH!" Ash and Gary cried out in unison as Leaf's fist made contact with their head.
"Did you forgot that I am right here boys?" she asked them with a look that made the back of their heads to stand up.
"We were joking around Leaf! We didn't mean it! Promise! We are sorry!" They said together while raising their hand near their face in defence.
She glared at them and then looked away.
"Whatever!"
She then held the two by the back of their collars and dragged them towards the Lab.
"What the-"
"You two are coming with me to the Ketchum's. I am not going through it alone."
"Why not call here?" Ash asked.
"Because all the phone are being used. May and Max are talking with their parent, Korrina is talking to her grandfather, Barry is talking to his father and Dawn is talking to her mother."
"There is one more inside the Lab though. In gramps personal research room." Gary told.
"Misty and Tracey are talking to Misty's sister."
"Oh ok. But we are coming alright? So stop dragging us!"
She stopped and released her hold from their collars causing them to fall down.
"Sorry boys! Just wanted to bring some old memories back!" she said and playfully stuck out het tongue.
She turned around and ran towards the exit of the lab but not before saying,
"C'mon boys! The last to reach the house will be a squirtel!"
Ash and Gary mumbled something and ran after her and soon went out of sight along with Pikachu.
-:-
(Pokemon speech on)
"What's wrong with being a squirtel!?" Squirtel said in annoyance after hearing Leaf's words.
"That was just a phrase Squirtel. Don't take it to your heart." Bulbasaur reassured
"Hmph! Whatever!"
"Don't get all that grumpy Squirtel. It doesn't suite you." Heracross said as he made his way towards them.
Squirtel sighed.
But before he could reply he heard Bulbasaur whelp in surprise and looked up to see Bulbasaur trying to get Heracross off of his back and away from the flower on it.
He rolled his eyes and started to walk off.
"Hey! Don't just leave me here like this! Give me a hand!" Bulbasaur called out.
"Look pal, what happened an hour ago has taken a toll on my mind. I am really stressed so help yourself k? Maybe some other time."
And with that he walked off.
"Well you are right about the stress part atleast.." he mumbled to himself and then remembered that Heracross is trying to suck him, so he went to work- to get Heracross off of his back.
"Someone! Help!"
"Hey Heracross! I got some honey for ya!" Totodile called out to him from the doors of the lab.
Hearing this, said pokemon looked up and saw him coming towards them with a bottle of honey in hand.
He quickly flew off towards him and took the bottle from him then did what he is best at- eat the honey.
Bulbasaur sighed in relief.
"Thanks Totodile. You saved my life."
"Don't sweat it."
Bulbasaur nodded and then realized something so he asked.
"Hey! How come you are not jumping and all?"
"Imma stressed. With how that thing attacked Ash…. I don't feel good about all this."
"None of us do." Sceptile said as he joined in in the conversation.
"Yeah. And besides look at their bravery. I mean did that thing really thought that he would just hurt our trainer and get away with that? The nerve of them!" Swellow said in anger from a nearby tree.
"You know, not even in my worst dream did I ever thought that someone would want to kill Ash." Emboar said as he made his way towards them.
Everyone agreed.
"But you know what the sad part is?" Snivy said as she made her way towards them. "We couldn't stop Him? Her? Or whatever the gender is, from hurting Ash. I mean, think about it. If Mew and Mewtwo wouldn't have showed up, he could have been seriously injured. And we would not have been able to do anything."
The others looked down sadly.
Just before anyone could say anything else Gible came and asked.
"Hey you guys! Have anyone of you seen Charizard?"
"No. I haven't seen him since Mewtwo and Mew left." Bulbasaur replied.
The others agreed.
"I think I know where he might be." Infernape said as he joined in.
"I saw him fly towards Viridian forest right after the Legendries left."
"But why would he go there?" Hawloocha asked who had tagged along Infernape.
"I think I know why." Bayleaf said from under a nearby tree.
"So why did he left?" Lycanroc asked from beside her.
"Because he was frustrated. Must have gone their to break a tree or two or something to get rid of his anger. Wouldn't you agree Bulbasaur?"
The said kanto starter nodded.
"Why would he do that?" Rowlet asked.
"Because he is angry at himself." Bulbasaur replied. "Ash was riding his back when he got hurt. He probably feels guilty over it and is blaming himself."
"But Ash would never blame him for something like that." Lycanroc replied.
"True. And he knows that. But that is just how Charizard is. Blames himself of everything." Buizel said from a nearby pond.
"Yeah. Do you remember how he acted when we learned about the Kalos crisis from Pikachu and other Kalos pokemon? He went berserk after hearing that Ash was kidnapped and he didn't even knew it." Gible said.
"Yeah. He was ready to destroy the whole Viridian forest. If it wasn't for Pikachu stopping him, he probably would have." Swellow replied.
"Does Ash know about this?" Rowlet asked.
"Nope." Snivy replied.
"Why? Should not Ash know this?"
"Yeah he should but Charizard warned us not to. If we did, we would face death. And I don't doubt those words. He can be a monster when he wants to." Sceptile said.
"He sounds strong." Inceneroar said as he walked towards them along with Melmetal.
"You have no Idea. He and Pikachu are the strongest pokemon among us all. Monstrously powerful." Totodile said.
"Is that even the right word?" Rowlet asked.
"For Pikachu? No. Atleast not that much. For Charizard? It's perfect." He replied.
"But why doesn't he want Ash to know this?" Melmetal asked.
"Because he is too shy to tell Ash that he cares about him a lot. Even though Ash already know about this." Bayleaf said with a smile.
The other agreed and their were few chuckles as well.
"Oh well anyways….Don't you think someone should go and talk to him?" Inceneroar asked.
"Yeah someone should but right about now? No. Because if someone other then Ash went to him then he or she is probably asking for a death wish. Besides he won't do some serious damage to the forest right now because Ash is around so we should wait till his temper go down." Infernape said.
"Probably for the best." Buizel said.
"Yeah. For the best." The others agreed.
Then Sceptile and Infernape started to walk away from them.
"Where are you two going?" Bulbasaur asked.
"To train. Now we know that their will be an attack like this in the coming future so we want to be prepared. The next time those beast will come, we will be ready. I won't let them hurt Ash again." Infernape replied.
Sceptile agreed.
"The others are training too." Sceptile said and walked off with Infernape.
When the pokemon looked around they noticed that other than them everyone was training seriously.
Inceneroar turned around towards Lycanroc and asked.
"Hey! Wanna train?"
"Gladly." He replied while standing up and the 2 pokemon disappeared somewhere in the ranch.
Then one by one everyone left to train leaving Bulbasaur alone.
"Wow! Am I dreaming? Cuz' these normally insane pokemon of Ash are being serious and sane for once." He said to himself and chuckled.
"Physically or not. We all are mentally stressed for sure." He smiled sadly.
As he started to walk off towards the lab to get himself some water Squirtel called out.
"Hey Bulbasaur!"
He turned around and saw him coming towards himself.
"I was thinking if you want to train with me or not."
Bulbasaur blinked.
"Alright spit up! What's bothering you?"
Squirtel laughed nervously.
