The Blue Spirit

by silentplayermc03

A vision has been seen by Arceus; a world covered in darkness, corrupting both humans & pokemon alike but it also showed two heroes fighting against it. Plans are formed, old & new friends meet, relationships are made, emotions run high, secrets are revealed & an inevitable world war engulfs them all against the darkness…

46. Chapter 46 - Choices

A/N - Hey guys, it's Silent! Hope you're all doing well. I know, it's been a while since posting. Work has been kicking my ass and I'm still trying to adjust. Thank you for understanding, being patient and for your support. A few things before the chapter;

1. Replies to some reviews;

Guest 1 - I'll write the lemons when it flows right for the story buddy.

Guest 2 - Okay. You'll find out soon if you're right.

Guest 3 - Maybe. If he does that, have to figure out how to do that with multiple girlfriends. lol

Guest 4 - Thanks dude! And here is the next one! ;)

Guest 5 - Thank you buddy! I'm glad too that I got one and I'm humbled to hear that. Thanks! :)

MANbearPIG1 - Hahahahaha! So how did the election go buddy? Or still running? lol. About the mothers teasing Ash, if they do, it'll be like they did before in the story. I won't have them being all touchy feely with Ash. Thanks though about the confidence. Gary is going to go through some things. About Daisy being more protective, you'll see. Natasha will be going through a tough time with her decision to come clean or not and you'll see that. And thanks about Sabrina; wanted to show her taking charge. Task force, pregnancy and couples, read below. Poor sasquach. Good luck with then ninjas though. Don't know anyone qualified for that position buddy but thanks man. I'm glad I found one finally too.

Marvin - Thanks buddy, glad you liked it. Thanks for the tip. I try not to overdo it but try to show their reactions when its something big. I'll keep an eye out for it.

UNKNOWN - Thanks buddy for the praise and glad you got pumped up! Hope you like this next one.

2. About the pregnancy - Nice observations and deductive logic. You'll find out if you're right soon enough but you'll get some more clues little by little as we continue on. And it will be important part of the story so don't worry. It's not going to be just shoe horned into it.

3. About the 'group sex' - Many of you have been asking about this and want it done. I am thinking about how to do it justice and again, will only do it if it makes sense to the story. It won't be just thrown in there just because.

4. About the other characters lemon scenes - Duly noted and thanks for your responses. As a result, I'll just continue with what I'm already doing with the implied scenes and such.

5. About the 'task force' idea - Very interesting and great idea from MANbearPIG1. I might be able to pull it off but only if it flows well. And if I can do it, I will definitely ask for certain reviewers to have their 'persona' in the story. I'll let you know. :)

6. About the 'fear' in the last chapter - Many of my readers have messaged me about what the voice said to Ash about his girlfriends. I know it's making you feel worried and concerned about it but I cannot say anything about it. It will ruin the reveal. But it will be something that you will like I think.

7. My other stories progress - I have finished outlining my second story and got a little bit done for the third one. Hopefully I can get them posted up soon for those two at least since they will be much shorter than this story and my fourth one that I have ideas about (but no outline yet), which will be another long one.

8. SPECIAL SHOUT OUT! - Sometimes when I log on, I check out my readers' profile pages for kicks and see how many of us like the same stories. And it's also cool learning about each of you a bit if you have a bio. BUT, this shout out is for aboz567. Thank you man for the confidence on your page. I've read some of the stories that were listed on your profile and they are awesome. And for you to say that my story is your favorite of all time over all of those ones...damn dude, I am truly humbled. I never would have guessed that I would write well enough to capture my readers' hearts and to be liked more than those stories since they are among the best of the best. Thank you buddy and I'll do my best to continue delivering quality work. (Also, haven't forgotten that you did that too irmadbro, but I believe I already thanked you for it! But again, thanks! :) )

Okay, now on to the chapter! Enjoy and don't forget to review, fav and follow! :)

- I DON'T OWN POKEMON -

- WARNING; MATURE CONTENT -

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THE BLUE SPIRIT

CHAPTER 46 – CHOICES

A man in a black pin striped business suit was getting ready to leave his office to go home for the night. He was bitter, angry and exhausted. He found out that the weapon he wanted ready to fire at the tournament's closing ceremony would need a few more days to be complete, meaning he would miss his shot. Some random earthquakes that happened out of nowhere had caused some equipment damage within the past couple of days. Grumbling, he stood up from his seat and heard a knock on the door. "If you don't have good news, leave!"

The door opened. "Giovanni, you'll feel better after hearing this."

Giovanni's eyes lit up. "Ah, double oh nine. Come in." He sat back down and watched the beautiful yet deadly blonde girl take a seat in front of him. She was dressed in her black two piece uniform of short skirt and long sleeved shirt. She was his most trusted and most capable agent in the entire organization. She would do anything for him and they both knew that. He raised his interlocked hands in front of him with his elbows on his desk and leaned forward a bit. "So, what news do you have for me?"

She began speaking at once. "Hunter J is on board. The others are aware of the plan and are preparing for the attack. Also, we may have some new trainers on our radar that could be used in the attack and they are fairly strong. I'm speaking about the three who were arrested earlier today after the eighth match," explained Domino.

Giovanni was silent for a moment before responding back. "I've been keeping tabs on that as well since the failed attack. Hmm, you may have a point about the other three. They will be useful. Good work Domino. You're the only one I can ever count on," said Giovanni and Domino nodded. "I have another job for you. We will need to find a way to get the weapon ready in time for the closing ceremony and get those three and their pokémon the enhancements."

"About both of those, I found out some information from one of the board members of the league that's on our payroll. He told me that…" The blonde girl told him the new information and at the end of it, an evil smile formed on Giovanni's face.

"This is perfect. This will give us enough time to get the weapon ready and we will be able to do what is needed for the three. And this new information will allow us to make short work of the rest. Excellent work Domino," praised Giovanni. "We will need to make some changes but it will be worth it. But I'm going to need tomorrow to think and relax first. Natasha's compromise and the weapon being damaged have stressed me out."

Domino got up instantly, walked around the desk, keeping her eyes on his and stopped right in front him. "I know how to fix that," she said. She took off his suit jacket and started unbuttoning his shirt.

Giovanni smirked at her. "Why make an excuse? You want it don't you?" he asked her.

Domino grinned back. "Always. I can never get enough of you," she said. She took off his shirt and unbuckled his pants. He stood up before she pulled them off. Before she could continue, her boss made her turn around and bend over onto the desk.

"No foreplay this time," he growled and she agreed, not having felt him inside her for so long. She raised her skirt and lowered her panties while still bent over and soon she felt his shaft inside her, making her moan and feel much pleasure. "Ah, it's been a while. You're still as tight as the day I took your virginity."

"Too long. And you know I only have sex with you," reminded Domino. She then thought of something while in the middle of it all. "I thought you would be fucking Natasha though while I was away," she panted in between his thrusts, with a hint of jealousy.

"Jealous are we?" he asked and she responded with a moan. "That whore never joined but then let herself get raped. I don't deal with used goods. And even if she hadn't and I was, you'd still be my number one," said Giovanni while ramming into her, making her moan louder and take in sharp breaths.

"Good. I'll always be your number one. For everything," replied Domino. They finished up their session soon but both of them wanted more.

They were about to go another round when Giovanni thought of something. "She has ended up in his group though." Domino tilted her head after standing straight and looked at him. "Natasha; she's in the Aura Guardian's group. From the report that was shown, he killed the Skull Brothers and took her in. Perhaps she may still be of use." The blonde reminded him about not dealing with used goods. He smirked before explaining. "Who said anything about dealing with her? We let her think she'll be welcomed back with open arms and get us what we want before disposing of her."

Domino grinned evilly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. When they separated, she leaned back against the table, sat on top of it and spread her legs. "Oh you just turned me on even more Gio with your nasty plan." Without a comment made but grinning smugly, he closed the distance between the two, entered her and fucked her roughly but she enjoyed it all. In the end, he told her to get ready and head to the Indigo Plateau to make contact with Natasha to let her know of the 'offer'. After she left the office, he contacted Oakley and Annie and had them come to his office immediately since he was still in the mood. Soon enough both of them were there and the head of Team Rocket let out his frustrations by banging the two girls long into the night.

Far away from them and others, a tall, well built man, with silver hair and his ferocious looking pokémon were traveling on a dirt path towards the base of a mountain near the Indigo Plateau. When they reached it, the trainer glanced at his pokemon. "Dragon Pulse," ordered the man. A powerful beam of energy was shot from his pokémon towards the side of the mountain. The attack connected and blew a hole into it. Satisfied with the result, the trainer and his pokémon entered the makeshift cave to escape the night. He dropped the pile of branches he had in his arm and his pokémon immediately let out a small Flamethrower to ignite the wood and start a fire. The trainer took off his cloak and sat down cross legged in front of the fire. His pokémon lied down behind him and wrapped his long tail around him and the fire. The man leaned against his pokémon and closed his eyes.

A couple minutes later, he opened his eyes and raised his arm that had his Poketch on it. He went through it until he got to the news app. He opened up the application and a hologram appeared above his Poketch of the list of articles. After scrolling past some headlines for uninteresting articles, he found one that caught his eye. He clicked the link for the full article and read it. At the end of it, there were four pictures of the four remaining trainers in the tournament. One was a blurry image of him leaving the stadium by flying on his pokémon, another was alone, the second was with a single blue haired girl and the third one was surrounded by his friends.

A grin formed on his face. "This is too good to be true," said the man. His pokémon raised its head off the ground and looked at him. "There are only two worthy trainers left who are the Aura Guardian and the Trainer of Legendaries. Don't care about the third one even though it says he's strong." He glanced at his pokémon who nodded and lowered his head back down to sleep. The man looked at the picture again and noticed something. He looked closely at two girls and a moment later, realized that he knew them. "Well well, isn't this a surprise. It looks like the guardian knows a couple of our friends. Two girls from my past are in his group. Talk about a small world." He closed the app and leaned against his pokémon again before placing his cloak over himself like a blanket. He thought a bit, his gaze looking out the cave. He closed his eyes before letting it go and went to sleep.

In the top floor of the Indigo Plateau, a girl was sneaking through the living room. It was morning and she had just come back from the store. She had woken up earlier than she had ever done before to do what she needed to. She had gotten out of bed, dressed, clipped her pokémons' poke balls to her belt and left the hotel to go to the nearby supermarket. When she reached the store, she had a bit of trouble choosing which test to buy until she asked one of the female store clerks. The clerk pointed out two different ones that were the most accurate and said how she used both at once to make sure. The girl thanked the aid and bought the two she pointed out.

After coming back home, she saw that no one was awake still. Thank Arceus, she thought. She quickly, but quietly, headed to the bathroom. She locked the door, testing it a couple times by turning it and pulling on it to make sure it was locked and fully closed. She was very nervous, anxious and every little thing was causing her to be paranoid. She took out the two tests she bought from her bag. She read the instructions for both and saw that they were simple and the same. Well duh, not much else to do with these. She let out a sigh and opened up one of them and performed the test. After getting that done, she opened up the second test and did that one as well. After doing both tests, she set them on the counter, set a timer on her Poketch and sat down on the toilet cover after lowering it. She placed her head in her hands, wondering what the hell she was going to do if they came out positive.

The minutes slowly went by, with her checking her timer frequently. She was going crazy with all the waiting. She got up and walked towards the door. She then turned around and walked a few steps towards the bath tub before turning around and walking again. She kept going back and forth, her mind racing with thoughts. A few minutes later, she started nibbling on her finger nails, her anxiousness getting the better of her. "Does it really take this long?!" she asked out loud all of a sudden, not believing how time was moving slower than a Slowpoke.

Someone knocked on the bathroom door, making her tense up. "Hey, you alright in there?" It was Joy.

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered back. She then thought of something…

"Okay. I'll leave you alone," replied Joy. The girl inside the bathroom placed a towel over the tests, opened the door, grabbed the pink haired girl's arm and pulled her into the bathroom. "What the hell?! Why'd you do that?! What's going on?!"

"SSHHHH!" The girl opened the door and looked around to check if others were nearby before closing the door and went up to the nurse. "I need your help."

"Okay. You know you could've asked more nicely. And I gotta use the bathroom first. That's why I'm up so early," said Joy.

"Sorry and alright use it," said the girl and Joy stared at her.

"With you in here with me?!" she asked.

"Just go!" ordered the girl and Joy was taken aback.

"Okay, fine. But will you turn around?" she asked. The girl agreed and turned around. Joy used the bathroom, feeling a little embarrassed. She finished up her business quickly though. She went to wash up but the girl stopped her. "Really? You're gonna stop me from washing now?" asked Joy.

"Okay okay. Just don't touch the towel on the counter," said the girl.

Joy once again agreed and this time to a weird request. She washed up and used another towel that was hanging to dry her hands. She then faced the girl. "So, what's up? What's going on?"

The girl took in a big breath. "Joy, since you're a nurse, you've dealt with a lot of stuff right?" Joy nodded. "Like big cuts, weird injuries, life and death situations…" Joy nodded again but this time slowly, keeping her eyes on her. "What about…baby…stuff…."

"Baby stuff?" repeated Joy, confused.

"Yea. I mean, you know…pokémon eggs…babies…giving birth…"

Joy's eyes widened, figuring out where she was going with it all. "Are you pregnant?!" The girl instantly clapped her hand against Joy's mouth. Both of them froze, trying to somehow develop super hearing to catch any sound that could indicate someone was around and heard them. The girl quietly moved to the door and peeked outside. Nobody was around and there was no sign that someone was around. She went back to Joy after closing the door. "Sorry," said Joy. "Are you pregnant?" she asked again but quietly.

Before the girl could answer, her alarm went off. She dismissed it and looked at the towel on the counter before facing Joy again. "I'm about to find out." She went to the towel and lifted it off the tests but looked away. "I can't look," she said, stepping away. "Can you check for me? Please?" she asked Joy.

Joy moved forward and grasped her friend's shoulders. "I know you're scared but this is an important life event. You should check it yourself," advised Joy.

It was quiet for a few seconds until the girl let out a sigh. "You're right. I can't be scared of something like this." She thanked Joy and went up to the tests. She took in another breath before letting it out and looked at the two tests. She was quiet for a long time before she turned her head to the nurse with a blank look.

"Well?" asked Joy, preventing herself from taking a look herself.

"I'm…I'm gonna be a mom," she answered quietly with a surprised look on her face.

"Oh my Mew! Congratulations!" cried Joy and took her into a hug. The girl was too stunned to even reciprocate the hug, lost in what she just found out. "This is such great news!" said Joy after separating. "Does he know?" she asked.

The girl snapped out of her trance and looked at her friend. "No," she said, shaking her head before explaining how she found out something was up; with her puking, her period being late and what she decided to do before sleeping again. "I know now for sure but…how can I tell him?" she asked Joy. She leaned against the bathroom wall and slid down, making the pink haired nurse frown and sit beside her on the bathroom floor. "How Joy? We're barely over adult age. He has so much he wants to do, that he needs to do. Would he want a baby? What would he say? What if he's angry with me or doesn't want a baby? What would our families and friends say? Would they support us?" Joy was silent, thinking about everything she was saying as they were all valid points. "There's no way I'll go through with an abortion but I know I won't be able to do it alone if he doesn't want this. Even if he does want the baby, and our family supports us, what about the future? With the darkness coming in two years, how can we take care of a baby during that time? Is this the right time for this?" She couldn't go on anymore and started crying, the weight of so many unknowns bearing down on her.

Joy took her into her embrace and rubbed her back, letting her cry it out. "It's alright. I'm not going to lie to you though. Everything you said and asked are important points to think about. But I don't think you need to worry about all the ifs in the world. And I believe you have nothing to worry about. I'm sure he'll be happy to know and so will both of your families. Once they get over the shock of it of course," joked Joy, making her friend chuckle a bit through her sob that made her hiccup. "And don't worry about the future, the darkness or any of that. You know we'll all be there to fight it together and help each other out."

She slowly calmed down enough to respond back after a couple minutes. "Thanks Joy," said the girl, hugging her. The two stood up and the girl took the two tests and dropped them into the trash along with the boxes. She tied up the plastic bag and headed out the bathroom with Joy. They walked out of the penthouse suite and entered the hallway with the elevator doors. She opened the trash shoot next to it and tossed the bag inside before the two headed back inside.

They stopped in the living room. She glanced at Joy and thanked her again. "No problem. And I won't say anything," said Joy. The two smiled at one another before heading back to their room and laid back down to sleep a little more since it was too early in the morning.

An hour later, a raven haired young man woke up abruptly. He had seen a dream of him in the temple again and this time he was surrounded by many figures but couldn't tell who or what they were since they were covered in shadows. He heard the female angelic voice speak again but couldn't make out her words either. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times and that's when he realized where he was and that he wasn't alone. He peered down and saw a sight that brought a large smile on his face. His girlfriends Misty, May, Dawn and Serena were in bed with him and they were still asleep. He became confused for a moment, trying to recall how or when he got into bed with them. Until he remembered he was watching a movie the night before with everyone and then nothing. That was when he realized that he probably fell asleep while watching it and someone must've brought him to his bed. He took in the sight of the four, feeling great happiness fill him up in seeing them there. He was very glad that he wasn't alone. He was feeling like an outcast and sullen because of what happened yesterday.

At that moment, his mind brought up yesterday's events as he looked up towards the ceiling. He couldn't believe how Damian, Paul and Shamus would go to such great lengths just to get back at him. They performed illegal activities and didn't mind hurting others in order to get what they wanted. And also how the crowd just turned their backs on him so easily. Why? Why are there so many rotten people in the world? And how could they be so easily swayed in their opinion? Even after seeing me risk it all?

Something else popped into his mind at that moment; your choice. Ash took in a quiet breath after remembering those words. My choice… He thought of what he saw in the golden mirrors; one of which showed his family and friends while the other showed random people who he didn't know. He then thought of the girls being almost blown away from the pokémon self-destructing and the crowd betraying him once more. My choice…in who to save in the end…is that what the voice is saying? He looked at the four girls that were cuddled with him in bed and now noticed the positions they were in.

Misty's hair was disheveled, covering part of her face while her cheek was against his chest. Dawn had her mouth against the base of his neck and he could feel the air blowing out of her nose. Serena's head was on his right shoulder with her pressed up against his side. May had her head on his left shoulder but had backed up into his side with his hand interlocked with hers and held against her chest. He felt himself heating up, feeling their bodies against his but controlled himself. He smiled at them again, thinking about how much he loved them and wouldn't allow anything to happen to them. My choice…there is no choice to be made. Though I will help and protect others, you four, my other girlfriends, my mother, my friends, my pokémon…all who I hold dear to me…will always be a priority.

He then thought more about the other girls, Anabel, Sarah, Cynthia, Sabrina and Leaf. He thought about their interactions together in the past and what they did more recently together. How did I not notice my feelings for them in the past and here at the tournament? How could I be so blind? He thought of all that they did together, what each of them did for him, what he did for each of them and many other things. He felt great feelings towards them as well, as strong as the ones he felt for the four with him now. I'm so lucky and blessed to have such incredible girls want to be with me. I will do everything and anything for them. I swear this. Something popped into his mind suddenly, reminding him of something else. And I will show my appreciation for the other girls too for what they did for me and my girlfriends yesterday. Clair, Liza, Shauna, Lizabeth, Giselle and Daisy; thank you for helping out yesterday. Thank you for caring, for being there for me and for the girls. He thought of each of the six girls more carefully, thinking of the first time they met, what they did for one another, their personalities, how strong they are, their intelligence and how beautiful each of them are.

