Chapter 3: Memory Lane's Speed Limit Broken

Rushuna was away from Yajiro. She was away from Mikan. She even was away from her own past. Frozen in time, Rushuna found herself in the future...already making a mark on Ash and thinking that he was Yajiro. Her head in place, she wanted to find her friends, not knowingly that it's been hundreds of years since she saw them being in the mountains in an ambush. Resolved conflict had Ash, Rushuna and Piplup return to Brock, Dawn and Pikachu. Those three patiently waited for Ash to recover to carry Rushuna into Nudachea City. "How long does Ash need to take in order to heave her here?" Dawn grumbled, thinking that Ash was doing more to the supposedly still-thawing girl. Brock saw that Dawn was suspicious about what Ash may have been doing.

"Don't be so hasty to judge," Brock advised. "From all we know, that girl could be waking up and getting wind on what's going on in today's world." The breeder had to have had a crystal ball by his side. He seemed to know that Rushuna was up and that she was no longer a piece of the past. Still, Dawn had to think it was something more...what's the best way to put it? A passionate issue?

"I don't think you've got it through that thick skull. Did you see how big her ta-tas were? No straight man would resist boobs as big as hers. I mean...look!" She patted her rack up, not making a bounce. Needless to say, Brock wasn't amused...nor conflicted with her remark.

"Ash wasn't interested with her...suggestive boundaries, he was thinking about her safety." Sticking with her argument, Dawn groaned to say that Brock still refused to see the bigger picture. That's when Pikachu saw the other three coming, alerting Dawn and Brock. The two looked on as Ash and Rushuna walked toward the regrouping.

"Nudachea City sounds like a good place to chow down after being frozen for so long," Rushuna smiled at the idea of food. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a town whole." Ash chuckled at the mythical thought, but did feel Rushuna's stomaching desires were not only hers.

"I feel the same way sometimes," he confessed with a chuckle. That's when they spotted Brock and Dawn, waiving them over. "Dawn, Brock. Sorry about that." Brock scoffed at Ash's apology, knowing his friend well as Dawn picked Piplup from the ground.

"If I knew that she would wake up, we would've stayed," Brock acknowledged. "So, what's the story?" Time for introductions.

"Brock, Dawn, this is Rushuna Tendo. She's a senshi from back a few hundred years ago, but she's only 16 when she became a Popsicle." Rushuna giggled innocently to his description. Dawn handed the satchel and revolver back to Rushuna.

"Brock removed the bullets from your gun for safety," she explained. Rushuna didn't mind her revolver being handled by someone with care, especially with children on mind.

"Not a problem," she hummed. "My gun was set to level the weight of a human life. It could explain why it was tough to pull the hammer back." Brock seemed to understand where Rushuna was coming from. Right now, there was one thing on Ash's mind.

"We should be about a half-mile from Nudachea," he pointed out. "We can make it by lunchtime." The rest agreed before taking off. They arrived at the next city which looked like any other city with its skyscrapers, businesses, hospitals...but the place of interest was a large restaurant with a large bowl of something as a cutout sign with "PASTA LOTSA" underneath. Inside, Brock and Dawn weren't eating spaghetti but eying Ash and Rushuna in awe. Why? Check the pile of plates by each. Ash and Rushuna had consumed eight plates of spaghetti each and already working on their ninth. You could bet that the bill was going to be big. Where the heck were they storing all that pasta?

"Brock, if there was an eating contest, Ash and Rushuna would be alone at the top," Dawn murmured while she and Brock were dropping nervous sweat. Even Pikachu was unable to pick up a fork and munch on the pasta.

"Glad I chose the Unlimited Pasta Brigade special," Brock sighed. That's a relief. Guess their bill won't be as high as assumed. Both feasting teens finished plate number nine...and showed no sign of slowing down. That's when the chef came out. This didn't look too good.

"How's your meals so far?" the chef asked.

"The spaghetti is awesome, even the herbs and care that you've sprinkled onto it," Rushuna complimented. The chef felt pleased with such praise.

"I'm surprised that you're able to taste it considering how much you and Ash wolfed down," Dawn laughed. Everyone joined, forgetting their growling stomachs. An indication that Ash and Rushuna weren't full...after nine plates?

"Well, we're making more and it'll take about 20 minutes," the chef explained. Well, more food was on the way, albeit with a 20 minute delay. Everyone accepted the word of the chef, meaning time to kill before the food arrived.

"Well, with more food cooking, why don't we learn about Rushuna's past?" Brock suggested. The rest believed that it was a good idea. Rushuna let out a belch, clearing out some pathway for her to speak.

"It's a good time waster," Rushuna obliged. "Now, as you may have already known, I'm a senshi, or Enlightened who has skills with guns. I follow the teachings and ideals of Great Empress Tenshi of a world of smiles. She taught me the ultimate strategy in battle which is to disarm the opponent's will to fight without fighting." That's a tall task. Ash, Brock, Dawn and Pikachu listened intriguingly, hearing lost voices that fell on many a deaf ear of centuries.

