As the avalanche settled and the snow scattered across the ground, the once frigid and harsh snowstorm they were once trapped in had mysteriously stopped. Gradually, clear skies began to crawl its way back to visibility with the ominous silence of the forest haunting them for their lost of a friend.
"No, please no." Misty could barely onto Dawn as she attempted to run towards the site of carnage, she locked her arms around the blunette who frantically screamed for Ash's name over and over again. It was a heartbreaking sight as tears began to run down her eyes, her voice strained and in pained as she violently try to get Misty off her.
"D-Dawn please." Korrina could barely hold her own composure together as she tried to calm Dawn down. Her head was dizzy, her mind not accepting what had just happened. She bit her lower lip as she started to broke down, with her tears freely trailing down her cheeks in the process. Her beloved starter tried to comfort her with his stubby paws, but alas the toll of losing Ash was too much for her to handle.
"S-Serena?" Bea hugged the Kalos blonde tight as she didn't cared about maintaining a brave facade, she burrowed her face into her shoulders as the images of Ash falling down into the abyss began to taunt her. She tightened her grip around Serena when she patted her, a forced smile creeping onto Serena's face.
"Ash would be alright Bea, he will survive! I know he will." It was all false and forced optimism at this point. Bea saw the heartbreaking sight of Serena forcing a smile on her pretty face. Her body unfortunately betrayed her as the clenched fists and the dilated eyes of pain and disbelief began to shook her iris.
"Serena." She gently placed her down next to Misty who busy tending to Dawn. She has not come to terms Ash's death, and in all honesty neither was she. This school trip was suppose to be a fun one, yet everything that could have went wrong, went terribly wrong. A flash of fury and anger boiled Bea's blood as she gritted her teeth, she stood up and stomped her way towards Sabrina and Erika who was being tended by Brawly and the teachers.
"You! Why didn't you save him! You could have saved him!" Sabrina flinched from Bea's outburst as she tried to grab her collar. Brawly managed to hold Bea off, but between the mournful cries of despair and desperation from his student, even he was having a hard time to maintain composure.
"Bea-" Fantina tried her best to calm the young girl down as the rest of the students stared at her in an empathetic manner. The lost of their classmate was hard to accept, so they could only imagine what Bea and the other girls were going through. The bitter and dejected expression on Gary's face echoed the class's sentiments as he held his Squirtle tight to him, heartbroken that his friend of a rival just perished like that.
"Abra can only take two." Sabrina spoke softly, eyeing the snowy ground in front of her. She can't bear to look at Ash's friends in the eyes, knowing full well it was her who indirectly killed Ash. Seeing the pained and guilt-ridden expression on her face, Bea shook her head out of frustration and turned her unbridled anger onto the next person she can blame.
"Then you as the teacher should have sacrifice yourself for your students! How could you let a minor, a student to die for your sake!" Erika clenched her fists and bawled her eyes out on Fantina, feeling the waves of prickling guilt hurting her heart. Ash was arguably one of the nicest students she had, diligent and intelligent, he was a kind young man who had a never ending curiosity of the world around him. To know that he died for her sake was too much for her to bear.
"Bea that's enough!" Brawly violently pulled Bea away, giving her a firm glare to assert his authority as a teacher. He was about to shout at her when Sabrina spoke with her Abra sitting in her lap.
"Ash volunteered to sacrificed himself, he begged me and- I'm so sorry." Bea gritted her teeth as Korrina placed her hand on her shoulder, the Galar native leered at her friend who gave a sympathetic smiled at her. She gave a begrudged sigh and stormed off to cool herself down, not wanting her emotions getting the best of her.
"Idiot, such a stupid idiot." The broken tone from Bea was hard to watch, but the teachers couldn't offered any words of comfort or condolences given her agitated state. Wulfric watched the scene unfold before him in complete cold silence before he received a message from his Xtransceiver. He gave a grunt and walked towards the fighting type specialist, with a firm grip placed on his jacket.
"Brawly, with the weather cleared, I already called for search and rescue. They will escort all of us down the mountains and will start to look for Ash." Brawly looked tired, exhausted from all the physical and mental toll on him. The surfing enthusiasts nodded and patted the old man's shoulder in thanks before he paused, leaning towards him for a whisper.
"Tell me realistically Wulfric, how likely it is for Ash to survive the fall?" The normally cold and calm teacher sighed and spoke softly, not being able to hide his pessimism.
"Extremely unlikely, even if he survived the fall, who knows what inside the cavern deep below? We can barely see anything." Jagged ice spikes and rocky terrain, not mention the hungry pokemon that will feast on Ash and Pikachu's warm flesh. The chances of the boy surviving was next to zero given they can't even see what was below them. It was no man's land so to speak.
"He really has a thing for staying back to help others huh." Wulfric and him walked towards the edge of the cliff, looking down at the very icy abyss that swallowed Ash and his starter alive. They were far away from the students, which was good considering they didn't want to mention his name in front of them.
"He was the kid who stayed behind to fight the Braviary that Oak pissed off right?" Brawly gave a simple nod, placing his hands in his pockets as the gust of frigid wind blew past him.
"Yeah." The two man stood in silence before Wulfric spoke in a stern and unyielding tone.
"Brawly, we need to call his parents." He knew that, but how could he faced Ash's mother after all that? He knew that Ash's mom singlehandedly raised him, so to break the news to her that her son died because he got swept off by an avalanche into a frozen abyss was so cruel. Worst still, if she knew that Ash was the one who volunteered to sacrifice herself, she would probably pinned all the blame onto Erika and Sabrina, despite Ash's willingness to die for others.
"He's mother is a single parent. I can't Wulfric, this- I don't think I can bring myself to break the news to her." Wulfric nodded, he didn't blame him for that. But they have to tell her, to give her some form of closure. There's a very slim chance that Ash might be alive, but the cold temperatures and the fact nightfall would soon approach them seemed to doom what's left of Ash's chances of survival.
'No food, no source of warmth, even if he survive the initial fall, he will freeze and starved to death.' That was a fate worst than death, a fate that Wulfric tried his best not to imagine for the young lad. As the two man stood in silence, a sudden phone call from him made Wulfric smile.
"Yes? The helicopters and riders are inbound? Thank you." Wulfric held his head high and soon heard the sound of the choppers approaching, with the shadows of 8 Staraptors and 4 Corviknight making their way towards them.
"The search and rescuer crew are near, we should get going and recuperate in the inn. The students need rest." Brawly gave a slow nod, not really paying attention to Wulfric's words. He turned to the temple and cursed the fact all this happened because of their persistence on visiting the temple, all of this could have been avoided if only-
'Stop it Brawly, it's too late for that now.' He will beat himself up later, right now he need to steer the reigns of leadership back to him.
"Everyone listen up, a search and rescue team is coming to pick us up, get ready." The students stared at him, with Barry running towards him with a pained expression plastered on his face.
"What about Ash? Are we going to leave him there?" Brawly sighed and nodded, crossing his arms in the process to display authority.
"We will leave it to the rescuers, we are ill equipped to find him." Not able to argue with his logic, Barry felt Tracey's arm around him, pulling him away from doing anything stupid or rash. The rest of the students glanced at the icy abyss where Ash fell, hearing the echoes of Ash crying for help as he fell down to his death.
"I'm not leaving." The sudden shout of determination made everyone turned to Dawn, she held her Buneary in her arms as she started to make her way towards the snowy debris of the avalanche. Such motion made Misty panicked as she grip locked Dawn with the help of Psyduck who used its innate psychic powers to hold her still.
"Dawn-" Misty couldn't bear to see her like this, as she leaned onto her tightly.
"I'm not leaving! Let me go!" She vehemently shouted as the tears started to fall from her eyes again. She wanted to see him again, she wanted to tell him how much she loves him, to hold onto him and never let him go. She would give anything just to see him right in front of her, anything.
"Please, Ash won't want to see you like this." Misty whispered to Dawn, her voice trembling from the emotional toll she was currently experiencing.
"I-I miss him. Why does it have to be him?" The blunette leaned onto Misty and hugged her, sniffling on the nape of her neck as she tighten the hug. The aspiring water type trainer stroke her hair, placing her chin on top of her shoulders as she closed her eyes.
"Please look after her Misty." Brawly spoke in a gentle tone, earning a nod from her. As Korrina witness the scene unfolding before her, she walked towards Sabrina who held her Abra, completely silent and void of any positive emotions.
"Sabrina." The Kalos teen sat next to her, letting her Riolu exchange greetings with her Abra who only waved back out of courtesy, not feeling the mood to socialize or make new friends. The psychic beauty glanced at Korrina and avoided eye contact with her, not being able to look at her in the eyes.
"Korrina, I- I'm so sorry." Korrina smiled and placed her arm around her, pulling her into a side hug. She was the only person other than Erika who comforted her as she knew her classmates blamed her for Ash's death. It was inevitable after all, since she was the one who ordered the command.
"It's alright, Ash was making it easy for you right? By volunteering to sacrifice himself first, it didn't give anyone room to argue back." Everything was happening so fast, there was no doubt that Ash made a split second decision to omit his own life for the sake of others.
"You know him so well." Sabrina spoke softly, leaning onto Korrina's long flowing blonde hair that was now soaked and covered with bits of powdery snow. The roller skating enthusiast smiled and nodded, reminiscing when Ash and her held hands as they skated around the park, smiling and laughing as they skated gleefully.
"Of course, I love him." Sabrina stared at her incredulously, not expecting such bold honesty from her. She felt her eyes watered as she blinked them off, not able to accept that she took away the life of a man that Korrina loved.
"I'm so sorry, I was so scared that if I help my Abra- I could have save all of us." Korrina sighed and pulled her into a full embrace, rubbing her back softly. She didn't blame her, she knew that they were caught in such a horrible situation that self-preservation take precedence over the lives of others.
"There's nothing you could have done Sabrina." Sabrina violently shook her head, she pry Korrina off her and stuttered her words out amidst her crying.
"No, I could have save them! If I wasn't so scared and I calmed my nerves, I could have teleported myself-" Teleport? Right, there was rumours that Sabrina was a psychic seeing that she was able to command her pokemon without needing to speak a single word. But to be able to teleport yourself into anywhere you desire? That seemed far too advanced.
"It's too late to dwell on what could have been different, I just pray and hope that he's okay. I want to believe he's alive, I really do but the chances of him surviving is so low." Korrina didn't bother to hold back her tears as she tried to wipe them off before they can fall, she felt Sabrina leaned onto her, comforting her with her long velvet black hair tangled with Korrina's blonde one.
"Everyone the first chopper is here, get onboard in an orderly manner." Brawly yelled as he placed his hand on his waist, watching the student lining up. He watched as every one of them boarded the chopper with a frown on their face, their initial excitement of this school trip has now been soured. Now, it seemed that there was nothing to look forward to.
Once all the students have boarded the choppers and flying pokemon, Brawly entered the last ride as the chopper began to take off. He surveyed the frozen land beneath him and sighed when he thought about how cold and alone Ash must be, if survive the fall at all.
He shook his head, don't think about that right now. He focused his attention onto the city himself, distracting himself from his failure as a teacher. He widened his eyes when the city seemed to be in a blanket of snow with no cars or vehicles in sight. He reached towards one of the rescuer sitting next to him, tugging his arm as he pointed the city in the distance.
"What's going on here?"
"Half an hour ago a complete whiteout engulfed the city, with a violent hailstorm damaging most of the city's infrastructure." That severe? He knew it was bad, but to think that it shut down a city that frequently deals with blizzards and snowstorms, it was unreal.
"That severe?" The man nodded before giving an excited smile.
"Yes and hear this, Lorelei the Elite 4 of Kanto had arrived at the city too." Lorelei? What is she doing here?
"Why is a member of the Kanto Elite 4 doing here?" The man next to him shrugged, not knowing the details himself.
"I don't know, but there are rumours of her conducting an investigation." This was weird, it's unlike for a member of an Elite 4 to conduct investigations unless something serious happened. This can't be good, not like today was a good day anyway.
"Investigation?"
"Yeah." Seeing that the man didn't know the details himself, Brawly stayed silent as he stared at the frozen mountains in the distance. The rescuer glanced at Brawly before sighing, placing a confident arm on his shoulder.
"Hey, my men are on the search already, we will find the boy don't worry." Brawly was surprised by his words, but he gave an appreciative nod.
"Thank you, I hope he's okay." Brawly whispered as he clenched his fists, he dearly hoped his start student managed to survive the elements and come out unscathed, but that was wishful thinking on his part.
The helicopter finally reached the landing zone, a slow but steady descent allowed Brawly to exit the chopper. He gave his thanks before he entered the inn, smiling when he saw most of the students already resting in their room. He gave a tired sigh and make his way towards Erika who was sitting by herself in the main lobby, holding a cup of hot chocolate in her hand.
"Erika you okay?" The Celadon native smiled and nodded, watching her male colleague sitting next to her. They were barely anyone the lobby since most of the occupants are huddling in their room for warmth and comfort.
