How amazing, I've somehow made it back on schedule. In case someone wants to know, my hands are fine now :)
Hope you all enjoy this new chapter!
Lance's fight goes amazing and it's only halfway that Ash realises the battle is part of a large charity event kind of thing. It's not a realisation on his part, mind you, there's only so much you can remain unaware of if the commentator on the platform above the arena loudly proclaims the charity event, as well as all the other parts that take place because of it. The teen is pleased that it's to fund the rebuild of Orre's cities, he knows they need all the help they can get. He also remembers the old man back in the lobby of the hospital and he loves the idea of him being forced to look at this match because all TV shows have been cancelled to broadcast this. The old man would have only two options, one being to either watch the match or turn off the TV in total. And he would probably need to put in a CD or something because the match was followed on many radio channels too.
His mood only improves once the commentator tells him just how many people are watching because to him, it's all one big middle finger to that old man and everyone with a similar opinion. So he's got a pleased as punch smile on his face and it's not just because of his small victory only he knew about, it's also because Lance's Dragonite is beating the snot out of its opponent. And it's funny because the pokémon is a little slower than usual, due to the coldness of Winter. It still overpowers the Water-type but Ash still feels like those Ice-type attacks were just there to try and overpower Lance's pokémon. It doesn't show too much effect, his uncle leaves his dragon den open to the elements for that reason, to allow them to get used to the cold. And the pokémon do not object, they clearly love the idea to get stronger.
As much as Ash has already seen of the pokémon, they're very prideful and he knows that Ice-type pokémon are usually more dainty that Dragon-types, who take pride in their muscles and teeth. Froslass, for example, is dwarfed in front of a Salamence and yet, by power, it's a lot more powerful than the dragon. He's still amazed by the grace the Dragonite shows, though, he hadn't expected that from the bulky pokémon. As he's marvelling over the dragon, his stomach suddenly churns and he straightens or else his lunch will come out. He must've gone white because Riley steadies him the moment his back hits the backrest of his chair but it takes him a moment to reassure the man he's fine because he's out of breath all of a sudden.
"S-sorry," he gasps, barely able to breath. "I don't… know what came over me."
"I do. Will you be okay for a little? I need to check on something."
"Oh, yeah, sure," the teen says and swallows hard.
He's not sure if he's actually okay, though, his instinct is screaming at him to get up and run towards that tile but his mind is telling him not to, that he will get hurt and that he will cause more grief unless he remains seated. Ash is torn but just when he feels like fainting, a rather cold hand grabbed his shoulder. He looks up and god, he just wished he could smile at the unlikely visitor.
"Dear Lord, you don't look fit enough to sit outside," Cynthia says and she practically drags him out of the chair. "Look at you, you're white as a sheet and cold as ice. Come on, you can come sit with me."
Ash felt like he was sweating badly, though but he followed her anyway. His vision goes white for a second and it's the feeling of Pikachu's fur brushing against his cheek that brings him back. There's still a bit of fuzz around the edge of his sight but at least he sees where he's going again. His feet suddenly hit carpet and when the woman holds the door open for him, he feels a wave of warmth wash over him. Seems like he was cold, after all. Then again, when had Cynthia not been right, hm?
"Here we go, that'll be better," she says and Ash feels incredibly safe now.
He's got a good view of the arena as well but he's so pleased to find his godmother sit at his other side.
"Riley has a good head on his shoulders but he should realise that he's the only one used to such cold temperatures," Cynthia fusses and she lays her coat over him.
It's very comfortable, the coat has got a lovely fluffy and warm edge around the hood and neck and he catches a whiff of floral perfume. It makes his nose tingle, he's still got his overly sensitive hay fever to mind but the perfume isn't strong enough to make him sneeze. Instead, the warmth and comfort nearly makes him drift off but Agatha's hand reaching out to brush some hair out of his face stops him from doing so. Her hands are pretty cold too.
"Don't give him a fever now, dear," she says as if Ash is out cold. He doesn't mind, he's too comfortable to move anyway.
"I'll be careful, don't worry. It's strange, though, he just lets me do this."
"He's a very kind boy, Cynthia. And you know certain accidents change people. He most certainly is one of them. And look at him, he's white as a sheet, they should have really known better than to leave him in the cold, poor boy."
Oh, but now Ash feels really nice. It's only his curiosity that's keeping him awake but honestly, what had changed so much about him that they suddenly liked him so much? Granted, they probably thought he was asleep and he's pretty sure they wouldn't have said anything if they knew he could hear them… but he likes hearing that he's exactly what he thought he was too. Maybe he's a bit rude from time to time but that was to be expected from a teen, right? At least his mom had kept saying it, standing there in that typical pose of hers, her hand against her cheek and looking all worried for the future. Maybe she had seen what would become of her, if he had been in her shoes, he would have been worried too.
He's not at all sure if he's ever going to be going back to Pallet. Ash isn't even sure whether he wants to, he doesn't hate the place but he doesn't love it either. The issues he's had with the town speak for themselves and he's already noticed how much he enjoys the feeling of Mahogany Town a billion times more than the one in Pallet Town. And it's not because the people don't know him at his new residence, the thing is that they do. He belatedly realises he's passed through there before and every Gym leader has contact with the people and well… The bloody Lake of Rage. The first time he's ever been in the way of an elite trainer and they both hadn't even known their connection with each other. Ash still wonders if Lance cursed him for being there that time but there's no way the man remembers or that he would be honest to him about it. The answer would probably make him sad anyway so maybe it's for the best that he spares himself the effort of asking, when he can already guess what kind of reaction he would have gotten, all those years ago.
"Is that Ash?" he suddenly hears and it's a young man's voice, one he's never heard before. "Lance's nephew?"
"Yes," someone else answers, someone not at all near him. "Let him sleep, Will."
"Mm-hm."
Ash can feel the same sensation as that time where Mewtwo had spoken directly into his mind and he doesn't feel like it's a safe thing that a stranger is doing it to him without asking him. He has enough bad dreams to give this psychic a good scare, though and the spookiest one is the one where he remembers exactly what the pokémon who attacked him looked like. It's atrocious, its speed and anger are so visible and even if it pains Ash to think about it, the thud he hears when the young man called Will falls from his seat is more than enough to make him feel like the action was vindicated.
"Mother of-!" the young man cries out as it sounds like he's trying to scramble up from the floor. "You need to wake him up, he's having a nightmare."
That's why he gets a jab at his arm and he straightens with a snort as it startled him.
"Kid, kid, are you okay?"
