Helpless

by Epoxy-Resin

The disabled population is the world's largest minority of which anyone can become a part of at any time. "Peekaboo," said misfortune and jumped the already weakened boy. Ash wouldn't be Ash if he didn't try to get up again, though he's going to have to face he won't be able to do it on his own.

33. Declaration of Love

Are you surprised? Sorry if it took longer to update, user Eternatus had another challenge ready for me, which I beat with ease! After all, I love a good challenge once in a while and I got inspired so... Here it is, the longest chapter I've ever written so far, over 20000 words and published well before the date set for the challenge. I can't tell you how pleased I am about this, something about this chapter makes me feel tingly and nice. Maybe because it was written for a good friend of mine.

Well, good friend of mine, now for my counter challenge! I want you to write a more than a thousand-word review for this chapter before the end of next week! You can compliment me once but once only. The rest has to be about the story itself!

And now, for the main event, hope you all enjoy this double-sized chapter!

---

That damned thing with Korrina… it's still not sitting well with Ash, despite everything, despite not even being in Shalour any longer. He'd said his goodbyes to Gurkinn who, despite everything, embodied everything he enjoyed about the city. It felt good to be deemed normal for once, even though Gurkinn knows exactly what kind of a menace he is, he never said anything about it, never made him feel abnormal or unwanted. Everything Riley did and he appreciates it a lot and has said so to the man too.

And to Korrina… Well, he told her that she and Lucario deserved each other and that it wasn't meant as a compliment. She has the gull to ask him why but he told her, straight up that, while Lucario had a damn good reason to run as he looked straight into the flaming eyes of the smug looking Charizard but she looked at him and decided to run too. That lack of faith in him, the lack of faith that he, the pokémon's trainer, would not stop Charizard from hurting Lucario or Korrina, that's something he can't easily forgive.

But what really made him mad, is the fact that Clemont seems convinced that a train is Tyranitar proof just because the people who made the vehicle put a sticker on it. Even if the Gym leader explains that there are Tyranitar outside of this station -Ash sees no reason why anyone would even want that- who are on the payroll of the station, who actually gnawed on proto-types of the vehicles before they went into production, Ash needs to very much explain that the fat fucks napping outside of the station are not a threat. Especially not if they're getting overfed as payment to gnaw on the vehicles anyway.

"Alright, what's gotten you so bothered about the Tyranitar, Ash?" Clemont asks, finally fed up with the fact he's sitting there, stewing in silence.

"You can't eliminate the fear I've had to endure, the pokémon league spends thousands upon thousands of pokédollars to keep certain spots Tyranitar free but every year, those hormone driven, territorial beasts shred every little piece of steel and concrete to shreds, just because they want to own the land. They don't care if there are people living it, you can't tell me not to worry about those two pokémon in the station when the main connection between Kanto and Johto still isn't completely safe and that at least ten people die every year due to a Tyranitar attack. Granted, it's a massive cave that eventually ended up becoming a tunnel as the Tyranitar dug it out but I need you to see my perspective and then understand why I'm not the slightest bit intimidated by those two, overweight and tame examples over there."

"… I don't think Tyranitar are that common here."

"I always thought that was a joke," Serena comments. "I mean, I don't think any pokémon has ever targeted a train before, they know better than to approach them."

Ash thinks that's a far better sticker to put onto the train, actually. He doesn't give two hoots about the vehicle being safe for one particular creature anyway, there are much, much worse creatures out there that could make this train disappear to never be found again, along with all these people. And no, putting a sticker on it won't be helpful by the slightest.

"I think you're overthinking the joke a little then, Ash," Clemont comments. "Or are you still bothered by Korrina's challenge?"

"Was that not a joke as well?"

"… At least you got her to open the Gym again."

"People in Kalos have a strange way to repay debts, it seems. First professor Sycamore for saving his Garchomp and then Korrina with her Gym."

"I'm sorry you feel this way, Ash, I hope I can give you a better challenge."

"You'll fight Charizard, then?"

"Go for it, I don't really care," the teen answers as he shrugs. "I know I saw your face too when you saw Korrina run. And I don't ever want you to feel like that ever again so bring him out during my challenge, I'll face him. I've got no shortcomings that will not make me try and fight you, in fact, you're so mysterious, you have such a good connection with your pokémon, I think I'm interested to see how I'll fare against you. And in all honesty, whether it's a strong pokémon or a type-matchup, the challenge remains the same."

"I'm glad you feel that way. But now I wonder what Ramos will say. He has a Grass-type Gym, no?"

"He does but if you think he's not had his fair share of Bird and Fire-types against him, you're wrong."

"Yes but his pokémon will burn the moment Charizard activates his ability."

"I know that, that's what it means to have a type matchup, isn't it?"

"… You don't get it," Ash says, sounding a lot less disappointed than he actually is. "Ah well, I guess you'll figure it out once we meet Ramos and I ask him the same question."

"Alright, alright, I'll think about it but please don't feel like every Gym leader is made out of glass. Because we're not, I might not be the perfect example, in fact, I'm an absolute disgrace of a Gym leader but at least I haven't run from a battle yet."

"A disgrace?" Ash says but somehow Serena says it at the same time and now it feels a little funny.

"… I did as my father told me to but I was bored with being a Gym leader. I… I did a lot of good for the Electric-type pokémon of Lumiose and the people there respect me but the challengers I got were disrespectful and tactless. They called me names when they lost, they threatened me because I'm short and I don't look very intimidating. And I'm not a good angry person, my voice breaks when I'm angry and I tear up so that's even less ideal to intimidate," Clemont sighs. "But I also didn't want to disappoint my father, he was so pleased when I took up the role of Gym leader, it was the first time I saw him smile ever since… Well, I thought I was doing a good thing but it wasn't. Far from it, I guess I just… burned out. I lost one of my pokémon over it, he's roaming around, I guess but I've got no idea where it went but I was done by that time, I lost the motivation and I much rather built Clembot than get back up that stage."

"I think Korrina did way worse than you did, I mean…," the girl says but Ash isn't so sure of that.

"Isn't there a system that allows Gym leader to complain about challengers? Because it sounds like they should've gotten security levels raised in your Gym, I mean, trainers in Kanto won't be caught dead with the word 'attack' on their lips when it's aimed towards a person, you never know who's watching or hearing it and let me tell you, the one who comes to help solve the situation is someone you'll never be prepared to meet. Why did the pokémon league here in Kalos let you suffer this much? Why didn't they help?"

"They laughed at me," Clemont pouts. "Maybe it has something to do with the way I said it but they laughed. Even today, you might see other Gym leaders not taking me seriously."

"Does Ramos?"

"Well… at least he likes me a lot more than others do. I mean, Grant thinks I'm a joke."

"Of course, he does but the sucker got beaten by my Gible. You should teach your Helioptile Iron tail, that would shut Grant up real quick."

"Yes but again, those are things I didn't think about. My team was great before my burn-out, I lost whatever confidence I had and Grant's lack of appreciation hit home bad. It's been a couple years now but it still stings when he smiles at me, he may have forgotten what he said to me but I didn't."

"Now you're making me hope I meet him again," Ash says darkly but the boy chuckles and shakes his head.

"Let's not, I feel like Grant won't enjoy that. Let's just get on this train and look forwards to arriving in Courmarine."

"I heard that the climate there is ideal," Serena pipes up, sounding a bit too chipper. "They've got a lot of events and malls there, it's a very nice place to be in, or so my mom keeps telling me whenever she delivered ride pokémon here who finished their training."

"Oh, like Skiddo and Gogoat, huh?" Ash asks. "Can you ride them there too?"

"No, Ramos just wants them well-behaved to keep his grass nice and clean," Clemont answers and somehow, the teen likes that idea much more than the Tyranitar idea.

"At least they won't be hungry."

"No, there's an awful lot of plains, not a single flower in sight. Ramos is kind of known to freak out if you step out of the downtrodden path too."

"… He's one of those then, huh?"

"Don't overthink it, don't judge him before you've met him or you're going to end up hating all the Gym leaders here."

"I like Viola and you, though."

"I bet you'll like Olympia too," Clemont grins and he looks so cheeky Ash can't help but smile along too. "She told me to wait, after all, until I would find my inspiration."

"Me? She told you to wait for me?"

"Mm."

Ash blinks, he's not sure why he feels so odd being called an inspiration but then again, if it works for Clemont, who is he to tell him he's not inspirational by the slightest?

"Thanks, I guess."

"I know you don't think to highly of yourself, Ash, I find that sad because you're an amazing trainer. It must've taken such control on your part not to lash out towards Korrina and you still kept yourself decent around her. You told her off this morning, yeah but you didn't raise your voice, you let your vocabulary do the damage. And the pokémon, dear lord, Ash, you're the most careful, loving and patient person around them, I want to hug you each time I see you being all precious with one. And it hurts me that you don't find anything impressive about what you do, who you are but when I'm with you, Ash, I feel like anything's possible."

"Oh, but it is. It's very much is," the teen chuckles, bashfully ducking his head under the praise. "Be sure not to regret having said that out loud, it may manifest in something really incredible."

"I hope it ends up being something that will make you smile," Bonnie says, again catching him off guard. "Maybe, if I try hard enough, I can manifest you smiling too."

And he does, if only for the way she caught on to what he said.

"It worked!" she grins and looks at Clemont, who is also smiling.

"Olympia would be proud but not as proud as I am. Well done, Bonnie."

"Le TGC en provenance de Shalour et à destination de Courmarine va rentrer en gare voie 1. Il dessert seulement le gare de Courmarine, son terminus. Les réservations sont obligatoires dans ce train. Nous vous rappelons que désormais, l'étiquetage des bagages est obligatoire. Pour votre sécurité, éloignez-vous de la bordure du quai."

And while this is the most clear announcement he's heard in a train station ever, Ash only gets that the train towards Courmarine is going to arrive soon and that the voice said something about luggage.

"You don't need to worry about that," Serena says when he asks what the announcement meant. "Courmarine is a popular vacation spot, so to avoid luggage getting shifted around and getting lost, they ask people to label their luggage with their name. And she also said that we needed to book seats to get on the train, which we did so we're good."

"Also, they warned us to stay away from the edge," Bonnie pipes up.

"I guess we can't be further away from the edge so we're good for that too," he says, seeing there's sitting at the seats attached to the wall, waiting for the train to arrive.

When it does, it gets a bit too busy for Ash, someone actually pushes him but a very poisonous look from Pikachu makes the man recoil heavily, just far enough to see what's written on his jacket. This man also dissolves into apologies, also actually speaking them in English, though his accent is very present. Ash appreciates it nonetheless, Pikachu… a little less so but they got on the train in one piece. And it shouldn't take long before they get to Courmarine either, the train is superfast, Ash has never seen seatbelts on a train before but you bet he's buckling himself in.

"They're here because this is a special seating area," Serena whispers, being the one to sit next to him, while Clemont and Bonnie sit behind them and talking so softly so she won't bother the other passengers here. "We can sit here because of your disability card. I thought you would like the seatbelt, not having your two legs to depend on."

"I do like it, thank you for thinking about it, I didn't think this was an option. I've never seen anything like it in the other trains."

"No, this is a luxury ride, there usually are only first and second class seats on typical trains. But as I said, this is a special train too, thanks to tourism being a big thing in Courmarine."

"It's funny, I grew up in a town by the sea and I never saw a dang tourist in my whole life there. But the tourists were there but they went, like, around Pallet, they'd land at Celadon City and then go to Cinnabar island, just underneath Pallet Town. And I never realised why until last year. I wished I took a detour somewhere else too."

"My mom moved for a reason," she answers and pulls a sour look. "Dad didn't move along, that is too say, he was too attached to another woman in Pallet. So you don't need to tell me what my view of the place is."

"I live in Johto now, in Mahogany. It's a bit colder there than it ever got in Pallet but the snowfall in winter is epic."

"That does sound nice, though snow here… it messes things up a lot. Schools close, roads are locked down and a trek to warmer places starts at the same time, making the already locked down roads clog up with people trying to leave. It gets a bit mad from time to time."

"Ah well, that's the practical part, sometimes, you just gotta sit back and enjoy the situation you're in despite it being a struggle. Snow isn't the end of the world, either, it'll melt away before you know it and why not have some fun while it's there?"

"There isn't much fun to be found in a small layer of snow, though. And it usually becomes ice when the temperatures lower even deeper overnight."

"Ah, my actual first Christmas celebration, we were snowed in," Ash says happily, remembering how Cynthia and Lucian had struggled through the snow to get there, while Lance definitely hadn't appreciated Deoxys playing peekaboo with him. "It's was a layer taller than me in the end but the houses in Mahogany are built to carry all that weight and it was really spectacular."

"Over a metre!?" she whispers harshly. "Ash, that would be disastrous for Kalos. Any city."

"Except in Snowbelle," Clemont adds from the back, a little louder.

"Obviously, the city is always frozen over," Serena answers dryly. "But a metre? Clemont, I live in Vaniville, have you got any idea how much damage that would cause."

