Ash was standing behind a tree. Observing the small Pidgey that was in the middle of drinking water from the river. Seeing that the Pokémon had it's back turned to him and had not noticed him, he enacted his plan. With all his might he threw his green Draconid Gem in the air and watched as it flew in an arc.
When it came close enough to the wild Pokémon, he yelled. ''Sandy come out!'' The gem stopped in mid-air and let out a beam of green energy unto the ground. The energy shifted and took the form of a young pink fawn. After a full night of sleep inside her gem the Deerling had completely healed from her encounter with the Pyroar from yesterday. ''Kill that bird as quickly as you can!''
Sandy proceeded to summon a single vine from the dirt and it latched unto the Pidgey before it had time to fly off. She then used the vine and slammed the bird against the trunk of a tree. The bird died on impact with a crunch and Sandy released the dead body on the ground. Ash winced when he saw that the impact had created a massive hole the size of a basketball on the trunk of the tree. At that moment he was glad the young Deerling was on his side.
Without wasting any time Ash returned the fawn into her gem and then took the bird's limp body and dragged it back to the cave. As soon as he entered inside Lillie's expression twisted into disgust as she watched him come back with the bird's carcass. ''When you told me to go fetch wood, I didn't think it was to cook a Pokémon.'' Ash shrugged before taking a large knife from his backpack and started cutting up the bird. She instantly looked away from the gory display and tried to not lose her nonexistant lunch.
Ash couldn't begin to guess why, but Pokémon became really easy to cut once they died. But while they were alive the knife wouldn't have been able to even make a scratch. Maybe someone smarter like his mom or Professor Oak would have known why, but he certainly didn't. ''I was kind of hoping for a bigger catch, but we still can share.'' He said to Lillie once he was done with taking out the organs.
At that she instantly turned green and shook her head. ''You can keep it, I don't eat meat.''
Ash raised an eyebrow at that. ''So you're a vegan? No offense but how the hell did you survived this long? In this world you can't really be picky about what you eat.'' God know the disgusting things he had to forcefully shove down into his mouth while he lived on the road. Lillie didn't respond instead she decided to leave the cave. Ash assumed she went to search for food she would actually like and decided to leave her alone while he cooked his meal.
Fortunately they wouldn't need to search for food for Sandy. The little fawn was more than happy to simply graze on grass and flowers occasionally. She would also feed on berries when they were lucky enough to find them. But it seemed like her favorite source of food was the sun. Everytime she was outside the Deerling would stand in the sunlight with a content look in her face. Ash knew that grass type were part plants. But he would have never have guessed that such a mammal-like creature could do photosynthesis. Pokémon really were mysterious creatures.
Once he judged that the Pidgey had been cooked well enough he eagerly took a bite out of it. Unsurprisingly it tasted a bit similar to chicken. But there was also a bit of a weird sour taste accompanying it that he couldn't place. But it was similar enough to make Ash remember when he and his mom would go out at their favorite restaurant.
Finally he let out a content sigh once he was done with the meal. It had been a long time since he ate that well. Maybe having a Pokémon wasn't so bad after all. His calm demeanor disappeared once he heard the sound of footsteps coming toward him. But he relaxed when he saw that it was just Lillie coming back from her trip. His eyes widened when he noticed she had a large backpack with her filled to the brim with all sort of food that would last a really long time. things like oats, dried fruits and canned beans was filling the bag almost to the brim.
''Where the heck did you find all this?!'' Ash asked in shock.
She laughed at his reaction. ''I paid for it, apparently they use empty cans of food as currency here and I knew that the CGO hideout was full of it. So I 'borrowed' them and paid for all this stuff. It was surprisingly cheap. I guess the people in town feel so safe, even with the radio tower being busted, that they don't think they will need this in the future. Oh well if anything happen it's their loss I guess.''
''Wait you returned in town?! You know we're supposed to be fugitives right?!'' He shouted in concern. Now he was wondering if they should make a run for it. Before a bunch of angry townfolks come at them, with torches and pitchforks.
''Correction you are a fugitive. The people in town didn't even remembered who I was when I was there.'' She said with a proud smile.
Ash sighed in defeat, he guessed it would make sense that people would only remember the guy with the Pokémon rather than the girl following him. ''Fine, fine, I guess I should thank you for buying for all this. Now I won't have to risk my life hunting for Pokémon every days.'' Lillie smiled proudly at that, he wondered if she was proud because of his praise or just because she had managed to stop him from killing more Pokémon for food. ''Well I guess we should go then. We've wasted enough time in this forest, we need to make our way to the Ding Dong Community.''
