Chapter 32: Before time runs out.
Summary: with hope restored in their dreams Ash and Salvia head to the final conflict, this time fighting for the dreams they seek and the future they refuse to be denied of.
Sitting in the pokemon centre Ash was sitting in front of the computer searching for the flights for the planned trip to Kalos, "three months from now would be a great time," Ash whispered to himself, he clicked on the tickets and hesitated for a moment.
"What are you doing?" the princess voice asked Ash.
Ash quickly minimised the screen to prevent the blue haired royal wouldn't see the trip he was planning for her, he turned around and smiled at her, "nothing, just searching for a where I can challenge Cynthia next," Ash lied to the princess.
Salvia placed her hands on her hips and moved in closer to Ash, "if you are going to lie, at least make it believable, in fact you're a bad liar," Salvia informed the trainer who was looking back at the computer with shame, "let's see what you're searching for," Salvia moved her left hand towards the mouse, but before she reached it, Ash pushed her hand aside, surprised by this she shook her head, "what are you hiding?" Salvia asked the young man.
"It's a surprise," Ash announced sternly.
Salvia stepped back and took a deep breath, "alright, but we need to leave soon, we need to head to Arrowroot Town," Salvia explained, leaving to pick up her stuff, "I am going to put on a new attire, so that means you have one hour before we save my home," Salvia walked away, telling Ash of the mission they were going to take.
"A new attire?" Ash questioned quietly, he reopened the screen and finished his order. After making his purchase, he lowered his hand and started to shake with anger, "home, I haven't been there in nearly a year," Ash reminded himself, opening up another screen, he noticed the flights heading to Pallet Town, he quickly made another purchase, "well that leaves me with no money now, but I need to see home again," Ash told himself as he waited for Salvia to emerge from the hallway.
"Hmmmm, this outfit isn't all that nice, but that leaves just one more," Salvia glanced over to an outfit consisting of a black blouse and a red dress, black stockings and shoes, "I guess this one will do nicely. Moments later Salvia was looking in the mirror admiring her new outfit.
After waiting Salvia emerged from the hallway, with her new red hat in hand, "so Ash, what do you think?" she asked the waiting trainer.
Ash was in shock at the site of the young princess wearing the same attire as one of his friends, 'she is wearing the same outfit as Serena,' Ash thought as he watched her putting on the felt red hat, 'she looks really cute in that outfit,' Ash started laughing at his thoughts, upsetting the princess, "it's fine Salvia, you look great in that outfit," Ash admitted with a hint of embarrassment, "in fact, you look cute in that attire," Ash informed the princess.
Shocked by the admission Salvia started blushing heavily, 'of course he would say that, after all he is in love with me,' Salvia thought, turning away to hide the redness of her face, 'if only I had the courage to tell him I feel the same way,' her train of thought continued on.
"Come on Salvia, time for us to go," Ash called to the royal, she nodded and followed Ash out the door.
"Before we go, we need to get supplies," Salvia quickly informed Ash about their lack of food. Ash started to chuckle at the idea, knowing now that he had no money to restock on food, Salvia was quick to notice his reaction, she grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around, "you have no money left, don't you?"
"What makes you think that?" Ash questioned the princess softly.
"You're easy to read," Salvia replied with a broad smile gracing her face, she let go of Ash's hand and shook her head, "what did you spend all that money on?" she asked him, this time being sterner about her approach.
"It's a surprise," Ash quickly responded to the question, but the blue haired royal wasn't happy with the response, she grabbed his right arm to prevent him from walking away, "my princess?" Ash quickly replied.
Salvia glared at Ash furiously, immediately noticing the trembling in the voice of Ash, "I knew it, you spent all your money on the surprise," Salvia pointed out in anger, she crossed her arms, visbly upset, "you do not need to spend all your money to surprise me, if that means you not being able to buy your food and drinks, it really concerns me that you would resort to that," Salvia explained to Ash causing him to step back in fear, "just what did you buy?" Salvia questioned Ash furiously.
"A plane ticket to Kanto," Ash replied with half of the truth.
Shaking her head the princess turned around, "you didn't just buy one ticket, I am guessing you bought three tickets, since you admitted to buying for Kanto, I am guessing you bought tickets to one other region," Salvia quickly told Ash as she walked away to get the supplies needed for the trip to her home town.
Ash remained glued to the spot after hearing Salvia scathing comments, 'man, she saw right through me,' Ash thought to himself as he looked up and watched Salvia walking towards the shops, "this is great, I made her angry at me," Ash chastised himself for lying to Salvia.
