Hello, hello, back with another chapter! It's not as long as the last one but it'll have to do, it's the normal length I usually post anyway. Time for some change, we wouldn't want to follow cannon too much, would we? Also, as a side note the song that's being talked about is Kate Ryan -Libertine. Not that it's important but I felt like it would be nice for those interested to know. It has... interesting lyrics, after all.
Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
When morning dawns, Ash is outside, he's had a good walk around and he's found a very interesting rock on the beach, which he carries inside. As luck would have it, Steven is right there, sipping coffee and yes, he seems to know that this is a gift for him, hence why the man looks so amused.
"You know, I realise that I'm known as a rock enthusiast but I do have to draw the line somewhere."
"You don't like it?"
"I do but it's kind of a lump weight to carry around," Steven chuckles. "Or are you going to bring it to my room?"
Ash doesn't bother, he drops the stone onto the table and with the loud thud it gets accompanied by, the stone breaks perfectly in half, revealing the remains of a life that made him gravitate towards the stone, in the first place.
"… A fossil?" the man asks, definitely interested now, his cup of coffee completely forgotten. "How the heck did you know?"
"There's no cheating Aura, no matter how long ago the life has been alive for."
"That's mad cool! I didn't think… is it really okay, Ash? For me to have this?"
"Sure!" the teen chirps. "I knew what I was giving you, Steven, no regrets, you know me."
"You're kind of crazy sometimes but Ash, I love you to death. What's the occasion for the gift, though? What did I do to earn this?" Steven asks, though secretly looking pleased with the fossil as he keeps rubbing his hand over it.
"My birthday party, of course. You were the one who told Wallace about my birthday, causing him to want to organise a party for me and you gave me such a nice gift, I felt obligated to give you something in return."
"I've never ever had this kind of response from someone receiving brushes," Steven chuckles. "I mean, I'm not complaining, Ash, but Lorelei threw them at my head, she clearly didn't take it as a compliment."
"There's just no pleasing some people," Ash answers with a shrug. "I know I'm happy with my brushes, see how Charizard is going to like that smooth one, it's perfect for scales."
"I bet he will but I've been wondering, Ash… How do you clean Charizard? I mean, water near a Fire-type seems a bit risky.
"… I'm not dunking his head in a bucket if that's what you're implying. Never heard of dry-cleaning?"
"Not when it comes to pokémon, no."
"I just get a tray of water, add soap and some skincare conditioner for Charizard and then I foam it up until I have a nice layer of foam to scoop up and rub it all over Charizard's scales. He loves bubbles too so I can get away with making the foam a little wetter than normal. The bigger the bubbles, the better."
"Huh," Steven says and nods when he sees the logic behind it. "Okay, I guess that answers my question. Thanks."
"I also wonder, Steven, how do you clean Bronzong?"
"…With water?"
"Also inside?"
"I know better than to do that, you know all too well it'll sit down and trap me for an ungodly amount of time. Bronzong's sense of humour isn't what you can call friendly."
Ash snorts, he figured as much but he's at least got Steven's heart and attention now, all thanks to the little prehistoric pokémon who will now have a great trainer looking after it. He's happy for Steven, though, Wallace comes out a little later -though the man attracts quite a bit of attention and has to push through a bit of a crowd that forms around him- and can't get over the fact that Ash found a fossil, a rare find, as a completely natural stone on the small beach of Courmarine. But it's more in a sense of pride than jealousy and the teen appreciates this blunt honesty a lot, in fact, he thinks he likes Wallace a lot too. He's just a very nice, straightforward, unproblematic kind of person, a kind of character Ash hasn't often met and he thinks it fits the man well.
It doesn't take long until his friends emerge from the back of the pokémon centre too and Serena is one big mess, she's nervous about the trial performance and there isn't anything Ash or Clemont can say to her that calm her down, so when the teen, at the end of his tether, offers to do some shopping so that they can clear their heads a little and practise some cooking. For all Ash has seen Serena's poffins cooking, it's decent but it lacks a certain kind of experience and certainty that he knows will be a deal breaker. And besides, she makes them so unnecessarily complicated, that it's only going to come to bit her in the butt. It's not wrong to experiment but it's never a good idea to experiment on important occasions.
"I don't know why you feel that way, it's not like I can't practise, I mean, the show is tonight," Serena protests after Ash has voiced his opinion on her cooking.
"Oooh, sure, my mom used to prepare dinner for Christmas too but then ended up calling take-out or not making anything at all because it all went horribly wrong because she had to do something she never did before and got too nervous. Trust me, when it comes down to it, it's better to stick with a delightful basic than try and invent something new, only to fail. I mean, wouldn't it be wonderful to make a set of Napolitano poffins, in three layers? Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry are such a great combination by themselves and it's unique enough. Even green ones would do, I've seen matcha power being sold here, it's safe for pokémon to eat too so that would just require you to mix it in with your base before making the poffin but heck if you can't look confident while doing so."
"… That doesn't sound bad at all but where the heck are we going to find strawberries?"
"The store?" Clemont offers. "Also, you can use jam, it's not wrong to use already made ingredients and it'll lessen the list of things that can go wrong."
"What happened to trust the process?" the girl asks. "Since when did the two of you become such worrywarts?"
"The fewer risks you take, the fewer chances of failing you have. And since this is the first time you'll be on stage, I highly suggest doing what Ash just told you. Take it from an experienced trainer, if you will but I have a feeling his advice comes from experience."
"… Napolitano poffins it is, then," she relents. "We still got to get the jam, though. And the chocolate and the vanilla."
"There's a marketplace out, I think. Always is on Thursday," Clemont offers and this ends up being their destination of choice.
Ash's poffin idea gets a lot of traction with the people who sell Serena the ingredients for her poffins but the teen's attention is diverted by a collection of very beautiful pins. It's an impulse buy but these stones look so precious, in fact, they look a lot like evolutionary stones but the man who sold them to Ash and packs them up in a nice case, assures him that they're not, they're precious stones that unfortunately have some defaults in them, hence why the value is so low. That doesn't matter to him, though, nobody's perfect and he kind of likes the idea that something that's not up to par with experts still looks perfectly nice.
He can't help himself, he gifts Steven the amethyst and he ends up giving Wallace the topaz one. Purple and blue aren't his colours but they sure suit these two men a lot. And there's something else that catches his attention but he doesn't see it anywhere in real life but he still ends up ordering it because he knows Clemont will love it and the teen also deserves a gift in return for his thoughtfulness. And isn't it ironic that Ash, as he puts his hand lovingly on top of the pendant, that he feels like something is about to happen? He doesn't take any chances, he calls his uncle swiftly because he knows that whatever is going to happen, will be bad. And it's better to give Lance a heads up about it and besides, he still needs to thank him for the wonderful gifts. As luck would have it, he catches the man straight in the middle of a pause of the meeting he's attending. Karen and Will also now hear his voice for the first time and he can't stress his thankfulness enough, they even seem a little taken aback by it but Lance takes over soon enough.
