Hgn, Pokémon Snap is proving to be a greater distraction to writing than I originally thought. Oh, dear, and I already have so little time to write... Ah, perhaps it's comforting to know that this chapter doesn't end on a cliffhanger? It might take a bit longer for me to write the next chapter, after all, I'll do my best but the game is so cute, I love it!
This is a pretty long chapter too, hope you all enjoy it and apologies if I do take longer than two weeks to update, I will update, pinky promise! But, oh dear, are you all ready to get weird? I sure hope so!
Ash lets out a small yawn as he stretches his arms above his head. Clair, who's sitting next to him, is still watching him closely, even as he's playing some games on his rose gold tablet. He doesn't mind, heaven knows what his uncle has told her and honestly, he thinks there are plenty of reasons to be concerned about him. He's still not used to being listened to, or the fact that he's now considered to be pretty special… and his very strange dream is pointing straight towards foresight. Ash doesn't know how to feel about it, though, he doesn't like dreams like that, he still feels like he's going to cry when he sees his uncle again.
But maybe that's got something to do with the guilt he's been feeling ever since he woke up this morning. He hasn't seen Lance ever since yesterday and while the man had been nothing but nice to him, those feelings could easily change if he's being punished for listening to him, while everyone expected that he would listen to them. The teen just doesn't know how to feel about this whole situation, next to the clear influence he's feeling from the medicine. It's not something he minds, it's merely a bit strange to feel so sleepy while there's a whirling tornado of emotions in his head.
A sudden beep startles him and judging from the reaction he gets from his aunt, she clearly hadn't been expecting it either.
"Oh," he says, looking at the tablet on his lap. "So that's the alarm it gives off when the battery's low."
"Sheesh, it's a clear enough sign, alright," Clair sighs. "Do you have the charger with you?"
"No, it's upstairs but I'll go get it."
He stands up before she can offer to go get it for him. He knows he's not fast but he has to practise walking every day, at every opportunity he gets or he won't make his revalidation target before the new trainer season starts. Ash flexes his knees before starting to ascend the stairs and he does try to keep his eyes trained in front of him and not on his prosthesis. He knows that he might risk falling down the stairs like this, there's always a possibility he'll miss a step but he needs to get used to this.
The teen makes it up the stairs in one piece, though and he's pretty proud of himself. Once in his room, he suddenly realises that he knows that the charger for his tablet is in here but he's got no idea where exactly. Ash sighs deeply as he walks towards his desk, he's really worried for his uncle but he knows there nothing he can do about it. Maybe that's why he's feeling so uneasy, he knows something is going to happen but oh, he hopes they won't work it out on him.
The sound of the door slamming open makes his hopes of not getting yelled at dissipate like cotton candy in water and he feels a strange desire to crawl into the closet. It's a habit of his, he's only done it a couple of times when his mom got really mad -both times were scary enough for him to remember them as if they happened yesterday- and he knows that Lance promised him he would never hurt him but he remembers a lot of other promises from people who didn't exactly shy away from breaking those promises and blaming him, that he 'forced their hand'.
"I wish those who want to harm you the best of luck, I nor anyone will shy away from defending you to the best of our capabilities."
Ash almost groans in relief, Mewtwo's presence gives him a massive morale boost.
"Thanks."
"And now that you have also understood that we have backgrounds we are not proud of, it might go beyond just scaring them off."
He almost said 'please don't hurt anyone' but Ash realises how stupid that sounds. Why would he tell them not to do something in advance? What if there really was an asshole waiting for him and had him cornered? Would he still wish them not to hurt that sucker too?
"That's okay," he says instead. "I'm glad to see you."
"I figured as much," the pokémon answers and its tail is swooshing around quite happily. "I like your company too and I am insanely interested in the obvious sign of foresight you have encountered."
"Oh?"
"I do not own such an ability and my curiosity is unstoppable for things I do not understand on a personal level. Especially if they are from a psychic nature, much like my own," Mewtwo says and approaches him, then goes to sit right in front of him. "Would you say it is emotionally linked, friend?"
"Yes," Ash answers with plenty of conviction. He, after all, still feels like crying at the thought of waking up in the hospital again but this time, very much on his own.
"Every great ability has a weakness. A heart as big as yours surely would be a great asset for it to abuse so you would not be able to take advantage of it nor that you could ever force the ability to be abuse without suffering greatly."
"… That's one way to look at it. I think, judging from the sounds coming from downstairs, that it's a hassle and I'll try not to use it too often if I get to ever control it."
Mewtwo stills for a moment and its tiny ears swerve into the direction of the door. Ash stays quiet, the pokémon's listening to what's going on now too but honestly, Lance is being very loud. Oh, but wait… he hears other voices too. Did his uncle come in followed by an angry mob? By the sounds of it, they're all quite upset…
"Histrionics," the pokémon says, waving its paw as if to wave the concern from his head -hint: it doesn't. "Their feelings are none of my concern, it is you, my precious little ward, who has my interest the most."
"Because of the ability?"
"Oh, no, no, you made no sign of any ability when you managed to drastically change my mind and feelings before. I do not care about the abilities unless they harm you, friend, it is you as a whole, you are my biggest interest. Though the foresight makes you an asset to anyone, I have no plans on abusing the bond that has built up between us. Instead, I will endeavour to help you and make true to my promise to teach you. Today, in light of things, I feel like owning up to my promise to teach you Scary Face will come in handy."
"You think so? Not towards my uncle, I hope?"
"No, the man is fine, friend, it is his pokémon that enjoy the screaming as much as you do. And at least you do not have the temper of a dragon," Mewtwo says, a cheeky smile on its face.
"… Surely they're not going to attack me."
"Well, I am not saying that it will happen for certain, I do not own foresight like you but I will not deny that it might happen so we might as well make sure they do not, hm? Have you ever had something approach you that you wanted to keep at a distance, friend?"
"Of course, I have," the teen answers. "Plenty of things."
"Do you still remember the feeling you felt when trying to will it to leave?"
"… Yes?"
"Try to make me feel it," the pokémon says and holds out its paw.
'If it's gonna be that easy, I'm gonna scream,' Ash thinks as he takes a hold of Mewtwo's paw and tries to convey the feelings he got of Necrozma's most recent encounter. He feels sorry that he misunderstood the creature's intentions but he can't hide his feelings.
The way the pokémon looks at him tells the boy that it got the gist of his conundrum and that it's thinking about what it's going to say. If it'll ever even remark on this.
"So a lot of your anger is just hidden anxiety. Interesting. Still, you have that part down, good," Mewtwo says, brushing over his issues pretty lightly. "Are you ready for me to show you how to translate those feelings into the move itself?"
"Is there some sort of risk in that? Or are you just trying to make me feel even more uncomfortable?"
"That is certainly not my intention. I merely wished to warn you, it could be a very daunting experience."
"Go for it."
Well, at least he can trust Mewtwo to be honest, it is pretty unsettling to feel his anxiety getting a medium to express itself. It's like a part of himself has finally found a place to be at and it settles so close, so easy to use… Ash figures that's the whole idea of Scary Face, that it's ready to use, close in reach, whenever its usage is needed.
"There we go," the pokémon says happily. "You are quick to adapt, I wonder how long that will last but I suppose it helps that you do listen to me. It is very flattering, you know?"
"I know," he answers, knowing damn well how Mewtwo's feeling.
"At any rate, leave this to settle for a while, it might take a bit for you to get used to the feeling. If it helps, may I remind you that you will not need to pull a weird face yourself? Scary Face is an illusion, you do not need to physically empower it any further or you will give the pokémon or person you use it against the feeling you do not like them, instead of disliking their action. While this might be the desired effect, I advise against it, a habit is easily made and very difficult to forget. You are vocal enough to express your dislike of them directly, you do not need to use the attack for that. And as per usual, be careful of who you use it against. While there are very few pokémon who will take offence to it, there is always the sensitivity of humans that could… well, I feel like I do not need to tell you how easily humans can take offence to the slightest detail, do I?"