"I'm fine." The normally charismatic and laid-back teacher scratched the back of his neck, not knowing what to say to her. He sat upright and stared at the glass chandelier above him, speaking in a soft and melancholic tone.
"It's not your fault." Erika placed her mug on the table, eyeing her mug with a forced smile.
"Hard to believe that when everyone else seemed to think so." Brawly could offer no words consolation.
"I was prepared to die you know? But Ash seemed to managed his composure and found an oppurtunity to escape amid the chaos. I failed as a teacher Brawly." This was perhaps the only time she opened up to him and it was incredibly difficult to tell her that it was okay, that it was not her fault when he himself seemed to agree with the students. Even if it was just a little.
"You were facing death itself, not everyone could have maintain calmness under that pressure." It was true, they were trained to deal with students and pokemon battles, not dealing with avalanches and snowstorms.
"He did." Erika added on, taking off her red headband in the process.
"Ash is a special case." He was a great student, but there was something about him that make him unique. Perhaps it was his calm and collected attitude or his selfless nature, either way Ash was someone he was truly proud of. Erika stared at Brawly before she stood up, with the bang of her hairs covering her eyes.
"Brawly, I want to be the one who break the news to his mother." Brawly shook his head and stood next to her, carefully choosing his words.
"Are you sure? You don't have to feel responsible-" She cut him off, giving him a firm look that showed her stubborn nature.
"It is my responsibility, please." She practically pleaded him at his point. He gave off a frustrated sigh and nodded. He couldn't bear to do it himself anyway, and Erika was people's person, so perhaps she can offer some solace and comfort to Delia.
"Alright." He gulped as he watched her dialed Delia's number, her contact number was writen by Ash as he listed her as his emergency contact. He looked away when the call went through and Erika forced a smile.
"Mrs Ketchum? My name is Erika, Ash's homeroom teacher." He couldn't bear to hear the conversation and excused himself immediately, he stormed outside the inn and tightened his fists, wanting to unleash his frustration in one loud shout when he saw Wulfric standing next to a cloaked woman. Halting him from screaming to the skies so publicly.
"Wulfric hey, uh who's this." The woman went closer to him and unveiled her cloak, revealing a beautiful woman with red scarlet hair.
"Lorelei?" She gave him a nod and place her finger in front of her lips, implying that he should stay quiet.
"I want to keep a low profile, please lower your voice." Brawly gave a sheepish smile and nodded, right she was here for an investigation.
"Sorry." She nodded before she gave a sympathetic smile, holding her hands together.
"It's alright, Wulfric just informed me what had happened. My deepest condolences." She was utterly shocked when Wulfric told her what happened. It was heart wrenching that mystical and beautiful city she once visited is now under the mercy who ruthless blizzards, the very blizzard that was also responsible for the lost a child. It seemed to mark a ominous start to her quest to find Articuno, very tragic indeed.
"Thank you." Seeing that the mood was soured by him, Brawly decided to change the topic.
"Anyway, what are you doing here? There are rumours saying that you are here for an investigation?" Lorelei nodded with her arms crossed feeling the snowflakes decorating her red hair.
"There are rumours already? Sheesh." Wulfric grinned at Lorelei's unamused expression, giving her a cheek grin.
"Well you are a member of an Elite 4 so you know, you make headlines." She can already see the headline, "Kanto Elite 4 visiting Snowpoint during a whiteout!".
"I suppose I can tell you since you are an acquittance of Wulfric. I am here to find Articuno." Brawly blinked, Articuno? As in the legendary pokemon? Why would Lorelei be searching for her in Sinnoh?
"Articuno? The legendary Kanto pokemon?" She only nodded as she pulled her coat tighter to her.
"That's right, she has disappeared without a trace, I'm here to track her down." A legendary pokemon disappearing without a trace, could this day get any more worse?
"I see but why Snowpoint or even Sinnoh to begin with?"
"The sudden increase of blizzards and fluctuation of snowfall is suspicious, especially with Articuno's ability to conjure snowstorms and violent blizzards at a moment's notice." Given Lorelei's speciality is ice types, it was unsurprising she knew of Articuno's powers and behavior.
"So you suspect she's here because of the irregular and erratic weather?"
"Correct." Wulfric stroke his beard and sighed, that would explain his Njal's inability to predict snowstorms.
"That might explain why my Abomasnow can't sense the blizzards during our trek, the blizzards were made by a legendary pokemon." Despite being a pokemon who are known for sensing snowstorms, Legendary pokemon are essentially higher beings compared to the normal conventional pokemon. It was hard to even fathom that Articuno was responsible for creating these horrendous blizzards in the first place, she's a benevolent being who only create snow during the winter to keep the seasonal balance in check.
"But why is she here? It seemed out of place for her to be here." Lorelei smiled at Brawly's question and enlarged her pokeball, releasing her loyal Lapras who stood next to her in a regal manner.
"That's why I'm here to investigate."
Darkness, that was all he could see. The faint echoes of the abyss beckoned him, taunting him to give in to the pain. He's mind went blank from the agony and the numbing sensation coursing through his body. Was this the end? Is he dead? Maybe, the yellow blur in front of him seem to indicate he was- wait yellow?
"Pikapi." He felt something soft and furry touching his cheeks, poking them every now and then. Ash who was slowly regaining his consciousness started to open his eyes gradually, immediately greeted by the sight of his starter smiling at him adorably. In an instant, all source of pain and torment within him disappeared, instead it was replaced by the ray of hope and the warmth of fierce determination. The avalanche, the heartbroken look of despair, the cold helplessness, everything came back to him in full force.
With a groan, Ash sat upright with his eyes finally fully opened. He paused when he felt the movement of all his limbs, and began to thoroughly inspect them to see if there were any signs of major injuries. To his surprise, the very snow that swept him off also cushioned his fall, absorbing most of the blow and force. Still, the fall did cause a few bruises and a few cuts to his legs, nothing a bandage or an antiseptic can't fix. He was surprised that he managed to survive the fall yet it seemed that fate has taken a pity on him.
"Pikachu, are you alright?" It seemed that his starter was mostly unharmed from the fall, which meant he did a great job on absorbing most of the blow and impact. He patted his starter's head, wincing in pain when the numb feeling of his arm began to bite him. He felt his starter nuzzle his hand before he walked towards his bag that were separated from the fall. It was small sling bag that he brought along the mountain hike that had also an emergency kit, it seems that his paranoia seemed to save him once again.
'I guess everyone thinks I'm dead.' There was no doubt that everyone thinks he died from the fall, a terrible thought considering he saw the look of absolute despair on the girls' face before he made the hasty decision to sacrifice himself. He pulled his knees to him with his arms wrapped around it, he could already see the mournful faces on the girls' faces, crying and breaking down over him.
'I will return to all of you alive, I promise. We will even be together, not as friends but as lovers.' With renewed motivation and strength, Ash was determined to make his way back alive to his loved ones and fully return the girls' feelings to them. No more stalling, he would return to them and date all of them at once, no more holding back his own feelings and dragging this situation any more longer. Life was too short for that, as fate has kindly demonstrated by punishing his indecisiveness.
He forcefully snapped himself back to reality, he could think about the girls later. Right now, he has to focus on surviving. He stared at the sling bag before asking Pikachu to bring the bag to him as his wounds didn't allow him to move freely.
'Thank goodness I brought this.' Pikachu grabbed the bag with his mouth, dragging it across the frozen floor towards him. Ash nodded in thanks and quickly went through his bag, a bright smile creeping onto his face when he felt the familiar shape of the first aid kit in his bag. Without a moment to spare, he took out the life saving kit and began to apply first aid onto his wounds, with the disinfectant and bandages working its magic on his wounds.
As Ash rummage through the rest of his bag, he noticed that a pokeball was in it. He was confused at first before he slapped himself in the face, earning a piercing pain on his injured arms.
"Ouch damn it, Rockruff." He should be careful with any sudden movements for the time being. He slowly took the pokeball out from his bag, feeling sense of guilt and regret stirring up his chest. If only he didn't bring him along, he won't have to be stuck with him in this icy cavern. With a reluctant sigh, he called out the Rock type who instantly barked at him cheerfully, oblivious to the change of environment and mood.
"Hey Rockruff, I'm sorry I didn't let you out earlier, but as you can see, we're kinda stuck down here." The Alolan pokemon began to sniff the air, whimpering when he can't sense anyone familiar aside from his trainer and his starter. Speaking of Pikachu, the electric mouse tilted his head in a curious manner, wondering who is this fellow who popped out from his trainer's bag.
"Ah I forgot to introduce you guys, Pikachu this is Rockruff, the pokemon Dawn and I saved." The electric beamed a smile and nodded, Ash had told him the story of Eterna, but the little mouse has personally never seen a Rockruff before, so this was actually quite exciting. The two exchanged greetings, happy that they finally get to meet with each other.
"Sorry that you two are stuck with me." His two pokemon waved him off, nuzzling his leg as a sign of affection and loyalty. The trainer from Kanto smiled in an emotional manner and hugged the two pokemon in his arms with his eyes closed, feeling blessed to have such loyal friends that would stand by him.
"Thanks guys." Ash let the two go as he began to get his footing straight. He found himself being able to stand upright with minimum resistance coming from his wounds. He slung his bag across his chest once he placed the first aid kit back into the bag, and began to make his way towards the dark caverns.
Frigid, dark and sinister, Ash knew he can't crawl his way back up as he lacked the tools or even the energy to make the strenuous climb. Instead, Ash knew he can only push forward with his two pokemon walking next to him. Despite his ominous and precarious situation, Ash found himself enchanted by the icy cave that had jagged icicles hanging on the ceiling above him, with what little light being refracted by the ice.
"It looks like the ice caves in Hoth." He chuckled to himself, hoping to keep his own spirits and mood up by talking to himself. He dearly hoped he doesn't run into some snow monster or yeti that wants to eat him alive. Abomasnow are herbivores but who knows what other pokemon lurks in these deep caves, where researchers and scientists had not yet discovered or explored.
Pushing himself forward, Ash began to look around the icy caverns that he was trapped in. The structural formation of the cave was peculiar, normally there should be multiple opening or routes in a cavern, but this one seemed linear and straightforward. It was as if someone or something decided to make a path for easy access, and Ash wasn't keen on finding out who was responsible for this.
"Rockruff do you sense anything?" His puppy shook his head as there was no foreign scent aside from just the 3 of them, it gave off a small sneeze as he wasn't used to these frigid temperature. Pikachu smiled and began to share his red scarf with the rock type, wrapping themselves in red in an almost adorable manner.
"Hehe you two." He picked the two pokemon up in his arms, placing Pikachu on his shoulder as always as he held Rockruff in his arms. He didn't mind the extra weight and he would much prefer the body warmth from his pokemon. It was surprising that his arms didn't hurt when picking the two rascals up, maybe it was because he's arms had fully recovered?
'I guess my body is used to pain.' Man it sounded way edgier than he thought.
The trio trudged through the snow, well mainly Ash since the other two were getting a free ride from their trainer. The eerie silence and darkness of the cavern was indeed scary, but Ash found himself more fascinated than scared given the different and amazing ice formation of the cave. Icebergs submerged in freezing waters and weirdly shaped glaciers surrounded him, it was as if someone decorated the ice caves and carved the ice around him.
'Is it getting warmer?' Instead of the freezing cold that would give him hypothermia, Ash was feeling cool rather than cold. Were they close to something warm? They can't be near a surface right since the cold wind from the outside should be blowing in, lowering the temperature of the caves rather than increasing it. So it was perplexing at why temperature of the cave is changing.
'Just how far down did I fall?' He stopped walking when he noticed an alteration of the ice floors beneath him, he knelt down and touched the icy floor, feeling his hand going numb just by touching it. This was odd, there was no sign of powdery snow gathering on top, instead he was standing on a smooth icy surface that had no signs of cracks. Perhaps they weren't alone in this cave, an unsettling thought no doubt.
Ash pushed past those thoughts and began to continue walk forward, halting when he saw something metallic in a distance. He narrowed his eyes and noticed the different rocks and ice outside of the metallic gate. It was huge in size, suitable for vehicles to exit it even. Fortified by reinforced steel, it seemed like an impenetrable fortress from this distance, which made Ash wary that the cave he stumbled upon might not be as simple as it looked.
He cautiously walked behind the icy rocks, peeking at the huge metal door. He analyzed the door and found something protruding next to the gate, with the frozen walls of the gates seemed to host something mechanical. The most logical conclusion was perhaps a security camera. Deciding to test his theory, he placed his two pokemon down and placed his finger in front of his lips, implying that all of them should be as quiet as possible.
"Pikachu, can you sense the electrical energy from the gate?" Electric type pokemon can easily locate and detect power sources, so chances are Pikachu can guess what kind of electrical component that is protruding from the gate. His starter gave a firm military salute and focused on sensing the electrical energy of the gates, within seconds he turned to Ash and had a small worried frown plastered on his face.
"Is it something bad?" Pikachu open his arms widely, which indicated that this gate might just be a small mechanical piece of a larger contraption. Ash frowned before he placed his arm on top of he knee, gathering his thoughts in the process.