"Something tells me you didn't just call to thank me or Karen and Will, I think you would've sent me a message if you didn't have something else to talk to me about," the man says, quickly catching up on his intentions but Ash is used to that by now, his uncle is as sharp as a knife when it comes to feelings.
"I got a pendant that tells me whether my sense of foreboding will have anything to do with me. And it's not responding right now but I still feel like something hellish is going to happen."
"… Be on your guard but not too much, Ash. I know you feel responsible for things that really aren't your responsibility at all but I'm not stopping you from worrying. Just promise me you'll wind down after it's happened, okay? A bow needs to be tight to shoot arrows but keep it tense for too long and it'll snap in half soon enough."
"I feel fine otherwise, I'm not stressed. I've just ordered the perfect gift for Clemont and I'm looking forwards to Serena's trial performance. So really, I'm feeling pretty chill it's just, it's in the back of my head, this little niggling voice that tells me to not let my guard down or I'll regret it."
"Then don't but still have fun. It's not that complicated, you're well on your way to a great evening, I hear. You dance along with those performances now, you hear? Have a good time out there, those shows are something else."
"I know, I missed the first one," he wines. "And I can't find it anywhere online to watch it either, it sucks so much so I'm definitely going to be present this time. I think nurse Joy didn't miss a single disease she didn't vaccinate me for so I'm as ready as I can be."
"Yeah, about that. How are you feeling, buddy? I doubt that was a nice experience, I really wanted to be there but I'm super busy with challenges these days."
"Don't sweat it, I'm just happy to hear your voice and I know you're still thinking about me, the gift proved as much. But really, I don't feel very different from before, just a bit itchier but honestly, I don't understand the hullabaloo about it. Pikachu's fine too."
"Just beware with Pikachu then. I've seen pokérus pokémon battle before, they get a little boost in power. While I think it's fitting for your Pikachu to pack a punch, I think it's important to know that the boost is exactly the reason why pokérus carrying pokémon are quarantined. I hope you don't experience any discomfort but that itch you just mentioned is giving me a feeling you ought to be careful next time you use your abilities."
"You think so?" Ash asks, not feeling like his foresight or psychic abilities should've been touched by the pokérus that apparently latched onto his Aura.
"It's just a feeling, just be careful. Not too much, don't take it so seriously, I don't believe you'd purposely harm anyone for the life of me but don't tempt faith, yeah?
"Okay, I'll pay attention to it. Also, I invented a poffin today, I'll make it for you someday, 'kay?"
"Can't wait, you know I love my pastries and I've heard poffins are real good."
"They are! I'll be the best poffin maker, just for your sake by the time I get back home."
"Go for it," Lance chuckles. "Maybe I'll come by when one of those better performance shows goes live, it's been a while since I've been immersed in glitter and ruffles."
Ash laughs at that, he can't imagine his uncle being interested in that at all and figures that he's just saying this to make him laugh. But it's alright, it's been a while since he's been this happy so he takes it all in his stride. He doesn't forget to ask his uncle to give Agatha his regards and to tell her he's very amused by her thoughtfulness, that she's the only one who remembers that seasons still exist even during a journey, which causes his uncle to splutter that he also knows seasons exist but that he didn't know Snowbelle was all ice and snow until Ash was already in Santalune. The teen forgives him easily, it's an easily forgotten detail but still, he's thankful for Agatha's gift, these mittens and scarf are illegally soft and they're definitely going to keep him warm in whatever weather Snowbelle will be putting him through.
He wonders, though… He doesn't like being cold any longer, not after what happened in Unova. But Ash hasn't told anyone that, not even dr. Knight, who never wondered why he wandered around through the halls of the hospital in his Mismagius poncho when it got a little too cold. So how does she know? Has professor Juniper contacted her, perhaps? Ash has a feeling that the professor is a bit of a mother hen, he does enjoy her mothering, don't get him wrong but she would be the only one he would expect to have caught on to his newfound dislike of coldness. That all said, though, the feeling of hugging Glalie is still the nicest chilly experience he'll never ever fear so he still realises there's a difference. He also still likes ice cubes, it's just… that hopeless cold that swallows light. A darkness that's cold is the worst out there, it's also why he acted so meekly near the Vanillish and Vaniluxe.
It's not going to be easy for him to travel through or towards Snowbelle in the dark, that much he knows but well, it's not on his list. Ramos is the next Gym leader he's going to face and then it's Clemont's turn. Ash really wonders if the teen means it when he said he was going to make an exception for him and battle as himself, as the real Gym leader. And he's even more confused about whether Clemont will be ready for it, he's not seen him battle once before so now he's doubting if he's just as an undoable challenge for the poor teen who still means well.
"Ash!"
He looks up, he sees Serena run up towards him.
"Yeah?"
"I can't decide on what song I want to use!" she says. "Clemont says I should pick an English one because everyone understands it but the judges, except for Wallace, are all French-speaking people."
"Wallace understands French to a certain level, though," the boy answers and Serena lights up completely.
"See? That's the inside info I needed. Come on, let's go. I still got to practise making those poffins!"
Ash is possibly more nervous than Serena about her performance but he's looking out for every detail. That's also why he grabs Fennekin seconds before Serena needs to get on stage for her dance - Clemont argued about her choice of song for a really long time, Ash doesn't know why, though- because he has this bad feeling about the large bow, even the pokémon herself seems uncomfortable with it. He can't have that, he turns the ribbon so it's resting on Fennekin's back and the small pokémon happily yips as she can see her legs again. But those large dangly bits are still hanging dangerously close to her paws so Ash gets out the reddest pin he's bought from the set and pins the two ends of the bow on the front, right under Fennekin's chin.
The pokémon ends up looking insanely cute, there's nothing more amazing than having a performance pokémon feel good about themselves too and while Pancham pretty much looks like a teddy bear, the pokémon doesn't seem bothered either. So now Ash sits down, he feels uncomfortable because he's done everything he possibly could for Serena. And yeah, he kind of moves along with her dance, which seems to rub Clemont the wrong way.
"Do you know what 'Je suis un catin' means, Ash?"
"Nope. I really don't care, though."
"You should, you're dancing while calling yourself a whore."
"I've called myself worse things," the teen answers without skipping a beat and he's got Clemont stumped.
The teen opens and closes his mouth a couple of times but ends up not saying anything. He does get a bit of a heated look on his face when he catches his little sister dancing along as the song plays and now he's sitting cross-armed in the sight, mumbling about Serena being a bad influence on his sister and how he's not going to any performance if she keeps doing this. Ash is more interested in the fact that he did catch on that Fennekin also liked this song a lot. Who knows, Mr. Sycamore might just have been dancing to it when Fennekin grew up there. Either way, it makes the pokémon dance along with her trainer and that'll get Serena good points. Ash knows he might be taking this a bit too seriously but he can hear the reaction from the judges when Fennekin starts copying her trainer's easy dance moves.
