Hello, hello, it's been a long time and no, I do not feel remotely guilty. Several factors resulted in the delay. I went on holiday for two week without Internet to cross reference things. Then I had another two weeks with next to no Internet while trying to catch up on all the events I had missed including the start of the new anime season. I had a lot of trouble with the first scene of this chapter since I wanted an argument that would actually be about relevant relationship points rather then just mud slinging. All of that combined with a very busy real life schedule results in this delay. I will repeat again: I do not feel remotely guilty.

Anyone who has checked my profile will have noted the warning about chapters being irregular. I write when the circle of 'I have free time' overlaps with the 'I feel like doing something creative right now' circle. I like writing and I like to produce content at regular intervals but I'm rather busy right now so that means slower chapters.

On a separate note: I've had a beta request. So that means I am officially opening the position of beta reader for As Arceus Decrees It. I'm not fully familiar with the process yet so I don't know whether I can/should/will have multiple beta readers but we'll see how things go. I will give you the same application testing procedure I gave the applicant:

(1) I would consider the users past beta experience and hopefully ask for and get the opinions of people they have beta'd (I'm not sure how you spell it) for.

(2) Language is also a factor. My chapters would need to be correct to Australian standards, which differs slightly from America in spelling etcetera.

(3) The third major aspect is that I'm a very stubborn person. I love new ideas and I'm more then happy to look at mistakes I have made but I won't take kindly to a beta who tries to change the course of my story. It is mine and it will go the way I want it to go. Adding new or enhancing existing aspects is good but I will decide the overall direction of it. If you understand this and are willing to put up with my underlying stubbornness then you pass the first threshold.

(4) As far as testing goes, I think it would be more productive if I have a beta that I can consult with if I have technical difficulties. Back in chapter four I said that the chapter was partially delayed because I was working on some bonus content. It is my intention to release character profiles as a separate 'story' to celebrate reaching 100 reviewers, followers and favourites. Since this threshold has almost been reached, I have run into a minor problem. The word document I have utilises the tab key to create columns for a character's list of pokémon. Without the columns, the list of pokémon would take up to much space and be rather unsightly. The first half of the task is to tell me how one would create adjacent columns (or a table) if it is actually possible on this site (It might not be). The second half is special characters. I have seen other authors with black boxes and superscript TM in their chapters and I would like to be able to do the same thing (with a star icon specifically).

I will try to finalise my evaluation before I publish my next pokémon chapter but that will take some time and I may not be able to. Please be patient and by all means make suggestions on how to get around my technical issues even if you don't want to apply for beta. All feedback is welcome.

Last point: I have two more theories I'd like to share (because I know how much you love reading authors notes instead of the actual story :P )

Baby pokémon breeding theory
As any competent gamer should know, baby pokémon are ones that cannot be bread under normal circumstances and usually require one of the parents to hold an incense. It's a neat game mechanic that forces you to use the day care to complete the pokédex but I'd like to take a moment to hypothesise what it means from a biology point of view. This theory, unlike the others, has a lot more chance of someone coming up with it first but I'd like to state it anyway.

Being able to hatch offspring at two different stages of development can have a number of advantages from an evolutionary survival point of view. Under normal circumstances I'd say that most of the pokémon would skip over the baby stage or their life cycle completely. However, in times of famine or when winter could cut a breeding season short, it would be very advantages to induce a shorter pregnancy which produces an egg that could hatch faster (I don't know that game stats. I'm just assuming that smaller offspring hatch faster) from which emerges a pokémon that is fully developed, smaller and therefore requires less food to survive. Granted a pichu is easier to kill then a pikachu but two pikachus and their baby pichu have a better chance then two pikachus and their immobile egg against a predator.

History of evolution theory
Everyone knows that Mew is the evolutionary ancestor of about 99% of the pokémon out there. Pokédex entries (like Raichu's) and the anime also occasionally reference non-pokémon life forms (more so in the old days). It can also be safely assumed that humans evolved in the pokémon universe rather then entering from somewhere else.

