Chapter 5: Ash Manaketes Up

Nowi stepped out of the building hosting a convention for Pokémon Connoisseurs with her new friends and perhaps a bane of her life. She recently revealed herself as the manakete in front of the one who she wanted to protect. Unfortunately for her, the confession reached the ears of Team Rocket. Much to their surprise and chagrin, the news opened a discussion. "So that little green-haired twerpette was that dragon that barbequed our digger?" growled Jessie.

"Guess it's true what they say," the ice-violet-haired wanted to quote. "Big surprises come in small packages." They removed the binoculars from their faces.

"Luckily, we've gots something to tame dat dragon, courtesy of our boss," Meowth explained the plan. Unfortunately for Team Rocket, they had no clue of Nowi's backup coming. By a bench and surrounded along Georgia, Nowi sat down to confess her story.

"As you may know, I'm a manakete, a species known to transform into a dragon," she started. "I've lived for about a thousand years before an army from Pledgia entered my home in the mountains, killed my mom and kidnapped me. Because of my rare species, they took me back and enslaved me to be their entertainment. That's when I got help from a sellsword who slew the soldiers and bailed me out of there and we've been on the run until Chrom, Robin and their army recruited us to stop Mad King Gangrel from his bloodbath. Our commitment never swayed even after the exalt's death by the Mad King's hands, and soon the new lord defeated the Mad King. It's been about a year since his passing, Chrom has married a Pegasus Knight in Sumia, and we're on the cusp of the first anniversary of our country's independence. I ran from undead soldiers known as Risen and soon found myself surrounded by Pokémon." Unbeknown to Ash, Iris, Cilan and Georgia, Nowi used her dragon powers to blow out a machine by Team Rocket. "When I saw a picture of Ash, I… I kinda fell for him." Ash gasped a little from the confession.

"You saw a photo of Ash and fell in love?" scoffed Iris. "For someone who's lived a millennium, that behavior is meant for a little kid!" Nowi hissed but Georgia provided backup.

"Then again, Iris will never know what love is with that attitude detrimental to a little kid," she burned. Iris turned around with an anger to boil an egg.

"Well, little kids don't know when to shut up!" The noise from the girls brought Marth, Panne and Gregor to the scene which they found their friend.

"Nowi!" discovered Gregor as they hid behind some trees.

"I need to trust Lord Chrom more often, especially with the Fell Dragon looming," Marth promised herself. "Though, what is she doing with those kids?"

"More importantly, what is that manakete doing with that boy in the red helmet?" asked Panne. Gregor had a suggestion in mind.

"No offend, but use big ears," he pointed out. Panne groaned at Gregor's idea.

"You man-spawn..." She lifted her ears as Ash wrapped his arm around Nowi.

"Listen, a friend of Pokémon is a friend in my book," he smiled. "Seeing how concerned that Lillipup, Patrat and Sewaddle were to you, I think it was fate that you found this place and found us." Nowi looked at Ash with some awe.

"Ash is right, Nowi," Iris agreed.

"A delightful recipe perfected by miles of travel," Cilan hummed. Nowi looked dumbfounded with his words.

"You Connoisseurs are weird," she said. The kids and Pokémon laughed. However, the laughs were cut short when a balloon shaped like Meowth's head flew overhead. Axew peered out of Iris' hair and alerted trouble. All looked up to find the balloon.

"Now who are these bozos?" wondered Georgia. In the basket, Jessie sneered down at the kids.

"Who are these bozos, a twerpish question indeed," she taunted. That's when she realized her boys were quiet. "Ahem! The motto!"

"Youse calling us bozos?" repeated Meowth.

"When the wrong question is brought up, it makes us look like idiots when we do the motto," the ice-violet-haired pointed out. This frustrated Jessie.

"Of all the times for you to wuss out on our tradition..." she mulled. "Might as well use our plan." All three in the balloon threw cubes down at the group. Once they landed, they exploded into clouds of smoke, forcing all to cover their mouths. The coughing did give way to their locations as two transparent cubes arisen from the cloud, Pikachu and Nowi in each one.