He knows he did that, he spurred Fennekin to do it the entire time Serena practised her dance to the song… and that's what earns him the punch in his shoulder when the show ends, Dawn seems to have caught onto it too and sought him out just to tell him that.
"You smart devil, do you know how long it took me to get Piplup to do that on his own?" she hisses quietly, without any malice. "And this girl didn't even know she was going to be performing for real until yesterday!"
"I know," Ash answers, feeling far too chuffed.
"And those poffins, you're going to make me a couple of those before you leave."
"What makes you think I had anything to do with those?"
"Napolitano comes from Alto Mare, Serena hasn't set foot out of Kalos ever since she was five years old. There's no way she could've known about it but you could."
"I realise that, yes."
"I've been to Alto Mare, they host the most wonderful shows out there and I've had Napolitano ice cream and that's why I want you to make ten dozen for me because I love it so much."
"What? A hundred twenty poffins? Do you know how expensive that's gonna be? He huffs. "You're going to make this poor invalid lug around ingredients for this order?"
"Yeah, well, this poor invalid created the perfect stage for a little showgirl so I don't think he needs to underestimate himself. But okay, I'll do twelve."
"Sounds a bit more reasonable, alright. You wanna come by the pokémon centre later and watch me make 'em, then?"
"I'm not going to miss up on that opportunity," she grins. "I'll be there after I've cleaned up."
And that's that, Serena is over the moon and rightfully so, Wallace came over to personally congratulate her on her cute performance, all while Shauna did win but did not get as many compliments as Serena did. He knows what he created, though but everyone could use a little push, he's not going to hold Serena's hand forever, that much is sure but he would've appreciated it if someone came to tell him the basics of being a trainer before he went and made a mess of it himself.
Still, Dawn comes to collect her poffins, she's very pleased and does repeat to him that she realises now what she has been missing ever since getting that miserable call from Gary and it makes Ash sit down and think whether his reaction to their concern wasn't a bit out of bounds. He can't take back any of it now, though but he'll tell the friends he sees eye to eye how he felt about their actions and messages. Clemont isn't to be underestimated, though, just before Ash goes to retreat to his room, he catches him and stops him from leaving.
"I've been wondering, Ash. You just told Serena to stick with the basics because your mom's Christmas cooking tended to fail but you told us that you only ever celebrated Christmas last year. What's up with that?"
"What do you mean?"
"If she cooked for you, that's kind of celebrating, yeah?"
"She didn't, though," Ash answers and now Clemont is confused.
"… Then what did you eat?"
"Leftovers. She just cooked a lot."
"Oh…"
Ash wants to sigh and smile but his worry suddenly spikes, his hand goes towards the pendant that suddenly starts whirling madly. His eyes look at the ceiling and he's barely got the chance to create his Aura shield on the inside of the pokémon centre before a sudden attack takes the roof off the pokémon centre. His shield, however, is much bigger than before, it happens so effortlessly that Ash starts to understand what his uncle had tried to say about that pokérus infection.
"What's going on?" Clemont asks, hiding behind him, while everyone else shoots into the hallway, towards the saferoom that Ash doesn't really feel is safe.
Stainless steel can't protect you from everything and an angry pokémon is one of them. And just as he wonders why it feels a bit refreshing to have a pokémon act out since this hasn't happened since his accident, blood red, evil eyes look straight at him and his heart stops for a second. He knows this pokémon, he can't make out which one it is but it feels familiar… but it's big and clearly very upset about something. But it came for him, he can tell because the creature only has eyes for him. It scares him shitless and he can't think of anything else but to fling his Master ball at it. And heck if it didn't wiggle for a damn long time before signalling a perfect catch. Ash isn't sure whether he's so happy he caught this pokémon, it might well be a legendary one but he swears he'll let it go once it calmed down a great deal or wishes to be let go.
'You will need a bit more than just your bound of friendship to make your friend return to you, Ash,' Mewtwo says and now the teen hesitates.
'A friend?'
'I confess, when I told you that Lugia is a wanderer, I truly had no idea what was truly happening to it-'
"What?!" he exclaims.
"Ash!" someone yells, straight into his air.
Ash tries to recoil but he can't someone has their hands on his upper arms, disabling him from moving. He looks straight into Tierno's concerned face, in fact, there are suddenly an awful lot more people around him. Yes, him, he's not even standing underneath the hole in the roof any longer. When was he moved and why?
"What the hell is going on?" he asks, blinking at the teen who still is looking worried.
"You weren't answering us, we thought that shadow pokémon had control over you, you were just looking out into the distance without saying anything," Tierno rambles.
"What do you mean, a shadow pokémon?" Ash asks, is that… is that really what Lugia has been changed into, then?
'Yes'
"You know, like those creepy things in Orre. I bet they shipped one over here to-"
"To do what exactly?" he asks and it comes out a lot sharper than he intended but at least it manages to get Tierno to shut up. "You're one of those people who think that the smiles and happy expressions from the natives of Orre were photoshopped on them in every video shown by the media after hearing and seeing the results of the massive fundraiser, huh? Get your hands off me."
"But-" the teen objects and at least takes his hands off, just like Ash asked.
"Not all witches are from Salem," he says. "You be careful now, Tierno," Ash adds. "Don't mistake my responsibilities for yours, whatever pokémon I catch is none of your concern. In fact, the only thing you should be worried about is facing off against this pokémon in the near future."
The way the boy's face turns pale white -which is impressive considering Tierno's skin is a little darker than his- Ash figures he said something scary. But he doesn't care, what he does care about, is how he can get Lugia to become its lovely self again… and to ask his uncle how the fuck anyone outside of Orre managed to create shadow pokémon. So the first thing he does, and he doesn't care what time it is or who he'll have to answer to for doing this, is call professor Brunet.
"Oh, hello-"
"I've just caught a very visible Shadow pokémon," he says, not beating around the bush because he's not pleased. "You told me I shouldn't have been able to see the difference between a normal and a Shadow pokémon."
"Ash, where are you?" she asks, making him realise that one, he's just been very rude because he didn't introduce himself and two, she's got his number saved in her phone.
"In Courmarine City," he answers, sighing deeply. "I'm sorry, professor, I didn't mean to be rude, I'm just really upset right now."
"Honey, I'll be perfectly straightforward with you, if you mean that you just caught a Shadow pokémon in Courmarine City, the busiest city in the whole of Kalos, even busier than Lumiose City during sales, you are presenting me with nightmare material."
"I'm sorry but yes, that's absolutely the case. I have the Master Ball in my hands right now."
"You, boy, you're so lucky you had that with you and had the time to throw it because it doesn't even matter what pokémon it was, it could've hurt you."
"It's a Lugia, it blew off the roof of the pokémon centre."
"I'm very well aware of what a Shadow pokémon can do, Ash, I've seen hundreds and every single one managed to scare me."