"Is that thing there a camera?" His starter nodded vigorously, which confirmed Ash's suspicion that he encounter a base of some sorts that was heavily guarded. He was willing to bet that the people behind the gates wouldn't accept him with open arms, even if he was just a defenseless student. I mean an underground facility under an icy cavern? Sounds like the lair of a supervillain in some generic spy movie.
'We're going to freeze to death if we stay out here much longer.' He didn't bring any food either, it took a lot his energy from trekking through the blizzard and waking through the caves, so he had to take his chances. Given that Pikachu sensed that this base is still operating, Ash wondered if there was anyone was operating this place.
'Trespassing huh.' Without a moment to spare, Ash conjured a plan. He had to sneak pass the camera and reach the gates, but it would be difficult given that the open area in front of the gate made it impossible for him to walk pass the camera undetected. Unless, he uses Pikachu's extremely versatile ability Light Screen.
"Pikachu can you use Light Screen and bend the light intensity to make it invisible?" The idea behind augmenting Light Screen was to ensure that the 3 of them would appear invisible behind the wall that mirrored the surrounding background. Sort of like a camouflage makes them invisible in front of the camera.
His starter scratched his head over the complicated command but nodded nevertheless, he would have never predicted that learning Light Screen can be so useful and advantageous, from blocking attacks to saving lives of others, it seemed that he had to thank Riolu again for honing his mental powers. With a glow of his eyes, Pikachu conjured a normal Light Screen that slowly became transparent. Ash smiled at his starter's effort and encouraged him to keep trying until finally, he couldn't see his starter behind the Light screen.
"No way." In an excited manner, Ash walked behind his Pikachu and found him channeling the barrier in front of him. He paced back and forth, not able to see his starter through the barrier as it blended with the surroundings. He grinned and hugged his starter with Rockruff nuzzling him to praise him.
"Good job, let's give it a shot." Pikachu nodded and focused his mental powers again, creating the Camouflage Screen that render them pretty much invisible to anyone who sees them from the front. The trio slowly make their way towards the gate, with Pikachu raising his hands to channel the screen against the camera in the process, perfectly masking them behind the screen. Once they reached a blind spot where the camera can't detect them, Ash gave his starter a thumbs up and Pikachu stop conjuring the barrier, giving a tired sigh in the process.
Now it was his turn to do the work, Ash grazed his hands against the gate, feeling the cold metallic surface on his finger tips. He glanced at the main lock of the gate and furrowed his eyebrows, realizing that he might have to rely on Pikachu again. If he can manually short circuit and hijack the system with his electrical abilities, they can have easy access. But unfortunately, only Rotoms and Magnetons are capable of such hacking.
'Damn, I can't get in.' Ash was running out of options here, he thought he could easily open the door with some secret switch or something. Perhaps the camera has something to do with access, only allowing people with clearance to enter? As Ash browse through his mind to figure out an idea, the door suddenly opened which caused all of them to hide behind the opening door.
"You sure the camera sensed something? There's nothing here." The gruff voice of the two men made Ash gasped. The attire they wore gave him the flashback of the Galactic grunts who attacked Dawn in Eterna, there was no doubt about it, these two individuals before him were members of Team Galactic.
"Yeah the sensors went crazy." The two walked outwards, far way from the door as they stood in front of the rocks where Ash and his pokemon once hid. They glanced around their surroundings in search of anyone who went pass the camera with their pokeballs enlarged in their hands. Seeing the golden oppurtunity, Ash and his pokemon slipped passed the grunts and entered metallic gates, taking the risks that no one else would be behind the door. Their prayers seemed to be answered when Ash found himself in what seemed to be a vehicle bay with multiple snowmobiles displaying in front of him.
As Ash was about to breath a sigh of relief, the distance footsteps from outside started to come closer. His pokemon and him quickly entered a random storage room that had dusty box and shelves, closing the door silently in the process. With that tense moment over, his pokemon and him gave off a much needed sigh as they leaned against each other.
'Team Galactic, this place is run by Team Galactic!' He couldn't believe it, why is his luck so bad today? Does fate love screwing around with him? Its bad enough that he got swept off by an avalanche and fall down to an icy cavern, now he has to infiltrate a terrorist base too? Call him Solid Snake because that's what Ash is feeling right now! He regulated his breathing as he recomposed himself, not wanting to freak out in front of his pokemon. He held the two pokemon and gave them a determined look, which indicated that things were about to get serious.
"I think we ended in a more dangerous situation than we thought." His two pokemon nodded, feeling worried that they might get caught by the Galactics. They can't hide in this store room forever, who knows if a grunt might just casually walk in just to get supplies?
"We have to take risks, I think we should explore this place." Normally Ash would have laid low and wait for a rescue, but given the harsh blizzards and the fact people might thank he was dead, he knew he can't sit around and wait. Besides, he highly doubt anyone would know that Team Galactic had a base of operation here, given that he had to fall down to the icy abyss just to stumble upon them.
"Rockruff, Pikachu, don't hold on back on your attacks alright? Go all out." As much as Ash like to play the stealth game, he knew that he was bound to get caught sooner or later. By security cameras or by grunts who happened to pass by, so Ash was willing to go all out this time, their lives was at stake here. The two pokemon nodded with Pikachu cackling its cheeks while Rockruff brandished its sharp fangs. With the support from his pokemon, Ash looked around him and noted the wooden broomstick next to him. He took off the handle and twirled it around, using it as a makeshift staff for the time being.
"Alright let's do this." He took off his winter coat since the entire base was well insulated and heated, donning his light blue hoodie that Ash packed as his spare clothing. Once he stuffed his winter clothes into his sling bag, Ash took the broom handle and slowly opened the door, slinging the bag across his chest with his two pokemon walking next to him. With the coast cleared from any grunts, Ash and his pokemon quickly run out of the storage room, following the random corridors that lead him to somewhere.
Amidst his running, he began to looked around the entire facility of this place that hosts an impressive amounts of provisions and equipment. He managed to steer clear from any awkward run in with anyone when he suddenly turned around a corner.
"Wait who-" Before the man even had a chance to finish his sentence, Ash swung the staff onto his head with such force that it instantly knock him out. Without a moment to spare, he began to search around his body and attempted to find some place secluded so he can wear the man's clothes and used it as a makeshift disguise. Unfortunately for the young trainer, he realized that the man's clothing were far too large for him. So that plan were threw outside of the window.
But not all hope is lost when Ash saw a keycard hanging on the man's belt, he unhooked the keycard and placed it in his pocket for the time being, seeing that maybe he can gain access to restricted areas. He dragged the man's body to a room that had a locker in it, tossing him inside of it and locking it shut. Hopefully, that someone would eventually find him but right now Ash couldn't careless.
'Alright calm down Ash, calm down.' He felt his nerves crept onto him, this was all real. He was inside Team Galactics' base. He felt his limbs shake from the fear and nervousness when his two pokemon nuzzled his legs, reassuring him that everything would be okay as long they are together.
'That's right, my pokemon is with me.' He doubled down his courage and proceed to walk around the premise in a cautious manner. It was odd that no one had caught him yet since he was sure he passed by the security cameras a dozen of times now. Come to think about it, for being an terrorist base that wants to recreate the world, they sure have a lack of members. Where is everyone?
'Holiday?' Bad guys can have holidays too right? Given that it is the month of August where most companies and schools are off, maybe team Galactic were chilling as well? It sounds ludicrous but they are still humans who needed rest and relaxation, so it wasn't too farfetched to think they are off duty.
He sighed inwardly as he reached for the keycard in his pocket, fidgeting it in his hands. He read the name inscribed onto the card, stating "FROZEN WINGS". It was an odd name for a room name, in fact it sounds more like a name you will give to a secret project you are working on. Deciding that the room Frozen Wings would be a good start to unravel what the hell is going on, Ash managed to navigate the entire facility through the help of the many directory plastered around the walls of the facility. It honestly look liked a large office more so than an terrorist facility, especially when Ash took a few croissants and muffins from the nearby pantry.
'This feels weird.' The once tense and jumpy mood Ash had was now gone. Due to the lack of grunts, Ash found himself navigating through the facility quite smoothly. He avoided most of the main areas such as the resting quarters or barracks, and instead stick to the more quiet areas. The maze like corridors were confusing, but it also gave Ash the edge of not being spotted from afar since they have to turn the corner to spot him. He munched on the last of the pastries, giving some of them to his pokemon who devoured it whole as they too were tired and hungry.
Amidst the resting, Ash heard the multitude of footsteps coming from the hallway, which make him and the rest of his pokemon to hide behind the counter. His two pokemon were ready to jump at anyone who approached them, but Ash steeled their nerves for the time being, they still have the element of surprise and elusiveness by their side.
"So what do you guys think about the Rockets?" Ash could clearly hear their conversation, so he decided to focus his hearing and listen in. By Rockets, Ash assumed the nefarious Team Rocket from Kanto, which was perplexing at why they were mentioning them.
"Ugh bunch of assholes, they think they are better than us."
"I thought some of the girls looked hot." Ash couldn't deny or agree with that, but he did think some of their attire seemed too revealing.
"True, they do have some sexy agents." The lecherous laughs was all he could hear before they spoke in a serious manner.
"But you think that this would last? I mean Charon has make it clear that our goal is to find the creation trio." Charon? Who the hell is that? Seems like someone from the higher up, given that he seemed to be giving out orders.
"Yeah but hey they gave us Articuno though, quite surprised by that." Gave them Articuno? Team Rocket just casually gave Team Galactic the legendary Kanto pokemon Articuno? This was ridiculous yet they didn't sound drunk or intoxicated.
"What do you think they are planning? They won't give us Articuno for nothing." It seems that grunts shared his sentiments.
"It's a mutual offer, but only the higher up knows about it. We're just grunts, we know shit."
"True. Where the hell is Hans? He's supposed to meet us here."
"That prick became a pompous ass since he got promoted, he even has access to the Articuno project."
"Frozen Wings right?" At the mention of the name, Ash glanced down at the Keycard and realized there was name card attached to it, he read it and smiled to himself in amusement when it read "Hans Ferdil". It seemed that the person he knocked out was the one who has recent access to the Articuno project. It was extremely worrying though, given that Ash adored and respected the legendary birds of Kanto, just like any good Kantonese would.
"Yeah." Frozen Wings, that name was so obvious now that Ash thinks about it. He was about to readjust himself when the Public Address system started to blare, surprising Ash as he almost hit his head against the counter.
"All Red Dwarfs members, please report to the main hall immediately. I repeat, all Red Dwarfs members, please report to the main hall immediately." Red Dwarf? Maybe it was a division or a rank in the organisation?
"Damn it, they are going to give the boring ass speech again aren't they."
"Yep, come on, don't want to pissed off Saturn now do we?" He heard the sound of the chairs being lifted as the grunts began to walk off, with their footsteps growing more distant by the second. With the silence setting in, Ash raised his head and peaked at the pantry, relived that the coast was clear. He stood upright and lead his pokemon out in a cautious manner, holding onto the keycard in his hand.
'I need to find out what's this Frozen Wing project is about.' To Ash, saving one of the legendary birds of Kanto shouldn't even be a question. He knew full well the effects of Articuno's absence and how it can devastate the economy and livelihood of Kanto. It was part of his social responsibility to ensure that the once frozen wings, would be freed again.
Misty stared at the snowy alpine trees from the balcony of her room, lifelessly watching the Starlies flying in the distance. Clear skies, that was all she could see at the moment, yet it was mere hours ago where she experienced the worst snowstorm of her life. A snowstorm that would forever changed her life forever. She rubbed her hands together, remembering the times where Ash would interlocked his fingers with hers as they walked along the streets of Eterna, or whenever they would walk home after dinner. She smiled at herself, savouring the happy memories she had with the boy from Pallet.
"Misty, I'm done showering." She turned around and frowned at Korrina. She seemed to be in a lot of pain, her bubbly and happy personality she is known for is all gone. The Kalos blonde sat on her bed, with her Riolu curling next to her depressingly. He whimpered every now and then, his best friend and sparring partner has now perished along with his trainer, a thought that churned his stomach in the worst way possible.
"Alright." She hesitated to enter the showers, she make one last glance at Dawn who was huddling in one corner with Bea comforting her. It was arranged by their teachers that all 5 of them should stay together, as they knew how important Ash was to them. They didn't state their relationship with him, but some how they knew.
"I can't believe it, he was right there and all of a sudden, he was gone." The weak and distressed tone from Dawn was heartbreaking to watch, she had broken down countless time today, not even eating the hot meals that the inn prepared for them. It made Bea feel powerless that she can't cheer up her friends, and the fact she couldn't do anything to save Ash as well. She was trying to be strong, not showing any signs of weakness, but anyone could tell that his death had affected her as well.
"I know." Bea nuzzled Dawn's shoulder, squeezing her tighter as her Clobbopus tried to cheer the rest of his friends up, but alas, Buneary, Riolu, Psyduck and Fenniken didn't even bat an eye. They lost a valuable friend and a loved one, which hurt them way more when they realized that Pikachu volunteered to stay behind with his trainer. Truly, the two were match made in heaven.