"You sure can read me like a book."
"You are easy to read."
"Not at time like these."
"Fair enough. So what's up?"
"I heard you talking about the whole thing that happened and well Charizard…"
"What about Charizard?"
"You see... he is smashing the trees for more than one reason. One which you guys already talked about and the other because of Pikachu."
"Pikachu?"
"Don't tell me You didn't noticed."
"Noticed what? I didn't spend much time with him since he came. I was busy with making the new members of our team adjust to the surroundings."
Squirtel sighed.
"He has been acting weird since he came."
"Weird? How?"
"Didn't you find it odd that when Ash came, Pikachu was sleeping? Usually he is excited to see us all again."
"That is because he was tired. He had a couple of battles on the way. Atleast that is what he said."
"Exactly! But the question is what kind of battles?"
Bulbasaur stayed silent.
"Look Bulbasaur me, you, Charizard and Pikachu are the only of the original six pokemon around here right about now and we know Pikachu like the back of our hand. Don't we? You were busy so you didn't noticed but me and Charizard did. He is hiding something."
"How do you know that?"
"After he woke up from his 'nap', he spend most of his time with Ash and the other humans but usually he would spend the whole day with us which he did not. And last night, he just kept talking. As if he was trying to keep his thoughts away from something. It was so unlike him.
And not to mention that he wasn't carefree at all like he should have been. He was on his guard and their was this seriousness in his eyes that is usually there during league battles or in life-death situations. He was trying to hide it and he did from others but he can't hide it from us.
And he should have been spending his time here in the ranch with all of us instead of with Ash right about now.
And then there is the time before the attack a few hours ago. He was the first one who sensed it and knew that what is coming is bad but we didn't knew that it was bad until it came closer and sensed the dark aura. He knew when it was still far away as if he knew what was coming.
And Charizard noticed this too."
"Hmm….. it makes sense…. Wait! Are you trying to say that Pikachu has battled it before?"
"Yes."
-:-
"I win!" Leaf yelled as soon as she touched the main door of the Ketchum's residence. She turned around and saw Gary walk up to her panting followed by Ash.
"Jeez! You boys got tired so easily. Now I am doubting all those things your friends told me Ash."
"Whatever. Let's just go inside." He said in between breaths and walked in.
"He is being too polite and is thirsty to say this so I will say it for him- You had a head start so you won. Next time it won't end in the same way." With that said ( in between breaths) he went inside.
Leaf rolled her eyes. "Whatever." And then she went in too.
As soon as she went inside the house she stopped and looked around.
'Nothing has changed inside this house.' She thought to herself.
She smiled at herself after remembering all the times she has played inside this house.
Then she moved and went inside the drawing-room. She looked around at all the pics and trophies of Ash and his accomplishments.
She walked around the room and stopped infront of a wall where all of his league certificates were kept along with the battle frontier.
"Top 16 in Indigo conference (Kanto), top 16 in Silver conference (Jhoto), top 8 in Ever grand conference (Hoenn), top 4 in Lily of the valley conference (Sinnoh), top 8 in Vertress Conference (Unova), Runner-up in Lumiose conference (Kalos), winner of the Manalo conference (Alola), winner of the Orange league (Orange Archipelago), winner of the Battle Frontier (Kanto)…. Wow!" She read out his accomplishments in amazement.
"Amazing. Isn't it?"
She quickly turned around and saw Delia standing infront of her with a smile on her face.
She smiled back and then turned back towards the certificates displayed on the wall.
"Yeah."
Then she turned back and looked around at the pics from Ash's various travels.
"Looks like a lot have changed since the last time I was here, huh?" she said and went to stand infront of the television and picked up the photo frame atop it, in which was the pic of Ash and all his pokemon together. "I remember there used to be another pic here. A 'family' or rather two."
Delia smiled sadly.
"It used to hurt whenever I looked at them so I kept them inside. But other than that nothing has changed. The house is the same only there are no pictures there used to be and are replaced by all of Ash's adventures. And not to mention, Ash is also the same."
Leaf smiled.
'I wonder about the last part though.' She thought to herself.
"You know I missed this place a lot but more than that your food."
"You didn't missed Ash's table manners though. Did you?"
The two females started laughing.
"Maybe or maybe not. That is for you to find out." She told her playfully.
"Leaf! We were looking for you all around the house!" Gary's voice called out and interrupted whatever Delia was about to say.
The two females turned around and saw Ash and Gary coming towards them.
"C'mon! You were going to call your mom. Weren't you? So what are you waiting for? Let's go." Gary said.
"Yeah! We can't wait to talk to Aunt Blue after all this time." Ash agreed.
"You were going to talk to Blue? Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to the telephone!" Delia said and left the room.
The kids chuckled.
"Looks like she is more enthusiastic to talk to her than we are Gary." Ash said while smiling.
"Well ofcourse she would be. Aunt Blue is her best friend. She have known her longer than anyone of us." Gary said as he made his way towards Delia in the other room followed by Ash.
"Yeah."
After the 2 left the room in seconds, Leaf sighed.
"It's official now. They want me dead." And with that she went after them.
-:-
In the viridian forest, all the pokemon have been running here and there for the past 1 hour for their lives ever since an angry Charizard showed up.
The said pokemon is currently busy punching and burning the 10th tree of the forest ever since he came.
As he destroyed the trees all the pokemon around ran away from him other than one pokemon. A pidgeot.
This pokemon is currently sitting on the branch of a tree not too far away from the angry Charizard and watched him as he destroyed the trees one by one.
After the Charizard was done with smashing the tree he went for the next one nearby when the bird pokemon spoke up.
"Tenth."
Charizard turned towards the pokemon in rage and shouted.
"What!?"
"Tenth. That was the tenth tree you destroyed in the last one hour."
"So what!? Are you gonna stop me?"
"Nah! That would only mean suicide and I don't wish to die."
"So get the fuck outta here!"
The bird pokemon sighed
"Look Charizard, I know you. You won't do this untill you are frustrated and that usually happens when you are not able to help Ash. So I am here for one reason and that is to talk and know what happened. I think it will make you feel better too."
Charizard narrowed his eyes on the pokemon.
"Who are you?"
"Oh seriously! For the love of Arceus! Get rid of that temper of yours and think! Did you really forgot me!?"
Charizard looked at her for a minute and then the bell in his head rang.
"Pidgeot? The one who was Ash's second ever caught pokemon? Is that really you?"
"Ofcourse it's me! Did you thought I died or something?"
Charizard started to laugh.
"You haven't changed at all. Have you?" he said.
Pidgeot smiled.
"Neither have you."
"So Charizard, tell me what happened?"
"Well it happened today…"
-:-
Ring ring. Ring ring. Ring ring.
"Hello." The face of Kanto's third dex holder's showed up at the Ketchum's phone after the phone was picked.
"Hey mom." Leaf greeted.
"Leaf Hazel! You finally decided to call me, didn't you!?"
"Yeah…." She laughed nervously.
"Don't you 'yeah' me! I heard what you did!"
"I did?"
"Don't you dare play innocent with me. You wasted two S. S. Anne ticket. Didn't you?"