From this we can conclude that evolution (of the scientific kind) happens the same way it does in our world. Mew was awesome and completely outcompeted just about all the non-pokémon species to extinction. After all Mew can fly, swim, teleport, turn invisible and it's small size compensates for the higher metabolism its' smarter psychic brain would require. Earth animals didn't really stand a chance. After that the mew species diversified and essentially copied most of the extinct species to custom fit into each individual habitat (In a stable habitat it is well known that specialist species outcompete generalist species).

This then brings us to a fork in the road of pokémon evolution. Was the immortal trait of mew something it had from the early stages or something it got later? If the mew species got the trait later down the track then the issue is simple: The descendant of the mew species became less and less 'mewish' and some developed immortality (or something close to it). The mortal mews got old and died like normal species do and only the immortal minority remain to this day in their original form.

However if it is the former then something scarier is implied. If the mew species was immortal before they bred into speciality then the original population should still be around in much larger numbers. Immortals would keep sustaining themselves and producing more offspring that would probably inherit the same trait. Perhaps they hibernate in large numbers for long periods of time and the present time is simply in one of those lulls. Or perhaps . . . something killed them off.

Immortality is a practical evolutionary trait that would only disappear under three circumstances: overpopulation leading to complete starvation and extinction (highly unlikely), a building block for that immortality becoming too rare to sustain the trait or . . . something else that had an advantage in eating that immortal building block.

What I'm proposing is: what if Mew had a natural predator. It doesn't necessarily need to feed on a hypothetic immortality building block; maybe it just likes psychic pokémon in its' diet. Regardless of why exactly this creature would prey on mews, it would certainly explain why there are so few of such a powerful pokémon. But what could possibly hunt a mew. As stated before, Mew can fly, swim, teleport, turn invisible and basically out predict its' opponents moves with telepathy and attack with telekinesis. Whatever this hypothetical creature is, it is probably the ultimate predator.

Thanks again for reading the theories and do tell me what you think of their validity. If you want to share them on a chat room, please tell people where you read it. I don't really need credit but having people intentionally claim other people's ideas as their own leaves a bad taste in my mouth so have some courtesy or tell me if you saw a dated post somewhere that was smart enough to come up with these theories before me.

I do not own pokémon as it belongs to The Pokémon Company, Game Freak and Nintendo. Long may they reign!

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Chapter 7: First Impressions part 2

Oak's Lab, Kanto

Silence pervaded the living room as the five Japanese girls in pyjamas stared at the five American girls in the doorway.

"More girls? Really? I'm starting to get fed up of these new arrivals," said Leaf aridly from her wheelchair.

Hilda's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "I see you weren't kidding when you made that off handed comment back at the airport Gary."

"Gary, if you hired those two actors just to freak us out, I swear I'll-" started Dawn who still had puffy eyes from her teary reunion with her mother an hour prior.

"E-easy everyone," cut in Bianca frantically, "All of us are hear to help save Ash from Mewtwo so we need to get along. Why don't we start with introductions. My name is Bianca and I'm from Unova. I travelled with Ash a bit and we both competed in the Unova league."

She then gestured at Dawn who nodded, "Hi, I'm Dawn and I'm a coordinator and part time professional fashion pokémon fashion designer."

Bianca's hopes of a peaceful introduction were promptly dashed as most of the girls decided to use this as a chance to one up each other. Why did pokémon trainers as a rule have to be so competitive?

"I'm Rosa and as a few of you have already guessed I've starred in a few movies on top of my participation in the league circuit," proclaimed the Unovan proudly

Leaf snorted, "Anyone can compete in a league. I on the other hand have actually won the Kanto one."

"Still not something you should be boasting about," said Hilda as she examined her nails for added effect, "Especially considering I'm the reigning champion of the Unova region."