"Rockruff is with Ash, he's- I should have left him with my mom and-" Bea blinked to stop her red eyes from crying, she knew full well that Dawn was very attached to the little puppy and now she was blaming herself for giving Ash the pokeball, which consequently lead him to be perished with his trainer. Amid the tense and solemn atmosphere, Serena entered the room with her fists clenched. She managed to stood aside when Ash's mom entered the room, causing all the girls to stand up.
"Mrs Ketchum." Korrina couldn't imagine the pain and the trauma Delia was going through, to know that your son died because he stayed behind to help others was hard to accept. His kind hearted nature seemed to bite him back, with fate punishing him for his heroic and moralistic nature.
"Hey girls." Delia sat on the bed as the girls stood in front of her as they stared at the floor, unable to look after his mother in the eye. The sound of showering stopped and when Misty exited the shower clad in her casual clothing, she almost dropped the towel when she saw Ash's mom staring at her with a forced smile.
"Mrs Ketchum." She gave Misty a nod as she placed her hands on her lap, knowing that Ash's death was hard for them to accept as well. She started to crack and embraced all of them into a tight hug, crying her eyes out when the images of her son smiling and laughing started to flashed before her eyes.
"I m-miss him so much!" All 5 of them managed to return the hug, crying along with her as they seek solace and comfort with each other. They missed him, the warm smile, the beautiful hazel eyes and the charming and supportive attitude that soothed their worries and anxiety, everything about him they loved was now gone. No more corny puns, no more skating sessions and no more hangouts like they used to. It was painful to accept that he was gone when it was just a few hours ago, they saw him gawking at their winter clothing with the cute red blush on his cheeks.
"He loves all of you." Misty felt her eyes burn from all the crying, Arceus she needed to hear that. She want to hear those words coming from Ash's mouth, caressing and holding her to him as he whispered sweet nothings to her. Yet right now, she would never have the chance to experience that.
"We know Mrs Ketchum, all of us loved him too." Korrina was shocked that his mother knew about their situation, but given their closeness, she wasn't surprised. She thought she would be upset at their relationship yet she seemed supportive and kind. Perhaps this was where Ash got her kindhearted nature from.
Delia pulled back from the embrace and wiped her tears, giving a cheerful smile to mask her mournful lost of her son.
"Ash, he won't want to see us like this." She knew him well, if he saw them like this, he would be upset that he caused so much pain and grief to them. He would want all of them to be happy, to move on from his death and to live their lives to their fullest.
"You're right, he would want us to be happy and moved on right?" Dawn wiped the tears from her eyes, she could imagine him smiling at them, reassuring them that he would be with him so as long the never forget about him. He would watch over them, she know so. The girls calmed their emotions and held their hands together for a sense of solidarity, wanting to live fully for Ash's sake.
Amid their emotional conversation, their room door was slammed wide opened by their coordinator teacher Fantina. She panted and placed her hands on her legs that wobbled from exhaustion, any more running and she feel like she could pass out.
"Girls! Mrs Ketchum, we need to leave now!" The girls stared at each other, confused over what was happening as it seemed like an emergency. Why do they need to leave?
"What's going on?" Delia was the first person to ask as she stood up and stared at the teacher.
"There's explosions coming from the mountains, we fear that the shockwaves and aftershocks would create huge avalanches that would crush the city. We need to evacuate now!" Could this day get any more worse? The lost of the boy their love and now an avalanche that seemed to be hellbent on destroying the city. Serena wanted to laugh, at this point she didn't mind dying to an avalanche, anything to be with her beloved Ash. Perhaps this was their fate, fate brought them together, reunited them and forcefully tore them apart at the very last second. How cruel.
"I know this is a hard time for you girls but please your safety is paramount. Come on." Fantina knew that the girls were extremely attached to Ash given that Brawly and Erika had mentioned about their "special" relationship. She didn't wish to pry in that now as she needed them to cooperate with her. They reluctantly nodded as they took the essentials with them and ran off with their teacher, with the rest of the classmates already gathered at the main lobby.
"Mr Brawly what's going on? Why is there explosions?" Clemont managed to muster his courage and ask his teacher what the hell is going on. Were they under attack? Some mining operation that went wrong?
"I don't know, they are all coming from the old abandoned laboratory on the mountain near the Snowpoint temple." Brawly crossed his arms, why is this happening? Unexpected whiteouts, the lost of a student, Articuno's disappearance and now explosions? This was all too much for him to handle all at once. He glanced at his students and waited for other teachers, they have to evacuate immediately but not without everyone being present.
"Fantina are all the students here?" The flamboyant teacher nodded, recovering her breath from all the running around. Going door to door and evacuating students were such a tedious task.
"Alright everyone let's head up to the higher grounds!" He lead all of them out of the inn, watching the slush of snow making its way towards the city, seemingly wishing to wipe the city out in one feel swoop. Trees were uprooted and the small glaciers and snow that were in the path of the avalanches bolstered the power and force of the white death.
"Everyone head to the higher grounds now!" Brawly ran upwards the slope of higher grounds, stopping almost immediately when the students failed to follow him. What are they doing? They have to get up now! Anymore stalling and the avalanche would consume them whole-
"It stopped." He couldn't believe his eyes, the avalanched that seemed to out for their souls suddenly stopped midway, almost as if an invisible force were holding it in place. The snow and debris that went along with it slowly sink down towards the ground, merging with the snowy terrain in the process. With the avalanched settled, the once imminent destruction of the city was now eliminated at a moment's notice.
Lorelei slowly walked forward, her mouth agape at what just happened. She turned to the mountain and laboratory where the explosions came, perplexed at what or who could have done something like this.
'No one had the power to do this, except-' To be able to stop powerful avalanches as if it was nothing can be only done by a few pokemon, and given a certain legendary's disappearance, Lorelei knew full well who is responsible for saving Snowpoint from its destruction.
"W-What is that flying in the distance?" One of the citizen pointed in the distance, alerting Lorelei as she followed his finger. Her eyes gleamed in emotion when she saw the familiar silhouette flying in the distance, she closed her mouth with both of her hands, unable to contain her excitement and joy at the sight of the majestic pokemon.
"Articuno!" Brawly turned to Lorelei and was thoroughly surprised that a mature woman like her gave off an excited squeak of joy. He squinted his eyes and widened them once he noticed the similarity of the shape.
'Something is on top of Articuno.' He narrowed his eyes, he can barely make out the shape from this distance but he could see something or someone on top of her, as she flew in the skies in all of her majestic glory.
"Hariyama foresight on Articuno." His faithful starter nodded and glowed his eyes, peering onto the flying pokemon with enhanced vision. It gave an audible gasp of shock before smiling, clapping his hands together as it began to jump up and down, which was rare for his disciplined and steadfast pokemon.
"What is it?" Brawly smiled in amusement when his starter became so excited, he didn't know what he saw but seeing his Hariyama like this was undeniable adorable. It began to point at the avalanche before pointing towards Sabrina and Erika, in those respective order.
It was like playing a game of charades when it comes to pokespeech, but Brawly's lips curled upwards when he realized what his starter was saying.
"Avalanche, Sabrina? Erika- wait, is it Ash?!" The mere mention of his name caused everyone to turn to him, Delia held onto Dawn and she stared at Brawly, not believing her ears.
"He's alive?" His starter nodded vigorously, pleased that his trainer finally understood him. The look of absolute relief and cheers of joy coming from his classmates came in full force as the Ash's girls grinned at each other, intertwining their hands together at the news of Ash's status.
'He's alive, Ash is alive.' Delia felt the crashing wave of relief down her as she gave a ragged breath. She felt her head spin at the rollercoaster of emotion she was feeling, the comforting hands of Ash's companions clasped hers as they smiled with tears of joys in their eyes, a sentiment and emotion she was experiencing as well.
"You're not joking right Hariyama?" Brawly held his starter's hands, feeling the sincerity coming from him as he nodded with his eyes closed in glee. Brawly grinned and cheered, throwing his professional attitude as a teacher and fist pumped in the air, causing the rest of his students to follow suit.
"Ash is alive! He's alive! He's riding on top of a legendary pokemon!" The sudden wave of realization what Ash was doing made everyone turned to Articuno's direction, shocked at how Ash managed to survive from the fall and ride on top of Articuno so freely.
Ash cautiously made his way towards the Frozen Wings room, following the path of the wide corridors. It was fortunate that most of the remaining active grunts are in the main hall for their supposed speech. So Ash had the perfect oppurtunity to roam around the facility and make false turns without being punished by it. His footsteps quickened when he saw a large glass sliding door in the distance with a keycard panel locked next to it. The young trainer grinned before running towards the door, sliding in the keycard without any hesitation.
As the glass sliding doors opened, Ash felt his knees weakened when he saw the huge frozen capsule that held Articuno in some form of cryostasis. She seemed to be sleeping as it was indicated by the complicated machine that monitored her condition, with a tubes of fluids providing supplements to Articuno. Cautiously, Ash and his pokemon approached the sleeping legendary and placed his hand on the capsule, feeling angry and bitter that people who have the nerves and audacity to imprison such a majestic pokemon.
He's anger and fury subsided quickly when he heard footsteps behind him, causing Ash and his two pokemon to hide behind the numerous machines that helped imprisoned the legendary ice type. With the sound of the glass door opened, Ash steeled himself for a bitter conflict that would inevitably happen.
"Majestic, simply majestic." Ash peeked through the small gap between the machines, seeing 3 people standing in front of Articuno's icy prison. There was an old man with a weird haircut marveling at Articuno's icy imprisonment, he raised both his hands up as if he was doing some form of worship, rejoicing at the fact a powerful legendary is under his grasp. The man gave a triumph smile and placed his hands behind his back, assuming a more professional pose that was fitting for a researcher like him.
"It is isn't? To think Giovanni would give us Articuno." A younger man spoke with a confident smirk, he had blue hair and a weirdly shaped haircut. However, Ash was more interested in the comment he made, Giovanni? The head honcho of Team Rocket? So those grunts in the pantry weren't bluffing after all, Team Rocket and Team Galactic are working with each other. It's horrible to think that the two infamous criminal organisation are working with each other, even if the alliance seemed to be uneasy.
"We have to be wary of Giovanni, he is a businessman after all. He doesn't give away things for free."
"What does he want from us you reckon?" Ash was curious as well, he glanced at his two pokemon who were listening intently, careful to hide behind the giant machines given the colour of their body was a stark contrast to the dull design of the machines.
"He wants our technology, Xemus's conduit." Xemus's conduit? What the hell is that? Conduit is typically used when transporting or siphoning sources of energy, so maybe it has something to do with it?
"So he wants to strengthen his forces?"
"The supposed deal was that he would give us Articuno and allow us to study it, in return we will give him the conduit or at the very least, blueprints of it." A trade offer huh? Interesting.
"Artificial enhancements are Rocket's expertise, why does he want our technology?" Team Rocket is known for a few things, wicked experiments on pokemon, dealing with the black market, and forcefully abducting rare and unique pokemon. All these elements combined made them notorious and feared, enough to make Ash wish that all Rockets members to die from a painful death.
"Because they lack the tools or the creativity. While Mewtwo is their most successful experiment, their scientists have not unlock the secrets to siphon the powers of legendary beasts. This is where we come in." Mewtwo? Who's Mewone then? Unless they are talking about the legendary pokemon Mew, but that was just a myth. There's no way Mew exist in this world, it was just a fable right?
"Even with just a small fraction of a legendary's power, we can even rival Cynthia supposed unstoppable Garchomp." He didn't doubt their words, the power of a legendary pokemon is highly revered. While Cynthia's Garchomp is a pseudo-legendary, Ash doubt that it would be an easy victory for the Mach pokemon.
"That's right we can make that champion our bitch." The sheer audacity of these people, Ash's anger boiled as he narrowed his eyes in disgust. He would order his two pokemon to unleashed their attacks onto them had it not been the fact he was stuck in a terrorist base. It was not a surprised that Ash looks up to Cynthia just like many of his friends, beautiful, strong and kindhearted, she was the perfect role model for future trainers like him. So for anyone to degrade or humiliate her was treachery at the highest level.
As the two commanding officers were laughing, one of the scientist overseeing the machine turned to them with a worried expression on his face.
"Sir, the machine is currently operating at 78% capacity." The younger commander widened his eyes in shock before pushing the scientist away and glanced at power graph displayed on the monitor. It seemed that while they were successful at containing Articuno, they were also putting a huge strain on the facility's power and resources.
"78%? Wasn't it 63% before?" The scientists nodded in a fearful manner as his commander barked at him.
"Incredible, even when dormant, Articuno's powers are still as potent as ever." The older commander grinned, seemingly unfazed by the threat. To think that Articuno has such powers even when dormant was amazing, her frost powers would indeed be a wonderful addition to their arsenal.
"Can the machine contain her?" The silence from the scientist made the younger man glare at him.