"Yo Ash, it's been a while!" a male voice called out to Ash.
Ash turned around to find Hilda and Hilbert approaching him, "hey you two, when did you get here?" Ash asked sheepishly.
Hilda shook her head in disdain at the trainer, "Ash, Ash, Ash, what made you think that Salvia wasn't going to see through your lie?" Hilda asked her friend.
Ash jumped back in shock, "but I didn't….oh right you have psychic abilities," Ash submitted to his friend, he looked at the ground in shame, "I just wanted to surprise her by taking her to Kalos with me," Ash admitted to his friends.
"Come on Ash, how long will it take for you to take the hint? And a very obvious one too," Hilbert teased his friend.
Ash scratched the back of his head and smiled at his Unova friends, "oh come on guys give me a break, I am trying, but I kind of fear what Salvia thinks of me," Ash confessed to his friends, not realising that she was watching from a safe distance.
'She is nearby,' Hilda thought, scanning the area. She quickly focused on Ash who laughing at his own expense, "listen Ash, Salvia doesn't want you to change everything about yourself, spend all your money on a trip, she wants you to be happy," Hilda informed the raven haired trainer wisely, she turned around and started walking towards the next road.
"What did you say about Salvia in Celestic Town?" Hilbert asked his friend softly.
Ash lowered his head and stared at the ground, smiling at himself, "I am in love with Salvia, but I will expand on it now, I want to make her happy, to show her the world and hopefully one day…no forget it, she is my princess," Ash finished as his friends looked at one another with a broad smile.
Salvia meanwhile continued to watch the conversation from behind one of the buildings in the really busy city, her heart was racing and her face turning red, thinking about what she had heard from Ash, 'he said it again to our friends, but I really want him to tell me to my face,' Salvia thought to herself as she turned around, "so many things have changed since we met again, the biggest is the fact that I have fallen in love with Ash," she whispered to herself, she glanced back to see Ash standing in the middle of the pathway on his own, stopping for a moment, she turned around and thought about the first time they met in years, "that's right, he was alone when we met in Canalave City, he wanted no one to assist him," she whispered softly.
Salvia started to walk closer to Ash, her hand reaching out to him, "I guess I was a little at fault for being angry at Ash, he is trying really hard for my sake," Salvia reminded herself, she lowered her hand and stared at his back for a moment, turning around she started leaving for the shops.
"Salvia, I am sorry for lying to you, I bought plane tickets to the Kalos region for the both of us, I really wanted to surprise you, but I guess I messed up a little," Ash apologised to the princess.
"I shouldn't have gotten angry at you, you're…" Salvia quickly stopped mid-sentence and turned around to hide the redness on her face, "let's go and get the supplies together," Salvia suggested.
"Salvia," Ash muttered under his breath, he followed the young royal to the shops.
"I have been thinking," Salvia sighed, she continued down the road towards the shop, "training pokemon apart from Gardevoir and Dratini would be really nice, to lead a normal life, but since I am a princess, I will be having a lot of things I need to do, I will be queen one day," Salvia explained to Ash.
(Arrowroot Town)
Pride was sitting on the throne with a golden crown and a red cape, also wearing a red attire, "so things are coming together nicely, soon the princess will be arriving," watching the guards preparing for war with the other regions, 'everything will change very soon, first the Unova region, I will make their king and suffer for getting involved with something that doesn't concern them,' Pride thought to himself, laughing at the situation that was unfolding.
Standing up he walked to the balcony on the left side of the room, "not so long ago, Unova started their invasion of the Sinnoh Region!" Pride declared in a confident tone, he looked down at the soldiers who were yelling their anger out, 'very soon the rest of my comrades will be brought back again,' Pride thought as he looked up to the skies, "we just need the right candidates, I know how about the Aura Master's friends?" he suggested with a devious expression.
Pride turned back to the palace, hearing the yells of the soldiers, "with the soldiers going to fight in Unova, are we going to sleep afterwards?" Sloth asked his leader.
Pride looked up to the last of his comrades, "no, the war games begin, this is where we need you, to destroy the king and queen of Unova, who are gallivanting around this region," Pride instructed the menacing figure.
"But that is so boring, it is such a pain, I don't want to defeat them," Sloth answered back, walking slowly towards the door.
Outside one of the soldiers walked out of the palace walls, "this isn't good, Pride is going to use this situation to start another global war, this needs to stop," the soldier whispered to himself, he started running away from the palace, hoping that he wasn't going to get caught, he noticed the powerful ships at the harbour, "I hope that the princess returns before it is too late," the man stated with a concerned expression.