"Ok, ok we get it! Your all very talented trainers who are all very proud of your accomplishments," cut in Angie, "Now can we be civil or is showing off really more important to you then Ash's situation."

The others looked guilty while Gary muttered, "So close."

Anabel yawned, "We'll handle introductions later. It's late and as you can see, everyone here has already changed into pyjamas so you might want to do the same once Gary leaves the room. The parents are occupying the guest rooms so we'll be sleeping here. Gary, can you lead the girl with the Zoroark to your grandfather."

Gary nodded and led Rosa out of the room as Delia passed by them, "Sorry for the wait. Now don't eat too many of the cookies because Brock is apparently preparing some late dinner since he knew that the plane food wouldn't be that appetising. The rest of the girls kindly offered to wait so you can all eat together, isn't that wonderful."

The girls all gave murmurs of acknowledgement and thanks with a few guilty looks. Once Rosa had come back and the girls had all changed, Brock showed up with a heavenly smelling creamy stew of some kind and distributed bowls for everyone. They were left to their own devices while the older people (and the guys that were too uncomfortable to be surrounded by girls) had dinner in the main dining room so they talked about a few harmless topics for a little while before Misty broached a more delicate topic.

"So how long have you girls known Ash? And I don't mean how long since you first met him, I mean how long have you actually spent time with him?" she asked innocently.

"Uh, well . . . I'm sure it would have been longer if Mewtwo hadn't interfered," Hilda fidgeted. Everyone could tell where this conversation was going.

"How LONG?" repeated Misty, not wanting to put up with airy-fairy answers.

"A bit under a week," Hilda answered, "Rosa and Yancy for less then that."

"That's a long way to travel for an everyday crush, don't you think?" said Leaf.

Rosa bristled, "My feelings are more then just a crush."

Misty sighed, "I'm sure your feelings are very special but it takes a lot more than just a week to fall in love with somebody. I travelled with Ash for more then two years and it still took me a while after that to figure out I was really in love with him."

"What exactly are you implying," Hilda snapped.

Dawn shrugged, "I don't really know Leaf well enough yet but I think the point she and Misty are trying to get at is that some of us have invested a lot of time in getting to know Ash. It's a little insulting to have someone who has really only just met him claim to have equal right to him when it comes to love."

"That's hardly fair," exclaimed Rosa, "Mewtwo wiped our memories so we didn't even get the opportunity to travel with him."

"Some of us already had obligations that we couldn't abandon," added Yancy shyly.

"It's fine," Leaf waved casually, "We appreciate the help but just don't get to disappointed ok. Ash helps every person under the sun so even if your meeting with him was really special to you, it would have been just another day on the road for him. He can't possibly remember everyone he's helped so don't go to far for a stranger. I can pretty much guarantee that he is going to choose someone who he's spent at least a year with."

"E-even if Ash has forgotten me, even if he only saw me as a bumbling amateur, I'm still not going to give up," said Bianca with an adorable look of determination, "Be it ten, a hundred or even a thousand years, I'm going to keep trying until I can be someone worthy of gaining Ash's attention."

Misty rubbed her brow in frustration, "That wasn't what I was getting at."

"Then what were you trying to say," said Hilda, crossing her arms, "because it certainly seemed like the three of you were on the attack."

"Look, if you've known Ash for any length of time then you should know that he can be rather . . . dense when it comes to romance," Misty explained, "I don't know how much is just normal him and how much can be blamed on Mewtwo but when we show up it's going to be very hard on him. Ash doesn't have any romantic experience so he won't really know how to cope with lots of people vying of his undivided affection.

All of us will be pushing for an answer he really isn't ready to give and I don't want to put him through that any more then I have to. If your feelings are genuine then . . . that's great I guess but if it's just a crush then please think of Ash first. There are people in this room who really do love him and want the best for him. Just . . . try not to be selfish about this. Love is more then just wanting someone."