"No, not really," Ash sighs but shrugs. "So I don't use it today?"
"Whenever you feel like you are ready and wanting to use it, never force yourself, it will have the opposite effect of what you wanted to achieve. It could be any time, as long as you feel the need to use it."
"Okay. Is everything psychic related this easy to learn?"
"Friend, I would have a lot of difficulties teaching a happy-go-lucky person how to feel anxious at the right moment," Mewtwo says but smiles. "Just because it feels easy for you, does not mean it would take another person a lot of effort to control. And there could be a time where you might struggle to understand what I am saying. Hearing what I am saying does not mean you understand, after all."
"So that's a yes and a no, huh?"
"Indeed so."
"Thanks for doing this for me, though, Mewtwo," he says, feeling like he needs to be a lot more thankful towards the pokémon. There are enough helpful people and pokémon in the world but the legendary pokémon's persistence to help him is proving to be exactly what he needs.
"Anytime, I have a lot to catch up on if I want to ever repay your kindness to me."
"Surely you know that there are a lot more people like me in the world, right?"
"Aside from you, there are only two kinds of people in the world. And both of them should be avoided," the pokémon says in its typical sense of humour. "Am I listed in a book as a known pokémon, though? For I have noticed that I am occasionally recognised."
"Yes, you are."
"I am not, though."
"Not a what?"
"A pokémon," Mewtwo says and the teen baulks at the response.
"… Yeah, you are," Ash says, frowning.
"I'm man-made. I'm not natural and thus, not a pokémon."
"Get off it, I've told you already that Team Rocket's not good enough to clone you from one of Mew's hairs alone if they already managed to get close enough to Mew to get one of its hairs at all. The life inside you, that wasn't created by Team Rocket, that was given to them by Arceus, you were meant to exist."
"I am entitled to my opinion."
"You are, yes but I'm gonna do everything I can to prove you're nothing worse or special than any other pokémon, legendary or not and change that opinion. It's not good for you to think you're some sort of scientific experiment gone wrong. You're here and you're a perfectly normal pokémon, I don't know what to do but I'll do anything if it means you'll accept that you're meant to be here."
Mewtwo watches him carefully but sighs, Ash can actually see it resign to his persistence.
"There is no challenge you will ever back away from, is there?" it says and the teen nods vigorously to that statement. "Even if it has no benefit for you, you would still do this for me?"
"Yes."
"… Very well, I will look forward to what you can offer that I have not seen yet," Mewtwo says and waves a paw over to the direction of his desk. "Also, the charger you were looking for is in that drawer over there, still in its original packaging."
"Ah," Ash says and as soon as he focuses on that drawer, the pokémon is gone.
He's worried that he somehow said something wrong but he's adamant to prove that Mewtwo is an actual pokémon. If only he could trust professor Oak to ask him for assistance but the man knows he's got a special bond with legendary pokémon. The old idiot knows all too well that he's a hypocrite to call him a liar when he's done nothing but be two-faced whenever those kinds of pokémon came up for discussion. Sure, he gets it that the professor wanted to diffuse the attention on the pokémon but surely there were ways to do that than to call him a liar and make fun of him?
Well, whatever, he'll manage somehow, without professor Oak's help… and he still needs to live through whatever's happened downstairs. At least they're not shouting any longer but he knows angry people can be silent too. At least he's found the charger for his tablet again.
The teen is a bit befuddle to see that he's in bed, instead of what he remembered doing. There's no sign of the charger he knows he had in his hands seconds ago, before going downstairs but now he's here… none the wiser on what's happened. It takes him a bit until his mind wakes up enough to check his phone… but that only gives him two options. Either he's a time-traveller or he had another dream again. It's the morning of the fifteen and he can hear his uncle move around downstairs, still needing to leave to go to that blasted pokémon league building just over the border. But the thing is, Ash remembers having been taught Scary Face clear as day and he also knows that his uncle wasn't happy when he came home again… and that they met Morty in the shop… Nothing like that has actually happened and it scares the boy a lot.
Still, no matter if he actually has foresight, he's sceptical about prophecies and things that sort of determine life before you've actually lived it. And he's not about to fulfil the one he's apparently had just now. The best Ash will do is consider them a warning so he feels a dire need to do better than what his mind has cooked up. In light of that, the teen sends Lance a message wishing him the best of luck and courage, adding a small heart next to it. He knows it's not much but he can't exactly go with the man, can he? It's just not allowed, even if Lance would somehow muscle-roll things into making stuff go his way but no, it's fine. A message a couple of seconds later confirms that the man is anxious, he's sent a crossed finger emoji. Ash smiles sadly, he knows his uncle has an awful lot of insecurities behind those broad shoulders and that scary reputation of his and the teen sincerely hopes that he's not triggering any of them.
He blinks when his phone suddenly gets another message through and he wonders why his uncle would ask him how he was… when he suddenly sees it's from Gary? How did he know he was up, anyway? Still, he answers that he's fine, that he's diagnosed with emotionally triggered seizures. Gary doesn't like that, he's right in claiming that that suck massively but when Ash tells him about the medicine he's started taking and that he's got a suspicion that he's hallucinating, things get a bit serious. He nearly drops his phone when it starts ringing but he knows better than to get mad.
"Hi," he chuckles.
"Don't 'hi' me, how can you say that when you think you're going loony?" the teen hisses, clearly hushed so he's probably also still in his bedroom. Professor Oak's room is right across the hallway, after all, and while there's a chance the man might already be up, Ash wouldn't take his chances either.
"I-it's not like that, Gary, it's more like strange dreams."
"Strange? In what way?"
"Err… like foresight?"
The silence following is deafening, Ash is pretty sure he can hear Pidgey chirp from the other side of the line. Still, he's just as surprised by the sudden concern his childhood friend is showing for him.
"How?"
"Dunno," he says. "I mean, it could have something to do with the medicine I'm taking now or that one of the multiple ones I've all dropped a couple of days ago was suppressing something."
"Well… Sure, alright, it's a plausible theory but Ash… Foresight? You? Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to be rude but you're not… if you knew things are about to happen, why didn't you do something earlier?"
"I've only had my first dream yesterday, Gary. I would have if I knew," Ash sighs and scratches his head -not that Gary can see it but yeah. "It's started so recently, I don't think anyone ought to be so dependent on it."
"You sounds like you're not even sure it's foresight."
"But isn't that the thing, though? What would happen if I told you to watch your step? That way, you would automatically avoid the future I would have seen, where you would've stumbled and fallen. It's never true when I interfere with it."
"Yeah but Ash, that's what makes it useful, doesn't it?"
"I don't think so, I don't get to choose what I see either way… and what if it's not foresight. What if it's just something caused by that damned medicine?"
"You still think those dreams are hallucinations, then?"
"I'm not sure, all I know is that my dream's not correct or rather, I don't remember having talked to you."
"Yeah, but did that dream make you check your phone, though? 'Cause I saw you were online so that's why I even send you a message at all."
"It did, yeah."
"So it still sounds like foresight to me, you know?" Gary says softly. "But you know, if you aren't comfortable with this, you should go talk to someone about it. I mean, you're taking that medicine for these seizures, right?"
"Yeah."
"Knowing you, you'll still get the emotional trigger that'll cause a seizure whenever something happens to something or someone you feel deeply about. You just love so easily, there's no medicine strong enough to stop that, I mean… You ought to drop that creepy medicine if you're not comfortable about it, even if you somehow quit being an oracle after that."