Ash raises his head and looks at the person behind him, who is looking at him too. It sort of looks ridiculous because he now sees the young man upside down. It doesn't matter, though, he's got one important question for him.
"How did you know I had a nightmare?"
"I'm a psychic and-"
"There a law against breaching the mind of an unconscious person."
The man stares at him.
"You've got a law degree?"
"No, but I can read. What were you doing in my head?"
"You're too much like Lance, kid, it's not even funny. All you need is red hair and you're a mini-version of him."
"Thanks. You need a whole lot more to, you know, be a decent person if all you have is diversions to keep yourself from getting arrested."
"… And here I was, thinking you were a nice kid."
"I find you knees deed in my trauma and I'm supposed to be nice?" Ash chuckled. "That's not the way it works, sir."
"Oh… Yeah, I suppose not. Sorry, kid." The young man says and to his credit, he seems truly apologetic. "I suppose it's not too late to make a good impression on you?"
"You can try," the teen offers helpfully. "You could start by introducing yourself, sir?"
"O-oh, I'm sorry, I thought you knew, I'm Will. I'm one of the elite four members of Johto."
"Nice to meet you, Will."
"Leave the kid alone, man," a blue-haired woman says and Ash has enough time to think she's pretty before she somehow manages to swear Will out of the room. "He's so bloody nosy sometimes."
The woman makes no move to introduce herself but the way she carries herself and chooses to sit in the far back of the room, in the darkest corner possible, gives away she's a Dark-type trainer. He just knows it.
"That's Karen, Ash," Cynthia helpfully supplies. "Be careful when approaching anyone from the Johto league, they can be extremely volatile to some people. You just noticed first-hand what Will is capable of… Though colour me surprised, how did you know?"
"It tickles whenever someone does that. Don't know how I know, just that it tickles," Ash answers. "Thank you for letting me use your coat, Cynthia," he adds, as he hands her the very warm coat back. "It's done wonders."
"I'm glad, I was really worried. You still don't look too great…"
"That's got nothing to do with the cold, no worries, I'll be fine. Can I… stay here? For now? I don't want to be outside right now."
Because things were happening and he couldn't run from it. Stumble, yes, but then he could get trampled and he kind of wanted to live on. And from the looks of it, Lance's last challenger was down on their last pokémon too, so it wasn't going to take long before they would leave to go see Brandon anyway. Even though he kind of wanted to stay near Agatha and Cynthia. He doesn't know why but he feels pretty nice, sitting there with the two.
"Of course, you can stay here, you can stay as long as you like, Ash."
When Lance hears the news of what's happened on the exact spot Ash predicted something was going to happen, he's both pleased and pissed at the same time. He doesn't want extra work at all but Riley's involved in the mess too, so they're definitely going to be running late to their 'appointment' with Brandon. That the man had even put them on a timeslot was ridiculous, all he needed to do was step into his flying pyramid and fly off, never to be seen again. In fact, after Riley got the confirmation he needed to get going, Lance certainly wouldn't mind it if he never saw the man again.
"A bomb terrorist?" he repeats with plenty of feeling behind it when Riley re-joins him and tells him what had happened earlier. "Are you for real?"
"Yes. I know better than to bypass a psychic's instinct so when I saw Ash look physically ill, I ran here. Just in time to stop the bomb belt from going off."
"And how did you do that?"
"What do you think? Aura, of course. You know what I'm capable of."
"Yes, and you're not capable of stopping a bomb belt."
"Ah, fine!" Riley sighs. "He was about to press the button when a group of kids came in and I created a shield around him. Told him he was going to be the only one dying… softly. The kiddies were watching my shield so I couldn't, you know, curse at him, could I?"
"You're unbelievable, Riley."
"And your nephew, he's normal too, isn't he? You couldn't have told me he's a psychic, huh?"
"Honestly? He shows so little of it, I keep forgetting it. What did he do, then?"
"Get visions? Lance, he could even pinpoint where it was going to happen."
The man rolled his eyes, it was all a coincidence. If he hadn't taken Ash to the league today, the kid would never have known. And just because Riley was such an easy person to upset with luxury, he had come in through the normal entrance. As a Champion, he had his own key to get into the buildings of the pokémon league and you could bet he would take his nephew through that entrance next time. Bomb terrorist, dear god…
"What happened to him, then? The terrorist, I mean?"
"He got jumped on by officers, you did raise security."
"That I did… Well, are we good to go, then?"
"Err yeah, I guess so. I guess we just got to go get Ash."
"… You left him there?"
"You rather would have me drag him along when there's bomb-"
Riley stops talking and for a moment, Lance believes there's another class of 'kiddies' passing by because this man is a saint and he will not swear in front of children. It doesn't matter how many times he's told him that he's the only one in the world who doesn't occasionally swear and kids will get to know that one word you don't want them to know straight away, first try too. That's just how kids worked, man, is he glad Ash is old enough to know what social cues are.
"Oh, he's right there," the man says and points.
"Of course, he's with Cynthia," Lance sighs and no, he doesn't mind her but she's sticky.
If Ash got her curious about what he was doing here, she was definitely going to tag along. Not that this would truly be an issue but Brandon's a bit of a bootlicker when it comes to Cynthia. Not because he's attracted to her, it's because they can spend hours talking about the oldest, most useless things. There's no way he wants to be involved in any of those conversations but it seems like Ash has been keeping her at arm's length. Though he looks a bit off.
"Ash!"
"Uncle!" the boy exclaims and yes, Lance approaches him because he knows the kid can't run yet. Probably another reason why Riley had left Ash be.
"How are you doing? You're looking pale, buddy. You okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's the tile thing that's gotten me a bit upset," Ash answered. "And Will. He was trying to snoop."
"Ash told him off, though," Cynthia chuckles. "And then Karen, of course, he can't win when she gets going."
"Good job, buddy, I don't want Will near you when you're on your own."
"Okay, Lance. You heard him, Pikachu? You're free to be scary when Will approaches me again."
The pokémon looks far too pleased with that but Lance has already spoken to Mr. Goodshow about what he should do when Ash wants to start travelling again. He's free to do so, as long as he wants to, that is, even if Mr. President seemed a bit worried about the boy starting to train again and going too far away regions. The regulations for kids like Ash to allow him to travel again are… bad. In fact, the only thing that seems to be happening naturally is the fact that Ash will have to appoint a pokémon who will be with him all the time and have it protect him. Which is basically fits Pikachu's current role perfectly.
'He might as well get used to it, it's going to be the only way for him to ever travel again,' he thinks to himself and even if it pains him that he's going to need to be the one telling his nephew all about it, he's going to have to. Even if that'll leave him open and bare for Ash's initial reactions and misgivings.