He felt something stirring inside of him and that made him think about that. It was the same feeling he felt when he was with them. It was similar to when he danced and hugged Sabrina. It was the same thing he felt when he hugged Daisy. His heart started to beat faster and his mind was racing. He thought of the reasons as to why they would be here and stay here with the group, with him. He took in a sharp breath suddenly. Could…could they like me? Have feelings for me? Could…could I be having feelings for them too? He thought about that some more and he remembered something; he remembered what he heard Clair say in her mind yesterday when she accused him of hurting Sabrina; 'Why do this to her? To us? Why are you making us behave like this?' He then remembered what she said in her mind after he had told her to hit him and she couldn't anymore. Please don't hate me! Ash sighed and slowly shook his head. I have no idea what's going on. But I will pay more attention to what's going on around me and to them. I need to figure this out as I don't want to hurt them and don't want any more surprises.

Ash started thinking of what he could do to see whether or not his assumptions were true. After thinking a bit, he cleared his head and sighed again. He looked at the four girls. If it is true, what will happen? I don't want to hurt them or my girlfriends. Why is this happening to me? Why? After so many years, why am I suddenly getting the attention of them all? And why am I developing feelings for other girls too? I love my girlfriends and I will never betray them but… Gardevoir was right. I am drawing attention and I'm developing feelings for them too. I thought I only loved Misty, May, Dawn and Serena. But I also love Leaf, Sarah, Anabel, Cynthia and Sabrina too. And now I have feelings for the other six? What's going on with me? What's going on with them? If it's true that the other girls like me, have feelings for me, why would they? What is the reason? And why now? Why is everything happening now? At this tournament? Ash thought of all the possible reasons why, thinking of their past interactions between them, whether or not he felt something in the past but didn't notice it because of his denseness. Not able to find anything, he thought of his particular situation and how they and especially his girlfriends deserve so much, deserving only the best of the best. Even though I love them more than anything else in the world and will do anything for them, I still feel unworthy of them. How could I be everything that they need and want? I promised them I'll do my best for each of them and all of them and I will keep it. But how? How can I make sure that they are always happy? Always content? Always satisfied? And what of the other girls who may possibly like me as well? What do I do regarding them? How can I fulfill that promise? And what am I going to do? What am I supposed to do?

He thought a bit more and every single thing he came up with to keep his girlfriends happy just didn't make sense or sounded idiotic. His mind brought back the voice from the temple again and what it said; '…and there is no them. The girls who are with you now are all just…' And that's all he heard the voice say until Mewtwo's voice cut hers off. Damn it. Why couldn't you just wait a little longer Mewtwo? What was going to be said? Ash thought about that a long time when movement caught his attention. Serena had moved her hand a bit onto his chest. He looked at the honey blonde haired girl for a moment before he let out a quiet sigh before deciding to let it go and came to a decision. It doesn't matter. I love each of my girlfriends with all my heart. Even though each of them deserve so much more, I will do my best to make sure they are happy and safe. I just hope that will be enough. He tightened his hug as best he could but wasn't able to do much since Serena and May were practically trapping his arms. But he managed to nuzzle against the top of Misty's and Dawn's heads though with his chin.

Doing that though make the red haired mermaid stir. Misty woke up, opening her eyes and the first thing she saw was a pair of chocolate brown eyes locked onto her cerulean blue ones. She instantly felt the love in them for her and that made her fill up with happiness. She raised her head and placed her lips onto his and they shared a simple kiss but it was filled with their love for one another. "Good morning my Pokémon Master," said Misty quietly with a smile after they separated.

Ash smiled at her. "Good morning my Mystic Mermaid. Did you sleep well?" he asked her.

Before Misty could respond, the blunette spoke up suddenly. "Why wouldn't we my Guardian?" she asked and cut off Ash's reply with her own kiss.

"Should've known you were awake," commented Misty as she watched the two kiss while smirking.

When they separated, Dawn grinned mischievously at the two. "Like I said before, never judge a book by its cover," she reminded them while caressing Ash's neck with her two fingers. Ash shivered from it, making Misty giggle a bit.

"Oh, you guys suck. Let me sleep," whined May, burying her face into his shoulder with Serena burying her face into his side but didn't make a sound.

Ash, Misty and Dawn glanced at the two before looking at each other and then smiled deviously. Ash moved his hand down Serena's back, making her tremble with delight over his message. He then suddenly grabbed and squeezed her ass and did the same thing to May's breast at the same time. "OH!" squeaked Serena and May at once, lifting their heads up. Before either of them could say anything, Misty started tickling Serena and Dawn did the same to May.

"HAHAHAHA! STOP! HAHAHAHA! PLEASE!"

"NO FAIR! HAHAHAHA! NO MORE! I SURRENDER! HAHAHAHA!"

Misty and Dawn stopped their tickling a moment later, allowing Serena and May to calm down a bit. After catching their breath, both girls smacked their ticklers against their shoulders and then rounded onto Ash, giving him a double whammy against his chest. The three however merely laughed at them.

"Hey! We didn't hurt you!" exclaimed Ash after stopping.

"No, but you interrupted my beauty sleep!" shot May.

"And I was seeing a good dream!" snapped Serena.

"Oh really?" asked Misty and Dawn together with teasing looks, making both girls glare back.

"You don't need beauty sleep May since you already are beautiful," remarked Ash and May blushed but smiled at him. "And what good dream were you seeing Serena?" he asked, turning to face her.

Serena went red as the four looked at her. She didn't respond but after some coaxing from them, she finally agreed to. "I dreamt that we were living together happily in a big house with…our kids." She went scarlet at that and buried her face in her hands.

The four smiled at her. Ash made to sit up with the red head and blunette getting off of him so he could do so. He sat up and took Serena into a hug with Misty, Dawn and May joining in. "That's a wonderful dream Serena. I'm sure we can have something like that one day. I love you. And I love you Misty, I love you May and I love you Dawn. Nothing will ever change that."

The four girls nodded in the hug with huge smiles on their faces, feeling the love he has for them and each of the four girls knew he was feeling the love they have for him. "I love you too Ash," said the four together. They stayed like that for a bit before separating. "Ash, there's something that we need to talk to you about but we'll do so after breakfast. Okay?" said May.

Ash nodded. "Sure. No problem." After May and Serena gave their morning kisses, the five of them got up to get ready for breakfast. Ash headed into his bathroom and the four girls headed towards their room to change out of their night gowns.

As they and the others in the penthouse suite washed up, changed their clothes and got ready for breakfast, one from their group was already out of the hotel. He needed some time alone to think about everything without the possibility of being bothered by them. He wondered about with no clear destination in mind until he felt like getting a drink. The young man was heading towards a simple looking building that had bold red colored words on the front of it. He nodded at the security in the front of the building and headed inside. He looked around a bit and was surprised to see that there was a good amount of people in there already and it was still morning. It wasn't close to how packed it was the other night but it wasn't dead at all either. The young man took a seat at the bar and called the bartender over. "What's up buddy?" asked the worker as he drew closer and took out a shot glass.

"Anything to munch on and some of the strongest stuff you got," he told the bartender.

"Alright then," said the bartender, leaving to get the requested stuff. He came back soon after with a bottle of clear liquid with no design or tag on it. He placed some fries in front of his patron and poured some of the liquid into the shot glass. His customer quickly took it and gulped it down. He felt the drink go down into his empty stomach, feeling the burn all the way down. He motioned for another one and the bartender complied. He took that one down quickly as well before signaling for another. The bartender sighed and poured him his third shot. "Slow down," advised the bartender, making him stop and look at him. "This is my strongest stuff."

"Good," he replied back. "Then maybe this will help me forget about my ex who I thought was the one for me." He drank his third shot, placed it on the counter and looked at the bartender. The bartender shook his head. "Why not?" he asked.

"Look, this is some of my strongest stuff. You already had three in less than a minute. No more until you eat something. And this is pretty expensive," finished up the bartender.

The man scowled at the bartender. He dug his hand into his pocket, took it out and slammed the wad of cash against the counter. "Don't worry about it and leave the bottle."

The bartender sighed, took the money, placed the bottle in front of him and began moving away but not before he said something. "Just make sure you eat those fries too."

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed a few fries and shoved it into his mouth. As he chewed on his food, he thought of what caused him and his girlfriend to split, the mistakes he made, what he could've done differently and then wondered if he had missed any signs of them not working out before thinking about other things as well.

Back at the penthouse suite, almost everyone was in the dining room enjoying their breakfast. Many conversations were going on at once but they weren't bothering one another. Ash was eating his meal in silence for a bit, sitting between Sabrina and Leaf, having just finished talking with Anabel for a bit. The brunette from Pallet had missed her chance yet again to wake up Ash and this time she had a really good idea as to how. She decided to do that next time. She smiled deviously at her childhood friend when he was speaking with Anabel. Hehehehe, just you wait Ashy.

As they ate, Ash glanced around at his friends and family every now and then, seeing them all in good spirits and good conditions. Each of them was trying to keep a positive look on things even though yesterday had so much crap happen. He was glad seeing that they were all alright. He turned his gaze to his girlfriends and smiled, seeing them speaking with one another, laughing, joking and checking out some things together on their Poketchs. He then turned his sight to the six girls who helped them out yesterday. He tried to focus on them to see if they were thinking anything that could help him in his investigation but was unable to do so with so many loud conversations going on nearby. He decided to let it go before continuing with his meal.

When she finished with her meal, Sabrina glanced over at her the one who was now her boyfriend. She couldn't believe she was with him and how she felt so happy. Never would she have thought that she would feel so much happiness by thinking that and being with him. She kept her eyes on him until he happened to look to his side at her. She smiled sheepishly, turning a bit red but he didn't comment on it. Instead he just smiled back at her. She turned even redder but that was when she remembered something. "Hey Ash, can you help me with something?" she whispered to him, not wanting others to hear her. He leaned in closer to her and she explained what she needed from him.

When she finished, Ash looked into her pink eyes and nodded. "Of course Sabrina. Anything for you," he told her. "Just let me check on Natasha after breakfast and we'll go. Okay?" The psychic prodigy beamed at him and thanked him quietly with him telling her not to worry about it. It wasn't until later when everyone was practically done with their meals that he noticed something. "Hey, where's Gary?" asked Ash.

Everyone glanced around a bit, now realizing the brash researcher wasn't there. But then Professor Oak spoke up, making everyone look at him. "Gary left a note on his bed saying he went to visit a friend and take care of some things," he told them.

"Huh, talk about an early visit," remarked Ash, making some chuckle. He then stood up, catching everyone's attention. "Thanks for breakfast. Also, I want to say that Sabrina and I are going to go take care of something together after I check on Natasha."

Some nodded their heads but the rest just remained quiet. But then Bonnie spoke up. "Do you have a battle today?"

He shook his head. "Don't think so. I'm usually messaged in the morning and haven't gotten anything yet so I don't think so."

"Probably because of the fiasco yesterday," remarked Leaf and several voiced their agreement on it.

The Frontier Brain then spoke up. "Ash, before we forget, we need to talk to you about something as well and we'd like to do that now," said Anabel and he agreed. The guardian and his girlfriends left the dining room and entered his bedroom while the others got up to do their own things.

Misty turned to Ash after closing the door. "We decided to come up with some alterations to the set of rules for us because there are more girls in the group so it can be fair."

Ash nodded. "Okay. What did you come up with?" he asked.

"For starters, there will be no more waiting for 'date days' to show our affection for you or you to us since we are officially together," said Dawn. "So whenever we want to kiss you, hug you, tease you, whatever, and you want to do the same to us, as long as it's not sex, the others can't get angry, jealous, envious or try to break it up. Even during date days."

Ash nodded, agreeing with that and then Serena continued. "And about the date days, that's the only time where we can become intimate if we want to for now until each of us has had a chance at least. Even though we had decided that between us to see if we really wanted to be together, and though we all do want that, we want to be fair," advised the honey blonde haired girl.

"Sounds reasonable and of course. I would be happy to take each of you out too," replied Ash with a charming smile towards the five new girls in the group who smiled back, feeling all giddy about it.

"And right now it's up to them how and when they want to do it, if they want to switch things around for whatever reason if something comes up or do a group thing. But after their dates and having their own time too, we'll talk once more about all this," explained May.

"Sounds good May. I'm sure we'll all get along quite well together," he told them and they agreed with smiles on their faces.

At that moment, Cynthia got a call. She answered it, spoke with her caller for a bit and then hung up. She looked at her sisters and beloved. "There's a Champion's meeting that I have to be at. Diantha said that there are some important things that they need to talk about."

"No problem Cynthia. Let us know if you need anything," advised Ash.

Cynthia nodded. "Will do and thanks Ash. I'll see you all afterwards and let you know what happened if I can," she told them. They shared a group hug before each of the girls gave him a quick kiss on the lips. After that he left the room to go check on Natasha while the girls went to do their own things. Cynthia left the suite and Sabrina went to get herself ready too.

When he entered her room, Ash saw Natasha awake with the TV on but her gaze was on him. She had turned to the door the second she heard the door open. "Good morning Natasha. How are you doing?" he asked her, stepping inside the room and sitting beside her on the bed. She smiled a bit at the sight of him. She was trying to stay positive but having a hard time because of what she found out yesterday and what her savior went through as well. Alright I guess. He nodded. "Have you eaten yet?" Yes. You're mom just gave me some more soup. It was good but I'm getting kind of tired of it. Ash chuckled. "Sorry. I know the doctor said mostly soup. Maybe I can get you some different flavors or some other kind of softer food." That's kind of you. I'll just deal with it a little longer. Ash… She stopped, hesitating, not knowing if she should say what she wanted to say. Ash waited, not saying anything but gave her an encouraging look. After a moment, she decided she couldn't tell him yet but went ahead and said something else. I appreciate everything you're doing for me Ash. I really do. But…can I get out of bed? I'm getting kind of tired of lying down all day. He smiled at her and grasped her hand gently. "If you want to do that, then go for it. You don't need to ask for permission for it," he said to her while looking into her eyes. She smiled at him again, feeling much comfort from his touch and also feeling special because of the way he was looking at her. Thank you but the reason why I ask is because I want to get out of bed, but I'm not sure if I can support myself right now. Her admittance made her give him an embarrassed look. "Of course Natasha. You don't have to worry about that. C'mon, we'll take it one step at a time. But first, I have something for you and it'll help you out."

Natasha gave him a curious look as her cheeks reddened. A gift? You didn't have to get me anything. Ash rubbed the back of his head, turning a little red as well. "It's not really a gift per say but it's something I can give and I may not have to, but I want to. I actually wanted to do this sooner but I had to wait until I got my full strength back. I was even going to do this yesterday but with the match and everything, I just forgot. Sorry about that." The red head tilted her head, completely lost now. "I can heal most of your injuries with my aura." Her eyes widened. She had forgotten that Aura Guardians could do that. "But I can't heal your voice, make your word scar disappear or…your other problem." She was at first sullen that he couldn't help her with those problems but he was willing to at least help her with the other things and that was better than nothing. She remained silent, waiting for him to continue. "And some injuries, like your nose, may hurt a little as it recovers but not too much. So, with that being said, would you like me to do that and do you trust me enough to do so?" he asked her. Her shocked expression faded away and looked into his caring brown eyes with hers for a moment. Yes, I do and it's alright. You did so much for me already. Thank you and I'm ready.

He smiled at her and stood up. He lowered the blanket and placed his hand on her stomach, over the large blue shirt she was wearing. Natasha felt embarrassed when she felt his hand on her stomach but did not react, even though her heart began beating faster. She looked into his eyes and found them twinkling a bit. "On three okay?" She nodded. "One…two…three." A blue glow caught her attention and she turned to it. She saw his hand glowing blue and she gasped seeing it. It was much more different than seeing it happen on the TV when he healed Sabrina. She saw blue energy flow over her like a wave up and down her body. She immediately felt better, being warmed, comforted and energized by it. She happened to see some of the bruises and cuts on her arms fade away and leave behind her fair skin right in front of her eyes. She then felt a tingling sensation in, on and around her nose. The bones and cartilage were fixing and repairing themselves while aligning perfectly. There was some pain but not as much as she was expecting. She even felt her throat being soothed. It didn't feel constricted or in pain anymore. Ash kept pulsing out healing aura over her for a while longer before stopping, the blue glow fading away. He removed his hand, panting heavily since he used up a good amount again. He made a mental note to practice his healing more often, to increase his endurance. He was able to heal all of her minor injuries, from her cuts to bruises and her broken nose as well. He watched the red head check herself over after the healing.

The first thing Natasha tried to do was speak because her throat felt much better. But she wasn't able to. She may not feel any more pain in her throat, but it looks like her vocal cords were still shot. She felt sullen over that but pushed past it, deciding to focus on something else. She raised her hands with ease now, feeling completely energized and not feeling any issue with her movements. She stretched out her arms forward before raising them above her head. Not a single feeling of pain or difficulty in moving them. She lowered her arms and then grabbed the blanket and tossed it aside to reveal her legs covered in black sweats. She attempted to move her legs and feet. She found she was able to do the same with them as well with no complications or consequences, bending her knees and twirling her feet around. She sat up, able to do so without any help, whether from Ash or from pushing off the bed with her hands. Natasha looked at Ash and found him smiling at her. "How does it feel?" he asked. To be able to move again without needing assistance…amazing. I'll never take it for granted again. "I'm glad to hear that," he told her.

Ash extended out his hand to her and she took it, raising her own with ease. She swung her right leg over the edge of the bed and her left leg followed after it. She then moved her body closer to the edge of the bed, placing her feet onto the floor. She slowly stood up with the raven haired guardian helping her to stay upright. Even though he healed her, it's been a couple days since she got out of bed, only going to use the bathroom with the support of Delia and the other mothers. However, finally being able to stand on her own two feet once again, she felt such happiness that she couldn't explain it.

Ash stood in front of her quietly, allowing her to get used to standing again. After a moment, he gently grasped her other hand and took a couple steps back. "Walk to me." She took in a breath, steeling herself and moved forward while looking at her feet. She was able to walk without any issues, reaching him quickly. "Well done Natasha." She raised her gaze to his and saw him smiling at her. She couldn't help it anymore. She took him up into an embrace, hugging him tightly now with a large smile on her face and he returned it. She let out a content sigh, her cheek resting against his shoulder. Thank you. Ash gently maneuvered her to be in front of the large mirror on the dresser, with her allowing him without protest or worry. "No problem. Take a look Natasha." The red head separated from him and glanced at the mirror.

Her eyes widened, taking a step closer to it. She raised her hands and felt her face, watching her reflection do the same. Her face was back to normal. No swelling, no bruises, no cut lip, no black eye, no broken nose, nothing at all. She couldn't believe it. She turned to look at the raven haired guardian and saw him still smiling. Her eyes over filled with water and she quickly took him up into a hug once more, burying her face into his chest and let out tears of happiness. Thank you Ash. Thank you. No one has ever been so kind to me before. I don't know how to thank you and I have nothing to repay you with for all you've done for me. She hugged him even tighter, her arms wrapped around his back. Ash placed one hand on her head and the other on her back, rubbing it tenderly.