Hilda pursed her lips in thought, "I understand what you're saying and I can assure you that my feelings are genuine. My time with Ash might have been short but we went through a lot together. It was stressful, crazy and down right scary but I know there was a connection. Maybe for him it really was just platonic but I sincerely doubt any of you have made more progress. If you had then Mewtwo would have intervened and Ash just would have started traveling with someone else."

Leaf and Dawn gawked at this but it was Iris who took the most offense, "WELL excuse ME for not being a needy clingy girl who bats her eyes to make Men swoon. Maybe it had nothing to do with how long we knew him. Maybe Mewtwo just got rid of you for having an enormous bouncing chest."

"I-Iris, I wasn't trying to imply-," stammered Hilda before Leaf cut her off.

"No, no, Iris's theory actually has merit," she smiled mischievously, "As Ash's age group rose, Mewtwo does appear to have intervened more often so maybe the distinction was just based on appearance rather than actual emotional level."

"Oh I cannot believe you just said that," Rosa shouted.

"ENOUGH," yelled Angie, "It doesn't really what or why Mewtwo did what it did. What matters is our feelings. Now I know I haven't spent as much time with Ash as some of you but personally I feel that it's not how long you were with some one but rather that your feelings that endure, even if you are apart, no matter how long you are apart."

Anabel nodded, "I agree."

Leaf shrugged, "Tell yourselves whatever you like but since I knew Ash first and for the longest, I'm the one he is going to end up with. After all, movies always show the childhood friends reuniting and living happily ever after in the end."

"THAT'S IT! I've had it with you!" screeched Hilda as she lunged at Leaf and the two tumbled to the ground.

"All right break it up," said Misty as she quickly got to her feet. Then a stray shoe hit her in the face. Her expression flipped from annoyed to aggro in a millisecond, "Gyarados, drown them with hydro pump!"

Chaos promptly ensued. Off to the side of the room several people came in to investigate the mayhem. Gary coughed and held out his hand smugly. Tracey sighed and forked over the promised fifty. Delia then yanked both of their ears disapprovingly. The fight proceeded unimpeded for nearly ten minutes before Prof. Oak gave up and let Bulbasaur dowse all the girls with sleep powder.

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Lumiose City, Kalos

"You know, I don't normally allow people to just show up and sit down while I'm eating dinner," said Diantha to Serena and her friends.

"I'm really sorry about interrupting your night out but this is really urgent," Serena apologised.

"You don't have to worry about the media showing up either Ms Diantha," boasted Clemont, "I used one of my special gadgets to calculate which restaurant you were most likely to be dining at so no one else knows you're here."

"It's alright, I don't mind," sighed Diantha before muttering under her breath, "So long as you sign an agreement not to give that device to the media."

"Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou Diantha! You have no idea how much this means to me," Serena exclaimed.

The champion smiled at their youthful enthusiasm, "So, what can I do to help? You said it was urgent?"

So the group of teens (and Bonnie) launched into an explanation about Ash, his status as the chosen one, how the mysterious Mewtwo was preventing people from getting close to Ash and finally how Serena desperately wanted to find Ash's Greninja so that they could all work together to rescue Ash from Mewtwo (and his associates).

Diantha blinked as their story came to a close, "Well that's a lot to take in. Do you mind if I make some phone calls to double check on this 'chosen one' thing?"

"Not at all, we are the ones coming for your help after all," nodded Serena.

Excusing herself to a secluded area in the restaurant, Diantha quickly dialled the phone number of her manager/assistant Kathi Lee, "Hello Kathi, I was wondering if you could double check a few things for me? No, it shouldn't be anything serious, just a quick history check. Could you access what information we have about the chosen one? Yes . . . yes . . . I see. That's very interesting. Do you have any information on who the chosen one could be? You don't? Can I ask who is in charge of managing the information on the chosen one? Really? The director of the G-Men? Thankyou for that Kathi, that will be all for tonight."

Huffing to herself, Diantha practically punched in the next number into her phone.