"I think that's why Ash told you that the houses in Mahogany are specifically designed to carry that weight," the Gym leader quips, not sounding too bothered about the discussion. "I don't suppose you have pictures of that much snow? I know I would like to see it, I mean, I'm in charge of shovelling snow away from the Prism Tower's vicinity, you can bet I would hate to clean up even one square metre of snow but I feel I wouldn't even get the door open."

"True, that's why I said we were snowed in but like, it's snow, I bet the roads were a little less snowed over because the wind blows it up in corners," Ash answers and gets his phone out. "I think I've taken a couple of photos but I got my phone on Christmas as a gift so the snow had already melted a little by the time I figured out to take pictures."

Serena looks at him a little oddly but she's interested in the pictures he shows her and Clemont actually laughs a little at the picture Ash has of Flygon giving the snow covered Dreepy the stink-eye. The teen can't help but smile at the pictures too, he doesn't have many yet but he still loves the ones he has despite remembering everything that happened… but it was his first Christmas and he remembers it all fondly. Well, not the Dark Aura users and like, the whole pokéhelp situation happened to be a hot potato that has cooled off by now.

"Ash…?" the girl next to him asks, she sounds a bit hesitant and somehow, Ash knows what's coming and that's he's not really ready for it. "What were you doing all the other Christmas days?"

"I err… was around. My mom never really celebrated it all that much."

"Heresy," she huffs. "I mean, not believing is one thing but if there's one thing I hate, it's robbing kids from those precious memories. It's not all about the gifts, it's the way the day is celebrated and the way things change from being a normal day, that something happens to make it special. I could tell, you looked at those pictures with the same look my mom looks at her Christmas pictures but hers are from at least twenty years ago, while the past you smile that way about isn't even one year ago!"

Ash hesitates to tell her anything, he knows it's going to come out wrong, that he'll sound defensive because it still wasn't that bad, it just all passed like a normal day but he feels like that will only upset her more. Clemont comes to his rescue, though, perhaps only to help her calm down so that she doesn't make a scene on the train. He reaches out from the seat behind to lay his hand on her shoulder, it looks a little awkward but it manages to catch Serena's attention.

"I need you to realise that men need to be absolute Saint, no, angels, to get full custody of their children, Serena. You know Bonnie and me only have our father, don't push it when you've only heard Ash refer to his uncle. Not here, anyway. Not now."

It hits home, Ash hadn't know that Clemont realised what had happens so well but then again, he should've knows, Meyer… he cares, he knows that his boy is smart. Gosh, now he's stuck with the idea that he'll someday have to find a way to explain himself and his past to his kind friends but he's got no idea how to tackle that.

"I'm still going to get you a gift, Ash," she grumbles.

"You really don't have to," he wheedles.

"When's your birthday…?"

"I euhm… The 22th of May."

"That's tomorrow?!"

"There's no need-"

"Yes, there is," she persists. "You're not getting out of this, Ash, I'm not letting you."

He sits there, squirming as Serena is clearly plotting something he knows he won't enjoy too much. Besides, he feels guilty when he gets presents, has always been since Gary made a fuss when a party wasn't about him. And his mother enabled Gary to do whatever he wanted, Ash has never blown out the candles on his own birthday cake for the three times he remembers having had a cake at all. So now celebrating it all feels awkward to him because he knows some people just don't enjoy celebrating someone else.

"Don't worry," Clemont ends up saying but that's exactly what Ash does, has always done and he'll still do it now, all the way to Courmarine.

---

The warm wind make him forget what he's been worrying about, it's just a birthday anyway but now, he's so excited to be here. He can smell it, the excitement of a holiday. Not that he's been on holiday much but it smells like adventure and it gets him every single time, now is no different. Also, Ash is incredibly happy they went by train, they stopped on a hill and it's steep as well as a long trek too. It's everything he hates, all together and he couldn't be more thrilled to be on top of this hill already.

"Let's go eat something," Clemont says, after Bonnie mentions something about how delicious the pancakes here are and that's eventually also what they end up eating.

Ash enjoys it too, he realises that he doesn't need to be picky when it comes to the desserts the Kalos natives make, so far, he has enjoyed every single one of them. But apparently, it's okay to occasionally just eat a lot of desserts for lunch, it sure warms him up and he ends up smiling afterwards. Maybe that's what his friends wanted, he ought to remember to smile a bit more so he doesn't end up worrying them.

The pokémon centre is at the completely different end of the city too, or at least, the upper part of it so as they stroll towards it, Ash can't help but notice the stalls and stores there. They're colourful and happy, the salespeople are enthusiastic too, it's very catchy behaviour and a certain stall that sells pokéballs -very generic but it still catches his interest as a trainer- has a game laid out on a table and it amuses him, mostly because Clemont is anything but thrilled to see it.

"There's fake pokéball in there?" he asks, face peeved as he peers over the pokéballs that don't look too different from each other. "How the heck are we supposed to spot a difference?"

"I bet Ash can tell," Serena says and while the teen has just spotted a couple of the bootleg pokéballs already, he's surprised by the vote of confidence. "Go on then," she persists. "You can win this."

And the man behind the table has caught onto the interest and gives Ash a grid that matches with how the pokéballs are laid out.

"Just cross out the ones you think are dupes," he explains in English because all the tourists here speak it. "And when you're finished, you can just hand it back to me and we'll see how you've done. If you get ten right, you win the smallest prize, if you get twenty, you win the middle prize but if you get at least forty of the fifty right, you win the big prize."

While intrigued, the teen figures he'll be getting a pokéball with a varying collectable value. He's not very into collecting pokéballs but he'll play, if only to have Serena's gut feeling on his side. As he stares at the spheres, he notices that there are a lot of defective pokéballs there too, which aren't dupes, they're just damaged. The pokémon league sells them too, they're called 'Oops' pokéballs and usually are bought in bulk during sales. But they're very real and thus, don't count as the dupes he needs to find. All in all, Ash sees five pokéball he definitely thinks are fake but he's not sure he's got them all but he's about done staring at the spheres.

However, the man breaks out in a smile and brings out a bell that startles him a lot when he suddenly rings it out of the blue. His reaction to it makes his friends laugh, though Serena happily claps her hands together when the man makes the announcement that he got all of them right.

"We have a winner!" he exclaims and proudly sticks the paper Ash had handed him to a pole. "I've only had one other person find them all today and he's the son of the person who produces these pokéball so that wasn't very fair. I didn't give him a nice prize because of that, he appeared to smug. But you, young man, you're just experienced, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I've been a trainer for four years now, almost five."

"Wonderful, then this is yours," he says and hands Ash a pokéball he's not ever gotten in his hands, ever.

"Is… is this actually real?" the boy asks, completely taken aback that he was just handed a Master ball. Out of the blue, just because he guessed the amount of fakes right.

"It is. I feel like a trainer as yourself will need it one day."

"I-I… I don't know what to say," he stammers, looking down on the precious pokéball. "Thank you so much, sir."

"My pleasure entirely. Be sure to put it in good use too, it's no good to just put a comfortable, infallible pokéball on a shelf to collect dust."

Ash nods dumbly, he's still taken aback by the sheer luck he's just gotten but yes, he puts the pokéball away in his secret pocket in his bag, the one Mewtwo's pokéball used to be hidden at. Now, the pokémon's ball is in on the inside of his breast pocket, underneath his pokéhelp jacket, at a more comfortable spot than the secret spot ever was.

"I'm so happy for you," Serena says and grabs his arm to hold him close to her. "I knew you could do it."

"How did you even see it, though?" Clemont asks. "I mean, I saw the ones you selected, they did look a little wonky but there were others that just looked as off and really dented."

"Sometimes, people in the factory or the store drop them and then they are still real but damaged," Ash explains.

"… I never knew that."

"They're cheap to buy too."

"You can buy them?!" he exclaims. "Why would anyone want a damaged pokéball?"

"Dunno, some just like the look of it, I guess. And if you don't have the funds, it's better to have a damaged pokéball that's only damaged on the outside than no pokéball, right?"

"… Oh."

"Did you ever need to buy them?" Serena asks.

"Nah, I never actually needed to buy them, people lose them outside all the time. I found a lot of them on the ground."

"How have I never had that luck?"

"Maybe Kalos has people cleaning up what got dropped?"

"Or maybe you just weren't looking," Clemont pipes up. "I mean, you've not done much walking out in the woods recently, have you?"

"If I was, you were there too and did you see a pokéball on the ground?" she retorts.

"No but in my defence, I was worried about Ash and a pokéball is the least of my worries."

"Excuses."

"Guys, don't start. I wouldn't know much about the pokéballs being littered either, I haven't walked through woods at all and at the time I fled to Shalour, Bonbon galloped too fast for me to watch my surroundings. So there, we all have an excuse right now," Ash sighs. "So stop bickering."

The two still seem huffy towards each other, though but they eventually get at the pokémon centre and honestly, he sees someone that makes him forget their behaviour straight away.

"Steven!" he calls out in delight and the man turns around with an equally delighted face.

"Hello there, how have you been holding up?"

"Barely," Ash answers as he pressed himself against the man's side, completely ignoring Steven's companion for now.

"Bonjour," Wallace says and the teen looks up on him.

"Konbanwa, sir. You have immersed yourself in the culture of Kalos, I hear?"

"I try to blend in."

The boy stares at him, he's got bright blue hair and the most stunning of all the stunning outfits on. He's definitely the opposite of blending in but there's no way he'll say that out loud. He doesn't need to, Wallace seems to read it from the expression he pulls but has the decency to not just realise that Ash's reaction is purely polite but also that he also smile in response.

"Though I have to admit that my attempt have been futile," he adds, with a cheeky wink. "But you may have noticed that."

"Only a little," Ash quips. "Do I introduce my friends to you or do you already have an idea who they are?"

"I, of course, know little Bonnie and Clemont, though it's not less of a pleasure to meet again," Wallace says smoothly but then again, the man has his sight set on Serena when their eyes meet. "And I might be mistaken but I think I see the eyes and grace of a Performer right there in front of me."

The girl blinks in surprise.

"A what?" she blurts out.

"A Performer," Wallace repeats, ignoring the severe lack of grace Serena just displayed. "They're lovely creatures able to draw the beauty of life out for everyone to see."

And the girl has this look on her face that Ash recognises very well. She clearly thinks she's got a lunatic in front of her and well, it doesn't help that Wallace is already dressed for the part.

"You don't understand," he says, a logical conclusion from Serena's lack of reaction. "Why don't you come and see the show tomorrow, at noon? And, if you think it would be something you will enjoy, there is a try-out for starting Performers at the end of this week."

"Uh… Sure, I guess," she answers and that's all the man needs to pull five tickets out of his purse. Yes, it's a small, handheld clutch that's completely covered in blue and rainbow coloured rhinestones, to complete his outfit that is also covered with those same rhinestones.

"Thank you," Ash says, accepting the ticket with a smile. "Will anyone I know be performing there?"

"Why, my top acts are May and Dawn, they've not been on top of their game since your accident, Ash, so I would love for you to surprise them. Maybe it will help them realise they've been worrying a bit too much."

"They're here?!" he exclaims in surprise. "Like, really here in Courmarine?"

"Indeed, they are."

"Oh, wow, guys, we've gotta go see that show!"

"… I thought we were already going?" Clemont asks, ticket in hand and looking utterly confused until he sees Serena roll her eyes, an action that's thankfully missed by Wallace… but not Steven, though he seems to amused to care.

"Yeah, we're going," she sighs.

"Wonderful!" Wallace says and he claps his hands together, clutch purse tucked safely under his armpit. "I'm sure you guys will enjoy it, Kalos truly has embraced the act of Coordinating and made it a Performance to be proud of."

Ash nods, he's awfully amused, mostly because Serena hasn't made a single peep about what kind of a trainer she wanted to be. He knows she has her doubts about being a trainer like him but he knows she admires him, which could end up with her ending up trying to become a trainer but failing because well… he's pretty weird and he knows that most genius trainers are just as weird as he is, if not slightly weirder. Wallace being an excellent example of it, though Steven is being uncharacteristically silent.

During the dinner they spring on them later, when they've checked into their room, Wallace tells Ash that Steven is very upset at what Korrina did, so badly that he came to him. Ash thanks the man for being the person Steven finds comfort it and at that, Wallace seems confused and amused at the same time.

"Why would you say that?" he asks.

"It's not easy to listen to people talk about things you often don't understand."

"… No, that's… true. I don't think I understand his worry about you either, you seem quite fine to me."

"He's… seen me in my lesser days, sir. Not too long ago and I think that is why he's upset at Korrina, I… I may have scared him a lot. Before, it was just tales Lance told him but I had seizures while I was in his arms not two days ago. And I know that, despite being warned, it must've been a great shock for Steven to witness it."

"I'm sorry you have to go through this, Ash," Wallace says and the compassion in his voice and eyes nearly makes the boy tear up because if this stranger, this kind but totally weird person who doesn't know him this well, still feels some sort of sympathy for his situation… why could his mother not be damned?

What was wrong with her?

"I choose to do it, I didn't need to be here, I didn't need to prove anything to anyone. But it's not like me to sit still, I… I feel that, if I stayed and sat where Lance wanted me to sit, I would've worried an awful lot of people."