"Oh! Yeah…. Sorry about that. But how did you know?"
"I heard from a friend of mine in Cinnabar island when I visited it."
"Oh- wait! What do you mean 'when I visited Cinnabar'. Where are you now?"
"Viridian city." Blue said as she stuck out her tongue and blushed in embarrassment.
"Viridian!? And you never told me you were coming!"
"Excuse me! But it was you who didn't care to call your mother for a week to let her know what you have been up to! So you don't have any right to blame me!"
"Right! I forgot. Sorry…."
"Hmph! Where are you now any way?" She asked while drinking water from her water bottle.
"I came here yesterday. It's Pallet."
Blue spit out the water she was drinking.
After a few coughing she asked. "What!?"
"Yeah. I am in Pallet. And I got my last badge too! See!" She said after taking out her badge case from her pocket.
Blue stared at her daughter after looking at her badge and asked.
"From where are you calling exactly?"
"The-"
She was cut off when three people started laughing from beside her. Blue couldn't see them though.
Then suddenly three familiar faces came into her sight of view completely blocking her daughter's face.
"From here Blue." Delia said with a smile. "Long time no see?"
"Oh aunt Blue! The look on your face!" Gary said as he tried to subside his laughter.
"Yeah! It's not daily when there is that look on your face. It's hilarious!" Ash agreed while chuckling.
"Oh! Whatever! You kids haven't changed at all!"
"Yup! Isn't that great!" the 3 kids said together.
"Oh yes! Very great! The Pallet Trio forever! Yay!" she said Sarcastically.
"Yea-hey!"
The two women started laughing. The kids grumbled.
"How have you been Delia?"
"I am doing great! What about you miss evolver?"
Blue chuckled.
"I am fine too. And how are you 2 doing Ash and Gary? You are not being bad boys. Are you?"
"We are as good as we can be!"
"Yeah. I can see that. And you're action a few seconds ago said it all." Blue chuckled.
"Yeah yeah. Whatever."
"pi pikachu!" pikachu yelled after coming infront of the screen.
"Oh! That is such a cute Pikachu! Who's it?" Blue asked.
"He is my partner." Ash replied as he rubbed Pikachu's head gently.
"Well hello there Pikachu! It's nice to meet you. I hope you are taking good care of Ash. He can be really stupid when he wants to."
"Pikapi pikachu pik ka chu chukka!" Pikachu said while doing actions with his hands to make them understand what he was saying.
" 'Ofcourse I know he is stupid! I had to bear with him for the past six years!' Is that what you are saying?" she asked him.
Pikachu nodded.
"Hey!" Ash shouted at him.
Pikachu ignored it.
Blue laughed.
"I like the way you are Pikachu. That boy really needs someone like you to look after him. Wouldn't you agree Leaf?"
"Yea- wait! Why are you asking me!?" she said as a slight blush formed on her face.
"Oh you very well know why." Blue said with a sly smile.
"No! I have no idea what you are talking about!" She told her as her blush deepened a little.
"Whatever you say Leaf. Whatever you say. Anyway, don't you think that this Pikachu is cute? Just like trainer like pokemon. Right sweetie?"
"Yeah. Like trainer like poke- MOM!" she said as her blush deepened even further.
Gary rolled his eyes.
"Oh! For the love of Arceus! Just say it already Leaf. Everyone know about it."
"Know about what?" Ash asked.
"Other than the boy who is mostly always the centre of attention ofcourse!" Gary continued while patting Ash on the shoulder.
"Hey! You….. wait! Did you mean me?" Ash asked.
Everyone sweat dropped.
"See?" Gary said.
"Hey!" Ash shouted at him.
"Shut your big mouth Gare-Bear!" Leaf shouted as well.
"Don't be that harsh on him Leaf. He is just saying the truth." Blue told her.
"MOM!"
"C'mon now you guys. Don't tease her like that. Give it a rest." Delia said.
"Yeah. Ofcourse you would say that Delia. Afterall, you have gone through the same thing for the good few years of your life. Haven't you?"
"Oh c'mon Blue! Shut it. You promised you won't talk about it. Remember?"
"Oh fine fine! Whatever. I won't talk about it anymore happy?"
Leaf sighed in relief.
"Thanks aunt Delia."
"Don't mention it."
"Yeah. Afterall Delia knows your pai-"
"BLUE!"
"Ok fine! Sorry! Geez!"
Leaf chuckled
"Anyway, What exactly are you doing in Viridian?" Leaf asked.
"I was on my way to Pallet."
"That is awesome!" Gary exclaimed.
"Yup! That means you will be here by this afternoon! I can't wait to meet you in person!" Ash said excitedly.
"pi pikachuka!"
Blue chuckled.
"I can't wait to meet you all either."
"Hey Mom. Is Dad coming too?"
"No he had some work to do so couldn't come."
"Oh…" the 2 boys slumped down in sadness.
"It would have been good if uncle Silver could come too." Ash said.
"Yeah." Gary agreed.
"Oh that's not a new story. Ever since we left Pallet, Dad haven't been staying around at all! Nowadays I get to see him only once in six months and that over calls. And he is usually never home whenever I return home!" leaf complained.
"Leaf, you know your father loves you. He is just too busy to stay around for too long." Blue told her.
Leaf sighed.
"I know. I just wish he could spend some more time with us."
Before Blue or anyone else could say anything an alarm clock went off.
Everyone looked around and noticed Leaf fumbling through her pockets. She soon took out her pokedex and hit the stop button.
"I didn't knew there is an alarm clock system in the pokedex." Gary said.
"There isn't dummy. It's a reminder."
"Okay…. But why did you set up a reminder?"
"To remind us that we should be going to the Oak's Lab right about now because we have to go with the others to the beach like we promised a few hours ago. Remember?"
The 2 kids stared at her in surprise.
"What!? Why are you surprised?"
"Yeah. Why are we surprised?" Gary asked.
"Because we forgot about her habit of keeping herself reminded of the stuff she has to do." Ash replied after snapping out of the daze.
"Hmph! Whatever boys! It's helpful! Try it and you will know."
"No thanks. We are happy just the way we are."
Leaf shrugged.
"Suite yourself. Anyway let's get going. We can't keep them waiting. Bye Mom! Bye aunt Delia!" she waved to the 2 elders and started walking off.
"We'll see you this afternoon aunt Blue. Bye both of you!" Ash said, grabbed the bag which had his swim wear and other things for the beach and left with pikachu following behind.
"Pikachu!"
"Yup Bye!"
With that said the kids left the room.
After a minute of silence between the two women Blue spoke up.
"Are they gone?"
"Yeah. I heard the door close. Doesn't seem like they are eavesdropping."
"Good. Now that that's confirmed, I wanted to talk to you Delia."
"Funny. I have things to say too."
"Hmm….. interesting." She said with a smirk.
"Let's start from yours." Blue said.
"Gladly."
-:-
"So that is what happened huh." Pidgeot thought out loud as she sat beside Charizard.
"You are angry at Pikachu because he didn't told you about the danger even though he knew about it? In that case your anger makes sense. If he would have told us, you guys would have stayed alert and prepared and then Ash wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"Exactly!" Charizard agreed.