"You don't have to do anything in return Natasha. You have nothing to worry about. All I want is for you to be alright, to be happy because like I said before, you are my friend and I care about my friends," he told her. He let her stay like that for a few minutes so she can let it out and calm down. When she finally did, she looked at him and smiled. "I'm glad that you're feeling better Natasha. I'm going to go take care of something but I'll be back later today. But before I do, I can introduce you to everyone if you'd like and if you're up for it." She thought about it for a bit before she answered him. As much as I would like to get out of this room, I'm not sure if I'm ready yet to do so. I'm happy to be able to walk around right now. And you may have healed my injuries but I probably still look bad. Ash shook his head. "Nonsense. Don't take this the wrong way but you look great." Her cheeks reddened. "But it's your choice. If you need some more time, that's fine. I don't want you to ever feel pressured into doing anything you don't want to do or not ready to do." Thank you Ash. You really put others first. "No problem and no need to thank me. And I'll have my mom come see you in just a bit to see if you need or want anything. And she'll be home so if you need anything, she'll be here. Okay?" She smiled at him and hugged him once more. You're such a gentleman Ash. Thank you.

When they separated he gave her a nod of his head before heading to the door with her watching him. He glanced back at her and flashed a quick smile that made her feel something for a quick second. She watched him leave before turning back to the mirror. She still couldn't believe how he healed most of her injuries. The red head decided to test out how much he healed her by moving her hands, arms, feet, legs, back, neck and head, stretching them out. Feeling no pain or discomfort at all from any movement, no matter how much energy she exerted, happiness filled her. I can't believe it. I feel amazing. She thought about what he just did for her, asking nothing in return. She felt herself fill with emotion and her heart to beat faster. I've never felt this way before. And I was never scared for anyone before either but I was for him yesterday… She thought about that a bit until something else came up in her mind. What will he say or think when I tell him who I really am? Right when her thoughts were about to drift towards darker ones, the door was knocked on. "It's me, Delia." Thank Arceus. I don't want to think about that right now.

The door opened and Delia let herself in and when she saw Natasha on her feet, she smiled. "It's great to see you on your feet. How do you feel? Any pain or discomfort?" she asked. She shook her head. "That's good to hear." Ash's mother extended her hand out to the red head to give her a notepad and pen and she took it. "I'm sorry but I can't hear your thoughts and neither will the others. Except for Sabrina and perhaps Anabel." Natasha's eyes widened. She knew who they are and couldn't have those two read her thoughts or they'll tell her hero everything. She opened the notepad and she wrote down something as calmly as she could, trying to not show any emotion. When done, she handed it back to Delia who read it and gave it back to her. "No problem. I'll let them know that you're not comfortable yet and wish for your privacy to be respected and will communicate with this for now." She sighed, relaxing. She took the pad back and wrote out thank you to Delia who just waved it off. "Is there anything else you might need?" she asked and Natasha thought for a moment. After writing a couple things she showed her. "A shower, some clothes and shoes huh? No problem. Give me some time and I'll be back."

Delia left the room and Natasha locked the door behind her. She sighed as she took a seat on the bed. Those two psychics might be a problem if they ever read my thoughts at a bad time or look into my mind. She thought of the raven haired guardian and everything he did for her. Nobody had done even a fraction of what he did for her. He rescued her. Had his pokémon watch over her. Took her to a hospital. Stayed by her side throughout almost all of it. He fed her, soothed her, comforted her and healed her. He's spending time with her. And the fact that he did all that, not caring about that she was broken, without once asking for anything in return was incredible. He's so different than from everyone else. He truly is a Guardian Angel. She put her face into her hands and let out a long sigh, trying to will her heart to beat normally again. I have to come clean to him. But how? He'd be furious to know it was my fault that…they…were here. That it was because of me that Leaf and Joy were kidnapped. How could I tell him? She sat there and pondered how she could tell him as she waited for Delia to come back.

After Ash left Natasha's room and told his mom about her, he went into the living room and found Sarah and Anabel looking at a newspaper while the news channel was on. "Hey," said Ash, walking up to the two. They looked up at him and smiled. "Do you know where Sabrina is?" he asked them.

"Ah, I think she might be in her room," suggested Sarah. "She said she had to get ready."

Ash nodded, thanking her. Before he left, he asked them what they were looking at. "Well, ever since what happened yesterday at your match, we thought it might be a good idea to keep tabs on the news and gossip stuff," explained Anabel. "That way, we won't be caught off guard. Hopefully there won't be anything, but that's doubtful. At least this way we can try to be aware," she explained while flipping the newspaper page.

"Good idea and thanks for doing that," he told them.

"No problem," said the two before they focused back onto the newspaper and news channel.

The raven haired guardian went to Sabrina's room that she shared with Liza, Clair and Giselle. He knocked on the door and a moment later it was opened by black haired girl. Her eyes lit up at the sight of him. "Hey Giselle, is Sabrina here?" he asked her.

I should've realized he was here for her. Ash noticed her reaction and heard her thoughts but then the valedictorian spoke. "Yea. She's in the bathroom."

Deciding to think about that later, he moved on from it. "Oh okay. Can you tell her I'll be waiting for her in the living room?"

"Sure thing Ash," said Giselle. "I'll tell her as soon as she…" Just then, the bathroom connected to her room had its door opened, making Giselle glance towards it and saw the psychic step out. "Never mind. She's out," she remarked, turning her gaze back to Ash before stepping aside for him to enter the room.

"Thanks Giselle," he said. As he walked past her, he noticed her slightly reddened cheeks but didn't comment on it. He also noticed that Clair and Liza weren't in the room before he turned his attention onto Sabrina. Speaking of his girlfriend, he saw her ready to go dressed in black tights, a red skirt over them, a black tight tank top that was tucked into her skirt and a red vest like mini jacket along with some of her dark hair flowing down her front with the rest against her back. "Hey, ready to go?" he asked her as he went up to her.

She nodded. "Yes and thank you for helping me with this."

He smiled at her and gently grasped her hand. "Of course and no need to thank me," he told her, making her smile and blush heavily. He turned his gaze towards Giselle who was doing her absolute best not to show any suspicious expression. "Hey, can you do me a favor? Can you let everyone know that we left?" She nodded. "Thanks Giselle. You're the best."

She felt her heart flutter at his words but controlled her expressions. "Thanks and I know," she replied back with a grin.

Ash and Sabrina chuckled a bit. "Ready?" asked Sabrina and he nodded. "Bye Giselle. We'll be back soon." And with that, the two disappeared in a pink glow. Giselle let herself go after they disappeared, and sighed, hanging her head. She turned around and slowly made her way to her room door. Before she opened it to head out and tell the others, she composed herself and stepped out of her room.

A blunette and green haired girl were walking around the bottom floor of the hotel, checking out the gift shops as they conversed. They had decided to get some space from everyone so they could talk in private a bit while stretching their legs. "So what are you going to do?" asked the blunette.

The green haired girl sighed. "I told you Clair; I'm not going to go after Ash." She picked up a glass figurine and looked at it.

"But why Liza?" asked Clair. "You like him."

Liza put down the figurine and gave her close friend a surprised look. "Never thought I'd see the day when you're the one giving me love advice." She chuckled at that while Clair gave her an annoyed look. "Oh c'mon, you know what I mean," said Liza, walking towards the other side of the store.

Clair followed after her. "I know Liza. But still, you were there for me. And so were Sabrina and Cynthia. I'm just trying to do the same for you," she explained. "I have feelings for him but I know you like him too. You like him a lot." Liza was about to pick up something to look at, to make it seem like she wasn't that bothered by their talk but Clair knew she was faking it. She, Liza, Sabrina and Cynthia knew each other quite well. "Do you really want to give up like that without even fighting for it?" she asked her best friend.

Liza froze with her fingers an inch away from a Charizard figurine. She lowered her hand and looked at Clair. "Do you really believe that I want to do that?" Clair didn't answer. "I don't. I really don't. When I saw him get thrown into the wall, my heart leapt to my throat. I knew then that I don't just like him, I love him." Clair gasped at her admittance. "And I know you do too and Giselle is a given." Clair went red at that but said nothing. "I want to tell him Clair. I want to go after him, kiss him, hold him and everything else. But I can't for many reasons. What choice do I have?" she asked her.

It took a moment for Clair to snap out of it and the dragon trainer sighed. "What do you mean? You always have a choice Liza," replied Clair.

The caretaker of the valley gave a half smile. "Is that so? Then let's say I do confess my heartfelt love for him. Then what? What about you? What about his girlfriends? Whatever outcome happens with him, I'm still promised to someone else."

Clair shook her head. "Why didn't you tell us of that earlier?" she asked.

Liza closed her eyes and took in a breath. "Because I didn't want to think about it and didn't want others to know. I thought if I kept it unknown, then it would just go away, not be real," admitted Liza, turning her gaze away from her friend and looked at the wall filled with toys on its shelves. "I just…I just wanted it to go away and never come back. And never would I have guessed that Ash would be the one who I would fall in love with."

Clair was looking at Liza with a sorrow filled expression on her face. "Screw it," she said, making Liza look at her. "Screw tradition and screw that honor bullshit."

Liza took in a startled gasp. "Clair?! How could you say that?! You're family and city is all about honor too! You know Lance will be pissed if you do something to stain the family name!" she reminded her.

Clair scoffed. "So? What did honor ever get anyone?" she asked. Liza remained quiet, not knowing what to say. "Guilt? Shame? Arrogance? Lives we didn't want? Being around people that we never really cared for? Or people who just wanted to use us so they could reach their goals so they can have honor because of some weird twisted vision they have?" asked Clair with each question coated with anger.

Liza shook her head. "I understand what you're saying Clair but…"

"There is no but Liza," interrupted Clair, silencing her. "Doing things for 'honor' alone is stupid. Look at what happened to me. Learn from my awful experience. Because of honor, I was blinded and allowed someone to hurt me. He did all that to me! He that all that for his 'honor' to be the best! Your ancestors made that decision years ago. You didn't. You never asked for it but you never did hurt anyone or use anyone. Why should you be used or hurt in return?" asked the gym leader. She was remembering what she went through and didn't want one of her best friends to go through it too.

Liza was picking up on some of the things the blunette was telling her. She had gone through so much because of that prodigy dragon trainer and now, she herself was going through something that she never thought she would go through. She took in a deep breath before replying back. "I get it Clair, I do. But even if I throw away all that and confess to him or have him figure out that I have feelings for him, then what? What about you? What about Giselle? What about his girlfriends who are with him now? I told you that I don't want to jeopardize things for Sabrina. She literally saved our asses from being fried yesterday. Just like she did several times in the past. She deserves to be with a guy like Ash. And what about Shauna, Lizabeth and Daisy?" Clair tilted her head. "You didn't notice? I bet you my left foot that they have some sort of feelings for him too. They might even love him as well. Why else would they jump into the field to help him and his girlfriends out? They did it for the same reasons we did; to help him, his girlfriends and to show that we care about him too." Clair's eyes widened at that. How could she have missed that? Liza hung her head. "It doesn't matter what I want or what I'm feeling Clair. Ash has nine girlfriends. NINE! It's crazy to even think about that. I don't want to fight you for him, fight the other girls for him and I don't want him, Sabrina or his girlfriends to hate me. I've accepted my fate. It's done. It's over. After the tournament I'm going back home to wait for the day when that white haired trainer comes back and requests what's promised to him." Liza walked away from her shocked friend with tears escaping from her eyes, unable to hold them back anymore.

Clair watched one of her best friends leave the gift shop for a moment and walk down the large hallway. She shook her head sadly. "And here I thought I was the pessimistic one…You may be right Liza. But you may also be wrong. I never thought I would think this but…what if all the things you just said don't matter…who cares if they like him too…what if he does like you back…what if he does like me back…what if we don't have to fight each other for him…what if both of us got with him…what if…" Clair wiped away a tear that was falling down her cheek before following after Liza.

A bottle was tilted enough to pour its liquid contents into a shot glass while holding it up in the air about two feet away from its target. Gary was trying to see if he could land the alcohol waterfall into his shot glass and fill it up without spilling a single drop. He was able to do it and when he completed his task, he threw up in his hands into the air. "Victory!" he said out loud. He then placed the bottle down, drank the shot and stuffed some more fries into his mouth.

"Someone's feeling good about themselves." Gary turned his stuffed face to the bartender before talking with his mouth full, spraying the counter with food debris. Getting an annoyed look that he didn't care about, he continued chewing his food. The bartender shook his head while letting out a sigh, cleaned the area and then went to a new patron that just came up to the bar. What a douche…

Gary watched the bartender go to the new customer and was about to look away when he stopped. The new person at the bar was a very beautiful pink haired girl. He kept his gaze on her, drawn to her for some reason and so checked out her curves. He saw that she wasn't with anyone and thought of something right then. Damn, she's hot. Just what I needed after a break up. A pick me up. He quickly finished chewing the fries in his mouth and swallowed it before washing it down with some cola. He poured himself another shot, took it and then walked up smoothly to the girl and was able to keep his drink from spilling. When he finally made his way to the girl, he leaned against the counter and then opened his mouth. "Hey beautiful, how you doing?"

"Not interested," replied the girl immediately without even looking at him.

That annoyed Gary but he wouldn't give up just yet. "I understand you probably want to just be left alone and relax, which is cool. But I don't know what made you be so on guard with me cause I just wanted to talk to you. Is that so bad?" he asked her.

The girl let out a sigh before turning her head towards him while speaking. "Look, I really don't care and please just…" She stopped talking while her eyes widened, now noticing who the man was. She knew who he is but it looked like he didn't remember who she was. She could smell the alcohol off of him. How much did he freaking drink?! She looked him up and down, realizing that he was only on his feet because he was leaning against the bar. Regardless, it made her upset that he didn't realize who she was but decided to play along for now, knowing how to cater to his ego. "Oh, I'm sorry handsome," she said, getting up and placing her hand on his chest. She saw his lips form into a smirk. "I didn't realize it was the Great Gary Oak who was talking to me. Please forgive me," she told him in a very sensual tone of voice, moving her hand slowly down his chest.

The pokémon researcher felt really good in hearing those words and her touch against him. He felt so good that he didn't wonder how this girl knew who he is. "That's right. It's Gary 'Motherfuckin' Oak up in this bitch," he told her while grinning. She smiled back at him, moving her hand further down his body as she wrapped her other arm around his neck. "Heh, somebody wants some fun huh?" he asked her and she nodded. "That's what I thought. No girl can deny wanting to be with me," he stated cheekily, looking up and down over her body before looking at her face again. She gave him a devilish grin. "Damn, you want it don't you? I like that. I like your smile girl, your smoking hot body but I gotta say I'm really lovin your attiTTUUUUDDE!"

Gary ended up singing out the last part of that word while dropping his shot glass onto the counter, which spilled. The pink haired girl had grabbed his crotch all of a sudden and squeezed it hard, making extreme pain course through his body. She was absolutely pissed that he didn't remember her and she didn't care if it was because of the alcohol or not. "You fuckin pig! This is for forgetting me Gary! I can't believe you can't even recall who I am! How many did you sleep with that you can't even remember me?!" she asked him angrily with a hint of sadness in her voice. He didn't answer her because he was unable to but that just made her angrier. "How about I make you sing some more?!" She gripped harder on his nuts and he let out an opera like sound. "Hmm, not bad. Maybe we can do better…" she remarked, loosening up her grip but barely.

"Please… precious jewels… don't be cruel…" he pleaded to her, his body tensed up and feeling so much pain. The pink haired girl instead glared at him and tightened her grip on his balls once more, making him yell in pain. "I'm sorry! I'm a pig! I admit it! I'm sorry! Please release them!" he cried out. The girl looked at his pleading face for a few seconds before letting go. Gary dropped to the floor, his eyes closed from the pain he was feeling but was letting out tears while holding his groin. "Oh thank Mew…oh god…" He whimpered loudly. "I need an ice pack here!" he shouted all of a sudden.

The girl shook her head and turned back to her drink. "Let him suffer for a minute," she said to the bartender. He merely shrugged, placing the towel filled with ice cubes onto the counter. She raised the glass to her lips and swallowed the drink in one gulp. After placing her glass down, she took the ice filled towel and glanced back down at the young researcher. Fucking Gary…I can't believe he doesn't remember me…and all that time waiting for him to come back to me and what's he been doing? Messing around and trying to pick up girls at a club. God, I'm such an idiot. I should've known. She kicked his leg, making him yelp. "Here, quit your whining," she said, dropping the now cold towel onto him. It fell onto his stomach, making him grunt before he took it and placed it over his crotch.

He let out a groan when the coldness affected the area. "Aaaahhhhhh man…much better…" he muttered to himself but she heard him.

She shook her head again. Wow…There are no words. "Take care of yourself Mr. Badass," she said tauntingly and sarcastically. Before leaving the bar area, she kicked his leg again, making him yelp. She walked towards the exit and left.

The bartender leaned over the counter and looked at him. "Hey, get off my floor."

Gary grumbled. "Fuck you man. You think I want to be lying on your dirty, disease infested floor?!" he asked him. The bartender scowled at him before straightening up and hit a buzzer on his side of the counter.

Not even a minute later, the bouncer came up to him. "What's the problem?" he asked.

The bartender pointed down towards Gary. "I have an unwanted decoration on the floor."

The bouncer nodded. "I gotcha."

He moved towards the researcher and lifted him up. "HEY! Gentle you fucktard! I just got my nuts crushed!" he yelled.

"Sounds like a personal problem to me," he said without care. He turned to the bartender after hoisting him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "He leave anything here that's his?"

"No."

"What about my drink and fries?!"

The bartender rolled his eyes and quickly packed up his remaining fries and the half empty bottle and gave it to the bouncer. "There. Now get that douche out of my club!"

"The only douche here is you, you iguana looking cheapskate!" shot Gary as he hung limply off the bouncer's shoulder. Ignoring him, the bouncer carried him towards the exit doors, opened them and then tossed him out of the club. He placed his fries and bottle onto the ground gently at the foot of the door though before closing it. Once he stepped back inside, the club erupted with cheers from the ones who were there. They had seen the entire altercation and were getting annoyed by the young man's antics at the bar and were glad that he was gone.

Two pink glows appeared in front of the Saffron City gym and two people emerged from them. One was a raven haired young man while the other was a dark haired young woman. Ash looked up at the gym, not seeing it for a long time before he turned his gaze to the girl beside him. "It's been a while since I was here. I remember it being bigger," he told her.

Sabrina smiled. "Yes, it's been a while I bet. And that's probably because you used to be shorter," she teased him.

Ash pouted. "Yea, well I'm taller now!"

She giggled before hugging him, the top of her head barely reaching his mouth. "Yes you are." She gazed up at him and their eyes locked onto one another.

"Sabrina?"

The two glanced at who spoke before separating. It was her father, David Natsume. "Dad!" exclaimed Sabrina, going to hug her father hello. "How did you know we're here?" she asked him after withdrawing from him.

"You did say you'll come today. I've been waiting and sensed your arrival," he told her who smiled. He smiled back at his daughter before shifting his gaze towards Ash. His smile went away but his expression only turned neutral. "You must be the Aura Guardian."

Ash nodded before stepping forward. "I am sir. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Ash Ketchum and it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Natsume," he told him, raising his hand to him.

David looked at Ash for a moment. He was surprised that he didn't remember him but then again, he never did realize he was Sabrina's father. He was trying to read his thoughts but was unable to do so. Interesting… Ash was starting to feel a little uncomfortable standing there like an idiot with his hand outstretched but he kept it up. He wouldn't fail this test since he knew it was one. He would wait for as long as it takes because he was doing this for the dark haired beauty that he loves next to him. Finally, after what seemed like ages, David nodded at Ash and grasped his hand and shook. "The name is David Natsume but you can call me either Mr. Natsume or Sir. Got it?"