Either way, Ash told Cynthia nothing, other than that he was here to watch the charity event, which makes it easy for them to shake her off. Even if she promises to come by but honestly, Lance doesn't mind that a bit, she's one of his best friends too, mostly because he had been one of the few many who didn't, you know, try to hit on her. It's only because he thought he wasn't good enough for her but whatever works, right?
"I'm sorry if I worried you," Ash says as he hesitantly reaches for Lance's hand. "I didn't know what to do and I didn't… want to make you feel like I'm some kind of burden you're supposed to carry so I just managed, I suppose. I didn't tell her anything, though, if that helps."
"You're alright, kiddo, don't worry. I wouldn't be here, looking after you if I didn't want to. And you've been a massive help, I didn't think you would know Cynthia is a bit nosy."
"I'm always on edge when someone is interested in me. That was already the case when I went to Sinnoh, unfortunately."
Lance understands and he gives the boy's hand a little squeeze. There's no way he's going to give the boy grief about anything that happened today, if anything, he's done the best he could have done. Will is not a kind young man, he will take advantage of Ash's kindness when given and Karen will probably not do anything to Ash but at the same time, she's an adult woman who has little to no patience with children. Not to mention that fact he's somehow tipped off Riley on this bomb idiot, dear god, how is any teenager supposed to handle that kind of information without a nightmare or two? Ash admitted that his paleness was because of that thing that happened on the title so that was enough for him to know that the boy knows what's happened.
"Let's get Brandon over and done with and then, we'll get you some nice gifts, okay?"
"Okay. Can I get you and Clair something too?"
"If you want to, you can."
Ash nodded and just seemed pleased with himself, which is already a good start. That Delia, as a mother, had never even thought about giving the boy a gift and honestly… Lance had gone to see her a little while ago and she wasn't doing well. Instead of improving, she was now basically blaming all her 'misfortune' on Ash and that was exactly the tendency he was starting to recognise from what his nephew was telling him. It usually wasn't much, the boy needed some prompting to talk about it and every time, Lance vowed to himself he was never letting the kid go back to that blasted town of two-faced people. He knew why he dislikes that little place, after all.
Ash is pleased to see Scott again and his initially happy reaction what basically what defuses the somewhat tense situation going on between the man and his uncle. In fact, he is oblivious to the staring contest going on behind his back, his focus is on the people he's not seen in a while. Even if he's a bit confused about why they are all here, he just takes in in his stride and goes over to greet them.
"Hiya, everyone. Been a while since we've last met, huh?"
"Why are you so slow?" is the first thing Greta says to him and he's so taken aback by it that he forgets to answer. "Ash? You there?"
"I… had an accident," he says and turns to look at Anabel but she just shrugs and looks quite helpless.
"One that took all your energy?"
He blinks.
"Brandon," Greta says and repeats his name to get the man's attention. "Brandon, there's no way you can tell him he's being a pain, look at him! He's not even saying anything?"
Ash can't do much but look at Brandon now either and he gives him a little smile.
"Hi, Brandon. Good to see the real you this time around."
"Don't remind me."
"My physiotherapist is called Brandon too."
The man pulls a face at that but Greta isn't done yet.
"What do you need a physiotherapist for?"
"He helps me with my prosthesis."
"You have a prosthesis?" she asks, bewildered. "Where?"
"My leg," the teen answers amused, "The left one."
"I can't see it."
"Well, no, of course not, I'm wearing pants."
"Why?"
"… 'Cause it's December and it's cold?"
"Ash, why do I have to keep asking you all this? You could have said everything in one, nice, proficient sentence and yet I have to pull it out of you."
"I'm sorry, I've had to repeat it to so many people already, I can't keep up with who knows and who doesn't. I assumed that Scott would've told you but… why would you ask me why I'm wearing pants at all?"
"Yoish, at least you're speaking up at all. You ought to come visit my dojo instead of visiting a physiotherapist, it'll go quicker that way. The moving, I mean."
"Perhaps, I'll think about it."
In the meantime, Riley has already moved towards Brandon and is silently talking to the man. Ash doesn't really need to know what they're saying to each other, he's got a good idea what's going on anyway. He's very confused still, though.
"Is it typical that the pokémon league makes people come in on Christmas Eve?" he asks.
"It's noon, we're not celebrating anything yet until later today," Noland answers. "In fact, I've not had many challengers at all so I take every opportunity to battle. It keeps my pokémon in shape."
"You don't get any challengers because you keep tinkering away in your laboratory for heaven knows how long," Lucy says accusingly. "There's plenty of spots where you can find people willing to battle, you're just not looking."
"Alright, alright."
"Ash?"
The teen perks up at the sudden outcall of his name and he sees Riley motioning to follow him. Brandon is already going into a hallway somewhere and so, with a last nod to the other Frontier Brains, he follows. Slowly.
"Don't worry, it's alright," Riley says and even though Ash isn't worried, it still makes him feel a bit more comfortable about this situation.
"Will Lance be okay?"
"He's on better terms with us that with Scott," Brandon answers. "I've told Anabel to keep an eye on him too."
"Oh, thank you, I feel better knowing about that," the teen says because he's pretty sure the girl is ballsy enough to tell Scott to shut up if she feels Lance's emotions suddenly spike up or something.
"I do want to apologise, I… I didn't think you would be this calm or well-mannered. I've misjudged you on a bias due to… the unfortunate temper of someone your age and I don't know why. Something clouded my judgement and it's harmed a very dear relation of mine. I hope you will help me make it up to your uncle."
"I don't think he is mad at you, though I think you could just get away with a simple apology. Scott, on the other hand… I'm not sure what he can do. There's something between the two that's not right. Do you know what that's about?"
"I'm not sure but I have a feeling it has something to do with the fact Scott refused to support Lance when he travelled to Orre."
"He went there?!" Ash exclaims, startled beyond belief because holy moly, now he understands why his uncle sleeps with a night light and doesn't want any of his pokémon in his room.
When he first learned about that fact, he had been confused because oh, what he would give to have some of his pokémon with him. He's afraid to ask him about it too, he doesn't think that it'll be an experience he would like to talk about either… but he's curious about what it's like, over there. Probably not nice but Ash realises it's morbid curiosity, one that, if he listens to it, he'll lay awake at night thinking about it. If, of course, his uncle ever answers his questions.
