Virus Pirata: I don't understand Spanish very well, but I'm glad to know you enjoy the story.
Thor94: Oh he'll definetly be dominated by much bigger Pokémon. I won't spoil too much, but one of the planned party member for Ash is going to be a Dragon type.
So this is the last chapter I had in reserve and unfortunately I won't be able to produce more chapters for a little while since I just came back from a minor surgery. I'll try to come back as soon as I can, but for now I hope you'll enjoy this last chapter for a while.
With how tired they all were it took almost an hour just to reach the library. Xofamai was the worst of them he looked like he was ready to drop at any seconds. His hair had return to normal, they were still white with red tips at the ends but they had stopped floating in a invisible breeze and had shrunk back to it's normal size. Lillie really wanted to ask what he was. But she knew the man was probably way too tired to launch into an explanation right now.
Ash knocked at the door three time. Timothy opened up the door almost immediatly his worried expression made his wrinkles even more pronounced, making him look even older than he really was. ''Thank God, you're all alright. I heard a terrifying roar over and over again. I was worried you got all killed by that monster.''
Xofamai was the first to respond. ''Sorry I know it's unprofessional of me but that fight took a lot out of me. So if you don't mind I'm going to sleep, I'll let the kids explain what happened.'' The old man nodded in understanding and Xofamai let himself inside before he crashed on the couch almost immediatly falling asleep right there.
''Come inside you two. I have some soft drinks down in the basement, I'll go fetch some. You look thirsty young lady...You are Lillie right? Sorry but you look very different.'' The girl eyes widened, in her tired state she had completely forgot to put back her illusion in place. She nodded at the old man with a sheepish expression.
Then Timothy noticed the blood on the left on her stomach and immediatly grew concerned. ''Oh dear you're injured! Stay there I must have some bandage somewhere!'' Lillie immediatly shook her head.
''Don't worry about it. The wound is arleady healed, I guess being a freak of nature has some advantage sometimes.''
Ash looked at her angrily. ''You're not a freak! Don't say that about yourself!'' He yelled, then he winced when he realised he was being too loud. But thankfully Xofamai didn't even wake up.
''But that's what I am, my mother took my humanity away from me. I can only pretend to be who I used to be now, but I will probably never really be myself ever again. When I was a young like many girls. I dreamed of finding the perfect man, have many children and live happily ever after in a small house with maybe a dog or two. But look at me now, no sane humans would ever want to marry or have children with something like me.''
Ash wanted to protest, he opened his mouth to say something like 'I would' but didn't manage to have the courage to come out and say it. The girl shook her head and walked into another room. Ash watched her go with a sad expression. He felt a hand pressing on his shoulder and look at Timothy who was looking at him with a soft sad smile on his face.
''I froze.'' Ash said ashamed of himself. ''I wish I could tell her she's wrong but I don't know if that would really be true or not. I care a lot about Lillie, but even if the fact that she is part Pokémon didn't make things complicated and weird. I'm not sure if I'm ready for a commitment like this after living day by day for so long.''
Timothy shook his head. ''It's a strange world we live in. But I'm sure the girl will be okay as long as you stay with her. I can tell that she mean a lot to you and you to her.''
Ash blushed but managed to nod in confirmation. ''I used to be a coward I ran away from everything. Everytime a place started to become too dangerous I would just bolt away and find a new place to find food. I hated myself for that, I even abandoned people I cared about because of this cowardice. And I just told myself it was just what had to be done in a world like this. But Lillie changed that, I don't know why but ever since I met her. I finally got the courage to stand up and try to make a difference instead of just avoiding trouble.''
''You love her.'' Timothy said with a bright smile on his face.
Ash sputtered and immediatly started to protest. ''What?! No! Okay maybe she's really pretty and I might find her kind of attractive. But saying I love her is kind of going far for someone I only have known for one month!'' Timothy shook his head in amusement but said nothing in response.
''You should go sleep, Ash.'' Timothy said before he started to walk away but Ash stopped him before he could reach the door.
''Wait I was supposed to tell you what happened on our mission!'' Ash said but the old man turned back and shook his head with a smile.