"May says that she thinks you're an idiot."

"… For some, an embrace is a comfort but somehow, calling me an idiot is a comfort for a lot of people. But they can call me whatever they want, I'll respond how I feel at that moment and May will want to have some tissues ready because I've done everything I could've possibly done to get her but now I'm curious to know why I deserve to be called an idiot. Because I refuse to sit still and wait for something to heal while I know that it'll take at least a decade? Or that there's just no hope to ever heal? Is that why I'm an idiot? To lose the hope to ever get better than this? If so, I'm rather the idiot to live than be the sucker she thinks is smart but let's life go past."

"The way I hear you speak makes me feel like May is wrong, I think you're far from an idiot, in fact… How old are you, boy?"

"Fourteen."

"You sound older."

"Does it give you hope that I'll be fifteen tomorrow, then?" he quips and to his grace, the man smiles at the levity of it all.

"Only slightly. You need some joy in your life, Ash, don't let anyone think you're not entitled to good things."

"I know and one of the good things coming my way is to tell May to stuff her opinion where the sun doesn't shine."

"… Is that a good thing?"

"It'll be gratifying to tell her she tried to bury the wrong one, yes. It's a sore subject still."

"Bury?" the man repeats.

"She sent money to organise my funeral when I wasn't quite as dead as Gary Oak believed I was."

"Sounds like a major misunderstanding to me, actually," Wallace says but he seems bewildered. "I feel like you could write a book about your life and that many would laugh at it but that just as many would be crying while finishing it. That being said, it's entirely up to you whether they will cry with laughter or out of sadness."

"Maybe a bit of both but I'm not bothered by that because I'm not done living for a long time yet."

"True but still, try and make it a bit more cheerful for yourself too. You're doing a fine job with it with the yellow but something has bothered Steven over dinner and now I'm worried for him because I can't spot what bothers him so greatly then, right now."

"… It's not always me, you know?" Ash asks slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"The thing that's wrong in a situation. It's not always me. I'm not always involved in whatever is going wrong."

"… I know that," Wallace says after hesitating for a moment. "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way."

"Thank you."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Well, alright then… Is there something you enjoy doing, Ash?"

The teen blinks at the sudden change of subject.

"Where is that question coming from?"

"It's your birthday tomorrow, you told me that. So, what would you like to do?"

"Sir, I've not celebrated a birthday for over eleven years now, I have no idea what I should do."

The man nods, slowly and hesitantly. His overall demeanour has changed considerably from the start, the way Wallace usually stand is full of confidence and pride… but right now, Ash can't help but notice he's taking up as little space as possible, he's looking a lot less confident, in fact, he looks completely harmless to him. Not that the teen ever thought that Wallace would hurt him, he knows the man is docile and life-loving. Wallace has never even cussed out any challenger, has never said a bad word to his pokémon, no matter who won or who lost, he just smiles and congratulates who has earned said congratulations. To Ash, this man is very unproblematic.

"If that's the case, then I'm sure you don't mind that your party is not on the day itself?"

"No, not particularly. There's no need to go out of your way-"

"Nonsense. You have missed an experience, a birthday not celebrated is a birthday missed. Any day is just a normal day if you sit around, doing nothing special. I've been told you're a passionate kid but you clearly have self-esteem issues and I'm not having that, not while I hear that there's right and reason behind everything you say," Wallace says. "I get it, it might feel odd but accept it, if people are willing to celebrate you, allow it because it's a sign they like you. Also a sign that they know who you are, what you like. The party itself wouldn't go over the top if the people hosting it are aware it makes you feel uncomfortable, trust me on that. I'm the biggest party-goer myself who is having the company of the biggest nerd in history, who doesn't even want to go out in the evening. I know what you're thinking and I'm not letting you cram yourself up, not on your birthday."

"Thank you," Ash says, smiling at the passionate response of something he feels the man is projecting on him, there's no way he feels this way because he's met a kid who is a bit awkward getting gifts for his birthday when he never even got thanked for saving the world, perhaps just slightly cussed out and being told what an idiot he was for doing it. "I didn't think I would ever share a similarity with Steven at all."

"I won't let you, you be yourself and your own person now, boy," Wallace says. "Tell me, what's your favourite colour?"

"Yellow."

"And food?"

"Anything spicy really. If it's bleeding red hot, that's my thing," he says but backtracks very quickly. "B-but it's not very nice for others to eat, I know Clemont and Serena looked at me as if I had grown a second head while I ate the super-hot noodles so it's not like they will eat it, I'll eat literally everything else they'll also eat."

"You know the sauce comes separate from the noodles, right?"

"Come again?"

"The sauce, if I give you a bottle to share with your friends, they can control the amount of spice they can tolerate or not add any at all. If you like the spicy and they don't, you don't need to sacrifice your favourite treat for something someone else will like. It's not their birthday, after all," Wallace explains. "It's not all black or white, Ash, you enjoy your noodles the way you want, the rest can cater to their own needs. You don't need to look after them."

He looks at the man a bit oddly, he hears what he's saying but the idea is foreign to him. Isn't it normal to give up what you like so someone else is comfortable?

"You're a kind boy but don't sacrifice your own needs for someone else. Just sit back and let the others show how well they know and appreciate you."

Ash nods, he's very amused by the prospect of it all but Wallace seems oddly serious about the matter of his birthday party so he will let him and his friends go wild. And it's not as if he doesn't like parties, it's just always that it ends up with people arguing or him being told he's… well… nothing exactly positive. So now he's curious what will happen now and mostly, when it will happen. Wallace seems quite certain that he will be here for a while, so is Ash because he thinks Serena is going to enjoy herself. He knows because he's participated in one of those shows before, while not on stage, the excitement and whole experience is exhilarating and he thinks that's exactly what Serena is looking for.

Still, he thanks the man for the wonderful talk and for the understanding he's show, which is also met with the same, bewildered look as everything he's told Wallace but they leave in general peacefulness and Ash couldn't be happier for it. But as he gets back to his room, having just said goodnight to his friends -who have rooms on the first floor- the teen can't help but realise that, one of the main differences this room has to the one in Shalour, is that the door is huge. Tall and wide, it takes him an awful lot of effort to slide it open too, the momentum it needs to open is far greater but thankfully, nurse Joy is on the lookout and rushes in to help.

"Opening it manually will only work when you're in a dangerous situation and high on adrenaline, darling," she says softly and pushes the green, lit-up button next to the door, making it open.

Ash, who has been leaning on it, falls into the room with a yelp but he catches himself by grabbing the doorframe.

"That's all nice and dandy but can you warn me next time you push that button?"

"Naturally," she answers, sounding amused. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"No, I'm fine, just a bit shocked," he answers truthfully, though his arms are stinging from trying to open that door, he also broke a nail whilst trying to pry it open -how was he supposed to guess it was automated?- and now that's stinging badly too. "Why is this door so big anyway?"

"You are not the only stubborn child who feels like they have something to prove," the nurse answers and Ash feels like all the adults are after him today or something, her statement hits home.

"Wow, okay, you could've just told me that people got ride pokémon to carry them inside the room, no need to come for me on such a personal level."

"I didn't mean to upset you but it is what it is," she sighs and maybe he's the one taking everything the adults are saying to him a bit too badly to heart. "If there's anything you need, anything at all, press that yellow button on the left, yes? I'll come over to help."

"… Thanks," Ash answers, though he knows he will need to be in absolute terror in order to feel the need to push that button.

"No problem. Goodnight."

"Yeah, thanks," he says, also knowing better than tell a nurse on the night shift 'goodnight', he knows nurse Joy's don't typically sleep on their job.

She nods and leaves, leaving the door open and wide. Ash is left wondering if it will close on its own but after a couple of minutes, his experimental tap on the green button on the inside of the room closes it, successfully making him feel like an idiot for not realising this sooner. But the inside of the room is much cosier than he expected, there's a soft, terribly short-haired carpet on the floor that Pikachu claims the moment he releases the pokémon to start undressing himself.

"You like that, huh?" he asks, seeing the pokémon rub his head against the carpet. "Maybe I can ask Lance for one at home if you enjoy it that much."

Considering he finds Pikachu asleep on it after he's taken his shower, Ash makes a mental note to do exactly that when he's all done with Kalos and whatever wicked games the Gym leaders are going to play with him. However, as soon as he goes to lay on the bed, ready to sleep, he finds Pikachu on his pillow, having readily changed his mind about choosing the carpet over the pillow.

"Well, alright," Ash chuckles.

"Chu," the pokémon says, looking peeved as he pats on the pillow, a clear sign for the teen to lay down and sleep.

"Let me just dim the light."

"Pi."

---

It's horribly early, it's three o'clock when Ash wakes, he's cold and confused. Pikachu's also curled against him, having forgone his comfortable spot on the soft pillow to sleep in the warmth of the bed, something the pokémon hasn't done too often, solely on those days that their home in Mahogany was snowed in. But that can't be, right? Courmarine is warm, it even got a bit stuffy in the room yesterday so he opened the window only a smidgeon but hell, the air coming from it is freezing cold and Ash cringes when his hands touch the cold bar to close the window. But he wants to close it and figure out what the hell is going on.

"Pikachu!"

"I know, buddy, I'm sorry," he sighs, knowing that Pikachu doesn't like to be woken up, not by anything, not even an emergency.

So he wraps the warm blankets around the pokémon, hoping that it will keep him warm and comfortable until he gets back. Ash does change his clothes, he doesn't want to wander around in his pyjamas, they're not the best choice of clothing in cold weather and the last thing he wants is to come down with a cold. So he ventures outside and heavens, he can see ice built up against the pokémon centre's front door! The glass panes are completely frosted over, the wind is making the oddest of noises and it all seems so… foreboding. Not to mention, the nurse's face is nothing short of apocalyptic, she did apparently fall asleep on the job.

"What happened?" he asks and in the distance, a faint cry of a pokémon can be heard.

Now, he's not an expert but this cry sounds a bit too familiar for his liking.

"I don't know, I… I looked up and saw the place like this," she says and he can hear the panic set in her voice. "I need to check up on the pokémon!" she exclaims, jumping up and disappearing into the area Ash assumes the pokémon are.

He has a great need to tell this nurse something she might not enjoy hearing, though but she's too busy trying to regulate the temperature in the pokémon centre so that no one will be waking up from the cold as he did. To him, it's rectifying a mistake she made so he easily forgives her. Until he spots a pokémon he knows isn't found anywhere else than Unova. Granted, his memories are faint but he remembers professor Juniper telling him how Ice-types like Vanillite are so rare, that they exist in places where it's always bitter cold which aren't easy to find as temperature fluctuates, even in colder areas.

"Why is this one here?" he asks, figuring it might as well be a trainer's pokémon who caught something… but no, it's apparently not.

"It was found and brought here yesterday evening. I haven't had the chance to look at what the person bringing it in told me was wrong with it."

"I think that it is a bit too coincidental that the whole city is iced over not even a couple of hours after someone brings in a young Ice-type."

"… Oh," is all the nurse says but to her grace, she lets Ash take gentle hold of the pokémon, which seems alright enough, it just has a couple of small, dirty scratch marks on it but it's nice and happy in his arms.

It takes the nurse a couple of tries to get the door open but a feeling of dread pools in the boy's stomach. Once the door opens, he freezes, he's not even out of the doorway… but for a moment, he's not in Courmarine. Pale stone columns snap close around him, cryptic lines of words he doesn't understand glowing purple on them, trapping him in, choking him on the lack of air-

"Ash?"

The nurse's shivering voice snaps him out of his flashback, he feels his hair stand on end at the likeliness of the situation, that same, forbidding coldness…

"I'm okay," he whispers and he's sure the nurse doesn't hear it, the wind blows some snow into the pokémon centre.

Valiantly and willing to get this situation over with, the teen steps forward but stops when he feels the ground become slippery, he doesn't want to fall and hurt the precious pokémon in his arms, enjoying this coldness far more than he ever will, not after what has happened to him.

"H-hello?" he calls out, hoping that whatever is out there creating this mess can hear him.

And it does, dear lord, if Ash hasn't been petting big, legendary pokémon and being used to the mean looks their faces portray but that it's just the unfortunate way their faces look, he would've run straight back into the pokémon centre. The Vanillish and Vanilluxe look mean, they're mad as hell and the Vanilluxe has a mad, red streak in their eyes. It's a sign of rage, Ash has only read about it but it makes him hold out the Vanillite as a peace offering.

"We're sorry, we were just concerned about it, we didn't mean harm," he says and the two Ice-type don't say anything.

They wait until he lets go of the happy, cheerful pokémon that dances back towards them and then, the coldness is gone. The Vanillish nods at him, all serious… and is that shame he sees? Whatever it is, it's a striking look that won't let go of Ash, even when the darkness fades and leaves a place for the very early sunrays to peak through. But it's still dark and it's so damn early still, hence why he goes back inside.

"Thank you, dear Arceus, thank you, Ash," the nurse gushes, looking at him in wonder and worry. "Oh, but you look like death warmed over, come back inside, let me make you a cup of hot tea."

"Thank you, that would be nice," he croaks.