"But you know what? You are wrong at what you are doing."
"Pardon?"
"I mean, c'mon! It's pikachu you are angry at, right? So why are hurting the trees? They can't even move! Go take out your temper on the one who made you angry. Take him aside and away from Ash and then give him the lesson of his life. Ask him why he did what he did."
"….. Y'know? That actually makes sense."
Pidgeot snorted.
"Me and Bulbasaur are the only ones of the six of us who are sensible."
Charizard chuckled.
"Fair enough."
"Alright so then! Go and 'talk' to that pokemon."
"Yeah. But are you not coming? I am sure Ash will be more than happy to meet you."
"I will. But after taking care of some stuff. Now fly off!"
"Alright so then! See ya!"
With that said Charizard flew off.
-:-
"Sorry guys we took so long." Ash said after they reached the ranch and near the group who was waiting for them.
"Yeah. You are one minute late." Dawn said.
"1 minute?" Gary said and then both he and Ash turned towards Leaf.
"Weren't we supposed to be late? According to you?" Ash asked.
"Nope! I had put the reminder 10 minutes early than when we were supposed to meet."
"So you made us run here all the way from there for no reason?" Ash asked in slight anger.
"Don't be an ediot Ashlyn. We did got one minute late. Didn't we?"
"But still…"
"Alright guys! Let's get moving!" Leaf exclaimed and started to walk towards the back of the ranch.
"Uh.. Leaf? Shouldn't we go from the front gates?" Tracey asked.
She turned around and replied with a smile.
"Yup! We should. But I know a short cut!"
"Lea?" Gary asked.
"They are all Ashy-Boy's friends so it's alright!"
"If you put it that way then I guess I don't mind."
"Great! Let's get going!" She turned around and started to walk as others followed.
"I've been living here for six years now and I never knew about this short cut. How come?" Tracey asked.
"No one know about it other than the Pallet trio. We found it on accident." Gary replied.
"Make sure you guys don't tell about it to anyone else. No one knows about it other than us and 2 other." Ash said.
"And those 2 might be?" Brock asked.
"It's a friend of mine from when we were kids. Our parents are close friends."
"Oh! And what about the other?" May asked.
"Well… it's-" But Ash was cut off when the flapping of huge wings was heard.
Everyone looked up and saw Charizard coming towards them.
"Charizard?" Ash asked out loud.
As Charizard started descending and landed next to Ash, a sweat trickled down Pikachu's face.
"Oh hey buddy! What's up?"
Charizard roared in greeting and looked at Pikachu.
"You wanna talk to Pikachu?" Ash asked.
He nodded.
"Oh well then Pikachu….?" He said when he saw Pikachu shake his head.
But before he could say anything, Charizard held him in his hands and flew off.
Everyone stared.
"Uh… Ash? What just happened?" Leaf asked.
"I…. Have no idea."
'Those pokemon of mine…..' he thought to himself and sighed.
"Anyway guys, let's get going!" He exclaimed and ran off.
"Hey! Wait for us!" Leaf shouted and ran off after him followed by everyone else as their laughter filled the air.
-:-
"Bulbasaur, how long has it been since Ash and others left?" Squirtel asked.
"9 minutes."
"What are you two talking about?" Lycanroc asked.
"And where did Charizard and Pikachu go?" Cyndaquill asked.
"Well they-"
"Don't tell them Bulbasaur. They will know just in a few seconds." Squirtel said.
"Really? When exactly?" Cyndaquill asked.
Squirtel and Bulbasaur grinned.
"Right about…." Squirtel looked at the clock hung at the lab's outdoor wall "…now."
BOOM!
All the pokemon looked at the sound of the voice and saw huge clouds of dust in the air. They could spot some fire attacks and electric attacks from between the clouds of dust.
"What is that!? It's sensation is so monstrously strong!" Rowlet asked with a tint of fear
"You guys wanted to know where Charizard and Pikachu is? That's your answer." Bulbasaur replied calmly with a grin.
"What the heck are they doing!?" Melmetal asked.
"The fight of the century." Squirtel said with a smirk.
"Can someone bring some popcorns? I want to take every single pleasure from this fight as I can.
And don't even dare to try to stop them or I will personally kill you. That electric mouse deserves this special treatment." Squirtel said.
"I am glad Ash is not here." He continued and went towards the raging battle.
-:-
As the group made their way towards the beach, Ash suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong Ash?" Serena asked.
He looked up at the sky and frowned.
"I don't know. I suddenly feel like I should be with my pokemon right now. Wonder why?"
"Not even an hour away and you are already missing them Ashy-Boy." Gary commented with a shake of his head.
Ash chuckled. "Hehe. Guess so."
And then he started walking again along with the others.
'I hope you are Ok Pikachu. Charizard didn't looked happy. Wonder why?' He thought to himself as he walked with the others.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Leaf shout in excitement.
"We are here! We are here! Look! There is the exit!" she pointed out while jumping like a kid and then ran off, followed by others.
As soon as Ash exited the forest and stepped on the sandy soil of the Pallet beach: the beach where he hasn't came ever since he started his journey, he took a deep breath of the familiar fresh air.
He looked around the beach and noticed that some were busy in changing into their swim wears and some were setting up the beach equipment.
He made his own way towards the side where the boys were changing and took off his clothes leaving only his beach shorts.
After changing he walked around the beach and saw that everyone was either chatting or playing with each other some on the land and some in the water.
"The air here is as fresh as I remember!" Leaf exclaimed as she let the warm summer breeze caress her skin.
Ash looked at her as she closed her eyes and enjoyed every moment of the breeze with a smile on her face.
He blushed as his heartbeat became faster.
"You know what is going to happen now, don't you?"
He looked beside him and saw Gary standing there.
He looked at him in confusion for a minute and then realized.
He looked back at Leaf and saw her holding a guitar as she sat at a stone nearby her bag with the sea waves hitting the stones' walls.
"Where did that come from!?" he asked in surprise.
"While you were trying to remember what she usually do at times like these. She grabbed that guitar from my place."
Ash looked back at the guitar and then turned to Gary in surprise.
"Gary! Isn't that-"
"Yup! It is" Gary said with a smile.
Before Ash could say anything the sound of the playing of guitar's filled the air.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Leaf in surprise while she closed her eyes and hummed.
After a few seconds she started to sing.
I woke up today with a smile on my face
Sounds like a song I wrote yesterday
But I feel that way again
I'm feeling real, real good again
Like a good umbrella on a rainy day
Or a road-trip riding on a full tank
I feel real good again
I'm feeling the real, real good again
She opened her eyes looked at everyone with playful eyes as she tapped her foot on the ground.
And everything will be okay
'Cause all my blues are gone away
So I just gotta sing...
She stood up from the rock she was sitting on and twirled around and walked around without any care in the world.
The happy so-o-o-o-ong
Singing all day lo-o-o-o-ong
And when the sun is go-o-o-o-one
I'm still happy 'til the brand new dawn
My so-o-o-o-ong
She walked up to everyone as she sang
Singing all day lo-o-o-o-ong
And maybe I will see the rain
But happiness is here today
So won't you help me sing?