''I can tell you're all tired from whatever happened. I can wait until tomorrow to learn the details. For now you should just rest, oh and if you get thirsty my offer for soft drink still stand. You can go take some in the basement I won't mind. Tell that to the young lady too if you get the chance.'' The the old man left leaving Ash alone with his toughts.
Ash woke up to the smell of eggs being cooked. Which was something he hadn't smelled in a long time. Animal products were a rare commodity nowaday and animal meat even more so. In fact more than half of the towns in Orchestralia consider animal meat consumption highly illegal and penalized by death.
The animals population are so close to extinction that it is considered an act of genocide to eat any sort of animal meat. But animal products like eggs and milk are considered okay to eat. In fact the richest town in Orchestralia have a huge farm that specialized in selling both of these things.
He debated whether or not he should go back to sleep but his stomatch quickly decided for him as it started rubling like a ravenous animal. He decided to follow the appetizing smell coming from the other room. He came in a small section of the library the section that clearly used to be a place where people could read in peace. But it had been transformed into a small kitchen. Four small table had been placed together to make a larger table. It had been place in the middle of the room far away from any books in the vicinity. Timothy had put a frying pan on top of a portable stove. Ash could smell the heavenly smell coming from it.
Timothy noticed that Ash was standing there and smiled at him. ''Sorry I didn't ask you how you like your eggs. I hope that scrambled eggs are okay?'' Ash nodded and went to sit on the table his stomach arelady growling in anticipation.
The old man continued to cook in silence and went to put the eggs in a small bowl before placing it in front of the boy, who looked at the meal like it was a gift from heaven. He proceeded to dug in like a ravenous wolf. Once he was done Ash looked at the bowl sadly, disappointed that the meal was arleady over.
Timothy chuckled at him in good spirit. ''Someone was hungry this morning! Now that you had a meal I would very much like to hear what happened yesterday.'' Slowly the boy nodded and started to explain everything that had happened yesterday.
''...And then while trying to protect Lillie I jumped on it and it threw me off in a hole. Unfortunately I missed the rest of the fight so if you want to know the rest you should ask Lillie or Xofamai.'' Ash explained.
Timothy nodded with a thoughtful frown on his face. ''I'm sorry but there's something I want you to clarify for me. You see I really don't know much about Pokémon apart from the basic. So can you explain to me what exactly is a Dragonling?''
Ash looked sheepish. ''Sorry I just assumed you arleady knew. Well Dragonlings are-'' Just before he could start to properly explain it to the old man another voice interupted him.
''They're Dragon types Pokémon who while powerful are nowhere near the same level of strenght from the great Dragon that destroyed our civilisation. And according to the most common theories Dragonlings are all direct descendants of the Great Dragons.'' Lillie said standing in the door in her human form.
''Dragon type? So they are other Dragon type Pokémon other than the big ones that destroyed all the big cities? I tought they were the only ones.'' Timothy said with a frown on his wizened old face.
Lillie shook her head. ''Unfortunately not. Back in the days people called all Dragons types Dragons. But since there was such a big difference in power between the original ones and their children they decided to change the class system.''
Ash nodded in confirmation. ''She's right real Dragons are really something you don't want to be faced with. They bought down every majors government and military forces in the world in a single month. Honestly they could have probably wiped out humanity in half a year maybe even less. Nobody really know why they leave smaller settlements alone. But it's really fortunate for us that they do.''
Timothy looked disturbed at the implications but he nodded. ''I see...Say Ash forgive me for not talking to you about it last time you were here. But I didn't think it would be a good idea to suggest it at the time, what with all the undead roaming about. But for the last twelve years I have been taking care of your father's house. That is until that Dragonling came and made it too dangerous to go outside unless necessary. Everything is as he left it. I only made sure to clean up the dust and made sure the house stay in good shape. A lot of people told me before the Invasion that I should sell it. But I never had the heart to do it. If you want to go see it I could give you the keys.'' He said before putting a hand in his pocket and presenting Ash with a small key.
Ash breath caught in his troat as he reached for the key with a trembling hand. ''Thank you great-uncle.''