"That's not why I called, though, I want to know how to purify it. And why it is no longer looking like it's a normal Lugia."
"Purifying it naturally will be a pain, you will need to earn its trust and that's not an easy feat. And as for your second question… I think that's for the international police, I'm very concerned, I hope the Kalos authorities have been notified."
"Probably," Ash says. "But what if I knew the Lugia before, professor? Will that make a difference?"
"Yes, certainly so but you still need to be careful approaching it, if it attacked you now, it would still do so despite having been caught. I suggest going somewhere remote where nothing else can distract it and have some burly pokémon nearby who can subdue it as you recall it, just in case it starts acting out."
Ash has a feeling that the idea of any legendary having been turned into a Shadow creature will spur a lot of help by itself but he's extremely distraught that Lugia might still attack him. While both Necrozma and Mewtwo tell him that they are more than ready to knock some sense back into Lugia and that they have ways to get Psychic pokémon to get themselves back under control, the pendant on Ash's neck suddenly swings around with a lot more force and when he looks up, he looks straight in Steven's eyes, the man's got his phone pressed against his ear and is looking horrified. The teen can tell that whatever news he's receiving isn't good… but then, after swallowing hard, Steven approaches him and the pendant is swinging like mad.
"I'm sorry, Ash, but something's happened," he says and all the boy can do is look at the way the man's eyes are already slightly teary. "Lance became unwell."
He's in his bedroom again, Dreepy slowly floating through the wall to lick at one of the tears rolling down Ash's cheek. Don't ask him why he's crying, no one is telling him anything, while his own ability is screaming at him that his uncle isn't doing well, to go see him or it'll be too late. But he can't, he's paralysed by the very idea that someone has instructed Karen and Agatha to take him to this house and keep him there, keeping him from seeing his uncle and not telling him what's going on. Ash doesn't think that either the blue-haired beauty or his godmother downstairs are wilfully keeping him unaware, they must not have been told anything either because they told him that they too are waiting for news. News that'll never come because Ash isn't dumb… and the walls of this house aren't thick enough to keep him from hearing Karen tell Agatha how evil she thinks Clair is for not telling them anything because they're here and not at the hospital.
Ash interprets the 'being here' part as it is bad that he's here too and it's not making him any happier. He's breathlessly worried but at a loss on what to do. His friends are no help, he can vent but all he hears is that they told him it's no shame to admit weakness, that they're happier he's safe at home. News about the Shadow pokémon has also gone around, Ash hasn't paid it any heed -though he wishes he did, he might have realised what happened sooner if he had- his friends guess that he's got something to do with it but while Serena and Clemont have been added to the group chat -the poor, unfortunate souls- they haven't confirmed it and frankly, Clemont sounds heated and ready to rip Barry a new one when the concerned teen claims Kalos isn't the best place for Ash to be in right now.
All the boy can think about is his uncle, though, and how he feels like the man isn't okay. Not the 'dead' not okay but something else. Something… incurable, like his prosthesis and he's so pissed at Clair when he hears that she is the reason why he isn't being told anything about his uncle. Ash doesn't know what to do with himself, he can't go anywhere because Dreepy has settled down in his lap, its big, emotionless eyes closed in bliss. At least he's useful for something but still, it gives him little to no comfort. So, in the last resort to vent to someone, he calls dr. Knight in the hopes of perhaps finding some release.
"Why are you so emotional, Ash?" the man asks, as soon as the boy opened his mouth to ask him for help.
"I'm back home. I've failed," he admits.
"I don't believe for a second you came back of your own volition."
"I did, though," Ash answers, getting slightly depressed because he did come home for nothing.
Why was he here when he's not even allowed to see his uncle? What exactly did he come home for?
"Why, then?"
"That's the million dollar question, isn't it? I think I wanted to do something to help my uncle but I… I just never imagined I would come back here. I thought that I would always be able to handle the journey, even with my disability. But, turns out that, even after everything that's left its mark on me, I didn't think that Lance, being my newfound family, would've become the disability dragging my sorry ass back here."
"And you're upset because something happened to Lance, then?"
"That and the fact that I think that the reason why I'm not told anything about my uncle is that it's generally accepted that I'm the reason why he got ill, in the first place and I find that harsh and unrealistically mean. And I needed to voice this without fearing that whatever I say will be thrown back at me at some point of my life, I can't trust anyone else to not do that."
"You should really find better friends, Ash," dr. Knight sighs. "But correct me if I'm wrong, you seem pretty convinced that you are also the reason why Lance got ill."
"… I don't know, the timing seems off. Surely he wouldn't get ill because I caught a Shadow pokémon? And the news doesn't travel that fast, I barely caught it before Steven got the call that Lance became unwell. Lance doesn't know what pokémon I catch, professor Elm does first of all."
" Oh, you caught a Shadow pokémon? Well done, I've heard they're notoriously difficult to catch."
"I had a Master ball and the automatic fling response on my side."
"Still, I feel like that has saved you from a nasty encounter. That being said, what Shadow creature is it?"
"A Lugia."
"Sheesh!" the therapist exclaims. "You certainly don't do things halfway, do you, Ash?"
"Maybe that's why Lance became unwell too, maybe I've overdone it. Maybe he's having a change of heart over my adoption, perhaps he is the one telling Clair he doesn't want to see me," Ash says and he shrugs despite knowing that dr. Knight can't see him do it.
"Aaand that's depressive, you are completely wrong. The man I saw take you home would give his life for you, I can assure you that Lance will not be having any second guessing whether or not he's done a good thing, adopting you. And believe me, Ash, you're the best thing that has happened for him in a looong while."
"… You really think so?" the boy asks, biting his lip because he's doubtful of it all now.
"Yes. Now, I don't normally endorse criminal activity but tell me when I need to leave a backdoor open, yes? I do often make my rounds around the rest of the hospital, no one will find it suspicious."
"Err… I suppose I can get there to use that opportunity but if Clair is there, ruling over Lance's wellbeing, isn't that a sign that either he's not awake or capable to tell her to bugger off?"
"Will any of that matter to you when you get there?"
Ash shakes his head, realising once more that the therapist can't see him. But when it comes down to it, he doesn't really care if his uncle is awake or not… yet why does his heart feel so bad at the idea of Lance not being capable of holding himself together? He hiccups, unable to hold back the tears he's been trying to keep at bay ever since getting here. Dr. Knight hears is, he does console him by saying that he doesn't enjoy the idea of him crying but the fact that he likes Lance this much that he cries after hearing the man isn't well, is a good sign because he also reminds Ash that he didn't spend even half a minute shedding a tear over his mother.
"I didn't like her after she was taken from me, no one kept me from going to see her, I chose not to do it but now when I want to see the man who means so much to me, I keep facing barrier after barrier. It's not fair!"