"Yes, it was all part of a very secured and safe mission," Brandon answers calmly. "To this day, I still don't understand what qualms Scott had about us going there, I, for one, would have been more than willing to document the happenings in that place but I feel like Scott found too risky for some reason. Then again, Lance has changed since he's come back from Orre so I fear the mission was not as safe as secure as it was intended to be. Though I feel like you've also been an influence on him, he's become much calmer since you've come into the picture. I think I know why."
"I try not to judge if that's what you mean?"
"Quite. It suits you, Ash but I think the change goes beyond that. Maybe it even has something to do with what you're here for today."
"My Aura? I don't think that's got anything to do with it, I've done all kinds of stupid things during the years I've had it. If there's anything I know that could've changed me, is that I sat still and thought about things for a little while. And that some many unlikely people have gone out their way to help me, it really made me feel humble and… liked. I don't feel like I need to… go to extreme lengths to get attention, not like in the past. I don't feel like I need to be the best at something for people to notice me, I just need to do my best and they'll all be happy."
"Highly likely, it's very becoming on you. I think you'll grow up nicely if that's the way you see things."
"It helps that my surroundings don't just exist to bring me down too," Ash deadpans. "Wouldn't book a vacation in Pallet unless you want to feel bad and judged."
"Even with strangers?" the man asks.
"Especially with strangers."
"Hm… Then it's all too well that you have found a better spot. Is it better? I don't feel like Lance is a pleasant person to stay around."
"You're entitled to your opinion but I like him a lot. He's been there for me when no one else was and he's dealt with an awful lot of Taurus crap while he totally could've run away. No one forced him to face my mom and he did it. No one, not even me, told him about the issues I had and yet he still fixed them. I don't feel like I owe him anything but I like what he's done for me and my family."
"I see," was all the man says and now the boy feels a bit embarrassed for having spoken up about it.
He didn't think Brandon would care this much but then again, Ash has no clue why he would think he would react like any other teen his age. What is that supposed to mean anyway? Gary is only a couple of months older than him and look what's become of him, huh? Also, again, this was another jab at Barry, he knows that it was… What was going on with the kid? Ash knows this Frontier Brain has little to no patience with children and granted, he didn't make the best first impression either, getting cursed like that, while it could all have been avoided if only he had listened to the man.
It had only been a recent thing, though, him listening to what an adult told him to. He could hear just fine but if he got a single pokédollar for every time someone told him 'Don't do that' without giving any context, Ash would be the richest kid on this planet. If Brandon has just told him that not following him might get him cursed, hell, he would've followed the man like a shadow. How was he supposed to know when not to do something when this person didn't give him a valid reason? 'Don't jump in that puddle' isn't the same as 'I'm going to whoop your ass for getting dirty', is it?
"Please take a seat," Brandon suddenly says and while Ash feels it had mostly been directed at Riley, he goes to sit down anyway. "Now, this Aura of yours… Riley told me it was pink?"
"Yup," the teen answers and proudly takes out the ping pong ball he remembered to take along. "I thought it was kind of more red at the beginning but it went pinker the more I looked at it. No idea why."
"… Is this…?" the man asks and Riley nods seriously. "Okay. Okay so…"
Brandon seems to be thinking long and hard about it before frowning a couple of times.
"None of the Originals could solidify their Aura. No matter how much they would have liked to," he eventually answers. "So instead of an Original, you might just be a new kind of Aura user."
"Yes, but look, Brandon," Riley says and holds out his hand.
Ash is confused when the man reaches out to put the back of his hand against the back of Riley's hand. It doesn't make much sense how Brandon then put his hand with the back of it against his left eye but it must've somehow worked because the man's face changes in a way that makes him believe he's only now realising what he's up against.
"Can you be honest with me, Ash?"
"Euhm…"
"This is a non-supervised room, there are no camera's here or audio-recorders or transmitters. No one will ever hear what happened in this room."
"I… guess so?"
"How close is your connection with Arceus?"
Oh boy, oh boy, how was he supposed to answer that without giving too much away?! He doesn't want to lie, it's kind of obvious they want to help him and he's heard the 'I can't help you if you don't tell me everything' enough to know he's best of being honest.
"… I've helped it once."
"Oh?"
"Err yeah. We kind of went back into time and euhm… There was this man who thought that cheating on Arceus was a good idea but it didn't really end up being what he thought it would be. So he tried to trap Arceus and if we hadn't been there, Arceus would be trapped for a really long time but we were there this time so…"
"Damos?" Brandon says and Ash instantly gets a foul taste in his mouth.
"Yes."
"It's been a while since he's walked on this soil, are you sure that's who you met, Ash?" Riley asks.
"Yeah. Palkia, Dialga and Giratina were there too."
The reaction he gets from Riley isn't unexpected but it's different from what he had thought he would get. The man grabs his arm with a terribly upset expression on his face.
"That… the plush… It was real!?"
"Yeah."
"I touched it."
"So?"
"Ash, that's not…"
"Not what? It didn't hurt you, did it?"
"No, but-"
"Calm yourself, Riley. If the pokémon choose to visit, believe that it came with harmless intentions. Especially since its appearance made you believe it was a plush toy," Brandon says evenly. "Then again, it could be drawn to Ash as well."
"Who isn't?" the other man asks and points to the window where a couple of Pidove are sitting, perched daintily on the tiny bar going from one end of the window to the other.
"Ah…," the man says as he turns to look at the window. "Well, you have traits of a Source, Ash, that much is sure. None of the other trades have such a large amount of their Aura at their disposal. From what I could see, the edges of it could not be seen at first sight, which makes it the biggest pool I've ever witnessed. But the colour and the solidification, though…" the man says, picking up the ping pong ball again as he inspects it a bit closer. "I believe Arceus was very thankful to you for having helped it, Ash, I think it even blessed you, hence the gold."
"Is that even possible?" Riley asks as he looks from Ash to Brandon.
"Some believe that the earth and everything on it was created by Arceus, I don't see why a part of what It created can't be blessed by it. Just because it's the first time it has been recorded, doesn't mean it has never happened before either. It just means that we have a very pure Source in our company."
"Well, yeah…"
"There's no greater threat to a creation than the creator itself," Ash says. "They know exactly what it takes to take their creation apart again. That's exactly what Arceus was planning on doing when I met it. So I do believe It is the creator of this earth."
"Again, your full right to do so, Ash. I can imagine that, if you have met It, it could be an inspiring moment."
"It was. A bit intimidating too, though."
Brandon smiles at him in a way Ash has never seen before. It's got a particular warmth in it and it's very different from the smile he's gotten from bad guys whenever they think he's of interest to them. Then again, Riley had called him a Lore Keeper, so maybe he just wants to document things.