"Hello,"

"LANCE YOU ASSHOLE!" she yelled into the phone, "How could you have known about Ash being the CHOSEN ONE for at least FIVE YEARS and not have had the courtesy to tell me my region was going to turn into a potential WAR ZONE."

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Melemele Island, Alola
(A/N: Due to the Butterfree Effect, the following event happens a day or so before it would have in the anime.)

J stared at the scene before him and felt his eyebrow begin to twitch in annoyance. Yesterday Ash had asked Prof. Kukui about the highest locations in the Alolan region because he wanted to use his pidgeot flute. The Professor had suggested that the best place would be Mount Lanakila but unfortunately access was restricted. So J had volunteered to make it possible and pulled some strings so that the group would be able to go this morning. Since this had essentially been the result of his gift (the flute), he had graciously offered to arrange for some rental hiking gear since none of the students nor the Professor seemed to know much about hiking (at least by his standards). Now here he was, having dragged the very heavy (and rather expensive) hiking bags to the school so that they could go nice and early and here they were: SLEEPING.

Strewn about the ground with squiggly drawings all over their faces slept Ash, his friends (minus Lillie) and the two professors. Now it should be noted that J was in no way a cruel person; he was, on the other hand, rather vindictive. So, without a shred of guilt, he held a heavy hiking bag out at arms length and dropped it on Ash's stomach.

"AARRGH! *Cough, hack, cough, cough*," came Ash's reply, "What was that for?!"

"Why do you think," replied J with oozing sarcasm.

Ash looked around, "Oh man, Jigglypuff put everyone to sleep again."

J just shrugged, "Not my problem. Do you still want to climb mount Lanakila or not?"

"Of course I want to climb that mountain. Just let me wake everyone up," Ash answered as he moved to rouse his friends before J decided to pull out an air horn.

Now awake, the group complained about the drawings on their faces and briefly explained what was going on.

"Jigggly, jiggly, jiggly!" cried the familiar fairy as it charged back to the group.

"Oh dear Arceus, it's back again," screamed Kiawe.

"Hey Ash, does that jigglypuff always carry that microphone?" asked J.

"Uh, yeah but-" said Ash before lunging forward and grabbing J's arm mid quick ball throw, "J what are you doing! You can't catch that jigglypuff. If you keep it around then we'd always be put to sleep every time you let it out to feed it."

"But it's carrying around an accessory. Pokémon that do that are really rare," J replied in innocent confusion to his blocked throw, "Why can't I catch it?"

Said puffball arrived and started abusing Komala for sending it flying.

"Because it will put everyone to sleep with its' sing attack, duh," lectured Mallow as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh please," waved J dismissively, "you make it sound like you've never listened to a jigglypuff's song before."

Everyone including the professors looked at him like an idiot. After a few moments J gained a look of dawning disbelief, "Wait a minute, are you saying that none of you, including the esteemed Prof. Oak, have ever listened to a jigglypuff song in full."

"Of course not. Everyone knows that listening to a pokémon use sing causes you to fall asleep," Lana replied in exasperation.

"So it never dawned on any of you to eat a chesto berry first. They're not exactly hard to obtain, especially in Alola," said J with equal exasperation.

The group went completely silent. Jigglypuff chased Komala round and round in circles.

"Excuse me for a minute," announced Prof. Oak, "I need to find a wall to bash my head into."

J face palmed, "Wow, ok . . . I'm going to purge the last minute from my memory so that I don't start treating all of you like five year olds. Then I'm going to make a smoothie out of chesto berries for all of us to drink and we will listen to the Jigglypuff before we go hiking. They really are beautiful to listen to guys. You have no idea what you've been missing out on."

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Akala Island, Alola

Lyra stepped out onto the balcony of the hotel room she had rented and stretched in the morning sunlight. After the confusing results of the DPRS and the long repetitively circular conversation with her parents to get approval for the scan in the first place, she had just enough time to pack some extra travel supplies before boarding her plane. How Celebi had purchased the ticket for her was still a mystery. Arriving in Alola late at night, Lyra had been lucky enough to be able to get into one of the hotels nearby. It was a tad expensive but being right in the middle of Alola's main tourist district, it was very luxurious. She had then promptly gone to bed and slept in for a good chunk of the morning.

