Hey, everybody! Sorry I haven't updated in a while...to be honest, I likely won't be updating again until the summer. I've got school and work and it's all a bit much right now, but I should have plenty of free time on my hands by the middle of July. Sorry for going on such a long hiatus, but hopefully when I come back I'll have chapters coming out relatively regularly. Until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
She knows that she's crazy. She's literally trying to appeal to the senses of a maniac, but she's not sure what else she can do. She's too worried about the approaching flames to come up with a better plan.
Which is precisely why her heart drops when J simply smirks, clearly not buying in to what she's saying for even a second.
"Salamence, use Flamethrower now."
Casey finds herself frozen in her place as Salamence lunges its head back. Time seems to stand still as a radiating beam of fire rushes towards her...
"Watch out!"
"Watch out!"
Casey winces as Ash roughly tackles her down to the ground in an effort to save her from the approaching blaze. They both barely manage to avoid it, their Pokemon and Riolu luckily dodging the attack with them. She tries to gasp out a thank you to Ash, but he's already on his feet before she gets the chance.
"Buizel! Water Gun!" He orders, pointing to a specific point of the fiery barrier that's encasing them.
Casey glances over at Shellos, panic settling back in when she sees the dazed state of the Sea Slug Pokemon. She must've fell off of her head when Ash tackled her down.
"Alright, Shellos. Return." She says after withdrawing Shellos' Pokeball, the fatigued Pokemon returning to her capsule with little to no protest.
"Casey, come on!"
She jumps to her feet when Ash calls out to her and follows him, his Pokemon and Riolu through the small gap that they've created in the fiery ring. They make a mad dash to get away from J and the impending flames, Riolu leading the charge as its nimble body surges past both Ash and Casey effortlessly.
Unfortunately, that leaves it as an open target for J, who fires off a capture ray just as she did back at the river. This time around the ray successfully makes contact with Riolu, freezing the Emanation Pokemon on impact and causing its stony body to crash down onto the path, its prized doll cascading out of its hands as it falls.
"Riolu!"
Ash and Casey both make a rush for their fallen friend, but they're forced to stop when J swoops down from above, cutting them off with a great gust of wind caused by the swinging of Salamence's tail.
"I spared Riolu the pain and suffering from the flames! You should be grateful!" She shouts proudly, smirking as they stare up at her angrily.
"Who do you think you are? You're not getting away with this!" Ash cries.
"Salamence, Hyper Beam." J orders calmly.
Casey's ready to act this time around, perfectly diving into a nearby bush along with Ash and his Pokemon before the Hyper Beam can make any form of contact. She looks around, dazed, as she quickly comes up with an escape plan. She reaches for Monferno's Pokeball, the Playful Pokemon materialising from a bright form of light with panicked eyes as he takes in their surroundings.
"I know, pal, but right now we really need your help." She sighs, trying her best to be reassuring and calm despite the fact that she's far from it, "Do you reckon you can dig us a way out of here?"
Monferno nods and obeys his trainer's command, tearing a hole in the earth with his palms within a matter of seconds. Casey moves to follow Monferno, stopping to look back at Ash when he shows no sign of doing the same.
"Ash! We've got to move, now!" She orders, the panic in her voice abundantly clear despite herself. She knows that he's conflicted right now, the righteous part of him wanting to go running right back into those flames in aid of saving Riolu, but that's the last thing that either of them need to be doing right now, "Ash! Come on!"
"But, Riolu-!" He stammers, watching in horror as J takes off into the sky with Riolu in her clutches.
"I want to help Riolu as much as you do, but we can't if we've been barbecued!" She sighs, trying to appeal to reason, "We need to get out of here right now!"
Ash still looks reluctant, his eyes darting frantically between her and J flying off into the distance. She knows that he's torn right now, but what's the point in putting his life on the line when the chance of him catching up to J now is slim to none? They need to get out of here with their lives before they can come up with a backup plan.
"Pika-pi!"
"Bui! Bui!"
The sounds of his Pokemon's desperate cries is what prompts Ash into action. He glances away from the sky and over to Pikachu and Buizel, nodding in confirmation before looking to Casey again.
"Okay, lets get out of here!"
Surprisingly enough, it's raining when they finally resurface from the dark depths of the underground. Monferno leaps out first, followed shortly by Ash and Pikachu, the latter having returned Buizel to its Pokeball before making his escape. They come out onto the hill that Monferno's led them onto, Casey practically breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of the rain dousing the seared forest. She leans against a nearby tree on the hill tiredly, looking at Monferno with a grateful smile.
