Shadows and Ash Chapter 32: Sand Castles, a pokémon fanfic

Chapter 32, everybody! In which sand castles happen and Misty gets paid in animal skeletons….

Jakeroo123, thanks for the review! My goodness yes. I haven't gotten that far in the game or the anime (and probably won't—Sun/Moon didn't wow me like previous generations did, too many cutscenes), but from the sounds of it, that might be a good thing (well, when its disguise is busted, the 'dex says it breaks its neck, so…). Again, it's one of those 'why learn it if there's never a need?' things. This is true—you'd think he'd learn….Yes, yes, and yes. And I know—it makes you wonder just how, exactly, three kids can go off wandering about cross-country; someone has to pay for Brock's rice. *shrug*

Thor94, thanks for the review! Thank you, I'm glad you like it! Yes—and maybe.

IceDragonGirl36, thanks for the review! Yes….

Ardtornismyname, thanks for the review! We'll see. And we'll see. And now I want to actually try a rice ball and see what they taste like….

Yami-chan and Unrealistic, thanks for the review! Perhaps—but not here. Darn it, we must have gotten a Psyduck with Cloud Nine that used Rain Dance….Well, it's a Hoenn weather forecast being mentioned in a Kanto broadcast—I imagine it would have the same urgency as coastal flooding in Florida being mentioned in Alaska. Tis true, tis true…I think so. Me too….

AveragePichu, thanks for the review! Ah, hope you had fun! :) Good question—one of these days, the realization will come crashing down on him….Let's not forget all the electric shocks and fire blasts that should have killed him as well….

InkyTheInk, thanks for the review! Yes! And good luck with that! ^v^/

Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo

Kingdom Hearts © Disney; Square Enix

And now, for something completely different:

In other news, the theme park Pokémon Land is closed until further notice following severe technical difficulties. No word on when it is projected to open again.

Ash and Pikachu sat at one of the beachside café's outdoor benches, eating ice cream. Sea-salt ice cream was a surprisingly tasty flavor, Ash discovered.

When they finished, they continued on down the beach, Ash still remarkably restless.

"I wonder if that's one of those coping-things Brock mentioned," Ash said to Pikachu.

"Pika," Pikachu returned, shrugging.

Ash sighed—this would be a lot easier if he didn't feel so wound-up. They needed a new plan.

Well, training was always a good idea.

He released the rest of his Pokémon, with the exception of Lenny—he didn't want rangers tackling them again.

"Okay," Ash noised, when they were all looking at him.

And then something occurred to him, prompting him to look around. What was that that Brock had mentioned?

"Who wants to build a sand castle?" he asked, turning back to his team.

His Pokémon looked at him, confused.

As it turned out, after showing them the ropes, Pokémon were surprisingly adept at sand-castle-building.

The beach had started emptying out around late afternoon, so Ash let Lenny out to join the fun. The now-Gyarados stretched extravagantly before making a happy noise at seeing Ash.

"We're kind of just goofing off for today," Ash told him. "And we need a dragon for the sand castle. Want to help the guys with the moat?"

Another happy noise as Lenny looked the whole affair over before assisting, using his tail fins to scoop sand away.

Ash sat at the edge of the moat of what was rapidly becoming a very impressive sand castle and checked his Pokédex. Huh, still working. He looked up Gyarados.

And after reading the description, he looked back at Lenny, who was decidedly not rampaging viciously.

"Okay," Ash said, looking to Pikachu sitting next to him. "I've decided: this stupid thing is broken."

"Pika," Pikachu noised.

"Wow, now this is a production."

Ash turned at the new voice, saw Brock coming up with a little cooler in hand. "Yeah," Ash said. "As it turns out, Pokémon really love sand castles."

Indeed, with the exception of Frenzy, who was sitting passively in the sand-throne at the top of the castle, the other Pokémon had gone to town on construction. Charmander was currently sitting on a ledge overlooking a pile of things Patches had dug up while digging the moat, alternating between helping Vee and Pikachu make turrets and playing fierce Dragon Type defending its horde. Lenny had assisted in finishing the moat, and now he and Patches were making a second castle with the moat sand.