(Rushuna's Past/View)

I traveled the lands during a raging war, wanting to spread the worship of Tenshi to the world. One night, I was bathing in a hot spring when a mercenary swordsman came into my area. That mercenary was Yajiro Kojima, a swordsman who was on a mission of his own. He was attempting to rescue a lord at a fort, which was nearby. I arrived to aid him and show the Tiger of the Rearguard how I fight. When I saved his lord, he decided to side with me to spread the word. That's when I was told that Tenshi put a bounty on my head for betraying her trust. I traveled to the capital to seek why she would back stab me. Along the way, we befriended a few senshi and became partnered with Mikan Kurenai, an orphaned girl who hung out in a brothel before joining us and a prodigy balloon maker. Her balloons have helped all of us. When we reached the capital, I found out that I wasn't betrayed but targeted by a rival who captured Tenshi and sided with Kaizan Doushi. Yajiro dealt with Kaizan while I battled Setsuna, a rival of mine who kidnapped Tenshi. We managed to defeat Setsuna and Kaizan died from Yajiro tackling him from the air. Tenshi was freed. With the capital at eased, the three of us proceeded to continue the mission of Tenshi's vision when we were caught in a snowstorm in the mountains. I thought we'd be safe in a vacant cabin, but we were ambushed by bounty hunters. The last thing I saw was the cliff where I fell from, separating from Yajiro and Mikan. When I woke up...

"I saw you, Ash," she finished as her head was turned to him. Awes filled the dining hall as they reflected on Rushuna's story of war and beliefs. The brutality of guns, swords...it made even Pikachu feel uncomfortable.

"All those people," Dawn muttered. "I can't believe we're hanging out with a murderer." Just because she could wield a revolver, it doesn't mean she's a killer. How many lives did she think Rushuna ended back then?

"Dawn, her innocent smile and the way her gun is modified is telling us that she shoots to preserve life, not destroy it," Ash defended Rushuna. "It's like how police all around use other methods like their Growlithes instead of their firearms." Brock and Pikachu got what Ash was saying, with Dawn seemingly understanding it sooner or later.

"What's next? When you face Paul, you'll personally take his attacks to prove her empress's teachings?" Dawn, that's different, right Ash?

"It's about logic," Brock spoke up. Dawn and Pikachu turned to the bigger man, willing to hear his take. "If you show your opponent that you don't wanna battle, the other might get the message, saying that maybe it wouldn't be worth injuring your Pokémon over. The same way with some politics, provided that you're sending the right message." Logic...fascinating enough, Dawn came to Brock's positional advice.

"Is that how it works?" She acted apologetic to the news of her wrong-thinking. "Sorry I made such a racket about it." Rushuna accepted the guiltier girl.

"Don't mention it," she understood. That's when her smile frowned, catching Ash's eyes. He knew she was worried about how her friends were faring since her separation from the mountains.

"You wanna go and see Yatchan and Mikan, don't you?" he guessed. Rushuna bobbed a stiff nod. Brock stood, answering Rushuna's aid.

"We need to find a Celebi," he answered with confidence to strike up the band. The other three glared at Brock, trying to figure his madness...no, his understanding.

"A Celebi?" Dawn repeated with a question.

"Celebi can travel through time. We could have one travel you back to see your friends and see that they're out of danger." Using his knowledge, Brock had a solution to Rushuna's problem. Then, a setback.

"You've got a point, but where can we find a Celebi in these woods?" Ash issue a counterpoint. Brock sensed a bit of defeat with the question, and Dawn saw it.

"Ash got you on that one," she sighed.

"Perhaps, but I do have a trump card up my sleeve," Brock bounced back. However, before he announced his plan, someone decided to play the spoiler.

"I think I've got info on what you're looking for," a familiar female voice echoed. Everyone spun their heads toward...well, well, well, if it isn't the blond in black. Other than Rushuna, the group was rather shocked to see her... and her maracas. (The ones in her hair, not the ones overlapping her chest like Rushuna's.)

"Cynthia, what's up?" Ash opened, though a little perplexed by the sight. Why would that be? Cynthia smirked as she approached and petted Ash's hair before siding with Pikachu.

"If it ain't my Pokémon protege and his group of supporters. I take it the delicacy of the city's foods lured you here." That's when she gazed a grin over to Rushuna. This couldn't be good. "Especially you, infamous Grenadier Rushuna Tendo." The title... While Brock and Dawn wondered what Cynthia was talking about, Ash had a pretty fascinating gawk that may have told him that Dawn was right the whole time. Were Ash and his friends hanging out with a dangerous maiden of death? Could Rushuna's tale of her travels with Yajiro and Mikan be a lie? Rushuna? Well, she was dumbfounded. Then she smiled, as if it was no big deal.

"The smiling senshi. Miss Cynthia," she detailed. "The meaning of Grenadier." Brock and Dawn were even more baffled and Ash couldn't help but prepare to push his chair from the table. Cynthia never lowered her smirk as if she knew what to expect. What about Pikachu?

("Maybe the Pokémon Master and Rushuna are related,") he wildly guessed. Relatives, like ancestor to descendant? You serious, Pikachu? And Cynthia, a Pokémon Master? That could explain the shock value of her appearance. What else could Cynthia have up in her sleeve?

TO BE CONTINUED...

(A/N: Today, 9/27, is my Birthday, turning 26 and one year away from my Golden. Let me be childish and wish for many reviews from you fans and don't let me hold you back on your great works too.)