Chapter 74, everybody, and uh…the gym is on fire! D:

In other news, Ash does a Tadashi Hamada and we can't even blame this version because he does the exact same stupid thing in canon. Honestly if it wasn't for Darkrai…Darkrai's quoting Atlantis: The Lost Empire and The Incredibles, by the way.

In other news dirt is just as effective at putting out fires as water, hence Brock whipping out some of his Pokémon to help. Firebreaks are real things and are basically ditches or cleared paths made to help slow down wildfires.

Moving on to reviews: thanks to Cyan Quartz, Silverwing23, DeathCrawler, griffin blackwood, talesfanjmf, Viruz pirate, GunBlade2022, and epantoja521, thanks for the reviews! Stay classy, friends. :D

Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo

And now, for something completely different:

The Pokémon League would once again like to remind all trainers to have a Pokémon in their possession that knows Water or Ground-type moves in case of fires. The Pokémon League would also like to remind all trainers to make sure that any campfires started are fully extinguished.

Ash jerked in surprise at that declaration—

Erika was already in motion. "Everybody, out!" she yelled. "Evacuate the gym, let the sprinklers do their work—"

"The sprinklers aren't working!" the assistant wailed. "Mia's calling the fire department—"

"Get her off the phone and out the building! You all, follow me!" Erika ordered, gathering the rest of them with a wave—Ash scooped up Pikachu, followed after Erika, her with a hand on the back of the mushroom-thing.

"Is now a bad time to ask what kind of Pokémon that is?" Ash asked his friends.

"Yes," Misty said tersely. "Gym on fire and the sprinklers don't work—what's going on here?"

Brock glanced ahead at Erika, through the increasingly smoke-filled halls, before quietly saying "Sabotage. We wouldn't be the first people she kicked out of her gym—someone might have taken it poorly and decided to get back at her."

"By setting the—" Ash began—Brock quickly shushed him. "Sorry—by setting the gym on fire?" he whispered.

"I'm not sure if you've noticed, Ash, but people can be majorly petty," Misty said, before the smoke hampered conversation too much—they didn't say a word until they were safely outside and a good distance from the building. Even at that, all Ash could smell was smoke, and he could feel heat on his back. He turned to look—

Ash stared in horror at the flames raking the sky, dancing and cavorting and throwing sparks high in the air—the Celadon Gym was going up just as sure as if Moltres had decided to roost there.

Misty gritted her teeth, pulled out a Pokéball. "We can't wait too long for the fire department—Staryu! Squirtle! Aim for the base of the flames!"

The two Pokémon popped out, spotted the flames—hastened to shoot torrents of water at the towering inferno.

Brock followed suit. "Onix! Make a firebreak! Geodude! Use Mud Slap to smother the flames!"

Onix needed even less time to assess the situation and dive into the ground, churning up a trench as he disappeared around the corner. Geodude tossed the upturned ground at the fire.

Ash checked his one Water-type Pokémon—Lenny didn't look recovered enough to try and get him to help. He put the ball back on his belt, looked around to see how everyone else was doing in the growing crowd. Erika was waving people away, touching every person and Pokémon fleeing the building as if to make sure that yes, they were solid and most definitely leaving that pyre.

"Is that everyone?" she asked the last coughing and sobbing girl, catching her by the shoulders to make her face her. behind her, the mushroom-dragon Pokémon was dancing around in alarm.

"N-no," the girl choked. "I-I saw—I think I saw Gloomy in there—h-he's trapped in a side room—"

Erika's grip on the girl tightened, but from the need to grab hold of something to stay upright. "No," she gasped. "No—no I have to go in there—"

"Erika no!" the girl cried, tightening her own grip to keep the gym leader from running back into the blaze. "You'll die in there!"

"I can't leave Gloomy!"

Ash put it together quickly—whatever Pokémon Gloomy was, it was trapped in that burning building.

He dropped Pikachu to the ground, flung his hat away, and ran up the steps, heat hitting him in the face like a wall. He barely heard his friends screaming his name before the roaring fire swallowed him up.

Once inside he stooped, covered his nose with his shirt, squinting through the stinging smoke and reflecting that the movies never quite encapsulated just how awful a burning building actually was. Pieces of the ceiling were dropping haphazardly, flaming debris threatening to drop at any moment on his back, and the fire sought to rob all his senses—blinding him, deafening him, destroying his sense of smell and burning his skin so all he felt was blistering heat. Smoke was staining his sinuses, his mouth, feeling like a living being trying to worm its way down his throat and into his lungs—he had to find that poor Pokémon and get it out of here.

