I was fortunate that summer semester final exams didn't require too much time out of me, so now I'm free for two weeks until my second year in university. Ah, year long schooling, but now I'll know what I want to study into for sure, whether it'd be writing or not. Now that we're on the tenth chapter, it's time I started to solidify a few things to keep this little story set and stable.
Just read on and you'll come to understand what to expect what I have in mind.
"Guys, I'm telling you the truth. I found Ash sitting in at Anabel's battle. I know what I saw!"
"May, you keep telling us that, but he wasn't there when you pointed. Besides, what would he be doing watching a battle by himself anyway?"
"She might have a point, Max. You never really know what goes on in his head these days."
"Isn't that why we're worrying about him in the first place, Brock?"
The trio of long-time friends was on their way back to the Pokémon Center right after Anabel had concluded her match and the battlefield crew started to repair and clean up the rock field for the next scheduled match for the day. It was usually the most ideal place to meet up with the rest of the group. Not too surprising that they all bonded well together, considering who their common friend was. It certainly never got old.
"But Ash's beaten Anabel before if you guys remember," Max continued. "Why would he want to watch her battle?"
"It would be smart to keep tabs on all competitors just in case you have to fight them in later rounds," Brock explained. "Besides, that's all in the past now. We've all seen how much Anabel has improved since she battled Ash in the Battle Tower over three years ago."
"I guess that makes sense," Max relented.
"And you're supposed to be the Pokémon genius," May added wryly with a shrug.
"Hey! It's not like you did any better when you first started out."
"What was that?!"
"Calm down, children," Brock intervened, keeping the siblings apart with his hands on their shoulders. "We wouldn't want to appear warring against each other in front of our friends. Besides, we've had enough childish conflicts in our group as it is, if you recall the latest rivalry we've seen."
Both May and Max calmed down as requested, apologizing meekly before approaching the automatic front doors of the Pokémon Center. Almost immediately after the doors opened up, they were greeted with the usual activity going on at the front desk. Nurse Joys went back and forth tending to several Trainers having their Pokémon healed while others conversed with one another. Though Brock was tempted to flirt once again with the Nurses at the floor, he still didn't forget the consequences of facing retribution from his Croagunk, of whom he questioned why he still carried him around, along with the resurfacing wounds known as Misty and Max altogether combined. All three at once certainly made the normally flirtatious Doctor know his place.
At the usual location at a fair corner of the lobby, the trio found the remainder of the group sitting around and waiting for them.
"Hey, gang!" May greeted, waving over to the others and being greeted back with an instant hug from Dawn.
"Hey, you three, have you had the chance to get to know Iris and Cilan?" Misty replied, gesturing to the two Unova natives sitting next to her. "They have some pretty awesome stories while they traveled with Ash in Unova."
"Well, we've been well-acquainted with them, but we haven't had a good old sit down together," Brock said, joining them. "I do know that Iris is training to be a Dragon Pokémon Master while Cilan is an A-Class Pokémon Connoisseur and Gym Leader with his brothers. As a Doctor and former Breeder, I'm curious on how you guys go about training and handling your Pokémon."
"Now that's a recipe I'll be willing to divulge to you," Cilan spoke up eagerly.
"Plus, I really want to know how Ash was like back when he was traveling with you and Misty," Iris added, followed with an excited agreement from Axew in her hair.
At the meantime, May, Max, and Dawn formed their own little conversational group to share their individual events of the day so far, considering that they had their own little adventures during the morning prior to this point.
"You really didn't miss out with our shopping spree, Dawn, though I wish some guys went with us and helped us with our bags," May muttered, glaring particularly at Max. "Misty and I could only carry so much of our spoils."
"Hey, I needed to train some more for the next Pokémon League, and besides, I'm not the only guy at fault here," Max retorted.
"Speaking of battles, the one between Georgia and Iris was really cool," Dawn intervened. "I even learned that there was a new Pokémon type discovered recently."
"Really? What's it called?" May asked.
"It's called the 'Fairy-type,' and certain Pokémon were discovered to have it. Jigglypuff, Marill, and supposedly Gardevoir were recently discovered to be part Fairy-type."