"Yeah, some oracle," the teen huffs. "Don't think I'd be really useful for anything but yeah, you've got a point. My uncle isn't home, though, I can't go anywhere either and calling a doctor won't work unless it's an emergency. I might as well just wait until Lance gets back and talk to him about it."
"You're alone in the house?"
"No, Clair's come over to watch me, she's been here since yesterday. Why?"
"Isn't it weird, Ash? To be living with someone else?"
The boy bites his lip, Gary might not realise it but he's just touched on a pretty sensitive subject. He loves his newfound family and friends a lot, he would be nowhere near this happy without Lance or Clair. It feels different and weird to be here, yeah, he'll admit that but it's not bad. Living with his mom had never been so bad either… but looking back at it now, knowing what he knew today…? Lance saved him from a tragedy. Ash knows bloody well he would have forgiven his mom hitting him, just like he's done a couple of times before.
"I have no other choice, do I?" he answers sadly. "I like them a lot but it's not the same… I just wish it could have gone differently but I think I can learn to live like this, it's not bad at all."
"Do you think that euhm… I had something to do with it?" his friend asks hesitantly but it makes the teen sigh.
"Mom's seen worse from the both of us years ago. It was dad's return that made her the person she is today, it was too big a shock or something. Maybe she was jealous, that he would return for my sake but not hers. Heaven knows whether she's been asking him to return for years and then he does it, for someone he doesn't know half as well than her. I dunno, I'm not allowed to see her so I can't ask but yeah, the last time I saw her, she was mad. Not at me but she was mad alright. And not at you either."
"Gramps said something like that, that he's seen her change too. Said he was worried about you but that he somehow lost the right to meddle with you."
"He's not any better than-"
"No, don't say that. He's not. He's a lot better than Delia," Gary says and it irks Ash. "You and him should really talk things out, you know? That screaming match earlier wasn't the best goodbye and you'll feel a lot better when you know the truth."
"I was planning on it. But then me being an oracle came in the middle of that so I'll do it later."
"Don't wait it out but yeah, your health comes first, I understand that. I'm glad we're able to talk again too, you know? I missed that for years and you sound a lot more grown-up. I'm sad I missed seeing you get to that point."
Ash chokes up, he's emotional as is, he doesn't need a childhood bully who turned into a childhood friend and then back into a bully to then turn into a friend again to lament over him not wanting to stick around. A part of him desperately wants to call Gary an asshole for doing this to him but being turned down when being honest about feelings is exactly what had shaped the both of them to be so dysfunctional, as a person and as a family. It might have taken too long for him to realise that Gary is worth his time so he lets go of his initial anger and answers as honestly as he can.
"I'm sorry, I never knew what you wanted from me and when I did, it scared me. I'm sorry I blew you off after you told me to leave, I should have known you didn't mean it. Of all the times to lose my usual persistence, it was bad timing of me to do it right then and there."
"I… I didn't know you felt that way, you thought I was serious?"
"For a long time, yeah. I had no one else but you and you called me stupid so often I just accepted it and left."
"I'm so sorry," Gary utters. "I never wanted to make you feel that way."
"Neither did I. We deserve each other."
"We do," the other says and even if he chuckles, he still sounds quite sad. "Can we see each other some time?"
"I think so yeah, I mean, I would have to ask my uncle but I don't think it would be a problem. I do want to see you again too, anyway, without so many misunderstandings in between us."
"Ash, I'm going to hug you to death," Gary utters and the teen swears that he's crying. "Oh God, I've been such an idiot, I thought you didn't know, that you… Holy shit, I'm so glad you told me this, I understand your reaction to me so much better now, I should never have tried to get your attention by being different than… Oh, no, I'm so stupid."
"Different than who?"
"… Different from who I was myself. I've spent some err… time with people who got me to see that I don't need to pose for friends, that I should just be myself. Someone told me that, if it's wrong to be myself, that I shouldn't want to be right and it struck something in me, you know? I dunno, it just resonated and it feels right. Or is it silly?"
"… Who were you acting like with me then? Your grandfather?"
"Kinda," his friend says and Ash facepalms hard.
"Yeaaah because it wasn't painfully obvious that he didn't really like me either, huh?"
"He does, he does, believe me. He… told me something, Ash, I'm not sure if I should be the one to tell you that but…"
"Try me."
"Apparently, the two of you met when he was younger, somehow."
The teen scrunched up his face in a frown, has he really met professor Oak when he was younger? Like, he's travelled through time quite often but…
"Oh God, we did," he suddenly realises, recalling that brown-haired boy who had seemed so interested in him, the one with the Celebi. "Sammy."
"Yeah, that's what he said too. The face he pulled when you called him out on his bullshit might've been priceless but I have to admit that, when I saw the two of you butting heads, it looked like you were best friends just disagreeing over something. You made up straight afterwards too and it never went too far either. And his jokes and remarks are kind of rude but I think he feels some kind of friendship towards you that somehow excuses the rudeness of it. Like, we say some stupid shit to each other too, sometimes."
Ash doesn't want to hear this, not right now. He understands what Gary's trying to say but that still doesn't explain some things, though.
"Yeah well, he was one heck of an asshole as a friend too. Or do you think my mom won the best mom award too?"
"Nope, I don't. Neither has my gramps won the best friend award but I wanted you to know his perspective too. I know you would understand since you somehow figured out my little show and aren't mad at my stunts."
"You were punished enough. And I was never angry, not until I saw how you hurt my other friends."
"I've spoken to them too, we're on alright terms… though that little Hoenn kid, Max, he's err… dubious, to say the least. How old is he, anyway?"
"He was seven when we met so he must be a starting trainer by now. He's incredibly smart and he does like me a lot, doing that to him wasn't the smartest move, he's gonna remember and be spiteful for a while."
"And rude."
"And rude, as I said, he's smart. And being the son of a Gym Leader, he will have picked up a lot of smart-assed remarks of sore losers and smarty-pants challenging his dad."
"Yup, he did. Tore me to shreds, I can believe I got owned by a ten-year-old, I'll never live it down."
Ash chuckles, he wishes he could read what Max told Gary but he figures he can ask him to see it when they meet in person again. And just like that, the conversation ends with Gary promising to call Lance himself -which Ash finds pretty ballsy, considering how mad his uncle was at both the professor and the boy he actually calls a criminal- and to let him know if anything happens. It's all fine and dandy to him, the teen's already happy that he's not lost a friend and that they're on speaking terms. He's not sure how to cross that bridge with professor Oak, though, like, he gets what Gary was trying to say but there are boundaries. Ash won't mind being the professor's friend but he doesn't want any verbal abuse aimed at him under the guise of friendship. If the man wants to mend their broken bond, he better make sure to promise to be a good friend.
'I'll probably make him sign a document too since he loves papers so much. Then I can hold it up for him to see whenever he's working stuff out on me again,' the teen thinks and gets out of bed, getting a disgruntled 'Pika' from the pokémon who suddenly lost his heat source. 'Still, it's not like I'll see him often, with my pokémon at professor Elm's laboratory… So it'll be something to keep in mind for later. Now, I'll focus on these strange dreams and maybe warn Clair about dropping that carton of milk.'
Turns out, even if you warn some people about something, they don't always pay attention to it. That is to say, Clair did still drop the carton of milk, just from a higher distance somehow. The splash was a lot more spectacular and it's well after ten when she's finally done cleaning. He helps, of course, as much as he can without slipping in the spilt milk and she seems to appreciate it.
"I don't suppose you fancy coming to the store with me? I mean, I trust you to be on your own alright but if Lance somehow comes home and find you here all by yourself while he's specifically instructed me not to leave you out of my sight, he'll have my head."
"And us not being here will be better?"
"… Marginally," she admits with a wry expression on her face. "The least I can do is write a little note for him, to explain why the kitchen smells like detergent."