The key question was just how—the fire had destroyed any landmarks, and the weakening beams were going to block the side rooms as soon as they fell—

An explosion—Ash curled in on himself, trying to protect his head and chest, flinching down and back, eyes shut tight, hoping it wouldn't hurt too bad—

Stabs in his back—it took him a moment to realize it was a Pokémon angrily grabbing him.

"YOU. ABSOLUTE. MUKING. MORON," Darkrai snarled, eyes narrowed so tight they were nearly shut.

"You have to help me find Gloomy!" Ash said, smoke abrading his throat.

"I have to do nothing, except get out of this mess."

"I'm not leaving—there's a Pokémon stuck here and it's going to die if we can't get it out!"

"And if WE can't get out of here, WE'LL die!"

"DARKRAI!"

"ALL RIGHT! Give me a minute," Darkrai snarled, turning his head, tipping it this way and that for a few agonizing seconds. "That way. Maybe. It might just be a gas line in distress, in which case, I'm going to be kicking your can for all eternity."

Ash was already bolting forward, Darkrai following closely, still with a firm grip on him. Reach an intersection—"Left."—turn left—distressed crying was starting to make itself known underneath the unending roar—

Ash ducked into the room—instantly spotted the Pokémon in question.

"Well?" Darkrai asked.

"It's a Gloom—Gloomy?" Ash asked, throat protesting at him talking in general and having to raise his voice in particular. "We're here to get you out!"

The Gloom—for that's what it was—had been running in panicked circles, eyes swollen and irritated-looking, most likely from crying in panic, but as soon as it spotted Ash it ran for him—

Skidded to a halt at the sight of Darkrai.

"No, it's okay—" Ash said, hands out as it started backing up—

It tried to bolt—he lunged, caught it, hugged it tight to his chest—

Got a face-full of the absolute worst stench he ever had the misfortune to breathe in, overriding the smell of smoke, even.

Ash's next sound was a sharp-starting, long-wheezing cough, trying to clear that smell from every fiber of his being. "Was that really necessary?"

The Gloom was struggling to get out of his grip, chirping wildly—

"Oi, he's trying to save you, moron!" Darkrai snarled. "Believe me, I'd rather be anywhere but here!"

"It's okay though, Darkrai's a friend!" Ash told it. "And besides, he's going to get us right out of—"

A cracking noise—developing into a groaning—Ash looked up, ducked down, curled around the Gloom—

A grunt of pain, muted under the sound of the world crashing around them—he looked back up to see that Darkrai had put up a Protect around them, although the act had strained him. Considering the debris sliding to the ground around them, Ash could imagine the effort he had to exert in order to ensure that Protect didn't break.

But it left them with a potentially different problem.

"Well, we're trapped," Darkrai declared, looking at where their one exit used to be.

"No, it's fine!" Ash insisted, Gloom now trembling in his arms, shock maybe setting in. "You can still get us out!"

"I'm open to suggestions!"

"What do you mean? You have that—that shadow-travel thing—"

"HELLO!? There ARE no shadows in this fire! What's your excuse, you run out of stupid—"

Ash was genuinely concerned that Darkrai had hurt something, the way he suddenly went super-still.

And then Darkrai grabbed him, pushed him down, floating over him—

And then sinking, the edges of his shadow scraping painfully against his bare arms, catching on his denim jeans—

There was still heat, but it was only roiling on one side now, and Ash rolled towards that blessed cool air, hugging the Gloom to his chest and greedily sucking in—

Only to start coughing and hacking madly as his abused respiratory system screamed in protest. The Gloom squeaked in concern as he tried to stop, every cough feeling like it was shredding his throat, eyes and nose running—he was surprised he still had enough water in his body after being cooked for so long—

"PIKA!"

Ash wanted to muster some energy for enthusiasm, but right now he was busy trying to actually suck in a breath—Pikachu collided with him, rubbing his head all over Ash's head and shoulders and chittering madly—

"Gloom!" the Gloom said, suddenly possessive.

"Kack—all—cough—right—kaf—P-Pikachu's…." Ash tried to get out, without much success. But there were other people coming now, calling his name—he looked over his shoulder, casting about for Darkrai—

Darkrai was a few feet away, eyes still shut tight—sinking into a shadow and out of sight. Okay, good, good in case whoever it was wasn't happy to see him—

And then firm hands hauled him upright, made him lean forward—

"Deep breaths, deep breaths," Brock was saying.

"You idiot!" Misty yelled, fists balled. "You could have gotten yourself killed! Why didn't you leave it to the professionals?"

"Haa…G-Gloom wouldn't have made it if I did," Ash managed to get out, rubbing his throat and chest.

The tension in Misty's body eased up a little, but she still looked like anger was outweighing relief. "And did you ever think about what would have happened if you didn't make it?"

"No sense of self-preservation," Brock agreed.

