~Present Day~
[BGM - Hometown - Xenoblade Chronicles]
Quest Name: Delivering Food
Story Quest
Information: Serena has made something special for Ash. Take it to him before it gets cold!
Find Ash and give him the food.
Rewards: N/A
"Whenever you have any story-based objectives, they must be completed in order to advance the journey," the pink orb explained. Serena planned to give Ash something special that she made while camping out in the wilderness surrounding Pallet Town. Before that, however, she had stopped by Professor Sycamore's Laboratory at Lumiose City to receive her starter Pokémon, a Fennekin. Now, she found herself in Pallet Town, and was asking its many residents for clues regarding Ash's whereabouts, eventually leading her to Alain.
"Hey, Serena!" Alain called.
"Alain!" she said, smiling.
"Looks like you're in a hurry," he said. "Where are you headed?"
"I just thought I'd give some food to Ash," Serena explained, indicating the lunchbox. "I'm on my way to Professor Oak's Laboratory."
"Ash isn't there right now."
"Really?" a surprised Serena responded.
Alain turned to look to the outskirts of Pallet Town. "I just sent him off to get some fresh air. You know where he went."
She did. "Outlook Park."
"That's the one," Alain said, facing her again.
Serena glanced up in the direction of the park, wondering if she could even get there before the food got cold.
"Okay," she said. "Thanks, Alain."
With the new information accounted for, Serena left the town proper, beelining for the staircase off the beaten path to the Residential District. She loved this route, thanks to its peacefulness, what with the grass, trees, and small wild Pokémon going about their lives without a care in the world. She also noticed a pair of Buneary before they hid themselves within the tall grass.
Eventually, she reached the stairs that would lead her straight to Outlook Park, and began climbing them quickly. As tired as she quickly got, she still pressed on; she needed to ensure Ash got her food while it was still hot!
Unaware of Serena's desire to give him the food she prepared, Ash sat on one of the park's benches. The view from the park was spectacular; the town off in the distance, Cinnabar Island farther off, clear blue water separating the two, the island's beaches nearly white, the shores alive with greenery. Yet that wasn't what Ash was seeing.
[BGM - A Friend On My Mind]
"The Bonding Blade..." Ash thought to himself. "It's the only weapon that's effective against the Shadow Pokémon."
"They say that before time began, it was wielded by the Mewtwonis. The same Mewtwonis that the Kanto region is a part of."
"It must have a secret," Ash continued, picturing the Bonding Blade in Professor Oak's Lab. "That's how Calem was able to defeat so many Shadow Pokémon..."
"...and why he lost the use of his right arm." As he thought about this, Ash pictured himself one year back, witnessing the injured Calem being carried on his stretcher.
"If I can just unlock the secret of its power..."
"Ash!"
Serena's call for Ash snapped him back to reality, so he looked over to see Serena holding a lunchbox while looking very pleased with herself.
"Serena!" Ash said with happiness. He moved over to make room for Serena so she could sit alongside him and give him the lunchbox.
"This is great!" Ash stated as he began eating. "It tastes so good!"
"Really?" a surprise Serena asked, leaning forward slightly.
"It's amazing!"
Sighing, Serena's shoulders slumped. "Oh Ash, you say that every day."
"Not quite," Ash protested before taking another bite. "It's always delicious. But today, it's amazing."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Thank. Goodness," a relieved Serena stated, smiling. "I used some special herbs and spices today. If you said it was just the same as usual, I'd have my proof that you have no sense of taste!"
"Huh?" Ash was so focused on his sandwich that he could hardly make out what Serena was stating. He looked over to see Serena leaning forward, elbows on her knees, legs crossed, and her body so close to him.
"Eh, it's nothing," she said, tilting her head back and uncrossing her legs.
Serena happily sighed, leaning back to take in the peaceful air.
"The breeze feels so good."
Ash glanced at her smiling before staring up at the cloudless sky, letting the breeze and sunlight fully wash over him. "Yeah... I forgot what it feels like," he remarked. "I never thought it could be so quiet here."
"You're spending too much time with Gary," Serena said, her eyes meeting Ash's eyes and smiling lovingly. "You're getting used to all the noise both of you make."
"Yeah, maybe..." Ash agreed with a small, self-deprecating laugh.
Serena laughed a bit too before staring upward at the long journeys the two had ahead of them in the form of their collective view from the park. "It's so peaceful. You know, Ash, I hope every day of our lives can be like this, always."
