I don't know how, but I managed to update this story in just about 2 weeks, which for my standards, is actually pretty decent. I apologize for the long breaks between chapters, I know it can get quite annoying, but nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this new chapter featuring an interesting familiar face.
"Pikachu, Max Strike!" Eagerly ordered Ash, excited to get on the offensive using the battle mechanic he hasn't utilized very much.
"PIKA!" Pikachu, after some difficulty due to his size, jumped into the air. Once he landed, the whole ground started shaking, making it harder for the group to stay standing, and a crack was created that was slowly approaching the Dynamax Greedant. Once it arrived, a burst of yellow energy erupted from the ground, dealing visible damage to the Greedant.
"YOU DO REALIZE WHEN PIKACHU JUMPS HE CREATES AN EARTHQUAKE THAT WE CAN ALL FEEL RIGHT?" Chloe screamed in anger at Ash, regaining her balance after Pikachu's miniature earthquake.
The boy chuckled sheepishly and said. "S-Sorry… I'm not really used to using Gigantamax in an open field very much…"
"At least a warning next time would be great Ash…" Goh pleaded, stabilizing himself from the ground shaking. "Cinderace, Blaze Kick!"
"Dragon Claw Tyrantrum!" Added Peonia. The two Pokemon took off for their target, but just before they made contact with the giant squirrel, it quickly put up a light blue shield, blocking it from all damage.
"Max Guard…" Muttered Brandon. "Alright everyone, let's surround it. Ash, you break the shield, then we strike with our own moves."
"Got it!" Everybody else replied simultaneously.
Brandon, Goh, Chloe and Peonia all went on different sides of the Greedant readying an attack. When Brandon saw everybody in position, he nodded to Ash who smirked and commanded to his Pokemon: "Max Steelspike!"
After another cry with an abnormally deep voice, Pikachu grabbed his bright yellow tail and slammed it into the ground with force, creating a series of jagged grey spikes that went on a crash course towards Greedant's shield. Upon contact, the shield broke and soon disintegrated into multiple pieces. The group took the opportunity to attack.
"Pyro Ball!"
"Rock Slide!"
"Hyper Beam!"
Ordered Goh, Peonia and Brandon accordingly. Chloe took a little more time deciding which attack to make Eevee use, but soon added: "Hyper Beam you too Eevee!"
With multiple cries by all of their Pokemon, the attacks of Cinderace, Regirock, Tyrantrum and Eevee were launched, all of them successfully hitting the Dynamax Greedant. The giant Pokemon staggered back from the damage, but quickly shook it off.
"No good huh…" Peonia commented.
"Greedants are naturally bulky Pokemon, add Dynamax on top of that and this might get a little complicated…" Brandon added, noting that the Greedant barely really felt the attacks.
"Well, we can't really do much more than just constantly attack so…" Goh started off, before ordering his Ace Pokemon once again. "Double Kick Cinderace! Lend me a hand Chloe."
"Eevee, you know what to do!"
"Eevui!" Exclaimed the normal type, as it's tail glowed red and ran behind Cinderace preparing a Double Kick. They quickly started constantly barraging the Dynamax Greedant with their super effective moves, and since the mobility of the Pokemon was fairly limited due to its size, it could only stand and take them.
Peonia and Brandon, not the type to just stand there and do nothing, started attacking with their own Pokemon, using Ancient Power and Stone Edge. After a little while of receiving constant damage, the Greedant finally made his move. The giant normal type's body started glowing yellow and creating some sparks of electricity, which made the group start to worry.
"What's it doing now…" Questioned Chloe, not recognizing the move.
"Max Lightning, brace yourselves!" Brandon warned a little too late, as a giant electric bolt was already on their way towards them. Fortunately for them though, Ash was ready.
"Quick Pikachu! G-Max Volt Crash!" He exclaimed loudly. Pikachu quickly shot his own bolt of electricity into the air and, right before the Greedant's move reached the group, multiple electric bolts collided with the Max Lighting. The two moves stayed in a stalemate for a little while, until Pikachu's G-Max Volt Crash overpowered the Max Lightning, resulting in the Dynamax Greedant getting shocked with the powerful electric attack and damaging heavily the squirrel Pokemon. "Alright!"