"Yeah, well," Ash wheezed, before the Gloom made an excited chirping noise and wriggled out of his arms. Erika was right there, scooping it up and hugging it tightly, unmindful of the wet grass staining the knees of her kimono.

"Gloomy!" she cried. "You're all right!"

"Gloom!" the Gloom chirped happily, waving its stubby limbs as she kissed it repeatedly, patting it to make sure it was whole.

"And you," Erika said, sounding breathless when she finally looked at Ash. "Just—running in there—"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Ash said, throat still sore and scratchy. But at least he was starting to be able to breathe again.

"But—I wouldn't have thought—"

"I said I don't like perfume. I like Pokémon just fine." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I couldn't stand the thought of one dying like that."

Erika blinked, her eyes wet from all the emotion she had gone through in only a few minutes.

Ash was surprised when Erika reached out and hugged him, just as tight as she had hugged the Gloom, trying to keep from crying and instead making harsh choking sobs instead.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry! I don't—you didn't have to but you—I'm sorry," she said, finally releasing him and drawing back, her tears still tingling on his neck as she finally released Gloom enough to clasp his hand in both of hers.

"Here," she said, looking him in the eye. "This is for you. As far as I'm concerned, you've earned it. You've earned it thrice over. And—I'm sorry for my behavior before. If you ever need anything from us, anything at all, don't you hesitate to call."

She finally released his hand, and he looked down to see the Rainbow Badge glistening there in the flickering light.

"Wow," Ash breathed—he had honestly forgotten all about it, what with everything going on.

"Gloom must really mean a lot to you," Misty said, voice soft.

Erika nodded, lips tightly pressed together as she stroked the Gloom's flower. "My…my first Pokémon was an Oddish. I had her for ages—when she evolved into Gloom—Gloom's scent is what we use as the base for the perfumes."

"I…literally had no idea," Misty said, seeming to be registering that information about like Ash was: totally nonplussed.

Erika waved that off, wiped at her face. "She…she died a few years back….Gloomy was her only child. She's…she's all I have left of her."

Oh. oh, that was heavy…no wonder she was so emotionally exhausted-looking right now.

She reached out, clasped Ash's hand again. "So thank you. I know you had absolutely no reason to—and I realize anyone else would have probably decided that it wasn't their problem, especially after the way I treated you. I mean it when I say I owe you big time."

Ash smiled. "it's all right."

"Yeah," brock said, hauling Ash up before offering Erika a hand up. "Only next time, don't just run into a burning building? Lenny was probably revived enough to help put out the fire."

"I checked—Lenny was still out," Ash said.

"Did you use any items on him? We did buy a few Revives earlier—I know I said they were for emergencies, but this definitely qualified."

Ash slapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh man, I forgot."

"Well, maybe someday you'll remember to think before you act," Misty said, hugging his shoulders before helping Brock steer them back to the paramedics. "For now though, I think you all need to get checked up."

Ash nodded, looked back to the gym as they headed for the ambulance—it seemed like the only things left were the metal structures, and even those were melting in the heat. He looked back to Erika, hugging Gloom to her chest and leaning heavily on Brock as she watched her home go up in smoke.

"Will you be okay?" Ash asked her.

She blinked a few times, smiled at her Pokémon when they spotted her and hustled over.

"We'll be fine," she said. "It's just a building—we can rebuild it."

The mushroom Pokémon laid its head on top of hers, followed close to her side when the paramedics waved them forward and helped them in.

"Can you return them?" one asked, looking at the grass types all looking to get inside with the rest of them. "Only there's no room, and the suspension can't handle a Venusaur."

"Sau," the Venusaur said, sounding miffed.

Erika opened her mouth to answer—clicked it shut as she looked back at the gym. "We never really kept anyone in Pokéballs," she said. "They're all in the gym."

The paramedic looked at the blaze, sighed, got on his radio. "We're going to need some empty Pokéballs."

"You can use mine," Ash said, looking around for his backpack before spotting it on Brock's arm.

She started. "But I—you—"

"It's fine," he insisted, taking his backpack from Brock and holding it out to her. "And if you want, you can have them in exchange for answering one question."

"I…" she looked at her Pokémon, hesitated, looked back at him. "Sure. What's your question?"

Ash nodded, pointed at the mushroom Pokémon. "What kind of Pokémon is that?"

She coughed out a laugh, apparently not expecting that one. "This is a Breloom. She's from Hoenn."

Ash handed the backpack over, and they were on their way a few minutes later, night looking darker the further away they got from the fire staining the night sky.

But right now, Ash could use some darkness, closing his tired, scratchy eyes against the fluorescent lights in the ambulance.

He didn't remember falling asleep.