The happy song
Do do, do do, do do do do
Do do, do do do
She turned around and looked at the sun as she walked around carelessly.
I can see the sun, and it's shining so bright, haha
So bright, I gotta say that twice
I said "I can see the sun, and it's shining bright"
I can see the sun and it's shining bright
She turned her head towards them with a smile on her face.
And everything will be okay
'Cause all my blues are gone away
So I just gotta sing...
The happy so-o-o-o-ong
Singing all day lo-o-o-o-ong
She turned back and ran towards the water.
And when the sun is go-o-o-o-one
I'm still happy 'til the brand new dawn
My so-o-o-o-ong
Singing all day lo-o-o-o-ong
And maybe I will see the rain
But happiness is here today
So won't you help me sing?
The happy song
She went a little deep in the water and splashed it.
So everybody clap your hands
And everybody do your dance
Though we can't see ahead
Joy comes in the mo-o-o-o-urns
So clap your ha-a-ands
And do your dance
And sometimes we mourn
But I found jo-o-o-o-oy
In a happy song
She turned back towards them and started walking.
This is my happy so-o-o-o-ong
Singing all day lo-o-o-o-ong
And when the sun is go-o-o-o-one
I'm still happy 'til the brand new dawn
My so-o-o-o-ong
Singing all day lo-o-o-o-ong
And maybe I will see the rain
But happiness is here today
So won't you help me sing?
The happy song
Do do, do do, do do do do
Do do, do do do
She stopped infront of Ash and Gary and after playing the last of the tunes she told Ash.
"Now it's your turn!" and with that handed him the Guitar.
"Go on! Sing it out loud!" she exclaimed happily.
"M-me!?" he asked in surprise.
"Why me? Gary can do it!"
"Yeah Leaf. Why are you asking him? He don't know how to sing." Lana said.
"Wait! We have never heard Ash sing before though. Have we?" Max said.
Everyone shook their head.
"Hold on! What do you mean you have never heard Ash sing before?" Leaf asked them. "He is an amazing singer!"
Everyone looked at Ash in shock.
Leaf turned towards Ash and asked.
"You didn't sang?"
Ash rubbed the back of his head nervously and said "Well…. Among all the adventures and everything, I never got time. I was too busy doing different things. Hehe..."
"Well no worries! You can sing now!" Dawn said happily.
"Yup! We really wanna hear you sing Ash!" May said.
"If Leaf's singing is that good than I wanna know how yours is!" Bonnie exclaimed.
"Whoa! Wait up guys! I will sing! I promise I will but only after Gary will."
"Hey! Why are you dragging me into this!?"
"Because you haven't sang as long as I haven't Oak and you very well know what I mean! I am not doing this alone!"
Gary stayed silent.
"What do you mean by that Ash?" Clemont asked.
"Oh.. uh well…." And he trailed off.
Leaf quietly observed Ash and Gary.
'So they haven't sang since the fight Huh?' she concluded and told herself.
Before she could say anything Gary took the Guitar from Ash's hand.
Everyone looked at him in surprise.
"Fine. I will sing but then, you will too." He told Ash.
Ash agreed.
Gary took a deep breath and then he began playing the guitar.
When we were young we were the ones
The kings and queens oh yeah, we ruled the world
We smoked cigarettes man no regrets
Wish I could relive every single word
Ash and Leaf looked at Gary in shock while he looked at them with caring eyes and smiled
We've taken different paths
And travelled different roads
I know we'll always end up on the same one when we're old
And when you're in the trenches
And you're under fire I will cover you
He looked at Ash and then walked away a few feet away from them.
If I was dying on my knees
You would be the one to rescue me
And if you were drowned at sea
I'd give you my lungs so you could breathe
He looked up in the sky
I've got you brother-er-er-er
I've got you brother-er-er-er
I've got you brother-er-er-er
I've got you brother-er-er-er
He turned around and looked at Ash.
Oh brother, we'll go deeper than the ink
Beneath the skin of our tattoos
Though we don't share the same blood
You're my brother and I love you that's the truth
He smiled at him and then looked at everyone else.
We're living different lives
Heaven only knows
If we'll make it back With all our fingers and our toes
5 years, 20 years, come back
It will always be the same
He pointed at himself.
If I was dying on my knees
You would be the one to rescue me
And if you were drowned at sea
I would give you my lungs so you could breathe
I've got you brother-er-er-er
I've got you brother-er-er-er
Ash smiled at him and he smiled back.
And if we hit on troubled water
I'll be the one to keep you warm and safe
And we'll be carrying each other
Until we say goodbye on our dying day
Because I've got you brother-er-er-er
I've got you brother-er-er-er
I've got you brother-er-er-er
I've got you brother-er-er-er
He walked around and then towards them and looked at them one by one.
If I was dying on my knees
You would be the one to rescue me
And if you were drowned at sea
I would give you my lungs so you could breathe
He closed his eyes.
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
He opened his eyes and looked at Ash. Ash smiled back.
I've got you brother-er-er-er
I've got you brother-er-er-er
"Glad to know you haven't forgotten how to sing Oak-tree." Ash said after Gary finished singing.
"I remember this song by heart."
Leaf snorted.
"And yet there was this incident back then. You know what I mean? Funny. Isn't it"
"What are you guys talking about?" Iris asked before Gary could say anything.
"Nothing important. Anyway! Now It's Ash's turn! Sing!" Leaf said excitedly.
"Wait! Before that! You know what Gary? Your voice is amazing! You should sing more often!" Dawn exclaimed.
"Yeah! And Leaf! Your voice was so beautiful too!" Serena told her.
The others agreed.
They blushed.
"Uhh.. thanks." They thanked.
"So now! Let's hear Ash's singing!" Lillie said excitedly.
"Yeah! Let's hear you out! Sing!" Mallow agreed.
"Here Ashy-Boy, take the guitar." Gary handed the instrument.
Everyone waited patiently as Ash walked a little distance away from them looked up in the sky, closed his eyes and soon a smile formed on his face. He opened his eyes, took a deep breath and turned around towards them while playing the guitar and soon started to sing.
In the dark of night
The stars light up the sky
We see them flying free
That's just like you and me
He looked at every one, one by one.
Everyone is lonely sometimes (Sometimes)
He looked at Leaf.
But I would walk a thousand miles to see your eyes
You are not alone, we are family (Family)
Hold me, let's escape all this reality
He looked at Misty and Brock.
You are my symphony
By your side, we are unity
He looked at Dawn
You are my energy
My guiding light, we are unity
He looked at everyone and then turned around and started to walk towards the sea.
(We are, we are) We are unity
(We are, we are) We are unity
He stood into the shallow part of the sea and moved his hand slowly inside the water.
Although the rain might pour
A thunder starts to roar
The lightnin' wakes the wave
But through it, we are brave
He turned around with his hands still in the water and looked at both Leaf and Gary.
Everyone is lonely sometimes (Sometimes)
But I would walk a thousand miles to see your eyes
You are not alone, we are family (Family)
Hold me, let's escape all this reality
Then he one by one looked at all his travelling companions and classmates.