Timothy nodded with a smile on his face. ''It's nothing my boy and just call me uncle. Great-uncle is a bit of a mouthful.'' Ash nodded before he rushed toward the exit with anticipation in his step.
''Ash wait! I'll come with you, that is if you don't mind me being there?'' Ash looked back at her and nodded. Lillie smiled and walked beside him. Timothy smiled with a michevious glint in his eyes as he watched them go.
Ash was surprised when a few minutes after they left the library Lillie decided to drop her illusion and revealed her hybrid form. ''Sorry Ash, after everything that happened in the last two days I feel kind of naked walking around in my human form. Which I know is a very ironic thing to say.'' She said blushing while starring down at her exposed breasts. ''I know the undead are gone but I feel more safe being able to use my power at their fullest.''
Ash nodded at her with understading while looking away, trying to hide his own blush. ''I know what you mean. I accidently only bought one of my Draconid Gem with me today and I feel like I'm half naked right now.'' That was kind of a lie he didn't forget, he just didn't want to to deal with Bolt so soon after...everything, but she didn't need to know that. Lillie smiled at him and took his hand in her own hands. Making the boy blush slightly in the process.
''Don't worry if anything happen, I'll protect you Ash.'' She said confidently.
He rose an eyebrow toward her. ''Isn't it usually the man that's supposed to protect the girl?''
Lillie rolled her eyes at that. ''Well I'm the one that's able to lift boulders with my mind. So until you somehow become powerful enough to top that, I'll be the one to protect you.'' She said with a smug expression.
Ash grumbled slightly at that. ''Fine but don't think I'm always going to be defenseless. Sandy and Bolt might be weak for now but I'll train them until they're even stronger than you.'' He said in a cocky voice.
Lillie responded with a smug expression of her own. ''Bring it on! I'll beat any Pokémon you throw at me!'' They looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. As they continued to walk Ash was overwhelmed by a sense of nostalgia as he recognised a few of the houses and buildings they passed. He didn't really have the time to enjoy the scenery when the undead were wandering the streets. Even then he was only three when his father died and he had to go live with his mom in Ringabell, so his memory of this place wasn't the best.
But when he saw the old ice cream parlor. He remembered that his father would often bring him here after they had spent the day at the local park. His favorite thing was the screamer. It was a slush but they also putted a mountain of vanilla ice cream on top of it. He remembered that he once got a brain freeze because of it. At the time he had thought that he would die because of it, but his father had just laughed at him.
''Ash are you alright?'' Lillie said in a worried voice making him snap out of his memory.
He looked at her in confusion at the question. ''Yeah why?'' He asked nonchalantly.
But Lillie frown remained. ''You're crying.''
Ash looked at her in surprise before wiping it away from his eyes. ''It's nothing... Just lost in memories I guess.'' Lillie still looked worried but she let it go deciding that if anything was really wrong he would tell her. Their walk throught the small town ended when they came in front of a small house. It had white fence around the backyward and a small door that still look new despite all the years that had passed. The only thing that made it look like it wasn't inhabited was the long overgrown grass surounding the house. But considering that his uncle wasn't able to come here in a few months it didn't really surprised him.
Ash came in front of the red door and took a deep breath before putting the key in the keyhole. As he turned it inside it responded with a soft click and he slowly opened the door. As soon as he stepped inside Ash felt like he had been tranported into another time. A much happier time when Dragons and monsters roaming the woods were nothing more than legends and fairytales.
The first room they entered had a chimney, he remembered he would often roast marshmallow there while his father would read him epic books about heroes saving princesses in distress. There was a small library of book one of them in particular jogged his memories. It was a book called Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring he remembered that this was his father's favorite book series and he would use to read them to to him before bedtime. But it had been so long ago that he barely remembered anything about the story apart that it had to do with a powerful ring and an evil entity that wanted it at all cost.
Lillie took the book in her hand along with all the other books of the same series. ''Maybe you can read them once you learn to read properly.'' He nodded maybe reading the story would remind him more of his father, he certainly hoped so. They decided to leave the room in search of another one.