With a nod from her head, they began to head west. They didn't have much resistance from Pokémon which was not surprising. The Knights of Humanity had wiped out most of the dangerous Pokémon in this forest. All that was left were the more docile bug and grass type Pokémon. But even dociles Pokémon could be their death if they felt threatened by humans. Which is why they made many detours everytime they saw a Caterpie, Rattata or Pidgey in the way.
''So what is it like in the Ding Dong Community? I only read about it in on a newspaper, but they didn't say much about it. The writer was too busy bashing them for apparently having sex and having weird hybrid babies with their Pokémon. Which is not something that can even happen. Everyone know Pokémon babies are always the same species at the mother. There's no such thing as natural hybridation among Pokémon.'' She said with a roll of her eyes.
Ash put both of his hands on the back of his head as he walked. ''Well if rumors are to be believed despite their less than stellar reputation as Poképhiles. The Ding Dong Resistance is one of the most powerful group in Orchestralia along with the Knights of Humanity. And just like the knights they keep a lot of the Pokémon population in check. The major difference between the two groups is that the Ding Dong Resistance will go out of their way to spare Pokémon if they can. But they're not above killing creatures that are deemed too dangerous for the settlements safety.''
That was probably the only reason Ash was even considering joining the organization at all. He would never be able to get behind people who would want to spare and make peace with some rabid Gyarados that went and destroyed an entire coastal village.
Lillie nodded seeming satisfied with the answer. ''Do the Resistance and the knights fight often?''
At that Ash chuckled and shook his head. ''It happen sometime, when they accidently encounter another squad in the wild. But the knights are too afraid to approach their community for any real fights to occur.''
Lillie raised an eyebrow at that. ''Is the Resistance really powerful enough to make a group like the Knights of Humanity afraid?'' She asked in an impressed tone.
Ash shook his head again in response. ''Don't get me wrong the Resistance is powerful. But the knights would be brave enough to fight them if their community was just a normal settlement. But even they wouldn't dare approach Ringabell City.'' He said in a grim voice.
Lillie looked at him in confusion. ''What does Ringabell City has to do with this?'' She asked him.
Ash stared at her incrediously. ''So you don't even know where their community is?'' Lillie shook her head sheepishly. ''Well the Ding Dong Community is right under the ruins of Ringabell City. They made their community out of the remains of the metro system that went throught the entire city.''
Lillie nodded, but still look confused. ''I guess that's something, they live right underneath the capital of Orchestralia. But I don't see why that would make the knights afraid. Ringabell City is just a massive ruin right?''
Ash sighed in exasperation. ''Man you're really sheltered aren't you?'' At that the girl looked away in embarassment. ''The reason why the knights are scared of Ringabell City is very simple. It's because it's Kyurem's territory.''
At that the girl stopped walking completely and her face became pale. ''Wait... You're saying we're going straight into the Winter Dragon den?!'' She asked in alarm, Ash nodded in confirmation. ''You could have told me this sooner! How the hell are we supposed to go there without dying?!'' She glared accusingly toward him.
''Hey! I thought this was just common knowledge. How the heck was I supposed to know you knew nothing about the outside world?'' He asked defensively, she only huffed in response. ''Beside it's not as dangerous as you think. People have been monitoring the Dragons for years and they found that Dragons usually sleep for almost three weeks per month. The Ding Dong Resistance keep a close eye on the Winter Dragon and has placed alarms everywhere in the city to warn people. So if the Dragon is awake we'll know instantly and come back another time.''
''Fine, but if I die I'm coming back to haunt you.'' She said with her best menacing glare.
''You can't haunt me if I'm dead too.'' Ash responded cheekily which resulted in another huff from the girl. Their journey in the forest continued in silence. It took them most of the day to cross it and when night came they managed to find a old abandoned car where they slept for the night...
''Welcome to Fluoti Town? Do you know of this place Ash?'' Lillie asked him the next day.
He nodded his head with a nostalgic look in his eyes. ''This is where I used to live when my father was still alive. He was never a fan of big cities so when we moved from Kanto to here he bought a house in this small town. He died when I was four years old and I was sent to go live with my mom in Ringabell City. This was one of the first town to fall when Kyurem invaded ten years ago. It has been abandoned ever since.''
''Oh... I'm sorry.'' She said while bitting her lips.
But he only shook his head and gave her a sad smile. ''It's not your fault, maybe that's a horrible thing to say but I'm happy he died before the Invasion. At least he didn't have to live in this hopeless world like me.'' He said in a bitter tone.
Lillie didn't know how to responded to that so she stayed silent and followed him as he walked into town. As they entered into the limits of Fluoti Town, Ash felt a cold shiver into his spine. There was something off in the air he couldn't explain. Both teenagers froze when they heard a low moaning coming from further away. ''What was that?'' Lillie asked in a fearful voice. Ash could only shake his head in response.
