Lapis is gone and has taken a little something with her if you catch my drift. But with Ash alone, he now must go through what is probably his greatest challenge yet after facing the love of his life leaving him, in addition to losing his home and with Brock and Misty's abduction. He now must search deep within himself to rediscover what drives him in his journey, and he'll get some unexpected help in the process. Don't worry guys this is not the end, it's only the beginning. Sorry for what happens in this chapter, I know some of you hate the character I'm bringing back but I needed a way to get the one of this chapter across and he was the only way. *I DO NOT OWN STEVEN UNIVERSE or POKEMON*
After the destruction of the barn at the hands of Team Rocket, Ash, Peridot and James had to move into the Temple. Peridot had moved back into Steven's bathroom while James took over the loveseat in the living room, Ash on the other hand, reclaimed the couch just as he had done the first week he had arrived on Steven's world. Now hungover and heartbroken, he laid down on his side too sad to cry.
Concerned that he was going to kill himself, the Gems had established a system of supervision for Ash. At the current moment it was Amethyst's turn to keep watch over him. Sitting next to him on the couch with Pikachu in her lap, she had been double dipping that day to try and keep Peridot comforted as well. "Aw come on Ash, I can't stand seeing you like this! None of us do!"
But he just ignored her and continued to clutch his lapis lazuli necklace she gave him for his birthday.
"How long are you gonna fondle that thing?"
"It's all I have to remind me of her Am" he quietly answered her, his voice thick with tears.
She turned to James looking for support, but he was still trying to cope with the traumatic events the night before. Meanwhile at the kitchen table, Garnet, Pearl, Steven, Connie and Serena were trying to remove the tracking device from Clemont's arm.
"Just stay calm Clemont" Serena tried to calm him while Pearl cut into his arm. Because he had no anesthesia, Garnet simply held him down during the operation.
"AAAGGGHHHH!" the poor boy exclaimed after Pearl once more cut into his shoulder trying to find the object that lead Team Rocket to them.
"I found it!" she proclaimed finally pulling a small, metallic object from his shoulder. With the tracking device now removed, Garnet crushed it with her gauntlet, with Steven healing Clemont's surgical wounds.
"Why did we even bother taking it out?" Connie asked "they already know exactly where we are"
A furious Uncle Andy suddenly barged into the house through the hole where the front door used to be. "ASH! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BARN!" He actually would've charged at the distraught trainer if it weren't for Garnet grabbing him and holding the elder back.
"Come on Andy let's take it outside".
After a few minutes, Ash and Amethyst then heard Andy scream "THE BLUE BROAD DUMPED HIM!?" followed by the sound of a smack. When the door opened, Andy was holding onto his face, implying that Garnet had slapped him for his ignorant comment. "Uh, oh geez Ash I'm sorry about what happened. Look, the last time I saw you I said we was now family. And from what Garnet just told me, this Team Rocket just hurt part of my family. I got your back if we're gonna fight them, they made this personal. Now where's Greg?"
"Uncle Andy," Steven explained from the couch, "My dad's in the hospital"
"WHAT?! WHAT HAPPENED!?"
"He had a heart attack last night after Team Rocket's attack. Don't worry he's fine, the hospital's just holding him until tonight"
Uncle Andy took a deep breath in. "Team Rocket has burnt down my family's livelihood, caused an emotional rift in my extended family, and put my cousin in the hospital. Whatever happens, and when this fight you told me about happens, I'll be there. Family is there for each other, you helped me remember that. Alright take me to Greg."
After Garnet and Pearl escorted Andy to the hospital, Connie and Serena lifted Clemont up and brought him back to Jamie's home to rest. This left Amethyst to watch the others and entered the bathroom with Steven to check in on Peridot.
"Ash," James began to try and help his friend, but Ash was having none of it.