As soon as he entered the next room another wave of memories hit him. The room had obviously been intended for him. The room had been painted blue and there was a large poster depicting a young man dressed in a green tunic and holding a sword and shield. He was locked into a fight with a man with green skin and dark clothes holding a sword almost bigger than the hero himself.
There was a television that hadn't been used in a long time along with a console the same ones he had seen in a dream not that long ago. But his dream had obviously been incompleted for a lot more stuff was there than he remembered. There was large shelves filled with a lot of old consoles like Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and the first Playstation. He remembered now that his father had been a huge fan of all this old retro stuff and had tried to make Ash like it just as much as him.
His bed was a lot smaller than he remembered which was to be expected. The bed was shaped like a pirate ship. If he remembered correctly his grandfather had been a sailor, his father had been proud of him always telling tales of his great adventures at sea. Ash noticed he was crying again and tried to wipe away the tears before Lillie noticed. But it was too late, the girl putted a reassuring hand on his back.
''I-I'm fine this place is just dusty, let's look for another room.'' He said in a shaky voice Lillie nodded she looked at him sadly. She knew all too well how he felt there wasn't a day where she didn't miss her father. Unlike Ash, she had nothing to remember him by. After his death Lusamine had tried to get rid of everything that reminded her of him to try put him out her mind. It had clearly not worked, because looking back the obsession with her work really started with the death of Mohn.
The next two rooms in the house was the kitchen and the bathroom these places did not invoke as much memories as the last two place so they decided to move on. They arrived in another bedroom. With this one they could tell it was intended for adults.
The walls had been painted into a plain white color. There was a bed in the middle of the room and it was a queen size which implied that this was intended for both his mother and father. But Ash remembered that his mother had rarely visited the place, instead it was often his father that would take trip to Ringabell City to see her. She had always been too busy in the lab to travel outside the city. Sometime he could see the loneliness in his father's eyes and he remembered hating his mother for it, because he childishly believed his mother could just make the time if she tried hard enough. But now he only missed both of them.
He still wished his father was here but he didn't know if he could have handled this world. He was a gentle soul and he wore his heart on his sleeve. He would probably have been a Pokémon lover just like Lillie if he had been here and the tought both amused and slightly annoyed him. Honestly the only reason why his kindness hadn't been taken advantage of much, was because everyone in town loved him. If anyone would have dared hurt his father's feeling the whole town would have surely made their life a living hell.
In the room they could see another television but this one was much bigger than the one in his room. Under it was a bedside table with a Blu-ray. Ash got curious and opened the door of the bedside table and found stacks of movies. He recognised almost none of them, It had been a long time since he had lived here. And watching movies wasn't really a common luxury people could afford nowaday. People used the little electricity they had for things they absolutely needed to survive. It's crazy what people of the Old World took for granted that was now a rare commodity nowaday.
Lillie however had much less trouble recognising some of those movies. ''Wow! The first six Star Wars movies, the Indiana Jones Trilogy and the complete Infinity Saga. Your father had some good taste in movies.'' Ash didn't recognised any of those names, but he trusted Lillie's judgement on that.
Ash looked around the room once more finding nothing else of interest apart from some more furnitures that looked like they were full of clothes. But then on one of the desk he saw a small unassuming red book with no title on it. He opened it up and tried to read. He was still learning the basics of reading but with some effort he managed to decipher the first two words.
''Dear... Diary. Who is Diary and why is my father writing to him?'' He asked in confusion.
Lillie looked at him with a deadpan stare until she realised he was serious. ''Wait you don't know what a diary is?'' Ash shook his head in response. ''...Wow either you're really ignorant or our civilisation has fallen a lot further than I thought.''
''Hey! Just tell me what it is arleady!'' He shouted angry that she would insult his inteligence, sure maybe he wasn't book smart like she was but he knew a lot more of what was going on in the world than she did. Everything she knew she read it somewhere. He on the other hand knew what was happening because he saw it firsthand. Ash was of the opinion that experience counted for more than reading thing on a piece of paper...Then again his opinion might be biased considering he barely knew how to read at all.
