Chapter 83

Ash and Alice are now at the Rota Kingdom as they are brought to a royal ranch by Queen Ilene. Ash asks, "Aunt Ilene? Why are you bringing us here?"

"I heard that you're going to look for a Ground-type Disguise, and fortunately, Red and Valerie have a disguise that is perfect for it." Ilene says as she claps her hands, and much to their surprise, a shiny Rapidash rushes towards Ash and stops in front of him.

"What is this..." Ash gasps in surprise at the sight of the beautiful horse, and Ilene says, "This is the Rapidash your father rode as Yuma."

"You mean the Rapidash Racers, Yuma and Sandy?" Alice gasps. "This is Ash's father's Rapidash?"

"Indeed. But unfortunately..." Ilene frowns, "Sandy's Galarian Rapidash is no longer here with the Rapidash...because she died from sickness a few years ago..."

The Rapidash frowns, and Ash pets the Pokemon and says, "I'm sorry to hear about it..."

Rapidash can sense both Red and Valerie's aura inside Ash and Alice, and he walks up to them and bends down a little. "Are you trying to give us a ride?"

The Rapidash nods, and both of them mount on the horse as they ride around the ranch. While they are riding, Ash asks, "So what do you think? Should we become Yuma and Sandy for Ms. Valerie and Dad?"

"I don't mind." Alice says, "I guess we can use our own Galarian Rapidash for the race as well."

"You're right." Ash chuckles a little, then he asks the Rapidash, "How about it? Do you want to race with us again?"

Rapidash nods as he turns his head with a nod, after riding around the ranch, Ash and Alice dismount the horse and ask if they can bring Rapidash back to Sevestar Island, and she agrees.

Ash and Alice also have the Rapidash train their two other Rapidash, and Ash will alternate between riding his new Rapidash or his father's shiny Rapidash. While they are racing, Delia, Gladion, Valerie, and Flora arrive at the castle, and they see dust clouds rushing past. Gladion asks, "What is Ash doing this time?"

The others are also confused as they decide to check it out, only to see Ash and Alice on their Rapidash as they stop at the same time. Alice says, "I can't believe Rapidash is still fast even though it has been over 20 years without running."

Ash says, "Arceus and Xerneas helped a lot with it. I'm glad this Rapdiash is back to its youth. And looks like our own Rapidash is also speedy as well."

Both of them jump off their Rapidash and they notice the others approaching. Valerie asks, "I assume you're going to be Yuma and Sandy again?"

Alice says, "Yes, Mom. Riding Race is also interesting and we want to continue it."

Ash says, "Even though we don't have Sandy's old Rapidash, as we just tested for a few times, it is as fast as it can be."

The Rapidash notices Valerie as he walks toward her and nuzzles her. Valerie asks, "Rapidash...it sure has been a while, but you didn't look like you aged a bit..."

"When we found him, he is already old." Ash says. "That's why we have Xerneas and Arceus help us return it back to its youth."

"I see..." Delia says. "So you want to disguise yourselves as Rapidash Racers, is that right?"

"Yeah, but we still need to work on some skills before we can finally become them." Ash says. "That's why if we can ask you to teach us firsthand?"

Valerie says, "Red and I learned it from a master who knows about our disguises, and the tricks we've learned have become very common for racers, if you want to stand out, you must try to develop new skills for yourselves."

"I see..." Ash and Alice lower their head. Valerie adds, "However, that doesn't mean you won't be able to learn those skills. After all, the master's daughter is actually here."

Ash and Alice look in the direction where Valerie is looking, and they realize the person she's talking about is no other than Delia. Ash asks, "Mom? What does she mean about the master's daughter?"

Delia sighs and says, "My father was not only a trained assassin when he was off-duty, but he was also a knight skilled at horse-riding attacks in the Rota Kingdom. Red's father, who is the king, will often ask him to train Red with the skills. I actually met Red before when I was little, but you knew how I killed my own father and was abducted by Team Rocket..."

Ash frowns, "We know... but I didn't know Grandfather was also a knight in the Rota Kingdom when not being an assassin... but back when you told us your past, you sound like you didn't know Red until the attempt of murder..."

Delia says, "Giovanni probably altered my memories. I only remembered it a few years ago. Before I was abducted, Red and I have become best friends hanging with each other, and there are a lot of times the people of Rota and the royalties want me and Red to have an arranged marriage. But my father told me to keep the assassin training a secret... and I never told Red about it..."

"But mother." Gladion says. "If it is true, then what about Ms. Valerie? What kind of role does she play in this part of the story?"

Delia frowns a little and says, "When he arrived at Kalos, let's say that both Red and Valerie fell in love with each other at first sight. They have similar dreams and similar goals, but because of their families, they have to keep the relationship a secret. When I get close to Red because of my mission, I noticed them and was somehow growing depressed and jealous of them. But my goal was to kill Red and I didn't let my feelings affect me until that night when Red confronted me and get me defected from Team Rocket."