"Just leave me alone James"
James looked at him, trying to make one last attempt to get through to his distraught friend, but after seeing there was no cheering him up, he got off the loveseat and began putting up plastic wrap over the now open hole in the Temple wall resulting from Cassidy and Butch's attack. Amethyst and Steven finally got Peridot out from the bathroom, having to quite literally drag her out by her arms and legs.
"Alright, we're getting both of you out of this house! Come on, we're taking you to the Prime Kindergarten" Amethyst told them.
"Do you really think bringing Ash to a Kindergarten is the best idea?" James asked, "I mean, it seems like something more up Peridot's alley. Tell you what, why don't we split up? I'll watch Ash, you two take care of Peridot"
Steven tried to protest, but Amethyst was already out the door with Peridot. "Just make sure he's alright"
With the Shorty Squad gone, James decided to make some coffee in the kitchen. "You know you're gonna have to get off that couch someday right?" as expected, Ash gave no answer. "Come on Ash, please just talk to me" he pleaded.
"And talk about what!?" he finally angrily asked. "Talk about how everything that matters to me was just taken away!? Talk about how Misty and Brock are gone!? Talk about how I'm never going to see her again!? Is that what you want to talk about James!?"
"So I don't matter to you!?" he retaliated, tears now forming in the older trainer's eyes from his friend's hurtful implied tone "after all we've been through I still am just a no good Team Rocket agent you can't trust as far as you can throw? Guess those words in Empire City last night were crap huh? Complete, drunken crap!" he screamed back at him, storming into the bathroom in Peridot's absence and slamming the door shut.
"James that's not what I meant" he exclaimed across the room "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." After a few minutes of James giving no response from inside the bathroom, he buried his face into the pillow feeling ashamed for his outburst and hurting his friend's feelings. When he felt a hand placed on his shoulder in a comforting manner, he naturally assumed it was James. "You do matter to me James" he confessed but too ashamed to look up from the pillow. "You're one of the few friends I've got that truly understands what I'm going through. How am I supposed to do this without her? Sure the rest of us can fight but including Andy there's only like eleven of us that are even capable of fighting. I mean, Greg's in no condition to fight, Lapis is gone, Brock and Misty are gone, May, Dawn and Lars are Arceus knows where, Bonnie's far too young and our other friends don't deserve to get caught up in my fight. And you know, Lapis is right, no one should be fighting my battle. Yet here you still are, after all you and I have been through. After I scream and yell, here you still are." Finally deciding to look his friend in the eye to see how he was going to react, Ash finally lifted his head up. But immediately saw it was not James he had opened up to.
"Good morning" Uncle Grandpa's dopey voice friendly addressed him.
"Oh no, not you. Anyone but you"
"You don't look so great kid. Oooooh, nice Gem. You just get it installed?" he asked admiring the jasper popping out of his coat.
"What do you want Uncle Grandpa?"
"I'm a helper, I'm here to help you! Worked great the last time, save for the bad grammatical errors. But I guess that's what you get when the author is writing these on a google doc file with a mountain of homework and stress from school, am I right?"
Ash just looked at him confused.
"Alright forget what I just said, so your little lady left you huh?"
"Yeah"
He thought for a second, "alrighty then, the best thing for when you're sad is to eat a LOT of ice cream! Bottoms up!" he explained, prying Ash's mouth open and force feeding him giant scoops of ice cream.
"UNCLE GRANDPA STOP!" Ash screamed pushing the oddball off him, now having to put up with a broken heart, a hangover, and now a massive brain freeze at the same time. "Look, I appreciate the gesture, but I don't need this right now. I really need to try to get over this on my own terms, hell I might never get over this. Don't you see, I'm probably never going to see her again, and now I'm going to have to complete my journey without her".
Uncle Grandpa inspected his distraught face with a magnifying glass. "Wow kid you really don't look so good. This is a serious case of the blues. I KNOW! Try thinking about a time in your life where you know for a fact you're better off now than then! Really puts things into perspective. I mean look at you, you might be crying now but at least you don't cry all the time like that absolutely pathetic, crybaby version of you from that mirror dimension right?"