"I never knew… That's amazing!"
"Get this, the best part," Max interrupted. "Dragon-type Pokémon are especially weak against Fairy-types. That's what's been released for public knowledge lately."
"Hence was the reason why Georgia challenged Iris in the first place, to test their power out if they're as effective in taking down Dragon-types as they claim to be," Dawn continued, recalling their battle in mere segments. "The battle ended in a tie, though, but it seemed that Axew would've been the first to go down if Outrage wasn't successfully carried out.
"Wow, I guess that Dragon-types aren't as strong as they used to be with another weakness added, and by Fairy-types, huh," May surmised offhandedly.
"You got that right, girl," a familiar assertive voice concurred, much to the surprise of the young Coordinators and younger Trainer. Iris notably stood out of her seat and practically stomped through her group.
"What do you want now, Georgia?" Iris demanded with a pointing finger. The said Dragon Buster merely smirked back with arms crossed over her bosom.
"You mad, Iris?" Georgia responded coolly.
That awkward time came upon them once more upon the confrontation of these fierce and considerably eternal rivals. Despite the rest of the Pokémon Center going about in its usual business, the group sitting at the waiting area suddenly felt excluded from the rest of the world and thrust into their world once again.
"… Well, that escalated quickly," Max remarked in the background, with everyone else agreeing with nods and inaudible grunts.
"That battle's in the past now, so why won't you leave us alone?" Iris argued.
"Considering these fine people to be 'yours alone,' that comes off as being childish, wouldn't you agree?" Georgia taunted.
"At least I do have real friends and not some imaginary fairies like a kid does!"
"Why you little…! Argh! … Forget it, I'm not going to lose it this time," Georgia muttered to herself, surprisingly holding her own childish temper down. Now Iris was interested, though remained skeptical of the drastic change of behavior.
"Alright, what's up with you now?" Iris inquired, to which her older rival resumed her characteristic confident self once more.
"You can keep these people as your friends to yourself," Georgia began, in which a shifty grin slowly stretched across her face, "because who I have is a friend is someone that you'll never be able to claim back."
Now everyone was confused on what the Dragon Buster meant by her statement of having someone that Iris supposedly had no hope in having. The Dragon Trainer initially sneered at the claim, but realization slowly came over her and an expression of dread took over her young dark-skinned face.
"You're lying," Iris countered hastily.
"Pardon?" Georgia questioned innocently.
"I have no one of interest that would be taken in by you."
"You sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. They're… They'd be all Dragon-related, something you'd never associate yourself in a million years!"
"I never said he was related to Dragons, nor would he be obsessed into them like you are. Try again."
Iris was slowly becoming infuriated with Georgia's mocking. With that restriction placed down openly, there was only one option that sparked in her mind that she was very reluctant to admit it.
"You… how… No way!"
"Hmm? Did you say something?"
"Yeah, I said something. There's no way he'd be with you, of all people."
"Assuming that you're finally on the same brain wavelength as I and thinking the right guy… Hee hee!"
While the others still attempted to discuss the topic, Iris immediately went over to Georgia and grabbed her by the neck of her spring green blouse. The latter merely smiled in contrast of the raging Dragon Trainer temporarily trapping her.
"No way… Not in a million years! I don't believe you!" Iris growled while Georgia remarkably remained calm despite her favorite shirt becoming wrinkled in the grip.
"What's wrong, Iris?" Misty asked.
"This loon claims that she and Ash are together now!" Iris cried out acidly, inciting everyone's astonishment over the possibility.
"I am not a loon," Georgia hissed back, knocking away Iris's hand from gripping her blouse. "And what would make it so unbelievable about me being with him anyway?"
"For starters, anyone that actually sees him has been unable to strike up even a decent conversation with him," Misty brought up.
"And he was already hard to find to begin with," Brock added.
"And many other Trainers seemed to be actually scared of him now because of that preliminary battle and new personality he has," May commented lamentingly.
"I'll admit that I'm scared of him, if you guys are too," Max said, hand held up meekly.