But he's tired, after having received the nurse's gratitude, he moves back to his room and straight into bed. Pikachu doesn't even stir as he scoops him up. Ash has only shrugged some clothes off, not bothering to put on his pyjamas again, he's comfortable in just his T-shirt too. He's still a little cold, though, the feeling of dread he felt back there doesn't want to let go… and this time, he doesn't have Victini to save him.

His body knows he's in bed but his mind sure seems more interested in summoning ghosts than recognising the sheets for what they are, he jumps up a couple of times and that's what makes Pikachu climb back up on his pillow. But eventually, Ash succumbs to an uneasy sleep, filled with beautiful skies full of stars that just don't seem normal to see up close and dragon energy making him itchy and uneasy.

---

The town is in an uproar, something has happened to the grass and plants in Courmarine and the Gym leader is having kittens about it. Steven doesn't have a single clue as to what has happened, he slept in and he doesn't regret it. In fact, he's quite content to hear Ash is still in bed too, heaven knows that the kid could use some rest. He's still very bothered by how little the boy ate, despite looking like he enjoyed himself during dinner.

But when Ramos storms into the pokémon centre, where Steven is waiting until Wallace has finished his morning ritual -which takes quite some time, the man won't come out until he's certain he looks good from all angles and no, he won't take Steven's word for it any longer after Wallace noticed some hair out of place after Steven told him he looked fine- and then suddenly, the Gym leader's worries become his problem too.

Because there are suddenly a lot more nurses than before, in fact, some seem unlikely to be a nurse Joy, they're downright hospital staff and their faces are grave. So grave that Steven just knows that his joy at Ash being in bet still is going to get spoiled to the max. And how right he is, the nurses look defensive until he lets them know that he's listed as next of kin, they have to tell him anything that has to do with Ash's health and that's why the most serious of nurses -a professor, actually, her name tag corrects him, though he's too nervous to pay any notice to her name- comes forward.

"Ash Ketchum is currently in quarantine," she says in response to him asking her what the hell is going on.

"What do you mean? Why? And for how long?"

"As I said, he's in quarantine for security measures. He's… contracted a virus we didn't think would find a host on humans and as for how long, that remains to be seen. With pokémon, the virus leaves within two to four days but we have no idea how pokérus reacts when contracted by humans."

He shortcuts.

"What."

"I'm sorry, that's all I can tell you for now-"

"No, no, no, how is that possible?"

"It seems like he came into contact with a contaminated pokémon. But if it is any form of comfort, the boy has his pokéhelp with him, the Pikachu has also caught the virus overnight."

Steven's brain is still short-cutting, he can't think right now, all his head remembers is the mention of a 'virus' and that's why he's panicking in the lobby of the pokémon centre, not sure what to do or say right now. Wallace comes to his rescue, it doesn't take longer than a second for the man to identify that there's some issue and also, somehow, makes the connection that the fact Ash has contracted pokérus, has something to do with whatever Ramos is yelling about.

"What do you mean, the entire pokémon centre was frozen over!? Why wasn't I notified of that?"

"I-I-," the nurse stammers, it's a night shift nurse who looks like she either needs to sleep two full days or have a couple of buckets of coffee. "A Vanillite was brought in yesterday evening."

"They don't appear here," Ramos snaps, he definitely seems to have gotten out of the wrong side of the bed.

"You know you can check the CCTV of the pokémon centre to find out exactly what has happened with definitive visual proof to support what this terribly tired nurse tells you, sir," Wallace says, ever the diplomat, Ramos seems to deflate just seeing him.

"… Champion Wallace?"

"Gym leader, for now," the man corrects him. "But yes, hello, Ramos. Allow me to help you with your endeavour."

"Do you enjoy gardening work, then?"

"The occasional weeding doesn't hurt, no."

"The entire gardens around the whole of Courmarine have frost damage and a lot of plants won't make it. It will take more than just a touch of weeding, sir."

"I see. Perhaps we can try and call in services to help deal with it then," Wallace says and he's right, the pokémon league supports natural damage to the city's ecosystems, to ensure that whatever pokémon live there, can remain there. "I, however, find it highly amusing that you can identify that the issue the plants have is frost damage but you make no problem out of it to shove the idea of an Ice-type like Vanillite appearing in Courmarine off the table."

"I'm upset," Ramos says but even Steven can see the vein pulsing in the man's temple, it's quite obvious the Gym leader isn't having a good day.

But Steven's day is about to get much worse, the professor in charge of Ash's case has contacted the security bracelet's team to find out where the boy has been. A logical move, though an unnecessary one as the CCTV showed exactly what Wallace suspected to find on it. And Ramos can't help but grit his teeth, Ash has done nothing wrong, in fact, if the nurse hadn't fallen asleep on the job, she would've gotten the Vanillite's blood results in, that the pokémon had pokérus. But even then, it shouldn't have become an issue for Ash to hold it and bring it back, the footage from outside the pokémon centre is even more chilling, the two other super rare pokémon are in a rage and it's nothing short of a miracle they didn't attack him.

All in all, Ramos should be grateful that Ash woke up to help at all yet Steven can't help but feel saddened, even more so when he sees he has sixteen missed calls from Lance but Wallace is right there to help him… even when the kiddos Ash travelled with come to see them, all confused as they too wonder what's up with their missing friend.

"Dedenne is worried for Ash," Bonnie says and it's true, the pokémon is completely curled up, in a defence position.

"So am I," Steven groans and buries his head in his hands, he can't take today, he wants to go back to bed and think that all of this is a bad dream.

"… What's going on?" Clemont asks and Wallace pokes Steven in the side, causing him to look up.

"You're going to have to tell them, I need to be at a show in half an hour."

"Please no,"

"Unfortunately so."

"Will you at least call Lance for me?"

"I can do that but I don't guarantee any positive results."

"You saw the footage of the security camera, though, I didn't."

Wallace smiles at him and pats his knee in sympathy.

"I've got you, don't stress."

That's all easy to say but harder to get done, Clemont is looking at him all worried now and right now, Steven just wants to be swallowed by the floor.

"Are you okay?"

"I thought I was when I woke up but then I heard Ash is in quarantine for at least four days because he's contracted pokérus."

"… Pokérus?" Clemont repeats, confused.

"Yes."

"… I need to make a call."

The teen slips away somewhere, leaving Serena standing there, looking a little bothered.

"That's not normal, is it?" she asks.

"What is?"

"That Ash got the pokérus?"

"No, it's extremely unlikely, in fact, I think he's the first person to ever get it."

"Yeah, well, he's still got excellent timing, it's his birthday today," she says, successfully making Steven feel even worse.

"The kid just can't get a break," he sighs.

"I swear, I'm still getting him a gift."

"Serena, Wallace has already told me that he talked to Ash about it yesterday, he agreed to have his party at another date than his actual birthday."

"Aren't you upset about that, sir?" she asks, looking him square in the eye. "That someone whose only two years older than me now hasn't actually got to celebrate their birthday, while my mom appears in the town I'm at with gifts, no matter where I go? And if she can't make it, someone I like will definitely be there, to make the day unforgettable? Ash didn't have that, to him, it's all the same and now I can make that day seem different than usual."

"I… think he's in a terrible state of discomfort, Serena. Today is the day that a pokémon virus attached itself to a human. Today might be a day Ash might be remembering for the rest of his life, not to mention, we don't know what is going to happen to him."

"This sucks really bad. I need my mom, I need to talk to her," she says and she looks around before turning around, all huffy. "Where the heck did Clemont go?"

Steven isn't sure but it doesn't take long before he spots the teen, shuffling back towards the table. He seems a bit more relaxed, which is odd, considering everything but, to be honest, the man would love to hear some good news. Clemont sighs really loud before he starts talking, though.

"Well, so apparently, only a certain type of Aura user can get pokérus and Gurkinn just told me that he already suspected Ash was that kind, which is so bloody typical but if there's anything we can be sure off, is that he'll heal from the virus but that he could get a little twitchy for a while as the virus attached itself to his Aura, not to Ash's human cells."

"… So that means he doesn't have spots, then, right?" Serena asks.

"Normally, he shouldn't, no," Clemont says and turns to Steven. "Did you see?"

"I know that they saw Pikachu with spots and that they then tested Ash for pokérus too, not whether he has spots or not," the man answers. "But what does it mean, being that particular Aura user to get pokémon illnesses?"

"A Life-bringer," the teen answers. "Gurkinn seemed pleased with it and he's going to send Ash a gift to ease his burden a bit but basically, it just means that he's the first of a generation to show signs of Aura and that others will follow, which gives the Aura community new leads to go and look for more Aura users his age or younger, from where he was born."

"Oh!" Serena pipes up. "That's why they called my mom, then, huh?"

"They did?"

"Yeah, I've got very little Aura, apparently but enough to have pokémon like me lots but I was also born in Pallet Town, just like Ash, just two years later."

"While that's pretty amazing, I'm still worried. Has Gurkinn said anything about how to help it?"

"No, tranquillizers can help but that's about it. He said that they should vaccinate him for all the other lethal illnesses pokémon can have, though because he's at risk of catching those too."

Steven has never shot off a chair faster before and yes, the nurse confirms that Ash doesn't have any spots and she's just as relieved to hear that there is a reason why the boy has gotten it. It's what enables everyone to come and visit Ash, they apparently took notice that the boy doesn't respond well to normal tranquillizers so they used an experimental gas that comes from Musharna to make him somewhat sleepy. Because the teen is in a lot of discomfort, he reaches out toward Steven the moment his eyes open… but the man has to take a moment to steady himself because Ash's eyes are bright pink. The same colour as his Aura, he realises and that also means it's completely harmless so he goes over to take the teen in his arms.

"I've got you, Ash," he says and the teen melts in his embrace, clearly very sleepy but enjoying the ministrations on his back.

"It burns," the boy murmurs softly. "It's so warm."

Ash himself is pretty cool to the touch, though, normal body temperature Steven would say so he's probably referring to some sort of feeling he's experiencing. Still, it's interesting and worrying at the same time but as Ash lays in his arms, gently snoozing as he's clearly a lot more comfortable like this, Steven takes a moment to message Wallace with his findings. This is handy because it seems like the man has tried to postpone calling Lance as well, until he had some more information to ease the protective papa bear's worries a little. So now he's sitting here with this small boy leaning heavily on him but honestly, he's rather here than at the lobby of the pokémon centre, full of doubts. Here's to hoping that Ash won't be having too many troubles through this… and that Lance doesn't burst through the door soon.

---

On the third day of Ash's only half-supported quarantine time, Steven is at his wit's end on what to do. He can't stay with the teen, so now he's with Wallace, who still has a bit of ringing in his ear because that call with Lance didn't go well at all. The man seems to think that his interest in his nephew goes beyond something only Lance in a horrible mood can think off and honestly, Wallace doesn't want to bother with it right now. The man only believes that he does think because Steven has asked him to, anyway, as if he's not his own person on occasion.

"He's started crying," Steven laments, also clearly on the verge of starting to do it too. "He looks people straight in their face and asks why he's alone when he's not. I was there, I told him I was there but he shakes his head, he doesn't believe me! Have I become invisible?"

"Maybe it's something else? Lance talked loud and clear enough for me to know that Ash is seldom alone, that there's always a pokémon or two around him. Maybe they stayed clear from him now as they would get pokérus?"

The man next to him snaps his fingers and seems to have just gotten an epiphany.

"That's exactly it!"

"Calm down, you're going to burst a vessel at this rate," he hushes him and Steven sinks back into the chair, sighing as he rakes a hand through his hair.

"This boy makes me feel things I haven't felt in a long time. Ugly things."

"…True," Wallace sighs and now his friend is looking at him, intrigued.

"Is that so?" he asks amused. "It's not just because Lance cursed you out?"

"Lance didn't curse me out, he just told me not to meddle with affairs I know nothing about. He only calmed down when I told him that I cared for his nephew and that I was going to throw the boy a party for his birthday."

"You are?" Steven asks, face lighting up with delight. "When?"

"Tomorrow, two days before the try-out for performers. It seemed like good timing, it'll allow two of his friends to be there too," Wallace answers, though he wonders how it'll go when the two meet the boy who seems well-spoken enough to give them hell.

And boy, do they actually deserve it? Lance was happy to tell him about the funeral incident, also adding that Ash found it painful enough to try and counter his feelings with very dark humour about it, as well as casual mentions of the whole thing. That seems to have been what happened during their conversation yesterday, after dinner and now Wallace isn't sure how to feel about the whole thing. Personally, he would hate to be declared dead when he's still alive but then again, he's pretty sure he's got a couple of people who would come looking for him. That Ash didn't have a single friend who actually came over to where he lived and checked is sad and bizarre, to say the least. As far as Wallace is concerned, May has straight up told him that she'll ditch her boyfriend Trip on Ash's say-so and Dawn is completely over the moon with everything he's been doing recently, including his lack of reaction over the failed Gym battle.

"I hope the Pokérus is gone, then."

"I've spoken to a nurse, it's likely it will fade tonight."

"Is it? Do you… think he'll stop crying?"