Brock took all of this in before releasing his Pokémon. Onix and Lenny evaluated each other for a moment before coming to some sort of understanding, carefully pulling huge swathes of sand together to form a new sand castle and disturbing a few Krabby while they were at it. Zubat flapped around the completed castle, curious. And Geodude and Bulbasaur looked the whole thing over before going over to help the other Pokémon with the second sand castle.

"I wonder why you never see Pokémon do this," Ash mused, leaning back.

"Let's be honest," Brock said, putting the cooler down and crouching in front of it. "This is the sort of thing that probably attracts a lot of people."

"All right, I'll give it that," Ash said, accepting the Poke-Cola that Brock fished out and handed to him. "It's still different, though."

"I kind of wonder how they knew how to make a sand castle."

"I showed them," Ash said, pointing. "Although I'm kind of embarrassed about it now—it's kinda pitiful looking in comparison."

Brock looked at the little simple affair. "Well, yeah, it is."

"You didn't have to agree with me."

"Uh huh," Brock noised, opening his own soda and taking a drink. "So," he continued, wiping his mouth clean. "How have you been?"

"Are we really going to be awkwardly asking each other that question for the rest of our lives?"

"Of course not—just until we realize we don't need to ask it anymore."

Ash gave that some thought. "Well, I tried everything you suggested short of stopping and smelling the Roselia, and only because there aren't any around."

"And?"

"And I don't know."

Brock nodded. "It'll get better, I'm sure."

"Oh really? And how many times have you gone through this near death experience thing?"

Brock considered this. "Once. Onix and I were exploring a cave near Pewter, hunting for Rock Pokémon—I had just gotten him for my birthday, and I thought roaming around with a giant rock snake was the coolest thing ever."

"That's because it is."

"This is true. Anyway, the cave collapses, the only space I have is where Onix curled up around me to protect me, and I panic."

"You did just have a cave collapse on you."

"Yeah. Onix curls his tail around me and digs his way out, I thank him profusely, and we have a good time about how we just cheated death and all that."

Ash glanced over at Onix; the big Pokémon was watching them now, obviously following the conversation.

"And then the next day, I walk into the gym—Dad was still running it at the time—I walk into it to help clean, look up…and then wham, right back in that cave collapsing on my head. Onix barrels straight through the wall and curls up around me, because he heard me scream, and then he wouldn't let anyone get near me. It took Dad's Quagsire to get him to even think about calming down, and then he doesn't move until I say I'm all right."

"Wow," Ash noised, still watching Onix, who was now watching him. In the late sun, the Onix looked ancient, like an eons-old guardian sent to watch over them.

"Pokémon are a lot more perceptive than humans give them credit for," Brock continued. "Maybe them going to town is their way of distracting us from our current problems."

"They're doing a good job," Ash said. "You know, except for the fact we're still talking about it."

"This is true."

"Maybe we should stop talking about it."

"Are you going to panic the next time you're in a boat?"

Ash half-turned so he could see the ocean in the setting sun and watched the waves crash for a few minutes.

"I don't think I'll be going near a large body of water for a while, if it's all the same to you," Ash said, turning back to him. "Ah…the ocean's a lot scarier than I first gave it credit for, and that's with watching Jaws."

"Well, at least there's something approaching a brain in your head then."

Ash and Brock looked to see Misty coming up to them, a paper bag in hand.

"The ocean's nothing to mess with," Misty said, coming even with them. "And…I guess I was a little silly, thinking something manmade couldn't be destroyed by it."

"What do you think," Brock posed. "Titanic or Poseidon Adventure?"

"Poseidon Adventure," Ash said promptly. "Because the ship was upside-down and underwater."

"That sucked," Misty said, before looking at the sand castles. "What is this?"

"Sand castles."

"I can see that."