"His use of new spices and concoctions in his battle style are frighteningly daring that only the bravest and well-seasoned can handle through, possibly only for those within the levels of the Elite Four," Cilan remarked, suddenly finding himself smiling. "He never does cease to surprise anyone, does he?"
"Hey! None of those even answered my question!" Georgia interrupted irately.
"I've got your answer," Iris spoke up.
"Well?"
"It's because you're a cold-hearted, hypocritical, tyrannical, weird, and sad little kid who's in way over her head in winning over Ash if we couldn't," Iris explained at a casual tone, remarkably held in one breath.
"… Was that it?"
"Yep, that was it."
An eerily silent moment passed over the group once more, all expressions remaining the same as they were. The first to break was Georgia, who interestingly started to smile and hold in rising uproarious laughter in spite of receiving a major insult from her rival. Confusion fell upon them once again with her uncharacteristic reaction.
"Ha! In the words of that jerk, Paul, that was really pathetic!" Georgia chuckled, holding onto her aching sides from the building laughter inside.
"Okay, you're seriously messed up in the head," Iris fumed.
The Dragon Buster quickly calmed down and closed the distance between her and her rival, much to Iris's irritable discomfort. Their noses could practically touch given the last couple of inches was removed between them. Axew burrowed himself deep within his Trainer's hair, hoping the badness would depart soon.
"Look, I know how much you miss Ash and I could care less on how much the rest of your friends miss him," Georgia started. "But I know how much of a victory it will be for me when I completely steal him away from you now that he appears to be riding alone these days."
"I never knew you'd stoop to such low levels, even for you," Iris retorted. "How shallow can you be?"
"Shallow?!" Georgia repeated as though the word itself left a bad taste. "Unlike you, my desire to be with him is actually genuine. I don't plan on belittling and insulting him as you or any of your 'new friends' did before."
"What?!" the others shouted, incredulous by the accusation.
"He's already proved to be a tough Trainer when I first saw him battle in various competitions back at Unova. Of course it'd be natural for him to attract attention from the public, especially since he's a foreign Trainer overseas. Quite a rare catch, if I may add."
"Ugh, you're disgusting!" Iris huffed, throwing her arms up.
"Hey, the only flaw I found in him was why he was traveling with a kid like you, Iris," Georgia shot back, jerking up a thumb towards herself in a poised manner. "So I'm going to make up for his current misery right now and be there for him. I'll be the first girl and human for him to open himself back up to. It's nothing personal to the rest of you, just Iris really."
"Good luck barking up that tree," Misty quipped, her particular tone catching the Dragon Buster's interest. "It sounds like you're head over heels into him from the way you just went about your plans on him."
"So what if I am? Unlike some people, I'm not afraid to be in touch with my feelings."
"Could've said otherwise with all those Ice-type Pokémon you've caught," Iris remarked snidely, Georgia's hearing picking up on it as signaled by the twitch of her ears.
"Says the girl with the irrational fear over Ice Pokémon, that just happens to be one of the many fatal weaknesses of Dragons, including themselves if you hadn't already realized," Georgia drawled.
"Kid!"
"Anyway, I'm warning you as one of Ash's former companions/close friends that if you're trying to pursue romance with him, you're going to need all the luck you can get," Misty resumed. "Powerful Pokémon Trainer or not, he's still thicker than an Aggron's hide. You'd be lucky if he does understand what romance is."
"She does have a point," May said in agreement.
"Well if you hadn't already noticed, we Dragon Busters don't ever give up on our goals, whatever they may be," Georgia declared. "Here's some additional food for thought: what other reason would I be focusing on Fairy-types now instead of heavily relying on Ice-types to take down Dragon Pokémon?"
"Versatility always helps when building up a strong team," Max immediately answered helpfully.
"With a helpful variety of ingredients to choose from, your battle recipe can certainly pack a wallop for anyone that tries a taste," Cilan continued.
"A lot of correct answers there, I've got to admit, though I'm still not satisfied with the explanations," Georgia mused.
"Hmm, they're correct with the aspect of battles, but… from a more psychological view, where the Ice-type specialization typically represents coldness and aloof, the newly discovered Fairy-type can be related to dreaming, fantasy, and, in Cilan's words, has a sweet taste," Brock brought up. "That's an interesting concept to think about if Georgia really does plan to master Fairy-types."