"Well, Pikachu has healed from the pokérus already so once Ash's pokérus is gone, the pokémon he misses so badly might return. Who knows are actually hanging around us as we speak, anyway? But even so, if you're used to having them around you all the time, it would be a little sad that they would all live because you've become a danger to them."

"… True."

"I would make me cry too," Wallace admits, he's not afraid of doing so.

"I've never cried so much in such a short while," Steven sighs and sags into the chair. "Ash is a tragic child."

"No, what happened to him was tragic but Ash himself isn't. He'll get up eventually, Steven, you've got to give him time to get over all the wrong that's filled his life, he'll make it right again, you just got to give him time. And honestly, you know the benefits of pokérus too and why it's illegal to spread it amongst all your pokémon too."

"It's supposed to make them more powerful, right?"

"Do you think anyone will bother Ash with a pokérus Pikachu on his shoulder?"

"Maybe so…"

"Try and look at it from a positive side, Steven. It's got no use trying to get depressed over a teen who can't catch a break when he often looks up to you for moral support. What kind of a sign will it give when you won't even be able to smile in his direction just because you can't handle his past?"

"I'm not sure I can handle his future either… but you're right, I've got to try and stay positive."

"That's the only right way to go about this," Wallace grins and gently pats Steven's shoulder. "Now, do you have an idea what to give the boy for his fifteenth birthday?"

"Well, I've found this awesome flexible brush to clean pokémon with, I know Ash takes a lot of care for his pokémon and that he enjoys grooming so I thought that this would be a good gift for him. It came with a lot of extra brushes too, there was also one for hard Gible skin, I know he's got a Gible with Rough Skin so yeah…"

"That's a wonderful idea, nothing beats having a bit of a sit down with pokémon to do some grooming."

"… I don't get to sit around. I have a hose and playful pokémon to deal with."

"At least Metagross stays put, right?"

"Stays put? He's learned how to direct the hose's waterspout at me, instead of at him."

"Well, then you're getting groomed together."

"Just because you and Milotic do that, doesn't mean that the combination of me and Metagross in the same pool is any cuter or flat-out dangerous."

"Stop complaining, at least you can clean your pokémon with water. Every Ghost and Fire-type trainer out there has my sympathy when it comes to grooming."

"… Ash has a Charizard," Steven mused. "I wonder how he cleans it…"

"Why don't you ask him all about it when he's out and about in a couple of days, hm? Right now, I would very much like your assistance to find any kind of party material, any whatsoever, as long as it is yellow."

"Yellow?"

"Ash's favourite colour."

"Pikachu yellow, then."

"Is it? He never specified what kind of yellow it needed to be," Wallace says, now getting slightly concerned because it would already be a hassle to find yellow cups and plates, not to mention that now, it needed to be Pikachu yellow.

And it's so damning because he's such a perfectionist that it would have that specific shade or he will not buy it so they have a challenge on hand.

"It is, I take it you've never seen his prosthesis, then?"

"Prosthesis? Where?"

"His leg, you goober, you don't remember donating to the fund to create and maintain it?"

"That little boy has a whole prosthetic leg and is still here after getting bullied like that? Wallace asks, his admiration for the child growing considerably.

"Couldn't have given him half a leg, could they?" Steven quips, which earns him a dry look from the man next to him. "In all seriousness, you didn't know?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Unbelievable," the man chuckles but gets out his phone. "I think I've got a picture of it, let me look."

In anticipation of seeing it, Wallace gets his glasses out. They're not a permanent pair -yet- but if he's going to have to look at a picture of a phone Steven refuses to switch in for a bigger one.

"Is that it?!" he asks, shocked but utterly delighted to see this wonderful prosthesis with storm clouds and lighting all over them. "That's a prosthetic leg?"

"Yes, that's Ash's. And as you can see, the lightning… Pikachu yellow."

"Well, I'll be damned, it is," Wallace utters. "It- It's too extra and dramatic, I love it! Wonderful, now we're pretty sure we're in for a hard time finding Pikachu yellow but not too kiddy like party material."

"Hey, Ash won't mind, it'll be his first party since whenever. Even if it's just a yellow napkin, it'll be fine."

"We still have some until the party, it'll be fine."

"So we're having the party on the twenty-sixth, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Just making sure everyone who's interested knows about it," Steven grins.

"Don't you overdo it either, okay?"

"Me? Never. Besides, whenever has a child ever complained about having too many presents."

No, that's true but still, Wallace isn't sure if he wants to spoil the teen to the point where he'll start to question why he's getting this many gifts now while no one cared in the past. He knows Ash would ask it, perhaps not at the party itself but he's confident enough to come to find him at some point later on. And if there's anything Wallace won't admit, it's the fact that he organises parties, is because no one went to the trouble of organising them for him.

---

"Lance!"

The man looks up, his head hurts from all the trouble he's needed to face these past days so the last thing he needs is someone messing with him. And judging from the youngest elite four members' faces, both Karen and Will have been naughty.

"Your nephew had his birthday a couple of days ago, right?" Will asks, smiling just that tad bit too enthusiastic.

"… Yes? His party will still need to happen, though, he got… sick."

"Sick?" Karen asks, happiness faltering ever so slightly. "Nothing too serious, I hope? I mean, it already sucks enough balls to get sick on your birthday but it sucks even harder if it's like, badly sick if you know what I mean?"

"Pokérus," Lance answers and the two elite trainers blink at him before looking at each other.

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Well, then we got him a brilliant fitting T-shirt," Will grins with renewed vigour and unfolds the T-shirt that says 'Did someone say weird? That's my time to shine' on it, which indeed fits Ash wonderfully. "Do you think he'll like it?"

"Oh absolutely, I can already see it become his catchphrase," the man answers, also grinning because, for two big kids, it seems to be very easy for them to imagine what Ash will like.

"So, what did you get him?"

"A jacket with a breast pocket where two Pikachu ears poke from over the edge but if you peek into the pocket, the Pikachu will give you the finger."

Karen giggles and Will looks equally amused.

"Pushing your own dark sense of humour onto the boy, are we?" Agatha asks and Lance perks up at the sound of her voice, it's been a while since they've met and her being here only means one thing, she also has a gift ready for Ash.

"You don't know how dark Ash's own humour already is," he says and she sighs.

"I do, it pains me to say it but yes, I do. And I also realise where it's coming from," the woman answers. "The world can be a cold place sometimes… hence why I've got a pair of mittens and a scarf made for Ash. I have a sneaking suspicion that the two of you didn't pack winter gear."

Well, shit, she's absolutely right, Lance realises. He remembers that Ash did say that there was a cold city in Kalos but that he would get any winter gear at that moment as he didn't want to haul it around with him all the time but when Agatha pulls out the softest looking mittens and scarf. And yes, it's a wonderful gift, the mittens are the nice yellow Ash absolutely adores and the scarf is also the same colour, ending in the shape of a Pikachu tail. It's adorable and Lance is sure that the teen will enjoy this a lot more than some generic winter wear that has no meaning whatsoever.

"This looks so soft, this isn't wool, is it?" Karen comments, her hand ghosting over the scarf.

"No, the boy has allergies, I wasn't sure which ones so I went with the plastic ones."

"That's plastic?" she exclaims, looking at Agatha with bewildered eyes.

"Yes, apparently they melt it and pull thread from it which tend ends up as fabric that's absolutely allergy free. And it also insulates well, I've heard so I thought it was a good idea to have some winter gear made from it."

"Thank you for your thoughtfulness," Lance says, completely smitten with the idea that all these people have put so much thought and love into their gifts for his boy. "I'll make sure it gets to him in time."

After all, Ash will appreciate all of this immensely, he knows… though Cynthia kind of disappoints him because she straight up tells him that she'll give the teen money for his birthday, supporting her decision with the claim that she can't give anyone a good gift even if her life depended on it. So she much rather gives him money to have a good time than to give him something he'll only end up being saddled up with.

"Or did you forget about that one time I gave Lucian that sun catcher as a housewarming gift for his north-oriented apartment? Or that pregnancy bell for Martha when she wasn't pregnant at all?" Cynthia says and she shakes her head. "No, no, I'm not risking it, I would totally mess it up."

"No, tell me what your instincts say to give Ash," Lance persists and she sighs.

"Some kind of toy, I think."

"Then buy it. Buy what you think he'll like, I'll store it at home so it doesn't break and I'll send him a picture of it on the day of his party. For goodness' sake, Cynthia, you know Ash a lot better than you think."

"… Well alright. But if he hates it, it's on your head, Lance, I'll blame your persistence for the creation of this disaster."

Lance doesn't care if it'll be a disaster, even Clair's horrible act of choosing so many different colours for Ash's room hasn't even phased the teen, he can't think of something the kid won't like. Even if it's a horrible gift, as long as it gets a smile on the kid's face, it'll be a good gift, it's the memories that he'll be making that will need to count right now, not just the gifts themselves. That's why Lance thinks it's so important now that Ash gets gifts from the people he likes, it's important that he knows they keep thinking about him even when he's not there to remind them he's there. That he doesn't need to beg for attention in order for anyone to keep liking him even when he's not present. Even though Lance has to admit that his boy has been on his mind a lot recently, something about the pokérus infection doesn't sit well with him but he would rather perish than ask either Riley or Brandon what it means for an Aura user to get pokémon diseases. He'll find it out on his own anyway, his boy will tell him everything, Lance is sure of it. Which is also why he can't have enough people giving his precious nephew a gift.

---

It's the morning of the fourth day since he's had his pokérus infection and now Ash is finally released. Both from the quarantine room of the pokémon centre and his illness. He couldn't be happier if only the Musharna medicine didn't leave him slightly woozy. But he's okay now, for all the tears he's cried over his Aura having been empty, Kozzy has returned and now he's not alone any longer. Now Ash can clearly feel the creature in there and it tells him that his world has changed considerably and that he ought to have a look at it when he has some time to spare.

He will, eventually but right now, Ash has his first moment of freedom, his friends were still all in bed, except for Wallace, who told him that Serena hadn't been able to stop talking about the show she had seen, asking all kinds of questions to whoever willing to answer. That tells the teen enough to know that he needs to thank her for her persistence to give him a gift for his birthday because something tells Ash that he's going to finally have a party this year. And it's Serena who put her foot in it all and reminded everyone of his miserable birthdays so far so he feels a great need to get her something she'll enjoy too. This, however, involved contacting Serena's mom because he will not go into detail about his previous dress shopping experiences but it's important to remember that the colours he likes aren't necessarily the ones Serena will enjoy wearing.

"Oh, hello, Ash! It's good to hear from you! How are you doing?" the woman asks, making Ash believe that Serena told her what happened to him.

"I'm fine now, I'm glad it's all behind me. I didn't think the virus would be such a bother, I can only pray that pokémon don't feel the way I did when they catch it."

"It's all very odd how this happened but I'm glad it's over too, it must have been an experience, alright. Still, how can I help you, Ash? I feel like you need to ask me something."

"I do, I want to buy Serena a dress and I could use some guidance," he admits, glad that Mrs. Grace isn't making a scene over this pokérus thing.

"Oh? And what would be the occasion for this sudden purchase be?"

"She hasn't told you about the performers and the show she just can't seem to get out of her head?"

"… She has but I still have my doubts."

"A lady can never have enough dresses, in my opinion, and even if she only uses it for the intention I gave it to her for once, it's okay. At least I can't say I didn't support her during a time she still had the option to choose what she wanted to do."

"You're right, Ash, it's not a nice thing for me to say but a mother tends to worry about their children. Well, most do," she corrects herself. "I've found out that not all of them take their relationship as serious as I do, which is why I'll help you, Ash. Tell me what you have in mind and I'll help you. Though let me remind you that she still needs a second pokémon in order to participate."

"I'll find one for her, it's not a problem. As I said, I'll support her with whatever she needs, as long as she's happy and is able to participate in whatever she likes and gets a chance to participate with, she should go for it. Those kinds of things are a once-in-a-lifetime thing and I'm pretty sure she'll regret it if she passes up on an opportunity like this. And regrets never leave, they'll fade but once in a while, when you lay your head down on your pillow like, six years later or so, that regret will pop up and make you feel miserable. I don't want Serena to feel that way, not when I'm there to help. So, dress suggestions, please?"

"She likes cute ones."

"All dresses look cute to me, though."

"And frilly, if there's a ruffled edge on the bottom, it's usually a winner."

"… Do you mind if I keep you on the phone while I go look for a dress, Mrs. Grace?"

"Not at all, Ash, go ahead. It's not busy on the ranch, at any rate, so I can keep you company."

He does enjoy company a lot, usually but for now, the teen is happy to be out on his own. Much unlike he suspected, he finds a dress that Serena's mom thinks she will fawn about much quicker than expected but then again, Ash has a general idea of what kind of clothes performers enjoy wearing. And the lady behind the counter is extremely charmed by the whole idea, having caught onto his intentions during his browsing through the store while being on the phone with the girl's mom, so she adds two free bows.

