Chapter 12: Lan-Ding Suspicion

Holy Land Academy returned to session as the uniforms were back on. In Wahanly's workshop, Wahanly and Ash were working on the MechaWorker that proved sufficient in the rescue of the Sacred MechaMasters, including Ceres and Dagmeyr. "Things seem to be returning to its boring self," she groaned. "Still, we did have quite an adventure back in Havoniwa." Ash nodded to Wahanly's claim.

"That's for sure," he replied.

"And I heard about Ceres wanting Pikachu after he heard about them comforting Hazuki. Seems the Pokémon have gotten their interests." To Ash, his thought about bringing Ceres and Hazuki to his world began to fuel his belief.

"Perhaps I can bring them to my world to have a Pokémon of their own. Nothing wrong with a Sacred MechaMaster having a Pokémon. Probably a lot safer to have around than a Sacred Mechanoid."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to bring that up for sometime and I wanted to tell you while in Havoniwa. With all the hubbub, that became rather impossible."

"It's just us right now so…"

"I've been running diagnostics on the Sacred Mechanoid you and Kenshi found and the results so far have been… interesting to say the least. On paper, the diagnostics appear not much of a difference between that and the other Sacred Mechanoids. Honestly, some of the outputs that I've seen are unlike those that came to my workshop before." Ash wondered about her findings.

"What do you mean?"

"All Sacred Mechanoids that I've examined have top-of-the-line energy reactors which are located on the back and the forearms." Ash looked to a Sacred Mechanoid to find rings on the forearms.

"You mean those rings?"

"Yep, those are the energy reactors. Anyway, the Sacred Mechanoid you found had those reactors but they're located in some strange areas: the base of the neck, the forearms as mentioned, but also on the lower back and on the inner knees. You ask me, whoever created this Sacred Mechanoid might have done it in a preliminary run." Ash looked to the Sacred Mechanoid he and Kenshi uncovered, wondering about Wahanly's discovery.

"Interesting…"

"That's for sure… and I can only imagine how the Sacred MechaMaster will perform." She closed the lid of the MechaWorker. "Okay, that should take care of the hardware upgrade I wanted to install. We should head to the Student Council Office."

"Oh yeah… a special referendum that Lashara talked about." The two exited the workshop but a voice rang out.

"Trouble is near…" it echoed. Ash turned around to the voice, eyeing the Sacred Mechanoid.

"Did you hear that?" he asked. Wahanly looked to Ash and around the workshop.

"Only you…" Around the Holy Land Academy, a tanned lavender-haired teen girl wandered around when she spotted Ceres and Pikachu approaching Ash and Wahanly.

"Ash, thanks for letting me watch over Pikachu," Ceres praised as Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder.

"Anytime, Ceres," he welcomed.

"Are you two on your way to the Student Council's voting?" asked Ceres.

"We are," Wahanly confirmed. The lavender-haired wondered about Ash and Pikachu.

'Who are they?' she thought. 'I mean, the rodent's as cute as the Koro… and is he a younger brother of that kid in the Mechanoid? Maybe I can have him while Mother has Dagmeyr.' That's when Ash spotted the purple-haired.

"Who's she?" he asked. Looking over, Pikachu, Wahanly and Ceres glanced to the woman in a similar uniform but wore laced heels.

"What did I tell you, Lan?" a brunette girl scolded. "stay with me when touring the Holy Land Academy!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Emera" the purple-haired apologized. "That boy and mouse caught my eye that I wanted to see for myself!" Emera looked to Ash and Pikachu and became curious to it as well.

"I heard he and his mouse are from the Highlands," she recalled. "He's currently freelance, but it's possible he's one of Empress Lashara's and Princess Maria's attendants working to maintain civility. Then again, it's not really my business."

"But you can admit that the mouse is as cute as a Koro."

"True enough." After meeting with Ceres, Ash and Pikachu attended the Student Council office. Dagmeyr, Aura, Lashara and Maria were among the people attending with Lithia at the front.

"Sir Dagmeyr, I heard you have a proposal that you wanted to share before we discuss the new referendums?" she asked.