Ash looked at him, not expecting to ever have his more recent adventure in the Kalos Region's Cave of Mirrors brought up again, let alone by this character, "how do you know about that?"
"I was there don't you remember? My point is, you were better than him then. Heck I bet you're still more impressive than he is! Let's go see!"
Before he could even protest, the next thing he knew he was back inside the sickeningly bright color scheme of Uncle Grandpa's RV, with his two friends Mr. Gus and Pizza Steve waiting for him.
"Hey Ash, sorry about your lady" Mr. Gus's smooth and deep voice welcomed him.
"Yeah, but look on the bright side!" the anthropomorphic slice of pizza told him "now that you're back on the market, soon enough you're gonna have to fight back the ladies with a stick!" Every bone in his body wanted to step on and destroy the obnoxious pizza, but even a thought as sweet as that couldn't bring him to smile.
"Thanks Pizza Steve but I know in my heart Lapis was the only girl for me. This is a mistake Uncle Grandpa, just take me back. If I'm in this condition after getting dumped, I'd hate to see how crybaby Ash is taking this". Once the RV had stopped, Ash stepped outside and was blasted by a cold wind to his face, Ash saw the normally hot and sunny environment of Beach City was cold and covered in snow. "Come on Uncle Grandpa just take me-" but when he turned around in the snow covered beach to face him, only to see the RV was gone, and Uncle Grandpa had just abandoned him.
Deciding to might as well go inside the mirror world's Temple to escape the cold, Ash braced the snow and saw the door to the Temple was still standing. After knocking, the door opened and Pearl opened the door.
In the mirror world Ash had visited before, every person's doppelganger's personality was reversed, and it appeared that the Gems were no exception. Mirror Pearl looked at him slouched over, a glazed and relaxed look in her eye, and was eating a ham sandwich. "Sup Ash?" she asked after belching loudly. "Hey yo Steven! Your buddy Ash is here!"
"Wake me up when I care" he heard Mirror Steven disrespectfully and sarcastically from his bed.
"Oh, hello Ash, what brings you here?" Mirror Amethyst politely addressed him. Instead of the short version of the Gem he knew, Mirror Amethyst stood at least a foot taller than he did, standing prim and proper. Standing, or rather hiding behind her, was Mirror Garnet, just as tall but looking nervous indecisive.
"I'm just, uh, around"
"Everything alright at the barn?"
"Uh, I guess so. Well, I'll leave you guys". He quickly made his way from the Temple towards the direction, he at least thought, the barn would be. "Well Pikachu, what do you think? Are Mirror Ash and Mirror Lapis in our shoes? Or are they happy as can be considering the state I'm in?"
The pokemon simply shrugged.
"COMING THROUGH!" he heard Clemont's voice from behind. When he turned to face him, Mirror Clemont came charging past him through the snow, running at such a velocity that he fell over. "Sorry Ash. Please don't cry"
"I'll be fine Clemont" he told the uncharacteristically strong mirror Clemont.
Mirror Clemont looked at him oddly. "You seem different today Ash, you seem more glum than usual".
"More glum?" he thought. "Yeah Clemont it's me. The Ash you saw from another dimension? Don't you remember?"
"Oh, good to see you again! Wait, you're not supposed to be here! How are you-"
"Outside forces" he answered, annoyed from Uncle Grandpa abandoning him.
"Well, I guess you're gonna want to see our Ash, I think you'll like how grown he's become. Follow me, I'll take you to the barn. Try to keep up!" He proceeded to run at lightning fast speed down the snow ridden beach.
After struggling to keep up with Mirror Clemont and his speed, they reached a large building outside town. "This is the barn?"
The building was in the correct location, but did not resemble a barn at all, even with Lapis and Peridot's meep morps surrounding it, the building resembled an actual home, with three stories at least and multiple windows complete with a chimney. Mirror Clemont knocked on the front door.