"Thanks for the save Ash!" Goh said relieved, as Brandon, Peonia and Chloe also gave Ash a smile of thankfulness. Their moment of joy didn't last too long though, as Pikachu soon started shrinking back in size, as he quickly reverted to his original form, signifying he had used up 3 Dynamax moves. After the group witnessed Pikachu turn back to normal, they looked at the Greedant in hopes of it doing the same, since it had also used 3 Max moves, but the Pokemon didn't change back.
"...Isn't this the part where the Greedant turns back to normal?" Chloe asked, confused as to why Pikachu had to revert back to his original form but not the squirrel Pokemon.
"Unfortunately that's not how it works…" Brandon started explaining. "When wild Pokemon Dynamax on their own, they only revert back to normal when defeated, but Pokemon who Dynamax or Gigantamax through a Dynamax Band only have the use of three Max moves before reverting back to normal."
"Well that's just great, and pretty unfair if you ask me…" Peonia muttered ironically. Whilst the humans were distracted questioning the logistics of Dynamax phenomenon, the still Dynamaxed Greedant took the opportunity to prepare it's next attack. Some giant neon green mushrooms started appearing from the ground, and they started absorbing some weird green energy. The group of adventurers didn't particularly know what exactly the move Max Overgrowth did, but they knew that it probably wasn't a very good thing for them.
"Tyrantrum, Protect!" Peonia screamed, ordering another green shield from her Pokemon, covering the rest of the group. The green mushrooms from Max Overgrowth suddenly started shooting out some seeds directly at the shield, which surprisingly enough, stood strong but with every hit it took, it seemed more likely to break.
"Ash…" At the sudden sound of a voice ringing in his head, Ash frantically looked around, confused. He knew from previous experiences that what he just heard was someone speaking in his mind through telepathy. He noted that the others didn't seem to notice the sound, meaning whoever was talking was specifically talking to him only. "Huh?…"
"Guys! I don't think Tyrantrum can hold for much longer!" Peonia screamed once again, bringing Ash out of his thoughts. Regirock started firing Stone Edges at some at the seemingly infinite number of giant seeds being thrown at them in an attempt to stop some of them, and Cinderace did the same with Pyro Balls, but it only worked partially.
"Ash… Pikachu… It's been a while huh? Let's see if you two still got it..." Ash once again looked around totally bewildered, with Pikachu now also having the exact same reaction as his trainer. They both felt as if they recognized the voice, but couldn't quite put a finger on who exactly it was. The Pallet Town trainer didn't know why, but he felt as if the mysterious voice was one of an ally, or somebody trying to help.
Chloe noticed Ash and Pikachu's cluelessness and asked about it worriedly. "Ash?" The trainer didn't respond, and simply looked at Pikachu and nodded as a sign that they both unreasonably trusted the source of the voice.
In front of them, Regirock, Cinderace and especially Tyrantrum were starting to get tired quickly, with the shield of Protect struggling to stay intact. Everybody started getting quite concerned by their current situation, but Ash and Pikachu stayed on their toes, prepared for when the mysterious voice in their head came to help them. It wasn't too long before another telepathic message came to them.
"Pikachu… you still know Iron Tail right?" Pikachu let out a loud affirmative cry, making everybody except Ash look at him questioningly. "Alright, when I say, you two jump to your left, I'm almost there, just hang on…" Ash and Pikachu didn't even question the stupidity of that act, considering they still didn't know who was talking to them, and the pair got ready for when the mysterious voice came to their aid. A few more seconds passed and Peonia's eyes went wide eyed at the sight of Tyrantrum's shield finally breaking, leaving them exposed to the final giant seed being shot out from Max Overgrowth. Fortunately though, at that exact same moment, the voice talking to Ash and Pikachu telepathically finally arrived at the scene. "...NOW!"