"Those two aren't too far away," a man with short purple hair approached the soldier, "let me guess Pride lied about the status of Salvia, and is using it to start a war between regions," he explained quickly after assessing the situation.
"Who are you?" the soldier asked the young man.
"My name is Paul, I have been helping the Queen and King of Unova as well as the princess of this region," he introduced himself to the Unova soldier.
"The king and Queen are here?" the soldier asked in disbelief. Paul nodded in reply, looking towards the ships that were getting prepared, "they aren't supposed to be here, why are they here?" he asked the purple haired trainer.
"I don't know, why not ask them yourself," Paul retorted as he started to walk towards the harbour. Paul looked back and smirked at the soldier, "they will be here in the next few days, with the Princess and my friend, meanwhile I am going to stop these bastards from making a move they will only regret later," Paul informed the soldier sternly. Slowly walking towards the harbour, he looked back once again and quietly nodded at the soldier, running off to his next battle, 'I will make the Shadow Lords pay for the death of my friend,' Paul told himself as he continued on towards the next battle.
"Wow that man is brave, heading off to stop a potential war," the soldier complimented the Sinnoh Native. Watching him heading out to te final part of the conflict, "well if he is going to put his life on the line for his friends and this region, then I need to do the same for both Unova and Sinnoh," the man whispered as her started to remove his hood, "my time of hiding has come to an end, everyone thought I was dead," the man removed his hood revealing his long green hair, looking back in the distance he smirked a the palace, "Greed, I hope you are keeping your end of the bargain," N whispered as he walked away from the palace walls.
(Pastoria City)
Greed was walking to the exit of the city, his thoughts directed at the last stages of the conflict, "I hope N is getting all the information we need," Greed whispered, he looked around again, thinking about the events that led up to what would be the final confrontation, "N, it is almost time to surprise all your friends, do you still remember the time I saved your life after the ambush of Lust and Envy?" Greed asked himself proud of his own actions in the past.
(Flashback)
Greed walked up to the severely injured N, he looked back to see if the other Shadow Lords were still walking away, N winced in pain as he rested on the ground, "well are you going to finish me off?" N asked weakly.
"No, I am here to help," Greed responded assuring the former leader of Team Plasma, "for now you need to pretend that you are dead, to throw off the other Shadow Lords and to time your return correctly, I will be heading back to Sinnoh, but first….." Greed kneeled down to pick up the green haired man, placing his arm around him he started walking him to a secret hideout in the middle of the forest.
Upon entering the wooden cabin the two men were greeted by two woman, both long hair, one with pink hair and the other with blonde hair, both wearing dresses, they both spotted the young man who was unconscious, "N!" the two women called out in concern.
"He was ambushed by my former comrades, I know you two are able to help him out," Greed helped N to one of the beds in the cabin, "he is still alive, but has sustained critical injuries," Greed informed the two women, he walked back to the door but was stopped by the two occupants.
"You will pay for this," the woman with pink hair informed the Shadow Lord.
"Anthea…..Concordia," N struggled to call for his foster sisters, the two women jolted their vision to the injured man, "let him go," N instructed the sisters, they stepped aside letting the Shadow Lord leave the cabin.
Greed walked up to the door and glanced back, "don't rush to Sinnoh yet," Greed instructed the King of Unova.
"Wait, there are two people that need to take my place, their picture is on that desk," N informed the Shadow Lord.
Greed walked up to the desk and grabbed the picture, a picture of Hilda and Hilbert, "wow the girl is pretty cute," Greed looked at the two trainers clinging to one another, "wait a minute, you're passing this much responsibility to two kids?" Greed questioned, but no response arrived.
Concordia approached the Shadow Lord, "N trusts those two, in fact he has admitted a few times that they are better suited for the role than he is," she informed the Shadow Lord, "also keep their coronation a secret, if your former comrades find out what really happened, they would arrive before N is fully recovered," the blonde haired woman explained to Greed.
"Very well, then I will provide all the information your friends need to know, so for now I will work as a double agent," Greed brought up the idea, leaving the two women to help out their foster brother, Greed looked at the picture again, 'my mission is clear now, making sure those two are safe, while I keep the princess of Sinnoh safe, man, my hands are going to be full with this task,' Greed started complaining about his mission.
"Yo Greed, where did you go to?" Envy asked his ally.
"Destroying the evidence," Greed answered quickly.
