Type: Rock
Shipping: AdvancedTwinsShipping

One-Shot 2: Lunar Tone

Ash and his friends were settling down for the night after more training. As the Pokémon were called back to their Pokéballs aside from Pikachu, the kids began to tuck themselves in their sleeping bags. It was a clear night sky as the full moon was on display. Pikachu tucked in with Ash. That's when something was coming down, supposedly from said moon. Ash leaped out of his sleeping bag. "Incoming!" he shouted. May, Max and Brock heard Ash's call and turned. They also saw the object barreling towards them.

"What is that!?" gawked Max. Suddenly…

"Gangway!" a young woman shouted. Ash stood up, ready to catch the falling item and woman. Instead, the item stopped and the woman flew into Ash. He braced and caught the woman in his arms, his body braced to take the full impact. A second after impact, Ash stood with the woman in his arms but had grass and dirt in his toenails.

"Nice catch," May gulped. Ash looked to his arms and realized the young woman he caught was familiar.

"First time I caught a Gym Leader," he joked. "So, what's up, Liza?" Floating down, Liza's Lunatone was worried about its trainer.

"I'm fine, Lunatone," she assured as Ash let her back down on her feet. "Thanks for the save, Ash."

"Don't mention it," Ash brushed off. Lunatone howled apologetically.

"Come on, Lunatone…" eased Liza. "I'm good." The Meteorite Pokémon sighed in relief. May and Max wondered about Liza's appearance rather than her home.

"Did something happen between you and Tate in Mossdeep City?" asked May. Liza snickered to the claim.

"No, Tate and I couldn't be running the Gym any better," she laughed off. "Actually, I came here since it's a full moon and Lunatone has a tendency of flying off on full moons. I'm still wondering why." Ash came to Lunatone who seemed to be behaving okay.

"You and Liza seem good to go," he observed. "Still, what happened?" Liza recovered enough to start.

"Back at the Gym, Tate and I got ourselves ready to call it a night after checking Lunatone and Solrock to the Pokémon Center to make sure they're fit for battle tomorrow," she began. "I noticed Lunatone behaving rather lively. With a full moon out tonight, it makes sense but it just seemed to be acting erratically. I told Tate that I'd be back and to not worry since I can bring my Pokémon back. However, the moon looked so close up. It was like a magnet that brought Lunatone to start flying off. I caught Lunatone, but it continued upward as if it had a destination. That's when I covered its eyes, hoping to retain some control… but that backfired and Lunatone and I fell… right into Ash's arms." This made Ash curious while Pikachu rode on Lunatone like Liza did.

"Say, didn't we have another incident with a Lunatone before?" he questioned.

"You mean back in Volley Town?" guessed Brock. Max figured on the name and the event.

"That's right, the Pokémon Mystery Club were after a Lunatone that was weak without moonlight," he remembered. "It could be that Liza's Lunatone wasn't satisfied with a trip to see Nurse Joy so it might have an urge to go after the full moon due to the potent moonlight." This didn't sit well with Liza.

"But if that's true, why fly and disobey me?" she pointed out. "Something doesn't make sense." Lunatone looked back up at the full moon again. Its eyes began glowing blue. Pikachu saw it.

("Not again!") he squeaked. Everyone turned back to the Lunatone.

"Oh no!" shuttered Liza as she rushed to her Pokémon. Ash pursued after Liza and she grabbed Lunatone, then he grabbed her around the waists. Lunatone began to fly again and the others became worried.

"ASH!" they cried out. "LIZA!" Lunatone failed to hear the names as it flew upward toward the moon.

"Lunatone!" shouted Liza. "Stop!" Lunatone ignored and flew higher and higher. Ash gritted, knowing they couldn't stand a chance of surviving if they went higher and worse.

"Swellow's asleep and Tate's too far away!" he grimaced. Then, more Lunatone emerged, all following Liza's Lunatone and the moon. Ash felt helpless as the moon-shaped Pokémon swarmed around and one just below the three in the crisis.

"What's going on!?" feared Liza. "A Lunatone Congregation!?" A slight shimmy from the Mossdeep City Gym Leader made Ash lose his grip.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he began to fall.

"ASH!" cried Brock and the siblings. The Lunatone behind Ash began using Confusion and stopped his fall. He blinked before finding the Lunatone using the move.