"Pikachu!" Chloe, still staring at the pair with slight worry, felt as if time slowed down, as she saw both Ash and Pikachu suddenly throw themselves to their left. She was about to call out the trainer's name, wondering what on earth he was doing, but to the shock of just about everybody in the vicinity, a familiar beige horse caught them. She saw Ash and his partner quickly readjust themselves on the horse and the Pallet Town native immediately gave his orders to Pikachu.
"Iron tail!" In the blink of a second, Pikachu jumped from the horse and sliced the giant seed on a crash course for the group in two, making the two halves skim just next to either side of the travelers, one of which making Chloe fall back on the ground in surprise from just how close it came to running her over. The electric type then swiftly landed back onto the front of the horse, where Ash and Pikachu made the same realization. "Keldeo! I knew I recognized that voice!"
"Long time no see Ash!" Said the still galloping Colt Pokemon, now speaking in everyone's minds, making everybody apart from the previously mentioned trainer and Pokemon jump at the sensation of experiencing telepathy for the first time.
"...I-Is that the m-mythical Pokemon from Unova, Keldeo!? A-And d-did it just speak in my mind!? " Goh said in total disbelief and confusion.
"It is… it's using telepathy to communicate with us… and apparently that Keldeo knows Ash enough to want to help us…" Brandon replied a little more calmly than Goh.
"What are you doing here in the Crown Tundra Keldeo!?" Ash asked eagerly, still riding on the back of the Colt Pokemon, who was already in it's resolute form.
"I'll explain later, right now we should probably focus on not getting hit by that Max Overgrowth…" Keldeo remarked, as the Dynamax Greedant prepared the exact same attack as before. Ash looked back from Keldeo's back and caught Chloe's shocked expression as she stared at him in disbelief. He gave her a smirk, which made the maroon haired girl's heart start to beat a little faster, and the Pallet Town trainer addressed the entire group. "Lend us a hand guys!"
The following moments consisted of everybody ordering their Pokemon to deflect or intercept the incoming giant seeds from afar, as Keldeo dodged and swerved the neon green projectiles trying to get closer to the giant squirrel Pokemon, with Ash and Pikachu riding on the Pokemon's back, and the mouse Pokemon occasionally slicing one of the many projectiles sent by the Greedant.
Everybody in the group who was helping Ash, Pikachu and Keldeo from afar were in different states of mind during these moments. Brandon for one, attempted to figure out just how or why a Keldeo seemingly appeared out of nowhere, not being aware that the Colt Pokemon had warned Ash beforehand of its presence. Goh tried to focus on what was happening in front of him, but found it quite difficult as many questions started to pop in his mind on what exactly was going on right now. Peonia, somehow one of the calmer people currently in this situation, fluently commanded attacks to her Tyrantrum in an attempt to help Ash, who she found herself admiring more and more at the sight of him somehow expertly riding on the back of a wild Keldeo whilst ordering his Pikachu to slice anything in their way.
Finally, Chloe just… starred. Starred at what you may ask? A raven haired figure, casually riding on the back of a well renowned mythical Pokemon with a huge smile on his face. She didn't know if she was just seeing things, but to her, it was as if the Pallet Town trainer was shining, with everything else around him appearing as just a blurry image to Chloe. Nobody noticed her dazed state, as they were all occupied with their own thoughts. Thankfully for the group, Eevee didn't need instructions from her bewildered trainer and copied some moves on it's own to help out the others. Chloe's mind stayed blank for a while, with the only thing she focused on was the seemingly shining raven haired trainer riding on the back of a Keldeo. She was only partially brought back to her senses when that same Keldeo spoke in the group's minds once again, the girl flinching at the strange sensation.
"Your new friends aren't half bad Ash!" Keldeo jokingly commented, as Cinderace and Regirock's moves collided with 2 seeds headed straight for the Colt Pokemon, exploding just before it reached it. The trainer laughed at Keldeo's strange compliment and the Pokemon added: "Alright, time for the big finale! Better hold on tight you two!"
"Wait wha- WOAH!?"
"PIKA-PIKACHU!?"