And then something rounded the corner and both of their face went pale. The man, if you could even call it that, was a walking rotting corpse. They could see some of it's bones coming out of it's side and one of it's eyes had fallen off. He was missing many patch of hairs on his head and his teeth were almost completely black. As soon as it had spotted them the creature began to shamble quickly toward them.
With a scream both Ash and Lillie started running in the opposite direction. Only to find more rotting corpses blocking the exit of the town. Taking Lillie's hand Ash began to run into town and ran into a small back alley. Lillie's hand felt strangely fuzzy as he dragged her along into the dark corridors. But he had no time to ponder on such a silly observation as they ran for their lives. They met a few Rattata and Minccino in the way. But fortunately for them, the Pokémon just ran away from them when they saw the duo approaching at full speed.
They could still hear the creatures moaning in the distance, but they didn't dare look behind themselves. Ash tried to open a door to an apartment building, but much to his dismay the door was locked. Shaking his head he tried another door and this one was locked too. Deciding to give up on the apartment buildings, the two of them began to run away once again into the back alleys. Much to their horror one of the undead was blocking the exit in front of them and a group of corpses was quickly gaining on them from behind. Ash quickly took his Draconid Gem and yelled out Sandy's name.
The fawn instantly appeared and took a defensive stance in front of the shambling abomination. ''Sandy get it out of our way quick!'' The Deerling stomped on the ground and vines came erupting out of the concrete with a loud crack. Then the vines slapped the undead with multiple heavy blows that sent it flying unto the opposite wall. ''Thank you Sandy, return!'' The fawn was sent back into the gem with a green flash of light and the two teens started running again.
They came across an old worn down libraries. When she saw it Lillies eyes instantly lit up. ''A library! This is the perfect place to hide!'' She said with so much glee that Ash was almost questioning her sanity. Normally he wouldn't really have considered this place to hide but he didn't think he could convince her of the contrary even if he tried. He tried to open the door but with a hopeless feeling in his gut he realised it was locked too. He was about to give up on the library, but then Lillie noticed a small writting at the bottom of the door. ''Ash look at this!''
He looked at the writting in confusion and then looked at her with a deadpan expression. ''I can't read, remember?''
At that she blushed in embarassment. ''Oh right... It's says knock three times if you're alive. Maybe there's still someone inside!'' She said with a hopeful expression. Ash did as the writting suggested and anxiously waited in front of the door. Finally they heard a click coming from the other side and an old man holding a baseball bat in his hands opened the door. But he lowered his weapon when he noticed the two of them.
''Oh! Real people!'' He said joyfully. ''I thought for a moment those damn corpses learned how to knock at doors, come in quickly!'' The two teens quickly made their way inside and sighed in relief once the old man locked the door behind himself. ''My goodness, it's been an eternity since anyone came around these parts. I am Timothy Verres, I was a librarian here before all this happened. Most people have left a long time ago, but I was too attached to this place and decided I would live here until the day I died.'' The old man chuckled. ''People always used to say I was a stubborn old prune, I guess they were right.''
Ash looked at the old man with a disbelieving stare he had stopped listening once he had said his name and now he had to ask him something. ''Umm Mr. Timothy did you used to know a Red Ketchum? He used to go by Verres before he married.'' He asked with a hopeful expression.
Normally it was common for the wife to take their husband's name. But apparently Deliah had never been one for tradition and once they married she decided that they would either take both of their names together or his father would simply take her name. Red being the easygoing man that he was decided to take Deliah's name without much of a fight. Apparently thinking that writting both names on all legal papers would be too cumbersome.
The old man stopped in his tracks and turned toward the boy and saw him in a new light. ''You're Ash aren't you? I-I thought you were dead all this time, I'm sorry I didn't look for you.'' He said barely containing the tears from escaping his eyes.
''S-so you knew my father?'' Ash asked in shock.
The old man nodded with a smile on his face. ''Of course I did, he was my nephew. Your father was born and raised here you know. And then he met your mother in his studies abroad in Kanto and decided to stay there a few years until your mother's true calling called her to Orchestralia. Red decided to come live back here in his hometown, while Deliah went to live in the big city. Many people tought they had broken up, but that wasn't the case. They just liked to live in different sort of places but they somehow still made it worked.'' He said with a fond chuckle. ''The town never really recovered after he died. He was loved by everybody. And then those Dragons came out of nowhere and I heard that both you and your mother died in the chaos of Ringabell City. Has your mother somehow survived too?'' Ash shook his head sadly. Timothy sighed in disappointment. ''I'm sorry you had to go throught all that alone.'' He said with a crestfallen expression.