"I wasn't too far off, though and you did speak up at that exact time of my story," Riley pipes up. "And honestly, I think you've already helped me today, I felt more confident and my Aura looked a bit purple."
"I can influence the colour of it?" the boy asks, slightly confused because it really does sound like the turquoise of his mentor and his pink could make an insanely unhappy, murky purple colour but then again, light works differently than paint when it mixes.
"Oh, absolutely, that's exactly what a Source does. You can compare it to an oasis in the desert, it gives Aura users strength, comfort as well as confidence.. but only when there is a bond of some kind between them. It can be a family bond, friendship or any other."
"So it is basically a power up?"
"It goes deeper than that, Ash, especially in your case. Even if we've met before, there should be no way I could feel the effect on your Aura on me and yet I do."
"You do? I guess… it would make sense, a lot of people have told me they feel different when they're around me. Especially in the hospital, there was this nurse who everyone said to be so nice to kids but she was always so sad when she sat with me. It wasn't until I asked her what it was about that she told me she was very ill and that she didn't have anyone to talk to about it. She did seem happier after she told me all about it but I forgot what she told me though."
"… So it works that way too, hm?" Brandon mused. "I have to say, Ash, I've never met anyone like you before. Not in character, not in abilities. I firmly believe the two are attached but the way you attract pokémon and then the solidification… You're a mystery to me as well."
"Hmm, that's no good. I don't want to take him to Rota, Brandon, they could keep him there for heaven knows how long," Riley sighs.
"Not without his guardian's say-so and I believe they've got a firm opponent in Lance whenever it comes to his family's safety."
"Hold on, guys, I don't want to cause Lance any more stress than he's already got and I really don't need to involve him in every little detail of my life, whether he minds it or not. He's already been so selfless and I don't want him to lose that. I've already lost my parents to their feelings, I don't want him to derail because of me either. Please, whatever I am, I don't really care, I'm alive, I'm healthy and oh, Riley, you told me that it didn't really matter what I was, that you would do it trade by trade, see what I could or couldn't do, right? Can we? Please?"
The two adults stare at him and it makes Ash feel nervous. He can't stop himself from feeling this way, whether it's the way his mother has influenced him with her strange ways of raising him or not, he doesn't care. He's not someone who they can step over, he's here and if they want to decide on anything, they'll need to talk to him about it first, not Lance. And if he says 'no' from the start, they have no right to bother his uncle about it.
However, Brandon gets off his chair, comes over and crouches down in front of him, with a terribly serious look on his face. He even puts a hand on Ash's hand, a gesture the boy knows to be a precursor to bad news. He doesn't need that, not now… but he can't tell the man to buzz off, can he?
"Ash, I need you to know that, due to your amazing amount of Aura, you are probably able to notice an awful lot of things that we don't. I know for a fact that Anabel now adores you because the effect you have on people allows her to be able to just focus on you. Just you," the man says and continues when Ash's pulls a face -because he isn't the best person to focus on all the time either. "For someone who usually gets targeted with every single living beings' feelings, just having one person to mind is a world of difference. To her, you really are an oasis of peace."
"Oh," is all the boy says.
"You're a very special person in that regard so if there's ever anything you notice, anything at all, you're free to tell an adult. And anyone of us is interesting in case you feel like your uncle can't handle things any longer."
"What? No, he's fine, I just won't let you guys do that to him," he says, frowning heavily. "Everyone just readily assumes he'll fight for them but it only takes so much before he loses the fight in him. Please, if I'm supposed to bring peace and comfort to people, let me, then. If anyone deserves a bit of that, it's my uncle."
Brandon's eyes shift towards Riley before they focus back on him.
"That's fine. Just know you can talk to any of us."
"About Aura and your nifty psychic tricks," the other man added and now Ash wonders whether Riley is going to keep mentioning it whenever, wherever. If he is, it's going to get old soon.
"Psychic?" the Frontier Brain asks. "As well?"
"Yes," Ash answers. "Yes, it's… not like Will's abilities at all, don't worry, I just… know stuff I'm not supposed to."
"I'm not the slightest bit worried," the man says. "All the more reason to speak up, though."
"… 'Kay. Promise me you won't tell anyone?"
"I promise."
It still didn't feel right to Ash, though, even if he was being guided back towards the room where he would meet up with his uncle again. Something was bothering about this but it was odd because nothing had been decided on. His refusal had been heard and so they had stopped. He was not going to Rota, Lance would not get pulled into some nasty business… but then why did he suddenly feel like Rota was a terribly unhappy place.
"Did the two of you escape Rota?" he asks, figuring he might have been feeling that way because of Riley and Brandon's experience.
The way the two men look at each other confirms Ash suspicion and his mood lightens up, he's just proud of himself for having figured it out all by himself.
"Have you gone there, Ash?"
"I did. I met Queen Irene there. It was the first time I ever used my Aura too."
"Not in front of the Queen, I imagine?" Riley asks dryly.
"No, in the Tree of Beginning. For Mew."
"Mew," the man repeats dryly.
"I suppose as a young, pure soul as a Source, the most unlikely creatures will be drawn to you, Ash," Brandon says with a small smile on his face. "Even with Arceus' blessing."
"Yeah but a Mew?"
"Let it go, Riley."
The man did but he still looks sour about it. Ash quickly makes a mental note of the fact that he should talk a little less about legendary pokémon, not where Riley can hear it. He gets it, if you like pokémon, meeting a legendary is probably the icing on the cake but… in general, they're just that. Pokémon. As loveable and destructive as any other. A bit stronger and wiser but the teen supposes that comes with age. Something that somehow doesn't happen with people, or so he thinks when he sees Noland steady Scott as they arrive in the larger common room.
"What's going on in here?" Brandon asks startled, quickly moving forwards to help Scott into a chair.
"He suddenly started swaying," the Frontier Brain at the other side of the man says. "I don't know what happened."
Ash can't do much but he's not blind. Besides, he knows that Scott tends to meddle with every case he's got. Not only does he have the 'reign' over at least twelve people, the total amount of Frontier Brains, but he's also free to roam at any building of the pokémon company. Oh, he's probably fine, just overworked and tired because, as he had said before, there's only so much fight in a person before they lose and then they'll have to spend some time building themselves up again. Ash knows that from experience but at least it wasn't his fault he suddenly needed to puzzle himself back together. But he doesn't just want to keep this information to himself so he goes to Anabel, who keeps a safe distance from Scott.
She's probably been told not to meddle an awful amount of time too, hence the automatic response. He stands right next to her and just as Brandon told him just now, she turns to look at him with a smile.
"Alright?" he asks.
"More than alright. I suppose Brandon told you about the effect?"