Ash and Pikachu suddenly screamed out as Keldeo suddenly ran forward with a lot more speed just as they were about to reach the Dynamax Greedant. The Colt Pokemon shot a single Focus Blast from its mouth, hitting the squirrel Pokemon square on its stomach, making it stagger back from the super effective move. The horse in its resolute form then proceeded to effortlessly jump over the giant normal type, spin on itself whilst in mid-air and fired off Hydro Pumps from its hooves. Ash and Pikachu struggled to hold on, the Hyper Class trainer basically embracing the Pokemon and the electric type holding on desperately to its trainer's cap. As the Dynamax Pokemon was still getting hit by the sprinkler of Hydro Pumps created by Keldeo, the resolute Pokemon landed behind the Greedant, and the water and fighting type's body started to glow a bright yellow. A giant yellow blade of energy was formed from Keldeo's horn, and after a mighty battle cry, it dashed at incredible speeds towards the Greedant and slashed it's back, creating a huge explosion.
Brandon, Goh, Peonia and Chloe simply watched in awe, as after the smoke from the explosion cleared, the Greedant was revealed to have returned to its normal size and the normal type simply sat on the floor, oblivious to the monstrosity it was just a few seconds ago. Keldeo quickly made its way back to the group, and after dropping Ash and Pikachu on the floor, turned back into its ordinary form with a proud smile on its face. "Woah…" Was all Goh could utter at the end of the sequence of events.
"...I see you're still as reckless as ever Keldeo…" Ash said, slowly picking himself back up from the ground.
"What can I say Ash? As a member of the Swords of Justice, I'm pretty confident in my own abilities!" The part water type replied arrogantly with a smirk.
"I guess Keldeo was most likely the mysterious Pokemon from earlier…" Brandon thought out loud.
Brandon's comment made Ash quickly realise he hadn't properly introduced his friends to Keldeo, so he swiftly did so. "Oh right, Keldeo, these are my friends Brandon, Goh, Chloe and Peonia. Guys, this is Keldeo, I met him a while back when I was travelling in Unova."
"Any friend of Ash is a friend of mine! Nice to meet you guys!" Keldeo said telepathically. Brandon, Goh and Chloe all made their salutations in their own way, although they were all equally surprised by the casual manner of the Mythical Pokemon, especially after defeating a Dynamx Greedant as if it was nothing.
Ash noticed Peonia hadn't said a word at all since Keldeo dropped him off and asked about it. "Peonia?"
The girl was looking at the ground with her fists clenched, making it so that nobody could see her facial expression. "...Ash…" She slowly said in a harsh manner. The trainer in question got a bit scared by her tone, but that slight fear was quickly washed away when Peonia suddenly ran up to Ash, rapidly took his hands, and with now sparkling eyes, exclaimed. "THAT. WAS. AWESOME! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST RODE ON THE BACK OF A KELDEO. AND PIKACHU GIGANTAMAXING EARLIER WAS SO COOL. YOU ARE JUST FULL OF SURPRISES!"
"C-Calm d-down Peonia! I-It really isn't such a big deal…" Ash said, a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed.
"IT IS! AND THE FACT THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW THIS KELDEO IS MIND BLOWING. HOW DO YOU EVEN MEET A POKEMON LIKE THAT?" The blonde haired girl persisted eagerly, still holding his hands tightly, much to the annoyance of a certain someone.
"I-I'll be glad to explain after eating some food… That Greedant dropped a lot of berries after it returned back to normal, so I'm sure we can make some curry now. Keldeo, you wanna join?"
"Curry? Of course I'm in! I'm starving after battling that Greedant..." The colt Pokemon replied excitedly.
Goh noticed the Mythical Pokemon has a similar reaction at the suggestion of food as a good friend of his, and that thought made him laugh out loud. "Doesn't that remind you of someone?" He asked Brandon.
"Why I'm I not surprised…" The man sighed.