"I think Red wanted to tell your mother about your past, but she didn't remember back then. Red and I noticed that her memories were altered from the Dark Aura." Valerie frowns a little.

"But Mom? Couldn't you just apply for the Aura Test back then? I mean, if you do the test, then maybe the memories altered by the Dark aura would be gone?" Ash asks.

"I've tried, but they told me to be patient because once Red and I got married, he would give me the Ketchum Aura." Delia says. "Now back to the topic... Red had been trained by my father in horse riding when he was little, so he taught Valerie about the skills. Watching their horse training made me remember some of the horse riding skills that my father taught me, but that's all I remembered back at that time."

Flora asks, "So what happened next?"

"After the relationship was found out, I followed Red back to Rota. We also learned that my mother was brought to jail for keeping the assassin family a secret. However, Red begged his father to let her out, and he did it only on one condition: Having a marriage with me." Delia sighs. "And you know the rest."

Ash gives his mother a hug and says, "I'm sorry, Mom... I thought I already knew your past after you and Grandma told me a few years ago... but I didn't know there is much more to it. I feel ashamed of myself..."

"You don't have to be ashamed." Delia says. "I didn't want you to know this past...because it doesn't matter what you're doing right now and what you want to do. Such as how I want to teach you about my father's riding skills other than the assassin skills that he taught me."

"You can teach us?" Alice asks, and Delia nods, then they start to train with the horse riding skills. During these months, they also go to other regions to try out the local races, and they manage to win all in the end and they also gain a lot of fans from it.

One night, Ash and Alice finish their race in the Alola Region, as they are going home with another cup, then they hear someone calling for help.

"What is that?" Ash asks Alice. "I don't know. But it sounds like it is coming from there."

They follow the sound as they see a boy shivering at a tree. Ash and Alice rush up to the boy and then Ash asks, "Are you okay?"

Because the forest at night time is dark, the boy can't see their faces. He is a little terrified and he mutters, "Don't hurt me..."

Alice notices how the boy is scared, and she talks in a soft voice. "We aren't going to hurt you, but what are you doing here?"

"I...I'm lost...I don't know how to get back to the Orphanage..." The boy cries. Ash and Alice look at each other and then Ash says, "Don't worry, we will help you."

Alice says, "Can you give us your name so we can help you?"

The boy hesitated for a while and then he says, "Trenor...that's my name..."

"I see. Trenor. So why did you come out of your orphanage?" Ash asks.

"I want to see Yuma and Sandy in the race...I am a big fan of them and I want to cheer for them at the scene." Trenor says.

"Sounds like you sure are a fan." Alice giggles. Then they ask him a lot of questions, such as about his parents, and he reveals that his parents are victims of an Earthquake, then he was sent to the Orphanage, but he was often bullied because of his actions toward other people in the orphanage. This causes Ash and Alice to feel sorry for him. Then they manage to get back to the orphanage and then the caretaker rushes to Trenor.

"There you are, do you know how worried we are?" The caretaker scolds Trenor, who lowers his head in shame. "Thank you for finding Trenor, um...Mr. and Ms.?"

"I am Yuma and this is Sandy." Ash says, which causes Trenor to gasp as well as the caretaker. "You are the Rapidash Racers?" The Caretaker asks.

"Yes, we are." Alice says. Trenor can't believe it, all this time he was with the two famous Rapidash racers. He says, "Wow...I get to see Sandy and Yuma this close...it feels like a dream come true..."

Yuma says, "You are exaggerating. But after hearing a lot of stuff about Trenor here, I will like to ask if I can adopt him?"

The caretaker and Trenor are shocked. The caretaker says, "I know that the children here like to gang up on him, but are you sure you can handle him?"

Alice says, "Don't worry, we promise that we can take care of him."

Then the Caretakers go prepare the adoption papers, while Sandy goes with Trenor to clean up his stuff. The children are shocked to hear that Yuma is going to adopt Trenor, they feel sorry for bullying him and then they bid Trenor farewell. Trenor is surprised about their behavior, but he did say goodbye to all of them. Then Trenor goes with Ash and Alice to Sevestar Island.

In AK151, Ash and Alice are talking to Trenor. Ash says, "You see, Trenor, Yuma, and Sandy are only disguises. In fact, my real name is Ash Ketchum."

This causes him to widen his eyes. "Ash Ketchum? I heard a lot about you, you are a hero to me because of how you have been saving Legendary Pokemon and also stopping evil teams. Of course, you're also the World Champion who manages to rule 5 Leagues."

"Why thank you." Ash says. "After we arrive, we have something that needs you to do. It may cost your life if you fail, but if you succeed, then you will get powers just like us."

He nods as they get out of the plane after landing, then Ash decides to perform the Aura Test while Alice goes to call other people.

Here is a new chapter, and I reveal more of Delia's bad past and also have a new family member: Trenor. I hope you like this chapter and we will be getting into another forgiveness in the next chapter.