After cracking open the door, Mirror Ash gingerly opened it up. When he saw who it was, he excitedly opened it up. "Wow, I can't believe it's you!" Letting them inside, Ash saw the inside of the house was an actual house, or mansion depending on who you ask. The inside had an enormous living room, complete with a leather, reclining sofa, and a flat screen TV. Sitting at the sofa watching Camp Pinning Hearts was Mirror Brock, too busy watching his favorite show to notice the two Ash's standing directly behind him. "Hey Brock, look who's here"
Mirror Brock slowly got up to his best friend's request, eyes nearly popping out of his head when he noticed the second Ash. "Woah, I'm seeing double" he dully said, looking at his hands to test his vision "WOAH! I really am seeing double! Ash I'm scared, I have two hands!"
"Brock you've always had two hands"
"Oh right". The Brock of his own world was wise and alert, it was only appropriate that Mirror Brock was a lazy simpleton.
"Who's that Clod?" Peridot's voice came from the second floor of the home. Instead of taking the spiral staircase, Mirror Peridot jumped directly down to the first floor, keeping herself afloat using her limb enhancers as a helicopter blade. Because she still had her limb enhancers, she stood almost exactly the same height as both Ash's, but deep down Ash knew she was just the little, adorable Gem he knew and loved. The face she gave him was anything but adorable however, and because his version of Peridot had changed so much he had a hard time identifying what Mirror Peridot's identity was. But she appeared to be as cold and calculative as she was when they first met. "Intriguing, a second Ash Ketchum. I'll have to take a sample for further research" she evaluated, plucking a hair off his head.
"Oh my," Mirror Misty's quiet voice came from the staircase, causing everyone to turn to her, when everyone did look at her, she blushed and tried to cover her face with her hands. Misty was brash and confident, so it was only natural for her opposite to be quiet and shy.
Ash looked over to Mirror Ash, he looked happy and pleased with his life. Uncle Grandpa's gesture was dead wrong, he wasn't nearly as pathetic as he was promised, and the sting he was feeling felt even worse when he looked at Mirror Ash's hand. "You getting married?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, just engaged"
"Where is she?"
"She's out collecting firewood. One of her absolute favorite things to do is cuddle on the couch by a fire together. I tell you Ash, she's the greatest thing to have ever happened to me, and I take it your world's version of her and you are happy?"
He took a deep breath and took the ring Lapis returned to him the previous night almost in tears. "We were".
"Oh dear", Mirror Misty voiced her concerns "I'm sorry"
"What happened?" Mirror Peridot asked
"The threat of my world's Homeworld was too much for her. She couldn't handle the thought of having to fight, so she left."
Mirror Ash was clearly feeling for him as he was begging to tear up. "Wow, I'm so sorry. I should've seen that coming, because mine was the first one to volunteer to fight by my side."
Looking at the dysfunctional counterparts, Ash realized someone was missing. "Where's James?"
"RIGHT HERE!" Mirror James exclaimed, dropping from the ceiling and landing gracefully and dramatically. "Heroes of Justice assemble!" he announced while Mirror Jessie and Mirror Meowth joined the group. Ash had forgotten that there was no Team Rocket on this world, instead they were a group of superheroes. This explained why the Temple hadn't been attacked.
"So you are the noble warrior we've been told about?" Mirror Jessie asked shaking his hand "my teammates and I overheard your predicament from our perch and you have our sympathy."
"So why are you here?" Mirror Clemont asked again.
"I'm sure you're familiar with Uncle Grandpa?"
Mirror Ash nodded in agreement.
"After my Lapis left me, he decided to bring me here to try and cheer me up. No offense, but he thought seeing how big of a crybaby you were would increase my self esteem"
Mirror Ash looked at him confused "Lapis? What Lapis?"