Yeah, another difference from his dream. Instead of cleaning it with actual cleaning products, Clair had somehow used a bottle of dish soap to do the job. It was awesomely foamy and fun and it did get the floor clean, don't get him wrong but yeah, now there was an odd, pungent kind of smell in the whole kitchen and the floor felt oddly slippery at certain spots.
"Okay, I'll get my shoes on, then."
Clair nods and does write Lance a note, even though Ash knows that the man will only return from the pokémon league late in the afternoon. He's got no qualms about going shopping with her, especially since he's curious if they'll be seeing Morty again.
"Might as well look for something to eat as dinner," she says as they're walking towards the store. "I've got plenty of things to make lunch but I somehow doubt Lance will be back in time for that or whether he'll even be in the mood to eat if he does."
"Surely Mr. Goodshow won't be mad at someone who is trying to stop something bad from happening?"
"Yes but Lance isn't exactly known for sticking out his head for others, Ash. He'll have to explain himself and you know he feels bad when he has to pull you into a troubling situation. And you do realise you're a very easy card to play to get out of all kinds of bullshit, don't you?"
"Oh?"
"They like the hell out of you down in the pokémon league, Ash. You can't underestimate the effect you have on people, you have all the right people behind you to achieve something, you know that?"
"… And Lance feels bad because of that?"
"The fact he needs to involve you in some kind of mess? Yes, any adult should feel that way if there is a civil discussion possible to fix that very same problem."
"I think that the president of the pokémon league is one of the most responsible adults to have a civil discussion with, actually and Lance has no reason to have any insecurities about this, not if he really has any faith in what I've said," Ash says. "Besides, if I'm such a trump card as you say I am, I feel like you should prepare dinner for a couple more people."
Clair stops dead in her tracks and turns to him with that kind of look in her eyes, her head slightly tilted to the side and her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"… What?"
"If you know something, you might as well tell me, kiddo. First the milk, now this? Did you have another dream?"
"Yes?" he answers hesitantly. "I don't know how many people, though, you will have to ask Lance in advance."
"What a hoot," Clair huffs and gets out her phone, probably doing exactly what he's said. But the thing is, isn't that going to bother Lance and both give him evidence that she already knows things he doesn't? "Anything else?"
"Well, we should run into Morty at some point but I don't remember the time, you seemed to take a bit longer to clean up the mess and I didn't even help in my dream."
"Don't remind me," she groaned. "Let's just get this over with. And properly warn me next time, will you? I just thought the milk was a joke."
"'kay," Ash just says and follows her to the store.
When they get there, Clair is definitely looking around if she can see Morty but she's doing her shopping too. It's wonderful, the teen doesn't think he could do that but then again, multitasking seems a bit too much to ask from someone who's got so much on their mind anyway.
"Oh, before I forget, you can pick up a couple of snacks too. There's nothing to munch at in the house for you so you might as well gets some while you can."
"What kinds?" he asks because he's not sure whether he actually likes chocolates all that much -he likes it, yeah but if he's got a choice, he would rather have something spicy.
"Anything. I've seen that video of yours too, I think you have a wide range of things to choose from."
"And how many?"
"Five or so? I dunno, pick what you like."
"Got it."
He did see the odd look in Clair's eyes when he walked over with five packs of super spicy kinds of chips. Ash didn't question it, Pikachu seems more than happy with his choices too, he made extra care in picking things he could share with the pokémon, after all.
"Oh yeah, there he is, you were right. There's Morty," she says and yes, the man is already having the face-off with the entitled lady. "Ooh, but look at his face, I wonder what being said."
"She wants to skip the line," he answers and she turns to look at him.
"He's got three or so items, though? Her cart's filled to the brim."
"I don't think I can explain how the brain of an entitled person works like, though," Ash says and it's apparently loud enough that the woman can hear it.
"And who asked for your opinion?" the lady screeches in his direction. There is a pokémon right next to her feet too, it's a Snubbull and it looks like it has been fed far too many pokéblocks and hasn't had any exercise since the day it hatched. It, however, matches the lady's style perfectly.
The teen isn't here to cater to her or the yippy pokémon's whims, though so when the pokémon comes over to bite down on his left leg, he gives it such a look… In fact, the pokémon speeds off like lightning and no he's wondering if he's actually used Scary Face.
"Assault!" someone behind him cries out and before Ash knows it, there's security and the lady and the pokémon are being escorted out. A worried clerk is in his face, asking him if he's fine.
"The pokémon bit down in my prosthesis," he says and taps the part just under his knee, leaving a hollow sound to ring out.
The young man's eyes widen considerably but hey, he suddenly gets his snacks for free and yeah, he might have used Scary Face because Morty comes over to them this time around and he looks like he's got something to say to him.
"Hello," he greets and Clair, who seems to have forgotten all about the fellow Gym Leader, looks at him, all frazzled.
"You really bring out the worst of some people," she utters. "What the hell was that?"
"The lady wanted to skip the line and became angry when I told her I only had a few items and wouldn't be long," the man says and he looks a bit weary, as if this isn't the first time this has happened to him.
"Wow," is all she can say to that.
"Fancy seeing you here, Morty," Ash says, hoping to change the subject. "Visiting a relative or something?"
"… Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Today is the last day I will spend in Mahogany, though, it is ironic that this would happen now. You are not hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine, no worries."
"That was a damn cheeky pokémon, though," Clair huffs. "Biting you like that, out of the blue. What was that lady thinking?"
"You didn't seem too upset at its reaction, though," Morty remarks and the boy is pretty sure that the man has seen what he's done. "Are you used to working with pokémon like that?"
"Hah, most pokémon would know better than to do anything to him," his aunt laughs. "Before you know it, something's looming over you and you're running for your life!"
"Is that so?"
Ash can only chuckle nervously at that, Clair is being a bit too loose-lipped to his liking.
"Either way," Morty continues, clearly noticing his discomfort. "I have seen something interesting today. Would you mind if I came over a bit later today? I would like to talk to you, Ash."
As a boy who has no control over who comes and goes inside a house that isn't his, he turns to Clair, who just shrugs.
"Sure, I mean, there's a change Lance is coming home with a dragon of a tantrum but that's nothing new to you, is it?" she says and Ash feels quite sad to see Morty nod.
His uncle sounds so stressed when he hears other's opinion of the man and his behaviour. He knows he's not helping but honestly, he can't help it. All Ash can hope for is that, someday, he can be strong enough to stand and offer Lance help that's actually useful to the man. But still, so far nothing new has happened for him but he goes upstairs, to his room as soon as he gets the chance.
"That pokémon… It will have bad dreams for the next few days, Darkrai is not pleased that it tried to bite you. So let that be a warning… but I feel like these words are not new to you, are they?"
"Nope," Ash sighs. "I guess I do really have some kind of foresight, after all. Oooh, I don't like it, Mewtwo."
The pokémon approaches him and gently lays a paw on his shoulder.
"It is a talent and a burden. I hear the words your mind has put into my mouth and I am charmed yet confused, how is it that you know me so well? I suppose you cannot answer me that but not just that, the lesson I had carefully prepared… You have executed the move to perfection before I taught you. You should have no doubts about the foresight, friend, it is one of your many talents and it graces you."
"So they're certainly not hallucinations? They're also not caused by that medicine?"
"No, friend, or else they would be the most correct hallucinations ever recorded in human history. And medicine does not cause, it fixes, or at the very least, that is what it is supposed to do. I do not have to tell you that your young friend is correct in saying that something as feeble as a pill cannot stand between your heart and your head. What Necrozma did to you is brutal but it is just."
"The abuse thing, huh?"
"Correct. I am shaking at the mere idea of how powerful you will become one day but promise me one thing, friend."
"Yes?"