"Thanks, pal." She says, reaching for his Pokeball and aiming the capsule at him with an exhausted smile, "Now take a nice, long rest."
"That was quick thinking, Casey." Ash says as she returns Monferno's Pokeball to her pocket, looking at her sheepishly, "Thanks a lot."
She knows that he feels guilty for almost putting her life at risk by not listening to her right away, but part of her had expected him to respond in the way that he did. That's the thing about Ash: his compassion for Pokemon shows no bounds. It's inspiring, well, at least when it's not putting your life at risk.
"Don't mention it." She replies, looking up to the overcast sky, "Looks like the rain's doing a good job at putting out the fire."
"Yeah." She hears Ash murmur back in response before his voice perks up, "Hey! What's that?"
"What's what?" She asks, looking down from the sky to him confusedly before she realises what he's looking at, "Is that...J's ship?"
He doesn't even give her an answer, instead taking off in a run down the hillside in aid of getting a closer look at the landing ship, Pikachu yelping in surprise as he takes off.
"Ash! Wait up!" Casey shouts as she runs after him, sliding down the hillside and quickly ducking behind the large rock that he's taken to hiding behind.
They watch as numerous transit vehicles drive up a steeled ramp leading into the cargo hold of the large ship, the vehicles presumably being driven by the goons that attempted to apprehend them back at the river. Casey watches with bated breath, the thoughts in her head scrambled as she tries to piece together a plan of action.
"Okay, so I'm thinking that we-." She starts, her voice falling flat when Ash abruptly takes off in a run towards the closing ramp of the cargo hatch, bringing Pikachu along with him without warning, "Ash, wait!"
She considers chasing after him, providing some source of backup against the hell storm that is J that awaits him inside of that menacing ship, but he's already at the ramp by the time she comes to that conclusion. He barely manages to leap inside as it closes, the ramp sealing him inside with a resounding thud that echoes through the clearing.
She watches, heart pounding and thoughts scrambled, as J's ship takes off high into the sky with Ash inside of it, leaving her alone and stranded in the middle of a singed forest.
"This isn't good." She murmurs, getting up from her hiding place and beginning to frantically pace back and forth, "This isn't good. This really isn't good!"
She finds herself back and forth for a solid ten minutes, clueless as to what else to do in her frenzied state of panic. Usually she can compose herself in panicked situations such as the current one that she's caught up in, but she honestly doesn't have a clue on how she's supposed to act next. Ash is gone, she's got no way to contact the others...
Oh no, the others! They're probably worried sick!
She hadn't even considered how Brock, Dawn and Kellyn must be feeling. Surely they would've seen the forest go up in flames, but there's no way they could've known where her and Ash had ended up.
They probably think that we went up in flames...no! Don't think like that!
She stops pacing, looking up to the sky as a groan of frustration escapes her. She knows that she has to try and find the others, but doing that from the ground is going to be next to impossible to achieve. She could have Monferno dig more underground tunnels to allow for faster travel, but by doing that she'll have no idea where she's heading. She could very well pass right underneath them without even realising it.
If only Xatu were here. Searching from the skies on Xatu's back would really speed this whole process up.
Back during her travels through Johto, she'd often travel atop Xatu's - one of the numerous Pokemon she had befriended during her travels there - back, particularly when passing back through areas that she had already traversed prior. It allowed for more versatility when it came to travelling around Johto - not to mention that it made the process much faster and more efficient.
But, of course, Xatu isn't with her right now. No, Xatu's over in Pastoria City on her Grandfather's ranch. Then again, maybe she doesn't need Xatu...
Realisation hits her like a ton of bricks. It's so blatantly obvious that she has to stop herself from chiding herself for her idiocy. It's a shame that she didn't figure it out earlier. Perhaps if she had then things would've turned out differently.
Regardless of her regret, she still follows through with her idea and withdraws a single Pokeball from her pocket, enlarging it with a single click before throwing it high up into the sky determinedly, "Dragonair, I choose you!"
Despite the circumstances behind it, Casey has to admit that it's exhilarating to be flying atop one of her Pokemon again. It's different to when she used to fly with Xatu. It's harder to grip onto Dragonair due to her slender body, and Dragonair is also far faster than Xatu ever was, but it's also very similar in many ways.