Ash, having just finished his sandwich, was smiling too, looking at Serena and marveling at how the sunlight caught thousands of small variations in her honey-blonde hair. While he wouldn't tell her for now, he would never grow tired of looking at her.
"All done! Let's head to the lab, Serena," Ash said, content with his time at Outlook Park.
Quest Complete
Name: Delivering Food
Story Quest
Information: Serena has made something special for Ash. Take it to him before it gets cold!
Ash said it was even more delicious than usual.
"Communicate with party members through Affinity Cries," the pink orb explained, back for more exposition. "You can use Affinity Cries on your friends to encourage/assist them depending on how a battle is going for them. Whenever you're missing attacks consistently during battles, you'll likely get discouraged and continue missing often. Fortunately, you can combat this through approaching dispirited party members to encourage them, or doing so to help them when they're suffering Daze/Topple. Encouragement and help will improve affinity between two party members. It's incredibly helpful, and you always want to keep an eye on your friends to ensure you're able to help them out whenever they need it. Doing so will give you a much smoother time all around."
In battle, party members that were more acquainted with each other would fight better together based off this knowledge. How would Ash need it to happen? Through Affinity, of course. There would be many ways to get it, with the pink orb detailing an example.
"Chat with your friends through Heart-to-Hearts," the pink orb continued. "If the affinity between two party members is deep enough, they'll have access to Heart-to-Hearts. Why not check out one in Outlook Park?"
If Ash had specific friends with a certain level of Affinity between each other, they could have a conversation between each other. Through doing this, based off how the conversation went, they could have greater affinity between each other.
[BGM - Colony 9 - Xenoblade Chronicles]
Heart-to-Heart:
Sunrise in the Park
"Hey, Ash..." Serena said. "You remember the time we watched the sun rise, right here? It was when we were quite young."
"Yeah, I remember," Ash responded. "We came here because I invited you."
"You don't remember, do you?" Serena reacted with a vague hint of frustration. "And since when have you ever invited me to do anything?"
"Oh... erm... I could've sworn that was what happened..." Ash said with guilt.
"No, silly! I had a big fight with Calem and ran out of your house. Sure, you invited me and Calem over for around a month, one year after we met at Oak's Summer Camp, which in part led to it all, but that's still not the point!" Serena explained.
"Oh yeah! It's coming back to me now," a refocused Ash responded. "If I'm remembering right... You wanted to marry me?!"
"Ash, I can't believe you!" an appalled Serena shouted. "Okay, I might have said some stuff about wanting to be your bride, but you promised you'd forget about it!"
"Sorry, Serena..." Ash said with an embarrassed smile. "I just couldn't resist. I mean, if I'm honest, I actually quite liked the idea of you being my bride. To this day, I've even had dreams about our marriage."
"Ash, don't get any funny ideas in your head!" Serena responded, trying to snap him back to reality. "I was just a kid! I barely even knew what a bride even was!"
"He still remembers!" Serena thought to herself. "Oh, Ash..."
With all delays out of the way, Ash and Serena chose to start heading back to the lab. After some time, Serena sighed, resting her hand on Ash's shoulder. "Sorry to break your silence, Ash, but it's just that I'm worried for Calem's safety. You saw what he was like one year ago."
"I did," Ash responded. Serena's words caused him to picture the weak Calem unable to move due to his pain. "You've taken great care of him."
By now, they were headed through the Commercial District, as Serena flashed a soft smile. "Thank you. He hasn't made it easy, though. I have a feeling Calem will join us soon; I've caught him practicing with those swords he made in his room back in Kalos."
"He's probably just practicing. He figures that he needs to be ready to protect us in the event something attacks. Admittedly, however, it would be pretty dumb for the Shadow Pokémon to come all the way over to Pallet Town just to attack and invade us."
Serena's eyes narrowed, as she reached an understanding between both her and Ash's points. "As long as it's not the Bonding Blade. I'll never let him use it ever again! He's lucky it just cost him his right arm!"
Ash nodded in agreement. By now, they reached the Central Plaza, when they spotted someone in need of help.
"I've lost something really important..." the resident said. "My wedding ring... It's so small. I've looked all over but can't find it anywhere. Can you help me out?" he asked.