"Well that would have been fun, I really envy the task you performed for us, I would have done it, but Lust doesn't want me to dirty my hands with such a nasty task, we always leave the dirty work up to you Greed," Envy informed the person who he thought was his comrade.
Greed halted and watched his comrades walking away, he then turned his eyes to Envy who was confidently walking away, happy with the job he had completed, 'you bastard, thinking that I will follow Pride's orders, you should have been up to the task yourself, not killing N when you had the chance will come back to haunt you, no you will be dead before that time comes, no you failure will destroy Pride in the end.'
(3 days earlier)
At Hearthome City Greed was sitting down reading a book, thinking about how things were going, Nurse Joy walked up to the Shadow Lord, "there is call for you Greed," the Nurse informed the man with a concerned tone.
Walking up to the phone Greed stared at the screen in shock, "took you long enough to recover," Greed remarked with sarcasm, he sat down and started laughing, "Hilda and Hilbert are doing well, they are in Sinnoh, trying to stop Pride from succeeding," Greed informed the Unova native.
"I gathered that, but I am also in Sinnoh in Arrowroot Town," N confessed his whereabouts to Greed.
"You idiot, I told you to wait," Greed yelled at the green haired man.
"I am not going to sit and wait as my friends put their lives on the line to save the Pokemon World," N retorted firmly, "I have also made a decision, I am not retaking the throne of Unova either, the role will be permanently taken by Hilda and Hilbert," N explained his intentions to Greed who was in shock at what he had heard.
"Fine," Greed shook his head, "do you want to know something about the princess of this region?" Greed asked his friend calmly.
"Salvia right, I heard she is next in line to take the throne, if only she was alive to take it, Pride has taken this region's throne and declared the last in line was killed in action, he even lied about the orders the last king gave him about making him king," N explained the situation to Greed, the former member of the Shadow Lords shook his head in disdain.
Greed took a deep breath and maintained his anger at his former leader, "that is a lie, Salvia is still alive and is on her way back to palace with a man named Ash, to top it all off, those two are in love with each other, so this region has a new generation of king and queen," Greed explained with confidence in his words, he pulled out a picture of Hilda and Hilbert, "plus Hilda and Hilbert have become great friends with Ash and Salvia," Greed pointed out with great joy.
"So it seems like Ash has got involved, that's just like him," N chuckled at the mention of the involvement of his other friend.
"Yeah that was my fault, I accidently killed his fiancé, some part of me feels that he has still yet to forgive me, so I am doing what I can to atone for my sins, even if it means sacrificing my life for Ash and Salvia," Greed explained his problems to N, he put the photo in his pocket and looked back to see Melissa helping the people of the city out, "I don't want Melissa involved still, I want her to go back to Kanto and rebuild the Kanto/Johto Kingdom," Greed confessed to N who was watching the Shadow Lord with concern.
"Well this is where I end my call, stay safe, I will see you soon enough," N ended the call, leaving the Shadow Lord to ponder his next plan.
(End of Flashback and South of Veilstone City)
Ash was staring out into the distance, ignoring the people walking through the tree lined route and the pokemon flying overhead, the ground based pokemon running around in a carefree manner, his thoughts about how much had changed for him, hearing the cries of the pokemon, he closed his eyes and thought about his previous journeys, his friends and he pokemon he travelled with, "Dawn, if you're seeing this, I have decided what I need to do, once the Shadow Lords are defeated, I am going to confess my new found love to Salvia," Ash whispered, with hopes that his deceased love would hear his words.
Meanwhile behind a tree, a spirit was hearing Ash talking, a smile graced her mouth as she turned to see Ash being approached by the princess, 'Ash, this is great news, but there is still something I need to do, so I will be doing my last act of love for you Ash, helping you defeat the Shadow Lords,' Dawn vanished, making her promise to help Ash out.
"Come on Ash, we need to get to Arrowroot Town," Salvia rushed a head after handing Ash the bag f supplies.
"Hey you two!" Hilbert called to his friends, "we're coming as well," Hilbert reminded his friends, rushing up to Ash and Salvia who were ignoring him.
"Wait! We want to help out as well!" Hilda reminded her two friends also running up to Ash and the princess.
Ash sighed for a moment and shook his head, he looked back to find that Hilda and Hilbert, "I thought you were going to go home," Ash complained, displeased with the involvement of the king and queen of Unova.
"Sorry, but I get the feeling that we are needed there," Hilda informed the trainer.