"Lapis. Lapis Lazuli? The love of your, our, lives? Has been living with us for as long as we can remember? Has some emotional issues but you work through them with her because you love her and will do anything just to see her smile? That Lapis"
"Ash, there is no Lapis Lazuli among us" Mirror Peridot explained
"Not true," Mirror Brock protested, "we all had a Lazuli for dinner last night"
"Brock, that was lasagna"
"But, if you're not with Lapis, then who are you getting married to?" His question was answered by the trees beginning to shake as something large pushed through them. Walking into the snowy open, Jasper emerged carrying a bundle of firewood with a warm, happy smile on her face.
"I'm home my little Ashy Washy!" she exclaimed through her goofy smile, dropping the wood and running towards him.
Ash drew his sword out of instinct and got ready to charge. But Mirror Ash beat him to it and ran into Mirror Jasper's arms, spinning around together happy to be together, just as he and Lapis would.
"Oh goodness me" Mirror Jasper said finally noticing Ash's presence. "What's going on? How are there two of you?"
"Jasper, sweetie, this is, well, me. Ash, this is-"
"I know. Sorry for being a little on edge, I've only been this close to my world's Jasper about three times. And all three of those times she almost killed me."
"Oh gosh, Ash I-"
"I know you're not her, and I know that in this world you're a big, happy teddy bear with a heart of gold. But in my world, you're a monster. A monster who's taken everything from me. And I know you're not her, but I just want to be able to tell Jasper to her face that I hate you. I hate you! I HATE YOU!" he screamed over and over while sobbing, repeatedly striking her with his fists. Although his punches weren't powerful enough to deal any sort of damage, and to Mirror Jasper they could be compared to a light tap, so she just allowed Ash to continue with an understanding face, finally hugging him when he fell to his knees.
"It's alright Ash, I understand your anger"
"Wow, and I thought our Ash was a crybaby" an antagonistic voice came from behind them. Everyone turned to see Mirror Serena, Bonnie, Greg and the Gems had all arrived in Mirror Greg's enormous limousine. Mirror Serena had retained her original appearance of a black top, red skirt and pink hat with her hair still at her shoulders.
The only other person who was considerably different was Mirror Greg, who was at least thirty pounds lighter, had nearly a full head of hair, and was wearing a black, sleek jacket and skinny jeans. Obviously while his Greg was humble, Mirror Greg was very vain when it came to his wealth.
"What are they all doing here?" Ash asked sniffling.
"I figured they'd want to watch the battle we were about to have." Mirror Ash explained.
"What? Are you sure?"
"Of course. The last time we saw each other, you told me something that changed my life. You told me: "Crying isn't going to do me any good. There's no reason to give up!" Now come on, you helped me in my time of need, it's my turn to return the favor!"
Ash looked up at him surprised by how grown Mirror Ash had become. Maybe Ash had forgotten his roots in his time of being a part of the Crystal Gems. Collecting himself, he finally stood "alright, let's do this Ash!"
"Our Ash will have the first move in this two-on-two pokemon battle!" Mirror Clemont acting as the referee declared "BEGIN!"
"Glalie, let's go!" Mirror Ash announced. Mirror Glalie stood at attention, firm and serious, while the Glalie Ash knew was mischievous and silly.
"Charizard, come on out!" Charizard stomped his foot down and roared triumphantly, always ready for a challenge.
"BEGIN!"
"Glalie use icy wind!"
"Counter with flamethrower!"
The two attacks clashed together into a cloud of steam. Having canceled each other out.
"Use dragontail!"
"Dodge and use ice beam!"
Of course since Glalie was not nearly as fast as the fire type, Charizard bashed his tail into the ice type's slow moving body and sent him flying across the field. "Now finish it off with flamethrower!" Charizard arched his neck back while holding down his opponent, and completely obliterated him in a stream of fire.
"Glalie is unable to battle! Charizard is the winner!"
"Glalie return." Mirror Ash told his defeated pokemon. "Take a rest. Now then Pikachu, you ready?" Mirror Pikachu chuckled mischievously and entered the field. "Alright, Pikachu thunderbolt!"