A good while had passed since the group had battled the Dynamax Greedant alongside the mythical Pokemon Keldeo, and after finishing cooking with the extra berries they had collected, the group happily ate some delicious curry right next to the famous Dyna Tree alongside said Pokemon. At the request of pretty much everyone, Ash happily and nostalgically explained the history he had with Keldeo, and how he got to meet him in Unova, with the Colt Pokemon adding to certain parts of the story to make it more dramatic, making Ash and Pikachu sweatdrop at his exaggerated additions. Everybody was dazzled by the story told to them, and even Keldeo seemed particularly happy to reminisce on some old memories.
"...and that's about it. That's how I first met Keldeo." Ash said, as he finished explaining the story.
"Wow… That's quite the story Ash, if it was anybody else, I probably wouldn't even believe it…" Goh commented after sighing.
"I agree! It almost feels like you could make a whole movie out of that!" Peonia added.
"If you don't mind me asking… How exactly did you end up here in the Crown Tundra Keldeo?" Brandon asked a bit too seriously, almost making it seem like he wanted to interview the Pokemon, although it didn't bother Keldeo at all.
"Well…" Keldeo started off, pumping out its chest. "After bravely defeating Kyurem and saying goodbye to Ash and his friends…"
"Actually, you didn't defeat-
"T-The details aren't important Ash!" Keldeo bashfully interrupted Ash's correction, making the latter facepalm. "Anyways… Some time passed and not a lot was happening in Unova, so Cobalion suggested we should go to this snowy place called the Crown Tundra to train in harsher conditions."
"Oh, so the other Swords of Justice are also here?" Brandon questioned further, intrigued.
Keldeo nodded and added: "Yeah, they are. They are all training on their own in different places in the Tundra, though even I don't really know where they are exactly. They told me to stick around this huge tree because of some strange occurrences here relating to the Dynamax phenomenon, and I'm glad I did… I never expected that a huge Greedant would just be hiding in a tree…"
"Trust me, you're not the only one…" Chloe quietly commented, still a little in disbelief at the fact.
"Well in any case, I'm glad I got to meet you all, and it's really nice I got to see you again Ash! How's your goal of being a Pokemon Master going?" The Colt Pokemon asked excitedly.
Ash was going to respond, but of course, Peonia beat him to it. "You have no idea! Ash is a Champion now!"
"Wait really!? Woah Ash, that's awesome!" Keldeo said in genuine surprise and amazement, to which Ash replied with a forced smile.
"But that's just the tip of the Iceberg! Would you believe me if I told you he met and took care of the Legendary Pokemon they say devours the sun!?"
"Wait no seriously Peonia how on earth do you know that-" Ash tried to ask with deadpan face, only for Keldeo to cut him off
"WHAT!? ARE YOU SERIOUS!? Tell me more!"
As Peonia quickly stood up from eating and took Keldeo away to explain all of Ash's remarkable achievements, the Pallet Town trainer was left standing there bewildered. He soon noticed three pairs of eyes looking at him expectantly, and innocently said. "W-What?..."
"Well, aren't you going to explain that too?" At Goh's words, Ash simply let himself faceplant on the floor exhausted, causing Goh, Brandon and Chloe to laugh.
30 minutes passed, and the group were still hanging near the Dyna Tree; Peonia still hadn't come back from who knows where with Keldeo, Goh and Brandon were taking notes of their surrounding, occasionally taking a couple pictures of the lively wilderness, Pikachu, Eevee and Cindrace were happily running around, meeting and greeting all the new Pokemon nearby, and finally, Ash was taking a well deserved nap, his signature cap covering his face as he laid on the grassy terrain, peacefully relaxing. Chloe watched from a distance, and eventually decided to go talk to him. She walked up to him, feeling a strange sense of nervousness, and poked him to try and wake him up gently.
"Ash…?" No response. She tried once again, poking him with a bit more force, and still no response. This went on for a bit until the maroon haired girl eventually got fed up and gave up on waking him up gently. "ASH!" She screamed, practically shoving him.
"Huh!? Oh, hey Chloe." The Alolan Champion said, sitting up.
"Sheesh… you should really do something about your sleeping habits…" Chloe remarked, as she sat down next to the trainer.