"It's not," the therapist agrees, surprising Ash because people, anyone, even Lance, seldomly understand his frustration, which usually makes him become so angry because why is he the only one finding offence in certain things when people claim he's a good, righteous kid? "I don't suppose you can give me an apt description of the person who is stopping you from seeing your uncle?"
"I don't want you to endanger yourself, she's more worthy of the name Karen than the beautiful lady downstairs whose name is Karen."
"Try me."
"Clair has bright blue hair, you can't miss her. Or her attitude. I don't know why she's rubbing me the wrong way but we've not gotten along too often."
"Ah, if that is the case, I've seen her. She's patrolling the lobby."
"… I bet she thinks I will try and go through the lobby to go see Lance, then."
"Just so you know, the second backdoor of the right side of the emergency entrance leading to the ward where you can ask a nurse for your uncle will be unlocked this evening, from six to eight."
"Thank you, dr. Knight but don't do anything reckless. I don't want you to get punished."
"What for? For being an airhead? They can go ahead and tell me to not be one but that won't work and besides, how am I supposed to know that you will use it to your advantage? Take the chances given, Ash, let nothing stand in your way towards success."
Ash thanks the man again, he feels a bit more hopeful as the call ends… but it's barely noon right now. That's still six gruelling hours he's going to have to wait until he can endeavour to get to the hospital at six.
'I can find that building even without my abilities, I came to visit you so often that it has become a waypoint in this region, one I will always find,' Mewtwo says.
"So you'll get me there?"
'Naturally.'
"Please come out?" Ash all but pleads and soon enough, the creature is in front of him, looking slightly confused.
Until the teen pulls it into the bone-crushing hug that quickly tells Mewtwo that the simple act of teleportation means the world to him.
"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Mewmew," the boy says as he holds the pokémon, who, of course, starts purring. "What am I doing wrong that any of the adults who claim to care so much about me aren't here, doing anything for me? Even offering me a ride towards the hospital would've helped but no, they're all quaking in their boots at the idea of Clair standing guard in front of the lobby?"
"I can handle her too if you like? One click of my fingers and she won't remember having seen you at all. In fact, I do not even need to click a finger and she will not even remember being a human person at all."
"If she poses any more issues for me, I'll let you do it," Ash agrees, pretty fed up with Clair acting out like this. "I mean, I'm not so unreasonable, am I? You can talk to me freely, right?"
"I can and always will, yes."
"I don't understand anything any longer."
"I can assure you, when everything finally simmers down, that you will understand that understanding whatever the ruckus was about was not worth the trouble. It is just usually human histrionics at play and I am very sure that Clair is enjoying her newfound importance. But she should not forget that the most direct family member to your uncle is you. You have his family's blood in your veins. She only does to a certain extent. And when it comes down to maturity, I find you uncanny emotional response far more mature than her pettiness," Mewtwo says but then sighs. "Alas, I am but a participant in your life, not a judge."
"I just don't know what to do with myself…" Ash sighs, groaning slightly.
"Perhaps, you can try and experiment?"
"… With?"
"Well, you see… There has been something uncanny about your Aura. Remember that your anger dwelled in there?"
"Yes?"
"Ever since the pokérus infection, it has disappeared. Yet, every creature entering your Aura world, gets their anger sucked out of them. I have never seen Dialga and Palkia softly slumbering in each other's embrace, I have never seen the three legendary birds sit in one tree, not to mention sitting on the same branch, huddled together, feathers touching."
"… You think it will work on Lugia too?"
"It is surely worth the shot, I think."
"We'll do it then," Ash says, holding more faith in what Mewtwo says than he'll ever pose into a human's opinion. "Right now?"
"You will have the right kind of backup. There are over a dozen of my kin in there."
"Let's go, then."
Agatha can say whatever she wants, Karen isn't comforted by the silence upstairs. She's been raised by the idea that kids shouldn't be obedient and silent, which must be why she liked Lance's description of Ash so much. She likes rogue children, she's been one to fight for her own rights and fight even harder whenever someone gets in her way. So to hear no sound coming from that room, after having heard from Lance that Ash has anger issues… it's eerie.
"Karen, please, calm down," Agatha sighs, having seen her stand up to go see how the boy upstairs is doing but then changing her mind again about a dozen times.
"Surely he must be hungry by now?"
"If he is, he will come down and get it himself."
"But if he's not feeling well…"
"Then Ash will not be hungry either. Please, Karen, understand that the boy is independent enough to know when he needs help or not."
"Look, you were there when Lance told us Ash trusts pokémon more than people and I think that you're enabling that to happen," she argues and smiles victoriously when Agatha remains silent, meaning she's made a good remark -excuse her being smug about it but it's so incredibly rare for her to outsmart the cunning old woman. "Are we just going to sit and wait until a pokémon has calmed him down, giving him every right to be distrustful of us? Making him think that we don't care about him?"
"Calm down," Agatha hisses and Karen shuts up now, she has crossed a line now. "I don't know how to approach Ash right now. We have nothing new to tell the boy and it will only make him even angrier than he rightfully is already."
"How do you know he's angry?"
"Because that's usually the case when he's silent."
The woman thinks about it for a little while, she figures that Agatha has a point but is it really okay to leave the teenager alone right now? Karen is sure that Lance would've approached Ash already and she's not one to beat around the bush either. Also, they never made lunch for themselves either, Karen sure as heck isn't hungry either but it's not the first or the last time she's skipped meals. Besides, she's done growing, all she eats just makes her grow in size and usually just in one direction, namely width so honestly, it's not always necessary for her. But a growing boy? One who she remembers has been told that he tends to stop eating when he's stressed? No, no, she goes ahead and goes to make Ash a sandwich, one with a lot of chocolate spread so it won't be dry and be more a piece of candy than a sandwich.
It's about eight when she goes up and she can't really hear anything, other than Agatha's muttering about how she should leave Ash alone. But when Karen opens the door -the doors in these old-style houses don't have locks on them, though if the teen wanted to be alone, he could've put a chair in front of the door and that would've been the end of her quest to get him something to eat-, she sees the boy sit on the bed, looking at nothing in particular. Or rather, he's probably not seeing what his eyes are pointed towards, his look seems sort of vacant as he's clutching a pillow very closely to his chest.
"Ash?" she asks and he seems to come back to life, he looks up as he gives her a confused look, he must have missed her coming into the room. "I thought you could be hungry."
"Oh… Oh, yeah, kinda. Forgot, sorry," he says and accepts the plate, yet doesn't make a move to take a bite from the sandwich just yet.
Karen resigns to her faith that the meal she made might not get eaten but eventually, as she goes to take a seat right next to him on the bed, Ash unclutches the pillow, places it next to him and takes a bite of the sandwich.
"… That's very sweet," he comments.
"You don't like chocolate spread?" she asks, panicking for a moment but then the teen shakes his head.
"It's fine."
"Is there something else I can please you more with, then? Just so I know that I don't overload a sandwich with this again."
"I was never given sweets," he says. "Not before I came here. So I'm just not used to sweets. I can learn to like them very easily, though so don't mind me. I like the overloaded part, though."
