Hey guys, no more food poisoning. Instead, I have cuts all over my fingers because I was deep sea fishing and battled a Marlin for over 50 minutes. I was actually sweating from the effort it took to real him in. He was a fighter, that's for sure. It was so much harder than it should have been because the hook dug into his tail of all places. That made everything worse. At least I got him in. We got a few Sailfish, some Barracuda, and a bunch of Red Snapper that we ate later (Only the red Snapper, Barracuda eat poisonous fish and we release Sailfish).
Advance Lover: Really? I hope so, because I don't want to have to come up with more names.
Flipnhaole: Uuuuum, you're going to be disappointed then. I decided to (for once) not let Ash get injured in a battle. And I didn't finish it because I didn't think it would be too interesting seeing Ash go into "god mode". Being a badass is good, but you can only have so much till it's over the top. And would I ever deprive you of a battle scene? If i was going to finish it, I would've kept it int that chapter.
BlackStarZX: I'm glad you like the names, and the ones you suggested were good. But I think I'm sticking with mine because A.) his home town was burned B.) It kind of has his name in it and C.) I kind of has to do with revenge, and is catchy in my opinion. You've had it twice! That's awful, you are a trooper to come out of that crap. It was awful being stuck in bed, I felt useless
Fallingarcher22: I'm glad you liked the stealth, I wasn't sure how it came out in the end. But if you enjoyed it then I'm satisfied. Also, Assassin's Creed is a great game, I enjoyed (most) them so much and thanks for your suggestions. They were helpful, but in the end, I think I'm going to stick with this one. Oh and, sorry, I'm not finishing the battle (not because I'm lazy just because I want to try and not get Ash killed and '"god mode" isn't too interesting. Even though I was very tempted too, I like writing the battles better than anything else. I think they're all I'm good for)
Sailor Taichichi Vegeta: I'm glad you approve, and I like the idea too. My friend showed me a youtube video of an entire set of a battle for Halo and that's where I got the idea. You know, an Oddish. the thing that looks like a single blueberry with a few leaved stemming out from it. I'm told it's weak. Yes, I was in Mexico but not anymore. Now I'm back in good ol' Massachusetts. (And food poisoning is terrible, I don't recommend it)
NobleBoss: Oh why thank you. I appreciate that someone can see the finer details and the objective of some of these random little scenes I put in there. I try to make sure the Pokemon have "lines" but don't take up too much of a role. (It's staring my sentences with "and" and "but" isn't it? I know it's wrong, but sometimes I can't drag out a sentence with another comma. So I end the sentence and start of with where I left off. Also, some of those mistakes are intentional, not many of them, but a few). I actually got complaints that I didn't have a lemon at that moment. Weird huh?
Chapter 26: The Boys are Back
"I'm fine, seriously, can you not see me moving around and talking like a normal human being?" Gold exclaimed while waving his arms about. "Just be quiet will you? You are injured, so you go to the infirmary till you're better" Crystal said.
"So you're my nurse? Guys I'm not okay, I'm feeling terrible and I am completely numb" Gold said
"Shut up and go to bed!" Crystal yelled with a red face, beginning to exit the infirmary. "It only noon!" Gold yelled after her before laughing. "You should really give her a break. She's worried about you" Red said, scolding Gold. Gold grinned "She wants me so badly". Red just shook his head and went back to patch up Silver.
"Red I need you to hold Black's arm in place while I bandage it" Yellow said, walking up to them. Red nodded, putting the last strap around Silver's torso before walking away with Yellow. Black groaned from his bed "Reeeeeeeeeeeed, why didn't you take me with you when you went to fight with Ash? neither of you got hit once" Black complained. Red sighed and sat next to him, picking up his limp arm, which had been numbed to relieve pain, allowing Yellow to bandage a tricky are right under the arm.
"You're doing better than you were last week" Red said "And if you can complain, then I know you're okay"
"But Whyyyyyyyyyyy? I hurt everywhere and you don't" Black moaned.
"Because he had a massive Cahrizard, a powerful Pikachu, and a Noctowl that was practically invisible. Speaking of, where'd that thing go? Ah, forget it, you could've come right after me"
"No I couldn't..."
"Stop complaining Black" Pearl said to him. Black glared at him "Easy for you to say, you didn't even go"
"Yeah, because some had to hold down the fort with Yellow. She can't fight and I doubt her Pikachu could hold out against more than ten five men without Pokemon. So Lance told Diamond, Platina, and I to stay behind and look after everything here" Pearl said defensively.