Quest Name: Search Quest 1
From: Pallet Town Resident
Information: A husband has lost something precious and it will cause an argument with his wife. Help him by finding the thing he has lost.
Find the Wedding Ring in Pallet Town.
Rewards: 1200 Pokémon Dollars, 50 EXP
"I really don't want my wife to have a go at me," the resident pleaded. "I'm counting on you."
Ash and Serena's next stop was the Military District, where a Defense Force soldier had something on his mind.
"Have you ever been to the pool below Outlook Park at night?" the soldier asked. "There's a particularly dangerous Magikarp that appears there, and it would mean a lot if you could eliminate it once and for all."
Quest Name: Challenge 3
From: Defense Force Soldier
Information: A curious Defense Force Soldier has asked you to defeat a special Pokémon.
Defeat Lake Magikarp near Outlook Park in Pallet Town.
Rewards: 3000 Pokémon Dollars
"Such courage..." the soldier noted. "Take care and make sure you don't get hurt."
With all requests accepted, Ash and Serena then went to Professor Oak's Lab, and headed up to the top floor to a surprise: This room wasn't occupied.
Gary was there, reaching out to pick up the Bonding Blade.
"Gary?" Serena concerningly said.
"Gary!" Ash shouted, walking up to him with a look of anger on his face. "What are you doing?!"
"Ash?" Gary stammered, turning around with the Bonding Blade in hand. Glancing at the weapon, he struggled, "No, I'm just-"
[BGM - The Monado Awakens]
The guard started glowing with a bright blue light, and with a startled yelp, Gary's hand was thrown upward before the the sword, seemingly possessed by an evil spirit, brought it back down through force. Ash and Serena backed away as the golden blade split in half to reveal a blue blade of pure light, with Serena hiding behind the nearest machine.
Gary was unable to control the blade as it slashed a nearby machine and left a deep cut into it. Ash cried out as the blade dragged him over to another piece of equipment that it proceeded to cut, and turned just in time to witness the Bonding Blade crashing straight through the machine that Serena was hiding behind, as if it didn't even exist.
"Serena!" Gary cried out alarmingly.
SLASH!
And so, Serena died. Over the course of his life, Ash spiraled deeper and deeper into depression, a childhood friend gone forever...
Except not. In reality, while the Bonding Blade sliced through the machine easily, once the blade struck Serena, her body outright deflected it, sending Gary to the ground, the fall feeling so sudden to him that he lost his grip on the sword. It vibrated on the floor, crackling with blue electricity, before the blade of light vanished and the length snapped back together.
"Gary!" Ash growled with anger, hurrying over to him.
"Goodness..." Serena breathed a sigh of relief as she emerged from behind the machine, glancing all over herself to ensure she wasn't hurt.
Gary also recovered, rubbing his shoulder as he pushed himself upright. "Serena!" he called. "Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine..." she unsurely responded, startled by the event that occurred over the course of thirty seconds.
"It's broken!" Ash exclaimed, kneeling beside the destroyed machine. Due to Gary's unexpected joyride with the Bonding Blade, the machine was split in two, and the top part was now on the floor.
"What do you mean, 'it's broken'?!" Serena exclaimed, unable to believe her ears. "Don't you care about me? I could've died!"
"You're not hurt, are you?" Ash said, trying to calm Serena down. "The Bonding Blade can't cut people. More importantly... WHAT ON MEWTWONIS WERE YOU THINKING, GARY?!"
"Sorry..." an ashamed Gary responded. "I came here to ask if you could do me a favor, but you weren't here. And I saw the Bonding Blade, and..."
"I know I'm here often, but even I need fresh air and breaks from lab work from time to time," Ash interrupted, still examining the destroyed machine.
Embarrassed, Gary stared at the ground, with no amount of explanation able to make him feel any better.
"Is your body still feeling numb?" Ash asked.
Gary's eyes widened in response to the question, but as Ash got back up, he went into further detail before his friend could respond. "We must be really careful with the Bonding Blade," he reminded Gary. "It's not a toy."
"I know..." Gary responded, still ashamed at what happened. "I just wanted to touch it. I didn't know that would happen. Sorry..." He glanced down at the sword, still shaking lightly. "But is it true? That the Bonding Blade can't cut people?"
"The pattern on the guard," Ash said, referring to its glow. "Or... maybe it's a symbol? I think it shows which power the Bonding Blade has at the moment." Bending, Ash picked up the sword with caution, one hand wrapped around the hilt and the other supporting the blade.