That goes a bit against the boy's feelings, he would never dress up his pokémon because nothing a person can add will make the creature any cuter than they already are to him but still, he lets the lady wrap them up all nicely along with the dress, figuring he can leave Serena the choice to put them on her pokémon or not. As for her second pokémon, well… Ash finds a creature foraging through some trash and when he pulls it out of there, it looks at him but clearly isn't minding being held at all, in fact, the teen doubts whether it's thinking it all. The pokémon's eyes are completely empty, he can almost hear elevator music but honestly? It's okay, it's clearly not a battle-type pokémon and there's nothing a bit of grooming can't fix.

So, with the box and pokémon, the teen goes back into the pokémon centre. The nurse sees him and instantly smiles, passing him a bottle of shampoo over the counter, telling him he might need a bit of a different kind to get that kind of dirt out of the normally white patches from the pokémon.

"Oh, it's got white fur, huh?" Ash muses, not seeing any white right now, that's for sure, it's all muck and grime.

"Yes, it's a Pancham. Where did you find it?"

"In an alley, looking for food in a trashcan."

The nurse tuts her lips and reaches over to get something from behind the counter, pulling out a bag of food.

"Here, give it a good feed of this, it'll patch it right up. That being said, they usually are feisty little things, to see this one sit here like that… Would you mind if I took a look at it before anything? I mean, you've been vaccinated for the worst of illnesses pokémon can get but rabies still is a thing."

Ash lets the nurse put on some rubber gloves as she carries the pokémon away as if it's indeed a host of the most deadly disease in history, all while the Pancham is looking at nothing in particular, just… looking. The teen doubts that there's anything wrong with the creature, though, some pokémon just are like that, just like some people don't give a damn about what's happening. But then again, it would be his kind of luck that the Pancham would be carrying a disease he's not vaccinated for, his arm still hurts viciously due to the injections. Like, he's not squeamish and he doesn't mind needles but damn, the needles were like as thick as his pinky! And the hole they left bled a lot, the nurse had put a thick, big band-aid on every injection and now his left upper arm looks like a warzone.

"He's okay," the nurse says, coming back a lot quicker, one of her tests must have been conclusive enough to prove nothing was wrong with the pokémon. "Pancham is just slightly… well, mentally challenged but nothing life-threatening."

"That's alright," Ash says, figuring that Serena's Fennekin would still boss around any other pokémon so it's best if Pancham just goes with it, it'll make Serena's life a lot easier.

Besides, he's sure that, once the pokémon is cleaned up, it'll look cute and maybe it'll even like the attention. If not, that's fine too, if Serena can't handle it, he'll have it back. At least it'll give her time to find her own, second pokémon until the next contest. So the teen totters back to his room, he still has a bit of time before his friends will wake -he knows they like to sleep in, they probably didn't expect he'd be released from nurse Joy's care at the crack of dawn anyway- so he spends that time carefully grooming the Pancham, who revels in the act of getting cleaner by every gentle stroke and in a good fifteen minutes, Ash finally gets the pokémon in front of him that his pokédex tells him a Pancham should look like.

"Oh, you're wonderful," he coos and this time, he definitely gets a response from the pokémon who finally sees their mirror image and bizarrely enough, it's an incredibly vain but cute response. "I see you feel the same way," he adds with a chuckle. "How do you feel about a bow?"

When it comes to feelings, it's a bit unclear to Ash if Pancham fully understands himself or the questions he's asked. Maybe the pokémon is a bit autistic, it's possible, while rare, the teen feels like it will be a good chance for Serena to work with such a pokémon. Any pokémon she will acquire at a later date will also be getting those same, honest and clear responses she'll learn to give to Pancham, which can only end up as a good thing for all the others in her future team.

The clock shows it's ten in the morning now and the rumble in the teen's stomach alerts him it's time for food but knowing he will encounter his friends, he takes his bagged box and Pancham gets the gist that he's part of the gift and goes to sit on top of it. That's all good for Ash and he's happy that the first person who spots him is Serena, who seems elated to see him but then downright confused when he holds the box and pokémon out towards her.

"… Huh?" she utters. "But Ash…?"

"For you," he says, smiling widely even though his left arm is killing him, the spots where he got vaccinated sting badly. "Please, take it."

"But it's your day today, not mine," she answers, though takes the box with the pokémon. "We're supposed to give you gifts, not the other way around!"

"This hasn't got anything to do with my birthday, it wouldn't have mattered if you celebrated it or not. This has everything to do with the fact you've been talking nonstop about the performance which I've sadly missed and I want to support you."

"… You're giving me the pokémon too?" Serena asks, sounding surprised and slightly breathless all of a sudden. "You're really doing this for me?"

"Absolutely. Pancham's special, though, you gotta give him some time to get used to you but he likes the bow a lot."

"Ash, he's adorable, thank you so much!" she says and can only nuzzle the pokémon as she's still got her hands full with the box. "I can participate in the try-out now!"

"Did you really go out to get her this?" Clemont asks hands at the ready to touch him but clearly unsure whether it's okay or not.

"Yes? I'm fine," he answers but pulls away when the teen's hand approaches his left arm. "Just not this arm. Please don't touch it."

"Why not, what happened?" the teen asks, pulling his hands away as if he just burned himself, the look on his face matching perfectly.

"The vaccinations for the pokémon diseases," Ash whines, his own hand ghosting over his left arm because he still can't stand touching it himself. "Those needles were big, the nurse clearly didn't bother to change those injection needles for pokémon."

"Oh no… Can't you heal yourself, Ash? I've talked to Gurkinn, you should be able to."

"Maybe later but I'm feeling woozy, I think it's the Musharna gas still having an effect on me. I don't trust myself to make a mistake right now and the band-aid looks like one of those they put on serious injuries. You know, those thick white ones? They hurt so bad if you remove them when they're stuck on fresh."

"Ouch," Clemont replies, his expression matching the empathy he's showing. "Take it easy, won't you? My heart won't survive another morning of you not already being up and ready when I wake up."

"I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen."

"I know, that's why I'm asking you to take it easy for a while."

He agrees to that all too readily, he's not ready for big adventures yet. A night without that burning feeling in his body would be a good start to get him ready but Ash is worried. Kozzy has returned, which is a big relief because the pokémon is still the one who picked up the pieces after Riley left. Despite its scary exterior, it's an absolute darling inside and Ash couldn't be any prouder that he's the one the creature has chosen to show it to. Same with Mewtwo, the pokémon's purring constantly ever since he's woken up today… But there is someone missing, someone who is also very dear to him and now Ash has no idea where Lugia is and he's worried about it.

"Try not to worry too much, it has lived a free life for a long time now," Necrozma says and the teen fully agrees with it, he realises that his worries can't trap someone inside his life, that's not right… but he still worries.

He can't help doing it, even a free spirit can be trapped by something or someone else who doesn't have as good intentions as he has and then horrible things can happen.

'It will return to you, friend, I will allow you to worry because it is in your nature but do not break your head over an unmistakable trust bond that you have with Lugia,' Mewtwo says. 'You know all too well that it would not have left if only your Aura itself did not get sick with the virus. So it should not take long for it to return but then again, you know time does not mean much for those who have lived long already.'

True enough, he guesses and smiles at the sight of Bonnie carrying Pancham in her arms like a baby while Serena is indeed completely smitten by the dress. It's all working out a lot better than expected, he's happy it all came to a good end.

"How do you know my size, though?" the girl asks, looking up from the dress.

"I contacted your mom for it, she helped me pick it out?"

"She did?" Serena asks, slowly lowering the dress as she looks at him in amazement. "But… but she told me she didn't condone me participating, said I needed to find a better profession."

"Like Ryhorn racing?" Ash chuckles and she nods, still too bewildered to realise what he meant by the comment. "I told her that she needed to give you a chance, that you can always choose something else later if this wasn't your thing."

"… You wouldn't be mad that you wasted the money for a one-time thing?"

"Nope."

"Thank you so much, Ash, I… Now I wish Igot you a bigger gift!"

"I didn't do this to get anything in return, besides, the attention you're spending on me being fifteen is flattering enough-"

"Oh, do I hear a birthday boy?!"

Ash jumps, the voice came from behind him and before he knows it, the person has their arm slung around his shoulder, pressing his left arm against their side. He hisses in pain but the teen who just grabbed him doesn't seem to notice anything.

"Fifteen, huh? You're getting old, Ash."

"Err, thanks, Tierno" he utters, managing to smile despite the uncomfortable stinging in his left arm. "That kind of happens naturally, though."

"Still, it won't deter me from ever catching up to you!"

"… Huh? In years? How are you planning on doing that?"

"I'll manage somehow," the teen says enthusiastically and pats his right shoulder, all the while Pikachu's giving Tierno a nasty look. "Take care now. Oh, before I forget," he adds, delving his other hand into his pocket, pulling out what looks like one of those crystal keychains Ash has got hanging from his backpack. "Here, a gift."

It's the Pikachu one the teen actually wanted to get, it's big and it depicts a feisty-looking Pikachu with lightningbolts and one big, dark cloud hanging above it, where the bolts of lightning erupt from. It's a pretty epic-looking keychain and Ash is very pleased with it even though Tierno didn't even get it for him specifically. He says so immediately, actually, there's no doubt about it.

"I've gotten the whole set, I loved them so much I kept playing until I got them all," Tierno says. "You can't believe how many spare Pikachu's I got."

"Thank you, I like this a lot. Can you help me put it on my backpack?" Ash asks, having forgiven the teen for the pressure on his left arm already.

"'Course, where do you want it?"

"I've got a couple of zippers, you can pick which one," he says, turning his back towards Tierno so he has a nice view of his backpack. "Just not too close to Charizard, I don't want to risk them hitting each other and damaging both."

"Oooh, you got the Charizard, huh? That's a cool one, it's the last one I needed too."

"I switched it because a girl really wanted to character I initially got so that's how I got Charizard. I'm really pleased, though, I saw Leon's Charizard in action during a tournament, it's seriously awesome."

"Wait, it exists? Is that Charizard this tall?" the teen asks as Ash can feel him fiddling with one of the zippers on his backpack.

"Yeah, it's called Gigantamax. There's also Dynamax, you should check it out, it's really cool."

"Heh, yeah, I will, I love the look of that Charizard. I bet yours could pull it off too."

Yeah well, Ash just hopes that it won't cause the whole of Galar to freak out like Lucario did over Charizard or he's leaving and never setting foot in the region ever again. Tierno doesn't seem to realise he's struck a nerve but the teen isn't very worried about it either, he lets it slide.

"Right, that's hanging on secure," Tierno says. "You're good to go."

"Thanks."

"Right, I've got to go, Shauna's probably still freaking out about her performance."

"Oh, she's performing too?" Ash asks, more intrigued that the girl is also drawn to Coordinating, or rather Performing, as they call it here.

"Yeah, I bet Serena will too?"

"Does the dress in her hands give it away?" Clemont says dryly.

"It's pretty obvious, actually," Tierno answers, completely missing the sarcasm. "Anyway, I really got to go now, because she gets mad I'm not there to listen to her theories on how to bake the perfect cookie."

"Cookies?" Ash asks when Tierno has left. "They bake cookies in performances?"

"No, they're called Poké Puffs," Clemont answers. "I think Tierno wasn't listening to whatever Shauna has been saying. But anyway, how's your arm? I saw your face change when he pressed you against him, it's beyond me how he didn't notice that he was hurting you."

"It's fine now, as long as there isn't any pressure, it's fine."

"… If you're sure. Now, how about some breakfast? I've found a nice place I think you'll enjoy having breakfast at."

"Ah, maybe Serena needs to put her dress away first," Ash says but falters when the girl shoots off with the box. "… That's quick. Is she okay?"

"Sure, don't worry about it."

---

Ash doesn't like when people tell him not to worry, Clemont saying that absolutely gave the surprise of going somewhere special away but that being said, he loves to be surrounded by so much yellow. And it's the right kind of yellow too!

"There you are! Happy birthday, Ash, how are you doing? Revelling in your freedom?" Wallace asks, all smiles and dressed in an absolutely bright yellow jumpsuit that still fits him perfectly well, he's got a scarf and shoes in matching colours too.

"Absolutely, also, you look wonderful, sir."

"You can call me, Wallace, everyone giving me a compliment as soon as you do can call me Wallace," he quips and while Ash has already been smiling since entering the room, he's getting more amused the longer he's here. "Now, Ash, before anything, I have a request for you."

"Oh?"

"Is there by any chance any willingness from you to show me your prosthetic limb? I know this might sound strange and personal, if you refuse, I won't make a fuss about it but Steven sprung the subject on me and now that I've seen a picture of it, it won't leave me alone."

"Sure!" the teen chirps and goes to sit down in one of the Pikachu yellow chairs he would be so happy to take home with him, to shove his left pant leg up so Wallace gets a good look at his prosthesis. "I like it a lot too, if I knew it wouldn't shock people and make me feel really self-conscious, I'd be wearing shorts to show it off all the time."

"Rightfully so, look at how beautiful it is!" Wallace gushes, crouching down so he's at a good level to take a look at it. "Was this made to look like a request of yours, Ash?"

"Yep. Miss Eleanor did a great job, it came out better than I expected."