"Stop complaining Black, you're fine and you know it" Gold yelled from his bed. Black just moaned some more. "Is everyone in here able to be moved to a new location?" Lance said, suddenly making an appearance. "I think everyone should be able to go somewhere, why?" Yellow said.
Lance grinned "We've been invited to Hoenn, for a final attack plan. The details will be told to you all when we get there. But I just need to find everyone and get enough Flying Pokemon to take all of our Pokemon there" Yellow nodded
"I'll be a runner" White said from her bed. "White you have a gash on your right leg, you're not going anywhere" Yellow said to her.
"I'll do it" Red said while walking towards the door. "Thank you Red, I can go and make the preparations now" Lance said, following him out the door. Red found Platina and Diamond in the kitchen, Crystal in the palace, and he finally found his sat target in the arena. "Hey Ash" Red called out while waving. Ash turned towards him briefly before turning back around and punching the small bag the had been strapped to a stake. "So, uh, we got new orders from Lance"
'Damnit I still don't know how to talk to him' Red thought "And, we're switching locations. Turns out we're headed to Hoenn, cool huh?" Red said with a chuckle. But stopped when he noticed Ash tense up and freeze mid punch. "Where in Hoenn?" Ash said, barely above a whisper
"Excuse me?" Red asked, not quite hearing him
"I said, where in Hoenn?" he said, putting a small pause in between each of the last three words.
"Oh, uh, the castle to group up with the king of Hoenn" Red said
At that point Ash was visibly shaking, but had yet to face Red "Hey, are you okay?" Red asked, concerned for their newest "member". "I'm perfectly fine... When do we leave?"
"Hmmmmm, Lance didn't say. But it sounded like and "immediate" thing" Red said
"I understand, I'll make preparations" Ash said while walking away
Red turned around and walked back to the infirmary 'I wonder why he never faced me during that conversation' Red thought.
-Ash POV-
'SHIT'
I couldn't go back, there was no way I could go back. No, I can. I just have to calm down. I took a deep breath and let it out. You are strong, you are smart, you are not weak, and you will not be scared off by some woman. You have killed hundreds, taken on insurmountable odds and came out victorious, so you shouldn't be afraid to go back to some horny girl that thinks she loves you.
I slapped my face a few times, getting myself together. I took another deep breath before heading to my Pokemon. When I reached them, Garchomp was lazing around on the ground and Charizard was breathing some flames on a scratch on his chest. "Oi, stop that. It's not good for the wound" he gave me a few grunts. "I don't care if it makes you feel better. You're going to char the flesh" I scolded him. He glared at me for a moment before relenting.
"Alright, so it looks like we're going to be heading back to Hoenn for an unknown amount of time. Personally I think we're getting too familiar with that place. After our vacation, we're taking jobs in Kalos or Unova for a while. I'm tired of this scenery" I got a grunt of agreement from both of my Pokemon. I sounded off a two fingered whistle and waited till my small yellow friend came running to me
"Where do you go whenever you aren't with me? Are you playing more tag with Eevee?" I said the last part in a sarcastic voice, still a little mad that he prevented me from getting out of that situation. He ears just drooped and he glared at me "Don't give me that look. Point is we got orders, we're heading back to Hoenn"
Pikachu gave me a concerned look "Pika PikaPi?" he asked me. I waved it off "I'll be fine. I can either ignore her, or avoid her altogether. The latter being more preferable. And if I really have to, I'll deal with her" I reassured my friend
"Pika Pikachu Pika chu chu" he said
"You're right you may not be around to help me, but I'll handle it, okay?" I said. He just shrugged. "Now let's find Lance" I muttered. We wandered around the palace for a while before we found him walking towards the infirmary. "Lance, when are we headed out?" I called towards him.