"You think it's... a symbol?" Gary asked.
闇 - "Darkness" (Able to destroy Shadow Pokémon)
"Well..." Ash paused in front of the bank of equipment where the Bonding Blade was usually kept, "...if I can find a way to increase the number of symbols, I should-"
"I'm sure that's all very clever," an annoyed Serena butted in, walking up to Ash. "But! Why were you more worried about a machine than me, Ash?"
Ash turned to see her standing very close to him, with her arms crossed and an angry expression on her face. "Well, I just... I just explained why, didn't I?" he said, backing away in fear.
"That's not the point!"
"Sorry!" he said, staggering back from her anger. In order for him to escape Serena's wrath ASAP, Ash slammed the blade onto its resting place. Instantly, almost in response to Ash's forceful movements, it split apart, and the blade of light came back to life. Ash groaned as he bent over and fought to control the weapon, preventing it from doing any more harm. He uttered a painful shout as his hands crackled with the Bonding Blade's power, as blue entered his vision, and-
"Look at you! Worthless without the Bonding Blade!" an evil-sounding voice sneered.
Ash locked the Bonding Blade with a white-hot sword.
"Until I've destroyed each and every one of you!" a redheaded girl screamed as her Bonding Blade transformed into a rifle, an angry sob breaking her voice.
"So of course I want to get my revenge!" Ash cried angrily.
A dark-skinned man twisted, shouting something.
"Your shuriken..." an intimidating masculine voice said. "...it did not cut deep enough."
A black and blue draconic Pokémon stumbled, but the next second, Ash's ninja Pokémon collapsed onto the ground, reverting to its base form.
"NOOOOOO!" Ash's own voice cried out a scream of helplessness.
A giant Shadow Pokémon raised its hand and drove its terrifying claws together before plunging them down.
Ash bent over in pain, clutching the Bonding Blade as he panted heavily.
"Ash! Ash!" a panicked Serena cried.
"What on Mewtwonis happened there?" Gary demanded.
"Gary... Serena..." Ash's said with a subdued voice.
"Are you okay?" a concerned Serena asked, taking a step toward him. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay," Ash said, placing the Bonding Blade back onto the equipment more carefully this time. He paused, stared at it for some time, and then looked over to Gary.
"Gary, when you used the Bonding Blade, did you see anything?" he asked.
"You know..." Gary said with a shrug. "Like, a blue blade of light came out. Same as just now."
"I don't mean that," Ash said. "A feeling like... time had stopped. And then..."
"Time had stopped?" Gary repeated, his brows drawing together.
Ash glanced between Gary and Serena's bewildered, confused faces. "So... was it just me who saw that?"
"Does sound strange..." Serena quietly said. "Is it another Bonding Blade thing?"
"Who knows?" Gary added, clearly not caring. "Anyway, no matter how good a sword it is, if that's what happens when you hold it..." He shook his head. "Looks like Calem truly is the only one who can use it."
"I won't let my brother use it ever again!" Serena burst out with a raised voice. "Not after what it did to him."
"Oh, sorry..." Gary said, scratching his head in shame. "I didn't mean it like that."
[BGM - Everyday Life - Xenoblade Chronicles]
"Anyway," Ash said loudly, causing everyone in the room to turn and face him, "the point is, I'm fine. And to be fair, this has happened many times before. I've been researching the Bonding Blade for a long time."
"Ash! Don't act like this is nothing!" Serena snapped.
"Look, don't worry about it; it could've gone way worse," Ash countered. "Anyway, Gary, what did you want to ask me about?"
"Oh," Gary said, refocusing on the subject on hand. "Lt. Surge has gone and put me on punishment duty. Mind joining me?"
Ash instantly thought back to a previous time he entered the Military District.
"Crashing the mobile house into artillery?!" Surge shouted, wildly flailing his arms in rage. "How long have you been in the force?!"
"Punishment?" Ash said, a hint of laughter entering his voice just thinking about Surge's reaction. "The lieutenant was pretty angry today. Did he hit you?"
"Well, whether he hit me is neither here nor there, really..." Gary responded. "And that's not all; he made me do like a billion squats and sit-ups each."
"Wow, nasty." Ash was shocked at what the lieutenant made Gary do. Just picturing himself as Gary doing that many squats and sit-ups in a row would have him aching from massive pain.