"Hey! I deserve it this time! Constantly explaining things that happened in the past gets exhausting really fast…" He retorted, causing the Vermillion City girl to let out a light chuckle.
"Oh no! Mister 'Champion of Alola' gets tired from talking about all the cool things he has achieved! How sad!" Chloe teased mockingly, earning an unamused glare from Ash.
"Very funny…" He started off ironically, before changing to a more serious tone. "Say, I noticed you were looking kind of off when we were battling that Greedant, you okay?" He asked with concern.
Chloe thought back to the moment Ash was talking about, and blushed when she realized why she was feeling dazed. "Y-You worry too much, I-I'm fine really…"
"You know for a fact I'm not going to believe that…" He said, still with the same tone.
Chloe considered not saying anything, but decided to be honest, and after sighing, she said: "It's just, when I think about it, so much stuff has happened in the past two days, and it's hard to wrap my head around it sometimes..."
Ash seemed to think about Chloe's words for a bit and put his hands behind his head. "I get you… even for me, these last few days have been kinda weird… but hey, that's just life sometimes I guess..."
Chloe looked surprised by Ash's response and scratched her head. "I will never get used to your line of thinking… It's actually pretty impressive how you can just 'go with the flow' and take everything as it comes. Guess that's one of the reasons you're pretty famous..."
Ash looked visibly displeased at Chloe's choice of words, something which didn't go unnoticed by the maroon haired girl. Chloe grinned and added. "What's wrong Ash, don't like being called famous?" She teased once again
"Chloe…" Ash muttered, clearly annoyed.
"Yes, mister Alolan Champion? Or should I say, mister 'Raised a Legendary Pokemon'? Or maybe, mister 'Befriended a wild Keldeo'? Or perhaps-
"Okay Chloe! I get it!" Ash screamed, as he laid himself back on the floor and crossed his arms. Chloe did the same thing, all whilst still laughing. They stayed like that for a little while, looking up at the sky laying next to each other, with nothing but the breeze of slight wind disturbing them.
"Say, why do you always come talk to me when you have nothing else to do? Surely you can annoy Goh sometimes too…" Ash said, finally breaking the silence.
Truth be told Chloe, didn't particularly know how to answer that, and the more she thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. 'Wait, Why do I come to talk to Ash? I could go talk to anyone else here, but why is it so often Ash. Heck, why is it always Ash in everything I do now. Before we left Hammerlocke, I went and talked to Ash, on the train, I went and talked to Ash, when we arrived at the Crown Tundra, I noticed Ash in the snowball fight, When I was feeling sad after Articuno, I talked to Ash, When we were battling that Greedant, I noticed Ash, and even just now… Why did I go talk to Ash?
"I-I… u-uhhh…"
"ASH!" The two trainers were interrupted by a certain Pokemon talking in their minds. They looked around and noticed Keldeo now running towards them. Ash stood up ready to greet him. "Keldeo! Where were you all this time-
Ash was quickly interrupted by the Colt Pokemon tackling him straight back to ground, the trainer letting out a gasp from the sudden impact. "Ash, I never knew you were so awesome! I can't believe you experienced so many cool things! Man, I'm almost jealous!"
"O-Okay… t-that's great Keldeo but… c-could you please… get off of me… you're kinda heavy…" Ash replied in between breaths
After quickly apologizing and getting off of Ash, Keldeo kept bugging him with plenty of praise. Chloe watched without paying too much attention as to what was going on, as she was once again lost in thought.
'Why is everything I do around Ash since coming here? Why is Ash so often in my mind?' She repeatedly thought to herself.
The girl stayed like that for a while until Ash eventually snapped Chloe out of her dazed state. "Hey Chloe! Let's go back, we're leaving soon, and I don't really really feel like getting lectured by Brandon for being late… again…" The trainer said a little sheepishly, pointing to where everyone was.
"Y-Yeah, sounds good Ash..." She replied unnaturally shyly, to which the Pallet Town trainer raised an eyebrow, but didn't think too much of it.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye…" Keldeo said, with a clear hint of disappointment in his voice, as the group finished packing up their stuff. Despite knowing them for a relatively short while, the Pokemon did truly enjoy their company, as we wasn't often surrounded by many humans.