"Do never condemn yourself for things happening when you did warn everyone and when they decide to ignore your words."
That was a hard thing to promise, how was he supposed to know when he had actually succeeded in warning everyone who could aid in a situation-
"No. No, do not go there. Other people have mouths and opinions too. If they take you seriously, they should act upon it. You have already done your part, they have to do the rest. There are things you will never be able to aid and things you leave alone, that do not deserve your attention. You are still young, I do not expect you to respond as perfectly as I envision, you are entitled to learn but by Arceus, never condemn yourself or the ability."
"I promise, Mewtwo, if only for your sake. You know I don't like to see you stressed out."
"Ah. Well, if that is what you need to remember this promise, I will agree and remain calm forever," the pokémon says but then gives him a very serious look. "About my deepest, darkest secret that I never intended to tell you, though… Will you keep that to yourself, friend?"
"I won't tell another living soul, I promise. You won't either, will you, Pikachu?"
The pokémon gave an adamant and confident 'Pi' as an answer but it was funny that Mewtwo gave Pikachu an odd look, like it had forgotten the other pokémon was even there.
"You are most kind, the both of you," it says and Ash swears he can see tears in the creature's eyes, which tug his heartstrings so badly, he grabs Mewtwo in a hug. "Very kind," it adds in a murmur, the sound smothered in the boy's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry about your past, I wish I could promise to give you a better future but I can only promise to do my best at it, I can't guarantee it."
"You do not need to promise me that, your presence in this timeline is enough for me to have an outlook on a better future. This has been proven to me countless times, even at your weakest moment, you have remained nothing but nice. Not just to me, not once have you rejected one of us. That by itself is a future everyone would dream of, human or pokémon or something in the middle. I hope you infect many people with this kindness, friend, what a world it would be if they all felt the same way as you."
"… A bit boring, I think," the teen chuckles. "I'm not always nice either, I'm in a lot of adult's hairs and I often don't like their attention so I think I do it on purpose too."
"You would not do it if an adult would be respectful towards you. The man you have met earlier, for example."
"I think he's seen me use Scary Face."
"Unless you used the attack to repel him, he will be unable to see the illusion, friend," Mewtwo explained. "I feel like the idea that a pokémon ran away from you with just one look will have impressed him more than the fact you can use Scary Face. It is entirely up to you whether you wish to correct him, of course."
"If he doesn't ask, I won't. Besides, everyone who has seen me use any ability already thinks I'm scary enough so no, I don't think I will mention it to him. And really, if Lance does mention me, Morty will have heard about that by the time he gets here so even if he doesn't know that I used a Psychic-type attack to repel the Snubbull, he will have heard about the foresight and that's impressive enough as is."
"Agreed, I feel like the man will be likely to assume your lack of response to the bite due to the fact you knew it was going to happen and that it would bite down the sole part of your body that cannot hurt you any longer."
"Hm," the teen hums. "Hopefully so yeah. Morty isn't dumb, though. None of the Gym Leaders is. For as moody and childish Clair can be, she was onto me with just a couple of questions."
"No human should be underestimated, friend, not even the people involved with Team Rocket. Your expectations of their mental capabilities do not matter, I have read the evil they have discovered, the madness they could have created if I had not interfered. Any human can be capable of great things, both evil and good. So yes, caution is well-advised but do not snub out well-meant interest. These Gym Leaders could be a good ally to have, just like your uncle and his… or rather, your friends who suddenly like him a lot more."
Ash nods, he's realised that fact too. Still, it'll be good for Lance to have some more people to care around him, it's not good for someone to be alone all the time and assume they'll get by on their own. Having a bit of time for yourself is never bad but isolation is never the answer unless it's an awfully specific preference. So that his uncle will finally have the backup he needs, unpaid and strong back-up that is, isn't a bad thing at all.
He's glad he got to talk to Mewtwo as well, the pokémon is incredibly gentle and he likes that it is growing less and less bitter, the more time they spend together. Ash isn't sure what the creature's actual character is like, it's obvious that it cares… but recently, he's gotten the feeling like Mewtwo is feeling some kind of kinship towards him. It could be the strong, Psychic traits he's started to show, Mewtwo had told him that it was interested in him because they both have these abilities but that they couldn't be more different from each other.
But as he's sitting there, a very bad feeling creeps upon him, it is a coldness that goes all the way from his back to his shoulder. Ash knows he can't move fast even if he tries to run but he fixes it by jumping down the stairs and catching himself by floating a bit above the floor. It works wonderfully and he skids around the door where he can see Clair stand with her back towards the door. He hasn't even entered the room or made any noise to indicate he's there when his aunt suddenly slips and hits her head on the heavy oak table, leaving a sickening, wet thud in its wake as she went down.
"No!" he cries out and runs towards her.
There is no blood coming from her head or any sign that something is seriously wrong with her but Ash knows better than to ignore his gut feeling that's screaming at him. Something's not right here and it's not until he feels the massive dent and sees the blood coming from her nose and eyes that he knows that she will die. He knows there is no use to scream, there is no one in the house, except for some moody Dragon-types.
In his panic, he does the only thing he can think of. Riley might kill him for this but he doesn't care at this point, not if it can save Clair. He reaches out to her, his Aura brimming at the edges of his hand… and makes his choice.
Ironically, it's Riley who finds the grief-stricken teen in the arms of the woozy but seemingly okay woman. There isn't much he can do about the odd feeling he gets from his student, though, Lance and Cynthia are hot in his heels. Lance, however, doesn't seem to have noticed the other Champion until he turns towards her after having pried the teen out of his niece's arms.
"… What are you doing here?" he asks and Riley finds the statement a bit rude, the woman looks so worried about the situation and that is all Lance can somehow come up with to say to her?
"You think you can come prancing into the pokémon league proclaiming your nephew has foresight and expect me not to be worried about him?" she answers with righteous annoyance.
"Cynthia, he's fine-"
"Do you know how much bullshit happens in the world on a daily basis? How much longer will he be fine if he gets to not just see all that bullshit once but twice?"
There isn't much the man can say now so he resigns to his faith and leaves the still crying boy in Cynthia's care. Riley has no doubts in his mind that Ash will be much safer with her than with Lance but he keeps this to himself. After all, he can't shake off the strange vibe coming off the child, he usually never feels anything around the teen so that he's suddenly getting something now is pretty worrying. It's not until he sits down next to Cynthia, who's cradling the boy closely against her that he feels that it's not Ash's aura he's picking up on. It's that of a pokémon and it makes him stiffen to the point where his jaw starts to ache. He's never been able to feel a pokémon's Aura at all, they never allowed him to make that kind of contact but this curious and innocent feeling of Aura is definitely checking him out.
He recoils heavily when he sees the shadow of some kind of massive, black shape, surely that can't be the pokémon with such innocent intentions? Although… why does he feel like something that looks evil will actually do evil? There is one eye -or so he presumes- looking into the living room, checking up on the situation. Knowing that Ash is friends with many pokémon, including legendary ones he's never seen or heard of, he decides against warning Cynthia about the creature. It leaves shortly after anyway but strangely enough, the teen appears to calm down.
"What happened, Ash?" Cynthia asks, soft but there's a tenseness in her voice the teen should easily pick up onto. He does, that's why tears spring back to his eyes.
"She fell," he utters. "She fell and I should have known, she used the wrong stuff to clean the floor, it differed from my dream, I should have warned her, it was slippery, I-I-"
"Slow down, please, it's okay. Clair is alright."