"You've got to be kidding me," Iris scoffed, briefly rolling her eyes before resuming a glare on her rival. "You being nice and sweet? In a million years probably and even then the odds would be against you."
"Meh, it can happen," Georgia replied with a casual shrug. "It just takes the right motivation and circumstance to get into it. I'm certainly giving it a shot and it worked so far, your Axew being the prime example of what happens when crossing a Fairy-type."
Iris didn't have anything more to say and wound up attempting to snub the Dragon Buster off, with her nose pointing up and in the opposite direction away. Axew merely popped his head out from the left side of her hair and sighed in response, recalling his rough experience in battling Jigglypuff. Now satisfied with declaring her intentions to her rival and her side group of friends, which included stumping the former, Georgia simply kept her gaze upon them while the rest of them looked back and wondered what would happen next.
"Listen, if it's any consolation to any of you, I haven't had a successful meet with him yet," she announced rather sympathetically. "I'm telling you this because I'm being a good sport about it, but I am serious on befriending Ash and getting him to come out of that new shell of his."
"Befriending?" Dawn repeated. "I thought you said you had something else planned for him."
"One step at a time, of course. Now, if you ladies and gents… and Iris excuse me, I'll be off training some more to take down bigger Dragons. Catch y'all later."
Georgia then walked off and attempted a cool hand wave with her back turned to the group while they saw her off. Though still visibly upset, Iris managed to calm herself and sit back down in her previous seat next to Cilan and Misty. May, Max, and Dawn moved closer and joined them. One thing was certainly common in their minds at this time.
"She's just going to use him once she gets him, that nasty girl," Iris grumbled bitterly, receiving a comforting hand from the Cerulean City Gym Leader.
"I don't know, she always means what she says," Cilan said. "Maybe she can pull Ash of the bottom of the barrel he's trapped himself in."
"What?!"
"If you don't like it, Iris, then you and the others ought to do something about it," Misty reprimanded.
"But don't you even care about Ash anymore?" Iris inquired.
"I do, but look at where we're at right now. It's been two weeks and none of us, save it for May, actually bumped into him. And even then, she didn't even know that was Ash. Of course I still worry for him, but he's a big boy now and he's certainly proved that he can take care of himself."
"Plus, we all won't be able to stay around for long on New Island," May intervened, indicating herself and her fellow Coordinator. "Dawn and I still have Contests to compete in to become Top Coordinator, even though we'll come back to see if any of you are still competing."
"I actually think Cilan, both his brothers, Forrest, and I are taking our chances now since these surviving Trainers are going to be a real challenge," Misty mused.
"Not to mention our dad, he's still surviving strong, isn't he?" May asked her brother, who nodded back devotedly.
"There're also all members of the Elite Four and the Champions of the five competing regions still out there on the tournament board," Cilan mentioned. "Things will definitely spice up for all of us in the third round."
"Once the Gym Leaders are defeated, they're required to return to their Gyms in order to resume accepting challenges from other Trainers," Brock stated. "After all, as an additional requirement from the Pokémon League prior to be permitted into the Champions League, full-time Gym Leaders were required to find temporary substitutes to manage the Gym so that they wouldn't be overrun by outsiders, my dad being an example for the Pewter Gym."
"And my sisters," Misty added along.
"I want to fight the actual Gym Leaders, not their substitutes," Max said longingly.
"Guys! You're falling off topic again!" Iris complained. "What about Ash?"
Each one of them exchanged glances with one another, coming up with what can practically be considered the same thought before looking back at the uneasy Dragon Trainer. This time, Brock moved in closer to the center to speak on behalf on the others.
"Iris, you're not alone about worrying about Ash," the good Pokémon Doctor assured. "But we have to respect that if he doesn't want to seek us out for whatever reason it is, we'll have no choice but to acknowledge it. I don't recall any of us actually offending him to the point that he no longer wants to be around us, but I guess that's just something time will show us later on. Until the day comes and we're able to confront him, there's not much we can do but wait. Georgia can do as she wants. If she does succeed in getting close to him, well…"
"She'll keep him all to herself and we'll never get him back!"