You are my symphony
By your side, we are unity (We are unity)
You are my energy
My guiding light, we are unity
(We are, we are) We are unity
(We are, we are) We are unity
We are unity
He walked towards them and looked at everyone
You are my symphony (We are)
By your side (We are, we are unity, unity)
You are my energy (We are)
My guiding light (We are), unity
He closed his eyes and let the wind play with his hair.
We are unity
We are unity
Once he finished playing the guitar, he opened his eyes and looked at everyone.
And what he saw surprised him. They had shocked expression on their faces. Even Gary and Leaf.
"Uhh... was it bad?"
Right after he said that Serena collapsed.
"Serena!" Ash shouted in worry and ran towards her.
Everyone hurriedly surrounded her and the girls made sure that she wasn't hurt.
"Is she hurt?" Clemont asked in worry.
Misty shook her head. "No. Just small swelling on the back of her head and that's all. She fell on clear soil and she didn't hit anything else so she is fine."
Everyone sighed in relief.
"But why did she collapsed anyway? She was perfectly fine before I started to sing." Ash said.
Everyone chuckled.
"Truth be told Ash, I would have collapsed too If it wasn't for Serena's going unconscious and snapping me out of my daze." Iris said.
"What!? Why?"
"Because of shock." Gary said.
Ash looked at them in confusion.
"Are you sure Ash you haven't sang anything since back then or are you lying?" Leaf asked.
"Why would I lie. I haven't sang anything. Heck! I haven't even wrote any song! Why are you saying that?"
"Because Arceus! Your voice! And your singing! I don't have words. I just don't!" Leaf said.
"None of us do." Cilan agreed.
The others nodded.
"Was I that bad?" he asked.
Misty hit him in the head.
He cried out in pain.
"You were more then fabulous you dummy!"
"I never thought you could sing Ketchum. Let alone like that." Drew told him.
"Agreed." Paul nodded.
"If I didn't believe in miracles before then I do now." Kiawe said.
"Yeah. Miracles do happen. It's confirmed." Sophocles added.
"I heard and saw the unimaginable today." Solitad said.
"You voice Ash. Your voice. It was just, just…" Korrina began but couldn't complete as she tried to find the right words.
"Miraculously fabulous…. Even that is not the right word."
Everyone turned to Serena and saw that she was awake. She had her hand over her chest and a blush was on her face. She looked at Ash and said. "Your voice. It was magical."
Ash blushed and as everyone started praising him one by one, his blush deepened.
"Thanks…" he thanked them.
"But you know what? I have never heard these songs before. Why is that?" Mairin asked.
"Because we wrote these songs together." Gary told them smiling.
"Really? They are amazing!"
"Sing me another song! A group song! Just the three of you! Please!" Max and Casey asked them.
"Uh sure….. what do you two say?" Leaf asked the 2 boys.
"I am fine with it." Gary smiled.
"I am not. What if anyone got collapsed again?" Ash asked.
"We won't! Just sing!" his classmates exclaimed and the other nodded.
"Alright! Alright! Geez! I will do it." He agreed.
"Great!" The girls exclaimed.
"So what are we going to sing?" Gary asked.
"Flashlight." Leaf and Ash said at the same time.
They looked at each other and started to giggle as a blush formed on both of their faces.
Gary sighed in exasperation but smiled either way and said "I was thinking about the same. Let's get started."
Leaf took the Guitar from Ash and then started to play the tunes and soon they started to sing.
{A/N: Italic- Leaf, Bold- Ash, Underline- Gary, (Bold, Italic and Underline- Ash, Leaf and Gary), (Bold and Italic- Ash and Leaf), (Italic and Underline- Leaf and Gary), (Bold and Underline- Ash and Gary).}
When tomorrow comes
I'll be on my own
Leaf looked up into the sky while the 3 of them stood behind each other with their back touching together.
Feeling frightened of
The things that I don't know
Ash closed his eyes.
When tomorrow comes
Tomorrow comes
Tomorrow comes
Gary looked towards the sea.
And though the road is long
I look up to the sky
Leaf walked a few steps towards the sea breaking the back to back contact with the 2 boys.
And in the dark I found,
I lost hope that I won't fly
Ash looked at everyone.
And I sing along,
Ash and Gary looked at each other and smiled.
I sing along
I sing along
Leaf looks at the two boys with a smile.
I got all I need when I got you and I
Gary looked up at the sky.
I look around me, and see a sweet life
Leaf walked around the shore as the water waves hit her toes.
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight
You're getting me, getting me through the night
Ash walked towards Leaf.
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes
She looked at him.
Can't lie, it's a sweet life.
Gary walked up to them and looked at Leaf.
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight
You're getting me, getting me through the night
They looked towards the sea
'Cause you're my flashlight (flashlight)
You're my flashlight (flashlight)
You're my flashlight.
Gary turned towards the forest
I see the shadows long beneath the mountain top
Leaf walked beside him
I'm not afraid when the rain won't stop.
They both turned around and looked at Ash.
'Cause you light the way
You light the way, you light the way
I got all I need when I got you and I
Ash smiled at them.
I look around me, and see a sweet life
Leaf walked near him and sat on a big stone nearby then gazed at the sun
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight.
Gary walked up to them as Ash looked at the sun.
You're getting me, getting me through the night
Gary stood beside Ash.
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes
I can't lie, it's a sweet life
I'm stuck in the darkbut you're my flashlight
Ash slid a hand on Gary's shoulder as he returned the gesture.
You're getting me, getting me through the night
Leaf looked at them as they gazed towards the horizon and smiled.
(Light light light
you're my flashlight, light, light)
Light light you're my flashlight
Light light light light light, oh
(Light light light you're my flashlight, light, light)
You're my flash, oh
She stood up slid her hand over Gary's shoulder and he did the same.
I got all I need when I got you and I
I look around me, and see a sweet life
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight
You're getting me, getting me through the night
Can't stop my heart when you shinin' in my eyes
I can't lie,
it's a sweet life
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight
(You're my flashlight)
You're getting me, getting me
through the night
'Cause you're my flashlight
'Cause you're my flashlight
You're my flashlight
You're my flashlight
Light light
You're my flashlight
Light light ye-yeah
You're my flashlight
The three of them stood there and gazed towards the vast sea with smiles on there faces as they remembered the time when they first sang this song in this very place.
They were soon broken out of their thoughts by several clapping of hands.
They turned around and remembered they weren't alone so they quickly left each other's hand as a blush formed on their faces.
"You guys were Amazing!" All the girls nearly screamed.
The boys nodded along.
The blush on the three of them deepened but this time due to slightly different reason.
The three Palletion thanked the others.
"Hey! I don't want to be pesky but why does it feel that every time you sing you go into another world. You know what I mean? It's fine if you don't want to answer." Drew asked.
"No it's fine." Leaf replied.
"You see.. these are the songs we wrote. So when we sang it we remembered the time when we wrote it." Ash told them.
He got confused looks as a reply.
Gary chuckled.