Sabrina glared at her father, angry but then she heard something in her mind. It's alright. She glanced at her boyfriend with an astonished look but said nothing. "No problem Sir." Ash didn't mind. He was kind of expecting something like this because of Sabrina's sheltered life. He remembered some things about people living 'bubbled' lives years before from Brock. Learning of Sabrina having a sheltered life from Clair, he understood completely and didn't hold anything against her or her family.

"Good." He turned toward towards the gym doors and moved inside while ushering her daughter inside, while she gave him an apologetic look. Ash merely smiled back at her while following from behind and sent her another mental message with his aura. It's okay. She responded back this time since she wasn't shocked. Thank you. He nodded at her and followed after her and her father.

They walked down a long hall as father and daughter spoke a little with him asking her how she was doing and if she was alright while Ash glanced around. He was trying to remember if anything had changed since he was last here. He turned his gaze back towards the two in time to see David open a door and held it open for Sabrina who walked in. He glanced at Ash who took it as his cue to go in as well. When he stepped inside the room, the first thing he saw was an attractive looking woman who looked to be in her forties moving towards him with her arms stretched out wide. "You must be Ash!"

Before he knew it, he was taken up into a bear hug. "Nice…to meet…you too…Mrs…Natsume…" gasped Ash. She finally let him go and Ash luckily landed on his feet and took in a gulp of air.

"Sorry," apologized Sabrina's mother.

"No worries," replied back Ash, straightening up. "Happens a lot to me," he said while chuckling, making her and his girlfriend to smile. He looked around a bit and saw that it was a fairly large living room with three couches around a rectangular coffee table. The furniture was facing a fire place that also had a large flat TV hung on the wall over it. "Nice place you have here Mrs. Natsume."

"Oh aren't you kind? Thank you. And please, just call me Kate," she said.

"No he will not. He will address you as Mrs. Natsume or Ma'am," declared David.

"Dad!" shot Sabrina, becoming angry again but also embarrassed over his behavior.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Oh come off your high horse David!" she snapped at him. However, he wasn't budging and repeated it. "You have got to be kidding me!"

Ash stepped forward. "With all due respect," he started, catching the three's attention. "If that's what Mr. Natsume wants, it's no problem with me Mrs. Natsume so please don't argue on my account."

David crossed his arms, Sabrina gave him an appreciative but also apologetic look and Kate gave him a large smile. "Oh ho, we have a gentleman in the house!" she exclaimed, making Ash redden slightly and rub the back of his head.

David glared at his wife. "And what am I? Chopped liver?!" he asked her.

"Oh relax will you?!"

"MOM! DAD!" snapped Sabrina at the two and her parents looked at her.

Her father grumbled but her mom quickly changed tracks. "Oh I'm so sorry! Where are my manners! Please, have a seat while I get us some coffee and some snacks."

"That's alright and I don't drink coffee," said Ash, stunning the three.

Kate's eyes widened before glancing at David and then at Sabrina. "Huh. You're the only other person I know besides my Sabrina who doesn't drink coffee."

Ash looked at her who slowly turned her gaze at him. "Really? That's cool. Something else we share in common huh?" he remarked with a smile and she smiled back.

"You drink tea though right?" asked Kate and Ash said that he did. "Okay good. Please have a seat while I get some tea for us." Ash, Sabrina and David stayed in the living room as Kate hustled to the kitchen to get the hot drink ready as well as some pastries. Sabrina sat down on a two person couch and Ash was about to sit down next to her when David cleared his throat loudly. Getting the hint, he moved to the couch on the left side though it was next to hers while Sabrina was giving her father a death glare. It seemed like Kate had the kettle on before because before it could become awkward, she came in holding a tray with tea and pastries. "Sorry for the wait. I hope you like it."

"You didn't take long at all," remarked Ash, taking the offered tea cup from her and took a sip. "Thank you." She smiled at him before handing Sabrina hers but then placed David's on the table in front of him. She then sat down next to David, who was sitting across from their daughter. "So, how is the gym holding up?" asked Ash, taking another sip and so did they.

"It's holding up quite well," answered David immediately after placing his cup down with pride. "Very few can defeat Sabrina. She's leader of one of the toughest gyms in Kanto. Whenever she battles, it's almost a guarantee that her opponent will lose," he said.

Sabrina reddened but not because of her father's words but because Ash was looking at her with an impressed but also proud look. "Nicely done Sabrina."

"Thank you Ash," she said quietly with a smile.

He smiled at her and then glanced towards David who had his gaze focused onto the young guardian. Ash could feel the intensity of the way his eyes were just focused onto him. He wouldn't buckle though. "So what do you do when she's not around? Who battles for her?" he asked.

"I do," answered David.

"Cool. Maybe we can have a match together one day," offered Ash. "It'll be good to see where…"

"What are your intentions with my daughter?" asked David, cutting him off suddenly.

"DAD!" / "DAVID!" shouted both Sabrina and Kate at once.

Ash was expecting this. He wasn't surprised at all, especially after his experiences with Norman and what happened at his last match. He got lucky with Norman, even with the beating, since he had interacted with him a bit some years ago but David was a cold case right off the bat. Ash thought it was probably because of Sabrina's awful experience with Gary and what happened yesterday that was making her father be so protective over his only child. The raven haired guardian understood and couldn't blame him at all.

"Why are you being so rude?" asked Sabrina angrily.

David answered back but kept his gaze on Ash. "It is not rude to ask what an unknown young man wants from my daughter."

Sabrina was in disbelief. "How could you say that? You know who he is, what he's done and…"

"I do know what he's done and what they've said he's done. But that doesn't mean I know the man," interrupted David and the psychic prodigy was silenced, unable to comment back. "Now, what are your intentions with my daughter?" he asked again.

"You want to know my intentions regarding your daughter?" asked Ash, repeating the question. He didn't get any sort of reaction from him but kept his gaze onto Sabrina's father. "I'll tell you; my only intention regarding your daughter is to be with her while doing my best to keep her happy and safe." Ash's response wasn't what any of them was expecting. Sabrina was turning crimson, Kate had a happy look form on her face but David still had a stoic expression on his face even though he was surprised.

"Is that so?" asked David and Ash nodded. "Then what about the youngest Waterflower, Misty?" Neither Ash nor Sabrina was expecting that and Kate glanced at her husband. "Surprised? We watched your match yesterday and she declared her love for you in front of the whole world and so did my daughter." Ash said nothing just yet because he didn't know how to respond to not invoke hostility from him. "Cat got your tongue? Well, maybe this will free it up; what about the other girls who came to your aid? The same ones who you danced with? The ones who you told in front of the world that you love? What were their names? I can't recall. So what about them? Or am I mistaken?"

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Well, here's the thing Sir. About that," he glanced at Sabrina who had a fearful expression on her face but he gave her a reassuring look before facing David again. "There are some things you should know. About the girls…"

"You're with them," finished David, cutting him off. Ash went silent and didn't reply, making Kate gasp. Sabrina was moving her eyes from her parents to Ash, her heart beating madly, nervous about the conversation. "You're with several girls at once and now you've come to take our Sabrina as well."

"Mr. Natsume, I'm not going to lie to you. I do love other girls who are with me and are my girlfriends. They are Misty, May, Dawn, Serena, Leaf, Sarah, Anabel and Cynthia. But I also love your daughter," replied Ash, deciding to not play games.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Kate, clapping her hands against her mouth.

David frowned, becoming angry. "So having one beautiful and talented girl isn't enough? Not even a gym leader or Champion? You have to have a collection?!" he said while standing up, shaking with fury.

Ash stood up as well, getting angry himself but controlled his temper. He would not cause trouble for Sabrina but would not be spoken to like that. "It's not like that Sir and I'm insulted that you would think that I view them as objects for me to have."

"How else am I supposed to take it?!" spat David.

Sabrina stood up now, intending to defuse the situation. "DAD! Please! Try to understand!"

He ignored her though. "What am I supposed to think?! After seeing what you've done with that report! How you killed, how you have several girls in the palm of your hand! How you disappeared for three years! And how it was because of you that my daughter was almost blasted to smithereens! You don't even remember that it was me who saved your bacon years ago when you first came here!"

Ash was feeling horrible over what he was saying but had his eyes widen at the end, now realizing who the man was. "That was you?!"

"Yes that was me!" replied David, getting angrier. Ash was stupefied, not knowing how to respond.

The psychic prodigy stood up. "Dad, please listen to me," begged Sabrina as she moved to her father, taking over for her beloved and he looked at her. "I love him. I really do. If it wasn't for him, I would still be a monster and you wouldn't have a daughter at all and we wouldn't be a family again." Kate lowered her hands from her mouth and looked at Ash. David remembered that and respected Ash for that. But he was still worried because he didn't know who he grew up to be and all the stuff that was said about him made him even more worried. "He may love other girls but they love him too and their families are happy and support it. I have sisters I love and can trust too. And he's not at all like Gary." David growled at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. He never did like him. "He's the complete opposite. And Ash is an Aura Guardian. You know that they're pure hearted."

"Mr. Natsume…" started Ash, making the three look at him. Hearing his girlfriend speak those words broke him out of his trance and moved him. "I love Sabrina. I will always treat her right and do my best to take care of her, support her, keep her happy and safe. Just like I do so for my other girlfriends. There's just something between us that draws us to one another that makes it so that it does work between us. I swear on my life that I will do anything and everything for Sabrina."

Kate was surprised at the sincerity of his tone. She couldn't detect any trace of faking it. David was silent for a bit, thinking hard. He glanced at his wife who looked at him. He then looked at the young guardian before finally locking his eyes with his daughter again. He could see the hope in her eyes and the love in them for the young man. He had never seen that before. David turned his head and locked his gaze with the young man. "I have two conditions that must be met first. First one is I would like to speak with the other parents." Sabrina glanced at Ash who nodded, saying that won't be a problem. "Good. And the other is I want to battle you to see how strong you are."

Sabrina and Kate gasped but Ash kept a stoic expression. "I don't mind battling Sir, but I don't like battling over things like this."

"Neither do I. This is merely a test to see if you truly are as powerful as they say and if you can protect my daughter and keep her safe," replied David.

"Alright then." David gestured towards a door and walked to it with Kate following after her husband, speaking quietly but quickly with him about her thoughts and concerns over this matter.

Sabrina and Ash went into the room together while speaking a bit. "Ash, you don't have to do this. I'll talk to him later. He's just very protective now because of what I went through in the past, the stadium attack and what happened yesterday. Just let me handle him," she told him.

Ash just smiled at her while shaking his head. "It's alright Sabrina. It's better to not let things like this fester. And I want to do this for you." She went scarlet again before hugging him tightly, telling him how much she appreciates what he's doing for her. He returned the hug tightly as they walked on. When they entered the gym, the two separated and saw David on the other side of the field with Kate beside him. Ash went to his trainer's box but then tilted his head at what he saw. David moved to be in his side of the field, not in his trainer's box. "Ah Sir, what are you…"

"Get in the field," interrupted David.

"Dad! You said you wanted a battle!" she shot at him.

"I did," agreed David. "I never did say what kind though."

"That's not fair! Just…"

"It's okay Sabrina," said Ash, stepping into the field, making her go quiet as she looked at him. Her father and mother were surprised that he would take on the challenge without hesitation. "What are the rules?"

David smirked before explaining. "All you have to do is reach the middle line of the field while I attempt to throw you out of the field with my psychic powers. You reach the middle, you win. I throw you out, you lose. Understand?" Ash nodded. "Good." David's eyes glowed blue instantly.

Ash felt his telekinesis trying to pick him up. He focused his mind and broke free from it, shocking the Natsume family that he did that. The psychic prodigy was impressed but was still worried inside. I'm going to have to thank Mewtwo for the mental defense training, thought Ash, seeing his girlfriend's father not believing what was happening.

"What the…" stammered David. He tried again but again he was repelled. Ash began walking towards him. "Hmph. Not bad but you shouldn't be so confident. Time to get serious." David focused his power and let out a psychic wave of energy at him. Ash braced himself and covered his face with his arms. The wave of psychic energy washed over him, pushing him back a good distance but he was still in the field. When it was done, Ash lowered his arms and continued forward but moved faster now seeing Sabrina's father not messing around anymore. David scowled seeing him continue with hardly any difficulty. Damn it. He's strong. He started launching rays of psychic energy rapidly at him. The young guardian was able to dodge most of them but a few did strike him and push him back. Kate and Sabrina were both flabbergasted that he was able to keep going. And Ash was starting to think that he may have to use his aura to be able to win this test since he was pretty powerful and he was getting hurt from the attacks but thankfully not too much.

David fired a few more psychic rays at him before deciding to end this. He may be able to shrug those off, but I will not let him win. Time to end this. David concentrated and channeled all of his psychic power to his next attack. "Let's see what an Aura Guardian is really made of!" declared David as he began glowing with a purple glow before letting loose a colossal blast of psychic power that was shaped in a sphere that was so large it was half the size of the field. Ash had his eyes glow blue at the last second before the sphere collided and exploded, covering the field with smoke, making Kate scream at what her husband just did while Sabrina took in a sharp breath and clapped her hands against her mouth, unable to make a sound. The smoke cleared a moment later, only to reveal the young raven haired guardian, his hands stretched out in front of him, taking a few breaths with a blue shield that had some cracks on it around him but had no injury whatsoever. David was absolutely stunned, gasping for air. He had used up all of his power but barely caused his shield to bear cracks. Sabrina was ecstatic and Kate was flabbergasted.

The blue sphere vanished and his eyes turned back to brown as he continued his walk now towards the middle line with no more obstructions since David was out of gas. When he reached the middle line, he continued towards Sabrina's father and stopped in front of him. "I hope that shows that I will do anything for Sabrina," he said, raising his hand for him to shake.

David looked at Ash for a moment, then at his wife Kate, then to his daughter Sabrina before finally locking eyes with him again. "I still want to talk to the other parents," replied David after catching his breath, shaking his hand.

"Of course Mr. Natsume. Not a problem. When would you like to meet them?" he asked him.

"Tomorrow afternoon. I would've said today but I need to rest now after using up all of my power."

Ash nodded. "Alright then." He turned to Sabrina who had moved to them in time to receive a hug from her. He returned the hug with a smile. "See. I told you; nothing to worry about." After they separated, he turned to David again whose gaze was on them. "Mr. Natsume, you will find my mother and the girls' families at the Indigo Plateau Hotel penthouse suite and they will be expecting you tomorrow in the afternoon. And may I ask that Sabrina return with me back to the hotel? She has her own room with her friends Clair, Liza and Cynthia who are also staying with us as well."

David thought about it and then nodded. "Very well. Since there are other parents there and she is with her close friends, she can stay there."

Sabrina let a large smile form on her face. "Thank you Dad!" She hugged him tightly, happy that he wasn't being hard to work with anymore.

"You're welcome," he replied back. "You are welcome to stay longer if you wish but you will have to excuse me since I need to rest."

"That would be nice but we have to go back because we have a couple things to take care of," informed Sabrina. Ash glanced at her over that but said nothing.

David nodded and Kate smiled. "Alright. We'll see you two tomorrow then. Have fun and be careful."

Sabrina hugged her mother and then separated. "See you tomorrow," said Sabrina and Ash barely said his farewell when the two teleported away in a pink glow.

Kate turned to David and then smacked him, making him grunt. "What's the matter with you?! I thought we were only going to act tough when they came over! You could have killed him!"

"Not likely," grumbled David, massaging his arm. "You know I actually approve of them being together, even in their special case. But I didn't want to make things too easy. I also wanted to make sure he really does care about our daughter and will do anything for her. And he's much more powerful than his father ever was."

Kate's eyes widened. "Really?!" she asked, stunned. "He's stronger than Satoshi was?!"

"Yes," he answered after facing his wife. "I never would have believed it possible since he was the strongest there ever was. But it looks like his son is even more so. It's frightening really."

It took a moment for Kate to snap out of it. "I see. Are you going to tell him about his father? How you two knew each other? About Red and his final mission?"

David shook his head. "No Kate. Not even the Champions or Goodshow know what Satoshi and I did for Red and Ash can never know. We swore to keep it a secret. And that was when he was a good man. But then the rumors of him leaving his family behind and disappearing on them without even a proper message or anything? He didn't even come to see me before he vanished." David let out a sigh and Kate nodded sadly. "I never met his wife and I didn't know who Ash really was. I had suspicions about him after hearing his last name but after finding out about him being an Aura Guardian, I knew right then that he was Satoshi's son." David went quiet for a moment, remembering some memories with him, Satoshi and Red traveling together. He shook his head. "No, its better that we don't tell him so as to not give him false hope that his father might still come back one day and that he might still be a good man. He's been through enough as it is after what we've seen and what our Sabrina told us about his memories."

Kate agreed but then started thinking about something. "Is there something else that you're not telling me David? And doesn't that mean that Aura Guardians don't always have a pure heart? Shouldn't we be worried about Ash then?"

He turned to look his wife in the eyes. "Don't ask. I cannot talk about it." Seeing him even sterner over it made her understand that it was something between him and Ash's father. "But I can tell Ash is different. And about Aura Guardians having pure hearts, that's true. Well, as far as I know but Satoshi disappearing and leaving his family behind…I don't like it Kate. Not one bit. Nothing makes sense about it from what we know to be true about Aura Guardians and what I know of him."

She nodded in understanding. "Alright. I won't say anything and I won't ask more." David thanked her for that and she nodded before smirking. "But I must say, it's funny to believe you would be more of a challenge than the stadium attackers," she remarked before heading back to the living room, laughing.

"Give me a break woman," muttered David as he headed towards their bedroom to rest.

Sabrina and Ash reappeared on top of a very tall building that was taller than all others in the city. It was the pride of Saffron City since it was the tallest, most modern looking building and because it was the headquarters of Silph Co., which was known throughout the world. The couple went up to the railings and took a look. "Wow, look at the view. It's incredible," remarked Ash. He could see all around them and the entire city was visible in every direction he looked along with the nearby forests, mountains and other cities in the distance.

"Yes it is. I come here sometimes to get some fresh air and to clear my mind when I start thinking too much," admitted Sabrina.

They were quiet for a moment. "Sabrina?" She glanced at him. "Why did we leave so suddenly? We don't have anything planned for the rest of the day just yet."

She reddened slightly. "I know. I just…wanted us to have some time alone together."

He smiled at her before grasping her hand and interlocking their fingers together. "Nothing wrong with that and thank you." She gave him a confused look. "For trusting me back there and allowing me to handle things with your father. Mostly."

She smiled at him and nodded, turning dark red. "You're welcome. I trust you Ash. I know you'll never do anything to hurt me." He smiled at her, feeling such good feelings over her words. She turned her body to face him and he copied her. "Ever since you saved me, I've been thinking about you. Even when I went out with Gary, you were on my mind. I didn't realize why until after your fight with Leaf and how you said you were going away. That's when I realized how I feel about you; you are the only one for me, the only one worthy of me and I hope you find me worthy of you too." After revealing that, she closed the distance between them and hugged him tightly while letting some tears escape from her eyes, with him returning the hug.

"Never sell yourself short Sabrina. You are always worthy, no matter what happens. If anyone should worry about being worthy or not, it's me." She raised her surprised gaze to his. "I mean every word. You are an incredible girl and I am the lucky one that you have chosen me."