"Answer me damn it!" The loud and commanding tone made him shook his head in a terrified manner.
"A-At this rate, she might overload the machine and break the capsule." This was interesting news to Ash, if the machine was utilizing every ounce of power it has to contain Articuno in a state of cryostasis, what say if he manually shut down the machine? Would Articuno be awakened? Maybe he can free her after all.
"She has already drastically changed the climate of Snowpoint, if this keeps going on, the entire city would be buried in snow." So this was the reason why there was an abundance of snowfall and unpredictable blizzards! It was because of Articuno imprisonment. But that still doesn't explain why it only affected Snowpoint and not the very base they were on. Could it perhaps be tied to the machine? It was all so confusing yet somehow, it made sense.
"To think that even our technology can't contain Articuno's powers, remarkable."
"Charon, we need to figure out a way to contain her. If not, all of us will die." Charon? So the old man is called Charon huh? Interesting, why does Ash feel like he heard his name before? Oh wait, that was the name mentioned by the grunts in the pantry.
"Don't worry, Xemus's conduit is currently on its way from our Veilstone headquarters." Veilstone headquarters? Just how many base of operations does the Galactics have?
"But the blizzard might delay its arrival." It seemed that the very blizzard they assaulted Snowpoint with, came to bite them back in the ass now. With a frustrated grunt, the weirdo with blue hair turned to his timid scientist and barked his words out.
"Can this machine contain Articuno for another 3 days?" Seeing the reluctant nod from the poor man, Ash knew that they weren't confident with the machine's capabilities.
"Good, once we begin to drain her powers, she would no longer pose a threat." It was starting to make sense now, they are planning to drain Articuno's powers to enhance their own Galactic pokemon. Artificially enhancing their abilities with Articuno's frozen essence. Snowpoint also happens to be the home of ice type pokemon, so it was no coincidence that they choose Snowpoint as their headquarters.
Suddenly, the sound of a Charon's phone ringing alerted everyone in the room. He picked the phone up and gulped when he saw the caller's ID, which Ash presumed it was someone he feared or respected. The old man placed the phone to his ear, standing straight in the process.
"Hello? Yes, very well." The blue haired man stared at the older man with his arms crossed.
"Who is it?"
"Cyrus, he wants an update of Articuno." Cyrus? There's only one Cyrus he knew and it was the successful and charismatic businessman of Sinnoh who helped build public libraries and fund underprivileged children and pokemon. Influential, kind and intelligent, Ash was beginning to wonder if it was all just a farce to mask his real intentions and nefarious goals.
"Another meeting?" The exasperated voice from the man was evident to the ears.
"This time the meeting is chaired with Giovanni, so watch your mouth and don't say anything to piss him off."
"Fine, fine, but I swear that man hates me." The two men began to exited the room, with the scientist breathing sigh of relief as he leaned onto his chair to monitor the machine imprisoning Articuno.
"Saturn everyone hates you." Saturn? Why are these names so weird? Ash shook his head, he can think of that later. Right now, he has the ample oppurtunity to set Articuno free since only the scientist remained and given his timid and cowardly nature, maybe Ash can hustle his way through. He glanced at his two pokemon and nodded, holding onto the broom stick handle before appearing from the machine, with Pikachu perched onto his shoulder.
"Hi there." The man glanced at Ash and waved to him before widening in realization that a child is in the room with him. Before he could do anything Rockruff summoned a row of rock bullets in the air, ready to fire the barrage of sharp rock pebbles to the man if he tries anything.
"Shut down the machine, or else I will order the attack." The scientist put on a brave face and crossed his arms with a smile on his face. He intimidated by a kid? Get out of here. He was a grown man for Arceus sake, this kid only has first form pokemon.
"You won't dare." The cold and unfazed look on Ash's began to slowly break away his brave facade, he won't dare right? He's just a kid, he won't dare to hurt a human like him.
"You really want to test me?"
"Young child, you are delusional if you think-" Ash was not playing games, and if this man thinks he won't dare to hurt others because of his moralistic nature, think again.
"Fire one shard." He swiftly ordered the command, causing Rockruff to fire shard at the man's shoulders, drawing a piercing scream of pain from him. It did worried Ash if other people on the outside could hear him, but given he essentially had the man as his hostage, they won't try anything drastic on him if they do found out.
"Did it hurt? I bet it did huh." The tone of mockery from Ash made the man squirmed, he hold onto his bleeding wound and stood a good distance away from the young teen, realizing that the teenager before him wasn't playing games and was willing to deliver a world of pain to him.
"A-Alright stop, I will do what you say." Ash narrowed his eyes, he may be kind but he wasn't naïve. He knew that this man would taking any chance he can get to screw him over, so Ash decided to add on another layer of intimidation.
"Try anything funny and Pikachu would be shocking you instead." The adorable electric mouse sparked his cheeks, with the high voltage of electricity flickering around his body. The scientist held his hand up in a surrender motion and nodded, fully submitting to Ash. He's only pokeball was not far from him, but he only had a Magneton that wasn't trained for combat, so chances are the kid can beat him with his two unevolved pokemon.
"Okay okay, calm down. No need to be violent." The man slowly walked towards the machine, with Ash's piercing gaze fixated on him. Before Ash could give another order, the man ignored the pain on his body and slammed his hand onto a button, causing the alarm bells and red lights of the facility to blare.
"You're screwed now." Ash scowled at his luck before he finger gun the man, causing Rockruff to fire all of the floating rocks in the air, pinning the man to the wall as the sharp jagged rocks drew blood from all over his body. The attack wasn't fatal, but it paralysed the man when Ash gave him the murderous eyes.
"BREACH! BREACH! BREACH!" The sound of the PA system repeating the same words over and over again added a layer of anxiety to Ash. The entire room he was on glowed in red flashes of light which made Ash panicked at what his next move was. He quickly ran to the control panels that had an abundance of complicated buttons and lack of clear instructions.
"Shit, uh let's see here." As Ash carefully analyzed the functions of the different buttons and switches, his two pokemon stood by the door as if to guard it. They knew that members of Galactic would rushed into the room so they were preparing their attacks before any of them can storm in. All they have to do, is to buy time for Ash.
"If I do this will it work?" He flipped a random switch, causing the tubes connecting to Articuno's capsule to come off in a robotic manner. Was he doing it? Did that mean Articuno is finally freed?
"Secure Articuno!" The sound of people running caused Ash to grit his teeth, he turned to his two pokemon and could see the fear in their eyes. So like a the brave commander he is, he quickly gave orders for his soldiers to follow.
"Pikachu Light Screen the entrance! Rockruff setup Stealth rocks." Pikachu nodded and summoned a large barrier to block the entrance, denying anyone entry to the room while his comrade Rockruff summoned floating rocks and spiked them near the entrance, ensuring those who enter the room would be greeted by powerful explosive geo traps.
"Uh come on." Ash began to random press the buttons, until he spotted a bright blue button that he hasn't touched yet. Deciding his luck, he pushed his fingers against the button, when suddenly the sound of the machine operating system give a sign if hope and relief.
"Thawing in process." Ash watched in amazement as the capsule that host Articuno started shake. The thick ice that frozen the legendary beast began to crack as the blue fluids began to drain from the machine. Ash's moment of triumph and success was quickly ruined when the grunts has reached the entrance of the room.
"What the- why is there a wall? Skuntank Night Slash!" With one powerful slash, Pikachu's Light Screen barrier were swiftly destroyed, causing him to flinch from the sudden interruption. Before they can enter the room, the Stealth Rock that Rockruff placed began to react as they glowed orange and exploded, giving Ash time to think of a counterattack.
"Rockruff tomb them." The puppy hurled boulders towards the thick smoke, hitting multiple pokemon and humans in the process. Before Rockruff can lob another boulder, a random Flamethrower narrowly shot passed the rock type's shoulders.
"You little bastard!" With the smoke subsided, Ash knew that he had to focus on giving commands now. He held his makeshift staff and stood behind his pokemon, ready to battle the bloodthirsty grunts who were out for his blood.
"Kill him!" Ash narrowed his eyes, he can't let all of them come pouring into the room. All he had to do was to buy time for Articuno to defrost.
"Pikachu widespread Thunderbolt!" The bolt of high voltage lightning was fired at the entrance, with the flash of bright yellow lightening up the room.
"Block it!" The Galactic's pokemon easily blocked the attack, which made Ash realized they were far stronger than his pokemon, which made sense since they were terrorist hellbent on conquering the world. And he? He was just a student.
"Keep using your attacks, hold them there in the chokepoint!" Ash glanced at the capsule every now and then, hoping that the defrosting process can be slightly quicker. Between his lack of attention to battle, Pikachu took one direct hit from a Houndoom's flamethrower attack, crippling him as the dark flames were burning his body from inside out.
"Pikachu!" Ash ignored the burning flames coursing around his starter's body and tackled him into a tight hold, rolling to the side in the process as the wicked streams of fiery flames shot passed them and hit the glacier containing Articuno, melting the ice that contained the sleeping Ice legendary.
"Rockruff to me." Seeing that the ice has fully melted and Articuno's form were fully revealed, Ash knew that he had to steer clear from the Kanto's legendary's path as she would be receiving a rude awakening.
"Articuno is freed! Man your stations!" It seemed that the Galactics were focused on containing Articuno rather than killing him. As the multitude of high level of fire types such as Houndooms, Infernapes and Magmortar began to channel their powerful fiery attacks, Articuno opened its eyes as it spread her wings in all her glory, giving a loud shriek that displayed her anger and frustration.
"Fire!" As the streams of intense flames started made their towards Articuno, she open her beak and let out a frosty beam that froze all the attacks and the opposing pokemon solid. The Galactic grunts cowered in terror when they realized that they were the victim of her wrath and before they can abandoned their pokemon and run off, Articuno delivered her icy wrath, freezing all of them in place in mere seconds.
Shocked and utterly horrified by Articuno's powers, Ash held onto his burning Pikachu tightly, hoping to Arceus that he won't a popsicle onto himself. Almost as if she read his thoughts, the legendary bird stared into him, her red iris piercing his hazel brown eyes that were quivering in fear. Before he could say anything, she leaned onto his Pikachu and apply a breath of frost that magically healed his Pikachu, removing the dark flames and restoring his vitality back to full.
"Pikachu!" He held his starter tight to him as it began to squirm in discomfort, too tight! You're hugging me too tight! Sensing his starter's distress, Ash let go off him and muttered an apology, earning a nuzzle against his cheeks. The trainer from Pallet stared at the Freeze Pokemon as it nuzzled its beak against his face, seemingly recognizing him as her saviour.
'This is so surreal.' Before Ash can freak out at the fact he was petting a legendary pokemon, Galactic reinforcement came in full force with many of them dressed frost resistance armour. With a loud intimidating caw, Articuno gestured Ash and his pokemon to stand behind her which they obliged immediately. With innocents out of the way, Articuno fired a powerful Hyper Beam attack that instantaneously destroyed the reinforced steel walls and glass sliding doors, knocking all members of the opposition out by the sheer impact and force.
"Holy." Ash was astonished by a legendary's pokemon raw power, he always knew they were on a whole different league but this? This puts them on a another dimension of power.
"Ar." He glanced at the Ice type legendary and strangely felt comforted by her presence, she ushered him and his pokemon to hop on top of her, which Ash reluctantly followed. Buckled up and ready for combat, the ice type began to run through the corridors as she began to unleashed torrent of ice projectiles into the steel enforced walls, easily shattering all of them with her true ice shards.
"There! Stop them." The ice legendary broke through the thick steel walls and made her grand entrance onto the main hall where most of the Galactic members congregated. With the sirens and the red flashing lights finally subsided, Ash stared at the hundreds of Galactic members who had their highly evolved pokemon out, staring at him with every intent to brutally murder him. The Kanto native narrowed his eyes and mustered his courage as he had a powerful pokemon by his side, he pointed his finger towards the crowd, as if to declare that the battle has finally begin.
With a loud screech that stunned everyone in the room, Articuno followed Ash's command and unleashed a powerful subzero snowstorm that trapped everyone within, freezing all the pokemon who weren't resistant to ice types almost immediately. As she majestically flapped her wings in the air, Ash decided to order counter attacks as he decided to use Pikachu and Rockruff's long range projectiles to his advantage.
"Thunderbolt and Rock Slide the fire types!" Ash gripped onto Articuno's body as she maneuver around the main hall, dodging the barrage of attacks from the Galactic pokemon. He felt the adrenaline rush coursing through his body as his heart raced against the beat of the battle. The stream of flames and dark type projectiles narrowly clipped Articuno's wings, but being an experienced soul who has survived countless of battles, the opposing pokemon were all just small fry to her.
"Attention all Galactics, gather all forces at the main hall, Project Frozen Wings has been breached." The loud PA system came through, which alerted that Ash that more reinforcements would be coming. While this didn't worry him since Articuno is practically a powerhouse of a legendary, he wasn't keen on staying here much longer since this battle was taking a toll on him personally. As if to prey on his moment of weakness, a Drapion landed a dirty long range Night Slash onto him, which caused Ash to tumble down from the majestic ice type.