"Pokémon like sand castles, apparently."

"I can see that."

"Sit," Brock ordered, patting the sand next to him. When she did so, he indicated the bag. "What is that? Dinner?"

"Take-out," Misty clarified. "One of the rangers said this place had really good dim sum." She opened the bag and handed a container to Ash. "And what are you doing watching Jaws, anyway?"

"It was a good movie," Ash countered. "Granted, I refused to go near anything resembling standing water for three months afterwards—"

"Which did nothing to win you friends or influence people, I'll have you know."

"Which brings me to the next pertinent point I'd like to discuss," Brock said, catching the food as Misty yelped in alarm before pointing at Darkrai, who had suddenly appeared out of the gloom to hover over the nearer sand castle. "This Pokémon—Darkrai. How does a Legendary Pokémon from Sinnoh end up all the way in Kanto?"

"I flew, genius," Darkrai said, apparently giving up taking the throne from Frenzy as too much trouble and drifting over to Ash to demonstrate.

"You flew," Misty repeated—if looks could kill, Ash would be having to bury Darkrai right now.

Darkrai, meanwhile, didn't seem intimidated. At all. "Oh sure! You just think of a wonderful thought!" he said, practically oozing sarcasm as he clasped his claws together.

"And what would a wonderful thought for you be? Death and destruction?"

"Oh, how rich." Ash sensed what was coming and managed to stuff a dumpling into his mouth before Darkrai snatched the container away. "And you—you did not need this."

"Don't make me go all Kung-Fu Pangoro on you," Ash threatened.

"Uh-huh. And don't talk with your mouth full."

"I gave that to Ash," Misty pointed out.

"And?" Darkrai asked, floating in a relaxed position and popping a dumpling into his mouth.

"And I didn't give it to you."

"And I care because?"

"I paid for it, genius."

Darkrai considered this before reaching behind his collar, temporarily looming over Misty before dropping something white in her lap.

"Have a sand dollar," he deadpanned.

And with that, he was back to drifting and eating, as Misty held up what indeed turned out to be a sand dollar. She seemed to consider this for a moment before putting it in her chest pocket.

"I'll take it," she said finally, before handing Ash another container. "You're lucky I bought with your appetite in mind. And none for you," she added, pointing at Darkrai.

"See, you said that like I care."

Ash pointed at Darkrai. "That's why I eat like I do. 'No soup for you,'" he added, grinning as he looked at Darkrai.

"Your imitation is deplorable."

"Moving on," Brock said, pulling a few sheets of paper out as Pikachu came over and started pawing at Ash's pants until he handed a dumpling over. "I went to the library and did some digging:

"'Darkrai: the Pitch Black legendary,'" Brock read. "'It is active during the night of the new moon. Folklore has it that it will lure people to sleep and have them experience horrific nightmares. It is in constant battle with Cresselia, the Full Moon legendary, and is one half of the Lunar Duo of Sinnoh."

"Does it mention that I eat kids?" Darkrai asked.

"That didn't come up."

"How is it he talks?" Misty asked.

"I'm a Legendary—it comes with the territory," Darkrai said, waving it off before snitching another dumpling from Ash.

Misty jumped up, but Darkrai was already out of reach. "Ha ha," he taunted.

Misty fumed before digging into her bag, rearing back, and flinging something at Darkrai.

"You don't want to catch—" Ash started, before Darkrai moved and caught whatever it was she pitched.

"A mallet?" Darkrai asked, drifting back down to their level.

"It's usually super effective," Misty said. "Now give it back."

"Make me."

"Don't think I only have the one."

"Maybe we should continue this conversation later," Brock posed. "It's getting awfully dark."

Misty squinched her eyes shut, like it was taking a lot of self-control in order to drop the topic and move on.

"Fine," she spat finally. "The rangers said they'd be getting everyone off the beach at sundown anyway. But this isn't over," she added, pointing at Darkrai.

"I can't wait," Darkrai deadpanned.