"Yup. Thought you would like to be spared of Scott's Samaritan feelings today."
"Oh?"
"Maybe later you'll understand but you should tell Scott to at least not keep his phone near him at night. He could use a good rest."
"Burn-out?" she asks
"Nearly there, two steps away from it."
"Well, it's almost the holidays for us, so I suppose it'll be okay."
Not long enough for Scott to grow a habit out of minding his own business, though but Ash saves Anabel from his cynical opinion. Today has become a bit of a rollercoaster and he can't help but feel like his enthusiasm to get trained in Aura got a dark edge around it. Maybe it's just him but he's got a feeling Riley's going to keep asking for clarification on-
"You're sure you don't want to know your trade, Ash?" Riley asks, just as the teen had been thinking about it.
"Yes," he answers with a lot of feeling. "Why, is it so important?"
"Well no…"
"Then I might as well make up a name for the trade myself."
Apparently, that was the right reaction, Riley's face brightens up and he nods enthusiastically, saying they both should think about a couple of options and that they'll talk about it next time they meet. That sounds alright to Ash, he just wants to go home now, a sentiment he's sharing with his uncle if the way the man stalks outside is any indication.
Ash didn't think Johto would have this large a mall hiding somewhere but as he finds himself in the middle of it, he can't really deny it's there, right? His uncle looks a bit torn on leaving him on his own too but he counters it with the fact that the gifts are supposed to be surprises, right? Even if he's got no idea on what he should be getting Lance yet, he's had a good look around the house and there's not a lot the man's missing. And he doesn't know him good enough to just find something funny. Besides, his uncle's humour is a bit dark and mean too, so there's that to consider. Nevertheless, he's been keeping his ears open and he's got a bit of a clue because Lance keeps saying that it's getting colder and colder in his room.
Clair tells him to add another blanket or two but the man gets all defensive, saying he's got enough blankets on his bed as is and that she should keep her fleecy nonsense out of his bed. Being the woman she was and rarely in the mood to get snubbed, Clair walks off all huffy of course but Ash has a feeling that Lance thinks every fleece blanket needs to be pastel coloured and only large enough to cover half of the bed. Most are but some aren't so he's just going to have to find a right one for his uncle, which will be enough of a challenge as is… And he knows what he can buy Clair, she has this particular bath product she keeps forgetting to get and so he might as well get if for her. Seeing she's been forgetting it for a year, chances of her remembering it now are small.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"… What if I get something you don't like, though?" Lance asks and suddenly, Ash feels like the adult among the two of them.
"If it's anything Pikachu yellow coloured, you're fine as is. It can literally be anything too, I'll find some use out of it, I promise."
"And if not yellow?"
"Rose gold. It'll match my Aura that way. I dunno, pick something. I'm not going to ditch something because I don't like the colour."
"You mean that? You won't be mad if get something rose gold?"
"I meant it," Ash says, a bit exasperated.
"Okay. Okay, then I suppose it's alright then. Where will we meet?"
"The big carrousel?" he suggested and the man nods.
Ash is at a bit of a disadvantage, he's never set foot in this mall before and he's got no idea where to go. Then again, by the looks of how Lance is navigating through the hallways, the teen figures he's not been here often. So, he takes off, happy to do something independent for once. He's just glad to be out and about with Pikachu at his side again… though he's going to ask Lance if he can't have a couple of his pokémon in the garden or his room. After Christmas, though, Ash doesn't know if professor Oak will even answer a call now or next week. Anabel said that they all had at least a week leave during the holidays, to breach to New Year's so maybe he'll have to wait 'till next year.
"Oh," he says all of a sudden when he sees a very colourful store full of beautiful blankets. "What do you think about that green one, Pikachu?"
The pokémon raises his head to look at it and nudges his cheek. That was a good sign, Pikachu has an excellent taste in blankets and this one sure looks to be soft and big enough. Whether it was big enough for Lance's king-size bed, though, that remained to be seen. Nevertheless, Ash walks in all valiantly and he comes back out with the biggest bag the store manager has because this particular blanket is at least four times bigger than the one displayed in the window but it's glorious. It's detailed with gold embroidery, all wavy and nice and oh, it is very soft and warm. The man also said that it was hypo-allergenic, that it's not made from wool from Mareep or Wooloo but plastic beads. They had a jar of those beads on the counter and Ash feels like this was a safe option.
Maybe his uncle doesn't like Clair's fleece because it's static and makes him feel all tingly or if it makes him sneeze. The store manager said something about people being allergic to certain kinds of fabric because it gathers dust and nasty things so yeah… Ash knows what it feels like, not liking something because it gives off an annoying feeling. His mom knew damn well that he had hay fever and that certain types of pollen carrying flowers made him sneeze like mad but that didn't stop her from planting every single plant he was allergic to in her garden. And then, of course, she would complain about why he never came into the garden or come help her with it.
He's content now though and he finds the brand of Clair's favourite bath products fairly quickly too. It's a very flashy store and oh, isn't he happy that they all swear with somewhat unusual organic products? The scents, the lovely young woman tells him with a lot of enthusiasm, are all synthetic and not tested on pokémon. By the looks of it, Pikachu wouldn't mind having this scent on it, so when the nice saleswoman guides him to a fairly large box filled with all sorts of products, all in the scent range of the name he's remembered Clair having moaned about, he picks up a box with samples for grooming sessions. A little bit goes a long way with pokémon and by the smell of it, the tiniest drop will leave a distinct smell. The young woman is pleased to make such a quick sale too and she tells him as much too. He's not weirded out by it by the slightest, he's never been averse to happiness, even if it's somehow generated by money but he still sees the couple who were already there when he came in, talk to another saleswoman who seemed to have plenty of work trying to convince them to buy something.
He doesn't want to give anyone much trouble so he's quick to make his get-away out of the store too. The smell of it lingers, though and Ash belatedly realises the lady had sprayed something on the bag to make it smell nice. Not that fun for a surprise, Clair will probably be able to smell what the gift is now without needing to open it.
'Maybe I can ditch this bag…' he thinks but figures she must've also sprayed some on the inside. 'Well, whatever… I'm not even sure when we'll be giving these gifts anyway, so it's fine.'
On his way to the carrousel, the designated meeting spot, he passes a candy store and it does draw his attention. Ash doesn't have a sweet tooth but he does like some of the more sour candies. Just because he didn't get to eat any at home didn't mean he couldn't be sneaky and buy some when he was in another region. He usually had some cash with him too because his mom did check what kind of money he spent and such small amounts getting withdrawn were always risky. Ash didn't know what her problem with candy was, he brushes his teeth twice a day and he's never skipped a day in his life because she had been scaremongering him with cavities and gum-issues.