''Well... A diary is simply a book people write into. They talk about how their day went and they sometime talked about their dreams, their goals their fear and worries, anything really.'' She said in a lecturing voice.
''Why would they do that?'' Ash asked incrediously.
Lillie sighed at him with clear exasperation in her eyes. ''Well some people write in diaries to remember what they were doing years ago, or they just want to vent to something that won't talk about their problem to anyone else. There's also some people that just want to leave a record of their life behind after they die.''
Ash looked down at the book and he felt something caught in throat. What would he find if he managed to read this? Would he even be able to read it at all? Seeing his conflicted looked Lillie approaching him and grabbed the book.
''You should bring it with you. Maybe it will help you remember more of your father.'' Ash nodded and Lillie proceeded to put the book in her backpack. Lillie then looked at the window and saw that the sun had moved quite a bit since they had entered. ''We should go back to the library. Xofamai must be awake by now.''
''Yeah you're right let's go.'' They left and locked the door behind themselves. Ash didn't want some random thieves to come here and ruin his last link to his childhood memories. As they made their way back to the library. Ash looked back at the small house one last time with longing in his eyes before turning back. ''Goodbye dad, I promise I will work my hardest and I will create a world that you would have loved to live in. A world without Dragons.''
''Uh? Ash did you say something?'' Lillie said turning her head toward him curiously.
He shook his head and smiled at her. ''No it's nothing, let's just go back.'' He said and began to walk with purpose in his steps. Lillie was confused about the whole exchange but she shrugged and followed him.
Xofamai was still asleep when they returned much to the disappointment of the two teens. But Timothy was more than happy to host them for dinner. They stayed with the old man one more night. Ash was kind of grateful to stay here once again even after he finally convinced Lillie to take the bed and let him sleep on the couch. It was still more comfortable than sleeping in the tent back in the base.
But it couldn't last forever, the next morning Xofamai had finally woken up. The man had been surprised to learn how long he had slept and told the teens that they had to return as soon as possible. Before the Resistance started to worry about them and send another team after them.
Timothy was sad to see them go so soon in the morning but he understood they had obligations and gave them a good farewell before sending them on their way. Once they were far away from Fluoti Town, Lillie finally got the courage to ask something she had wanted to know since they defeated the Dragonling.
''So... What are you exactly Xofamai?'' She asked with clear curiosity in her expression.
Xofamai sighed in exhasperation. ''I knew the question was coming. Very well I guess you have the right to know. As you probably guessed by now, I'm a hybrid, just like you Lillie.''
Lillie nodded she had expected as much but she was also curious about another thing. ''I figured as much. But I thought the Cult of The Great Ones only experimented on the people of my shelter. And I don't remember seeing you there.'' She said with a suspicious glared toward the man.
''Actually, if I understood the timeline of your story correctly. I got my power a month after you got your. Since they had used every members of your shelter, CGO started kidnapping people in the wild. I'm ashamed to admit it, but they caught me while I was returning from a mission to protect the wall of Bajoon. I thought I had dealt with all the dangers of the region and grew careless. I was only worried about wild Pokémon and didn't consider other humans as a possible threat and it almost cost me everything.''
''I see so that's why you look much more human than me they must be closer to perfecting their formula by now.'' Lillie said with a thoughtful frown.
''I'm not so sure about that.'' Xofamai said bitterly.
''Huh? Why do you think they're not close to completing their goal?'' Lillie asked in confusion.
''CGO, or at the very least your mother, want to gain the power of Pokémon without losing their humanity right?'' At that Lillie nodded in confirmation. ''Well they did manage to come close to that, but it came at a cost. The mortality rate skyrocketed... I died after they injected me with the serum.'' Both Ash and Lillie looked at him in disbelief.
''Wait you can't have died you're standing right in front of us!'' Ash exclaimed gistering at the man to make a point.
''Tell me Lillie what type of Pokémon do you think my powers are based on?'' He asked the girl since Ash had not witnessed his fight against the Dragapult.