During all the talking Lillie had stayed silent but she almost jumped out of her skin when she heard something banging on the door, loudly. It was quickly followed by a guttural moan. ''What are those things? They look like zombies, like from old horror movies.'' Lillie said with a shaky voice.
Timothy shook his head. ''I don't really know, these things showed up about a month ago. The town was pretty peaceful before that. The only thing I had to worry about were small flying types and rodents Pokémon. But I recognise some of these undeads. The other day I saw the corpses of my old barber and the old sheriff walking around town. My theory is that a powerful Pokémon wandered into the cemetery and somehow woke up the dead.''
Ash shook in anger as he heard that. ''Those damn Pokémon, it's not enough they kill thousands of us each years. Now they have to desecrate the remains of our deads too?!''
Timothy put a hand on the shoulder of Ash. ''I know that the Invasion has cost us a lot. But you shouldn't let anger cloud your judgement. Not all Pokémon are hell-bent on killing us, in fact from my experience Pokémon are very similar to animals. That is if animals had the power to shoot fire balls and bolt of lightnings with a single thought. In fact here take this, it should be really useful to you.''
The old man walked away into another room. Ash and Lillie followed behind him. Lillie eyes widened in wonder when she entered the room and saw rows upon rows of books. There was books from anything from fantasy and science fiction, to history, romance, comedy, police novels, etc.
The old man stopped upon a newer looking book than the rest of them and proudly gave it to Ash. The raven haired boy instantly gave it to Lillie who squealed in joy. Finally calming herself she readed the title of the book outloud. ''World of Pokémon: A Basic Guide For New Trainers by Samuel Oak.''
''People from the Ding Dong Resistance gave this to me when they came here on a supply run. It has helped me avoid a lot of troubles ever since I read it.'' Timothy said with a smile.
''It's a dumb name, this is not their world, it's ours!'' Oliver said with a scowl on his face.
At that Timothy sighed sadly. ''I don't think this is what dear old Sam meant when he wrote the book. But either way I think the title is right. As much as it pains me to admit it, this is not our world anymore. It's the world of the Pokémon, it has been since the time every major cities fell to the Dragons.'' Ash didn't respond but he was internally seething at the old man words. Because he knew deep down that he had a point. ''Anyway you should still read the book even if you don't agree with the title. It will prove invaluable to you, if you plan to go back on the road.'' Ash grumbled something under his breath that vaguely sounded like 'don't know.'
''What was that?'' The old man asked quizzically.
''I don't know how to read alright?! I never learned to, so that stupid book is useless to me!'' He exclaimed with a shameful expression.
Timothy looked confused at his declaration. ''You don't know how to read? Didn't your par- oh right. Sorry I have a bad memory these days, I would forget my head if it wasn't attached to my neck.'' He said while looking anywhere but in the eyes of the boy. ''Well, there's no way I'm letting a member of my family be illiterate for the rest of their life. Stay here I have something that might help you.''
Timothy walked toward a section of the library simply labelled as 'kids'. He came back with two books one of them had various picture of smiling farm animals which made Ash cringed as soon as he saw it. The second book had a picture of a child falling from a ravine and landing on top of yellow flowers.
''These books helped me learn how to read when I was young. The one with the farm animals is a very basic book for toddlers.'' Ash gave him a glare at that. Timothy shook his head and stared back at him. ''Look I know you don't like it, but you must begin at the very begining. If you start with the more complicated stuff you won't get anywhere.''
Ash sighed in defeat and took the books in his hands. ''Fine, thank you for the books. Uncle Timothy.''
Lillie put a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. ''Don't worry, I'll also help you learn how to read . But in the meantime I'm going to learn all I can from this book. It should be very useful on our way to the Ding Dong Community.''
Timothy looked surprise at the girl's words. ''You're going to Ringabell City? Forgive me Ash but you don't look like the type to go to a place like that. They don't really... Share your disdain for Pokémon.''
Ash groaned before retreving the green Draconid Gem from his pocket. ''I know but I don't really have a choice, the knights saw that I had this.''
Timothy looked really concerned as he looked down on the faintly glowing gem, but reluctantly he nodded. ''Yes the Ding Dong Community would certainly be the best place to escape those extremists. But I should warn you since you have a Pokémon with you, they're probably going to try to draft you into the Resistance.''
Ash shrugged at that. ''Honestly I don't really have anything else to do with my life so maybe it could be good. You know, being part of something bigger than myself. I still don't know how to feel about working with people who actually love the monsters that destroyed our world thought.'' At that Lillie shook her head at him, but decided to let it go for now.
''Well it could be worse, at least they don't worship the damn Dragons, like that crazy Cult of The Great Ones.'' Timothy said with disdain. At the mention of that name Ash could see Lillie flinch in the corner of his vision.