He's not going to risk buying something only for Lance to throw it away either, so he plays it safe this time and waits to go into the candy store after he meets up with the man again. In the meant time, though, he browses in the window and he sees a set of impressive boxes filled with snacks. There's one with sweet snacks, bitter ones, sour ones and spicy ones. Ash feels like it would be a far more interesting idea to entertain people trying to bet them he could finish one or several of these boxes. They're pretty big and it's not all candy. There's popcorn in the sweet one and chips in the sour and spicy ones.
Besides, next to his luck, his appetite is the worst thing to bet against. His heat tolerance is legendary too if there's one he thinks he won't be able to finish it would be the bitter one but still… it would be way funnier to watch that than the lottery ticket idea. He might still buy it but then again, he's better of asking Lance that too, his mother didn't want him betting either.
"You're already done?"
Ash looks to his side and smiles widely when he sees his uncle, also carrying two big bags.
"Oh, shopping for gifts, yeah, just now. I did want to ask if it was okay if I bought me some candy."
"Of course, you don't need to ask me that, Ash."
"Alright, then I'm going to buy myself some over there."
"Sure, I'll wait here for you."
Ash is chuffed to bits, he's so lucky he's got such a cool uncle, alright. He might be a bit surprised at the boxes but the teen hopes Lance will allow him to explain before getting pissed. If he gets pissed, he's not sure whether the man would mind. Soon enough, he's the proud owner of all four of the boxes and hoh, he's made it a bit harder for himself. He got the worst boxes of all of them, there were grades on how bad it could get and honestly? The spicy one looked like death. The interesting part was that it was all edible for pokémon too and Ash knew perfectly which one of his pokémon had a big enough appetite to accept the treats, plus, he also knew who liked to eat what.
He promises himself that he'll talk to Lance about that too but perhaps later. He can't actually check if he's gotten any positive feedback on his post either anyway but these boxes won't go to waste. He'll do it, whether only a couple of people are interested. His uncle, by the way, is absolutely charmed by his initiative to do something for the charity event for Orre and tells him Clair has done a couple of live-streams in her time and that he can ask her if he can use her computer for it. Ash does ask if he's really okay with it, though, which makes Lance frown at him.
"Was there anything your mother did allow you, Ash?"
"Sure, I could eat whenever I wanted, watch whatever show I wanted to. I could stay up as late as I wanted."
"Are you sure you're not saying that you could eat whatever your mother made something whenever, watch whatever show there was on child control settings and that you could stay up as late as you wanted as long as you didn't disturb her?"
Ash looked at the floor.
"Buddy, I've been to the house and I've taken the TV with me. It's in your room, remember? I had to reset the settings a bit and I noticed the child control. And you're way to sneaky, I can't even hear you go to the bathroom."
Well, with Clair stomping all over the place, it was hardly a miracle his uncle wasn't used to someone minding to be silent whenever they went somewhere. She wasn't living in the same house but she came over often enough and occasionally stayed for a couple of days.
"I'm sorry?" he offers.
"It's nothing to be sorry about, Ash. Your mother just has a lot to answer for, that's all."
"… So it's all her behaviour that's weird? It's not me?"
"It's never been you, buddy."
It's reassuring, it feels like he's found himself a person who does indeed like him… but people have other opinions on Lance too. And he's still scared that his uncle is that traumatized by his trip to Orre. He somehow only finds the courage to talk to the man about it when he's sitting in the car, in the back, keeping his precious purchases safe from falling.
"Hey, Lance?"
"Yes?"
"Brandon told me you went to Orre."
The following silence didn't bode much good but Ash steeled himself.
"Was it bad?" he asks.
"Yes," his uncle answers. "Yes, it was very bad. I hope Brandon explained why they were asked to come along too."
"He said he didn't understand why Scott stopped them from going on a safe expedition there, that he would have liked to come along to document things. He told me nothing else."
"Safe!?" the man chokes. "Do they honestly think some of the most powerful trainers with legendary pokémon at their disposal were asked to come along because it was safe?!"
"I don't think he knew any better."
"As per usual," Lance says and he sounds terribly sour about it. "Ash, I appreciate your worry but there's not much you can do to comfort me or anyone about what happened in Orre. Just… know I couldn't care less about what is wrong with Scott right now."
"You don't mean that. You do care, you just think it's karma."
"… Remind me later to never try and lie to you again."
Ash feels bad now so he stays silent throughout the rest of the drive. His uncle doesn't say anything either but the teen feels like he's just burned an important bridge. Was the man really sure it wasn't him who had driven his mother to become the hellion she was today? What would stop him from turning Lance into the same mess of a human being? He knows his uncle isn't mad at him but that doesn't mean he's not done something wrong. He vows to himself never to talk about Shadow pokémon again… even though his morbid curiosity was still there. Maybe he can try and research the matter on his own, that way he doesn't need to bother anyone about it and ruin their day with his questioning.
Clair is at the house and cheerfully tells them that Cynthia will be joining them for New Years, as well as a couple of others Ash was too tired to remember. Neither adult had any qualms that he would take a nap and being the awkward one, he took his presents to his room with him. He'd ask them when they were planning to give these gifts later but for now, he would like to lament on his own, with the comfort of his purring Pikachu, Gible at his stomach, nice and warm and Gliscor snuggled against his back. The best position to forget whatever stupidity he had done today and so he drifted off… but not far enough to miss the fact that Lance came to check up on him. And that Clair had followed him.
"Is something wrong?" she whispers.
"I'm not sure. He… he asked about Orre. I'm not sure if I said something wrong," Lance answered softly. "He fell silent halfway the drive, so I thought… I did something wrong but then he came back here and he acted normal. I'm not sure at all if he's okay, Clair."
"Why? He seems fine to me?"
"The things he keeps saying about Delia, Clair, she didn't even allow him to by candy. He waited to buy any until he had my approval."
"It's not really the end of the world and he's not suffering either, Lance. I get that you want Delia to own up to what she's done but she's not ever going to do that. We've both met her old man, if she's got his character, we're just wasting our breath."
"It's still sad. He might be suffering but it's holding him back. I know it does."
"Well, then we just got to make sure he gets the necessary support he needs to get over all Delia's ill teachings. Me and you, you and me, the four of us, we'll get the job done."
"Don't be silly," the man whispers but he manages a quit little laugh anyway. "But yeah, I guess so. Do you think that's why Cynthia's suddenly joined a party we've been hosting for years while she's declined the invitation every single year consecutively up until this one?"