"I agree," Gary added. "And now I have to go all the way to the Viridian Ruins and back."
"So you have to go collect the Gaia cylinders, then?"
"That's the one! They're used to power the mobile artillery, or as the Lieutenant called it, the mobile house. It looks like the damage has been repaired, and the fire extinguished. But it can't move without the Gaia energy, and it seems like the fueling station is all out of stock."
"Is the mobile artillery that humongous mech that crashed into the Residential District?" Serena asked.
"I'm certain that you're correct." Ash responded.
"You know your way around there, right?" Gary asked.
"Yeah," Ash replied. "I'll go with you!"
"Yeah!" Gary happily added. "I knew you would!"
"Hold up," Serena said. "The Viridian Ruins are in Viridian Forest, right? I've heard that there's a Viridian Rattata nest there. I couldn't take it if anything happened to Ash. He's delicate, just as you are, Gary," she added.
"What are you on about?" he asked.
"Me and Gary will be alright!" Ash defensively added. "I can take care of myself, just as Gary will take care of himself."
"But-" Serena said, trying to defend her own point.
"Alright, I've got it," Gary interrupted. "I'll make you a promise: Ash will not get a single scratch."
"And it rhymes, as well!" Ash added. "I think..."
"A promise doesn't mean much coming from you, Gary," Serena objected. "Doesn't matter how much Ash tries to defend you, my point still stands." With that, she turned and stormed off. Considering that Serena's reunion with Ash had been downhill ever since Outlook Park, he thought it wasn't worth trying to drag this argument on any longer than necessary.
"She doesn't trust me at all..." Gary quietly said to himself.
"She just doesn't mean it, is all," Ash assured him.
Just after this, the pink orb returned once more for some more exposition. "You can now strengthen the Arts that you and your friends have learned. Not only that, but your group can now learn skills."
[BGM - Hometown - Xenoblade Chronicles]
To strengthen Arts and learn new skills, Ash and friends would need to get the right to do so through winning battles, exploring the world of Pokémon, and completing quests. At the moment, Ash was only able to strengthen Light Heal (Gather Gaia to heal one party member). Powering this up would allow Ash to increase the amount of damage that could be healed whenever used, alongside giving it a slightly slower-Shorter, not slower cooldown time. This would be the standard for all arts going forward: strengthened Arts could hit for more damage, have stronger effects, etc. alongside a shorter cooldown time. With this new info, Ash made sure to stay on top of this. In addition, Ash also learned two new Arts: Slit Edge (Use from the side reduces physical defense) and Stream Edge (Swing blade in front, inflicting Break on all targets hit).
The same deal applied to Gary, except he had five Arts to his name alongside his Talent Art, Mad Taunt (Draw aggro from target). Of these Arts, Gary was only able to strengthen Hammer Beat (Swing weapon, drawing aggro from all targets hit), though he also could have strengthened Bone Upper instead (Assault target with a mighty punch). His other three Arts took the form of Wild Down (Slice at target's feet, inflicting Topple on it if suffering Break), Rage (Aura that refills Talent Gauge over time), and Aura Burst (Available when an Aura is active, attack reduces attack power of all targets hit).
Going over their skills, Ash and Gary came with three different skills, corresponding to different power boosts: Ash came with Integrity (improves block rate [determines how often Ash would block attacks]), Humanity (improves Ash's proficiency with Gaia [allowing him to heal more damage with Light Heal, for example]), and Intuition (improves Ash's agility [improves how often he dodged attacks and how often he landed hits with his moves]). Of these three, Ash decided to prioritize Humanity, with Intuition and Integrity following afterwards.
Gary came with three unique skills of his own: Spirit (improves his attack power [self-explanatory]), Enthusiasm (improves his critical hit rate [self-explanatory]), and Diligence (improves agility). Of these three, Gary chose Spirit, with Enthusiasm and Diligence having lesser priority.
With Arts strengthened and skills chosen, Ash and Gary headed out of the lab to see Serena at the exit.
"Have you forgotten anything?" Serena asked. "Viridian Forest is dangerous, right? You have to be prepared."
Author's Notes: AAAAAAnd cut.
On the next chapter of Pokémon: Chronicles of Ash, Ash and Gary will complete some quests, accept new ones, and in general, get ready for the journey to Viridian Forest. See you readers then!