"Eh, I think you're overreacting about−."
"I'm not overreacting!"
While Brock tried to deal with the emotional Dragon Trainer in amidst of their friends, one figure sat close by within earshot while waiting for her Pokémon to be healed completely, having overheard everything going on since the intrusion of the Dragon Buster. Her Espeon looked on at the group warily, but was repeatedly calmed by a gentle caress on the head.
The sitting Trainer, in turn, wasn't too pleased with the ongoing results that she heard so far, but kept her cool. She was, however, glad that none of them even noticed her, even with her sitting on a long seat by the front glass window wall by the entrance.
"There's nothing to worry about in the end, friend," she whispered. "This is all the more reason that we have to keep on her trail now. However, with her addition, it should prove to be interesting though."
Elsewhere…
Two stoic figures stood facing one another at another clearing in the small forest of New Island. The afternoon sun was starting to descend from its highest point in the sky. A sparse group of wild forest Pokémon went about their activity with only a couple of them actually watching the solemn instruction taking place between the two humans. It was a more frightening prospect from their view that the woman gave off a vibe of greater intimidation than the young man across from her.
"Your first test will begin tomorrow morning, just as the first matches for the day take place," the young woman said. "Your opponent will certainly be an interesting matchup for you. You feeling up for this, Paul?"
"Of course," Paul replied back just as evenly as his 'helper' spoke. "I took care of all training earlier this morning and my Pokémon are at full strength now."
"This will be a good measure on how you battle now, considering on how your next opponent is remarkably similar to one of the Trainers you wish to fight again here."
"Appearances are one thing, but battle styles will always differ from Trainer to Trainer. However, considering the high qualifications it takes to make it into the Champions League in the first place, I should expect no less from this guy. Have anything else of interest to add, Sabrina?"
"I could add on," Sabrina paused, "but it would best for you to figure out on your own."
Paul kept a small smirk to himself with his eyes closed as part of his usual relaxed expression, somehow finding some amusement from her response. A gentle breeze blew across the forest clearing and caught the both of them in its formless embrace. The origin of the stream of wind came from a fair distance over the trees, where in the meantime Haunter was keeping itself cool in the summer sun with a large paper fan by taking large swipes with a disembodied hand.
"It's not really going to matter in the end, is it," Paul stated as fact. "Why are you even trying to help me anyway?"
"It's easy for humankind to forget, or selectively choose not to remember," Sabrina muttered softly. "Consider this as my way of gratitude for your assistance in moving along my psychological dissertation."
"There hasn't been any real progress since the last time we observed either one of them."
"Again, time will play a critical element in it for them… and for us."
Sabrina stepped closer to Paul until there was barely any noticeable difference between the two of them. While being held down on both shoulders by her hands, Paul looked on unflinchingly, but had already pondered his next course of action once Sabrina made her move. The only problem was that like him, her face and posture were unreadable to a degree, more so than he was.
"Gym Leader or not, I don't understand you at times," Paul shared bluntly.
"I'm not exactly what everyone else would call the 'life of the party,' nor do I know the customary social customs of this age," Sabrina replied back, a tiny smirk curving on the right side of her mouth. "But you do want to know for yourself if bringing Ash and Anabel together would benefit him in becoming stronger, right?"
The Veilstone City Trainer took an unconscious step backwards. In another rare moment for him, he found himself in a position where he was actually feeling a bit intimidated by another being, granted he was dealing with the Mistress of Psychic Pokémon herself. Her title itself also didn't exactly guarantee that he would be dealing with sunshine and rainbows, or any other pleasantries at that.
"You know there's a reason that I haven't bothered with such useless things in the past," Paul brought up, thinking what he knew she was up to.
"But the past is now the past and whether you like to fully acknowledge it or not, you've changed," Sabrina continued on his behalf, leaning her face close to his to the point that the tips of their noses nearly touched. A heartbeat later, she pulled away before Paul could even feel an aneurysm pulse in his heart. "But enough time will get you to finally understand everything."
"Will you stop treating me like a child?" Paul demanded, losing a bit of patience with her ever strange behavior. "I'm capable of learning things correctly in a short span of time and I will not be mocked like this."