"Dodge and use flamethrower!" Charizard obeyed and swiftly avoided the electric strike. Then he sprayed a heavy river of fire from his jaw, burning the field surrounding them to a crisp. Mirror Pikachu leapt into the air however, and was just barely able to avoid it.
"Electroball!"
"Dodge it Charizard!"
Mirror Pikachu shot the electrical ball from his tail in the direction of the large pokemon, and because he was far too big, the attack hit its mark. Since the pokemon was airborne, the attack did much more damage to him than if he were on the ground, causing him to collapse to the ground.
"Charizard is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!"
"Might as well make it an even fight, you ready Pikachu?"
"Pika!"
"Alright, let's do this, for Lapis. Pikachu iron tail!"
"Dodge Pikachu, the use quick attack!"
Mirror Pikachu dodged the iron tail and because his opponent was now within touching distance, Mirror Pikachu landed his blow. But since quick attack was a relatively weak attack, Pikachu was able to shake it off with ease.
"Use thunderbolt!"
"Counter with your own thunderbolt!"
The two collided and exploded into a shower of sparks. "Use electroball!"
"Do the same!"
He should've seen it coming, Mirror Ash might've been not as brave, but he knew all of his strategies to the exact second. Then he decided to change his tactics, and took advantage of the smoke created from the collided attack. "Quick attack but keep below the smoke!" His new strategy was successful, as neither Mirror Ash or Mirror Pikachu could locate Pikachu's location through the smoke. Then he attacked, striking Mirror Pikachu off guard. "Now thunderbolt!"
"PIK-A-CHU!" the pokemon exclaimed, electrocuting Mirror Pikachu.
"Pikachu is unable to battle, Ash and Pikachu are the winners!"
Mirror Jasper got up and ran to her lover. "You did great Ashy Washy, and you didn't cry this time! I'm so proud of you!" she happily exclaimed pulling him into a hug. "Come over here and get in on this!" she then requested Ash, grabbing him with her free arm and squeezed him hard.
"Thanks, Jasper. I can't breathe" he wheezed.
After Mirror Jasper let go of them, Mirror Ash looked at his counterpart, "you did great Ash."
"Thanks, sorry about hitting you Jasper. I was just in a serious wreck, you definitely aren't the Jasper I know and hate. You two seem pretty happy, how'd you meet anyway?"
"Oh it was absolutely romantic, I was sent to escort Peridot here to Earth to monitor the Cluster, I assume your world has one?"
Ash nodded.
"Well, as soon as we landed, we met everyone and I absolutely fell in love with this beautiful planet. So Ash took me and Peri into his home and, well, we fell in love."
"It was nice when it was just the three of us living here, then we got the idiot boy, the quiet girl, and the trio of "self righteous" over here, and I can't get a moment's peace!" Mirror Peridot complained.
"How did you and your lady Ash?" Mirror Bonnie asked politely.
"It's a bit complicated. My world's Pearl gave me and my Steven a mirror to teach us about Gem culture. Turns out a Lapis Lazuli was trapped inside, and when we freed her, she tried to steal the ocean to get back to Homeworld, since her gem was cracked. After Steven healed her and she returned to Homeworld, my world's Peridot and Jasper kiddnapped her and forced her back. Long story short, I can't explain it, but we fell in love during that time. Love works in mysterious ways I guess. I just hope this world's Lapis is safe and happy, wherever she is."
"Mirror, mirror," Mirror Pearl debated in her head, "did I give you a mirror like this?" she asked, pulling the familiar object from her gem.
Ash immediately snatched it from Pearl's hand and flipped it over to see the blue, teardrop shaped gemstone with a large crack down the middle was in the center of it.
"Is that her?" Mirror Ash asked.
"Yeah, alright everybody stand back"
"Are you seriously going to let her out?" Mirror Serena angrily asked, "I mean, you said the last time you did that she tried to destroy the world!"
"This is the right thing to do" Mirror Meowth informed her, as everyone began to step back.