She trusts Dragonair just as much as she trusted - how much she still trusts - Xatu, and even though she has an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach of falling from such a great height, she's certain that if that does happen Dragonair will be there to catch her. Her bond with Dragonair is strong enough that it's simply second nature to have trust in such things.
"How are you feeling, Dragonair?" She calls above the wind, glancing away from the ground beneath her briefly to smile at the Dragon Pokemon fondly.
Dragonair responds with an enthusiastic and gleeful cry, clearly enjoying the new experience of flight. It surprises Casey that Dragonair hasn't flown before. There's been plenty of instances were the Dragon Pokemon could've done just that - then again, she only recently evolved. Perhaps she didn't even know she was capable of flight. Casey only figured it out a few minutes okay and she's the trainer! She's supposed to be aware of these kinds of things.
"It's fun, isn't it? Flying aro-!" Her remark is cut off when Dragonair suddenly dips her head down, her entire body following as she begins to plummet down towards the ground without warning.
"Dragonair! Dragonair, stop!"
Casey continues to scream as they race towards the ground; it's a miracle that she doesn't fall off of Dragonair given how fast she's going. She audibly sighs in relief when Dragonair slows their descent as they get closer to the ground, and it's here when Casey finally realises why Dragonair shot down here in the first place.
It's the others!
Even Ash is there, though he's not looking at her like the others are. He's instead kneeling down on the grass, his eyes fixed on the numerous blades of green around him instead of at the sky or the others.
"Casey!" Dawn calls out to her as she approaches.
Casey jumps down from atop of Dragonair when she's a safe distance from the ground, turning to her friends with a smile as they approach, "Hey, you guys! Am I glad to see you!"
"We're glad to see you too, Casey." Kellyn smiles, "We were getting worried about where you were."
"I was worried about not finding you guys fast enough. This forest is huge." Casey admits.
"Wow, Casey! I didn't know that Dragonair could fly!" Dawn gasps as she looks to the Dragon Pokemon in awe, Casey almost smirking at the sight of Dragonair holding her head high in pride.
"Neither did I." She chuckles honestly, turning to Dragonair with a smile as she pats her head affectionally, "You're full of surprises aren't you, Dragonair?"
Dragonair nuzzles her head in Casey's hand and purrs affectionately, clearly excited to be receiving such a fuss. She deserves all of the fuss after how helpful she's been.
Casey reaches into her pocket and withdraws Dragonair's Pokeball, "Thanks a bunch, Dragonair. You deserve a nice, long rest."
Dragonair dematerialises inside of the capsule with a gleeful cry. Casey pockets the Pokeball before setting her sights on Ash, looking at the raven-haired boy with a perplexed expression on her face. She approaches him hesitantly, cracking a slight joke in the hopes that it'll catch his attention that otherwise seems focused on the ground beneath him, "Ash, the next time you're gonna rush into an aircraft, give me an advanced warning, okay?"
Nothing.
She's met with nothing but silence. She hadn't expected much - perhaps a light chuckle at the most - but silence? This doesn't make any sense. Not for Ash.
"Ash?" She frowns, looking to Brock and Dawn in the hope that they'll clarify what's going on. Dawn simply looks back at her with a distraught expression on her face whilst Brock simply shakes his head, which is enough for Casey to figure out precisely what's going on.
She sighs, kneeling down beside Ash and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "We're gonna find Riolu, okay?"
Ash doesn't react to her presence initially, instead closing his eyes with an almost pained expression on his face that sends Casey into a frenzy.
"Ash? Ash, what's wrong?" She asks, concerned.
His eyes snap open as he gasps suddenly, the pained expression on his face changing to an expression of realisation. He suddenly stands up and looks up to the sky thoughtfully; Casey glances back at the others, who look just as puzzled about the situation as her.
"Riolu! That's where you are!" Ash gasps, a smile of relief lighting up his face.
"You sense its aura, don't you?" Kellyn asks as Casey stands up, looking between him and Ash curiously as their conversation unfolds.
"That's right!" Ash answers, pointing ahead, "This way! Riolu's this way!"
Kellyn nods, turning back to the device on his wrist determinedly, where he has a video call open with Solana on the other side, something he must've done whilst Casey had approached Ash, "We're on our way to free Riolu right now. Please inform headquarters for me."
"Understood." Solana responds curtly, "Good luck, Kellyn."
"How exactly are we getting to Riolu?" Dawn asks, looking to Kellyn as he closes the communication device on his wrist, "Who knows how long it'll take us if we go on foot?"