''Yeah CGO, I used to think they were just a small cult hidden in a hole somewhere where they couldn't hurt anyone. But the other day we-'' Before he could finish what he was saying Lillie put a hand over his mouth to stop him from talking. He looked at her in confusion. She raised a finger toward her lips in a silencing motion before releasing him. He decided to follow her order but he was confused as to why she didn't wanted to share that information.
Ash peeked throught the curtain of the window and saw that the street was now empty. ''I think the undeads have calmed down enough, we should really leave town while we can.'' Ash said after a while, but just as he was about to walk away he was stopped by Timothy.
''No, you should stay until the sun go down.'' Seeing their quizzical expression he continued. ''I don't know why, but during the night all the undeads leave the streets and go back to the cemetery. My guess is that they go see the Pokémon that control them. For what purpose I don't know, But the night is the safest time to go outside.''
Ash rosed an eyebrow at that. ''Weird usually in all the stories, night-time is when the monsters are the most active.'' But then again this was real life. Not some fantasy novel where things followed some clear archetypes and tropes.
Meanwhile Lillie had opened up the book she was given and read it at an alarming speed. ''This book really don't have much information on Pokémon it basically only tell us to be careful around wild Pokémon and if you become a Trainer you should take care of your Pokémon by feeding it daily and making it feel loved. Any decent person would arleady know to do that stuff.'' She said in a disappointed tone.
''Well it is a very basic guide. If you want more information you would have to go talk to the man himself.'' Timothy replied.
''Wait, Professor Oak is still alive?!'' Ash asked in shock.
Timothy nodded. ''At least that's what the Trainers who left the book told me. Apparently he joined up with the Resistance pretty soon after it's inception.''
''I can't believe a man as brilliant as him would hang out with a bunch of zoophiles.'' Oliver said with a frown on his face.
''Hey! You know that Pokémon are not the same as animals right? They might act more feral than us but they are still sapient beings!'' Lillie exclaimed with a clear look of offense.
''Alright, alright I didn't take you for a Poképhile but whatever.'' Ash replied at that the girl spluttered and her face turned red.
''I am not! I simply don't like you insinuating Pokémon are just as dumb as animals!'' Lillie replied before walking away in a huff.
Ash sighed and closed his eyes. ''I would take animals before these damn monsters any days...''
Just as Ash's uncle had suggested they waited until the night to leave the library. They slept the rest of the day away so they wouldn't have to sleep as soon as they left the town. Timothy surprised Ash by giving him a bone crushing hug before he could leave. ''I wish I could do more for you, if you need of anything you can come back here anytimes, alright?'' The raven haired boy reluctantly nodded and then departed into the night with Lillie in tow.
Travelling on the road during the night was a new experience for Ash. Usually he would find a place to hide as soon as the sun disappeared. After all, dangerous predators often lurk in the dark. As if to prove his point both teenagers heard the sound of a heavy pairs of wings flapping into the sky. Without hesitation both of them hid themselves behind the wall of a building and much to their horror, they saw something huge land into the streets with a loud crash.
The creature was a towering monstrosity that vaguely resembled a bat with razor sharp teeth. As if that wasn't enough it had two massive pairs of wing and large red glowing eyes that sent shiver down Ash spines. The monster sniffed around and then let out a percing cry as it found something. The two teens thought their final hour had come, but instead of coming toward them the large creature ran toward an abandoned car and effortlessly flipped it upside down with one of it's wing.
Hiding under the car was another much less intimidating Pokémon. It was a small blue feline similar to a cat with piercing green eyes. It was standing on two legs and had two tails trailing behind it. The cat-like creature hissed toward the huge predator before it's eyes changed to a eerie blue color as it unfurled it's ears revealing another pair of creepy eyes hiding inside it's ears that also began to glow with energy. The street was soon engulfed into a blue light emanating from the small feline.
The giant bat and the two teens had to close their eyes as the light overwhelmed them. As soon as Ash opened up his eyes again he felt something drop into the pit of his stomach. Standing where the cat used to be was a massive snarling dragon that proceeded to roar loudly toward the gigantic bat. The monstrosity screeched in alarm and flew away with it's tail between it's legs.
As soon as it was gone the dragon was engulfed into a blue light and it returned back into the form of a blue cat. Ash turned to Lillie with a disturbed expression. ''Did that cat just turned into a Dragon?'' He whispered as silently as he could.
Lillie looked at the cat with interest before taking the book she had just received and flipped it to a random page. ''It say here that Pokémon with the psychic type can create illusions to scare away predators. We should move away from here before that other Pokémon realise he's been fooled.'' With a nod Ash walked away with urgency in his steps. He had learned his lesson, he definetly didn't want to travel at night anymore.