"But she wasn't," the teen persists. "I saw, I-"
Ash cuts himself off when a doctor enters the room. Even Riley is a bit surprised but judging from how careful Lance is being with Clair, he figures that the man is heavily influenced by the teen's reaction to the accident. And well, the boy shoots out of Cynthia's embrace and begs the doctor to have Clair admitted to hospital, that he knows she doesn't just have a concussion. In fact, he's so persistent that the man does indeed call for an ambulance but the teen is taken along for the ride to hospital… as well as a now very moody Cynthia and Lance, who don't want to leave either Ash or Clair. That leaves Riley to take care of the house and he is fine with it… but he still has a weird feeling about this entire situation.
Still, he remembers that the teen said something about the floor in the kitchen being too slippery and he gets a distinct whiff of some kind of weird scent. In fact, it smells like curdled milk and dish soap, to be honest, and yes, it nearly makes him vomit when he stupidly gets close to the floor to check if the scent is indeed coming from it. Riley has nothing better to do than to clean this floor either so he goes hunting for some cleaning utensils.
"I don't suppose you can help me find something to clean that room up?" he asks the Dreepy who has come into the kitchen and watches him curiously.
"Meep," says the pokémon and floats through the wall.
Riley isn't at all sure whether the Dreepy knows what cleaning utensils are or whether it understands what he's saying but he follows the creature. Well, not through the wall, that is, he goes through the door and sees the pokémon float next to a door he's never accessed before. And yes, when he opens the door, there are buckets and brooms and whatnot, so he gets his confirmation that the Dreepy is very smart and helpful. He makes sure to thank the pokémon for its assistance but it seems like its curiosity has gotten peaked so yes, he has a companion as he cleans the floor.
It's a very satisfying job, he likes to mop up tiles and make them all sparkly and nice. And it helps that he can smell the difference, though judging from the pleased 'meep' coming from the Dreepy, the pokémon appreciated the lack of scent too. Riley belatedly realises that most pokémon have a far different, if not more intense sense of smell and hearing. Now, the latter wasn't so important but the former was kind of bad when there was something smelly around, right?
'I don't know why I'm trying to amuse myself like this,' he thinks as he stashes the stuff away again, he's got no use for these utensils anyway, he's certainly not going to clean the entire house.
"Human," a voice suddenly says and the man goes ramrod straight.
"Who's there?" Riley asks and whirls around.
There is no one there, or at least, not that he can see. He's very startled to suddenly see the Dreepy phase through the wall, clearly having heard the voice too, judging from the fact it's looking at him so curiously. A sudden nudge at his feet nearly makes him drop to the floor, where the hell did this Flygon come from!?
"Human," the voice repeats and the two pokémon look up, looking around and totally attentive but they can't see who is talking either. "Human, I wish to speak to you."
"Who are you?"
"That is of no importance."
"Where are you?"
"I have chosen not to appear in front of you, there is no need for you to see me. Hearing my words will be enough for now."
Riley does his best not to pout, he doesn't like this situation one bit. How can he be sure he's not going mad? He's old enough and there is always the risk of insanity flowing through Aura user families, maybe it's his time, even though he's never met his parents-
"You are not insane," the voice says and there suddenly is a huge shadow in front of him, with blazing red eyes.
The Giratina comes out of the wall and Riley feels like he's dreaming until the pokémon breathes which causes his hair to fly backwards. Also, he's suddenly very aware that both the Dreep and the Flygon have left, he would have too, if he would have gotten the chance.
"Is this enough proof?"
"Is this you, Giratina?" he asks, feeling a bit weak.
"No, it is there to show you that what you are experiencing is real. Now, will you stop asking questions and listen, mortal?"
"I've been alive for longer than a mere mortal and I will live a great deal longer, pokémon," the man bristles and he raises himself at full length to watch the Giratina straight in the eye, any fear or misgivings were forgotten under the pressure of his pride surging forward. "What do you want?"
"For you to listen."
"I am."
"Good. Can you agree that the Giratina in front of you is quite real?"
"… Yes?"
"The message I want you to understand is that this creature will not hesitate to cause an end to this still very mortal life of yours if you foolishly spoil the boy and his magical abilities to the rest of the world again."
Riley is very worried at this statement but he doesn't move, he doesn't want to back down and appear weak.
"Ash, you mean?"
"You know well enough who I mean," the voice says viciously.
"What do you need for me to prove that I can be trusted?"
"I will never trust you," it sneers and there is a high level of contempt in its voice. "If this warning will not suffice, you will see the consequences of it. Or rather, you will feel them. And they will not be quick about it, you will suffer greatly."
The man swallows hard and makes a mental note to ask Ash if he knows any strong, Psychic-type pokémon who has a particularly vicious streak towards people.
"I won't pass the blame, I will do whatever I can to keep the boy safe, I promised that to his uncle and Ash already. There's no reason to threaten me in respecting the kid either, he's proven that he's worth my trust and protection already."
"Then let this serve as a reminder to uphold your promise to both the moral caretaker and my friend," the voice hisses.
'Oh, it definitely will,' he thinks and then, the Giratina leans back into the wall and disappears, along with its shadow.
The oppressive feelings he's slowly gotten used to ever since coming back into the house is fully gone now too… but holy shit, this wasn't funny any longer. What kinds of things has this innocent boy done to gain respect from such cruel and scary pokémon? He's heard from the lip Lorelei has received from the Lugia but this was in a whole different league of comments, alright. He's been threatened, by a pokémon, nonetheless.
'It's a first,' Riley thinks and he's feeling quite bitter as he skulks back to the living room. He needs some comfort from Lucario, desperate for a nice response from a pokémon.
Just like Ash, it's quite common for Aura users to attract pokémon, he used to have it too. It's been years since anyone had been so mean to him, there hasn't been a need to threaten him to do anything. When it was the right thing to do, Riley felt morally compelled to do it, he's just that type of person. Yes, he understands that contacting Brandon has been a grave mistake. Not in the sense that he doesn't enjoy the man's company, quite the opposite even but Brandon hadn't been any help to determine who Ash really was and it had almost been the boy's doom. If it hadn't been for the child's spectacular ability to befriend all the right pokémon to save him, Ash would have perished that day, helpless and alone.
"Lucario?"
"Ruff?"
"I'm an idiot."
The fact he gets a confirmation from the pokémon at that statement isn't good for his self-esteem but he knows that Lucario is a bit of a joker sometimes.
"You like Ash too, don't you?"
"Lu."
"What does he have that I don't?"
The pokémon looks at him as if he has gone mad but maybe he has. Riley feels like his future is suddenly very unsure and it's jarring because he's already suffered through so much abuse and madness, he certainly doesn't need a pokémon to come and kill him for no other reason than… No, who is he kidding? He would eventually take his life into his own hands if another of his students would somehow get killed due to him or his lack of instructions. Riley's often been told that his way of teaching has grown out of fashion, that he needs to keep his students on a tighter leash, be a lot more strict. This somehow seems like it would be all the wrong ways to approach a boy like Ash, though and he can't forget that, next to these vicious pokémon, the teen has an unforgiving uncle who has proven to be very biased when it comes to his family.
Ash has practically become the man's son, Riley's not deaf, he's heard that the boy's mother is in a bad mental place and that she will most likely never fully recover enough to live independently, let's not even speak about having another person to care about. It basically means that the teen has nowhere else to go and with the whole family enjoying the boy's presence, Riley's pretty sure that Lance has the adoption papers ready, to make the deal official and is just waiting for the right time to pose the question. But if there's one thing for certain, the man feels like he needs to do much better by the kid's side. It won't do if even pokémon are noticing his lack of control over his student, not to mention the lack of respect. He's been around too little, he'll need to fix it.
"I'm going to need your help too, Lucario. Ash will listen to you a lot better-" Riley says but stops talking when the pokémon shakes his head and gives him a very intense look. "… You're not going to help me?"
"LU!" Lucario cries out and swats a paw towards his face.
"What's gotten into you?"
"Lu, rio car rio?"
This sounded like 'more like what's gotten into you' and it doesn't sit well with the man.