"The thing is, every song we have written and sang so far has a story behind it. Like the song I sang was the song Leaf and Ash had written together to cheer me up after my parents death. I made some adjustments to it later. Just like that, many of our other songs has a meaning behind it." Gary told them.
"Exactly. We haven't sang them together in years so when we did it now, we felt like we had turned 4 year old all over again. And as for the part that we weren't here when we sang then that's right because we weren't. We were thinking of the time of when we had first sang this song and why." Leaf continued.
"That's right. Nearly, our every song has a meaning behind it for a certain someone which only the three of us understand. Usually." Ash finished.
"Usually?" Sawyer asked.
"Yeah. We are close so if someone else is close to us then he/she can probably decipher the meaning behind the song. It all depends to how close you are to someone." Ash answered.
"That is…. I don't know what to say." Max said.
The others agreed.
Leaf chuckled.
"I think I do." Ash told him and walked away a few feet away from them and towards the beach ball lying nearby. He picked it up, turned towards them and rolled the ball in his finger. "Let's play."
He threw the ball towards Max which he caught with a grin on his face.
"Alright!"
And so the game began.
-:-
Delia was busy preparing lunch for the day when she heard the door bell.
She stopped cooking the food, and went to open the door wondering who might be there.
When she opened the door she was greeted by four familiar faces.
"Oh! Hey you guys. What are you doing right now, here?"
"You see Delia, since the kids won't be back till sunset, we thought that why don't we have lunch together." Lusamine told her.
"Then you all are just in time! I was in the middle of making lunch. Come in."
"In that case let us help too." Professor Burnet asked.
"Oh no. You are the guest here. Don't bother yourself."
"It's not a bother Delia. Let's go to the kitchen." Lusamine said as they made there way towards the kitchen but stopped when the door bell rang again.
Delia quickly looked at the wall clock and soon her face brightened up while the others wondered who might be behind the door.
Delia quickly ran and opened the door.
"Blue!" She exclaimed and quickly took her long time friend in a hug.
"It's great to finally meet you too Delia!" Blue said as she returned the hug.
"Blue?" professor Oak asked.
The two women broke the hug and turned towards the shocked professor.
"It's good to see you too old man." Blue said with a cheeky smile.
But the professor's shocked expression didn't change.
She rolled her eyes. Delia laughed.
"Did you really thought that I would let Leaf have all the fun dear professor?" she asked.
Professor Oak blinked. And then started to laugh.
"I am glad, you haven't changed."
"I know right." She said as the two hugged.
After they broke the hug she turned towards the Alolans.
"You must be Lusamine, Professor Kukui and Burnet if I am not wrong?"
They nodded.
"It's nice to finally meet you." She smiled at them.
"It is nice to meet you too er…"
"Blue. My name is Blue and I am Leaf's mother." She told them.
And so the introduction began as everyone made there way towards the drawing room.
"So you will be staying here for a while?" Professor Kukui asked.
"That's right." She answered as she took off her hair band.
"So you guys talk and I we will go make lunch." Delia said while pointing towards Professor Burnet and Lusamine.
"I will help too." Blue said.
"No." Delia denied.
"What? Why not?"
"Because I know how good you are at cooking."
"I have taken care of my family for ten years now. I've improved a lot."
"Don't include the six years in which Leaf wasn't home and was traveling. So you only took care of your family for four years. And Silver wasn't even staying around much. So what exactly gave you the motivation to improve?"
"There were lots of things! Like.. er..-"
"I know this as much as you do that you are being formal and nothing more Blue. So just drop it. Make yourself comfortable and I'll go make the lunch."
"Ah whatever!" she grumbled.
-:-
After playing for a while, everyone had decided to sit and have lunch.
So that's what they are doing at the moment.
"Oh no! It's nearly sun set! I have to catch my ship by eight!" May said as she looked towards the sky bringing everyone's attention towards her.
"You will be leaving too?" Ash asked her from beside her.
"I didn't tell you?"
He shook his head as he took a bite of a biscuit.
"Oh! I think I forgot. Sorry. Well, you see.. Dad called after you left for your house this morning and asked me and Max to come back home as soon as possible. He said it's something important. He didn't tell what it is over the phone though. He even booked tickets."
"I won't be leaving though! I persuaded them to let me stay here for a while. It's only May who is going back." Max told him happily.
"Yeah. About that Ash. Since Bonnie is staying with you so you wouldn't mind if Max stayed too. Would you?" May asked.
"Ofcourse not. I will be more than happy to look after him."
"Thanks!"
"I have got to catch my flight in 3 hours from now! If I didn't leave now, I will miss it!" Clemont exclaimed in panic.
"Looks like, its time to leave then." Alain said as he stood up followed by others and began packing the stuff and changed there clothes.
Once everyone was ready, they all went to the outskirts of town to see off those who were leaving.
"Got to say. It was a wise decision to bring your stuff along with you to the beach." Dawn told them as they stood at the entrance of Pallet to wave goodbye to others.
"I know right! It was all Cilan's idea." Casey told them.
"Well, I am not surprised." Ash said.
"Looks like its good bye for now then?" Leaf said.
"Yeah. See you in a week. And Bonnie? Make sure to behave." Clemont said.
"You too Max." May added.
"C'mon! I am not a kid!" the 2 said together.
Everyone started to laugh.
Max and Bonnie grumbled.
And so everyone shook hands, waved goodbye and made there way towards the forest and the Viridian city.
Ash, Leaf, Gary, Dawn, Bonnie, Max, Mallow, Lillie, Lana, Kiawe, Sophocles and Gladion stood there watched them as they walked towards the forest and disappeared.
"Well, let's head back." Gladion said.
Others agreed and made there way back.
On the way Ash's stomach growled. He blushed. The others laughed
"Hehe. Let's go to my place. I am sure Mom has made something."
And so they made there way towards the Ketchum's residence.
Once they reached Ash's house and entered, they heard laughing and talking of several voices coming from the drawing room.
Confused, they made there way towards the room and found the elders sitting there.
"Aunt Blue!" Ash and Gary exclaimed and ran towards the older woman and hugged her.
Other then Leaf, all the kids looked at the new person in confusion.
"Boys! It's good to finally see you in person!" she said as she returned the embrace.
After they broke apart Blue looked at them and said.
"You have grown so much! The last time I saw you in person, you only reached till my waist. Now you are of nearly my height!"
The boys chuckled.
"I know what you are saying Blue. Soon we will have to look up to see their faces." Delia said.
"Umm.. Ash? Would you introduce us?" Lillie asked.
"Oh! Right! Everyone, she is Leaf's mother. Her name is Blue. And Aunt Blue, these are my friends. Dawn, Bonnie, Max, Mallow, Lillie, Lana, Kiawe, Sophocles and Gladion." Ash introduced.
And so the hi and hello's began.
Once everyone was done, Blue asked Ash.
"So Ash, I heard during your time in Alola you stayed with professor Kukui and Burnet. I hope you didn't cause any trouble."
"What makes you think I would cause them any trouble?"
"Oh. I don't know. I have a long list of reasons, you see." She said with a cheeky smile.
"C'mon! I am not Five anymore! You can ask them if you want to." He told her in annoyance and pointed towards the said Alolans.