Karen wants to smack herself, she was told that Ash is a tragic kind of boy and that's something she just made him say out loud. He's clearly not okay, his eyes are red like he's been crying a lot recently but they're not puffy so he stopped crying a while ago. All in all, the teen makes for a sad picture but she has to wait to hug him because she did overdo it a bit with the spread and she's pretty sure Ash will be more upset than Lance would ever be about getting the chocolate on his covers. She doesn't know why she thinks that, the teen just seems like he would automatically assume he did a bad thing, even if it's not actually his fault. So, Karen waits patiently to show her affection and at least Ash talks to her.
"Do you think I could visit a friend tomorrow?" he asks.
"Of course, I'll drive you there, where do you need to be?"
"Pewter. I still need to ask him if it's okay if I come around, though."
"Well, if that friend of yours doesn't have the time for you, we'll go to the carnival in Blackthorn, yeah?"
"Mm," the boy hums and Karen isn't sure if it was a confirming hum or one of disinterest.
She can tell that even the funniest clown in the world might not be successful in making Ash smile, not in this situation. So they sit there, in relative silence, until the teen has finished the messy sandwich that he still managed to eat quite elegantly and without making a mess.
"Do you like pokémon?" he asks then, surprising her.
"Absolutely. I don't think I've met one I haven't liked."
"And other kinds?"
"Such as?"
"… Shadow pokémon?"
"I've seen them, yes, I mean, once they're purified, they're alright."
"You mind that I caught one?"
"You did?!" she exclaims in surprise but it's a delightful surprise because Shadow pokémon, while dangerous, are so cool to have but oh, so difficult to catch. "How the devil did you manage what hundreds of people have failed to do?"
"Master ball," Ash simply says, sounding quite defeated for some odd reason.
"Yeah, maybe that's part of the entire success of the feat but you must've stood straight in its path, looked it square in the eye and still have the reflex to fling that pokéball. That tells me you have balls the size of the pokémon league, Ash."
"… Maybe I have. Or maybe I'm just lucky."
"Luck doesn't have anything to do when it comes down to Shadow pokémon, kid," she says and shakes her head at him. "No, that must've been skill. Also, you must've gotten that Master ball from somewhere, no, no, luck didn't have anything to do with it."
"… So you don't think that it ended up making Lance ill?"
"Why do you say that?" Karen asks. "Who told you that?"
"No one," he answers, a bit too quickly. "Please answer me, though."
"Ash, Lance fainted during a meeting, he didn't even have his phone out at the time. He'll be just as surprised to hear you successfully captured a Shadow pokémon as I am."
"So he won't hate me because I have it?"
"Absolutely not, the pokémon you own are none of Lance's business. I bet that his pokémon would still make you just as scared as the Shadow pokémon will scare Lance. I mean, we all just need to trust the owner of the pokémon in front of us, that's what makes the Underground battle system so dangerous. They have no regard for safety there and that's scary. But any pokémon belonging to you? Nah, Ash, I'm sorry but I've done nothing to warrant being attacked so I'm pretty sure they won't attack me at all. Not even the Shadow pokémon, though I know that training them is difficult."
"Oh, it's purified," the boy answers and Karen smiles, he says it so casually that she actually believes he managed to do it so quickly. "I've called it Smog."
"So it likes you, hm?"
"Yes. I would like to have it meet other people sometimes too."
"Ash, is that you asking me if I want to meet Smog? Because if so, yes, I would very much like to see a tame Shadow pokémon up close."
"So you know it's discoloured? Professor Brunet told me that it's unusual."
"Depends on the way it was turned into a Shadow pokémon, I think," Karen answers, though smiles wryly. "My time in Orre wasn't the best experience ever either but I'll be damned if I didn't come out of it any wiser than before. So yeah, there were obviously Shadow ones and some we just couldn't tell. Well, we could because those creatures who looked pretty damn ordinary ended up frothing at the mouth in anger just by the sight of us. The theory we ended up with was that the pokémon who loved someone ended up discoloured, while the completely wild, independent ones don't change too much, other than the eyes turning red or this eerie blueish purple colour."
The way the teen's facial expression changes makes her think she's said something wrong but Ash seems oddly appreciative of her opinion.
"Thank you, Karen," he eventually says, smiling at her in a very natural manner, at least, for someone who was looking so empty and distressed before, it looks like he's feeling fine now.
Then, there's a knock on the door and before Karen can say something, Will's cheeky face comes poking from behind the door, causing her to sigh.
"At least a tiny display of manners, colour me surprised, Will," she sighs and rolls her eyes when the young man grins at her.
"Cut me some slack, I came all the way down here to try and console someone I feel is feeling a little down. Or am I wrong?"
"I already know Clair doesn't want me to get near to Lance because she thinks I will make his condition worsen," Ash says and indeed, looks like he's feeling a little down… more than just a little, though, not even the slight remnant of the nice smile from earlier visible.
"And pray tell me how you could do that?" Will asks, carefully approaching the teen who sighs.
"Because I have a Shadow pokémon?"
"Ahaha, the silly bitch," the young man chuckles. "You go and show everyone what you're made off, Ash, I know you're a pretty great kid but let's make one thing clear, Lance is scared of the Shadow pokémon in his dreams, not the ones he encountered in real life. And I think you're going to be able to get it to dart around you to play fetch or some other silly game so honestly, reserve me a front row seat when you manage to get it purified, okay?"
"… Is it too dark outside yet?" the teen asks, turning to look outside but frowns when he sees nothing but darkness outside. "Oh… yeah, that's… Smog's eyes are a little… yeah, let's not do it in the dark. Maybe tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, then. Now, have you eaten anything yet?" Will asks and smiles when the boy nods. "Good, do you want to come downstairs or are you going to call it a day already?"
"I'd like to try and sleep a little, I think I have jet lag."
"Ah, but of course, you came all the way from Kalos! You should've been in bed a long time ago, then," the man says but Karen doesn't miss how his eyes look at her for a split second before focussing back on the teen in front of him. "Do you need any help? Anything we can do to help?"
"No, I'm good. But thanks for the offer."
"No problem. Just tell us when you need anything, yeah?"
"'Kay."
Karen finds it a little weird how Will ushers her out of the room but the face he pulls when he closes the door behind him is nothing short of priceless. She waits to ask what it was all about, though… because it seems like something closes the door rather quickly and there was no way Ash could have been the one doing it because they can hear him shuffle about in the bathroom.
"There was a bit, black, smooth looking creature right behind you," Will says when they're downstairs, immediately pulling in Steven and Wallace's attention, though Karen blinks when neither of the two seems to be concerned about the presence in Ash's room.
"Don't bother, it's just likely one of his big friends again," Steven answers. "To me, it's more important to know that those big friends arrive when Ash isn't feeling well."
"Big friends?" the young man repeats and Karen scoffs.