''Well you the energy you used was a dark purple and you also seemed to do a lot of damage everytime you hit Dragapult so that leave me to believe that you have the powers of a...Ghost type.'' She said the last words with dawning realization.
Xofamai nodded grimly. ''Yes I am a Ghost type meaning I should actually be dead but somehow I took a new form instead. The only reason I got out of the CGO base so easily is because they disgarded my body, rightfully thinking I was dead after their experiment. I woke up in a pile of bodies schedule to be burned, I don't need to tell you how disgusting that was. After that I managed to return to the Resistance and learned to deal with my new abilities.''
Lillie touched the man chest to confirm someting and her eyes widened when she realised his heart wasn't beating. ''So you're really a ghost? This is kind of crazy. I always kind of assumed Ghost types were just called that because they were similar to ghost I didn't think they were actual dead spirits. How is this even possible?'' The science nerd in her wanted to tear her hair out at the implications.
Xofamai shook his head. ''I don't know, Ghost types in general have stumped scientists for a long time. They don't make any sense scientifically. And yet they still exist despite everything we know telling us that shouldn't be the case. Maybe our science was nowhere near as accurate as we wanted to believe, the last ten years certainly seem to suggest so.''
''Ten years ago no one would have believe you if you told them that Dragons actually existed. So are ghosts really that much more unbelievable in comparison?'' Ash asked with a shrug. Lillie opened her mouth about to protest but when she couldn't find anything to say in response she deflated and sulked away. ''But anyway you're a Ninetales hybrid right?'' Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.
Xofamai wave his hand in a so-so gesture. ''Kind of, I'm technically what people call a Hisuian Zoruark which are different than Unovan Zoruark who are Dark types instead of Ghost. But the species has close ties to Ninetales and are considered like a branch tribe of the species. That's why the Ninetales we saw at the farm called me a Ghiratina Spawn.'' Xofamai said wondering where this line of questioning was going.
''But you sprouted what looked like a second tail during the fight right? Does that mean you can have nine tails like a real Ninetales? And if that's the case, why do you only have one right now?'' Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.
Xofamai scratched his cheek. ''Sorry kid I'm really not good at explaining this sort of complicated stuff. All I can tell you is that the Zoruark tribes work differently from the regular Ninetales tribes. Once we return to the Ding Dong Community, I'll present you to someone who know a lot more about all this, alright?'' Ash was disapointed that he wouldn't get his response right now, but he nodded.
The rest of the way was spent mostly in silence. The road had been mostly uneventful. Ash wondered why so few Pokémon had tried to attack them lately. Normally Pokémon had no qualm in attacking any humans that cross their territory but most Pokémon he had met these last few days turned tail as soon as they saw them. Maybe he had been just unlucky in the past? Then he look around his group. He had Sandy outside her gem following them so she could alert them of any potential danger she could sense. And then there was Xofamai with Aqua and he himself looked threathening with his glowing red eyes.
Were the Pokémon... Afraid of them? Ash had a bit of trouble believing that. He saw small group of Pokémon attacking entire towns with no fear at all so why would a small group of Trainers scare them? Were Pokémon actually smart enough to know which humans were a threat and which wasn't? He shook his head, it wasn't really important right now he should just focus on returning home...
Entry from the Pokédex
Subject: Non-Ninetales in the Ninetales Tribes
Despite the name Ninetales Tribes, Ninetales accept some Pokémon as part of their family and accept their tribe as one of their own. Most of those other tribes are composed of foxes Pokémon which are closely related to Ninetales but not quite the same species.
A good example of this are the Darkrai and Giratina tribes which are composed of Unovan Zoroark and Hissuian Zoroark respectively. Another example is Eevee and the Eeveelutions which have the honor of being called the Arceus tribe thanks to their ability to evolve into many different types. And there is the Mew Tribe which is composed of Pokémon from the Delphox evolutionary line.
For some reason Nickit and Thievul did not get a tribe of their own within the Ninetales family. Some people believed this is due to Zoroark arleady filling the role of the Dark type tribe. While other think that the Ninetales doesn't want to trust their priceless libraries to a group of Pokémon who are known to loot everything they can get their paws on.