Pikachu and Rockruff screamed for their trainer's name as the Electric mouse quickly formed a barrier beneath Ash, saving him from the fall of the height. Once Ash was safe, Articuno commanded the two pokemon to dismount her as she needed the mobility and flexibility to deal with the pokemon. With Pikachu slowly lowering Ash down to the ground, Rockruff fended off the rest of the attackers with his rock like boulders that circled around them.
"Ugh, thanks Pikachu, thanks Rockruff." Ash held into his arm, feeling the stingy pain on his forearm. He stood up and watched as the rest of the Galactic pokemon getting freeze one by one, giving Ash and his pokemon the time to escape. He glanced around the battlefield and decided to make his way towards the exits since he was certain Articuno can fend for herself.
"Come on let's find the exit while Articuno distracts them." His plan was to escape back to the ice cave that they once came and fly up the hole with the help of Articuno. But seeing that Ash wasn't sure where he was, he decided that maybe it was a good idea to forge their own path.
"Articuno can break through these walls with ease right?" Maybe, they can use her power to burrow their way out? If there were underneath a cavern, then chances are they were in a mountain right? No, that's not true, what if they are underneath the city or under a frozen lake? If he forcefully burrowed his way out, he might weaken the structure integrity of the facility, dooming everyone in here.
"Artic!" She decimated all of her opponents with ease, and once she was certain those who captured her had experience winter's wrath, she gave triumph cry of victory and began to fly towards Ash, lifting him and his pokemon up in the process.
"Wait where are we goooing?" Ash and his pokemon barely hold onto the mystical ice type as she flew in the air and fire a concentrated beam of pure icy energy, destroying the ceiling as she forcefully burrow her way upwards, not caring about those who stood beneath her. As they make their way towards the surface, Ash felt the copious amounts of dust of the debris at his face, with his two pokemon shielding their eyes with their paws.
As he closed his eyes tightly, Ash suddenly felt the rush of cooling air blowing against his skin as the freezing winds of the north began to greet him. He opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself in the air, high above the peaks and mountains that once trapped him. He looked below him and was in awed that they made their way out of the facility, with the smoke and remnants of the explosion coming from the mountain. He gave a childish smile when everything seemed so small and miniscule when he was in the air, as if everything he knew was a small fraction of a bigger world.
And it also reminded him that he could die if he falls off.
"I'm in the air, holy crap!" Articuno gave an unamused expression when Ash began to panic on top of her, he did had a slight fear of heights and seeing that he could almost touch the clouds with a raise of his hand, it all was so surreal.
"Wait why am I not suffering attitude sickness?" He was so high up in the air now that it was confusing to him why he was breathing normally, hell even his two pokemon seemed fine. In fact, they seemed ecstatic that they were high in the air, almost as if this was some amusement park ride for them. Ash glanced at Articuno's who eyes glowed blue, maybe she was the reason why they were okay?
"Thanks Articuno." Ash ruffled the feathers of the legendary, earning a caw of affection from her. He smiled as he felt the cool air of Snowpoint on his skin, watching the snowy peaks and alpine trees below him. He scanned his surroundings and was felt horror creeping up his spine when he saw a huge avalanche started to make its way towards the city. Akin to the size of a large tsunami that could decimate a city, Ash about to point out the obvious when all of a sudden, it stopped before Ash could say anything.
"What?" Ash's initial confusion was quickly met with relief once he realized that Articuno stopped the avalanche with her powers. It seemed that she was more aware than he was when it comes to environment damage, fitting for a pokemon who ensure the balance of nature.
'So that's why she was flying so quickly.' She was well aware of the consequences of her action.
"Great job Articuno." She cawed in return and started to make a U-turn, which perplexed Ash. At the direction she was going, she seemed to be heading towards a laboratory like structure that was partially destroyed by her when she burrowed their way out. Ash squinted his eyes, he can see two individuals running away from the facility.
"Where are we going?" She ignored him and hasten her speed, gliding through the air as her eyes were fixated on the two men who exited the abandoned laboratory. She quickly dive bombed with Ash and his pokemon holding tightly to her. She landed in front of the two individuals, her eyes were filled with icy hatred. The Kanto native leaned forward and was surprised that Articuno managed to track these two down, such was the power of a predator huh.
"Charon and Saturn huh." Ash spoke in an entertained tone as he placed his elbow on top of Articuno's crown, leaning his cheeks against his hand as he stared at the two frightened men before him.
"W-Who are you, how are you on top of Articuno?" Honestly Ash wasn't sure how this happened either, but he wasn't complaining since he always wanted to ride to the skies, soaring with the other flying pokemon. He never expected his first flying experience was with an Articuno though.
"What's this Xemus conduit you two were talking about?" At the mention of their supposed secret project, the two began to shudder from fear over Ash's mysterious appearance. Saturn glanced at the Rockruff next to Ash before realizing who he was.
"You! You were the kid who fought our two grunts and have them arrested in Eterna!" Ash blinked, those two grunts that tried to molest Dawn were directly under his command? Fantastic! Now he can feel less bad when he inevitably hurt them.
"Your two grunts almost molested an underage girl." The nonchalant look on their faces make Ash's boil in anger, he calmed his nerves. He needed answers now, he can unleashed his rage and anger onto them later.
"Why did you capture Articuno." Ash was thoroughly aware the two still have their pokemon with them but considering Articuno's quick reflexes and powers, they would be frozen solid before they can even reach for their pokeball.
"We aren't telling you anything." Such persistence, Ash knew what to do to break them. He gave a wicked smile that show his sadistic nature and leaned forward, patting Articuno's crown as it coo affectionately under his touch.
"Well I won't mind that, but Articuno can show you what it's like to be frozen." Utterly appalled that this young boy managed to tame the legendary beast with a mere touch, they were fully aware that Articuno would obey to the commands of the teen. Humiliating no doubt, but they were powerless right now.
"We didn't capture her, Giovanni gave her to us." It sounded like a stupid excuse you would give to your parents or teachers when you screwed up, and that came from the old man Charon. Of course Ash already knew that the Rockets and Galactics were working together, all he needed to know how they managed to capture such a powerful pokemon like Articuno.
"How?" The two glanced at each other before Saturn uttered his name in lowly.
"Mewtwo." Mewtwo, they mentioned his name before.
"Who's Mewtwo?" Articuno narrowed her eyes at the mention of the name, the very pokemon who defeated her and handed her to the Rockets. His strength managed to rivaled hers by leaps and bounds even. She initially thought Mew was visiting her given they share the same powers and scent, she was sadly mistaken.
"It's the Rocket's most prized pokemon, he has the DNA and powers of Mew." This horrified Ash, to think that Team Rocket would conduct such an experiment. But how on earth did they managed to gather DNA of Mews? It seemed impossible.
'Is that even possible? But it might explain how Articuno managed to get captured by the Rockets.' Mew is a powerful pokemon, it can learn every pokemon moves and abilities, shapeshifting into their forms too, at least that was the story that Ash heard growing up.
The two galactic commanders noted Ash's silence before speaking once more.
"What do you plan to do with us?" Ash glanced at Articuno, she has arguably more experience than him, and was a better judge than he would ever be. So he will let her decide what to do with them.
"I will let her decide. But answer me first, what is Xemus conduit? How does it work?" He didn't forget that, they tried to change the topic to make him forget about it but Ash's wasn't a fool. Not this time at least, rolling for gacha every time a game release a new attractive character might not be a good idea.
"It is a device used to siphon the powers of a pokemon, it is designed to artificially enhance the powers of our pokemon." It was as he thought, these technology that the terrorists are coming up with are getting more dangerous and absurd. It was troubling, still he wasn't done yet.
"Explain the harsh snowstorms, how come it didn't affect the facility?" It affected the entire city and the mountains, yet it didn't affect the base of operations. Charon sighed and crossed his arms, not liking the fact a 15 year old kid is successfully interrogating him.
"Articuno's power were uncontrolled during her state of slumber, resulting in fluctuating snowstorms. As for why our facility was spared, it was because of the capsule that redirected most of her powers to the elements." That make sense, even if they can contain her powers. Articuno's natural ability to create snow and blizzards are still active even when dormant, so they have to redirect that to somewhere.
"You almost killed hundreds of students who were passing through the temple, did you know that?" Ash narrowed his eyes, with Pikachu glaring at the two men who smiled at him in an unapologetic manner. The young teen thought back to the shards of ice that almost killed May and her friends, his classmates who suffered from asphyxiation during the trek and the absolute horror on Sabrina's and Erika's face when the avalanche almost engulfed them. How could they show no ounce of sympathy for them?!
"None of our concern-" Ash gritted his teeth and was about to shout when Articuno used Frost Breath onto the Galactics, freezing them in place. Ash almost jumped from the surprised attack but the majestic ice type seemed to pick up his foul mood.
"Thanks." He jumped down from Articuno and ruffled her wings, glancing at the two frozen men before him. How long would they be frozen? Maybe a few days or never? Who knows? He couldn't care less right now, all Ash knew was that the ordeal was finally over.
"Artic." She nuzzled Ash's neck and spread her wings, giving a loud caw of freedom. Ash smiled and stared at the glowing sunset in the distance, setting behind the snowy mountains and misty peaks. The colour of the sky had turned from bright orange to the dark shade of blue, causing Ash's lips to curl upwards at the beautiful sight.
"You're free now Articuno." The soft and gentle tone from Ash was undeniable, he sighed as he crossed his arms, feeling the frigid cold of the mountains getting to him. He forgot that he wasn't wearing his winter clothing but given that the unstable and erratic blizzards are gone now, Ash can manage the cold. Amidst his sentimental mood and enjoying the taste of freedom in his mouth, his Rockruff seemed to be behaving strangely.
"Rockruff?" He glanced at his little puppy who's eyes were fixated on the sunset and before he say anything else, it's body began to glow white, which made Ash and Pikachu to jump in shock at what's happening.
"Articuno." The Kanto legendary seemed to smile at Rockruff's evolution, she watched at the once little puppy slowly become larger with his brown fur now turning into orange glow. It's eyes now turned emerald green with his mane now become a stylized sun mix with a crescent moon shape. It was striking just to see his once cute and adorable puppy has now become a bipedal werewolf who screamed coolness and awesomeness.
"You're evolving!" Once the evolutionary light died down, Ash's initial joy and excitement slowly became one of worry when his now Lycanroc were simply staring at distant mountains and peaks. The sun has finally settled, no where to be seen. Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder and was worried over his newly acquainted friend, he knew evolution drastically change the personality of a pokemon. So the once docile and obedient Rockruff they knew might just be gone.
Ash approached his lycanroc and patted its mane, causing him to nuzzle his legs. It wrapped his paws around Ash's shoulders and nuzzled his cheeks, causing Ash to laugh as he patted his soft fur.
"Ehehe, glad to see you're still the same." Ash stood upright with his starter jumping on top of Lycanroc, grinning at his friend when it shot him an unamused expression on his face before breaking into a laugh. As Ash was about scoop his pokemon up into a hug, he felt a surge of pain started to surge through his forearm, the very same arm that he received an Night Slash attack from a Drapion.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu seemed to notice his trainer's state of pain, but Ash brushed him off.
"I'm fine, I'm just tired." Sensing Ash's injuries might be more severe than she thought, Articuno approached the trio and cawed, indicating that they should get going. Ash nodded weakly and took Lycanroc's pokeball out, recalling him as he appears to be too big for Artucino's to carry. Once Pikachu and him were firmly mounted on top of her, Articuno began to take flight as she leaped into the air.
She navigated through the skies with the aid of Pikachu who gave her clear instructions of she should send them. Ash himself seemed to be struggling with his injuries as the combination of the frigid cold and sheer exhaustion must have sent his body into a state of chronic fatigue. Upon noticing the crowd of people gathered in front an inn, she knew that she has reached her destination. She ignored the waves of awe from the crowd as she gently landed in front of the crowd, with Ash barely registering his location.
"Ash!" The young teen managed to dismount from Articuno as the angelic voice of the girls called to him. Just as he was about to collapse, they managed to catch him into their arms as they all huddled him into a tight embrace, not caring if they were displaying their love and affection for him in front of their classmates and the public.
"Ash are you okay?" Bea caressed his cheeks as he gave a tired by genuine smile, happy to see a familiar face again. He turned to the other girls who held to him gently, with Serena ruffling his hair like a little child. Arceus he missed them, he thought he would never see them again yet they were, waiting for his return with the bright smiles he adore.
"Tired." He nuzzled into Dawn's lap before losing consciousness, causing everyone to panic. Before Misty could call for help, Lorelei approached them and monitored Ash's wound, she patted Misty's shoulders and gave her comforting smile.
"Relax, he just need rest." The member of Elite 4 turned her attention to Articuno before her and was utterly amazed that she helped save the boy, or perhaps it was the other way around? Either way, those questions can wait until Ash fully recovered. Lorelei smiled at the Freeze pokemon and ruffled her neck as she leaned to him for a nuzzle.