"Of course," Dagmeyr agreed. "I've been in discussion with my uncle, Sir Ulyte Mest, about an activity, not to just to ease any tension among the Holy Lands, but to create funds in the referendums you have us listen to and vote upon."

"And what would this 'activity' be?" questioned Aura.

"What we can hold is a competitive sports tournament which Ash inspired the idea with his history," Dagmeyr claimed. Others in the Student Council seemed skeptical.

"A competitive sports tournament?" repeated Lithia.

"Yes, it gives us the opportunity to test the results of our training and promotes friendship among fellow Sacred MechaMasters from different lands," he assessed. "But if I'm gonna be honest with you, this tournament's real purpose… is to halt dormroom humdrums known as boredom." This made the girls laugh. Aura looked at the documents Dagmeyr provided.

"How interesting!" she awed. "The last event is a long distance obstacle race. Sounds like a lot of fun."

"I happily agree," Dagmeyr smirked. "We can hold preliminary rounds during class so that it doesn't burden their studies."

"Yes, and we may know a way to further increase excitement and raise funds even more," Lashara sneered. Maria read her cousin's intention.

"Gambling, right?" she guessed. "And you plan to be the bookie for the race when it occurs?"

"Well, naturally!" shrugged Lashara.

"Naturally unnecessary if you ask me," Maria denied. "You should know with the Holy Land Academy's budget, we can hold the festivities without fear of running the academy into debt."

"Perhaps, but it's not like the academy's gonna pay people from being bored," Lashara countered. Lithia had more.

"We should be vigilant about this if we do pass this proposal," she added. "If we deter cheaters and maintain order, I can offer my consent for this to pass. Now, I don't think we'll need to conduct a vote, but to be on the fair side, does anyone have an opposition to hold the event?" Ash and Pikachu looked around, noting no one raising a hand or clearing a throat.

("I guess everyone wants it,") Pikachu muttered. Lithia also believed in no opposition.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the move to hold the tournament is rendered," she concluded as she stamped the paper. That night, Ash and Pikachu were with Kenshi as they returned to their dorms.

"Man, being in a sports tournament will be interesting to be in, wouldn't you say?" asked Kenshi.

"I know, but I'm rather worried about it," Ash admitted. Kenshi stopped before turning around.

"What's wrong?" Taking a deep breath, Ash decided to come out.

"Something's bugging me about Dagmeyr when we rescued him and Ceres from those bandits." This made Kenshi look to Ash.

"Huh? Dagmeyr?"

"Yeah, when we got the Sacred MechaMasters out of there, Dagmeyr seemed… too pleased with our rescue. Ceres, I can understand since he believed he would be taken away from Hazuki for good… but Dagmeyr…" To Kenshi, Ash believed Dagmeyr didn't want to be saved.

"You think Dagmeyr wanted to stay behind?"

"I don't know. He looked too calm for being kidnapped and held. Also, the bandits didn't launch a counterattack."

"Good point, it did feel strange. Maybe let's keep it between us for right now and stay vigilant."

"Right, we shouldn't say anything to Chiaia." The boys retreated to their dorms as Pikachu seemed concerned with the suspicion. The next day, the Holy Land Academy was abuzz. All sorts of activities were on display: flower vases, sword combat and even races. As the day headed in the mid-afternoon, a bracket was set up with Ulyte and Mexiah watching. Some of the girls were excited for qualifying, some were upset that they failed.

"Well, if you ask me," Ulyte studied. "I'd say things are going smoothly.

"Too smoothly in my opinion," Mexiah sighed. "Besides, everyone's wanting to see the obstacle race as everything else is mundane and boring." Ulyte picked up and opened a book.

"It appears to duplicate the traditional Shurifon Race. It also seems as Ash, Princess Aura, Kenshi and Sir Dagmeyr are involved with it."

"So, that's why…" Her sneer plotted something. Nearby at an arena, stone pillars were being lowered into the ground. Lashara and Maria looked bored out of their minds.

"This is overwhelmingly awful," Lashara moaned.