"You should listen to your own words Ash," she replied quietly making him tilt his head. "I am lucky to be with you. And so are your other girlfriends." He was about to say something but she cut him off. "You are Ash. You care more for our happiness than yours. You put us in front of you. You treat us as equals and don't view us as objects for you to have. You help us achieve our goals. We are lucky to find love with such an incredible man." He didn't know what to say and she took advantage of that. She went onto her tiptoes, leaned in and placed her lips onto his.

That kiss sent electricity through them both and it made them become enflamed. Her simple kiss transformed into a passionate embrace with him wrapping his arms around her back and lifting her off of her feet. That made the two separate for a moment because his action made Sabrina let out a joyful laugh into the air. She cupped his face after with her hands and kissed him again. She could feel his love for her through the kiss and she never thought she would ever feel something like that, making her heart beat wildly.

Ash could feel the intensity of Sabrina's emotions through the kiss. He wondered where it was coming from since he never would have thought she had this side to her. The two separated but he kept her up and she kept her hands on his face, caressing his cheeks. Her pink eyes were alive with happiness as his brown eyes were twinkling with the love he has for her. "That was an incredible kiss Sabrina."

She smiled sheepishly, turning crimson. "Thanks. You're pretty good yourself too." He smiled at her. "But…can we do it again?" He grinned at her and answered back that whatever she wants, she can have. Her smile widened and Ash was about to kiss her again but then let out a surprised yelp. She had used her psychic powers to carry the two of them towards the middle of the building. She then lowered them onto the base of the erected point of it where the Kanto flag was on a pole. He ended up sitting on the step with her sitting on his lap. As soon as they sat down, she kissed him again.

Their passion blew up, feeling the other against them and tasting the other's lips. Ash was becoming more and more surprised by her forwardness and Sabrina couldn't get enough of him. She started caressing his chest through his shirt, being turned on from his chiseled body. Ash was running his hand through her hair while his other hand was running up and down from her thigh to her back. He too was beginning to have trouble, feeling her slim yet very curvy body against his, becoming heated by it. It was at that point that Sabrina felt something, becoming surprised by it. "Oh!" she squeaked into his mouth before separating and stood up. She looked down and noticed the bulge in his pants.

He went red, embarrassed and so did she. "I'm sorry Sabrina," apologized Ash, rubbing the back of his head.

She looked at him before shaking her head. "It's alright. I was just surprised by it. Never felt something like that before." She sat back down beside him.

"Really?" asked a shocked Ash.

Her red face turned redder. "Yes. Like I said, I haven't done anything at all. Even though I only went out with Gary for a month, we never did anything but kiss but it wasn't anything like this." Ash wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head against him. "And honestly, it was kind of awkward since I never felt anything when we did kiss and it was never so passionately. There was always space between us." He nodded and grasped her hand gently, telling her it's alright before she continued. "That's what he tried to do; he tried to close the gap and touch me but that's when I stopped him." Ash said nothing but then Sabrina hugged him suddenly, which he returned. "I should've known what that meant but I thought it was because it was my first relationship, first dates, first kiss and all that and things just take time. And you know what happened after. I'm sorry for not realizing my feelings for you sooner and not knowing what to do in a relationship still."

Ash was stunned over how she felt. He didn't care about that at all. "You have nothing to be sorry about Sabrina and I'm sorry too for not noticing what you were trying to show me and what you mean to me. It's alright. I will never hold that against you and you don't need to worry about it." He rubbed her back, making her let out a content sigh. "I will never pressure you to do anything that you're not ready for yet and you never have to worry about that. That's nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, more people should be like you; not rushing into things and waiting for the right person. I just hope you can forgive me for taking so long to notice what I feel for you. And I'm not an expert at all in these types of things. We'll learn together and grow together. So no need to worry. Okay?"

She raised her gaze to his and looked into his eyes. "Thank you Ash. You don't know how much that means to me. I love you with all my heart. And even though I want to experience everything with you, I don't want to rush things and I'm not ready yet for that. I hope you understand."

Ash felt his heart skip a beat when she said that she loves him again and gave her a reassuring smile while nodding. "Hey, like I said, no need to worry. And I love you too." Her heart beat increased, her body being filled with emotion once more. "And you should know that I move at the pace you want to move. Remember?"

That made her think how he helped her finish her run when they first started training and how he didn't take a step until she did. She flung herself onto him, making him fall onto his back as she smashed her lips onto his. She broke the kiss a moment later and looked at him. She saw the way he was looking at her and that just made her heart flutter. "Ash…"

"Yes Sabrina?"

"I love you and thank you for everything," she told him quietly.

Ash felt his heart beat increase and was filled with happiness when she said that to him. He smiled at her. "You're welcome and anything for you. For you are my Psychic Wonder and I love you Sabrina Natsume."

Sabrina gasped, hearing his pet name for her, her heart fluttering. She kissed him again, trying to show him how much she loves him. When they finally separated after a while, they gazed at one another in silence, not feeling any awkwardness at all but the love between them. Sabrina was quiet for another reason as well, thinking hard about something that Liza mentioned a long time ago that couples do. While she thought about that, his eyes never broke from hers. "Ash…I want to ask you something." He waited patiently for her to ask it. "Even though I'm not ready for…that…can we try something else?"

He titled his head. "What do you mean?" he asked her.

"Well, it's kind of embarrassing to ask," she said, turning scarlet again but Ash remained quiet, waiting for her to continue. "It's something I heard couples do from a friend and I want to try it."

Ash nodded a bit, thinking about which one of her friends could have mentioned something like that until he got it. "Would that friend be Liza?" he asked her.

"How did you know?!" she asked with a surprised face.

He chuckled. "She seems the type because of her not being afraid to speak her mind and because of her drinking challenge."

It dawned on Sabrina then and she giggled. "Yes, you have a point I guess." They were quiet for a few seconds before she spoke again. "So, can we try it?" she asked again.

"Sure but you never told me what." She leaned in and whispered into his ear since she felt really awkward saying it out loud. Ash's eyes widened but didn't say anything until she raised her head again and looked at him. "Okay. Whenever you want to, whenever you feel ready, we can try that."

She smiled at him and hugged him again with him returning it. The psychic prodigy then raised her gaze to his and kissed him passionately once more. The raven haired guardian was becoming lost in it but when Sabrina started moving her hands, he noticed it. She grasped one of his hands and placed them onto her stomach before slowly moving it down. Sabrina was starting to become very embarrassed and self conscious over what she was doing but pushed through it. I cannot wimp out now. She lowered their hands and had his hand go into her skirt and panties. Next second, she felt his hand go over her womanhood. "Ah…" She moaned out as she took in a sharp breath after breaking their kiss. She removed her hand, with his staying and then placed her hand onto his stomach. She was starting to feel very nervous and didn't know if she could continue.

"Sabrina?" Ash became worried because she hadn't moved for a moment. She snapped out of it and looked at him. "Are you okay? Are you sure you want to do this now? Do this here?" he asked her.

She nodded at him. "I am Ash. I'm just surprised by what I'm doing. And nobody will find us here." He smiled and nodded. Ash gently grasped her hand and slowly led it down his body before having her hand dig into his pants, underneath his boxers and grasped his shaft, making him groan. She let out a gasp at feeling it, seeing how hard and warm it was but didn't withdraw her hand when he pulled his out. Sabrina was feeling very embarrassed now. But then Ash gave her a soft kiss that made her relax. When he stopped and looked at her, she smiled back but then became worried. "Umm, are you comfortable?" she asked him.

He chuckled. "I was about to ask you that since you haven't said or done anything." She looked down. "Hey I didn't mean it like that." She raised her head and smirked at him. "Oh, so you were messing with me huh?" She giggled a bit. "I see how it is." He started rubbing over her opening.

Sabrina gasped, feeling his hand moving over her most private body area. "Ooh…Ash…" She let out a groan before making moaning sounds. She never thought it would feel so great, having never done anything with anyone and haven't ever doing anything by herself either. She really was the sheltered type. She was starting to heat up and she didn't know what to do. She needed to do something to get her mind off of it or at least not become lost in it. She then felt his shaft in her hands. She started doing the same thing to him, rubbing it. Ash let out a pleasured moan as well. "That…feels good?" she asked him in between her moaning.

"Yes…it does…" answered Ash, feeling himself become heated as well. Both of them continued pleasuring the other, letting out moans while looking into the other's eyes. He could see her losing herself to it and he felt so constricted in his pants. He wanted to take his pants and boxers off to be free but didn't want to scare her.

"Ash…" panted Sabrina. "I feel so hot…I don't know if I can take it."

"I have an idea," replied Ash at once, taking the opportunity that so conveniently came up.

He withdrew his hand from her womanhood, making her pout and whimper at not feeling his touch anymore, feeling the heat die down within her. In retaliation she withdrew her hand from his shaft as well. "So you're idea is to stop?" she asked quietly but slightly on edge. She was loving the feeling she was experiencing with him and it ended all too soon for her taste.

He grinned at her. "No. But do you trust me?" he asked her and she replied back that she does. Ash unbuckled his pants and took them off, surprising her and then he placed his hand on her skirt's zipper but before he did anything he looked into her eyes, seeking permission again. After a moment, she nodded. He unzipped her skirt, lowered it and took it off of her. He then lowered her black tights, leaving them hanging at her ankles, revealing her slender legs and pink panties. Sabrina was feeling like her heart was going to pop out of her chest since it was beating so strongly and rapidly as he did all that. She was so nervous but trusted him, knowing he wouldn't do anything that would hurt her. He raised his head to hers and gave her a kiss before hovering an inch away from her face. "We can do this one of two ways; underwear on or off?" he asked her quietly.

She was beyond embarrassed now but was also burning up and even though she could feel the cold wind over them, she was still hot. And she didn't want to back down now and wanted to see 'it'. "Off," she answered in a whisper. He kissed her again and while doing that, he lowered her panties down to her knees and she did the rest by shimming it down with her legs and left them hanging around her ankles while Ash took off his boxers. A moment later, he stopped the kissing and sat back down beside her, keeping his eyes on hers. He lowered his right hand down her stomach, making her tremble with anticipation before reaching her now exposed womanhood and started rubbing it again.

Sabrina started moaning instantly. She felt herself becoming hotter and hotter. She needed to do something again otherwise she thought she would go crazy. She looked down at his lower body and saw 'it', making her eyes go wide. It was erect and standing at attention. She reached over with her left hand and grasped it, making her gasp between her moaning while Ash let out a small moan. It felt even bigger and harder than before and it was so warm. She started stroking it, making him become heated as well.

Needing to do something more himself and seeing how Sabrina was starting to get wet, he inserted a finger into her opening, making her squeal. "Ash!" she yelped, but didn't stop him. The sensation of having his finger inside her was something she never thought would feel so damn good. She felt her core becoming even hotter as he maneuvered it around inside her while he pumped in and out of her. She couldn't stand it anymore. She started stroking his shaft faster and harder, making Ash become enflamed. She then kissed him soon afterwards. A few seconds later, Ash stuck his tongue into her mouth, surprising her greatly to the point of opening her eyes but then closed them. She quickly had her tongue dance with his and felt her heart skip a beat when he inserted a second finger into her.

Their mutual masturbation kept going for several more minutes as they kissed. Sabrina loved what she was feeling and never wanted it to stop. Ash loved her taste and her delicate, petite and soft hand on his shaft. Both felt they were on fire and soon enough they felt like they were going to explode. They withdrew from their kissing with pink and brown eyes looking into one another. "Ash! I…I feel…something…" she panted, barely getting the words out.

"Me too…just…let it go…" he encouraged her. He made his movements more pronounced to help her release. Sabrina felt like she was going to burst into flames before she suddenly let out a cry as she climaxed onto the floor and Ash felt it go over his hand. Seeing and feeling that happen made Ash erupt as well barely a second later. His seed shot out onto the floor with Sabrina feeling the pulsing sensations through his shaft. When the two finished, they removed their hands from one another and started panting while their eyes were still locked. They leaned in and shared a loving kiss together. When they finished, they locked their gazes onto one another with their foreheads touching, enjoying the ecstasy.

"Thank you Ash for that wonderful experience," said Sabrina in a whisper. "That felt amazing."

He smiled at her. "You're welcome and thank you too Sabrina. It was awesome."

She had a large smile form. "Yes it was." They shared a soft kiss again. "Should we head back?" Ash agreed with her and the two helped each other up. He wiped his hand clean the best he could with his boxers. "Sorry about that," apologized Sabrina, turning scarlet.

He chuckled. "Small price to pay to make sure you're happy and satisfied," he joked. She didn't get angry but smacked his arm after raising her panties back up. "Hey, you know I'm just messin!"

She grinned at him. "I know," she replied back as she raised her tights up and then put on her skirt. He rolled his eyes while he put on his pants, going commando. He stuffed his boxers into his pants pocket. He then wrapped his arm around Sabrina's waist and pulled her to him. "Oh!" she exclaimed before being silenced with a kiss. When they separated, he grinned at her and she smiled. "Hmmm…I think I can get used to all this," she said.

"Good. Cause expect there to be more," he told her cheekily.

She laughed a bit before she hugged him tightly. "There better be. I want it. But only because it's with you because…I love you Ash," she said quietly. "I hope you'll always be by my side."

He tightened his hug on her. "I love you too Sabrina and I promise to always be there by your side."

The dark haired psychic beauty let out a few happy tears while in the embrace, feeling like she was the luckiest girl in the world to find such a wonderful man to give her heart to. She looked up at him after a moment and he wiped away her tears with his other hand, feeling so much love from his gentle touch. "Should we go?" she asked him after.

"Whenever you're ready." She smiled and the next second, the two of them vanished in a pink glow.

When Cynthia left the suite, she headed towards the Pokémon League Headquarters where the meeting was being held. She entered the building and calmly walked to the board room. She opened the door and saw her fellow Champions Lance, Alder and Diantha there, along with President Goodshow and the Kanto News chief editor Tom there as well. Her eyes narrowed slightly but said nothing. She took a seat next to Diantha. "Where's Steven?"

"He's on his way," answered Alder. "He should be here any moment."

"Alright." They waited a little longer until the door opened and they turned to see Steven enter with Britney Snow following from behind him. The sight of the reporter made Cynthia's blood boil. She shot up, giving a glare at Britney while pointing at her. "What is she doing here?!" Her angry expression made everyone gulp in the room.

Britney hid behind Steven, absolutely terrified of the furious blonde champion. Steven raised his hands up in a peaceful manner. "Now, just relax. She's here with me because she wants to help fix things," said Steven.

"Is that right?!" snapped Cynthia. "I think we had enough help with the media!" She glared at Tom as well, who sweat dropped.

The President stood up. "Cynthia, Tom is here on my request and Britney apologized to Steven for what happened. She does want to fix things. So give them a chance and hear what they have to say first," advised Goodshow calmly. Cynthia's nostrils flared before she took in a deep breath and sat back down. She crossed her arms and legs before going quiet. "Thank you Ms. Shirona. I know you are angry over what happened but so are we. And there is more information that must be shared." Goodshow turned to Lance as he, Steven and Britney sat down. "Lance, if you may."

Lance nodded and stood up. "Thank you Charles." He then faced everyone. "First, the reason why Britney and Tom are here is because they have agreed to help us."

"And how are they going to help us?" asked Cynthia angrily.

"By not allowing any news channel, paper or any type of media to bring up what happened yesterday at Ash's last match besides him winning the match," explained Tom.

"What?!" asked a surprised Cynthia. "How?! And why?!"

"Because I asked Tom to do so because he still owed me a favor and he has agreed to not allow anything related to what happened yesterday to air or get posted from the media at least," stated Goodshow. "And with his influence, the other networks won't either. Though we won't be able to censor what goes on the internet by the public since it was broadcasted over the world."

Cynthia was astonished that Goodshow would do that and that Tom had that kind of power. She was about to ask them why when the reporter spoke up and she turned her attention to her with the others dong the same. "I wanted to fix what I did," started Britney. "I was blinded by wanting to win the report of the year and what we recorded would have done that." Cynthia scoffed and glared at her. Britney became afraid but continued. "But when we showed it to Tom, he refused to air it because of the damages it could cause. I started second guessing it too but Richard, my cameraman was adamant about having it broadcasted. He called me yesterday morning to tell me he took care of it and that his friend Shamus would have it aired during the match. I didn't know what he meant by that and what they were planning. I never thought they would do something like what they did yesterday." Britney was starting to have difficulty continuing, her emotions getting the best of her. Steven glanced at her with a concerned look but Cynthia was still glaring at her. "When I saw what they did, I called Richard and got angry at him for what he did. I told him to stop the broadcast but he said it was out of his hands. He said that he did it for me to show that he would do anything for me. I got angry at him again for thinking that messing up another's life would make me want him. I told him off and then he got mad and started yelling and insulting me before he hung up." Britney started crying now, unable to hold it in. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think this would happen! I didn't know Richard felt that way or that he was planning such a thing! I'm so sorry!" She buried her face into her hands and bawled away.

Steven felt bad for her and wanted to comfort her. He placed his hand onto her back and gently rubbed it. Alder was showing signs of sympathy as well towards her, Diantha was frowning and Lance had his usual neutral look on his face. Cynthia felt some pity for the girl but she was still pissed. "I get it Britney, but your reasons don't excuse your failure to act until now. You said you were second guessing it yet you did nothing to stop it, whether yourself or telling someone else. You didn't even warn Ash or any of us!" shot Cynthia. "The media may not mention more on that but how does this fix things?! His name has been tarnished and the people are still divided!"

Tom spoke up then. "You are right but it is better than what else could have happened. Without the media going over what happened yesterday, we just have people posting things online. And you know how everyone regards videos on the internet. Sooner or later, the public will forget about it. It will become just a smudge in history books. And we can set up another interview for him to do in a good light and air that."

Cynthia shook her head, frustrated over everything. "It doesn't matter. People are not fools and they saw the broadcast. Internet credibility or not, it was aired live before that. You may have influence and power, along with Charles to hush up the media. And we could do another interview to tell his side but that still won't help Ash deal with his own problems. Even though he told us he's fine, I know inside he's torn up over what happened to him. Do you know what he told his family and friends, to me, after?" They shook their heads, waiting silently and patiently for her to continue. "He told us he is disappointed, angry and sad over what happened but as long as he had us, then he'd be alright." Cynthia's emotions were starting to overwhelm her. She had never become so emotional in the past and it startled her colleagues. Sure they saw her angry before. But never something like this. "To see someone you care the most about in the whole world, try to stay strong for you so you won't see how depressed he is…Do you know just how much he's done for the world? What he's sacrificed? All the heroic things he's done for pokémon? For mankind? For the world? What he's preparing to do in the future? After risking his life time and again for others, how do you think he's going to feel or be now after the public turned their backs on him over a single incident where he's done nothing wrong?!"

The others were stunned into silence over her words for the raven haired guardian. Her fellow champions never realized just how much she respected, admired and loved him until now, especially the Dragon Master. He was looking at her with a new understanding of her. "You really do love him. Don't you?" asked the spiky haired champion.

Cynthia turned her gaze to him. "I do Lance. More than anything else."

Diantha looked at Cynthia before turning her gaze to Lance who was still looking at the Sinnoh Champion. The Kalos Champion looked at him until the Kanto and Johto Champion turned his gaze to hers. She looked into his eyes and saw something happen within them that she was hoping to see happen for a while now, making her smile. The chains that were holding him back, keeping him stuck in his own depressed and unbelieving state over Cynthia not returning his feelings, finally broke and his eyes shined once more like they did in the past. Lance had finally realized that Cynthia's affection for the Aura Guardian was not some lust driven crush. She truly loved the man and for a long time.