"Help!" screamed Nowi. Pikachu also squeaked in need of assistance.

"Pikachu!" cried Ash. "Nowi!" The cubes were now beneath the balloon, suspended in midair. Those in the bushes couldn't wait any longer.

"We gotta save those two!" ordered Marth. "Gregor, here! The Levin Sword!" Marth handed Gregor a sword that was in zig-zags.

"Gregor knows what to do!" he nodded.

"Panne, Tanguel Kick!" Panne nodded before bringing out a purple stone before she jumped back and summoned a small boulder. In a few seconds, she emerged as a giant rabbit. Marth and Gregor nodded before they set up the plan.

"Let those two down now!" demanded Ash.

"Please!" scoffed Jessie. "Now that we know how our machine got destroyed yesterday, we want to use her powers to empower Team Rocket!"

"Not to mention the value of your Pikachu!" added the ice-violet-haired.

"Now let's see youse twerps shock us!" taunted Meowth. No one had any clue to more Ylisse Shepards springing their rescue.

"Levin Sword!" shouted Gregor. A beam of lightning shot from the bushes before blasting Team Rocket. After the beam passed, Team Rocket a little charbroiled.

"You just happened to open your big Meowth and tell them to shock us," Jessie mocked while stunned. Apparently, they weren't the only ones.

"Was that Thunder?" guessed Ash. This became the start. Propelled, Marth flew from Panne's kick up to the balloon.

"Look at that!" shouted Iris. Marth drew out a sword which near the hilt revealed a hole down the middle.

"Falchion Strike!" she yelled. She swiped with her sword which clipped both cubes. It's enough as the cubes broke. However, being so high had both captives falling, but Marth snared Pikachu.

"Oh no!" screamed Nowi. Ash sprinted to catch the manakete.

"Nowi!" he yelled upward. Marth fell in some trees but stuck the landing as she slid down the bark. Ash reached Nowi and caught her with a sliding snag while Gregor riding Panne arrived. "Gotcha!" Once settled, Nowi hugged her receiver.

"Nowi okay?" asked Gregor.

"Yeah, thank goodness." Satisfied, Panne and Gregor huddled with the other kids. Elsewhere, Pikachu looked up at his rescuer.

"You're not hurt, are you?" she asked. Pikachu shook his head, a great relief to the Hero-King. "My real name… is Lucina. Don't tell anyone else this, okay?" Pikachu flashed a peace sign with two of his fingers to the renamed woman. "Good. Let's get back with the rest." Pikachu leaped on Lucina's shoulder before she dashed back to find Team Rocket recovered. Their balloon landed and the three hopped out of the basket.

"Alright, I guess we need to do this the old fashion way," Jessie growled before turning to her ice-violet-haired partner. "James?"

"Got it, Jessie," he replied as he threw a ball. "Go, Amoonguss!" The red/white ball popped open and out came a rather large white mushroom with a red/white cap on its head and arms. It did have a face as well.

"Frillish, you're up!" Jessie threw a similar ball which also opened to reveal a rather large pink jellyfish with a small head that had red eyes.

"Such strange creatures," Panne surveyed.

"You're one to talk," Georgia murmured.

"You should be careful, man-spawn!" Ash looked up and saw Team Rocket's Pokémon. He rolled on his feet before carrying Nowi back to safety.

"Georgia, help us out!" he called. Georgia grinned as she readied a ball of her own.

"I've been feeling rather bored lately," she snickered. "About time I let out some action. Vanilluxe, let's go!" She threw her ball which opened and revealed conjoined giant vanilla ice cream cones with faces. The cones were actually icicles. Axew took one peek and hid from the twin cones. Ash also grabbed a ball. He wanted to side with Georgia.

"You might need a partner," he offered. "It's not like Iris would work with you."

"Hey!" snapped Iris. Georgia nodded, bumping fists along the way.

"I'm willing to try it once," she accepted as Lucina and Pikachu rejoined the rest. Ash tossed his ball releasing Pignite, much to the others' gasp and chagrin.