Casey understands where Dawn is coming from. Searching the forest by the air took a good ten minutes and that was at flying at top speed. Sure, they know the general direction that they need to be heading in to get to Riolu, but it's still gonna take them a heck of a lot of time regardless.
She knows that she could suggest that they fly on Dragonair's back, but there's no way that they'll all fit. Perhaps there's another Pokemon that they could enlist the help of in order to speed up the process...
She quickly scans the nearby area, hoping to spot at least one Pokemon that they can call on for help. Luckily enough for her, she just so happens to spot the perfect group of Pokemon in an instant.
"Hey, you guys." She murmurs with a smirk, "I think I've got an idea."
"We found ya, J!"
They reach J's location just in time atop the flock of Dodrio's backs, all of them glaring daggers at the conniving Pokemon Hunter and the man that she's handing Riolu's capsule off to. Both parties are frozen, staring up at them angrily for interrupting their transaction.
It's a good thing that we found those Dodrio. They would've gotten away if we hadn't.
"Your time's up, J!" Ash yells determinedly, "Hand Riolu over right now!"
Casey expects J to retort, but it turns out to be the man that she's dealing with that yells back. He clutches Riolu's capsule to himself desperately, glaring up at them with fire in his eyes, "No! I'll give you nothing!"
Casey instinctively reaches into her pocket, ready to send out one of her Pokemon in order to fight back against the entitled fool that's trying to get away with such a crime, but she's surprised when Ash beats her to it, sending out Staravia in order to fight back.
"Staravia! Quick Attack, go!"
Staravia becomes a bright blur as it surges towards the man at top speed, knocking Riolu's capsule clean out of his hand before he can so much react to what's going on. They take this opportunity and rush down into the rocky creek, Ash leading the pack from the front as they quickly approach the fiends trying to rush away with Riolu.
"Golem! Use Hyper Beam!"
One of the mysterious man's goons sends out his Golem, the Rock-Type firing off a powerful Hyper Beam directly at Ash the moment it bursts out of its capsule. The attack hits Ash's Dodrio head on, causing the Triple Bird Pokemon to go tumbling to the rough and rocky ground and bring Ash down with it, both him and Pikachu landing on the ground with a resounding thud and cries of pain.
"Ash!" Dawn gasps, her and the others leaping down from the backs of their Dodrio and rushing over to Ash in concern, "Are you alright?!"
Ash grunts back in response, prompting Casey and Brock to reach down and help him and Pikachu back onto their feet.
"I've got Riolu! Let's go!"
Ash snaps back into action at the sound of Riolu's captor scrambling to his feet with Riolu's capsule firmly in his hands, watching in horror as he rushes towards a nearby truck along with his goons.
They're gonna get away! They're gonna get away with Riolu!
"You're not going anywhere! Staravia, slash their tyres using Quick Attack!" Ash orders.
Staravia rushes towards the truck and slashes the tyres in one fell swoop, the deflated rubber crumpling and causing the broken truck to fall awkwardly on its side. The escaping fiends stop abruptly at the side, panic settling in across their faces as they turn back to Casey and the others.
"Give Riolu back!" Casey shouts, angry.
"Forget about it!" The captor cackles, looking to his men with a smirk, "Get them!"
Things spiral down into chaos within the next few moments. The men act fast, each of them sending out a fierce and formidable Pokemon out to fight back. A Graveler, Tyranitar, Rhyhorn and Nidoking come out to join the Golem that one of the men sent out earlier, and Casey has to resist the urge to scan the data of the Pokemon into her Pokedex.
Don't be ridiculous! Riolu is the priority right now! Forget about your Pokedex!
Speaking of the Emanation Pokemon, Casey's frustrated to find that the man holding it captive still has managed to make a fairly successful escape whilst she and the others have been distracted. He begins to fly away atop of a Fearow, cackling as he clutches onto Riolu's capsule and flies off into the distance.
That's not the only problem they run into. Amidst all the confusion and panic J must've gotten back into her aircraft without them realising, as fierce winds blow through the creek as the aircraft slowly begins to rise up into the air. The aircraft disappears from view within moments as does the mysterious buyer, Casey's heart sinking at the sight, but some form of hope does arrive when she hears Kellyn suddenly shout out in relief from behind her.
"It's Solana!"