The Dragon Champion then did something that made them all, except for one, become shocked; he smiled at Diantha before turning his gaze back to Cynthia. "Then we will do all we can to help him push past this," said Lance.

It took a moment for Cynthia to compose herself from her shocked state. "Thank you."

Lance turned to Tom and Britney. "Thank you for your support. If you would be so kind, we have other things to discuss that I'm afraid we cannot let you in on."

"Understandable," replied Tom and turned to Cynthia. "If you ever want to do that interview, let me know." Cynthia barely nodded and he turned to his friend. "Charles, give me a call after so we can have that lunch together." The president agreed and the chief editor of Kanto News left the room.

Britney stood up. "Thank you for at least giving me a chance to explain things." She looked at Cynthia. "I'm so sorry Cynthia. If there anything I can do to make up for what I've done, I'll gladly do it." Cynthia looked at for a moment before sighing and gave her a slight nod of the head. Britney glanced at Steven who looked at her before she then left the room. Steven turned his gaze from the door that just closed back to the others.

"Okay, with that done, there is something else that we must discuss without the media knowing," started Lance. The four other champions and the president listened in. "This is what we have learned from our search of the Skull Brother's hideout. Just like our initial search the crime scene unit was unable to get anything either. There is no evidence or clues what so ever to find out who the Skull Brothers were working for. No serial numbers, no known associates or relatives, no personal effects, nothing." He reached into his pocket and took out a rectangular device. "Except for this; a smart phone that Alder found in the basement. It's been damaged slightly but it still works." He moved his gaze onto Cynthia. "We found some very disturbing things on it regarding your beloved. There were pictures of him, his family and friends along with two videos. One of which was a recording of the stadium attack, showing how Ash fought back and used his aura powers. The other video was of the red head he saved being violated and tortured." Cynthia clapped her hands to her mouth after gasping. "We don't know yet why the red head was captured or what they wanted from her. The audio on the video was choppy at best, the sound cutting off from time to time. We only ever heard her pleading for them to stop or them laughing at her." Cynthia was feeling great sadness fill her at that, thinking of how they were such cruel monsters to do such things. She believed even more so that Ash ending them was just. Lance placed the phone onto the table before he continued. "There were contacts saved onto the phone as well. However, they were written with code names, such as 'J', 'Boss' and a few others but each time we attempted to trace the numbers or fix the audio on the video, our systems were met with errors. As a result, we have no idea who could've hired them and for what purpose. And we cannot just simply call them cause that will make them suspicious. Were the ones behind the stadium attack responsible for this? Was it for reconnaissance on Ash? Were they supposed to get rid of him? Or were they after someone else? Or something else? And what did they want with this red haired girl? We have no idea."

Cynthia's heart was beating madly, thinking of everything that Lance was saying. "You couldn't find anything?!" she asked, not believing it.

Each of the champions shook their heads. "Nothing," answered Lance. "We were debating if we should even have others take a look at it in the beginning. But even having our most trusted and best working on it, we ended up with nothing. We cannot trace the numbers and besides the contacts, the pictures of Ash and the videos of him and the redhead, there is nothing."

"So what do we do now? Do we have someone else take a look? Do we increase security?" asked Cynthia.

Lance shook his head but Alder spoke. "No. We cannot afford to tell anyone else about this and we cannot make it look like we know more than we should."

"Alright. But we should still have something set in place. And we should tell Ash as well. If someone is after him or watching his movements, he needs to be aware," advised Cynthia.

"I agree," said Steven, making them look at him now. "We should let Ash know of this and have something set up in secret in case something else happens."

The rest agreed and then Lance spoke again. "Alright. We'll tell him. The third topic for this meeting is this; the stadium attackers who were corrupted, we have finally received some test results from their blood work."

"And?" asked Charles.

"Their DNA has been twisted and mutated into something that we've never seen." They all gasped at that. "And their physical abilities have been enhanced to incredible levels. Almost superhuman. Several times they almost broke through their confinements."

"Is that why they were so hard to be beaten?!" asked Goodshow in a whisper.

Lance nodded. "Yes Charles. And I bet their pokémon went through the same process. But what would make them disintegrate but not the ten men?" he asked. None of them had any idea about that. "Regardless, we have tried to reverse the process with everything we've got but they all ended up as failures. We have stepped up security and their restraints. But we must be even more careful and if a solution cannot be found soon, I'm afraid they would have to be put down permanently." The others sighed, shaking their heads. They didn't like the fact that the men were changed into monsters by some unknown process.

"I don't like this one bit," remarked Steven.

"You and me both," chimed in Alder.

"And now for the fourth and final thing for this meeting," stated Lance and the others quieted down to listen. "Damian, Shamus and Paul have had their pokémon licenses suspended, their pokémon are in League hands and the three are awaiting their trail while locked in their cells. The three don't have any trace of corruption like the stadium attackers so it looks like they did this of their own free wills. Their court date will be after the tournament."

Cynthia crossed her arms again while she frowned. "The sooner the better I say."

They agreed but then the Unova Champion spoke up. "Unfortunately though, the judge is away on vacation and won't be back for another a couple of weeks at least," said Alder.

Some sighs were let out from the group before Lance spoke again. "Alright. That's it for what I wanted to say. Cynthia…" The two looked at one another. "Please inform Ash what we talked about." She agreed. "Thank you. With that said, this meeting is adjourned."

They made to stand up but then Charles spoke up. "Hold up, there's something you should know as well." The Champions sat back down and gave the President their full attention. "As you all know, a board meeting took place while the stadium was being repaired. We have come up with something to reward the people back for their patience for the multiple postponements during this tournament. It will also make this tournament the best one there has ever been and may change how things happen in the future."

The Champions became skeptical at once. "Are you sure that idea of yours will be well received if it's going to change how things are done?" asked Diantha for them all.

Goodshow nodded. "Yes. Who wouldn't want a new Pokémon Master crowned? We haven't seen the current one become challenged since he took up the title over a dozen years ago and we have no idea where he's at either."

"You have a point there Charles," started Steven and they looked at him. "But, we have always followed tradition. And the Master somehow always shows up when there's a contender. Don't know how or why, but it just happens that way."

"He's right," spoke up Alder and they looked at him now. "And how can we crown another Pokémon Master who didn't beat the previous one?"

They turned their attention to Goodshow who was chuckling. "I'm getting to that," he said. "Remember how it was said that the winner of the Spirit Tournament would be able to challenge each and every region's Elite Four and their Champions after?" The five nodded. "Well, we decided to do this instead." Goodshow then explained everything that he wanted to do and the board saying they'll go with it only if they agree. When he finished he was looking at five stunned faces for a moment before they looked at one another.

"I'm actually okay with this. What about you guys?" asked Steven. The other four agreed.

"I knew it!" laughed Goodshow. "That'll teach the board members to say I don't know what's good for the tournament! Ha!" They all started chuckling a bit before the president spoke again. "Okay. Cynthia, don't say a word. It's supposed to be a surprise. Okay?" Cynthia agreed to that. "Thank you. Now, you know what to do about that so do what you have to do. Also, you think one of you can come with me to say that you're all good with my plan?"

"Sure, I'll come," stated Alder and Goodshow thanked him.

"So will I," added Diantha.

For some reason, Lance felt like he wanted to go to after Diantha said she would go. "Count me in," finished up Lance. They all stared at him, surprised. They knew how much he hated board meetings. "What?" They shook their heads, saying it was nothing. "Are we finished?" asked Lance.

The President smiled. "Almost. Anyone want to make a bet about the remaining matches?" asked Goodshow. The Champions shook their heads while chuckling. Cynthia and Steven left while Alder, Diantha and Lance talked about what kind of bets with Charles.

Cynthia glanced at the time after saying her bye to Steven and her eyes widened. How the hell did time go by so fast?! She hurried outside and called out her Garchomp. "Indigo Hotel please." Her loyal dragon lowered herself to allow her to climb up onto her back and then the dragon took off into the air.

It was late in the afternoon now. The Indigo Hotel elevator was going up with a single person in it. The young man was leaning against the elevator wall with an empty bottle clutched in his hand. He had finished it while stumbling around in the forest for a while after recovering from his jewels getting rough handled before coming back to the hotel. He was muttering random words while his mind went over everything that happened to him in the last few days and what happened to him just that day in flashes. He was beyond angry, absolutely confused as to how things ended up for him, feeling humiliated over getting kicked out of the club, felt jealous over Ash's group of hot girlfriends who would do anything for him, his groin still hurt some and was drunk.

The elevator dinged as it reached his floor and the doors opened. He sluggishly moved into the small hallway with just one suite door in front of it and leaned against the door. He fumbled at grasping the door knob but when he was finally able to grip it, he tried to turn it but it wouldn't budge. "Fuck. Ah, open sesame!" Nothing happened. He tried again but it was no use. He started banging on the door. "Hey! One of you open the damn door!" His coordination was off but it looked like he could still talk without a problem.

It took a couple minutes until the door opened and Gary fell face forward onto the floor since he was leaning against it. "Oh shit! Sorry Gary!" The blonde girl bent down to help him up.

He grumbled as he was helped up. "You better be sorry you scoundrel or I'll…" He hiccupped, stopping him from continuing.

"Damn, you're beyond wasted. You should go and rest." She started helping him to his room. Of course it had to be me who has to deal with a drunken Gary. Great. She shook her head, thinking the others were lucky for not having to deal with this because some of them were out or busy in their rooms.

Most of the couples had decided to head out earlier on and do something together. Her sisters, besides Anabel, were planning the shopping trip that Ash promised to take them and her on in their room. They believed it would allow Ash to get away from things, he would keep his promise to them and they would be able to get some new clothes and have some fun. They didn't mind their sisters planning the shopping trip and decided to leave them to it. The parents were in the dining room, playing cards together while listening to some music off the radio. Clair and Liza had returned and just went to their room. The rest were in their rooms with some taking a nap or watching TV or just hanging out. She and Anabel had remained in the living room, watching the news channels to see if anything would come up about their boyfriend. Oddly, nothing came up about it other than that he won the match and was advancing to the semi-finals. Anabel stayed with her until she went to her room because she just got a call from Scott. He wanted to check in on her every once in a while since he saw her as his daughter.

After taking some steps, Gary turned his gaze to her, drinking in her beauty. "You know, you're really fuckin hot." The blonde girl who was helping him to his room began feeling very uncomfortable but continued on. She didn't want to be mean because he was drunk but didn't like the way he was talking to her at all. She ignored it and kept helping him to his room. "Hey, since we're heading to my room anyways, why don't we bump uglies?" he asked her while grabbing her ass.

The girl jumped from his advance, startled but also quickly became angry. She let go of him, making him fall to the floor and glared at him. "What the fuck Gary?! You know I'm with Ash and I love him! Leave me alone and don't ever try that again!" she shot angrily. It was Sarah.

Gary however wasn't listening. He was steadily sinking more into his whirlwind of negative emotions and his drunken state wasn't helping at all. He sluggishly got up, ignoring the empty bottle that was on the floor now and closed the distance between the two with drunken steps, making Sarah back up until she hit the hallway wall. Before she could move away, he placed his hands on either side of her head against the wall to support himself and to trap her. "Why play hard to get Sarah?" he growled at her.

She could smell the alcohol off of him. The Johto native felt her heart beating like crazy. "Please stop Gary. This isn't funny," she told him.

He smirked. "Who said this was supposed to be funny?" he asked rhetorically. "Look Sarah, you're hot. And I'm good looking. Why not have some fun?" He moved his hand to touch her.

She slapped it away, anger filling her now and glaring at him now. "I don't care! I don't see you that way and I love Ash and I will never betray him!" she made to move away but he stopped her.

He leaned in closer before speaking, his eyes locked onto hers. "Give me a break. You think Ash will be able to satisfy you? Pleasure you? You think he will even have time for you? You think he's thinking about you when he has other hot girls in his group that he's fucking and he knows longer? And with all those pokémon he has too, he's hardly giving you attention. So c'mon and enjoy yourself. He doesn't have to know." He leaned in closer to kiss her and made to touch her again.

Sarah's anger went higher at his words and actions. She slapped him and then pushed him away. "Screw you Gary! Just because you can't handle taking care of many things at once and being in a relationship doesn't mean he can't either!"

He became angrier at that but also smirked back in response. "Screw me? Isn't that what I was asking for? And I'm not the one with several girls in his group. Speaking of which, my ex Sabrina is with him. He's probably fucking her or one of the other girls right now. How about we return the favor?" He moved in closer towards her again and Sarah moved away from him while keeping her back against the wall, seeing the lust in his eyes. "Ever since I first saw you on the field in the opening match of the tournament, I thought you were hot. You know you want me too. C'mon. Just give in. I can give you the time of your life. You can experience such pleasure with me that I swear you'll be asking for more. Forget Ash. He's too dense to notice things and doesn't know a good thing when he sees one, too worried about his pokémon. Let me treat you right." He got even closer to her.

Sarah kneed him in the leg, missing his groin but then immediately slapped him as hard as she could afterwards, making him yelp and stumble backwards before hitting the wall behind him. "You damn bastard!" she screamed. "Go fuck a Cacturne and don't ever come near me again!"

Before she could do anything else and before Gary could react, an angry voice was heard from nearby. "What did you do now Gary?!" The two glanced to the side and saw Ilene there with a furious expression on her face. She had heard some shouts when she entered the living room, having been talking with Shauna and Lizabeth again in their room. That was when she saw Sarah slap Gary in the hallway towards some of the other bedrooms and heard her. "What's going on here?!" she asked.

Gary frowned at her. "It's none of your business your highness because we're not together anymore." He turned his head back to look at Sarah after feeling a little good over his comment. "Now, Sarah why don't we…" He stopped talking because Sarah wasn't there anymore. He became confused. "What the…when the hell did Sarah become Houdini?!"

"How drunk are you?!" Gary turned his head to Ilene and saw Sarah standing beside her. Ilene turned to Sarah. "I'll handle him. Go get Riley," she told her quietly.

"Be careful," replied back Sarah before leaving hurriedly to get her Knight.

"Ah, calling in your dog to handle your own fights?" mocked Gary.

Ilene shook with fury at that. "How dare you insult my Knight!"

Gary moved closer to her. "What are you going to do about it? I already fought with one of them who was stronger. What's an old fart like Riley going to do to me?" he asked her after stopping right in front of her. Ilene wanted to hit him but kept herself in check; she had already hurt someone when they were drunk and didn't want to do it again even though this one would really deserve it. "Can't hurt me can you?" he taunted her. "That's because you still love me." And after saying that statement, he then kissed Ilene, making her freeze from shock. Taking advantage of her stunned state, he pushed her up against the hallway wall with his body against hers and started having his hands roam over her curves, getting what he wanted from her.

Ilene didn't react at first because of the shock of what he just said. But then the powerful feeling of disgust in her stomach brought her back to her senses once more. She quickly raised her hands and pushed him off of her, making him stumble back, losing his balance. Ilene moved to one of the bedrooms quickly and entered it. She was about to close the door and lock it when Gary burst in, making her stumble back. "Get out Gary!" she yelled, angry and afraid at what he was doing.

"NO! I can't just let you go Ilene! You belong with me because you're the only girl I've ever truly had feelings for! You liked me! We had something special! How could your feelings for me just die like that?! How could you choose Ash over me?! How could you fuck him when you're with me?!" he asked her angrily while moving to her slowly.

Ilene was backing up away from him. She was scared beyond measure and never would have expected him to act this way. "I won't repeat what I said Gary! And are you kidding me?! What were you just trying to make Sarah do?! How could you say something like that?! How could you act like this?! And sometimes we are blinded by new and exciting things until something happens that makes us see clearly again! We were lost in something that wasn't meant for us at all!" Gary stopped moving a few feet away from her. Seeing him not draw closer, she raised her hands in front of her and clasped them together and pleaded to him. "Please Gary. You said that you've changed. So if you truly have changed, then just stop this, leave me alone and get out!"

The pokémon researcher was looking at the scared young queen in front of him. The way her eyes were filled with fear and letting out tears. How she was trembling at the sight of him in a bad way. He noticed it even in his drunk state. It made him fill up with sorrow. "How did I let this come to be?" he asked in a whisper. "How could I be what scares you? How could I have allowed you to slip from my fingers?" He hung his head, looking at the floor and began shaking.

Ilene kept her distance from him, not knowing what he was going through. She never would have guessed that Gary Oak would be so...bipolar. She slowly moved around him, staying as far as possible while moving towards the door. While she was doing that, Gary was having a million thoughts and emotions spiraling around within him until something stuck out. "New and exciting things…" Ilene froze at hearing him say that. "Was that…all I was to you?" he asked, looking up and turning to look at her again. "Just some excitement for the time being? Did you just…get bored of me? Or was it that I have no use to you anymore since your plan to have Ash notice you didn't go the way you wanted it to?"

Ilene was still afraid of her emotional ex-boyfriend but now anger was filling her as well for what he said. "Don't try to twist my words Gary! And that's not what it was and you know it! You said you'll never hurt me again but that's what you keep doing! And you hurt Sarah! I told you we're done!" she yelled at him. She moved to the door and almost reached it when her arm was grabbed by him. Remember this training as it can and will give you an opportunity to flee or take advantage. Instinct took over as she remembered those words from her defensive training from Ash and Lucario. Ilene whirled around and struck Gary all of a sudden against his temple, making him cry out in pain and release her. She opened the door and was able to step out of the room.

But before she could increase the distance between them or find someone, he grabbed her from the back part of her blouse and tried to pull her back into the room with force while she struggled to get free. "LET ME GO!" shouted Ilene loudly, hoping it would make him come to his senses and have someone hear it even though the room she exited from was farther from the others. And just where the hell was Sarah and Riley? She pulled with all her might to escape his grip and the young queen's clothing tore apart from the force. She shot forward and hit her head against a framed picture that was hanging on the hallway wall, causing the glass to break and cut her. She collapsed onto the floor from the sudden collision and was groaning in pain, a bleeding cut on the side of her head. Gary froze in shock at what he just made happen, his mouth open and staring at Ilene with half of her torn blouse in his hand.

"What have you done?!" He slowly turned his shocked expression to where the voice came from. Bonnie was standing there with an expression filled with fear. She had left Max's room to get some snacks for them to eat while studying different battle strategies. On the way, she heard noises that sounded like fighting and wanted to find out what it was coming from. Gary didn't respond and seeing him not moving, the young teenage girl did the only thing she could do; she screamed...

Sarah went running to Riley's room, not even bothering to check with the others because Ilene asked for him. She reached his room and made to open the door but it was locked. She started knocking on his door loudly. "Riley! Riley!" she called out to him frantically but no sounds were heard from inside. Another door opened nearby and she snapped her attention to it. Shauna and Lizabeth stepped out from it, giving Sarah concerned looks. "I need to find Riley! Where is he?!" asked the blonde girl.

The two blunettes shrugged, not knowing where he was. "What's wrong?" asked Lizabeth.

Sarah took in a breath before speaking. "Ilene requested him. Gary came back but he's drunk and angry. He tried to make a move on me but I stopped him." Both girls gasped. "Ilene told me to find Riley, saying she'll handle him."

"Shit! Ilene shouldn't be alone with him!" replied Shauna.