"You've got style, boy," the man says and it makes the teen grin a bit bashful, he didn't expect to get compliments from something like his prosthesis, which basically has been nothing but a useful bother to him.

Granted, he likes the design too… but for Ash, it stands symbol for the biggest change his life has ever gone through. It symbolises pain and loss but also comfort and love. He needed to deal with the loss of his mobility and the pain of it but then others gathered money to buy it, to give him back the life he didn't think he would ever get back. Ash has noticed it already, life, unless paid attention to, is typically designed for the abled, not the disabled. There's no way he could have ever travelled through Kalos as freely and independently as this without his prosthetic limb.

"Oh wow!" Clemont exclaims and Ash looks up at him, the teen has got his hands on the back of his chair and is peering down on his still uncovered prosthesis. "I didn't think… That's way cooler than I expected it to be, Ash, is it resin?"

"Mm," he hums as he nods that yes, it is resin. "And carbon fibre."

"That's wicked-"

Clemont's enthusiastic response is interrupted by a shocked gasp but it doesn't bother the teen too much because this is the actual response he expects when someone sees his prosthesis. But he never expected to be one of his old friends!

"May!" Ash exclaims in delight, as he sees her lean over his other shoulder.

"Ash, I didn't think… Is that because of the incident?"

"No, I cut it off myself, what do you think?" he asks as he shakes his head in disbelief. "Of course, this is a result of the accident I had."

"Ash, this isn't funny."

"I know that, I've not smiled a lot recently."

The way she looks at him tells him he's saying all the wrong things but honestly, the teen is still slightly upset with the way they responded to the news of his accident and how everyone actually went by Gary's word as if it was suddenly law, while they all knew that the teen used to bully him a lot, to the point where Ash never actually said anything nice about Gary either whenever anyone asked about the teen.

"Is this really the first thing you say to me, after all that time, though, May?" he asks, looking at her with every bit of seriousness he can muster.

He has to drop his pant leg because she flings herself around his neck, Pikachu can barely dodge her arm squishing him along in the hug.

"I missed you so much," she murmurs and Ash can hear the tears in her voice.

"I'm sorry, it was never my intention to leave anyone in the dark," he answers softly. "No one wanted to give me my transceiver and everything I posted on the group chat was targeted with either drama or ill intent. It just wasn't worth my time, I'm never fast enough to pass assumptions.

"I should've known better than to meddle with all of it, I should have contacted you but I had to carry my brother's grief and anger at the situation too, oh, he's going to be so happy to hear I've met you, that you're okay."

"I didn't get roasted for being in Kalos for you not to realise where I was, though."

"No, no, I knew you were in this region, I hoped to see you, it's like a miracle our paths crossed."

"I think the miracle is called Wallace, though."

The girl looks up and Ash can't help but chuckle at the sheepish face of the man who slowly raises from the ground. With the prosthesis gone from sight, there's not much to fawn about it down there anyway.

"You planned this?" May asks.

"It was a happy coincidence, I knew how affected you were by the boy's accident. I felt it would do you a lot of good to see with your own eyes that he's doing quite well," Wallace answers, with a small smile. "And what better place to meet up with old friends than a birthday party?"

"It's your birthday?" the girl asks with clear delight.

"Not today, it's just the party. The day itself was four days ago but well… I was a bit unavailable at the time."

"Oh but that's fine, isn't it?" she says, not bothering with the details as she doesn't question why he wasn't able to celebrate his birthday on the day itself. "Aww, shucks, and I don't even have a gift for you."

"I don't need it, seeing you again is enough of a gift itself, I don't need anything other than the memories of this, May. I don't think you realise that, at some point, I also didn't think I would ever see you again."

She nods, she looks serious but still goes to sit at the table, at his other side as his right side seat is already claimed by Clemont, who is giving the girl a weird, unreadable look. It doesn't take long before the door opens again, revealing another, terribly emotional friend of his, Dawn isn't able to contain her tears and spends an awful long time crying into his shoulder, not saying anything until he asks her if she's okay.

"I am now," she admits, wiping furiously at her eyes with her sleeves. "Oh, Ash, I've been so scared, I just couldn't get over the idea of living in a world where you weren't there any longer, I can't tell you how many nightmares I've had since Gary's stupid message."

Ash shakes his head, he doesn't like the idea they've all suffered that much because of his accident, or rather, Gary's reaction to it. All of it could've been avoided if only his mother could've been bothered with his health, maybe, if she had stayed with him and listened to his plea to take him to see a doctor… Maybe none of this would have happened.

"Ash?" she asks, looking at him with eyes full of worry when he doesn't speak up for a little while.

"I'm sorry, Dawn."

"You're literally the only one who doesn't need to apologise," Dawn says and she suddenly seems so relieved. "All of us have been acting like such douchebags, I mean… I don't know why I didn't come to check up on you, I could've totally done it and yet I… I tried to ignore it. I tried to act like it hadn't actually happened, that it was all make-belief, that you were fine."

He blinks. That's not the reaction he had thought about.

"That must not have aged well. If that's truly what happened, what possessed you to send Gary money for the funeral party he was organising in his head?"

"… That's a colourful and nice way to put it," she sighs. "I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time, everyone seemed to agree with Gary, even Brock and Misty and I know they would've checked up on you-"

"But they didn't."

"… No?"

"Not until way later. Now, I don't know if they weren't allowed in or if they just didn't know where I was at because mom sure didn't think about telling anyone but I'm just putting it out there as a possibility that they too were just a little too caught up in their own heads. Or asses, you pick which one suits you the best."

Despite tears still shining in her eyes, Dawn chuckles.

"Well, maybe that's why everything ended up the way it did. But I can't tell you how pleased I am to see you here, looking as good as you do. Not to mention how proud, you must've gone through so much pain."

Ash just nods, he has had to endure some pain, yes and the painkillers didn't always work so well for him. But he never felt any pain from the injuries that lasted him the disabilities, he woke up healed for the most part, it were the legendary pokémon who helped him, after all… And he's not sure how the breach this subject, there's a chance they'll straight up not believe him, they haven't seen what Serena, Bonnie and Clemont have already seen. Granted, the two girls have already seen a bunch of pokémon a lot of people will never get the chance to ever see in their life but to state that they link the appearance of these creature to his presence? No, it's not something Ash wants to admit out loud, not today at any rate.

Steven seems to catch on to his troubles and urges Wallace to 'start' something… which ends up in presents the teen never expected to get! And there are presents from people he's not actually met face to face. But they must be friends with his uncle, he can imagine that the elite trainers who have worked closely with Lance must've felt like they had to give him something. It wasn't necessary but they all get a good laugh out of the T-shirt with the perfect slogan for his life, he's definitely going to wear this a lot, it'll save him the trouble of explaining himself to strangers. Dawn and May, however, is mystified why he and his newer friends have so much fun with the T-shirt.

"It is a nice T-shirt but isn't it a little… odd?"

"Not as odd as I am," Ash quips and gives the T-shirt a loving look, leaving the girls giving each other's weird looks.

"He's not alone, even if you leave him alone," Bonnie says, from across the table.

"… What do you mean, little girl?" May asks nicely.

"He's got big friends."

"Such as?"

"You know. The big friends. He's got a small friend on his shoulder. The big friends come when he's sad."

May turns back to the teen with questioning eyes but he just smiles at her.

"Her name is Bonnie," he says.

"… That's a nice name."

"Thanks!" the little girl chirps, clearly oblivious she's just unsettled the two performers a lot with her statement.

Seems like they know better than to question him any further, neither Serena or Clemont seem inclined to clarify why they were so amused by the T-shirt either. But Lance's gift comes to Ash's -or maybe also to May and Dawn- rescue, there's no denying the likeliness of the Pikachu in the pocket of the jacket and the one sitting on his shoulder and due to the amusement surrounding that fact, the two girls let go of their earlier suspicion, to giggle along to the rude creature inside of the pocket. In fact, Pikachu mirrors the expression of the pokémon on the jacket perfectly when he spots it, though it's clear that he did it to make Ash laugh. And with success, the teen feels like both Lance and Will's are perfect introductions to the craziness his life holds and he couldn't be happier with the gifts.

As for Agatha's present… he stills for a bit. It's a bit of a tradition for him that he had to rush to get something warm when the climate of a certain town, his mom never bothered to get him any kind of winter gear and it's funny but so did Lance. Ash knew, he never corrected the man, wouldn't be caught for mutiny around him… but Agatha remembered and somehow, it makes him feel even fuzzier than the scarf and mittens are.

"It's so soft," he marvels as he can't stop touching the gift. "Where the heck do you guys find this Pikachu themed things, I've been eyeing things like this forever and I couldn't find them, like, ever?"

"I was told she had it specifically made for you," Steven says and those few words break Ash's heart.

"It's so much already," he utters, feeling a bit teary as he looks at the gifts that have been selected with such thought. "I mean, I don't even know some of these people all that well and yet… yet… I can't be that translucent, can I?"

"It's not that hard, Ash," Clemont hushes.

"You're not translucent, you've just got a lot of interests we've caught onto," Steven adds.

"But if it's that easy, if everyone has caught onto my interests, why didn't my mother…?"

"Because she's a bitch," May deadpans and it shocks Ash so much, he turns to her.

"May!" he exclaims, slightly affronted. "Think about Bonnie."

"It's okay," the girl pipes up. "Dad called professor Sycamore that already."

"Bonnie!" Clemont exclaims, it's his turn to be affronted, thought barely loud enough as Serena bursts out in laughter.

Ash wants to laugh and cry at the absurdity of this all but May isn't done yet, she puts her hand on his and gives him a very intense look.

"Speaking about professors…" she starts. "I want you to realise that the whole of Pallet, with you being the only exception, is the biggest collection of entitled pieces of shit the world has ever had. And the biggest one of them all might be professor Oak because he knew everything, he knew the truth from the beginning and he couldn't be damned to stop Gary or to contact us to make sure his grandson's crap didn't have such an effect on us. And he couldn't be bothered, he's as much to blame as Gary is, if not more."

"Needless to say, professor Elm is preening under the attention he's now getting, the entire community has realised what an asshole professor Oak is… but that being said, May, you might want to reel back that opinion as professor Oak's study material is still widely used," Dawn says and it sounds slightly reasonable but May wipes the idea straight off the table.

"Hah, his study material is sitting right here. Or didn't you see the similarities in his studies?"

"Maybe if I read them," the girl answers bluntly. "I'm not much of a reader, to be honest. But still, I don't suppose that, if it's true, you were paid, Ash?"

"Of course not."

"… So it's true?"

"Yeah. Many professors do it, though but they usually add my name-"

Ash is shocked into silence when May pulls out a thick wad of papers and slams it on the table.

"Do you see your name, then?" she asks, with a bit too much aggression for the teen's liking, he already suspects professor Oak might have fucked up a bit more than he initially expected.

"I'll check but can I first ask why you have a part of professor Oak's research papers with you?"

"… Comfort material," May admits sheepishly. "Like I said, it shares a lot of similarities, it felt nice to still have a mention of you in my life."

Jeesh, Ash isn't sure if he would've forgiven Gary as quickly now if the teen came to ask him for forgiveness as he did before he knew all this. Dawn and May sound traumatized and he should know better than to question something the girl has obviously checked multiple times. The bundle of papers look well-loved already, she must've read this countless times… And it's the story of Manaphy, another story that nearly ended with his death but he survived, as per usual. It's ironic that this would be May's comfort material but then again, Ash has never mentioned that part to professor Oak, so it's not written down in these papers either. But no, he doesn't find his name in it, just a very uncanny description that he would indeed link to himself, in fact, the teen feel like anyone who knows him, would link it to him so yeah, it's a little silly that professor Oak removed his name on these papers.

"I do think that my uncle might have something to do with this, though," Ash says as he carefully hands the bundle of papers back to May. "He straight up told me that I didn't need to return to Pallet if I didn't want to and I think he took my 'no' a little too seriously."

"I would indeed not put it beyond Lance to go such lengths to ensure your safety," Steven adds. "I mean, you did tell him that you sometimes got involved with Team Rocket, right?"

"Sometimes?" Both May, Dawn and Ash say in unison, causing the man to backtrack.

"Right, so yes, I think that may have something to do with it."

"He still should've paid Ash for the assistance and heck, he should've given him a written agreement if he didn't pay him. If Ash was actually registered as an assistant, he could've had loads of benefits but I guess by the animosity Gary has shown towards Ash, that professor Oak didn't think twice of denying him it at all," May huffs.

"The other professors have the written agreements, though," Ash pipes up, trying to appease the girl. "I mean, I really don't want to have anything to do with Pallet, I meant it when I said 'no' to Lance so don't worry about it. Professor Elm might be preening under the newfound attention but I'm just glad he's willing to take care of my pokémon."

"You lay the bar too low," Dawn says. "That's why you attract assholes."

"Thank you," Clemont answers.

"Not you. I bet you're a Gym leader."

The boy stares at her for a moment, eyes widening at her statement before he raises an eyebrow.

"How do you know that?"