Solana leaps out of the small side car of Officer Jenny's motorcycle, the two of them approaching the group with calm faces despite the severity of the situation. She looks to Kellyn, giving him a simple order in a firm and levelled toned voice, "Kellyn, go after Fearow!"
Officer Jenny echoes Solana's order, reassuring Kellyn that they'll deal with the other men whilst they get Riolu back. Kellyn rushes off without much hesitation after that, bringing Ash along with him, and the two of them rush off in the direction that the man was headed atop their Dodrio, not looking back as they rush off to aid Riolu.
Though, of course, things simply couldn't be that simple.
"Oh, no you don't! Golem, use Sandstorm!" One of the men orders, pointing off in the direction that Ash and Kellyn were headed aggressively.
Another man orders his Rhyhorn to do the same, the two Ground-Type's rallying together and beginning to produce a large sandstorm in the vicinity. Casey reaches into her pocket once again, ready to call on Shellos to help them out, but Dawn beats her to the mark.
"Piplup, Bubblebeam, now!" She calls.
Piplup leaps up off of Dawn's head until he's high above both the opposing Pokemon, arching his small head back before lunging it forward again and sending an onslaught of bubbles at Golem and Rhyhorn, halting their attempts at generating a sandstorm instantly. Both Pokemon go flying back towards their trainers, hardly bracing themselves as they crash back down to the rocky ground, though their setback provides Casey and the others with the perfect opportunity to send out their own Pokemon.
Officer Jenny and Brock act first, both of them sending out Growlithe and Croagunk respectively, the two of them moving to stand beside Piplup as he lands back at Dawn's feet. Casey quickly assesses the Pokemon that they're up against, coming to a logical conclusion on which Pokemon she should send out to help fight back in an instant.
"Dragonair and Shellos, get fired up!" She shouts, withdrawing two Pokeballs and throwing them out in front of her. The capsules burst open and energy spills out of them, materialising into the two Pokemon that she's called upon as they let out proud battle cries.
She wastes no time, calling out two separate commands to her Pokemon determinedly, "Shellos, use Water Pulse! Dragonair, use Aqua Tail!"
Shellos fires off a group of rounded Water Pulses in rapid succession at the Golem whilst Dragonair targets the Graveler, slamming her glowing tail down onto its rough body with extreme force and sending it tumbling to the ground with a resounding thud.
"Dawn, Brock, Officer Jenny, can you guys deal with the other Pokemon?" She asks with the briefest of glances to her friends, "We should be able to handle these two!"
"Got it, Casey! Now, Piplup, use Bubblebeam!" Dawn responds, setting her sights on the Nidoking at the end of the line of adversaries.
It's a slow descent into chaos from that point onwards. Casey keeps her focus on her own Pokemon and who they're up against, though she's briefly aware of her friends fighting just as fiercely by her side the entire time. The men try to counter by ordering their Pokemon to use Sandstorm, though Shellos' perfectly executed Water Pulse puts a stop to that in seconds.
"Now, Dragonair! Use Dragon Rage on Graveler!" She orders decisively, "Shellos, use Water Pulse on Golem!"
Her Pokemon's attacks make direct hits once again, this time resulting in Graveler falling at its trainers feet and failing to get back up. Golem gets back up, albeit with a struggle, and stands alongside the other Pokemon as Graveler is returned to its Pokeball; all the while Croagunk, Piplup, and even Growlithe, fall down at their respective trainers feet, weakened from sustaining substantial amounts of damage from their opponents.
"They're too strong!" Dawn gasps, looking down at her injured friend with wide eyes, "How do we stand up to them?"
"Solana, any ideas?" Casey asks with a glance over at the Pokemon Ranger. She's seriously hoping that Solana's got at least one idea, because she's honestly got nothing right now.
She looks back to their opponents panickedly, grimacing at the sight of them smirking satisfactorily back at her. Their remaining Pokemon look just as proud and powerful, standing in a perfect line as an intimidating force to be reckoned with. She casts her eyes down at her own Pokemon, relieved to discover that her distress hasn't rubbed off on them in any way - that's not to say that they're not concerned, but she can tell by the fiery looks in their eyes and their solid stances that they're ready to fight back when necessary.
Thankfully it doesn't look like it's going to get to that point, much to Casey's relief, as Solana manages to jump in with the perfect counter-strategy along with the help of her Capture Styler.
She fires off the device at a nearby Trapinch, the small vessel zooming around the insectoid's body before encapsulating around it, signifying that the capture's been successful.