"The life of a councilwoman certainly isn't an easy one," Maria muttered. "I've never felt this exhausted." Lithia overheard the girls as Pikachu looked on from her shoulder.

"Again, only those who actually work should be talking like that!" she scowled. Ash watched Kenshi clean a giant black Sacred Mechanoid on top of Wahanly's MechaWorker.

"Man, that can't be a Sacred Mechanoid," he guessed. Wahanly looked down to Ash as Kenshi continued to wipe the surface.

"One thing for sure, it's dirty as heck," he detailed.

"And you'd be mostly right," Wahanly answered to Ash. "This is actually a Sacred MechaLord: the only one in existence."

"Whoa, that's incredible!" gasped Ash. "And only one of these exist?"

"Yep, think of it like the god of Sacred Mechanoids," Wahanly summarized. "You can understand if the church is… super protective of it. Not to mention, no one's allowed to pilot it."

"Still, with its immense size, I can see this as power incarnate," Kenshi simplified. Ash awed the Sacred MechaLord before wiping his forehead of sweat. A raven-haired girl saw the heavy loading Ash performed.

"Hey, great job on helping out," she praised.

"Thanks… uh," Ash stumbled. "I don't think I got your name."

"Don't worry. Anyway, someone wanted me to give you some tea to help recover." She handed the tea to Ash.

"Thanks a lot."

"By the way, don't you think you're overdoing your body at least a little? I mean, those had to be about 60, 65 pounds at least."

"Not really. I've lifted and carried some Pokémon that were heavier." Lan seemed puzzled to what Ash referred to. Ash took a quick swig, enjoying the taste. "Someone really put some effort into this…" That's when he felt groggy and stumbled. His body began to shut down as Mexiah reached for his falling body.

"Whoa, easy there," she teased. "Oh my, you've got some tired body parts. Glad Kenshi's powder came in handy." Grynio came to Mexiah who had a plan for Ash.

"Miss Mexiah?" she called.

"Ash is gonna need plenty of love," she instructed. "Go and make sure he gets it."

"Of course, Miss Mexiah!" agreed Grynio. Mexiah's class swooped in and hoisted Ash out of the arena. In an hour, Ash began to stir while waist deep in warm bathwater. His eyes beginning to open, Wreda was there.

"Hey, Ash…" she welcomed. "Did you have a nice nap?" Ash blinked before seeing Wreda's slim figure in full display, including her breasts which were small but bigger than Lashara's.

"What!?" he jumped before stumbling into Bwoole, his back feeling a slightly bigger set of large breasts to the tall girl.

"Easy, tiger!" she teased. Ash gulped at the sandwiched breasts of Bwoole between her chest and his back. Ash began to peer, seeing Yeliss and her petite set and Gryino and her breasts just a tad bigger than Yeliss'.

"What's going on!?" he freaked. "How am I in the bath!?" That's when he found himself surrounded by a lot of girls, four of them he knew but the rest were new to him.

"We came here to feel better about not advancing in our tournaments," Gryino admitted.

"And we decided to freshen you up for the obstacle race that you, Kenshi and Sir Dagmeyr are gonna be in," Yeliss added. Every girl in the tub, completely naked and varying in sizes of breasts, came to Ash, hands on about anything not underwater. Ash could scream, but his mouth had a hand over it. Before Ash could be dunked and piled, a huge cloud of steam billowed. After a little while, the cloud dispersed… but Ash disappeared.

"What!?" screamed one girl.

"Where'd he go!?" gasped Wreda.

"Are we drowning him!?" gulped Bwoole. A hand over his mouth and a towel draped over his waist, Ash couldn't move while Lan held his bare torso to her clothes apron-like uniform.

"Man, those girls are nuts for you," she grunted. "And I thought Sir Dagmeyr's the chick magnet." After hustling Ash, face covered in saliva from the constant kisses from the girls, to the changing room, Lan had a good look to Ash as he got dressed.

"Thanks for helping me out," Ash praised.

"No problem," Lan sighed. "After all, you need to be in top shape if you're in that obstacle race."