"You're being unnaturally slow today, Will, you're going to have to get your game up."
"… Wait, legendary p-"
Will doesn't finish his sentence, he whirls around, clearly startled by something everyone else in the room missed.
"What the hell was that?!" he asks, looking around as he puts his hand against his ear.
"What happened?" she asks, looking around now as well, leave it to Will to get her paranoid too.
"Something huffed into my ear."
And as soon as those words leave his mouth, the doors around them slam shut in an unholy thundering noise and the blinks of the entire house roll down at lightning speed, the rattling still lingering in her ears as Karen desperately tries to make sense of what's happening around her.
"Well," Wallace pipes up, surprisingly unperturbed by the situation. "I guess we're staying the night."
"Yes, you look very ready to move in for a longer period than just tonight," Agatha pipes up, clearly bothered by the amount of bags and suitcases lining the hallway.
"Hey, not all of those bags are mine!"
"Most of them are, though," Steven quips.
"I feel outnumbered! Steven, what's happened to that undying support you promised me all that time ago?"
"It went to bed, tired from dragging all those bags inside."
"Mutiny!"
"Ack!" Will exclaims, jumping away from the spot he stood at much further this time. "What the hell? What's keeps breathing down my e-?"
Giratina's head slowly comes out of the wall perfectly behind the position where Will had been standing and Karen has a slight suspicion no one inside this room is breathing right now. Not until the head slowly sinks back into the wall, that is.
"That was awesome!" the young man mutters.
"That it was," Agatha agrees. "That creature was looking for someone, though."
"Not one of us so I'm not going to bother," Karen says, though still pretty unsettled. "I think this was a nice show of whose boss here inside this house."
"Giratina?" Will asks.
"No, Ash. You are slow today."
"Hey, it's one of my best friends who ended up in the hospital too, you know? I was the one who did the CPR, I was the one who told everyone his heart stopped for a good few seconds. I'm tired."
"Then sleep," Agatha all but commands. "It's got no use comparing each other's grief when the situation is already bad enough for an outsider. Besides, is it not clear enough that this creature just now was looking for the one who made Ash feel this way?"
"… You know what, I'm not even going to bother, I don't know what crawled up in Clair's ass and died there either," Karen says. "It's so cruel how she can plain out deny Lance's kid from seeing him. But still, I'm glad it's not affecting Ash that bad that he can't think of something else. I'll probably drive him to Pewter tomorrow, he's wanting to go see a friend."
"Brock Slate, I presume," the elderly trainer states with a grin, her eyes have that all-knowing twinkle in them again -it's not one of her favourite looks. "How odd that, of all friends he has, Ash would like to go and see the one training to be a doctor."
"Are you implying that Ash somehow knows what's going on with Lance and doesn't understand so rather than risking being caught looking it up here, he would go through the trouble to ask someone who isn't that close by and who might not know the answer either because Brock Slate is training to be a pokémon doctor?" Steven asks, blinking as if he's already affronted by the implication of Ash doing anything of said nature.
"You know what, I think everyone is a little upset due to what has happened recently," Agatha says, the twinkle gone but replaced with annoyance. "I'll call it a night and pray to Arceus that Ash simply broke into the hospital and got to know Lance's afflictions that way than him knowing it through one of his abilities. Because if that is the case, I will be taking my distance from the boy and I would advise all of us to do the same because we will inadvertently pull him through hell as soon as something happens to us."
"We will be doing just the same if we take distance from him too," Steven answers and now she sighs deeply.
"… It was pretty silent in the house before I went upstairs, though," Karen pipes up, suddenly realising something. "Also, don't visitor hours end exactly way before eight?"
"Are you suggesting he actually went and broke into the hospital, Karen?" Will asks, his cheeky grin growing even bigger now.
"Wouldn't put it beyond him to do it, after all, he's spent an awfully long time in that same hospital. He might as well have some connections down there who don't give a damn about what Clair says or does."
"Very true," Agatha agrees. "That being said, please do drive the boy to Pewter, Karen, if he so asks. I think it's better that Ash hears what's going on with Lance through a friend than from a doctor."
"… Right."
Ash can't make heads or tails out what he's taken a picture of, he has high hopes that Brock might be able to translate this typical doctor nonsense to hide important details behind incredibly hard-to-understand words. Like, what the heck does myocardial infarction combined with transient ischemic attack mean? The scheme on his uncle's bed end also tells him that the MRI and behaviour test results rule out remaining symptoms of cerebrovascular accident but that the patient needs to be kept under close observation nonetheless. The teen guesses that the machines around his uncle's bed are the ones doing the observing, he was able to sneak into the room without anyone noticing it, much thanks to dr. Knight's well-meant assistance.
But he has to take the bus to Pewter, for some reason, all the adults in the house oversleep, horribly so. The only one awake is Steven but he was badgered awake by Dreepy, who became hungry and somehow took Steven responsible to feed him, having floated through the wall of the man's room. Unfortunately, when the man stumbles into the living room, he seems barely able to remember how to 'human' so Ash ends up being the one to feed Dreepy and all the other dragon pokémon… who, with the exception of Lance's Gible who nearly bites a hole in the bag, watch him with an odd kind of fascination shining in their eyes. But he doesn't linger, he has a quest and seeing that none of the people inside the house -when Ash leaves, he also sees Will clamber down the stairs but somehow, he doesn't want to see what ended up becoming of the kind man- are unable to help him decipher the message leading to the truth, left at his uncle's bed end, he goes to see Brock.
The teen is ecstatic to see him, he's ready and waiting at the bus stop and the first thing Brock does is apologise.
"I'm so sorry, for everything I've said to you," he says and already gets Ash in tears.
"I know, you probably were just venting."
"It still wasn't right to do, not to you. You always beat everyone's expectations, I don't know when I became the fool who thought that you couldn't do it this time around. And yet… yet, you're here. What's happened to you, Ash? You've never come home during a journey."
"I've become attached," he admits. "Call it tamed, I don't care but I do care about my uncle."
The 'more than my mother' part is lost but judging from Brock's wry smile, he understood it anyway. Leave it to him to see straight through him too.
"I understand, I mean, I don't have stellar parents but you already knew that. I mean, you were the one who dragged my father home so yeah, let's not go into detail. But you said you wanted to ask me something?"
"Euh, yeah. You know what all this means?" Ash asks, getting out his phone to show him the picture he took yesterday evening.
"… Give me a minute," Brock says but his frown only confirms the teen's feelings.
Doctors always have the most difficult names for the meanest and worst diseases.
"Where did you take this picture, Ash?"
"… My uncle's bed end."
"That's why you came home, then? Because you heard he was unwell?"
"I did say I got attached, didn't I?"
"It suits you, I've always been worried that you could leave your mom for such a long time, being so young. I mean, you're independent but the way you latched onto us during your journeys always made me a bit dubious. It's not like I saw you get hurt by her but there was something about the way you got along with most people and then kind of refused to go home… I don't know why I felt that way but I was concerned."