"Aw, come on Keldeo! We'll see each other again! I'm sure of it!" Ash tried to cheer up to Colt Pokemon, kneeling down in front of him, and lightly patting his head.
"I'll hold you on that…"
"Well, thanks for everything Keldeo, and good luck with the Swords of Justice!" Goh expressed sincerely, earning a genuine smile from the Mythical Pokemon, as the travelers slowly went off, with everyone in the group saying their goodbyes in their own ways.
Keldeo observed them leave with a saddened expression. The Colt Pokemon's expression then suddenly turned hopeful, and just before the group were out of sight, Keldeo quickly ran closer and telepathically screamed. "Hey Ash! One last thing!"
The group temporarily stopped and turned around, before Keldeo smirked and continued. "Next time we meet, let's have a battle!"
Ash grinned, and replied. "You bet! I'll be looking forward to it! Make sure to tell the other Swords of Justice I said hi!"
"Pi-Pikachu!" The trainer's electric type exclaimed from Ash's shoulder, indicating he agreed with everything his trainer said.
The Colt Pokemon watched them all wave from a distance and disappear into the horizon, and once they were out of sight, the part fighting type dashed off into the now sunset to pursue it's training.
The group's walk towards their next destination remained a quiet one for the majority, with everybody reflecting on their experiences with both Keldeo and Dynamax Greedant. It was certainly an interesting detour to the Dyna Tree, and all of them wondered what else was in store for them on their journey to the ruins. Before long, the group had reached a familiar location, to which Ash commented on.
"Hey, isn't that the Old Graveyard we visited earlier?" The Alolan Champion asked generally, pointing in the direction of the location.
"It is!" Peonia exclaimed with a slightly surprised tone. "We sure took one heck of a detour…"
Brandon analysed his map one last time, before looking up and announcing: "I believe if we keep moving along a little further to the east, we should reach the Roaring Sea Caves soon, and once we've entered, we look for the exit towards the Frigid Sea."
"Wait, what do you mean 'We look for the exit'? Are you saying you don't know how to navigate through the cave?" Goh asked with a noticeable concern in his voice, not really liking the idea of running through a cavern blindly in hopes of making it out.
"The map I got from the station doesn't detail the insides of the cave, since not a lot of people go through there, so we're going to have to make do…" Brandon replied not too convincingly, considering he himself didn't particularly like the idea of entering the large grotto without directions, but he knew it was the simplest way to reach the Frigid Sea, so they didn't really have a choice.
"Sounds like a great way for things to go horribly wrong... again…" Chloe mumbled with a deadpan expression, not really wanting to experience another life threatening event.
Without any prior warning to the Vermillion City girl, Ash suddenly put his elbow on Chloe's shoulder and crossed his feet in a casual manner. "Come on guys, everything will be fine! Trust me!"
The trainer with the Eevee knew the Hyper Class trainer only leaned on him in a friendly manner, but her brain seemed to have a temporary shutdown by Ash's sudden close proximity, noticeable by the blank look on her face and her reddened cheeks.
Peonia noticed Chloe's reaction and smirked. "I agree with Ash! Everything will be fine! Let's go!" She suddenly grabbed Ash's other arm and started forcibly pulling him away from the group and towards their destination, something which neither Ash or Pikachu expected, causing the electric mouse to fall from its current position on top of the Pallet Town native's head and into Chloe's arm.
As Ash sheepishly smiled behind him, Chloe turned Pikachu around in her arms, still with the same expression on her face, causing the Pokemon to tilt his head at her. 'Why do I feel so weird around Ash now? What's wrong with me?' The girl said to herself in her mind. She seemed to all of a sudden realize her situation, and quickly exclaimed: "Hey! Wait up you two!" As the girl quickly chased after them.
Brandon and Goh watched the scene play out with great amusement and gave each other a knowing smile before also pursuing them.
