A/N: Thanks Great and Julie Togepi for those reviews. No, the plan won't involve poison, but I'll give another hint next chapter.
That said, we've managed to hit 20 chapters! Thanks so much guys!
Across the border that lead into Freyja's domain, Ash could see a group of people who had gathered and had shouted over to him, following which they had started telling him that they were there to escort him to Lady Freyja's villa.
Gulliver, with his crew that had recently expanded kudos to volunteers from Thomdolt's domain, would be going along with Ash. Their scouts could not see any traps or unusual activity up ahead, and so, Ash decided that if they were going to go, they might as well go quickly.
There was a sort of demarcation between the two territories, the grass turned a darker shade of green on Lady Freyja's side, though it was subtle enough that Ash probably wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the uncomfortable feeling that came over him as he crossed over.
It wasn't as bad at last time though in the tunnel leading to the Gliscor's Nest, which made Ash wonder why. Was it because he had two, not one Badges now? Or was it because he had been invited and wasn't trespassing this time? He needed to start asking these kinds of questions, especially as he had nearly lost his last Gym Battle due to not knowing enough.
Regardless, he still suddenly felt clammy and he felt a small pain in his head accompanied by yet more desire to go back. Thoughts began flooding his head mainly centering around whether or not this was a good idea, and a nagging feeling came directing him back from where he had come. Still though, he continued onwards. He gave a glance towards Pikachu, and either he was as uncomfortable as Ash was, or his instinct had told him something was wrong.
The lead person in their rather uncomfortable-looking welcoming committee stepped forward ten paces from the others and said, "I am Duke Hamnet. Which one of you is Lord Ash?"
Ash merely stepped forward. "I am."
Duke Hamnet's eyes widened with disbelief until he noticed the two Badges pinned to Ash's chest, but he recovered rather quickly (or at least more quickly than the others, who instantly began murmuring to each other) and put out his hand. "Well met then. I am Lady Freyja's right hand man. She wanted me to personally escort you to her villa. It is not very far from here. Shall we be off?"
Duke Hament was dressed in the manner of a Victorian dandy, and was also sweating profusely. Ash noticed that everyone there was dressed up in what looked like a costume, there was someone dressed as a samurai, and another as a Nordic Knight. The ladies were dressed even more extravagantly, in large dresses or kimonos with accessories and headdresses that would clearly make it nigh-on impossible to do any of life's normal tasks.
"I think so," Ash said and extended his hand as a courtesy.
Duke Hament took a long look at the extended hand, as if it belonged to a Garbador and not a human, and finally, reluctantly shook it. Ash noticed his hand was extremely sweaty and shaking.
And so, they went on, trying to make good time.
This was unfortunate as they were going ridiculously slow. The costumes that Lady Freyja's delegation were wearing were not very conducive to certain activities like walking (and for an unfortunate number of ladies wearing corsets, breathing as well) and so they were slugging along slower than a Shuckle.
This gave Ash a lot of time to ponder about questions along the lines of: Why did Lady Freyja need more than two dozen people to fetch him? Why are they all dressed like that? And why didn't they bring a truck or something?
Ash couldn't help but notice that his reception committee was none too happy seeing him. They kept stealing nervous glances at him but always hastily looked away whenever he looked at them.
He guessed that they were probably scared of him. Once he had taken over Thomdolt's domain, he had began to learn just what rumors had circulated about him. He had, overall, been characterized as some sort of barbarian, and all sorts of crimes were attributed to them, including but not limited to theft, razing cities, cannibalism, and stealing candies from babies.
Ash had even seen a crude drawing of what was supposed to be him with him carrying a bunch of human heads. He shuddered. Mr. Jennings hadn't seem very bothered with it, but it disturbed him deeply that that was how most people thought of him. There was very little he could do about it though.