Ash flipped the mirror back over and looked into his reflection, knowing she was probably looking back at him. "Alright, I'm going to let you out. And no one is going to try and keep you here against your will, all I ask in return is to just talk to you, and for you to hear what I have to say. Do you understand?"
"Alright," the mirror answered him by repeating his words. Ash then took matters into his own hands, and began to pull at the gem lodged inside with all his might. Mirror Ash then joined him and the two were eventually able to pull the stone out. It floated across the field and soon Mirror Lapis now stumbled to her feet, turning around to address them "thank you" she whispered before falling over. Ash ran to her side while Mirror Ash knew it was not his place to interfere and returned to Mirror Jasper's side.
"Hi" Ash nervously told her as he gently supported her.
"You actually helped me. You actually knew I was in there and did something. Why? Who are you?"
"My name is Ash Ketchum. You do not know me but I know you Lapis Lazuli. I come from a different dimension where you and I were…" he began to choke on tears, but Mirror Lapis understood what he meant. "I know you're not her, and I'll probably never see her again. But I made a promise to her that I'd always keep her safe no matter what. And when she left me, I failed that promise. I have to tell you, that you are free to do whatever you wish now, no one will try and change you. I just wanted you to make the right decision. You are free to go home to Homeworld, but I implore you not to, they don't care about you. They will use you until you aren't useful to them anymore and then will abandon you the first chance they get. Here, with them, you will be cherished and loved. You will have a place with these people. You will have a home, one that I failed to provide to my Lapis. But it's not too late for you".
Mirror Lapis gently caressed his pained face. "Thank you. But I can't even go back to Homeworld even if I wanted to. My gem is cracked"
"We've got you covered" Mirror Amethyst declared. "Steven, please heal her"
"Make me" he rudley scolded her, earning him a punch in the arm from Mirror Greg for is disrespect. "Alright, alright geez" he whimpered through his pain and smacked his saliva covered hand onto Mirror Lapis's back. She shuttered in Ash's arms, bringing back more pleasant memories in the process before she began to glow again. She then looked him in the eyes once more, her beauty brought Ash to tears yet again, and hugged him compassionately.
"The Lapis who left you sounds like a total fool" she told him. "She doesn't deserve someone as kind and compassionate as you Ash Ketchum."
"No, she doesn't deserve me because I failed her".
Mirror Ash and Mirror Jasper escorted her to introduce her to the rest of the group, leaving Ash to watch her getting acquainted with the others. With Pikachu now perched on his shoulder, he heard a sniffling man from behind him. Turning around, he saw Uncle Grandpa had rejoined him, crying at the emotional moment.
"Thanks for leaving me here" Ash annoyingly told him.
"Yeah, sorry about that. You make your peace?"
After taking a deep breath "yeah. I'm good"
"Well then, let's go home!"
"Bye everyone!" Ash told the mirror duplicates, stepping into the brightly colored RV. Once he was inside and Uncle Grandpa began their voyage home, Ash began to laugh through his tears.
"What's so funny?" Mr. Gus asked
"It's just, I think I cried more than Mirror Ash did. And I was just not ready to see Jasper like that. I mean "Ashy Washy"? Seriously?" this earned a chuckle from everyone at the odd pet names and the admittedly creepy relationship between the odd match of Mirror Ash and Mirror Jasper.
"Good luck kid" Uncle Grandpa wished him, "because this is probably gonna be the last time we see each other. You and your lady are meant to be, and I don't wanna spoil anything, but I think she'll surprise you and make everything alright"
"Thank you Uncle Grandpa. You're a real good guy", he hugged him.
"See yah, and remember to say: GOOD MORNING!" he decreed getting back into the RV and flying off.
"ASH!" James exclaimed running out the hole in the Temple and hugging him "when I left the bathroom and didn't see you, I thought the worst had happened! Where did you go?"
"Guess I just had some self searching done. I'm sorry about what I said earlier"
"I'm just glad you're doing better."
"Hey guys!" Steven announced as he, Amethyst and Peridot joined them on the beach.