"I didn't think it was that obvious."
"It wasn't, Ash. I guess you got all of us fooled into thinking you came from a happy home," the teen says with a weak smile on his face, shrugging.
"It's not like it was an unhappy home either."
"So what makes you come back to Lance and not Delia?"
"He's nice. He cares for me, he comes to visit me during my journey without any good reason and it's nice that he… he does things for me. And Lance has good friends, I had like, my actual first birthday party as a teen hosted by Wallace a few days ago and he didn't enable me to bend to anyone's wishes like mom did. He basically told me to be myself for once and it didn't explode in my face this time because no one took offence to it. I… I don't know what's changed, I have, probably but is that really all that was needed for me to be liked?"
"Ash, I think you need to stop thinking that everyone disliked you at all, at any point of your life."
"Brock," the boy sighs. "Try thinking you're liked in Pallet, I mean?"
"I know, I know. At least professor Oak was there."
"It's a cold day in hell when he's not, though."
Brock laughs but he doesn't seem pleased at the same time.
"You've not talked to him?"
"More rather, I have. He's just another Pallet resident, that's all. I should really take my distance from that area, I mean, professor Elm turns into a swearing, road-rage-induced idiot when he's in a car but at least he's not trying to fit into shoes three times too big for him if you get when I'm saying."
The teen watches him for a good while, Ash feels a bit awkward just standing here because they're still at the bus stop. Brock has made no move towards his home and while he's okay with standing, if his friend is just going to stand there and keep looking at him, he'll be taking the bus on the other side of the road and just search online what those words on his uncle's bed end mean. But he still remembers typing in his own symptoms into the search engine, he remembers how a coldness gripped his heart at seeing the result pop up on the screen and damn if it wasn't right but he doesn't need to read it being written in such an unfeeling manner. Whoever wrote that down cared about the theory part of the affliction, not the effect it could have on a person reading it and fearing they have it.
"I think I get it. Still, your uncle should calm down a bit more. I mean, myocardial infarction is a term for a heart attack, while a transient ischemic attack is sort of a mini-stroke. The rest of the information on it is just clarifying he had the mini-stroke and not an actual stroke so he won't have any lasting effects from the transient ischemic attack," Brock says as if he had just read Ash's mind and understood the urgency of the situation. "That being said, the chances of all this being stress-related are high."
"It's not my fault," Ash answers.
"He got the heart attack when you weren't there, though, so that's pretty obvious. Might have been high blood pressure too."
"If it's that obvious, then why is his niece stopping me from entering the hospital?"
"No idea, I do know she's not very successful in it."
"I have friends there."
"… Please don't tell me you broke into the hospital?"
"Is it considered breaking in if the door is open?"
"Ash, never do this again."
"Nope, I'm gonna assault Clair and call her a bitch for the whole hospital lobby to hear. If it's not my fault, she shouldn't keep me from seeing Lance."
"Please don't assault her?" Brock asks, wincing as if he truly believes Ash can do some sort of damage to the woman three heads taller than him and buff as fuck from dealing with her Dragon-type pokémon. "Also, why could Clair be the one thinking you were responsible for Lance's heart attack?"
"I caught a Shadow pokémon, I too thought Lance was so scared of them that it would give him a heart attack before Will corrected me that this is not the case. It's the entire place of Orre and his memories he's scared of, not a pokémon taken out of the scary part and put into his life at random."
"Yes, random is the right word for all of this, what the heck, Ash? Where did you find a Shadow pokémon?"
Ash sighs and yet again tells the very short story of how he's caught Smog. He's still counting his blessings that the Lugia doesn't mind being owned and that his Aura suddenly turned into a place where every pokémon turns mellow and nice. Brock doesn't seem to be very bothered by the idea that he has a Shadow pokémon either, seems like not just his Aura is a safe heaven. And he has to admit, Smog is so cute, it knows he likes it when it turns tiny and earlier this morning, when Palkia complained that the 'humans' downstairs had been making fun of each other in such a serious situation like this -apparently, it's not done to have fun when kin is hurting- it sat on his lap, curled up and peacefully snored until Ash got fed up waiting for everyone to wake up and went to catch the bus.
So Smog also acts nice outside of his Aura now, which Mewtwo claims is because his intentions purified it and yes, Lugia still remembered being his friend, that's why it also happened so fast and why the creature came to him. Also, it was the piece of information that Mewtwo passed onto Ash at New Year, which Ash had passed to Lance, that ended up creating Shadow Lugia, Team Rocket managed to capture Lugia through Hunter J -if he ever sees that woman again, he will have Giratina eat her, the pokémon desperately wants to eat someone again anyway so it best be her- and used the research they found from infiltrating the pokémon league's database, which ended up giving them access to professor Brunet's research about Orre to create Shadow Lugia.
Why they released it still remains beyond Ash, maybe Lugia saw a chance to escape and took it but still, he has shed many tears inside of his Aura world as Ash experienced what happened to Lugia. It was necessary, he needed to do the Aura bond thing to know if Lugia was a one-of and mostly, who was responsible for this. He had no idea that the shadowfication process hurt so much, Lugia should never have gone through this and yet… Yet it's become one of Ash's loved pokémon now, coloured the black and unhappy purple that gave the teen the inspiration for the nickname he gave Lugia.
"Ash? You still there?" Brock asks and the boy looks up.
"Sorry, got lost in thought there."
"You look tired."
"I am tired, I'm tired of a lot of things too but I can't do anything about it."
"Maybe you ought to rest before you go and see Clair. Something tells me you won't get any nicer to her when you are upset."
"Can you blame me?"
"Not really," the teen sighs. "If I know I could help you, I would come along but I have a feeling Clair would use me against you."
"I would like to see her try," Ash answers sourly. "Don't bother, I'm a loaded weapon any time a day. Sleep isn't going to work, I'm not going to be able to rest until this injustice is gone, I should be able to visit my uncle who is basically my adoptive father as freely as any child should be able to visit their family. And it's not like Lance is so grievously wounded that it's horrible to see him, he looks perfect, just… not like himself right now. But that's alright, things always need to get worse before they can get better anyway."
And Brock smiles so warmly at him, the boy isn't sure why but he taps him on the shoulder.
"You've done a lot of growing up in the while I lost sight of you, haven't you?" he says and grins. "Don't be the hell raiser Clair expects you to be, though."
"Nope, gonna kill them with kindness. As I said, I know people in the hospital and no matter how weird I am, I've never hurt anyone. So they know me better than Clair anyway."
"Go for it."
As if Ash still needed Brock pushing him to go see his uncle, a lot of his inner demons will be shushed if he sees Lance awake and coherent. But one thing has changed, initially, the teen intended to go back home, like the good boy everyone expected him to be but instead, he texts Steven the message he never thought he would need to send. And then promptly takes the bus to Celadon City.
End of chapter thirty-four