"You keep looking for Riley while we go to Ilene," advised Lizabeth. The two bartenders headed towards where Sarah told them she left Ilene.

As soon as the blunettes entered the living room, two pink glows appeared in it. "ASH!" shouted both Lizabeth and Shauna the second they saw him.

Ash and Sabrina turned towards the two girls and saw them looking worried. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as they went up to him. Before they could say anything, a very loud and high pitched scream shot through the penthouse suite, startling them as it echoed. Several bedroom doors opened frantically and many stepped into the living room. The parents stepped into the area from the dining room and Riley emerged from a nearby bathroom.

"What's going on?"

"Who's screaming?"

Before the four could even attempt to explain, someone shouted loudly. "ASH!" The blonde Johto native felt so much relief at seeing him back that she just shouted out his name. She ran to him and he turned around in time to catch her in his embrace. Before he could ask her what happened, another high pitched scream was heard, making shivers go down their spines. Sarah separated from Ash but grasped his hand. She shot towards the direction the scream came from, not bothering with explaining at the moment with everyone else following after the two.

They quickly found the source of the screaming and the reason for it. Max and Clemont went up to Bonnie to check on her and calm her down. Seeing him there, Bonnie hugged Max tightly who started rubbing her back gently to calm her down while Clemont watched over the two. Sarah let go of Ash when he and Riley shot to the young queen who was on the floor. The others stayed rooted to their spots after drawing in closer because of what they were seeing.

Ilene was on the floor, huddled up into a ball and sobbing. She was bleeding from a cut on her head with half her blouse torn off, exposing her undergarment. Some shards of glass were on the floor that came from a broken framed picture on the wall. Gary was standing there with a shell-shocked look and the other half of the queen's blouse in his hand.

"My Queen! What happened?!" asked Riley, while taking off his jacket and wrapping her up with it to cover the exposed part of her body.

"Queen Ilene?! Are you alright?" asked Ash. Ilene whimpered as she continued crying. She turned around and grabbed onto Ash. He took her up into a hug, trying to comfort her. Riley stood back up before turning around to glare at the young pokémon researcher. But Gary didn't see it since his gaze was still on the blonde girl. "Its okay, it's alright. You're safe. You're Knights are here. We won't let anything happen to you. We promise."

Ilene cried harder and her grip tightened on him. "He forced himself onto me, kissing me and touching me after trying to make Sarah do something with him!" Everyone's eyes widened at that and everyone became angry. But it was nothing compared to what Ash was feeling. He turned his gaze slowly towards his old childhood rival and gave him such a livid expression that it would've made even the Lord of Space become afraid. But Gary didn't see it. "He got mad at me because I told him that we're done!" cried Ilene, making Ash look at her again. "I tried to make him see reason but he just wouldn't listen! I tried to get away but he kept coming after me!" explained the young queen further. The group there was appalled to find out what happened and many were giving Gary looks of anger and disgust. His sister and grandfather were also giving him very disappointed looks.

Seeing Ilene crying her eyes out and finally hearing what she was saying, Gary was starting to realize what he just did. His heart began beating like a jack hammer, his stomach twisted into knots and he felt like he was going to throw up. "Ilene…"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP GARY!" roared Ash after snapping his gaze back to his old rival, startling everyone.

Gary felt fear fill him like it never did before at seeing the furious gaze on his face now. "I…"

He wasn't able to continue as Riley grabbed him by the throat suddenly and slammed him into the wall, making everyone except Ash and Ilene to shout out in surprise while Gary let out sounds of pain. "I warned you not to hurt the Queen!" reminded Riley, his eyes glowing blue. "Do you know what the penalty is for attacking the Queen?!" he asked him before slamming him against the wall again, making Gary cry out in pain once more.

"RILEY! STOP!" shouted Daisy Oak, shooting to his side. She grasped his arm and made her boyfriend look at her. "Please…" Riley looked at her, seeing her pleading expression. He turned his gaze back to Gary. He was conflicted in upholding his duty and not hurting his beloved. He took in a deep breath through his nose before letting it out through his mouth. His eyes lost their blue glow before letting go of her brother who dropped to the floor. He stepped away and Daisy Oak knelt beside her younger brother. "Why did you hurt Ilene? Why did you try to make a move on Sarah when she's with Ash?" asked Daisy.

"I…I…I didn't…mean to…" started Gary.

"You lie!" interrupted Sarah, making everyone but Ilene to look at her now. "You came home drunk and I was trying to help you get back to your room so you can rest! But you copped a feel and then said we should have sex!" Everyone became even angrier at that and Ash's rage was about to go over the tipping point. "Even when I said I'm not interested and I love Ash, even pushing and slapping you away, you still kept trying while insulting Ash, saying he doesn't need to know and that he'll never treat me right until Ilene got involved!" Sarah's emotions were too much now and she started letting out tears, sobbing. She was taken into a hug by her sisters to comfort her while giving Gary angry and dirty looks. Ash was boiling with anger and he was doing all he could to not explode.

Gary opened his mouth to try to defend himself but then Ilene spoke up again. "You forced yourself onto me, kissing me and touching me! I asked you several times to let me go but you wouldn't listen to me! You chased after me into a room and prevented me from leaving! I even begged you to stop! But you kept bringing up things that didn't matter! I tried to get away but then you made me get hurt!" she said before continuing with her crying.

Daisy Oak was looking at her brother with a dangerous expression but again, Gary didn't see it. "I wasn't trying to hurt you or Sarah! I'm just upset! I just wanted to feel good again! And I just wanted you to listen to me for a minute!" replied Gary, not denying what the two girls said. "I wanted to…" SMACK! Gary was silenced by a sharp slap against his cheek by his sister that made his head turn. He slowly turned his gaze back to his sister. "Daisy?" asked Gary timidly. Daisy just looked at him with a disgusted, angry and disappointed expression on her face before slapping him again but harder. Gary let out a yelp at the sharp stinging feeling and Daisy stood up and moved away from him. He turned his head in time to see his sister go and stand next to his grandfather who was giving him the same look. He felt such shame fill him that he started shivering in his spot. "Please…I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to…"

"I don't want to hear a single sound coming out of you right now Gary," interrupted Oak in a very stern tone of voice, one that he never gave him before. Gary shut his mouth and didn't continue.

"Please…" They all turned their gazes to the young queen. She raised her head and looked at the raven haired guardian with frightened and teary blue eyes. "Ash…I don't want to be here anymore," she sobbed. "I just want to go home. I should never have come here. Please…just take me home," she begged him, before burying her face into his chest with her crying becoming more severe. Her sobbing and pleading made everyone feel horrible for the young queen of Rota.

Ash felt s much sadness over Ilene being so distraught. "As you wish Queen Ilene. Let's get you patched up first." Ash tenderly picked up Ilene into his embrace, carrying her in his arms, who clutched onto him tighter. He made sure she was still covered up before he stood up and turned his gaze to his childhood rival who was still on the floor. "Don't you dare fuckin move Gary," warned Ash, making Gary go rigid with a shiver going down his spine.

Satisfied that he won't move, Ash then made his way towards Ilene's room with Riley leading the way while the others remained behind to keep an eye on Gary. They entered her room and Ash gently lowered her onto the bed. Riley placed a blanket over her, covering her up to her neck. Ash placed his hand where Ilene's cut was and pulsed out aura to heal the injury. It quickly stopped bleeding and sowed itself shut. She felt a little better because of the aura comforting her. "Queen Ilene, we'll take you home in just a bit. But first please let me go check on Sarah and make sure Gary won't hurt someone else." She agreed by nodding. He looked up at Riley and the two nodded at one another before leaving the room.

Ash went back to where everyone else was waiting and stood right in front of Gary who hadn't moved from his spot. He was quiet for a moment before speaking. "You have one hour to pack up your stuff and leave," said Ash. Nobody argued with him since he was being very fair.

Ash turned around to go but then Gary spoke, making him stop. "So that's it?" he asked him. "Just like that you're throwing away several years of friendship?" Everyone was flabbergasted that he had the nerve to say that when he messed up.

The raven haired guardian turned back to look at him. "No. You did that Gary when you let your ego control you and you crossed the line," replied back Ash calmly and Gary hung his head. "You never could handle defeat well or not getting what you wanted. Everything was always so easy for the great Gary Oak. Almost always getting your way and having everything handed to you on a silver platter. But when you don't get what you want, you hurt the people that you say you care about. In the past it was Sabrina. Now it's Ilene. And you tried to force my girlfriend Sarah. You haven't changed at all. You're still an arrogant, insensitive, conceited and egotistical lying piece of shit who thinks he's entitled to whatever he wants."

Gary became angry at his words, rage filling him. "Fuck you Ash!" he shot, getting up onto his feet, wobbling a bit before finding his balance and glared at him. "How would you like it if you found out the girl you had feelings for was using you!"

"Is that so? You were just saying something else entirely different. So which is it?" asked Ash.

Gary grumbled a bit, going quiet for a couple seconds and then shouted. "ILENE FUCKIN LOVES YOU!" The group had shocked expressions form on their faces and Ash was taken aback. "SHE WAS USING ME TO GET YOU TO NOTICE HER! THAT'S WHY I'M PISSED! AND YOU PROBABLY WAS WITH HER BEFORE AND NOW SHE WANTS YOU BACK! YOU TWO PROBABLY FUCKED TOO!"

Ash had stupefied expression on his face. He looked at the group with a confused look before looking at Gary again. "Have you lost your god damn mind?! That's you're reasoning?!" asked Ash. "Nothing ever happened between me and Ilene! I never liked Ilene in that way nor do I like her in that way now! Ilene liked you, you freakin moron! And just for your information, a Knight of Rota can never get with the Queen!"

The others in the group were frozen still, unable to believe that Gary was trying to point fingers and put the blame of his actions on others. "You're a complete idiot!" Everyone turned to the psychic prodigy now, surprised at her outburst. "I spoke with her about you! She didn't deny liking you but didn't know if she should still give it a shot because of what you did to me! But I told her to think carefully because I thought you changed, you have feelings for her and she had feelings for you!"

Gary barely heard Sabrina's words but it did nothing to make him understand. "Tch. Of course you would help out Ash."

Two blunettes stepped forward. "Then maybe you'll listen to us," spoke up Lizabeth and they all turned to her and Shauna now. "Ilene talked to us about you and her just now. She explained to us that she couldn't fully trust you again because of what you did to Sabrina, your behavior and lies."

"That's right," added Shauna. "Ilene told us how she liked you in the beginning but because of what you did and of the image she has to uphold as a Queen, she couldn't pursue it. She can't just get with whoever she wants! And she also told us that you and her talked yesterday too about all this and you hurt her then too! And that's when she realized you're not the one for her and decided to completely end things!"

The group listened carefully to the girls and in the end shook their heads in disbelief. Gary scowled at the two blunettes. "So what? It doesn't matter anyways. She still used me!" he yelled out.

"You're right," growled Ash, catching everyone's attention. "It doesn't matter. And even if she was using you, for whatever reason, that doesn't give you the right to try to force yourself onto her or Sarah. You could've just left and found someone else. Isn't that what you do anyways whenever you don't get what you want from a girl?" Gary didn't reply back but scowled at that and the others said nothing, disappointed because it was true since he had done that to Sabrina. "You have one hour Gary and you better be gone before your time limit finishes up," threatened Ash.

Gary moved towards Ash and stopped right in front of him. "Or what? You'll kill me?"

"That is the penalty for attacking the Queen," answered Ash without emotion, making everyone become suddenly frightened to what he was implying. "And you hurt my girlfriend. You hurt Sarah." The Johto native raised her tear streaked gaze from within the hug to look at Ash over his words, feeling his concern for her, making her fill up with emotion. "You should know better than to try something like that. You know I will usually overlook and forgive others for their mistakes but the moment you hurt the ones I love, then you're on my shit list." Everyone gulped and even Gary took a step back. "Even though I'm absolutely furious with you Gary and want nothing more than to make you feel extreme pain, I'm not going to hurt you out of respect for your grandfather Professor Oak and your sister Daisy." Gary felt a little relief fill him and so did the others there. They were angry with Gary but didn't want Ash to hurt him, even if he did deserve it. "Riley's a different story though but due to him loving Daisy more than wanting to punish you and that Ilene doesn't want that either, he won't. So you lucked out once again Gary. Queen Ilene may be going home, but I don't want you around anymore either since I can't trust you anymore. And every second that you're here, is making me want to beat the shit out of you. Don't test your luck any further. Pack your shit and get the fuck out." The group of friends and family said nothing since they agreed and supported Ash's decision.

Gary felt fear fill him again that Ash wanted to hurt him but wasn't going to and that Riley had no problem in hurting him, maybe even killing him to fulfill his duties but was saved from it. But he was also becoming angry at what Ash was saying. "Just like that you're kicking me out? After all I've done for you? After helping out Misty when Tracey was here? Does everything that I do not matter anymore? Is it that wrong that I'm not groveling at your feet like all the other losers here?!" asked the pokémon researcher, earning some growls and insults shot back towards him from some in the group. He looked at his grandfather and sister. "Gramps? Daisy? Aren't you going to say anything?" he asked them.

"I will," replied Oak, taking a step forward. "Drunk or not, you have let your pride and ego grow to the point of them being uncontrollable. You need to learn that just because you want something, doesn't mean you deserve it or that you should necessarily get it. That's been your biggest problem ever since you were a child. You have crossed the line many times in the past but this is the biggest foul you've ever committed and is the last straw. I agree with Ash. You need to gather your belongings and leave before you cause any more problems."

Gary's jaw dropped. He glanced at Daisy who crossed her arms. He couldn't believe it. "Just like that? You're cutting off ties with me? Your own brother and grandson?!" asked Gary in anger.

Daisy shook her head. "We're not. But you need to leave. Go home and think about all the things you've done. You need to change your ways and stop acting like an entitled, prideful and egotistical brat who plays with people's emotions and feelings," explained Daisy Oak.

Gary was starting to shake with rage. He glared at Ash, locking his eyes with him. "You fatherless son of a bitch! You took everything from me!" he shouted at him.

The others gasped at what he said and Ash shook from Gary's insult, his hands clenching into fists but controlled himself. "I didn't take anything. You pushed it all away because of you being unable to understand that not everything has to go your way." Gary launched himself at Ash and threw a strike at his old rival who didn't even attempt to move with many shouting and screaming for him to stop and his fist connected against his cheek. Ash turned his head from the force but then he turned his gaze slowly back to him as if nothing happened. Gary took a step back as fear filled him and the rest had looks of disbelief on their faces. "I'm not the one drunk this time Gary. And you just fucked up your last chance." Before anyone else could say or do something, Ash knocked out his old rival with a right hook that sent him crashing to the floor. He looked at his old rival's unconscious form for a few seconds and then glanced at Gary's grandfather and sister afterwards. He took in a breath. "I'm sorry for what I just did."

Oak sighed before stepping forward and knelt down beside his grandson. He checked to make sure he was alright and felt him breathing. "I'm not happy about it and I wish this never happened. But I cannot fault you. Help me with him." Ash knelt down, picked up Gary and carried him over his shoulders. He stood up and faced his girlfriends, seeing Sarah still letting out some tears and the rest of his girlfriends scared and worried. "Please go to my room and I'll join you there as soon as I can." The girls nodded and went to his room while escorting Sarah. Ash entered Gary's room while the others were made to disband by the parents and Delia went to check on Natasha since she probably heard all the yelling and shouting. Ash placed him onto his bed as Oak and Daisy began gathering his belongings to put into his luggage. He then helped the two gather his stuff and pack his luggage. When they gathered all of his stuff, Ash zipped up his luggage and turned to Oak and Daisy. "I'll teleport him home and if you want to go with him, I can teleport you as well."

Oak nodded. "I'll go with him to keep an eye on him. Just give me a few minutes." He was about to leave to pack his stuff but Daisy stopped him. "Yes? What is it Daisy?"

"I'm coming too." Oak didn't argue but just nodded. Daisy turned to Ash. "Is it true that Ilene is leaving? That she's going back home?" she asked Ash and he confirmed it. "That means Riley is going with her too right?" He nodded and she glanced at her grandfather. "Let me just go say my goodbye and then I'll go pack." Her grandfather agreed and Daisy left the room.

Oak let out a long sigh before sitting down and Ash looked at him. He could see the lines on his face, his old age slowly getting to him. He never realized just how old the professor was until now. "I'm sorry Professor Oak for everything."

Oak looked up at the raven haired young man. He was silent for a moment before shaking his head slightly. "You've done nothing wrong to be sorry about Ash. Even though I love my grandchildren above all else and would do anything for them, Gary has crossed the line for the final time. I can no longer turn a blind eye to what he has done. Trying to get back together with Queen Ilene by forcing himself onto her, trying to force himself onto your girlfriend Sarah, making up a ridiculous story that Ilene was using him to get to you…I never thought he would do such things like this. Even drunk, it is inexcusable. I'm going to have to show him some tough love…something I should've done years ago." Oak sighed again, shaking his head some before his eyes became watery but no tears fell. Ash was about to say something but Oak cut him off. "You did nothing wrong. Now go. Go and take care of Sarah. When Daisy comes back, I'll go pack."

"Thank you Professor Oak for not being angry with me and for understanding me," said Ash and Oak nodded. He left the room, making his way quickly to his bedroom.

On the way, he noticed Cynthia landing onto the balcony with her Garchomp. He went up to her as she recalled her pokémon. "Hey Ash, nice of you to greet…" She stopped talking, seeing his saddened gaze. "What happened?" she asked him.

"You'll find out from the girls," he told her, grasping her hand and led her to his room. When they entered it, they saw the girls sitting on the bed, hugging Sarah who was still crying. They turned their gazes onto the two and Ash shot to his girlfriends with Cynthia right behind him. He took the crying blonde girl into his arms and hugged her tightly and she did the same to him with the girls hugging them. "It's alright Sarah. I'm so sorry you went through something like that. I'm so sorry I wasn't here to protect you. Please forgive me." He felt horrible and guilty because he wasn't here for her. Cynthia had no clue what was going on but would wait to find out what happened. Right now, she was doing her best to help out her sister.

Sarah sobbed into his chest, holding onto him tightly. It took her a moment before she calmed down enough to be able to talk. "It's not your fault Ash. But I was so scared because he wouldn't take no for an answer. Even when I told him I love you and won't betray you, he wouldn't let me go! Even when I slapped him and pushed him away he still came onto me again! He kept saying how you don't love me and won't treat me right, that you won't treat me equally and that you don't care about me!" She cried harder and her boyfriend and sisters felt so much sadness but also anger from what Gary tried to do. Cynthia was starting to figure out what happened but still didn't know who caused it. Sarah raised her gaze to look him in the eyes. "He kept saying that he would be better for me but I didn't listen to him! I knew he was just bullshitting to get what he wanted! But I'm still so sorry Ash for failing you! For letting him even get so close to me! I dealt with so many assholes like him in the past who tried to force me during my travels or take advantage of me but was able to get away or stop them in the past!" Her sisters and beloved became crestfallen over hearing what she went through in her life. "But I let my guard down with him because I thought we were friends. And I was just trying to help Gary in the beginning when he first got here because I thought he was too drunk to do anything!" She lowered her gaze and continued crying against him.

Cynthia's eyes widened, hearing that it was Gary who tried to force himself onto her sister Sarah. What the hell was he thinking?!