"That's true." Ash clasped his head from the exhaustion. "What was in that tea?" Lan became curious.

"Someone spiked your tea?"

"I-I'm not real sure… One minute, I'm helping with the events and the next… well, you saw." Lan giggled to the sight she saved Ash from.

"Right… Anyway, get yourself ready for the race. I'll see you on the course, as well as Sir Dagmeyr.." She left to let Ash finish getting dressed.

'How does she know that I'll be in the race?' Meanwhile, Lashara saw the bookie business as a success.

"This is going great!" she sneered. "We can see the earnings coming our way!" She spotted a sheet with names on it. When she studied the names, her eyes bulged out and she seethed. "What the hell!?" Ash and Kenshi's names were on the top of the list.

ASH KETCHUM 3:1
KENSHI MASAKI 3:1

One of Lashara's bookies came to clarify the reason. "I do apologize, Empress!" she yelped. "But considering Ash and Kenshi's abilities that we've seen, it only makes sense that half of the people are voting for only those two."

"This is unacceptable!" snapped Lashara. "If either of those two win the race, this will all go to crap!" Her yelling made the other bookies scared. "There must be a way to slow Ash and Kenshi to make this work!" Meanwhile, the three who were suffering sometime ago were in the trees watching the activities.

"All these activities can be rather tiring to many participating," Jessie argued.

"And to think, the best event is the obstacle race which is coming soon," James added. "Though, what's an obstacle race without obstacles?"

"A pretty boring one," Meowth sighed. "But not so much… Look who's running with da Tauros?" The talking cat handed a sheet to Jessie who read the list.

"Let's see…" she started. "Dagmeyr Mest, that's the one our savior has an eye on… Kenshi Masaki, don't know who-" She stopped when she found a name that opened her eyes. "The twerp!"

"Really!?" gawked James. Jessie scrunched the paper with a wicked grin.

"This is the perfect chance to get Pikachu!" she cheered. The three huddled to learn of a plan. Night fell and Ash and Pikachu were heading back to their room.

"Knowing what's about to happen, it may be best if we got rest," Ash suggested.

("You need the rest,") Pikachu countered.

"Right, I heard that Maya wanted to watch you as I raced." When they entered the door, Ash and Pikachu were shocked to find Lashara and Maria.

"Evening, future Emperor," Lashara teased.

"Or future prince," Maria smiled.

"L-Lashara?" stuttered Ash. "Maria?"

("What's going on!?") questioned Pikachu. Lashara and Maria came to Ash and Pikachu while wearing silky nightgowns: Lashara in green and Maria in black. They also wore stiletto heels.

"We heard about Mexiah's plan to keep you for her own," Lashara said. Seeing Mexiah's class in the bathwater with him, it made sense.

"I'm a little young for Mexiah anyway," he shrugged.

"Perhaps, but we have permission to make sure you're ready to go for the obstacle race tomorrow," Maria promised. The cousins grabbed Ash's hands and held them together.

"You know, I want to take you back home with me and live a little more free than the royal business with how much care you two have given," he smiled.

"Oh, you didn't mind when we were naked with you?" thought Lashara.

"Or how much we appreciated your skills and hard work?" added Maria.

"Not really…" huffed Ash. "But from all the girls I've come across, you two have made me open my eyes about taking care of you two and if I can't bring one-"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Lashara hushed. "It's bedtime."

"We all need our rest for tomorrow's conclusion," Maria pointed out. That's when Lashara and Maria threw Ash onto the bed while Pikachu leaped clear. The cousins removed their heels and began smothering Ash in kisses while Ash's Koro looked on and quivered to what Lashara and Maria were doing. Then, a blood-curdling scream billowed from Kenshi, but it was from a great distance. Ash sat up at the sound.

"Kenshi?" he guessed.

"Don't worry about Kenshi," Maria advised.

"It's us until the morning," Lashara smirked. They wrestled Ash back down and threw the blankets on top. What scheme did Lashara and Maria have and who would win the race tomorrow?

TO BE CONTINUED…