"I'm glad you're okay." The majestic ice pokemon nodded before she pluck one of her plume and started to approach Ash. Delia held her precious son in her arms as Articuno made her way towards her, she placed the plume onto Ash's chest before giving them a cheerful caw. She waved good bye to Lorelei and Pikachu before taking to the skies, with every intention to reunite with her beloved siblings in Kanto once more.
"A plume." Korrina held the frosty plume in her hands, wondering why would Articuno give Ash that. Is it a sign of respect? A parting gift? Lorelei walked towards Ash was astonished to see Articuno was willing to give her plume to Ash, she smiled as she knelt down, getting a good look on the young teen who managed to earn the trust and respect of one of the legendary birds of Kanto.
"Articuno only gives her plume to people who deserves her powers and her strength. In short, she would be willing to become your pokemon should you ever asked for it." Students, teachers and members of the public gasped at Lorelei's explanation. This caused Misty to stare at her revered idol and wondered how did she knew that?
"How did you know that?" Lorelei flashed a soft smiled and reached for her coat, pulling a familiar blue plume from that was identical to the plume Korrina was holding.
"Because I have one too."
Warmth, that was all he can feel right now. The once dark and frigid thoughts that haunted him were now gone, instead a soft mesmerizing glow began to filled his thoughts. Heaven? That was the only logical thought Ash had at the moment, was he in heaven? Didn't seemed likely given his google search history.
"Ash." The boy from Pallet managed to open his eyes, his consciousness slowly returning to him. He turned and smiled when he saw his mother smiling back to him, holding onto his hands on the covers. He slowly sat upright with the help of his mom, glancing at his injury that were now gone?
"Heal Pulse." She seemed to see through his thoughts, earning a chuckle from him. He glanced at his mother and felt guilty that she was here, no doubt she thought he was dead. He attempted to speak to her when he suddenly remember about Articuno and his pokemon.
"Where's Pikachu and Lycanroc? Is Articuno again? How about Team Galactic-" His mother calmed him down by ruffling his hair. She placed her finger in front of her lips and used her other hand to point at his two pokemon who were huddling in one corner, snuggling together on their custom made bed that seemed fluffy and soft. Ash gave a sigh of relief before realizing that his mother knew about his encounter with the Galactics.
"According to miss Lorelei, Articuno has safely made her way back to Kanto. As for Team Galactic, all members have been apprehended." Ash nodded, seems like everything went well.
"That's good." Delia sat next to him and held him tight to her, feeling the familiar warmth and the scent of her son calming her.
"I thought you died." Ash placed his arm around her, pulling her to him. He kissed her forehead gently, rubbing her shoulder as he knew that she probably went through severe depression and trauma after hearing the news of his death. He's lips quivered and pulled her closer to her, with the sense of guilt stirring in his chest once more.
"I'm sorry for worrying you. Is Sabrina and miss Erika alright?" Delia sighed at her son's selfless nature, and booped his nose.
"Geez do you ever worry about yourself?" Ash rubbed the back of his neck, maybe he does have a tendency to worry others too much. But he has to know whether they are okay, just to please his conscience.
"Sorry." She wasn't mad, far from it, but it would reassuring to her as a mother if Ash can prioritize his own safety first.
"Don't be and to answer your question, yes they are safe and sound." Good, that's good to know. He would like to thank Sabrina personally for listening to him even if he was asking her for the impossible. A formal apology and a heartfelt gratitude, he would like to deliver that to her in person. As he thought about his teacher and his classmate, his mother hugged him close to him and leaned her cheek against his.
"When the authorities told us what happened, I couldn't believe my ears. My little Ash saving Articuno and help defeating a terrorist organisation?" When you put it like that, it does seemed utterly ridiculous.
"Well Articuno did most of the work." It was true anyway, she practically froze anyone against her with ruthless efficiency. All he did was pressing a few buttons and pray to Arceus that one of them work.
"You still saved her. You saved the city of Snowpoint and you saved Kanto too." Ash furrowed his eyebrows, he agreed with one of those points but the rest were not really applicable to him.
"That might be a little exaggerated." Delia chuckled and rocked her body back and forth, hugging Ash to her as she hummed a lullaby that she used to sang to him when he was younger. Between his emotional getting the best of him and the comfort of his mother, Ash held onto her and spoke honestly.
"I love you mom." Delia smiled and kissed his cheeks, happy to hear those words from him.
"I love you too sweetie." Seeing the silence from him, Delia grinned and pulled away from him, shifting her body to face him.
"But you know who else loves you?" Ash nodded bashfully, he rubbed his arm as he thought about the angelic sight of the girls hugging him. He missed them, he thought he was truly dead when he fell to the icy abyss. The regrets of not returning the girls feeling came to haunt him, and now Ash realized that he made it out alive and he has every intention in returning the girls' affection and feelings.
"The girls." Delia gave a cheeky grin when she saw her son being shy and bashful, ooh he can be so cute!
"Mhmm, they were really worried for you Ash." He knew that. His supposed death probably affected them more than he could ever think. He raised his head and stared at his mother, wondering where are they. Given their closeness, they should be visiting him now. Yet they were no where to be seen, which did made Ash a little sad. Were they mad at him?
"Where are they?" Delia caught the tone of vulnerability and decided to tease her son.
"They are currently sleeping." Oh so that's why they aren't with him. They were probably tired after everything that has happened today.
"Oh." The disappointed voice made Delia chuckle, she patted his shoulders and smiled at him.
"Just kidding, they are preparing dinner for you." Preparing dinner? He glanced at the windows and realized that it was already night, with the gentle snowflakes decorating the night sky.
"Dinner? Wait where am I?" He wasn't in his room that he shared with the boys, so he assumed that the teacher gave him a room of his own to recuperate his wounds.
"You're in the girls room." Ash's mind had a mental reboot when his mother told him that, he began to frantically look around him when he realized that the bed he was laying on were actually 3 beds joint together, which gave him a vague idea at what would happen later.
Suffice to say, he was looking forward to it.
"What?" Delia chuckled at her son's dumfound tone.
"I will leave it for them to explain." He didn't know how to respond to that but he took it that the girls would explain to him. Before he could say anything else, the room door opened revealing the girls holding trays of food. Their eyes brightened up immediately when they saw him fully awake as they quickly place the trays down onto the table and ran towards him.
"Ash!" The Kanto native barely had time to return the greeting when all of them came rushing at him. They placed him in a warm embrace, hugging tightly to them as he could their breasts pushing against his body. He patted their backs, hoping that they can let him go so he can properly talk to them.
'Well looks like my job here is done.' Seeing her son being surrounded by the girls he loved, Delia stood up and decided to leave the room to give them some room to talk over. Upon noticing his mom was leaving, Ash spoke up amid the hugs and nuzzling embrace.
"Mom are you leaving Snowpoint?" She shook her head at him, she wasn't keen on living the city at night and she was tired from all the driving.
"I will be next door, but I don't think you need me for hugs tonight." She snickered when her son's face grew red as each of the girls started to look away from Delia, embarrassed that they were hugging Ash so tenderly in front of his mother.
"Please make sure my little Ash is warm and comfortable tonight." Dawn smiled and leaned onto Ash's chest, giving an affirmative nod to the older woman.
"We will." Satisfied with the response, Delia left the room and closed the door, leaving Ash and the girls to the world on their own. With his mother out of sight, the girls reluctantly got off him and sat on the large bed, giving him the dazzling bright smiles that enthralled him dearly. He rubbed his arms and lowered his gaze, unable to conjure words to them.
"I- I'm sorry for worrying all of you." He felt Serena cupped his cheeks, her bright blue eyes showed her relief and joy, among other more intense emotions. Her fingers danced around his cheeks, sending a jolt of warm shivering pleasure down his spine.
"It's alright Ash." He watched at Korrina climbed next to him, hugging his arm close to her breast. Her paled gray eyes and the sakura pink lips looked very inviting to Ash, too inviting for his liking.
"We are not mad." Misty seemed to be donning a new look as she had a sideways ponytail now. It uh, man did she looked different. Her sleeveless shirt showed her pale smooth skin as it rubbed against his shoulders, allowing him to truly appreciate the supple warmth of the bare skin against his body.
"Are you hungry?" Dawn tugged his hand to her as she leaned onto his chest, giving him the cute smile that boosts his spirit. He nodded as he can felt the empty space within his stomach, he only had early breakfast and he was forced to skip lunch because he was busy walking through a frozen cave and storming a terrorist's base to save a legendary pokemon.
Yeah, pretty normal stuff.
"Starving." He felt his face flushed red when Dawn rubbed his stomach, underneath his shirt mind you. Any more lower and Ash was sure Dawn could feel his natural body response to having 5 beautiful girls leaning onto his body. She seemed to enjoy his reaction though since she grinning at him.
"Let's eat together, we haven't had dinner either." Ash nodded and followed the girls to the table that were big enough to host 6 people. He sat right smack in the middle and found it funny that all of them were sitting together on one side, with all of them huddling to him as close as possible.
"Here." It was weird for Bea to feed him food, but Ash reluctantly gave in as he opened his mouth, obliging to their request. Unfortunately for the young teen, it didn't stop there as the others want to join in the fray and took turns feeding him, earning an amused look from his two pokemon who were now awake, staring at their master and his future mates bonding together over dinner.
Once that bizarre yet undeniable enjoyable dinner session, Ash found himself brushing his teeth. He stared at the mirror and find his reflection staring back at him. It was weird to think that he grew much, but after today's incident, he felt like he grown a lot. He gargled his mouth and spit the solvent out, wiping his face with a face towel soon after.
He turned to the room and immediately closed his eyes when the girls were changing into their nightwear. They didn't seemed to mind his staring but Ash did walked like a stiff robot as he reached for the bed. He did however take a small peek, fully admiring the girls curves and bare skin before he heard a snicker from his Lycanroc, seemingly mocking him for his passive nature. He narrowed his eyes and threw a spare pillow onto the rock type, hitting him in the head as Pikachu laughed at his friend's misfortune, much to Lycanroc's chagrin.
The girls started to make their way towards the bed and got comfortable under the covers, leaning onto him as close as possible. The two pokemon noted the awkward tension and decided to enter their pokeball for the night, wanting their trainer and his mates to have as much privacy as possible. Ash watched in amazement as the two pokemon reached for their respective pokeball and entered it, leaving Ash alone with the girls he held dearly.
With the cold silence of the room came in, Ash knew it was time for them to discuss about their relationship.
"I want to talk." The serious and firm voice from him worried all of them, Korrina grasped his hand to her and stroke the once injured forearm tenderly.
"What about?" He doubled down his courage and sat upright, causing all of them stared at Ash worriedly. He's firm nature and silence was concerning, maybe he felt uncomfortable with all of their affection? Did they take it too far? They were still in a weird stage of their relationship. However after everything they experienced today, they want to stay as close to him as much as possible.
"Us." The mere mention of their relationship sent waves of panic, they attempted to apologize when Ash pulled all of them into a sudden but much appreciated hug, silencing all of them. He steeled his nerves and pulled back hesitantly, gazing at them with eyes of affection.
"This harem thing, I want to give it a shot." Dawn widened her eyes as she glanced at her close friends, not believing what Ash was saying. She clutched his hand and pulled it to her, her sapphire blue eyes staring at Ash's warm hazel ones.
"A-Are you sure?" Ash rubbed Dawn's fingers and nodded, he turned to the others and gave a small smile, recounting the memory of falling to the icy abyss.
"I- when I was falling from the avalanche, so many thoughts flashed in my mind." The girls remained quiet as they felt the emotional laced tone behind Ash's voice.
"I thought about all of you. How I first met Misty and when she threaten to cut my balls off if I try anything on Dawn or on her." The redhead blushed in embarrassment and looked away while the rest of her friends giggled at her. She was about to say something snarky back to him when she felt Ash's arms around her waist, teasing her with his sensual touches that her body adored. He smiled at her, causing her to reluctantly leaned onto his chest with a smile plastered on her face.
"I thought about the massage you gave me Dawn, and how it really made it difficult for me to sleep that night." The coordinator rubbed her arms, remembering the special massage she gave Ash to sooth his aching injuries. She gave a cute yelp when Ash rubbed her bare thighs, earning a shy blush from her.
"I also thought about the first time I interacted with you Bea, and man did we come far huh? You even share your desserts with me now." The Galar native felt Ash pat her head as she closed her eyes in bliss, he chuckled at the adorable reaction and continued.
"I didn't forget about you Korri, you really gave me the confidence boost I needed after the lost to Gary." Korrina buried her face into her arms, not liking the fact he was calling her Korri so casually now. She felt him interlocked his fingers with hers, locking them together.
"And how could I forget about the girl who I vowed to marry when I grew older?" Everyone turned to Serena who wanted to crawl into the hole, you're not suppose to tell them that! She felt Ash pulled her closer as she laid her head on lap, surprised by how assertive Ash was as she tried to hide her embarrassment with the blanket.