Ash tightened his hug on her before he started rubbing her back tenderly with one hand. "Ssh, it's alright now Sarah. You have nothing to be sorry about. It means so much to me that you didn't let another's words make you feel any doubt for what I feel for you." Sarah slowly raised her tear streaked face to his and he looked into her eyes. It was the first time he did so and it made him become stunned for a second at the color of her eyes; her pupils were a golden yellow color. He snapped out of it and tenderly wiped away her tear streaks, making her feel so much comfort and affection from his touch. "No matter what happens…no matter where I am…no matter what others say…this will always be true…just like I said before…I love you Sarah Wiseman and nothing will change that." Sarah felt her heart skip a beat at his words. He leaned in and gave her such a loving kiss that she just melted into it.

When they finally separated, he took her up into a hug again and the girls joined in on it. The ten of them stayed like that for a moment, letting their embrace do the talking for them all for a bit. Afterwards, when they separated, Ash looked at each of his girlfriends, trying to show the love he has for them with his eyes. Each girl could see and feel the love he has for them from his gaze, feeling much happiness and content from it. "I'm going to go see Queen Ilene and Riley before sending them back home. Then I'm going to send Gary, Daisy and Professor Oak home as well. Just try to relax. After I take care of that, I'll come back as soon as I can. Okay?" His girlfriends agreed on that and he left the room while they stayed behind together in the room.

After he left, the girls turned to Sarah and asked her if she was alright and if she wanted to talk about it. She shook her head. "Not really. But I'll be alright. I just can't believe what he tried to do to me and to Ilene. And then make up a ridiculous story like that." The girls agreed to that, saying he'd gone mad.

Cynthia however, wanted to know the full story. "Um, what exactly happened?" They turned to her and then to Sarah. She took in a deep breath before explain everything. When she was done, Cynthia had a mortified look appear on her face. "How could he betray Ash like that? Hurt you like that? Hurt Ilene like that? What the hell is wrong with him?!" asked Cynthia.

Her sisters merely shook their heads, commenting that they have no idea. "I don't know, I don't care and I never want to deal with him again. I don't want to think about any of that anymore," replied Sarah. They agreed and she turned to Cynthia. "How did the meeting go?" she asked, changing the subject. Cynthia said she'll tell them all later when Ash returned since she wanted to tell him too. After agreeing, Sarah turned to Sabrina. "Did it go well with your parents?" she asked her.

The girls turned to the dark haired psychic and she nodded. "Yes. Everything went better than I expected and it didn't take long at all."

The girls smiled, glad that they weren't starting off so badly. Dawn grinned mischievously at Sabrina though, making her tilt her head. "So if it didn't take too long, what were you and Ash doing?" asked the blunette and the girls looked at her. Sabrina went scarlet, slapping herself mentally for her slip up. "Oooh! You two did something! C'mon, tell us! What did you two do?!" asked Dawn.

Cynthia became surprised, looking at her close friend. "Damn Sab. So soon? What did you do huh?" Sabrina looked at her and went dark red.

"Hey, if she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to!" shot Misty.

"Yea, so stop pressuring her!" added Serena.

"Ah come on! It's just girl talk!" remarked Leaf. "It's not like we'll tell anyone else. Only we will know cause we're sisters and we all love the same incredible guy." Leaf turned to Sabrina after seeing the rest of them stay quiet with nothing to comment back. "C'mon, Sarah needs to feel better after what dumbass Gary tried to pull and what better way than a steamy love story about our man Ash?" suggested the brunette from Pallet, making the other girls giggle while going red over her words.

Sabrina glanced at Sarah who gave her smile. "You don't have to Sabrina and don't do it for me."

The psychic prodigy smiled however. "I'll tell you because I need to learn to not be so embarrassed about all this, I want to, I trust you and we should be open with one another because of our special situation." Her sisters smiled at her, agreeing with her reasons. "Just please don't laugh at me." They became shocked at that and quickly assured and promised that they wouldn't. "Thank you. Well, just so you know we didn't go all the way. But after we talked with my parents and Ash had a quick battle with my Dad, I had us teleport to the top of Silph Co.'s skyscraper…"

When the group disbanded after Ash knocked out Gary, Delia went to check on Natasha. She found her in the bathroom, having locked herself in. It took her a while to calm her down enough for her to open the door. The second she did though, Delia was taken up into a hug by the scared red head who was crying. The screams and shouts had reminded her of what she went through with the Skull Brothers and she had locked herself in the bathroom to try to shut out the screaming as she covered her ears. "Sshh, it's okay. No one is going to hurt you. We just had a problem that needed to be fixed and some were more vocal about it than others. Everything's fine. So please just try to relax sweetie." Natasha just kept crying for a long time until Delia was able to calm her down enough, telling her that her son was still here and that he wouldn't let anything happen to her either. Thinking of her savior allowed her to focus on that and not her horrible experiences. She allowed the kind mother to lead her to her bed and Delia had her lie down onto her bed. "I'll stay with you until you go to sleep okay?" Natasha nodded and decided to just sleep since she had nothing else to do. She closed her eyes while focusing on the image of Ash in her mind. Delia stayed by her side until the red head fell asleep. She sighed and lifted up the covers over her shoulders before leaving the room.

After Ash left his room, he went to check on Ilene. He found her wearing her royal attire and packing her stuff, alone in the room. "Queen Ilene? Where's Riley?" he asked her.

Without stopping her packing, she answered him. "He's talking to Daisy in his room."

Ash frowned a little. Her tone of voice was very sullen. "Queen Ilene, are you okay?"

Her heart hammered at his worried tone of voice. Oh if only you knew what I'm going through right now. "I'm fine." He heard her thoughts, wanting to do something to help and comfort her but said nothing. She continued on with her packing while Ash waited silently for her to finish packing and Riley to return so he can have teleport them home. She placed another item of hers into her luggage and then stopped with her hand on the packed stuff. She let her head fall and started shaking before letting out sobs. "Why did this all happen to me?" That was the only thing she said before she just let go as she started bawling loudly.

Ash moved to her and took her into a caring embrace, with her hands and face against his chest. "I'm so sorry my Queen for what you went through. That shouldn't have happened. I'm so sorry for failing you as your Knight. I don't deserve that title."

You're wrong Ash. You're one of the very few who does deserve that title. Ash was stunned in hearing her think that but said nothing. Ilene kept crying for several long minutes while Ash tried to comfort her as he rubbed the top of her back gently. The door opened and Riley stepped in with Daisy who wanted to apologize to Ilene for her brother and say goodbye to her too. They stopped when they saw the young queen crying while being hugged by her knight. "My Queen?" asked Riley, stepping forward.

She didn't answer him and just continued. Ash glanced at Riley and shook his head. Riley let out a sigh and turned to Daisy. She felt so miserable for what her brother caused Ilene to feel. Even though they fought and traded harsh words, she didn't believe for one second that Ilene deserved to be treated so horribly by Gary. She realized then just how much her brother hurt the Queen with his actions. She went up to the two when the she finally calmed down enough to separate from the guardian.

Ilene turned to Daisy Oak and what happened after surprised everyone in the room. Daisy Oak hugged Ilene and apologized for her brother's immature and hurtful actions. Being taken aback at first, Ilene was stunned for a few seconds before she returned the hug. When they separated, the two blonde girls looked at one another. "I promise I won't let him do that to anyone else ever again. I swear it." Ilene nodded, unable to speak. Daisy then went up to Riley and hugged him. "Bye Riley. I'll miss you."

Riley smiled slightly. "I'll miss you too Daisy. We'll keep in touch okay? And I'll try to come visit you when I have some free time."

"I will too," promised Daisy and they shared a farewell kiss. Afterwards, she said her goodbyes and left the room to go pack her stuff to leave with her grandfather and brother.

When she left, Ash turned to Riley. "Are you ready to go?" he asked him and he said he was, pointing to his travel bag that was on the floor. He then turned to Ilene. "Are you my Queen?" She said she needed a few more minutes. She quickly finished up and looked at him, signaling that she was done. Ash sent a mental message out to Mewtwo before the three of them teleported.

The three appeared in front of two large doors that served as the entrance of a very beautiful and large castle. The guards posted by the doors advanced with their spears readied and their other hands on their poke balls. "Halt! Who goes there?!" asked their captain. They couldn't see their faces since it was evening now and hidden in shadows.

Ilene stepped forward into the light, revealing herself. "It is I, Queen Ilene. Stand down." The guards saw her face, realizing she was the queen and hurriedly lowered their weapons. They bowed to her while greeting her and then apologized. She waved them away and the captain shouted for the doors to be opened for the Queen. Ilene turned to her Knight. "Thank you for bringing me back home."

Ash knelt down in front of her and bowed his head. "Of course my Queen. You don't need to thank me for it." He stood back up and Ilene hugged him suddenly. Ash was surprised from her action and so was Riley who raised an eyebrow over it. When they separated, she glanced at Riley who understood.

Riley went up to Ash. "Good luck in the tournament and we will prepare for what's coming afterwards." He raised his hand and Ash shook it, thanking him. He picked up her luggage and his travel bag and went to stand beside the young Queen.

"Bye you two. We'll see each other again soon," said Ash. Riley said his farewell and Ilene gave him a neutral look before the two walked towards the now open doors. Right before going through them, Ilene glanced back at her Knight in time to see Ash disappear in a blue glow. She faced forward and walked faster so Riley wouldn't see her eyes become watery.

Ash reappeared in the hotel, inside Gary's room. Daisy Oak and Professor Oak were packed and ready to go. Ash picked up Gary and hoisted him over his shoulder once more. "Ready?" he asked them. The two confirmed that they are and the four of them disappeared.

They reappeared in front of Gary and Daisy's home. The blonde girl went up the porch steps and unlocked the door with her keys. She stepped inside and held the door open for Ash to step through, followed by Oak. "Can you take him to his room and put him on his bed?" asked Daisy. "You remember which one right? It's the first room upstairs on the right."

"Yea and alright." Ash went up the stairs and entered the indicated room. He lowered Gary onto his bed and checked on him. Gary was snoozing away. "Unbelievable," he remarked. He went downstairs and saw the girl and professor speaking. "Need anything else?" he asked them.

They turned to face him. "No. We're good. Thank you Ash and I'm very sorry for what he did," said Daisy. She hugged him and apologized again for her brother's actions. Ash told her it's not her fault and thanked her for not being angry with him.

When they separated, Ash went up to Oak with a raised hand but he instead took up Ash into a hug. "Thank you Ash for trying to end things civilly. I know how hard that was for you. Especially because of your duties to the Kingdom of Rota and how he betrayed you."

Ash was taken aback but quickly returned the hug to the man who he viewed as his own grandfather. "It's alright and thanks Professor Oak." The two separated and Ash bid them his farewell before he teleported back to the hotel.

Oak quickly moved to the couch and collapsed onto it. "Daisy, please put the kettle on." She did so and after, came back to see if her grandfather was okay. "I'm fine. I'm just worried."

"About Gary?" asked Daisy as she sat in front of him on another couch.

He turned his gaze to his granddaughter. "Yes. But also for you." She tilted her head. "I didn't want you to leave the one you love."

Daisy hung her head and spoke to the floor. "If it's meant to be, then I won't lose him too like I lost Tracey." Professor Oak looked at her sadly before she got up to go to the kitchen when she heard the kettle whistling.

Ash reappeared in his bedroom where his girlfriends were still there. Ash sat on the bed with them and they gathered around closer to him. "I have some news," said Cynthia and they looked at her. "During the meeting, I found out some things…" She explained to Ash and her sisters what happened during it, making them have concerned expressions but left out what Goodshow said about the tournament; that was supposed to be a surprise. When she finished explaining the rest, they were quiet for a few minutes.

"So that's why we didn't see anything on the news or papers," remarked Anabel and they agreed.

Ash was quiet for a bit, thinking about all he learned before speaking. "Okay. Thanks for the update. We'll let the others know that we must be more careful from now on. And I'm so sorry for getting you involved in whatever this is."

His girlfriends immediately hugged him again. "Don't even think that way Ash," stated May. "It's not your fault, we're not blaming you at all and we will deal with this together." Her sisters agreed with that and said the same to him in their own ways.

Ash felt a little better from their words. "Thank you." They separated and looked at one another with a small smile. "Also, Sabrina's parents are going to come in the afternoon tomorrow to speak with your parents about our situation," he said them. The girls nodded and looked at Sabrina, saying everything will be alright and they'll let their families know. The psychic prodigy smiled and nodded at them while thanking them for their support.

The Sinnoh Champion wrapped her arm around the psychic prodigy's shoulders. "Of course Sab. We're here for each other. So no need to worry? Right Dawn?" said Cynthia.

"Right!" replied the petite blunette.

Ash and his girlfriends chuckled a bit. "Girls, I hope you don't mind but I'm going to shower and go to sleep early today. I'm beyond exhausted."

"No problem Ashy," said Leaf. She hugged him and gave him a quick kiss. After she did that, her sisters did the same and when they finished up, Ash smiled at them and bade them a goodnight before heading to his bathroom. They watched him enter it and after, the girls got up and left the room. They entered the room shared by Leaf, Sarah and Anabel afterwards and looked at one another. "I hope Ash doesn't allow Gary's betrayal to unhinge him even more. Especially after yesterday's fiasco," remarked Leaf.

"You're telling me," remarked Cynthia, barely controlling her rage. "What an asshole!"

"You can say that again," sighed Misty. "I've never seen Ash so angry. Even with the Skull Brothers, the stadium attack or what happened with Damian…"

The girls nodded. "I bet it was because he never expected Gary to do something like that. To try and force himself onto Ilene after they broke up, to force himself onto you Sarah, to try and make you doubt your relationship with him," explained Serena. "I mean, how low can you go?" she asked.

"Talk about a breach of trust and respect," commented Anabel.

"As if Ash wasn't dealing with enough stuff already," commented Sabrina.

The girls tilted their heads. "What do you mean?" asked Sarah.

Sabrina sighed. "Well…" She told them how Ash told her how he feels that he's still unworthy for her, for each of them, how her father made him feel like it was because of him that she was in danger and everything else.

When she finished, the girls had crestfallen looks. "He still feels like he's not good enough for us?" asked Misty in disbelief. "Doesn't that dense head of his understand how much we love him?!"

The girls let small smiles form on their faces. "He does Misty," replied Sabrina and the redhead looked at her. "You know that. And you know he feels like that because he wants the best for each of us and wants to do as much as he possibly can for us."

Misty hung her head. "I know that Sabrina. I just…I just don't want him to feel that way anymore." The girls quickly took their sister into a hug, trying to comfort her. "Thanks you guys," said Misty and they replied back saying that she was welcome.

When they separated, Leaf turned to Sarah. "Hey, if you want, you can go first. I'll wait," offered Leaf.

The girls smiled at her for doing that but Sarah shook her head. "No, it's alright Leaf. You've been through a lot too. It's not fair since we already decided that you would go next. I'm fine."

Leaf smiled. "It's okay. You go. I would ask Sabrina but she already had some fun," remarked Leaf looking at the gym leader. Sabrina went scarlet, but didn't deny it, making her sisters laugh. Sarah and Leaf kept going back and forth, making their sisters chuckle over it.

Having enough of it, Anabel stepped in. "Why don't both of you go at once together?" Both Leaf and Sarah went quiet suddenly and glanced at the Frontier Brain and so did her other sisters. "I mean why not? You can go on a group date with the three of you or you can both go out on the same day. One in the morning and one in the evening or something like that." The girls thought that was a good idea and commented that they should do that.

Leaf and Sarah glanced at one another and nodded before they both turned to Anabel. "Alright. We'll do just that," said Sarah.

"But only if you join us too Anabel," added Leaf.

The Frontier Brain had her eyes widened. "What? Look I was just saying for you two."

"We know," replied Leaf before letting a devious grin form. "But us three have gotten close together and it'll feel weird without the third leg of the tripod. Right?"

Her sisters laughed out loud at that and Anabel was having a hard time catching her breath. After calming down, she nodded. "Alright you troublemaker. I'll join." The girls smiled at one another until one of them had their stomach grumble loudly. They all turned to the brunette from Hoenn.

May went scarlet over their amused looks. "Shut up. We haven't eaten in a while." They laughed, commenting that she and Ash were copies, making her go red as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Haters; you just can't eat like we do and not get fat! I'm gonna go eat and let our families know about tomorrow," said May, leaving the room. The girls laughed harder and followed after her.

When Ash entered his bathroom, he showered and then got dressed into his sweats only pajamas and then got into bed. He tried to go to sleep but was unable to stop thinking about Gary's betrayal and that was angering him so much he didn't realize that his bedroom door opened and his starter walked in. "Pikapi, pi pika."

He lifted his head off his pillow and turned to his starter. "Pikachu? Where have you been?" Pikachu explained as he headed towards his bed basket and Ash started chuckling. "You do know that Buneary and Glaceon were returned to their poke balls long ago right? So you hiding for hours was a waste." Pikachu let out a disgruntled sigh and spoke into his bed, his muffled voice barely heard. Ash just laughed. "Yea yea, you're going to shock me. Just do it in the morning. I'm exhausted too."

"Pi pika Pikapi," said the yellow mouse, agreeing before he knocked out instantly afterwards.

Ash chuckled and lowered his head back onto the pillow. He was lost in thought for a while as he tried to clear his mind but was unable to. He was about to let out an annoyed huff when his door opened. He lifted his head up again and saw three of his girlfriends dressed in different colored night wear come to him. He turned onto his back in time to have his childhood crush climb on top of him while the blonde and the purple haired girl sat near his sides.

Leaf leaned in and pressed her lips onto his and they shared a passionate kiss together. When they separated from one another, almost immediately Sarah kissed him too. Satisfied with her kiss, Sarah pulled away and Ash turned to Anabel to give her a kiss too and the Frontier Brain returned it. After their kiss, he looked into her purple colored eyes, losing himself in them for a moment. He then turned to look into the golden yellow eyes of the Johto native before he turned to look into the green eyes of the brunette from his hometown. He hugged the three tightly and they hugged him back. "Thank you for being here. I love you with all my heart," he told the three.

"I love you Ash," said the three girls at once. The four looked at one another for a bit before they told each other goodnight and readjusted their positions a little. Leaf was now fully on top of Ash while Anabel was up against his left side and Sarah was up against his right side with his arms around them. Each of the girls felt incredible comfort, safety and love with him before they drifted off to sleep.

Ash felt much better with them there in bed with him. He felt his anger dying down and felt happiness fill him up. He looked at the three for a bit after they fell asleep. "I hope I can be whatever each of you needs and wants. I will do anything and everything within my power to do so. I promise," he whispered to them before shutting his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

---

A/N - Some separate paths have been taken and now several will have to find their own way now. And now Ash's father has been teased, (Satoshi) along with the Pokemon Master (Red) and wait, they were friends with Sabrina's father (David)?! Something to think about along with Gary losing it, Ilene going home, Natasha being healed (somewhat), Liza and Clair's discussion, the Champions meeting, Goodshow's idea and Ash feeling unworthy. ;) Please review, fav and follow! Hope all is well with each of you and take care!

Question 1 - Out of curiosity, who is your favorite starter pokemon?

Question 2 - Also, what is your favorite pokemon game in the main series?

Ash's Harem Status

In the Harem - Misty, May, Dawn, Serena, Leaf, Sarah, Anabel, Cynthia and Sabrina

Not in Harem but have feelings for him - Clair, Liza, Giselle, Lizabeth, Shauna (Hoenn), Daisy Waterflower

Tournament Upcoming Match

Semi-Finals