"You'll help me but I'll need to teach him?"
"Cario."
"As per usual, okay, got it," he sighs and he feels like he's suddenly his actual age now.
'Dear lord, what have I gotten myself into?' Riley thinks and tiredly rubs his forehead.
He's never liked pressure and he's prone to making mistakes whenever someone does put pressure on him to get something done. Would these pokémon turn onto him if he somehow fails to teach the boy correctly too? Judging from the fact the voice only seemed to care about the boy's safety, he's inclined to think they would just leave him be… But where would that leave his pride? Where would that leave him as an Aura Guardian, who vowed to teach and as such, serve the order of the Aura users? He had no other choice but to do better. He's gotten too comfortable in his own bubble, cocooned into the safety of his age-ripened experience. Maybe it is time that he gets an update, he can't remain the same if times are changing, after all.
By the time everyone gets back home, Riley's meditated all his worries and doubts out of his system and all there's left is pure determination to teach this kid everything he knows… but when Cynthia marches past him with the pale and completely lax child basically draped over her shoulders, his enthusiasm falters. The look in her eyes tells him to keep his mouth shut and he does so, sinking back in the couch, waiting for anyone to come into the living room. Lucario presses his wet nose against his cheek, to distract him and it partially works, it's a feeling that he's come to enjoy, mostly because this means he's got the pokémon's undivided attention. Riley can't ignore the strange feeling that's suddenly bubbling up in his stomach.
It's very unlike the one he initially had been feeling, he's convinced that this is something Ash is causing. He's felt it before but it had been muddled with the presence and interference of the powerful pokémon that come to visit the house. Although… had they really visited, though? He had felt it since he got into the house. Didn't that mean they had already been here?
"Riley? Riley, can you come help for a second?"
The man jumps up and walks out of the living room, curious about what Lance wanted. He's quick to pick the outstretched bag out of the man's hand, though but Lance just walks past, guiding Clair up the stairs. She seems a lot more okay than Ash, actually, though she's still walking a bit wobbly. Riley's not sure what has happened so he just stands there, looking a bit awkward. He peeks inside the bag he's been handed, though and sees a myriad of different medicine. He sighs, these things aren't good for Aura users, he hopes that these aren't for Ash. He's pretty sure that it's been muddling the contact between the two of them and some painkillers can interfere with meditation, which is one of the key forms of gaining enough concentration to prepare to call out difficult and complex screens. It was also a good way to reduce stress, which, in Ash's case, could be very helpful, especially to sleep.
"Thanks for keeping those safe," Lance says and Riley's a bit startled, he hadn't heard the man come down, too lost in thoughts to notice anything. "Today's been such a damn hassle but at least some things have been fixed… Riley? You good?"
"I've been threatened by pokémon," he blurts out.
"Oh?"
"They said they would kill me if I would put Ash in danger again."
"It won't matter, if I get to your first, I'll do the same," Lance says and the answer falls fully in what he had expected from the man. "Don't pull that face, you know damn well how I feel about the kid. Also, with this foresight, those damn Dark Aura users are the last thing I'll be worried about."
"Foresight?" Riley utters.
"Yes, foresight," the man confirms. "He must have had another dream at the time too, Clair might have hit her head pretty hard but she was still able to tell me that Ash warned her about spilling milk and then she used the wrong detergent, which I'll have to clean up too because it's apparently slippery as fuck so yeah, foresight."
"You don't need to clean it, I already did."
Lance watches him curiously for a second before he nods.
"Thank you, I didn't expect you to do that."
"I was bored," Riley says quickly, not willing to make a big deal out of it, he did it voluntarily, after all. "What are all these pills for, anyway? Is Ash ill?"
"They're for Clair, not Ash," the man answers and hold out his hand to take the bag back. "Ash just got out of his state of shock when he got three seizures back to back. They're taking him off any medicine, it's clear nothing's helping and maybe it will help him to see things clearly. They've told me to contact them in case anything goes wrong, though. But Clair, on the other hand…"
"Was it as bad as Ash said it was?"
"I'm not sure what to think, the doctors did everything they could possibly do to see if anything was wrong and all they came up with was that she had a bit of swelling at the back of her head, which disorients her a bit for as long as it'll remain that way… but they were all confused because Clair's body weight should have done way more damage than that, if she did fall over. So either she hit her head somewhere else or something but they say she's incredibly lucky because in case there is internal bleeding down there, it is almost always a case of instant death. The nurse came up with some bullshit of her guardian angel looking out for her or something but I stopped listening after I heard 'guardian angel', really."
Riley doesn't like how that sounds, in fact, adding in this weird feeling he gets when Ash is around, he feels like luck has nothing to do with it. And that Clair's guardian angel is actually very close to them right now.
"I don't suppose I could talk to Ash?"
"It's no use, he's only been awake for a short moment and the doctors said that he would be exhausted from the seizures. It's best to leave him be for now and I doubt you'll get past Cynthia right now. She's taken vigil next to his bed, just in case he's got another seizure. Why, though?"
"Lance, I'll be honest, I think Ash has something to do with the fact Clair's injury isn't as bad as it could have been."
"Huh? Like, you mean, he caught her or what? I don't think he can hold her weight, he's only fourteen and yeah, she's not the biggest of women but she's healthy enough, she'll probably weigh double his weight or something."
"That's not really what I meant, no."
"It really doesn't matter to me, Riley, she got hurt anyway and Ash is gutted about it. It's best to leave the two of them alone for now."
He gets it. He really does but he can't stop his curiosity. He knows that Ash is the only one who knows the truth and Riley doesn't want to hurt the child into making him repeat the story that makes him feel so bad but he will need to know in order to help the boy. In all honesty, he would have expected Clair to actually be dead the way Ash was making such a scene over it… but what if that had been the case? Was that why that pokémon had come to threaten him? If the boy was somehow capable of healing deadly injuries just in the nick of time, that would make him so valuable… And not just that, the foresight… did that cause the teen to get to Clair just in time?
Riley can't get his head around this whole situation but thank heavens Ash is resilient enough to be up after a couple of hours of kip. The kid doesn't look like he can miss a meal either, there's still a certain paleness to his face that he doesn't like… but next to that, his theory is basically confirmed when he looks straight into the teen's eyes and sees two thin, crescent-shaped slices of pink Aura at the edge of the boy's pupil. He does ask both Lance and Cynthia if he can speak to Ash in private, which they surprisingly agree to -they both must've seen the Aura in the boy's eyes- and so he takes the boy to the side. His heart is hammering in his chest as he sits in front of the teen, there hasn't been a decent healer since the early fourteen hundreds, it's been at least six hundred years since a healer who could heal internal injuries has been known. Could it be?
"I'm so sorry," the boy squeaks and the man's heart sinks when he sees that Ash is afraid of him.
The boy who has dangerous and angry, big and burly, immortal and preposterously powerful pokémon as friends… is afraid of him. Riley's self-esteem is getting some serious hits today, first he's not worth a dime, then he's not himself and now this? He decides to tackle this issue a bit differently than usual, to see if it was worth changing his way of teaching.
"You haven't done anything to be sorry about, kiddo, what are you on about?" he says and chuckles when he sees the boy's fear change into confusion. "I'm just going to give you a couple of pointers on the thing we can learn from your body, to see where your natural talents lay."
"… That's possible?"
"Yes, palmistry."
"That actually works?"
"You've had your palm read before, then?"
"There was this annual fair in Pallet and there was always this psychic hut and I went in after I was dared to. The woman said I would live a loveless, childless life."
Riley rolls his eyes at that.