The rest of the night was spent without any more incidents. They had managed to leave the town and now were travelling on a large highway that had not been used since the Invasion. The road had many cracks on it and some patch of grass could be seen poking out from a lot of them. Eventually they were forced to cross a bridge above a river. Ash did not like that at all. He had heard that sometime lake would be home to large monsters that would come out and attack travellers like them. He watched the water warily the whole way thought, but all he saw were some harmless Magikarp and Goldeen who didn't pay them any mind.
As they came closer to their destination the temperature gradually became colder and colder until eventually they could see snow falling from the sky. Lillie looked at the sky in confusion. ''What the heck, why is it snowing? I thought we were in the middle of spring.'' She asked in bemusement.
Ash clenched his jaw and glared angrily toward the sky. ''Ringabell City and it's surrounding has been stuck into a permanent winter for the last ten years. It's because of Kyurem's influence, everywhere he goes winter follow him.'' As they continued on the road they saw a massive worn down sign that proclaimed 'Ringabell City two kilometers.' Ash turned toward Lillie. ''I think we should stop here for today.''
Lillie looked at him in shock. ''What why?! We're so close to our destination we could sleep on a bed tonight if we continue to walk.'' She said in a protest.
At that Ash chuckled which made her even more frustrated. ''Sorry to disappoint you princess, but Ringabell City is massive. They're a very good chance we'll get lost in there. And I don't know about you, but I arleady feel tired from walking all night. I don't want to arrive in front of the Resistance dead on my feet. I trust them as far as I can throw them and it wouldn't leave a good impression.''
Lillie sighed clearly disappointed at his words. ''Fine but we should find a warmer spot to sleep it's arleady pretty cold around here.'' At that Ash nodded. They managed to find a old abandoned gas station that also served as a convenience store close to the road and decided to stop there for the night. Most of the food inside had either been looted or had rotted a long time ago. But they managed to find a few cans of beans that they decided to take with them. They also found a very convenient portable stove. The stove needed alcohol and not gas to work. It would have been useless otherwise since most of the gas had rot a long time ago.
Ash and Lillie used the stove to cook a can of bean. Ash had never been a fan of the taste but he had eaten way worse than this to survive. The stove also helped for heating up the building a little bit. Once they were done there was enough beans left so Lillie decided to give some of it to Nebby. Reluctantly Ash also decided to give some to Sandy, the little Deerling did not seem to like the taste of the beans however and decided to try to get as much sunlight as she could from the wide window at the entrance.
Then the two of them brought out their sleeping bags. Lillie had bought one while she had been shopping in Melody Town. It was a good thing too, they would need all the rest they could get for tomorrow. There was no telling what they would find inside the frozen city of Ringabell...
The next day the two teens were climbing over a slope. Both of them caught their breath as Ringabell City finally came into view. The city was hard to describe into words. You could be forgiven if you thought that the city was a huge sculpture made by a mad artist with way too much time on his hands. It was as if the city had been litterally frozen into a specific moment in time.
But Ash could not enjoy the 'art' displayed before him. For he knew that millions of people had died to make it happen. The skyscrapers looked like giant upside-down stalactites reaching high into the heavens. The many cars in the street were all covered by a deep layer of snow that made them barely recognisable as vehicles. And what made Ash's blood boil was that he could occasionally spot people eternally frozen into the last moment of their life. Most of them had a look of horror upon their face but a few of them could be seen frozen in mid-step with a calm expression as if they died before they realised anything was wrong.
''This place... It's a graveyard.'' Lillie said barely above a whisper.
''Let's go, we need to find the Ding Dong Community before night-time.'' Having said that, Ash searched through his pocket and retrieved the familiar green gem where his Pokémon was held.
Lillie looked at him in confusion. ''What are you doing?''
At that Ash's expression grew stern and he looked at her. ''Even if he's awake right now this is still Kyurem territory. Which mean it's going to be crawling with Ice Pokémon. Sandy will be able to detect danger way before we do and she will be our best line of defense if something find us... Speaking of that, your Pokémon should also help in case something happen.''
At that Lillie grew protective and she held her pouch against her chest. ''Nebby doesn't fight, he can be our eyes in the sky, but he's not really a fighter. He won't be able to help us if something attack us.''
Ash looked at her quizzically. ''What do you mean he doesn't fight? He's a Pokémon of course he can fight!''
Lillie shook here head with a sad expression. ''Nebby has the power of teleportation... But using it is bad for him, the last time he used that power he couldn't move for an entire week.''
Ash was stunned at the revelation. ''What?! Teleportation? That's amazing! Tought it's pretty crummy that he can only use it once a week.''