"Capture complete!" Solana calls out triumphantly, directing her attention back towards their enemies, "Quick, Trapinch, use Rock Tomb!"
Trapinch lets out a menacing cry despite it's small stature and numerous sharp, jagged rock spikes burst out from underneath the Earth, swarming around the clustered and panicked goons and their Pokemon before they can react to what's going on. A circle of bladed stones trap them within a confined space, leaving them helpless and unable to fight back.
Casey watches, unsure on what to do, as Officer Jenny and Solana rush towards the trapped criminals, the latter giving a brief thanks to Trapinch before it burrows back underground again. She knows that she should be rushing to help, but she doubts that she'll be able to do much else now. Besides, it seems that Solana and Officer Jenny have it covered.
"Shell!"
Casey instantly feels at ease when her Pokemon rush towards her gleefully. She kneels down to the ground as they reach her, almost falling back when the two of them jump at her enthusiastically, Shellos perching on her left shoulder whilst Dragonair heads for her right side.
"Thank you. Both of you. You two were incredible." She praises honestly, chuckling as Dragonair nuzzles her head in the side of the arm affectionately.
"She's right, you know?" Brock says as he approaches from behind, pocketing Croagunk's Pokeball after having returned the Toxic Mouth Pokemon to its capsule, "You were both great!"
"How's Croagunk, Brock?" Casey asks after her own Pokemon's enthusiastic cries die down.
"Croagunk will be just fine." Brock says, reassuringly.
"Dawn?" She murmurs with a glance over her shoulder at the bluenette, who smiles back at her warmly.
"Piplup's just fine, isn't that right, Piplup?" She replies, the Penguin Pokemon in her arms echoing her sentiments, "So there's no need to worry!"
Casey lets out a deep breath that she hadn't even realised she was holding upon hearing that. She's relieved to know that her friends and their Pokemon - well, at least most of them - are just fine.
Besides, she's certain that Ash and Kellyn will get Riolu back, so she knows that everything will work out just fine.
The engine of Officer Jenny's motorbike rumbles as she drives off into the distance, a truck containing the criminals that attempted to steal Riolu being driven by one of her colleagues just behind her. Casey watches as the faces of the criminals become gradually less distinguishable as the truck drives away before looking back to Kellyn and Solana, who are both stood beside an elderly gentleman who's holding Riolu in his arms. Solana called him shortly after she and Officer Jenny dealt with the criminals, briefly informing Casey and her friends that he's from Riolu's kingdom and would be able to look after Riolu from here on out.
Not that any of them needed an explanation. They're all just happy that Riolu's gonna be taken care of.
"So, thanks to all of you, our mission has been safely accomplished. You were all great!" Kellyn praises with a smile.
"Don't forget, I told you Ash would be a great help!" Solana says to Kellyn, the boy rolling his eyes lightheartedly at her cockiness as Ash's cheeks grow red.
"It wasn't much!" Ash replies modestly, scratching the back of his embarrassedly.
"And on behalf of the many wonderful people who live in our kingdom, I wish to convey my sincere gratitude for returning Riolu to us." Riolu's trainer says gratefully, respectfully nodding to them all in thanks.
"Thanks, and since Riolu's first group of captors have been arrested as well, you can return home without a worry." Brock says, much to the immense relief of Riolu's elderly trainer. Something tells Casey that the promise of no threat coming to Riolu or its kingdom is something that the man was waiting to hear about.
"Riolu, make sure you take care of yourself, okay?" Casey says, smiling, "And keep working on that Aura Sphere of yours. You've got something really special in that."
"And you take good care of this, too." Ash adds, extending Riolu's special doll out it with a smile. He gently places the doll into the Emanation Pokemon's hand before pulling back.
Riolu looks down at the doll in awe before showing it off to its trainer; Ash suddenly winces as Riolu does this, eliciting concern from Casey and the others at his sudden impulsive reaction.
"Ash, are you okay?" Dawn asks, concerned.
"Riolu's aura, right?" Kellyn asks with a fond smile, catching onto what's occurred in an instant.
"Yeah." Ash nods to Kellyn before looking back to Riolu, "That was just Riolu telling me thanks. That's what ya said, didn't ya?"
Casey can't help but smile at Riolu's gleeful response, and although she's glad that they've managed to help Riolu, she can't help but feel uneasy at the thought of J still being out there and at large. She can tell that they're going to run into her again.
Here's hoping that they'll be more prepared to fight back next time around.