"Well then, do you understand why controlling your emotions would ultimately lead you to become a better Trainer?" Sabrina suggested, to which Paul couldn't find a way to argue back. "It still stands as a road block between you and Pyramid King Brandon. Also as a Gym Leader and an atoner, I desire to help fellow Trainers reach their potential, among other things."
"What do you mean by 'atoner'?" Paul repeated, genuinely curious.
"Time," Sabrina continued to tease, holding up a pointer finger and gesturing it to her wrist. "It's time to get going." Her partner wasn't amused.
"Right…"
At a separate section of the forest…
He sat a large rock, conveniently flat, close to the heart of the small New Island forest. Not many Trainers had the time or effort to explore deep into such parts for one reason or another. It didn't matter to him as it made things easier for him to not deal with people. He was also content on not having to deal with the faces of his past despite being on the same island as they. Uncompromising guilt rose within the pit of his gut every time they entered his mind. He just couldn't deal with it right now, which was particularly the reason why he chose to rough it alone. Humans were such complex creatures, it was annoying. Pokémon, however, had been a different story for him.
Aside from letting his own team enjoy some fresh air outside of their Poké Balls, a few wild Pokémon now and then would pass by and give a salutation to him if he was ever in the area. His year of training to greatly understand their hearts ultimately paid off as there were some things he no longer needed to request vocally as long as they were hanging on the same wavelength, that was how he felt about it anyway. It may have had something to do with his own unique gifts that were talked about at seldom points from his previous travels, but he hadn't shown much interest in mastering aura to the point of becoming an archetype figure known as the Aura Guardian. He stayed firm on his dream to becoming the best that ever was in the art of Pokémon battling.
As a matter of fact, as he looked upon his unique model of the Pokédex in his right hand, he couldn't help but recall some of his most dangerous and heartbreaking memories shared with it the past year as he overcame not only those that have continuously wronged Pokémon and nature altogether, but his own inadequacies as well.
This worn-out large red Pokédex specially modified for him after announcing his goal after traveling through the Decolora Archipelago with past friends, it served him well in calling upon his other friends and training them as well without consistently returning to a Storage System Transport at a Pokémon Center. He certainly needed to thank Professor Samuel Oak for allowing him to be the first tester of the invaluable function and proving its success time and again during his training and survival.
"Pikapi!" a Pikachu called out to him.
He stood up and went over to his long-time friend to reunite with the rest of their team. Play time was finished and now it was time to train once more.
I was tempted to start off with another battle, this time to try out Paul, but following the previous chapter, which also followed a battle, it just didn't feel right. So this time, I'm pulling the plot along with some things for you to mull over. Georgia issues the challenge to Ash's former companions to reach out to him first, the development between Paul and Sabrina, and finally the third (hopefully self-explanatory) segment of the chapter.
Just so you all know, when you do play around with these ideas constantly and imagine many scenarios on how the story will overall turn out to become, you can't help but let them grow on you. For this reason, both Paul and Sabrina have really grown on me a lot more than Ash and Anabel, huh… Again, I enjoy experimenting with these things and besides, this fic could use a bit more spice.
So it's now official and will be displayed on the story summary: there will be some one-sided ConfidenceShipping (Georgia's also grown on me aside from revealing the Fairy-types for us, even tough chicks have their soft sides) and minor LachrymoseShipping (Paul and Sabrina; who'll cry first? (if you've caught on the name of the pairing)).
One final piece of business before I let you go as you please: I have my first poll set up on my profile page regarding around the new Pokémon Ash has caught over the "time skip." As the question states, I have already decided on two new Pokémon and most likely the third, but I'm curious on what you all think who should be the third one. This is for fun, of course. So please go ahead and check out the list for yourself, the list having been made under somewhat thoughtful considerations. I apologize to some of you, though, that there will be no Legendary Pokémon involved. So how will he stand a chance against Tobias next time? Again, that's to be seen later on. We're still young, people.
So please, take the time to check out my poll right after you measure up my writing skills and review the chapter. Thank you all for hanging in there.
L-ater!