Lifting her Marill onto the balcony ledge so it could enjoy the seaside view as well, Lyra went over the facts and clues she had so far. During Sinnoh some unknown pokémon had done the low ranking (2) but extremely complicated process of redirecting her feelings from Ash to Khoury. Then Celebi, who has a mysterious connection to her Pichu, delivers her the four items. Three seemed sequential: first the photo of Ash to get her attention, the receipt to remind her of her feelings for Ash and finally the plane ticket that would hopefully take her to Ash.

Celebi was a time traveller so the photo was definitely taken after she found him. The real questions were: why did Celebi want her to be reunited with Ash and what on earth was she supposed to do with the pendant. She was wearing it, just in case, but she would have preferred Celebi to be a little more explicit with the instructions. She also needed to know why a psychic type pokémon or its' owner would want to keep them apart. Was it them specifically or something to do with only one of them. If it was the later then she could safely assume it was Ash.

Lyra had done a little searching online while she was on the plane so she could find out what her rediscovered crush had been up to since they had parted. There was information, and very surprising information at that, but it had been tucked away. Events that should have made global headlines didn't really get reported beyond the immediate area. Ash's name typically came up in the blogs of some of the people who were grateful for his pivotal role in averting disaster yet he was more or less passed over by the paparazzi.

The mystery before her was a strange one but she felt excited. A possible life with Ash would definitely be an adventure beyond the mundane normality that others had offered her.

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One song that changed the fate of Jigglypuff kind and a ferry ride later.

Ula'ula Island, Alola

"This is so unfair," whined Sophocles for the hundredth time that morning.

"We heard you the first time," Mallow ground out through clenched teeth.

"Come on Sophocles, a manly exercise like this will help build up you muscles," said Kiawe, puffing out his chest to emphasise the point.

"It's only a 60 degree incline. If the terrain wasn't so rocky, you wouldn't even need the climbing ropes," nodded J in agreement.

"BUT your NOT even CLIMBING!" Sophocles exclaimed in frustrated exhaustion.

True to Sophocles point, while Ash, Prof. Kukui, Lana, Mallow, Kiawe and Sophocles were steadily hiking up the slope of Mount Lanakila with the aid of ropes, J was sitting cross-legged on top of a tentacruel. The water pokémon's many legs of adjustable length allowed it to easily remain level for its' trainer to sit on while effortlessly scaling the slope at the same pace as its' fellow mountain goers.

J looked down at his pokémon, "This is a perfectly safe and practical way to travel. Jellyfish is my dive pokémon so it's already used to the extra weight and it doesn't mind the cold. It's not my fault you don't have one so I don't see why you'd have a grudge against me."

Sophocles did a very good impression of a boiling kettle.

"We can take another rest break if you need one," Ash offered from the front.

"Hold up cousin, I hear something," announced Prof. Kukui with a raise of his hand for silence.

After a moment of looking, the group heard a guttural grunt and spotted Tapu Bulu descend from above. The guardian deity came to a stop in front of Mallow for a moment before it abruptly rushed forward, picked her up and carried her of into the sky. Caught by surprise, Mallow did what any sensible person would do in her situation: panic, squirm and scream at the top of her lungs. As the ropes connecting her to the ground snapped, the group watched in stupefied silence as the Tapu carried her of into the distance.

"Do the Tapus of this world normally abduct people out of the blue," J deadpanned.

"No, no they definitely do not," Prof. Kukui replied.

Ash abruptly snapped out of his shock and started unclasping his hiking ropes so he could run after Mallow.

"ASH, what are you doing! It's not safe to remove those," cried Lana in panic.

"We have to go after her. These ropes are slowing us down," said Ash as removed the second last clasp before a large tentacle forcefully pushed him to the ground.