"If she told you that with absolute certainty, then she was just messing with you. Even I, who has read countless palms, can never be absolutely certain how you will live your life. It will always be the choices you make that will influence what you do, not some lines in your hand. Just because you have the potential to do something, doesn't mean you will do it. You can turn your back on anything, even your heritage. You always have the potential to do whatever you want with your life, unless, of course, you don't have a choice, that it's expected from you to follow some sort of role in life. But even then, while it makes it very easy for a palm reader to make a certain claim, it will never be the full truth because your hand will never be able to convey that you were forced to do it."
"… So what do you see in mine, then?"
"Let's have a look, then. Hand me your right one?"
"Why that? I was told the left closest one to the side of the heart, wouldn't that be the one you'd prefer to read instead?"
"There are very few people who follow their heart, though, it's usually the head that dictates what's going on instead," the man chuckles. "Still, you have a point but let's just say I have a preference for the right hand."
"'kay," the teen just says and puts his hand in Riley's much larger palm.
"Oh, such nice warm hands, no wonder your pokémon like your touch so much," he says because it's striking to feel such a nice, radiant feeling of warmth coming from the boy's hand. "But anyway, let's have a look…. Oh, you have an awful lot of psychic crosses there."
"… Where?"
"See that line going from under your pinky finger to your index finger and the line straight underneath it? There's a bunch of little crosses in between there."
"What does it mean?"
"It's basically something that gives you the potential to cross the bridge between this world and the spiritual one. It could have a lot of meanings, really. But you have a strong potential, there are a lot of crosses."
"Hm," the teen just hummed.
"You also have the line here, the girdle of Venus, a sign associated with the witches who have the ability to practise clairvoyance."
"Oh."
"… And there's a distinct healer mark… Oh, and you have the allergy line."
"Hayfever," Ash says and he sounds a bit bored.
"A bad one?"
"Anything with pollen."
"Well, the line is quite deep…"
"Riley?"
"Yes, Ash?"
"I think I healed Clair."
"I think you did too. Congratulations," he says and the teen is looking at him quite intensively. "What's the matter?"
"That's it? Was this really what you meant by making a choice?"
"Wait, you didn't know you could do it?" the man asks, flabbergasted when the teen shakes his head. "Then how did you…?"
"I just transferred my Aura into her."
"And you just knew how to do that too?"
"It was the best I could come up with at the time," the teen defends though makes no move to pull his hand away from Riley, which had often been the case when he came a bit too close to the truth than most found comfortable. "So… what else does my hand say?"
"Ash, kiddo," the man says as he lays his other hand on Ash's palm. "There is nothing your palm can say that will ever correctly convey the sheer selflessness that you are. I've never had any student rely on their instinct to get the job done and get it right from the first time. It could be luck but I have a feeling that you're just very smart and have been thinking about my lessons as much as I actually wanted you to."
"So… So this was good? I did okay by doing that to Clair?"
"Buddy, you stopped your aunt from dying and by doing so, chose the trade for your left hand. You did more than okay, you sacrificed all the other choices you could have made to help Clair. There's no way I could ever judge you for this."
"Thank you, Riley," the teen says and manages a small smile, the first one the man has seen in a while now. "I thought you would be angry, that I shouldn't mess with destiny or something… It's always like that in video games and TV shows."
"But this is real life. And healers rarely exist as often as in video games or TV shows. You've chosen a rare trade, Ash, a valuable one at that."
"Is it really that uncommon?"
"Just like foresight, buddy. You're the most special person I've met and coming from me, it certainly means something, trust me. I've seen an awful lot of people who think they are special and ones who truly are without knowing it but none of them come close to you."
"What a relief," Ash sighs, his shoulders sagging. "I did okay, oh, heck, I was so… I didn't know what else to do, I felt so lost, I could see her fade in front of me, it was like a little light getting dimmer and dimmer and I just acted."
"Ah, that would explain the Aura in your eyes," Riley says and suddenly, the teen is looking at him in alarm. "It's okay, it's normal for a young Aura user to get upset at seeing death and one of the typical stress responses is for them to draw up their defences. Different eyes are the most effective way to scare people and pokémon off, after all."
"Is it that bad?"
"I think it looks very good on you."
The teen's smile suddenly gets a lot wider and it seems like the true relief has only settled in right now. Riley's worried that Ash is depending on his reaction so much, he can't believe that his opinion had almost gotten in the way of the split second of this boy deciding whether to let his aunt live or die. Then again, maybe that pokémon knew about the power he had over Ash and that this was the reason why it had come out to threaten him into behaving. It had worked, he had changed his approach and it worked wonderfully, the boy had spilt the beans and had worked along with him all the way to the end. Plus, he had just done a bit of palmistry on a terribly interesting person, an added bonus to the miracle that had happened today, from the creepy pokémon to the absolutely stellar student he's picked up.
Lance is quietly sorting through the medicine the doctors prescribed for Clair. He's pretty sure she's getting less heavy stuff than was has ever been prescribed for Ash but it still worries him that his nephew had known the situation was worse than it looked, somehow knowing more than these amazing medics at the hospital. His niece was fine in the sense that she could heal from what was ailing her but he's unsure how to deal with his own feelings regarding all this.
Somehow, Ash had become Clair's caretaker when it had been supposed to be the other way around. And they had desperately wanted to avoid causing him grief again but that had failed magnificently too. At least the creepy medicine that had such horrible side-effects -like those migraines the teen has suffered- got dropped, possibly the only positive effect out of this whole situation. That left the teen with no medicine whatsoever and from what Lance has come to understand from Cynthia's preach about how medicines only kept children back, he's wondering what they can still come to expect from the boy, if he's supposed to have his full mental capacity, as well as all those feelings…
He wonders whether the boy would understand who Mr. Goodshow somehow cast the well-meant warning to the side, as if it didn't matter. Lance is irked that they still believe that they would be safe now that they know what to expect but from what the man has witnessed, Ash also knows what is going to happen but is still very upset when it does happen.
"Uncle?"
The man blinks, confused to see his nephew at his side, one hand holding onto his arm. He notes the concerned look on the boy's face too and sighs. That apparently was enough to tell Ash what he needed to know.
"They're going through with the idea?"
"The charity event apparently has always been some kind of tournament, Ash," Lance answers softly. "Mr. Goodshow took my comment into consideration but has chosen to put it to the side for now. They've taken note of the fact that an accident can pose themselves and will have heightened security."
Ash doesn't answer but it's obvious that he's disappointed in the choice.
"Okay," the boy eventually says.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more, kiddo. I'm really sorry."
"I've promised that I wouldn't hold myself responsible when my warning gets ignored. You shouldn't either."
The man nods solemnly, this isn't what he had wanted to tell Ash, after all.
"What are all these meds for?" the teen asks instead, peering curiously at the selection of boxes on the kitchen table. "Oh, isn't this the one to prevent blood clots? What was it called again… err… oh, thrombosis? Is that always described when people have head injuries?"
"Apparently so."
"Is she going to be fine?"
"Yes, absolutely. Clair has a severe concussion and will be out of commission for a couple of days but other than that, she shouldn't have any remaining ailments out of it."
"Good," the boy says and he sounds very relieved. "I'll be around."
Lance nods, not sure what to say. Ash doesn't sound upset that his foresight got ignored but the man knows that he can't underestimate the kid's ability to interfere. The way the teen didn't even react to the mention of a heightened level of security is something he can't get off his mind either, he won't put it beyond the kid to somehow find a way to save everyone's asses no matter what they think about him or his foresight. It's ironic and it would fill Lance with satisfaction but it's still not healthy for a boy at Ash's age to interfere with such a serious matter. Nevertheless, there's nothing he can do against it, if the pokémon league won't listen to reason, there is no other way to get the job done than to go for other, more serious and extensive measures.
'I'll leave it up to you, Ash,' Lance thinks. 'Show them what you're made off so that they'll take you seriously next time.'
End of chapter nineteen