"I'm about to tell everyone that when we get to the infirmary" he told me, continuing on his way. I caught up to him and we walked in a (not really awkward, but not really comfortable) silence. "Who trained you" he asked
"Various people. I learned how to fight with a sword from one person, how to use a bow from another, how to throw knives from someone else, etc. But I guess you could say that my teacher was a Meowth. He taught me how to fight with knives, my first weapon"
"But from what I've heard about you he didn't just teach you how to fight, he used the brute method didn't he?" Lance said
I nodded. The brute method was a way of taking young soldiers or warriors and toughening them up, making them unbreakable in the face of horrors or terrible odds. "What did he do?" Lance asked
"He had me kill a man in front of his own son" I told him "And... he uh, he thought it would be better, if I did it with my hands". Lance nodded, unfazed by the horrible thing I did, simply accepting it, knowing that's just how things were. "I had to kill a group of children" Lance told me. I wasn't fazed either, many people had to go through the brute method, it was never pleasant. No more conversation was made, but it wasn't needed, we reached the infirmary
"Alright, is everyone ready to move?" Lance asked upon entering the room. There was a chorus of yeses mixed with groans. "Okay, then let's get moving. We got a lot of round to cover" he said. Everyone started to get up and move around
"Oh, Ash, you're going to need to carry some Pokemon with Garchomp and Charizard. I nodded, expecting the request sooner or later. I walked out to Charizard and Garchomp who were both just standing around, waiting patiently for their orders, a rare sight. I relayed to them the orders Lance gave is and got a nod from both.
The ride there was simple. No interruptions, no surprises, nothing unexpected. It was a bit slower than usual, but everything that had a pair of wings and could fly was carrying a Pokemon and injured humans so that was to be expected. Garchomp was carrying one of the Emboars and Charizard was carrying Gold's Typhlosion, even though they could've carried two. Albeit difficultly, but they could still do it.
I lay on Garchomp's back, hat behind my back so it wouldn't fly off into the wind, hood over my eyes, shielding me from the sun with Pikachu on my chest rising and falling with each of my breaths. It was a beautiful day, even though it the sun was close to setting. By the time we get there it'll be dark, unless we pick up the pace, but there's no need for that. I prefer to simply enjoy the ride and worry about the destination (And what comes with it) later.
I brought all my gear with me, bow (unstrung), sword, knives, arrows and put in a canvas back and strapped it to Charizard. He wasn't to happy about it though, he hates ropes. I could've had Noctowl carry it, but I let him go home. He has a family back in that drippy cave, who was I to keep him away from them? Especially when he services are no longer needed.
Time passed quicker than I expected, and soon I saw the lights of Pedalburg City, with its castle standing proud behind it. "Huh, I figured the place sould've burned down without me" I muttered to no one in particular.I looked a little above those lights and saw the forms of a bunch of flying types heading towards us. 'That's so stupid, we could just have another flying type come in at another direction and they would't know what hit them because they sent a quarter of their flying Pokemon to one place' I thought
The surrounded us just like they had me last time I was here and that same woman and Lance were talking before the woman gave a signal to all her men. They began to escort us down to the castle till we landed.
I helped all the injured get off their Pokemon and made sure the Pokemon who were carried were not injured due to the talons and claws of the Pokemon. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary though.
"You may enter" I heard the woman tell Lance while I was unstrapping my gear from Charizard. "Alright everyone, out on your game faces. We're about to present ourselves to the royal family, let's make a good impression" Lance said to us before lining all his rebels up and walking towards the castle doors. He didn't tell me to do anything though. But I knew the drill, no weapons, no Pokemon, no sudden moves, nothing but bowing.
I was a little behind them and I paused when I reached the doors. Taking a deep breath I pushed them open and followed my employers to the throne room.
"Presenting Lance of Kanto and his soldiers" I heard some servant announce to King Norman who stood on his throne, looking ay everyone's bowing forms. 'Of course I didn't get an introduction' I thought before bowing a little behind them.
"Rise please" Norman told us. We all stood at attention before him. I saw everyone was present, and that's exactly what scared me. My breath hitched in my throat, I could feel my hand shaking, I was afraid. 'NO' I berated myself mentally, I quickly pinched my arm and steeled my nerves. 'She will not get to me' I told myself as I sent her a cold glare before returning my attention to King Norman
For a while he just blabbed on about welcoming us and the valor and courageousness of our actions. I didn't pay attention much, I just stared at the area little above his head, so it looked like I was paying attention. But my concentration was broken by two sapphire pools looking right at me. Seemingly drawing my gaze towards them and I found my staring, without a glare.