"Glad to see you off the couch Ash" Amethyst told him, smacking him on the back "you doing better?"
"Yeah. Just needed to get out of the house I guess" was all he could think to say, not wanting to have to explain what happened because of how obscene his relief was caused by.
"Well, you should see what we did for the Prime Kindergarten" he began to explain to the two.
"Give me a sec bud" Ash told them, deciding to stay on the beach a few more minutes. When he was now all alone on the beach, he looked up to the twilight above him, wondering if Lapis was looking down at him. "I know she still loves me" he whispered to himself "and I've got to make good on my promise to keep her safe, even if we aren't together." Just in case he was right about Lapis watching him, he picked up a piece of driftwood and began writing a message for her on the sand. Finally feeling at peace after reminding himself what he was now fighting for, he sighed and returned to the Temple to about the garden the Shorty Squad had planted.
"I MISS YOU" was now written in the sand.
"YOU STUPID POKEMON!" The Iron Masked Marauder exclaimed in rage, violently kicking the Sableye so hard that he fell over the edge of the cliff in the Beta Kindergarten the Team Rocket strike team and prisoners were standing on. Sableye had indeed lead them to lapis lazuli, unfortunately the pokemon had lead them to a deposit of actual lapis lazuli lodged in the clif.
"She can't have gotten far" Annie concluded, maybe we should go back to the-"
"No, if the Lazuli did run away she's probably off planet and out of our tracking range. The mission will have to wait, the Diamonds have to know about the Cluster immediately. The fate of the invasion rests on it"
"I came here to hunt a Lazuli, I'm gonna bag me a Lazuli" The Marauder protested "I don't give up on a hunt"
"There's a first time for everything"
Misty began to laugh at the situation.
"What's so funny?"
"It's just, how pathetic you all are. I mean, he didn't have to pokeballs to kill Greg when he had the chance, your "plan B" completely backfired on you, and now one of you is gonna have to tell the big guys how you're all screwed. And I don't think they're gonna let whoever that lucky one off easy."
The Marauder grabbed Misty by the throat and held her over the edge of the clif. "Still don't think I have the pokeballs?"
"LET GO OF HER!" Brock screamed at him
"With pleasure" he said beginning to loosen his grip
"Oh give it a rest you psycho" Butch tried to calm him down "we still need them"
"Stay out of this Benny!"
"MY NAME IS BUTCH! BUTCH! BUTCH! BUTCH! BUTCH!"
"Oh stop it boys" Cassidy tried to bring some sort of tranquility back to the group.
"Oh so now you care. You didn't seem to give a shit when the Garnet threatened to snap my neck last night! You encouraged it!"
"STOP IT ALL OF YOU! Marauder, put her down we still might need her. And Butch stop being, how do you humans say it? A little bitch?" Aquamarine scolded them all
The Marauder threw Misty back to the cliff top next to Brock. "You alright?" he whispered to her.
"Yeah"
"What's that?" Aquamarine asked, pointing to the black object that fell from Misty's back pocket resulting from her being tossed.
Cassidy walked over and picked it up, carefully rubbing the burnt plastic to see what it was. When she saw a blue plus on it, she grew a wicked smile. "So the plot thickens. Who's the daddy red?"
Misty looked at them confused at first, but then realized that they thought the pregnancy test belonged to her. And if these monsters found out it was Lapis who was pregnant, from what Ash had told her about Jasper, it would not end well. She decided to keep them in the dark and go along. "Ash is"
"I'll let you know in advance, I don't like kids. Especially crying, screaming brats. You're lucky we took you when we did before you're due kid, because if that baby came, you bet that Marauder would get to take out his anger on it"
"This information is pointless, let's just get to Homeworld and get this over with" Aquamarine declared.
"When did Ash cheat on Lapis with you?" Brock asked her, sounding a little uncomfortable with the possible situation.
"I'm not pregnant, that's not mine" she whispered back "let's just make sure they still think that"
Brock finally caught on and prepared for their voyage to Homeworld.