"Did they meet today?"
"They did."
"Yeah, then we can be absolutely sure she's joined because of Ash. But he'll still be here until New Year's Day, right? The trainer doesn't start again until the end of January if I remember correctly."
"Unless he doesn't agree with the regulations of the pokémon league. Which he'll have to agree with, or he won't be able to leave."
"Do you want me there when you walk him through them? I know it's a lot and that you can't find much humour in it."
"Can you?"
"Always. Now, come on, I'm going to make your favourite dish."
"I have a favourite dish? That you can make?"
"Don't tell me you've forgotten about my 'Berry surprise', now?"
"I have, unfortunately. What's the surprise?"
"That there are berries in it," she says softly but happily. "Come on, let me remind you of the greatness you've somehow forgotten about."
Ash is kind of glad they move away from the door because he really does want to sleep and he can't do that when he hears people whispering. Especially not when they're whispering about him. He doesn't think anything's wrong with him, there's just a whole lot of things he's confused about and a lot of other things he doesn't know about himself yet. He's got time, though and yes, he's gotten the hint. Ash knows why Brandon kept giving him that intense look, he knows it's because apparently, neither Brandon nor Riley have ever seen an Aura pool as large as his, meaning that Riley, who is already ageing slower than an ordinary human, has one he can see the limits of. He's not going to guess that he's immortal, there will always be ways in which he will be able to perish, he knows that every power has a weakness. But what he does know, is that he's going to be here for a very, very long time. And on that note, he goes to sleep with tears pricking in his eyes and he vows to himself, very silently, that he'll contact his friends as soon as he has the opportunity.
Lance is on Ash's list of victims to bother on this early Christmas morning. Yesterday, he's learned that gifts are given on the morning of Christmas and it doesn't matter to the boy that it's only four in the morning. His uncle had been restless all night and morning so far so Ash, who had initially put his gifts for his recently found family under the Christmas tree, goes to retrieve the one he has for Lance and sneaks back upstairs. It's very cold, has been since yesterday evening and the teen has firm suspicions that it is either snowing or has snowed because it's very silent outside. So, the best time to use this blanket was yesterday but the second best is today. He does knock before he enters his uncle's room, though, just to make sure he's decent. Not that it's the kind of weather to sleep in your birthday suit but he's not taking his chances.
"Hng?" Lance groans as he straightens a bit. "Ash? What's the matter?"
"Merry Christmas, uncle Lance," the boy says softly and closes the door behind him. "I wanted to give you your present."
"Now? What time is it?"
"Four in the morning."
"You should be in bed, kiddo."
"Please?"
Lance sighs in resignation but pats on the bed.
"Alright then, come here."
Ash crawls on the bed carefully, he's strapped his prosthesis on a bit awkwardly this morning and he doesn't want to snag on anything, he's not wearing slippers and he's got no idea what his prosthetic foot is up to. Besides, his gift is big and a bit on the heavy side.
"What on earth is that?" the man asks, still looking a bit sleepy.
There isn't much light in the room, other than the nightlight his uncle has lit under his desk at the other side of the room but it's enough for Ash to smile at how dishevelled Lance looks.
"here, open it," he answers eagerly, shoving the gift a bit closer to the man.
Once the blanket emerges out of the gift wrapping, Ash feels like his uncle is a bit peeved.
"It's made of plastic beads," he says helpfully. "The man told me you can even put it outside to air out, get all the dust out of it."
"It's huge."
"And warm."
Lance does lay it over him and even though the teen feels like there's a chance the man might shove it off him as soon as he's out of the door, he does notices that his uncle somehow got a lot more silent. In fact… Ash thinks he's asleep already. He doesn't take his chances, he tries not to make too much sound when he gathers the wrapping paper -which is the kind of loud kind- and makes his escape from the room.
He's pleased as punch when he hears a soft snore come from under the blanket and so he quietly closes the door behind him, though he nearly bumps in Clair, who gives him a weird look. Ash guesses she must've been on the way back to her room after having gone to the bathroom but she probably heard them talking. Sleepy Lance is not very subtle, after all.
"Merry Christmas, Clair," he whispers.
"… A very early Merry Christmas to you too," she responds, equally hushed. "What are you doing?"
"Getting some use out of the gift I had for him," Ash says and he knows better than to say his uncle's name in front of his bedroom door because it will wake him up. Don't ask him how the man does it but he's seen it happen before.
"What was it?"
"A blanket."
"And he's asleep now? Under it?" she asks, giving him a bewildered look which looks a bit funny now as she's looking a bit dishevelled too.
"Yup."
"Good lord, it's a Christmas miracle," Clair mutters.
"Let's leave him at it. I have a feeling he's not slept well for a while now."
"Not since Orre, no. Thank you, Ash."
"No problem," he answers happily, though he doesn't mind on how she stops herself from touching him. "I'm going back to bed now, if you don't mind?"
"Not at all. I'll see you in a couple of hours."
Ash nods and darts off to his room. He's cold too now, they don't have heating in the house, just like his home didn't. Another case of acceptation of discomfort, he figures but it makes going back to bed a fantastic experience, especially since he's got his personal bed heaters keeping it warm for him. So when he gets back to his bedroom, he throws the crinkly paper into a corner with the idea that he'll deal with it later, unstraps his prosthesis and crawls back into bed. His pokémon do whine a bit because he's cold and invading personal space but then again, it's his bed they are invading so they know better than to argue with him. Gible lets out an unhappy snort when his cold foot makes contact with him and quickly shifts away, back against Ash's stomach.
Pikachu wriggles away from his cold hands too, in fact, Gliscor is the only one who just golds back over him as if he's never even left the bed. Ash shivers for a moment before accepting the growing warmth surrounding him. The large pokémon at his back feels his initial discomfort and pushes his large head against the boy's neck, purring loudly.
"I love you too, buddy," Ash whispers as he can't help the smile that appears on his face.
Gosh, it's so nice and warm. Instead of getting a blanket, Lance could have just as well taken a couple of his pokémon in bed. Dragons are suckers for warmth too… but then again, they're usually pretty heavy, the boy figures that Gible won't be able to fit in his bed when he evolves one day, if he wants to. And if Lance was so scared of these Shadow pokémon, it perhaps was better if he didn't have anything other than himself in bed. Ash doesn't understand why, though, he would recognise his own pokémon anywhere, everywhere, in the dark, under someone else's control, whatever. But then again, he's special, isn't he?
'Poor Lance,' he thinks as he slowly succumbs to sleep. 'I hope this will help at all.'
End of chapter twelve