"Ash attracts Gym leaders. Especially ones with iss-"

"Don't say that," Ash hisses. "That's not nice and not true. Cilan and Brock had no issues at all, they just wanted the freedom that was taken from them, they have every right to have a nice life as everyone else did and their family deprived them of it but that doesn't mean they had issues. And Clemont doesn't have them either, it's a mean thing to assume things like this."

Dawn opens her mouth to say something but Wallace interrupts her before she can say anything.

"Kids, kids, can you all lighten up a little? This is supposed to be a birthday party, not an ideal place to start arguing. Also, haven't any of you noticed that someone hasn't said anything yet?"

All eyes look at Serena, who just looks up from her phone and holds one hand up in surrender.

"I'm just here for Ash and the food, honestly," she says and May sighs in agreement.

"Same."

"Yeah but-" Dawn starts but Wallace raises his hand, stopping her.

"No, no more arguing. It's not nice and besides, Ash hasn't even opened all his presents yet."

"I haven't?" the teen asks, not having expected that there would be more.

Cue Steven putting a massive box in front of him and to Ash's delight -and slight horror because he knows he's going to have to lug all this with him- it's a collection of practically every brush he never saw the need or had the money to buy it. The flexible brush has Pikachu purring up a storm and of course, Dedenne is ready at the edge of the table to get groomed too. But the flexible brush is way too big for the small pokémon but there's one that looks like a toothbrush and it's so tiny, it'll be perfect for Dedenne.

It fits perfectly between the pokémon's ears and it gets to spots Dedenne can't clean itself at so yes, it's also just as delighted with the careful attention as Pikachu is. When Ash is finished, he looks straight at the girls who have kept a close eye on him and May looks pretty dreamy.

"I could look at that for hours on end and not get bored. That's was so adorable, how did you get so good with pokémon for someone else's pokémon to come to you to get groomed?" she asks.

"Oh, I'm Dedenne's original trainer. I gifted him to Bonnie, he seemed like a good pokémon for her."

"That's even cuter. Way to support the next generation," May chuckles and gives him a shove against his left arm, causing him to wince. "Oh no! I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

"It's a little sore," he answers, rubbing the part of his arm that isn't hurting but does it just because he can't rub the place where the shots were given at because it still hurts too much. "I uh… got shots today."

"What for?"

"Err… diseases. Not sure what their names are."

"Oh… Okay. Seems a bit random, also, they usually shouldn't hurt this much either, you should ask nurse Joy if that's normal."

"I uh… I think nurse Joy totally agrees that I'm contrary to normal. I mean, normal kids don't actually get pokérus or need shots to avoid getting other pokémon diseases, right?"

The way both girls look at him tells Ash that they have questions but Clemont doesn't let them, he just shoves his present straight in front of him.

"And that brings us to my gift," he announces proudly. "You can also deem it as a gift from Gurkinn, if he didn't have it, I couldn't have gotten it for you so, that's that."

Ash's hands ghost around the box in interest, he feels like he will like the insides of this present very much and when he opens it, he sees a necklace with a nice looking, pendant on it. It's a ring, though on closer inspection, it seems like there are two rings but they don't seem to be able to move.

"This is a special thing, it's a one-off but Gurkinn agreed that it would be best if you had it. After all, you've told me about those bad premonitions you have and I feel like it's unfair you need to worry about something when it won't affect you. So, this pendant will start to spin when it feels a link between your bad feeling and you. That way, you will be able to tell if whatever you're worried about is going to directly affect you and if the ring doesn't react, that means the bad feeling will have an impact on your surroundings but not you directly."

"That's… really cool, actually," the teen answers, taking the necklace out of the box. "This will save me a lot of trouble, I think. I… I didn't think this would ever be a possibility to… you know, have a choice to deal with it or not. So thank you, Clemont, this is wonderful."

"I'm glad you like it. Be sure to tell Gurkinn that too, he was curious for your reaction to it."

Ash nods, he files it as something he'll do later, when this is all over. Serena's gift has him absolutely floored too, she gifts him a bottle of all-purpose shampoo, meaning he can use it on all his pokémon and that it respects every skin type out there. But the smell of it is absolutely gorgeous, Pikachu nearly puts his nose in the tip when Ash lets him smell it. He thanks her too and she smiles, telling him that she also asked her mom for help with his gift so that they're even now. Ash is a bit overwhelmed by the attention his birthday got so when Wallace's Milotic seems to have helped itself to more than generous section of what should have been his birthday cake, the teen jumps at the chance for a walk outside.

"I bet I can find a treat for every single one of you," he challenges and Wallace raises an eyebrow at him.

"Do you know? I'm not sure how to feel about you treating us on your birthday, though."

"Please?" Ash all but begs and the man lets him.

Leaving his wonderful gifts in the safe hands of all his -slightly dubious- friends, the teen darts outside, taking a deep breath when he's outside. He's got goosebumps all over, he's so pleased with the gifts he wants to scream but Ash knows that's not really socially acceptable so he keeps it in. Maybe he can scream in his pillow later today, when he's back in his room in the pokémon centre.

On his way to the bakery he remembers having spotted earlier, when they were looking for the pokémon centre, Ash sees a man kneeling at the edge of what he remembers having been a very nice looking area of grass. It's the look on the stranger's face that makes the teen approach him.

"Are you okay, sir?" he asks, cautiously.

"Mm? Oh… No, not really. I feel very sad at the state of this grass."

"It's still alive, though."

"It doesn't look that way."

"I know that it looks scary, seeing it so wilted away but it takes a bit more than just a bit of ice to take life away," Ash says and bends down far enough so his hand touches the wilted grass. "Pokémon aren't inherently evil, the two Ice-types may have been angry but they didn't target the grass. They targeted the people who took their kin away and yeah, their powers may have come to a shock to the grass but it will survive just fine. Life is resilient that way."

"How come you sound so sure about that, boy?" the man asks.

Ash just smiles at him as he lets his Aura go, the grass's roots soak it in willingly and it doesn't take long before the area of grass is fresh and brilliantly green again.

"That's how."

The man looks at him in wonder for a good few minutes before smiling widely.

"Won't you join me for tea sometimes, young man? I think we will get along," he says and draws a card out of his pocket. "Find me here when you feel like chatting a bit more."

"Oh, thank you. I just might do that," Ash says, accepting the card with a pleased smile, happy that he helped this man and got the sad expression off his face.

It wasn't a good look anyway and he feels much better having let go of his Aura for a bit. Now that Ash thinks about it, he's bewildered he showed his Aura to this complete stranger but somehow he felt like he could trust this man, which is just as weird as his life is slowly becoming. But the teen takes it in his stride, he's not going to mind making friends, even if this man is a bit older than most of his friends are but it doesn't matter right now. He's on the hunt for treats and since it's already noon, he figures it will be a good dessert for a lunch they have yet to have. Why Wallace planned to have cake for breakfast is beyond him but then again, Gurkinn enjoyed making cake for every time of the day so maybe it's a Kalos thing? Whatever it is, Ash isn't bothered and the baker has a lot of goodies to pick from so he enjoys himself getting eight delicious looking treats for himself and his friends.

"Why do you have such a sneaky smile on your face?" Dawn asks, smiling but looking very suspicious.

"Sneaky?" Ash asks bewildered.

"Like you just secretly farted."

"Well, excuse me, I didn't do that. Can't I just be looking pleased with myself right now?"

"It's a bit too devious, I'm not used to seeing that kind of look on you."

"Yes, well, get used to it, I'm very pleased right now so if you stick around, you'll be seeing it a lot more since now on. Now, are we going to eat this now or…?" he asks, mostly directed at Wallace, who accepts the box Ash holds out for him to grab.

"Maybe later? The presents took a while, longer than I anticipated."

"That's fine."

To Ash, this just means he's going to get his spicy noodles he's told Wallace about but it seems like Clemont has spotted the card he didn't fully stuff into his pocket. And somehow, the teen guesses who the man is straight away.

"Well, you do have a knack for attracting Gym leaders," he chuckles and Ash takes out the card mouth forming a little 'o' when he sees that he indeed has Gym leader Ramos' card in his hand.

"He invited me over for tea sometime."

"That's nice, he's a very kind man."

"When he isn't lamenting over his grass, that is," Steven pipes up.

"True. Still, good job, Ash, he tends to treat challengers he likes a lot better than the ones he doesn't like," Clemont says.

"Isn't that a bit too biased?"

"Not really, it's not difficult to get into his good graces, actually."

"… I healed his grass. Or at least, showed him it wasn't actually as dead as it looked."

"Yep, that's as good as it gets," the teen chuckles. "Come on, sit down, I'm preparing my mouth for those noodles."

"What?" Dawn asks, alarmed.

"You heard me," Clemont responds.

"Alright!" May says, clapping her hands together. "It's been way too long since I've been able to eat noodles, I hope there's hot sauce with it."

"You eat that too?"

"Of course, not just as much as Ash puts in it but I do add it too. It beats eating plain noodles."

"No, it doesn't," Dawn says, already pulling a face. "I'm not planning on burning a hole in my mouth, thanks but no thanks."

"You're so dramatic," May huffs and makes a vague motion at the bottle Wallace puts on the table. "Look, you can decide how much you put on it yourself."

"… I don't think I like the colour of this sauce at all."

Ash can't help but chuckle, Wallace made an excellent choice buying this bottle. It won't matter how much sauce there is on the noodles, it's the hottest one out there and pretty much a bit of a challenge for him too. But he knows he can handle heat and frankly, May has been the only one to rival his bottomless pit of a stomach in the past so he thinks she won't be having too many issues. The rest, however…

"How the heck can the two of you remain so calm?" Clemont asks, sweating and gasping as he takes a break from the noodles that aren't nearly as flaming red and deadly coloured as Ash's or May's but it's apparently testing his boundaries.

Dawn is silently suffering as she too realised that the quantity of the sauce doesn't matter here, though she occasionally hiccups and looks even more miserable afterwards.

"Practise," May says after taking a huge slurp of noodles.

"Did you even swallow? Where does it all go?"

"… My stomach?"

Clemont's stomach makes a gurgling sound that doesn't bode much good and it all amuses Ash a bit too much. Especially the sight of Wallace looking a little teary at the end of the table, while Steven isn't very bothered by the hot noodles is very funny to him.

"… Is… Is he really doing that?" Serena utters and Ash takes a moment to appreciate Pikachu eating the hot sauce from the bottle.

"Yes? Hot sauce is a bit bothersome if you can't handle heath but it can't make you hallucinate," he chuckles. "Also, don't forget that he got me to eat spices."

"I'm never catching me a Pikachu," Dawn utters, hiccupping again. "I don't care how cute it is, I'm not risking this."

Steven comes to the rescue with some Moomoo milk but all in all, Ash is pleased by how his birthday party is going. So far, he's had a good time and while Wallace promises that he's got other surprises waiting for him. And they're wonderful surprises, Ash doesn't remember how long it's been since he's been to a fairground, he's had a blast in the bumper cars -Clemont's got a nasty temper when Dawn rammed him out of nowhere- and Bonnie spends most of her time in the merry-go-round with Dawn supervising her -she's still suffering from the noodles, apparently, her stomach aches due to how much milk she drank.

Serena ends up winning Ash a prize at shooting, which impresses him a lot but he gets her a different coloured Furret plush in his turn so now he has the brown one and she has a pink one. They're pretty big too, though they'll still fit in their backpacks alright. And then, ice cream! Ash hasn't eaten a lot of it during his childhood, his mother claimed he was lactose intolerant but there's lactose free ice cream too. For once, he doesn't need to compromise his want for the trouble his health brings along and in fact… It's been a while but as he drags his tired self back to the Pikachu room, to eat the last treat of today, the pastries he went to get for each and every single one of them, Ash can't help but feel like this is the first time he's forgotten about his disabilities.

Sure, his leg is doing something painful and his arm is killing him, he's so gonna complain to the nurse when he sees her. But today, as everyone is happy to see that he does know what they like very well -even Wallace, who seems bewildered to see sprinkles on his treat, though all his favourite colours, namely blue and purple- has been a great day. One that didn't go South for once, one where he built relationships instead of breaking them and created possibilities and chances for himself and others. Yes, today will be a good memory to keep, he's very grateful to Wallace for having organised it for him and give him this chance to overwrite all the bad things that happened during his last birthday parties.

"If there's ever anything I can do for you, tell me," he says to the man when he has him alone for a moment.

"You don't have to repay me for kindness, Ash."

"You didn't have to do it but you still did it. That's all it takes and that's all I'm grateful for."

"Well, alright, if there's ever anything, I'll think of you. But don't forget that you are now fifteen, you are still a child so don't forget to act like it sometime, okay?"

"'kay."

And that's how his birthday ends, he's had lots of fun and the nurse makes his wounds from the shots -literal shot wounds!- ache a lot less with some salve so Ash feels like he's had a wonderful time and that he will now also have a wonderful night, seeing he doesn't need to sleep in the stuffy quarantine room any longer. He can also have his pokémon out with him and Gible clearly has missed him a lot, though the dragon sits in the laundry basket again as he wants to follow Ash underneath the shower. But all if forgiven as he grabs the little pokémon and drags him into bed with him, ready to start tonight and begin anew tomorrow.

---

End of chapter thirty-three