I shook my head quickly and refocused my gaze at the spot above King Norman, who had just finished his speech. We all started to disperse, some servants came up to each of us, asking about our room preferences. The one who approached me just said "The usual?". That was kind of unnerving. I never really stayed around long enough to get a "usual"
But I nodded and she gave me the key to the room, something they hadn't done before. I couldn't help but overhear Gold telling the servant who approached him to give him a room with one bed, claiming he'd be staying in the same room as Crystal as I walked away. I heard a lot of yelling after that, but I didn't hear a "no".
I unlocked the door to my room, the same room I'd been in the time before and even the time before that. All the rooms were carbon copies though, there was no specific difference in them. I walked back outside and Pikachu was already gone, so I grabbedmy gear before turning bad around and going back inside. I set my gear up in the usual fashion. Knife under the pillow, sword near the bed incase I needed to get up in a hurry, cloak ready for use on it's hanger along with my hat, and bow (still unstrung) on the dresser.
That left me in grey pants, a white short sleeved shirt, and by usual boots. I would have my hooded shirt, but Dawn still had it. Why did I let her keep it again? Oh yeah, good guy Ash. "Oi Ash, we're headed down for dinner if you'd like to come" Red said as he knocked on my door. I contemplated my options for a moment before deciding that some dinner wouldn't hurt, maybe Ruby was back.
"Yeah, I'm coming" I told him, opening the door to reveal almost everyone. "Where's Pearl and Diamond?" I asked
Silver sighed "Those two idiots decided they couldn't wait to fill their stomachs so they went ahead of us. But they probably got lost considering they've never been here before" he said in an annoyed semi-monotone. I just grunted, showing that I understood.
We walked down towards the cafeteria, apparently they got directions, but I knew where I was going. "I can't believe they actually got us a room together" I heard Crystal grumble. Gold smirked "Hey, you didn't say no" he said
She growled at him only succeeding in causing his smirk to grow. "You know you love me wise girl" he said to her. She hmphed and turned away from him, hiding her blush pretty well actually. But I wasn't the only who noticed her lack of denial and her blush. Silver groaned "Oh my Lugia, just get a room you two... oh wait, you already did" he said, ending with a smirk sent towards Crystal.
Her lit up red and age stomped towards Silver who successfully dodged her punch, I laughed at the scene. They were like a bunch of brothers and sisters, always teasing each other and causing hell for one another. Gold strode forwards and grasped Crystal's arm, which was in mid wind up for another punch. "Now, now honey. No need to attack those who speak the truth he said while patting her hand.
"I'm going to kill you" she muttered under her breath as Gold skipped ahead of her, his overly large, cheesy grin on his face. "Gold, you passed the doors" Red called to him. He froze before turning back around, rubbing his head sheepishly. "He, he. I knew that, I was testing Crystal is all" he said
"If anyone needs to be tested it's you!" she yelled at him before waling through the large double doors that led to the mess hall. He walked up next to Silver and gave him a high five "She wants me" he stated with a grin. I shook my head at him before walking throughout the doors into the crowded, noisy mess hall.
I did a quick sweep of everyone's faces, but no Ruby, or Magma Core. In fact, none of the generals were at the head table. I shrugged and walked to the large line that led to the opening where the food was served. I pushed my way through all of them and walked straight into the kitchen. I got a few hellos from some of the kitchen staff and I age them a nod in return.
I found an open stove and began making some food. It took longer than expected, but I chargrilled some Margikarp and put some orange sundered tomato butter on top. I made myself a salad with carrots, red cabbage, I garnished it with cucumbers, tomatoes, and (my favorite) bacon bits. I made myself a sandwich that had grilled lemon pepper Tauros, hummus, field greens, tabulleh, red onion, tomatoes, and some crumbled cheese.
I don't know why, but I don't trust anyone's cooking but my own. Scratch that, I do know why, but I don't want to admit that I'm that paranoid. I walked out of the kitchen, no longer having to push through the line because it had been reduced to almost nothing, balancing the third plate on using my arm and my forearm. Kind of pinching it between he two. I walked to the table where all the my employers were and sat towards the edge.
Just before I was about to dig in I felt a gust of wind blow by my face. I looked up and glared at Diamond and Pearl who were staring at my food intently. Sighing, I pushed the plate towards them, allowing them one bite.
"Oooooh man, you're a godsend" Pearl said. Diamond just stared at the plate more. "Just one Diamond" I told him. he looked up at me, the plea evident in his eyes. The sad eyes act never worked on me though, and it never will. They pushed the plate back over to me and I reached for my fork, but my hand found nothing.