Lillie sighed bitterly at that. ''Well I think he should have been able to teleport more often. But CGO happened. I don't know what exactly they did to him but it messed up with his abilities really badly.'' She said woth a growl before walking away. Ash wanted to ask what she meant but he recognised that she didn't want to talk about it right now so they stayed in silence as they slowly made their way inside the city.
Lillie rubbed her hands together to try to warm herself up. ''Brrr, It's really cold here, I wish my fur was- I mean I wish I had bough a fur coat!'' Lillie exclaimed in a panicked tone. Ash once again raised an eyebrow at her weird antics but shook his head.
''Unfortunately any coat there was in this city probably froze solid along with anything else.'' Ash said with a frown on his face. Sandy ears suddenly perked up and she looked up toward an alley with a defensive stance. ''Look like there's something in that alley, let's go around it. I want to meet as few Pokémon as possible.'' At that Lillie nodded and they made a detour. Ash caught his breath as they arrived in a very familiar street. Without thinking he began to walk foward and stopped in front of a frozen figure.
Lillie was surprised at Ash's sudden change in demeanor. But she quickly catched up to him and saw that he was looking at another frozen person with barely concealed tears. The person in question was a middle-aged woman dressed into a white suit. The woman was glaring into the sky defiant until her last moments.
Before she could even ask the question on her mind Ash answered her. ''This was my mom, she sacrificed herself so that I could run away from Kyurem. I hated her for a long time for it. I wished that she would have tried to run away with me and if we died together, then, well...I always thought it would have been a better fate that being left alone in this world of monsters...But my mother was always an optimist, I'm sure she thought there was hope for me and that's why she sacrificed himself. I don't know if her hope for my future was misplaced or not but I hope she was right. Since I met you and Sandy I decided I want to change this world by any means necessary. I can't handle to live in this world without any hopes anymore. I have to do something, even if it's hopeless at least I will have tried.''
Lillie didn't know what to say to that so she stayed silent as Ash continued to look at the frozen figure of his mother. Suddenly they heard a cry from a Pokémon far in the distance soon more and more Pokémon joined their cries together creating a cacophony of animalistic sounds ''What the hell is happening?!'' Lillie asked with a panicked expression.
And then as if the sound of hundred of screaming Pokémon wasn't enough a loud alarm began blaring in the entire city. At that sound Ash face paled and become as white as a sheet. ''Kyurem is waking up!'' He yelled in horror before grabbing Lillie by the hand, slightly grateful at how weirdly warm they were and made a run for it. Sandy was not far behind them. The poor little Deerling didn't know what was happening. But she knew it wasn't anything good and so she decided to follow Ash's example.
Then a loud roar echoed into the ruined city, louder than any other Pokémon. And a familiar being with a mask made of sold ice appeared into the sky. It's wings did not looked like they were made for flight and yet that did not seem to stop the Dragon from gliding above the city. It was a figure that Ash had seen very often in his nightmares and so he instantly recognised the creature in the sky. The boy froze in his track, not able to move a single muscle. Lillie saw the look of pure dread upon Ash's face and realised he was frozen on the spot. ''Ash we need to hide!'' She tried to snap him out, but he did not responded instead he stayed unmoving, his gazed stuck to the figure above them.
Summoning all her strength she grabbed the arm of Ash and pulled him and herself behind a frozen car. Then she took the green Draconid Gem from his pocket and hid Sandy back into her gem. The Dragon flew over the sky and sniffed into the air. It could smell that something new had entered inside the city. But it could not pinpoint what or where it was, not yet. Kyurem continued to search for the smell. Finally he found the source of the scent behind a frozen vehicle. With a roar he quickly flew toward it and effortlessly tossed it away with it's foot.
Upon impacting the ground the car exploded like it was made of glass sending shards of ice everywhere in the streets. Lillie looked up in horror as the Dragon looked at them with a predatory gleam in it's eyes. Kyurem opened his mouth wide open, exposing his razor sharp teeth to the girl. Then he lunged for the kill, but just before he could reach them a cloud of fog exploded into the Dragon's face and he roared in rage.
Lillie could only look in confusion at the sudden fog that had appeared out of nowhere. That was until a group of four adults wearing light armors ran toward them, on each of their chests was an insignia of a red fist painted on the surface of a bell with the word Ding Dong Resistance written underneath. All of them had a Pokémon following behind them obediently. ''Are you insane, wandering in the middle of the city like this?!'' A buff looking blonde man exclaimed angrily at them. ''Come with us right now or else you will die!'' The man said. Ash seemed to finally snap out of his shock and nodded sheepishly toward the man along with Lillie.