Salvia grabbed the right arm of her love interest and pulled him away from the duo, "we do need all the help we can get, plus those two have helped us out," Salvia whispered as she glanced over at the two royals, "if Hilda says she has a feeling that her and Hilbert need to be there, then who are we to stop them? Plus I want to strengthen the ties between Sinnoh and Unova," Salvia reminded Ash who was looking away with disdain.
Ash glanced back and nodded, "fine, but on one condition, you two will become my second and third rivals of Kalos," Ash announced with a confident smirk, throwing down his gauntlet against the Unova royals.
Hilda clenched her fists and nodded at the raven haired trainer, "alright, challenge accepted, I was kind of hoping that you would ask for Hilbert and me to challenge," Hilda confessed with great joy, she walked up to Ash and extended her hand out to him, "you know something Ash? Since I have arrived in Sinnoh and met you, I had been wanting to challenge you to a battle, something about you tells me that you are a really strong trainer," Hilda explained her interest in Ash as a trainer.
"Thanks," Ash replied softly, he looked down in shame and took a deep breath, "I lost my starter pokemon Pikachu all because of the Shadow Lords, as well as my family," Ash informed the brunette.
"You lost your family? Wow that is horrible," Hilbert replied with a saddened tone.
"No worries Ash, from now on I will be your big sister," Hilda told Ash as she held out her hand to Ash.
Ash started laughing at the suggestion, "big sister ha, I bet you're younger than I am," Ash teased the Unova queen.
"I am twenty years old," Hilda snapped back at Ash.
"That makes you my little sister, I am a year older than you," Ash retorted as he shook the hand of Hilda.
Hilda puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms, "crap, I thought you were at least nineteen," she complained, turning away from Ash. Smiling broadly she returned her focus to Ash and Salvia, "alright big brother, you lead the way," Hilda pushed Ash in front of the group.
Hilbert and Salvia stood watching, "while we were here, Hilda always talked about how much she liked Ash," Hilbert admitted calmly, seeing his wife smiling playfully as she tried her best to get Ash to lead the three other people. "She also has been trying to formulate crazy schemes to try and get you and Ash to confess as well," Hilbert started laughing while being called over by his wife.
"Hilbert, I listened in on the conversations between you and Ash," Salvia commented as she looked up at the trainer, seeing Ash trying to resist the strength of Hilda, "I have let myself down a few times, I have tried to confess my feelings to Ash, but most times I am too nervous to even start with I," Salvia explained to the Unova native.
"So you know he is in love with you, knowing him, he will wait to tell you after the Shadow Lords are defeated, so maybe you should also wait for that time," Hilbert advised the princess who was shaking her head in sadness, "I think the reason why Ash doesn't want to confess right now, is because of Pride," Hilbert informed the younger royal as he started walking up to the group, "you are Ash's biggest weakness, Pride said so himself, so maybe Ash didn't want you to know until after the Shadow Lords were defeated," Hilbert explained to the princess.
"Hilbert wait," Salvia called to her friend, she gulped as her face lit up with a broad smile, "it has been the worst kept secret hasn't it?" the princess asked the Unova king.
"Yes it has," Hilbert replied softly.
"I guess the only one that doesn't know is Ash," Salvia replied quietly, she looked up at the brown haired trainer and smiled, "you're all right, everyone knows that I love Ash with all my heart," Salvia informed the young man.
"Then when the time is right, tell him with all your heart, I think that would be the one thing that makes him really happy," Hilbert told the princess, peering over to Ash who stepped aside causing Hilda to trip over and hitting the ground, resisting the urge to laugh at his wife, he walked over to her, struggling to hold back his laughter.
Salvia walked slowly, approaching Ash smiling at him, "he now has a sister," Salvia whispered as she gulped at the thought of her next comment, she smiled broadly at the trainer who was laughing at Hilda's expense. Salvia halted for a moment and looked up at the sky, "Dawn, if you are hearing this, one day I am going to be Ash's wife," Salvia whispered softly, with a determined expression plastered over her face, she glued her eyes on Ash, "after the Shadow Lords are defeated, I am going to confess my love to Ash, I am going to stay at his side for the rest of my life, no I am going to be there forever," Salvia resolved her intentions with her own form of courage.
With one secret about to be revealed to Hilda and Hilbert, and the resolve of the princess to confess her feelings to Ash, they head to the final conflict that will decide the fate of the Pokemon World. With new promises made and a new bond forged, how will things go for the four companions?
Next time Chapter 33: Sloth's awakening.
Almost done my friends, with only four chapters to be released, I will be making sure Ash and Salvia get their confession in the last chapter. But the Epilogue chapter will be different than the one I intended for.