I found it digging into my food and being drawn back behind me. I spun around to face ruby who was chewing thoughtfully. "Hmm, hmmmmmm, hmm, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" came form his mouth while he chewed. "What the hell man!? That was my fork" I yelled at him. He swallowed the food and looked at me "Not bad, but I still like you steaks better" he said with a grin.
I snatched my fork away from him "That's some way to say hello asshole" I muttered while turning back to my food. He sat next to me and put an arm around my shoulders. "Better than last time though, right?" he said with a cheeky smile. I just grunted and continued eating.
"So, care to introduce us?" Gold said. I looked back down the table and realized I had attracted the attention of everyone at the table. I swallowed my food, but Ruby beat me to it "Sure, my name's Ruby. Pleasure to meet ya" he said with a cheerful smile.
"Well Ruby, I'm Gold, this here is my girlfriend Crystal (she didn't take that well), that's Red, the shy one next to him is Yellow, the kind of cold assholeish guy over there is Silver, the cheerful looking guy is Black, the girl with the crush on him over there is White, the two who ate Ash's food are Diamond and Pearl, and finally the fancy upper class looking girl is Platina. There's Lance and Sabrina too, but they got invited to eat with King Norman" Gold said, pointing to each person as he went.
"Excuse me? who's your girlfriend?" Crystal said, standing up and glaring at Gold.
He looked up at her and grinned "Didn't you hear me? You are of course" he said.
"Why you little-"
He cut her off with a quick peck on the lips, effectively rendering her speechless and frozen on the spot. He sat back down "Now that introductions are out of the way, let's eat" Gold said, acting as if he hadn't just kissed Crystal and silenced the whole table. Ruby started laughing "I like you guys, you're funny" he said to the table.
Gold gave him a cheeky grin, as he was the only person who wasn't in shock.
"G-Gold, h-h-he, I-I, w-w-w-what" Crystal mumbled as she slowly sat down next to Gold. "There's more where that came form if you behave yourself" Gold told Crystal, acting as if he was talking to a child, before going back to eating. I chuckled at their antics, they took my mind off my problems.
"So how have things been since I left" I asked Ruby.
"Eh, you know. Trained the Aqua Guard, argued with Sapph, argued more with Sapph, talked to Blue, talked to Green, trained, argued with Sapp, trained, went on a scouting mission, took out a few outposts, argued with Sapph, killed a bunch of Kanto patrols,argued with Sapph, fended off a counterattack, argued with Sapph while fending off a counterattack, argued with her more, and finally slept" he said
"That bad huh?" I said with a grim expression
"Not really, we argue a lot, but we have good times too" he said
"I don't think killing Kanto soldiers with her counts as a "good time"" I told him
"No, I mean, she's pretty nice to me. I usually start the arguments, mostly for fun" he said the last part with a grin
"Who's Sapphire?" Black asked. I looked back and realized once again, that we still had the attention of the table. "Let's just say she's a hot tempered co-worker" Ruby said with a wry grin. "Okay, so how do you and Ash know each other?" Black asked, making conversation
"I was training in the middle of the night when he showed up and offered to help and proceeded to kick my ass" Ruby said.
"It wasn't that bad" I defended
"Well you didn't have to get up to train in the morning" Ruby said "And Ash worked here not too long ago"
White looked at me, surprised "You weren't always a mercenary?" she asked. I shook my head "I have always been a mercenary, my last job was here" I corrected.
"What did you do?" Red asked curiously
"He was in charge of taking care of the princesses. And whatever else King Norman wanted him to do. Like when we were attacking, Ash was riding long with Sir Aaron, batting it out with Hunter J. But they got hit and were going down, they disappeared behind the tree line for a moment before Ash shot up on his Charizard and took her down in one hit" Ruby said dramatically
"You rode with an Aura Guardian?" Silver asked, just a little curiosity in his voice, but before I could answer, Gold interrupted "Forget that. How was hanging out with the princesses?" he asked with a mischievous grin.
"Why don't you ask me yourself" a voice said
Not sure about this chapter. I think it's pretty good, but or some reason I feel like I forgot to do something and it's going to haunt me. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Comments, suggestions, requests, hate, and anything else is always welcome. I hope you enjoyed, till next time
-novaking2832