The armored Trainers were quick and effective, unlike Ash and Lillie they didn't take any detours when they encountered wild Pokémon. Any creatures foolish enough to attack them was blasted into next week by their powerful trained Pokémon. The Dragon was frantically searching for it's escaping preys. But somehow it had completely lost their scent after the fog had appeared. After a while it decided to give up deciding that two kids was not worth all the effort it would take to find them.
Finally the group arrived in front of the entrance of what used to be a metro. The same bell symbol with a red fist was drawn on the door with paint. The adults Trainers said nothing and dragged them inside the underground station. Once inside Lillie was shocked to see what the metro had become. What once was a place for transportation had been transformed into a small community full of tents and other basic wooden structures. There were many stalls selling various items from food, to guns, to armors and there was even a fancy looking stall that was much bigger than all the others surrounding it and they were selling Draconid Gems at a high price. Ash never saw people selling Draconid Gems before and certainly not in such a large bulk. He thought they were really rare. But maybe these people had found a way to find more of them. The buff blonde man who had yelled at them earlier smiled at them.
''Impressed? This is just a small part of the Ding Dong Community. If you follow the rails you'll be able to visit the other branches, or as we call them the 'stations' of our community. All the metro stations of Ringabell City has been turned into small settlements like this one and together we are fighting to reclaim our world.''
A softer slightly effeminate male voice cut him off before he could continue. ''Surge, leave the poor little kids alone. they just escaped Kyurem, they don't need to hear your propaganda right now.'' The man known as Surge glared toward the blue haired man who had interupted him.
Now that they had calmed the two teens took the time to look at the Trainers who had saved them. Surge was a somewhat young man in his late twenties. He had blonde spiky hair and green eyes. He along with the other Trainers were wearing what looked like light riot gear suits. The man who had interupted Surge had long blueish hair. Under his vest they could see that he wore a pink shirt and on his ears there was a pair of pearl earings. He had a constant smirk on his face and Ash had to fight back an embarassed blush when he teasingly winked toward him.
The third Trainer was the only woman of the group she was probably around eighteen or nineteen years old. She was a redhead and wore her hair into a flowing ponytail. She also had a pair of sunglasses on her forehead.
But the person that caught the attention of Ash and Lillie the most was the last man. He was the only one that had not looked at them at all ever since they entered the metro. He wore black sunglasses and a hood over his head along with a large black raincoat. As if that wasn't enough the man also wore a black cape behind himself which almost made him look like a supervillain. Ash was instantly wary of him, why was he the only one of the group that tried so hard to conceal his features? He knew that the Ding Dong Community was known to accept outcasts. So it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that this man was an outlaw trying to not be recognised outside of the Ding Dong Community.
Surge collected himself and proceeded to turn back toward the two teens his professional smile sliding into place. ''Now can you tell us what the two of you were thinking wandering around Ringabell City like this? This is not a place for kids you know. This is a Dragon territory, if you wanted the Resistance to do a mission for you there are many settlements in Orchestralia where you can send messages to us.''
Ash shook his head and steeled himself for what he was about to say. ''We came here in hope to join the Ding Dong Community.''
The four Trainers looked at each other with surprise on their face. Surge frowned and looked back at Ash. ''Well it's not often that two kids come here alone to join us, usually they come here with parents. Tell us why do you want to come live here? This place is one of the most dangerous settlement in what is left of the country and that's saying a lot. Not only that but if you come here whether you're a civilian or a member of the Resistance you will be expected to work hard for the betterment of the Community.''
''I don't have anywhere else to go.'' Ash said before retreving his green Dragonic Gem from his pocket. ''Sandy come out!'' The Deerling came out of the gem letting out a loud grunt as she was released. The four adults tensed a little bit when the Pokémon emerged from the gem but relaxed once they saw that it was docile.
''I see, so you're a Trainer huh? That explain why you wanted to come here so badly, I can count on one hand the community that would accept a Trainer inside their wall.'' He said with a frown of resignation. Then he turned toward Lillie. ''What about you? Are you a Trainer too or did you just decided to follow your boyfriend?'' He asked with a raised eyebrow.
At that Lillie face turned as red as a tomato. ''He's not my boyfriend!'' She yelled clearly embarrassed about the implication. Opening her pouch she presented Nebby to the blonde man.
Surge nodded as he saw the small nebula Pokémon in the hands of the girl. ''I see so you're a Trainer as well. Well I guess we have no choice then.'' The large blonde man turned toward the young woman of the group with a meaningful look.
The young woman sighed and nodded. ''Alright then, the two of you follow me. We'll go see the mayor of the Ding Dong Community. That's the person who will decide if you can stay here.'' She said in a serious tone. At that both teens nodded nervously. Really hoping they wouldn't be kicked out of the Community and made all this journey for nothing...