"Don't worry Blue. He was really nice. He even helped us with house chores." Professor Burnet said.
"If you say so… But I still don't believe that Ash did house chores."
Everyone started to laugh. Ash groaned and soon his stomach growled.
A beat.
And then laughter once again filled the Ketchum's residence.
-:-
Once everyone had finished dinner, the Alolans along with Gary, Dawn and professor Oak left for the Oak's residence and the Lab after chatting for a while.
Dawn went to stay at the Oak's place while the others were staying at the lab with Tracey.
Once they had left, Blue asked.
"Hey Delia! Has something been happening around lately in the forest?"
"No. Why did you ask?"
" 'Cause I saw some burned and broken trees on the way here. And the pokemon were being away from the place and looked scared. As if they have seen a monster."
"Really that's odd. Do you guys know anything about it?" she turned towards the kid and asked.
They shook there heads but then Ash stopped as realisation dawned on him.
"Oh…oh no!"
"What's wrong Ash?" Bonnie asked.
"It's… I forgot about Pikachu! I will go and check out on him. I will be back in a while!" he told them and ran off.
"That was odd." Leaf thought out loud.
The others agreed.
-:-
After Ash reached the ranch, he roamed around to find Bulbasaur.
But he didn't have to find him for long since Bulbasaur had seen him and was coming towards him.
He quickly walked towards him and asked him to assemble all of his pokemon at the farthest end of the ranch. He will be waiting there and walked away.
Bulbasaur looked at him in confusion but did as was told.
-:-
Ash saw all of his pokemon coming one by one and sitting around him with curious looks in their eyes as he sat and waited patiently for everyone to arrive.
After around five minutes, all of Ash's pokemon were sitting around him with Pikachu beside him.
He looked at all of his pokemon with calculating eyes while his pokemon became nervous under the intense gaze of their trainer since Ash rarely saw them with that look.
After a moment that felt like hours, Ash sighed.
"First thing first. I want Bulbasaur, Squirtel, Charizard and Pikachu to sit separate from everyone.
Now the pokemon became really nervous.
The said pokemon stood up went to sit together.
"Now that it's done. Let's come to the point." Ash said
"Just a few minutes ago I heard that there are burned and broken trees in the forest connecting Viridian City and Pallet. Any idea why?" he asked his pokemon calmly.
His pokemon stayed quiet and looked at each other nervously.
After a few minutes, Ash said "You know what? I would have loved to sit here with you guys all day long but it's night time and I need to go home quickly so say something." Ash told them with such calmness which send shivers down their spine.
"Buizel? Goodra? Inceneroar? Snivy? Sceptile? Bayleaf? Anyone? C'mon guys, say something!"
After few seconds Ash said.
"Your silence tells me that you know who did it so tell me. If you respect me as your trainer then you will."
After a few seconds, Cyndaquill spoke up.
"Cyn yda ill quill cyqu uil!" he said and pointed towards Charizard.
Ash asked the others if that is true and they hesitantly nodded. He smiled at them and then turned towards the said fire pokemon who looked down towards the ground.
"No surprise there. It's just as I thought." He told him and turned back towards the others.
"So tell me guys, who told you not to tell me? It wasn't Pikachu. That much I know." He said and rubbed the said electric Pokémon's head.
They hesitantly pointed towards the three Kanto starters.
Ash looked at the said three in surprise and after a moment, sighed.
"Why? I know there has to be reason for not telling me anything and what happened between you and Pikachu while I was gone?" He asked the last part to Charizard.
After a few seconds of silence, Bulbasaur spoke up.
"Bulb asaur saur bul aur bulbas ur."
"So you are saying that Charizard had told you guys not to tell me."
Bulbasaur nodded.
After a few minutes, Ash asked, "And what happened between Charizard and pikachu?"
After a few minutes, Squirtel stepped forward.
"Squ tel uir el squir."
"They had a fight?"
He nodded.
"And no one cared to tell me about it?"
They stayed silent.
"You guys knew that this will happen when Charizard took Pikachu away from me. Didn't you?"
Everyone nodded.
"This time. Who told you not to tell me?"
Squirtel raised his hand.
Ash looked at him with a look which was difficult to read.
After a moment ash sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Why?"
"Squirt tel el uirel squ!"
"You are saying that you were angry that Pikachu was hiding something and wasn't telling you?"
They nodded.
Ash sighed.
He stood up and walked towards Charizard.
"Still. No one told me the reason as to why Charizard broke those trees."
No one said anything.
Ash looked at Charizard angrily and after a moment, raised his hand.
Charizard quickly closed his eyes and waited for the hand to hit him but the slap never came. Instead, a warm hand was kept on his cheeks. He opened his eyes in surprise and saw Ash looking at him kindly.
"But you know what? I don't need an answer because I already know why."
He rubbed Charizard's cheek gently and said.
"You were blaming yourself for what happened today. Weren't you?"
Charizard hesitantly nodded.
Ash smiled.
"Don't. It wasn't anyone's fault. Not any one among you atleast. I know you are worried about me. You all are. And I appreciate it. I really do. But next time when something like this happens, don't go around smashing trees. Instead, come and talk to me. Okay?"
Charizard nodded.
"Good."
He then turned back towards the others and asked Pikachu. "How much have you told them?"
"pi chu chuka chu pi pichu."
"So they only know that this would happen because these three here suspected that you knew and they asked you so you had to say yes. Anything more?"
Pikachu shook his head.
He turned towards all of his other pokemon and said.
"The thing is guys… if anyone is at fault here then that is me. I was the one who told Pikachu not to tell about it to anyone since I didn't wanted you all to worry but looks like it can't be helped now. So are you ready to know what exactly happened in my previous encounter with them?"
Everyone nodded as they sat around ash In a circle.
Ash sat between them and before he could begin, heard Leaf and Gary and Dawn call out to him.
"Hey Ash!" he saw them coming towards him.
They stopped right infront of the circle of pokemon.
"There you are Ash! We have been looking all over the place for you." Dawn said.
"We wanted to ask you something… er… if that is fine with your pokemon." Leaf said after she noticed that they were giving them annoyed or angry looks.
Ash chuckled.
"If it's quick then that's fine."
"We will be quick." Gary said.
"The thing is… we noticed that you've been acting odd lately and there are several things we can name out. Like you were being in your full guard and everything. That is totally unlike you. You are usually happy-go-lucky type so we just wanted to know if anything is wrong." Dawn said.
"We think that you have encountered those shadow beast before from how you were acting." Leaf said.
"So have you?" Gary asked.
Ash chuckled.
"C'mon you guys. Take a seat." He told them as he patted on the ground.
"Huh?" they looked at them in confusion.
"My pokemon here asked me the same thing so I was going to tell them how I encountered it before today."
"So you have?" Gary asked.
"Yes. Just once before today. Actually I encountered them yesterday. After I left Viridian city and entered the forest. So sit down. My Pokémon are too eager to hear what happened. So the quicker the better."
They nodded and quickly sat down next to him.
"So, After I left the airport….."
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The end.
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Hope you guys enjoyed! This was the longest chapter yet.
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