"That Lunatone's using Confusion," he smiled. "Thanks!" Liza saw the save and sighed, only to forget to hold onto her own Lunatone. She lost her grip and fell, letting out a scream.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" she yelped. The Lunatone below positioned Ash to catch her again. Luckily, it wasn't a fast fall as earlier as Ash caught her again in his arms, looking like she's Ash's bride.

"Gotcha!" he grunted. While thankful, Liza looked a little stressed.

"We gotta stop meeting like this," she joked. Two Lunatones allowed themselves as footholds for Ash as they continued to ascend to the moon.

"Where are we going?" he wondered. Her cheeks becoming red with how she was being held, Liza wrapped her arms around Ash's neck.

"I'm not sure," she shrugged. The congregating Lunatones soon gathered in a unit before they faced the moon. With a swarm of the Meteorite Pokémon together, they fired Ice Beams, Hyper Beams and some had Hidden Power as they shot at the moon. There was no crossfire and every attack went one direction. "Tate would flip out at this." The attacks soon faded into the night sky. After a few minutes, a shine from the moon as moonlight shimmered and illuminated the Lunatone Congregation.

"That is so cool," Ash awed. Brock, May, Max and Pikachu marveled at the sight of the moonlight on the Lunatones.

"I have never seen this before," Max gasped.

"Yeah, what's going on?" questioned May. Then the Lunatones began to circle Ash and Liza, starting to believe they've interrupted their festivity.

"This can't be good," Ash gulped. However, the Lunatones began humming. Hymns echoed up as if they acknowledged the joining humans.

"Of course!" realized Brock. "There's a moment every few years called Lunar's Chorus where the Lunatone gather under a Blue Moon to light the moon and sing a prayer to the legendary Pokémon that resides on there!" Max looked to Brock who began to cry.

"Brock, I get it!" he said. "Seeing this is something to marvel at! Why are you crying?"

"Well, Max…" blubbered Brock. "About Lunar's Chorus… Those who join the Lunatone in the sky, if they're a couple… are said to be a couple under the moonlight forever!" May gawked as she turned back up.

"NOOOOO!" she cried. She believed Ash and Liza were now a couple. Ash and Liza listened to the hymns. They smiled as they had the light shone on the two.

"Beautiful…" she awed. Ash nodded before Liza's blushing face looked to him. "Maybe in a few years, Tate won't mind a brother-in-law." Ash blinked before turning to Liza.

"Huh?" he irked before Liza locked her lips with his. Ash was taken aback, if he could go back, but he soon fell to the shimmering moonlight. The Full Moon provided an iconic backdrop to the kiss. Brock and May collapsed to their knees in defeat. After the moment, the pair came back to Earth with Pikachu greeting them.

("How was it!?") he cheered.

"Pikachu, I wish you were there with us," Ash smiled. Pikachu whined up Liza comforted him. Looking to the side, they saw Brock and May crying.

"What happened to those two?" asked Liza.

"One word: heartbreak," Max summarized. Lunatone sighed, believing they had nothing to go on. They returned to the campsite where Ash had concern.

"So, you're gonna spend the night with us before going back to Tate and Solrock?" guessed Ash.

"And don't forget Mom," Liza added.

"Right, can't forget Rachel." Ash looked to Brock and May, their heads turned from seeing Ash and Liza.

"To think, when Max told us about what we were in the middle of, I wasn't sure to believe it. Lunar's Chorus… and you and I were in the moonlight for it." This made Ash glance to Pikachu and Lunatone, asleep with each other.

"The Pokémon World is full of mystery. It makes me wonder what kind of Pokémon is on the moon the Lunatone pray to."

"It sure does. Say, perhaps we can look for it together when the moment comes, okay?"

"Absolutely." The two snuggled with each other in the sleeping bag, but Liza took off her shirt and threw it on her shoes. "Uh, Liza?"

"What? It's an undershirt. I'm not going any farther than that."

"Okay, I didn't need too much of it." As the night settled, the relationship of Ash and Liza has started. You can bet that when Rachel and Tate hear about Liza's love… they'll be over the moon, and not just the Lunatone.

END of ROCK
Next up: BUG

(The polls have reset with new entries. Prepare yourself for the new girls on the list and keep the votes coming. Also, I do wish for all of you a Happy Thanksgiving.)