Gulliver and his gang mainly walked along and didn't attempt to strike up any conversation with Lady Freyja's delegates, asides from throwing some suspicious glances at them and whispering amongst themselves. The two parties also tried to maintain as much distance from each other as possible, with the result being that Lady Freyja's delegates were on one side, Gulliver's team on the other, and Ash sandwiched between them. This made the delegates move away from Ash slowly, which made Gulliver's team move towards them in case they were plotting something, and so Ash also moved towards them.
In short, the trip was near to complete torture for nearly all who were involved, especially because although it wasn't very hot, Duke Hamnet and the rest were dressed in full sleeves and carrying an unbelievable amount of paraphernalia and jewelry, with the end result that they were all sweating like a Caterpie in a nest of Pidgeotto.
The only one who seemed to be enjoying himself somewhat was Pikachu, who seemed to have gotten over his initial apprehension about the place and was now running along playing in the grass like this was any other day.
Finally, the villa came into view. Ash had to admit that it made for a rather grand scene, with the sun setting over a small lake near the villa and the outlines of the mountains providing a quant backdrop against the fields humming with Volbeat and Illumise.
Ash didn't think he had ever seen so many people so relieved to be at their destination. Duke Hamnet, who had been sweating so much that it looked like he had just come back from swimming said, "Let me just fetch Milady, Sir Ash, and then we can commence with the dinner. Merely excuse me for a minute."
Duke Hament dashed off towards the villa. This left the two parties staring awkwardly at each other as they waited for his return.
Duke Hamnet had nearly collapsed by the time he reached the front of the villa. It was truly magnificent, based on ancient architecture and made using some loans that Lady Freyja had taken out from Thomdolt some time ago. Despite that though, it was, of course, equipped with all the modern facilities one could wish for.
He buzzed the intercom. "This is Duke Hamnet, I must speak to our mistress."
"Hamnet, you don't look so well. What happened?" a familiar voice answered him. There was of course, a camera in the intercom outside, just no screen so he could see who he was talking to.
"Milady, I've just had to walk over half a mile in these clothes," Hamnet said. Normally, Hament was dashing and handsome enough, but he currently had huge pit stains like most of the other members of his party and looked about ready to collapse. "If you may excuse me, may I ask why we were all sent in this matter?"
"Is it not obvious?" the answer came as if someone was trying to tell a child something blatantly obvious. "I had to of course, make a good expression of my strength and regality and so I sent all of you in this manner. First impressions are the last impressions, as they say."
It took a large amount of self-control to prevent Duke Hament from running back towards Ash and begging him to let him keep his position when he beat Lady Freyja, because Duke Hament was sure that the fate of the realm under the yoke of such an idiot as his mistress was not something he could count on. This made him regret not shaking the boy's hand immediately and waiting for so long which might have offended him, but that had been in truth, because the gesture had surprised him so much he hadn't been sure what to do about it.
"Milady, the first impression we've given them is a host of people extravagantly dressed for no reason and sweating profusely," Duke Hamnet replied.
"Oh, tush," Lady Freyja said. "Anyway, if he is finally here, do call him in. We've been waiting for him for a long time."
"Yes, that's because you didn't give us any trucks or vehicles to-" Duke Hament stopped when he realized his most esteemed Mistress was no longer even listening.
He sighed. He had served with Lady Freyja long after the incident thirty-two years ago, but it was long enough to know that her Pokemon weren't strong enough to fight a flock of Starly, let alone someone accomplished enough to beat Marley. She had survived mainly by forcing everyone to swear to never challenge her and taking Pokemon away from those who didn't like all the other Gym Leaders. And for some reason, she had insisted upon inviting this pretender for dinner and a battle, and as far as he knew, she was completely serious about the offer.
He might have even hoped that perhaps she had a trick up her sleeve that she wasn't showing him, but his years of experience told him that it was a false hope.
He walked over towards Lord Ash and said, far more respectfully this time, "Milord, Lady Freyja, the Third Gym Leader and mistress of this realm is waiting for you inside."
A/N: Thanks for reading everyone.
As always, do review if you liked!