"Look Ash, I'm sure this is just Tapu Bulu's idea of a prank," J said sternly, "If the guardian deities don't have a history of abducting people then I'm sure she will be perfectly safe. On the other hand, if you go off the recommended hiking path without safety equipment then you will run into steeper ice slicked slopes. Add in frequent avalanches and other hazards that make the place unsuitable for settlement and I can guarantee that you WILL die. Just relax, calm down and when we get to the top, the ground will flatten out a bit and we can do some searching then."

The look on Ash's face clearly showed he didn't like J's slow and steady route but he begrudgingly agreed as Jellyfish's tentacle hovered over him threateningly and Pikachu sparked. The group resumed the climb with Ash no longer waiting for Sophocles but barely ten minutes later as they reached the half waypoint, Tapu Bulu returned.

"What did you do with Mallow," Ash yelled.

Tapu Bulu made no reply as it zipped behind Ash, looped its' arms under his shoulders and hoisted him into the air. Pikachu promptly zapped the fairy but it payed the rodent no mind as it gave a swift tug to dislodge the hiking ropes from the rocks.

"We've got to do something," shouted Lana in panic as she fumbled with her poké ball.

"Can't. You try hitting an airborne target that doesn't have the flight limitations of wings while avoiding the equally large human it's carrying as a shield," J interjected in annoyance, "Using fly is also illegal in Alola and a Charizard would never get here in time."

"Put me down!" Ash yelled as Tapu Bulu took him up, up and away.

As his friends disappeared from sight and Pikachu clung to him to endure the howling winds, Ash gave up on struggling, "You better be taking me to where Mallow is!"

Tapu Bulu gave a single grunt of agreement. After a short while through the howling blizzard filled winds, the grass fairy abruptly stopped and then dropped Ash without warning. He yelled for about two seconds before he and Pikachu literally fell into hot water. They quickly resurfaced with all the coughing and spluttering that that entails.

"Ash, is that you?" came Mallow's voice to his right.

"Mallow!" Ash cried jubilantly as he turned to see Mallow's head above the hot water.

He immediately made his way towards her before she promptly squealed, "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"

"Why not?" he replied perplexed.

Her face went beat red and wide eyed, "I, uh, I, well . . . "

Ash looked at her with an innocently expectant expression as waited.

Mallow looked away, hunching her shoulders enough to unintentionally bring them above the water surface and mumbled, "T-Tapu Bulu stole my clothes."

Ash's mind drew a blank on what that meant and what to do about that for a full five seconds before he span around blushing, "S-SORRY! I didn't realise."

Mallow just sank a bit deeper into the water and blew bubbles. This was soooo humiliating. Here she was, with her crush, in an unidentified hot spring on Mount Lanakila. While she was completely starkers.

"Well, if Tapu Bulu is gone then we should go find the others," Ash announced as he began to move to the waters edge.

"What?" she cried, lurching forward to grab the back of his collar, "Ash, directly above the five feet of rock wall around this hot spring is a raging blizzard. Your clothes are sopping wet. We'd both freeze to death in minutes if we left the hot spring."

"Oh . . . right," blinked Ash, "What do we do then?"

"We have to wait here," she replied with every shred of remaining dignity she could muster.

After five minutes of trying to look anywhere but at each other, Mallow broke the silence, "Ash, give me your shirt."

"Sure," Ash answered as he began to take of his jackets, "What do you need it for?"

"B-because it will be less embarrassing if I at least have something to wear," stammered Mallow.

Handing his jackets of to Pikachu, who could barely hold the water logged items and stay above water, Ash proceeded to remove his shirt and hold it out for Mallow. Just as she was about to take it, Tapu Bulu swooped down and grabbed the shirt and the jackets before flying back up into the blizzard above. If at all possible, Mallow's face went even redder as she realised her position was now even worse. Lillie and Lana were going to kill her when they found out about this.