"All of you, I thought about it long and hard. It was strange really, I spent weeks wrecking my brain over our relationship when a few seconds of falling to my supposed death seemed to gave me the answer I need." The humorous tone of amusement didn't seemed to be well received from the girls as they stared at him worriedly.
"I love all of you, there's no doubt about that. I can't choose any of you because all of you are so wonderful and amazing." Their heart skipped a beat, hearing the sincere and honest feelings pouring from Ash. He stared at all of them and give them a firm and determined look that showed his dedication to their relationship.
"I want this relationship between all of us to work, no matter how hard or how long it takes. I want all of us to be together, forever if that is possible."
"Ash." He felt incredibly embarrassed that he said something like that, but he wanted to be as honest as he can. He let all of them go and felt Serena left his lap. He took a deep breath and stared at them with a warm smile, the same warm smile that captured their very hearts.
"I never dated before, that is why I rejected all of you. But now I want to give it a shot, because I love all of you." Just mere seconds he finished the words, they jumped onto him a tight embrace.
"Hey!" He felt multiple lips against his cheeks and hair, causing Ash to realize what he had just sign up to. Not that he was complaining, not one bit.
"Are you serious about this?" Bea spoke amidst her excitement, as she calmed her nerves. She rubbed her luscious thighs against Ash's legs earning a small stroke from his gentle fingers. The Kanto native nodded, feeling slightly intimidated by the intense emotions behind the girls' eyes, they never do things halfway do they?
"I am. This would be experimental, but I want this to work." He had to stressed this out because it implied that any of them can choose to end the relationship with him at any given point of time. He by no means intent on forcing their hand into the issue, they can walk in and walk out as freely as they want.
"Are you sure all of you are okay with this though? I mean, all of you still can opt out of this." The girls smiled and nodded, pinning their body against his as they provided him body warmth during the cold snowy night.
"We told you Ash, we are okay with this. Personally for me, the past few weeks have allowed me to step back and think about relationship and I can tell you this, none of my feelings to you has changed." Dawn spoke first, leaning onto his chest as she gently ran her fingertips around it.
"Same here, while you were talking about our future careers and our reputation, I really gave a long hard thought about it. But I don't see why can't I be both a successful trainer and have a loving boyfriend with 5 great sisters. This is what I want Ash." Korrina whispered to his ears softly, almost nibbling them if she leaned in closer. Undeniably, this had a profound impact on the lower regions of his body. With a nervous gulped, Ash turned to Misty who smirked at him.
"What they said." Dawn slapped her Misty's thighs lightly, earning a glare from the redhead.
"What? What do you want me to say? I still love him even all this time." Ash chuckled and waved his hand off with his right arm, seeing that his left arm was being held by Bea.
"I'm not expecting a deep meaningful speech or anything but I just want to know are you okay with this." Misty sighed and flipped her ponytail behind her left shoulder, she placed her elbow between Ash's legs and leaned her cheeks onto Ash, giving him a coy yet sincere smile.
"We are." He surveyed the girls faces and saw that they were serious about this. He sighed inwardly, what else was he expecting? The girls were all nice people, sincere, sweet and down to earth, they strive to help each other to the best of his ability. He was truly blessed to meet all of them and he won't have it any other way. So at long last, Ash made his choice.
"Then, I Ash Ketchum would happily become your boyfriend." It took a lot nerves and courage for Ash to say that- hey why are they laughing?
"What's so funny? Did I screwed up?" He turned to each of the girls who chuckled at him, feeling embarrassed that he might had screwed up. Was boyfriend too much? Was it too cringey? Serena was the first one to recover and patted Ash's hair as if he was a child.
"You spoke as if you were giving your wedding vows." The nods of agreement from the others seemed to echoed Serena's words. He smiled and leaned his back against the pillow, giving a thoughtful and wishful smile.
"I like to practice for the future." They stopped laughing and gazed at him, realizing that he was actually serious with his words. They bashfully stared at the bed sheet, not sure how to respond to Ash's words. As the heartfelt conversation came to an end, Ash has but one question.
"So uh what now?" He wasn't sure what to do right now, what do couples do after their confession with each other? A kiss? Was it too soon for them? Ash was an inexperienced soul here. Misty grinned and leaned forward, a seductive smile plastered on her pretty face as she gave a wink with her tongue out.
"A kiss." Pardon?
"A kiss?" He glanced at the girls who nodded at Misty's statement.
"Mhmm." Personally for him, he didn't mind kissing the girls he loved. But uh, he never kissed before so there was a lot of room for error. What if he screws up?
"I don't mind that but uh, how are we going to decide?" Korrina rubbed her chin before snapping her fingers, pointing at the blunette.
"Dawn." She blinked as she crossed her arms, why should she be the first person to kiss Ash?
"Me? Why me?" Ash was afraid something like this would happen, they either are going to fight with each other for his affection or they were trying to push the others to go for it. Mostly the latter though considering what he was witnessing at the moment.
"You're arguably the closest person to Ash." Bea added on which made Dawn rubbed her arms, was she? Sure she was his roommate but she felt the others had better chemistry with him.
"How about you Serena? Shouldn't you be the one who gets Ash's first kiss?" Serena would loved to be Ash's first kiss, but she didn't mind being the Ash's fifth kiss either. Honestly, she just want a kiss from Ash and she could die happy. Figuratively of course.
"Hey hey, why are you all automatically assuming that I never kissed a girl before?" Misty smirked and crossed her arms, staring at him with her eyebrows raised.
"Have you?" Ash opened his mouth, only to close it quickly as he shook his head in a embarrassed manner.
"No." Misty gave a triumph smile as the rest of her friends chuckled at Ash's defeat. Serena however wasn't sure if she should be the one to take Ash's first kiss since the others loved Ash too, maybe even more so than she does.
"Are you sure?" Korrina nodded and pushed her forward to Ash, causing her to fall onto him with Ash managing to catch her in his arms.
"You're been waiting 10 years for this right? Go ahead, we don't mind." Bea added on, she knew that Serena waited for this for the longest of time. So she didn't mind at all, besides Ash would be more experienced at kissing them which was a win in Bea's book.
"O-Okay then." Serena leaned closer to the Kanto native as he began to held her in his arms. He smiled at the sight of Serena's soft and pink lips before closing his eyes, pulling her into a deep passionate kiss. The initial gentle peck soon turned into a wet sloppy kiss as Serena gripped Ash's hair, pushing him against the bedframe. She reluctantly parted her lips with him once she realized she was getting carried away and the others were watching. She felt the strands of saliva falling from her lips, connecting her saliva to Ash's. She hastily sat upright as Ash followed suit, feeling the embarrassment catching onto them.
"See? Not that hard right?" Misty nudged Ash's shoulder who nodded wordlessly, that was a new sensation and pleasure added to his world. He glanced at the other girls and felt like a prey being corned by a predator as they stared at him hungrily.
"I'll go next?" It sounded more of a question rather than a statement, which made Ash smiled in amusement. Dawn stared at her friends who nodded at her, causing her to clenched her fists from all the nervousness building in her chest.
"Relax." Ash rubbed her bare shoulders, massaging them lightly to calm her nerves. The blunette gave a bashful nod and slowly leaned onto him but never quite managed to connect their lips. Seeing that he has to be one who initiates the move, Ash placed his finger beneath her chin and pulled her closer into a sweet kiss. Unlike the kiss with Serena, this was less intense but far more gentler as Dawn gave off a moan of pleasure. The young Kanto native leaned in and stroke the back of Dawn's hair as she rubbed his chest in a sensual manner. He managed to part his lips when Dawn wasn't willing to let go and stared at her with his hazel brown eyes, he panted lightly from the lack of oxygen and watched the cute bashful smile plastered on her face.
"Aww." The blunette glared at her best friend who seemed to be keen on ruining the mood and her experienice. She pushed Misty forward in front of Ash and grinned at how nervous she was. Despite her tough exterior, Misty was just as nervous as she was.
"Uh." Ash grinned and pulled Misty towards him, watching her bashfully avoiding eye contact with him. He stroke her cheek gently and rubbed them with his thumbs, giving her time to prepare herself for this.
"Sorry this- this is my first kiss." Ash chuckled at her shy honesty and held her in place, he slowly leaning towards Misty's lips and pressed against it, rubbing her shoulders softly to relax her nerves. She slowly relaxed during the course of the kiss and pressed her lips forwards, grinding her chest against his as she slowly gained more confidence. The Pallet native rubbed her neck before prying himself way from her, seeing that Misty was getting really into it. He took a good look on Misty's flushed face and shimmering emerald eyes before parting her ponytail away her pretty face.
"I like your new hair, it really suits you." Misty felt Dawn snickered at her red face, causing her to glare at the blunette who seemed to enjoy her shy and vulnerable side. With that interaction going on, Ash glanced at Bea and Korrina, each looking at each other over who should go first.
"Bea you can go first." Ash frowned inwardly at how kindly Korrina was, he would give her something special later just to make up for it.
The Galar native stared at him and rubbed her arms, she had kissed a boy before because of her prior boyfriend. But she was scared if Ash minded that, after all, she tainted her first kiss with a boy who only cared about her looks and her status a trainer. Almost as if he sensed her inner conflict, Ash pulled Bea to him and wrapped his arms around her waist, giving him the soft and warm smile that warmed her heart.
"I don't mind Bea." The sincere looks on his face made her smile, she nodded and mustered her courage, leaning towards Ash as he successfully capture her lips with his own. He felt her tongue enter his mouth almost immediately, which indicated she wanted a Kalos kiss. He gleefully obliged and return the kiss with much passion, pulling her closer to him as he reluctantly parted his lips from hers.
She stared at him with emotional laced eyes before smiling at him with her eyes closed, causing Ash to smile and rubbed her waist softly.
"You look great with this hairstyle, I really like it. Sorry if I didn't noticed it earlier." Bea felt her face flushed, he noticed that? Seeing the smirk on his face, she pouted adorably before chuckling. He grinned when the rest of the girls pushed Korrina forward who fidgeted her fingers.
"Uh I-" He pulled her towards his lap as she gave off a cute yelp. He stroke her long flowing blonde hair and kissed her neck softly, earning a gasp of pleasure from her as she rubbed her thighs together to suppress the sensation. Satisfied with the reaction he drew from her, he finally place his fingers onto her lips and smiled at her.
"You have kissable lips Korrina." The Kalos blonde felt steam coming out from her ears, she sighed inwardly and nodded as she closed her eyes, finally giving into the kiss. Her nervousness quickly melted away when Ash pressed his lips against hers, pushing forward as he rubbed her bare waist softly. She moaned into the sweet kiss and exchanged saliva with him, feeling his tongue wrestling with her own. Amidst the passionate kiss, Ash pulled back suddenly, causing her to pout in a disappointed manner when she was just getting into the flow of it.
"Hey, I was-" He captured her lips again as placed his hands on her cheeks, deciding to make up for her being the last girl. She closed her eyes blissfully, moaning at the sensation and stimulation Ash was giving her. She finally parted lips with him when she has to breath. With the saliva dripping from her lips, she placed her finger on her lips and wipe it clean before staring at Ash with her face flushed red.
The Pallet town native stared at her and chuckled, caressing her cheeks with the back of his hand who responded with a soft nuzzle. Ash turned his attention to the other girls who raised their eyebrows at him. What has he done to Korrina? With that uh great dilemma settled, Ash felt utterly drained and tired as he glanced at the digital clock next to him that read 11 PM.
"So uh, yeah." The bashful tone from Ash was a stark contrast to his assertive and dominant kiss he gave them just moments ago. They noted Ash's tired tone and decided it was high them for all of them to sleep. They still have to get up nice and early tomorrow for the trip.
"We should sleep now." Without giving Ash a moment to object, Serena and Bea turned off the nightlights, engulfing the entire room in darkness. He could barely make out their silhouettes as they climbed into the bed with him. Serena held his left arm between her breast as she nuzzled into the crook of her neck while Dawn her his right, trailing her fingers around his bicep. Misty leaned on the right side of his chest while Bea leaned on the left, pretty much gluing their body to him. Where is Korrina? She laid her head directly on the center of his chest. In short, Ash could feel the stimulating effects of 5 beautiful girls body on to him, and he was sure they noticed the effect too.
'This, how is this going to work?' He swear if he can't feel any of his limbs in the morning, he would be blaming all of them. He gave a small smile as he glanced all of their sleeping faces, they seemed to be more tired than he was. The peaceful look plastered on their beautiful faces, it simply made all of them even more precious.
'This feels right.' It felt right to have them snuggle to him, to kiss all of them and to shower them with love and affection. That was all he wanted to do now, yet he knew that they have all the time in future. He was incredibly tired right now, he would spoil them and feel their soft lips later. Perhaps he did make a right decision after all, maybe this harem thing work between all of them. He gazed at each of them lovingly, before giving each other a kiss on the forehead, closing his eyes once he felt satisfied with the cute reactions. Finally, he can sleep peacefully with the ones he loved.
Though the blissful smiles on their sleeping faces seemed to occupy most of his dreams that night.