After a little while of running, the group eventually came to a stop when they arrived at a very narrow alleyway between two brick walls, filled to the brim with Copperajahs and Stonjourners. Ash, Chloe and Peonia, who were at the front of the group, stood and looked at the path hesitantly.
"I don't think I feel very confident in passing through there with those giant Pokemon around…" The blonde haired girl commented.
"The map doesn't indicate another close way to reach the Roaring Sea Caves…" The Pyramid King added from just behind them, trying to think of a way to get through the narrow path.
Goh's face suddenly lit up as he quickly thought of something. "Why don't we just use our Pokemon to fly over them?"
"Nice thinking Goh! Dragonite, Gengar, I choose you!"
"Flygon, you're up!"
As the three Pokemon appeared, Chloe and Pikachu, the electric type still in the girl's arms, embarked on Gengar, Peonia jumped on Dragonite, and Brandon went atop of Flygon.
"Okay, I don't think Gengar can carry more than two people, so Ash, one of us can join Brandon on Flygon, and the other can join Peonia-...Why are you looking at me like that?" Goh interrupted himself as he noticed Ash looking at him with a sly smile.
"We could do that… Or…"
Goh took a while before he understood what Ash was getting at, but grinned when he realized his intentions. He seemed to be thinking of something before deciding to make things a bit interesting. "Last one to the other side owes the other lunch when we get back!"
"You're on!"
And so, the pair of researchers dashed off into the alleway, completely ignoring the fact it was full of strong Pokemon, who probably wouldn't appreciate two humans running in between their legs. The three trainers on top of their Pokemon simply watched dumbfoundedly at the stupidity and childish nature of the two boys.
"I don't even know what to say at this point…" Chloe sighed, with her two companions and even the three Pokemon they were riding on nodding in agreement, before flying off to the end of the alleyway.
It turns out the passageway wasn't a very long distance, as it only took around 10 seconds for Gengar, Flygon and Dragonite to reach the other side. The humans disembarked from the Pokemon and gave them their thanks, before they saw the inevitable sight of Ash and Goh weaving their way through the giant Pokemon. They observed the relatively close race with unamused expressions, and Goh managed to just about reach the end before Ash, with both trainers being left scratched and bruised.
"Yes!... I won!" Goh declared proudly with his chest.
"I think in this scenario you guys both lost…" Peonia commented as she saw the roughed up state of the two trainers. Pikachu jumped from Chloe's arms onto Ash's shoulder and looked to be scolding him, which was admittedly a very adorable sight to the rest of the group.
"S-Sorry buddy, it was too tempting to not try out…" Ash said sheepishly, with Pikachu letting out a disappointed cry.
After Goh and Ash returned their Pokemon to their Pokeballs and started making their way forwards again, Chloe asked a question to everyone that has been on her mind since they arrived at the Crown Tundra. "Say, Couldn't we just have the Pokemon carry us all the way to the Three-Point Pass, Wouldn't that be a lot simpler?"
"It would, but our Pokemon that can fly aren't really made for flying long distances in these conditions, even a small distance like the alleyway is pretty tiring for Dragonite, Flygon and Gengar because of the cold that they aren't very used to." Goh explained
Chloe was about to say Gengar and Dragonite flew quite a distance when they saved both her and Ash from the cliff when they were battling Articuno, but quickly realized that the Pokemon probably suppressed their feelings of the cold because their trainer was, well, in danger of falling off a cliff.
"Hey look, it's a river!" Peonia remarked as she pointed in front of them
"And I think that's the entrance to the Roaring Sea Caves just beyond it…" The Battle Frontier Brain said additionally.
After quickly making their way over the river and past the multiple abandoned structures, the group were now standing in front of the cavern entrance, looking a lot more ominous and scary than they orginally thought.
"I suddenly have a bad feeling about this…" Goh admitted. This was no longer the time for jokes or friendly wagers, they didn't know what the cave ahead of them contained, so they better be on their toes at all times.
"Stay close everyone, we don't know what could be waiting for us inside…" Brandon warned, earning a silent nod of understanding from everyone as they took the first steps into the deep cavern…