"Not Pignite!" gawked Iris. Gregor didn't think Ash did anything bad.

"It's problem?" he wondered.

"Pignite's a Fire and Fighting-Type Pokémon," Cilan explained. "Both are disadvantages against Jessie's Frillish who's a Water and Ghost-Type." Panne reverted back to herself during the study, her ears catching the lesson.

"Either this man-spawn is a fool or a tactical genius," she hummed. "Guess this should tell the tale."

"Frillish, use Bubble Beam!" commanded Jessie. Frillish blew bubbles in a heavy stream.

"Vanilluxe, Icy Wind!" ordered Georgia. Vanilluxe blew a gust of ice and snow, freezing the bubbles.

"Pignite, use Brick Break on the frozen bubbles!" pointed Ash. Pignite raced in and chopped the bubbles, sending shards of ice back at the other two Pokémon. Frillish bobbed and weaved through the shards but Amoonguss suffered a pelting.

"Fight back, Amoonguss!" cried James. "Use Stun Spore!" Amoonguss fired a mist of orange at the two, but Georgia seemed ready for the attack.

"Another Icy Wind!" demanded Georgia. Vanilluxe blew another Icy Wind, dissipating the Stun Spore and trapping Amoonguss.

"Frillish, block that Icy Wind!" asked Jessie. Frillish moved in front of her Pokémon partner, absorbing the Icy Wind.

"Thanks, Jessie!" teased Ash. Jessie blinked to the mocked compliment. "Pignite, get behind Frillish!" Obeying, Pignite leaped to the other side of Vanilluxe. "Now use Fire Pledge!" Pignite punched the ground before pillars of fire shot from said ground, surrounding the two in a combined pillar of fire and ice. Blue sparks flickered from the pillar as Vanilluxe stopped its wind. A burst of energy ruptured and both Frillish and Amoonguss were encased in ice. Those by Ash looked on in intrigue. Team Rocket gasped in horror.

"I don't mind frozen mushrooms but still..." Lucina irked.

"He may be around Donnel's age but he's got the tactical eyes of Robin," Panne compared.

"Gods, Gregor not fast in head as boy," Gregor admitted.

"Nor that lucky," Iris downplayed. "It's like his battle against Cilan choosing Oshawott over Pansage." Cilan remembered the mentioned moment.

"But that's what makes Ash such a Pokémon trainer," he reasoned.

"He's so unreal that I want to stay here with him!" cheered Nowi. Gregor gulped to Nowi's burst of joy.

"Gods, Nowi!" he jumped. "You've been with boy for day!" Pignite charged at the cube while inflamed and smashed into it. Amoonguss and Frillish were down but back with the rest.

"You guys are even more pathetic than Iris and that takes a lot to do," Georgia scoffed. Iris giggled at her rival's belittling of Team Rocket. Instead of settling with a loss, Jessie's anger prompted her to pull a bazooka.

"You twerps should just listen to your elders!" she scowled as she aimed. James and Meowth backed away from her new rage. Jessie wouldn't be able to use the bazooka when Gregor drew a blade and slashed twice as he passed her. He sheathed a sword before the bazooka split in half, destroyed before he could use it.

"Hag's hair stunt redhead thought," Gregor snickered before the back of Jessie's hair fell from him. "Gregor take liberty of shearing some." James and Meowth were about to retreat for good as Jessie noticed her hair removed. She screamed from the top of her lungs before turning to the male redhead. He didn't flinch as Jessie cocked back a claw.

"You will pay!" She got within reach… only for Gregor to smash her to the ground with an overhand punch.

"You sleep. Wake up with happy thoughts." The kids cringed at Gregor's power, as well as a few other things.

"So who's going to tell him that human-to-human violence is illegal in this world?" stuttered Iris.

"Forget it!" waived off Cilan. "I don't wanna end up in that pile!" Surprisingly, Jessie was still conscious from her moaning as Lucina, Pikachu and Nowi approached, her Falchion in hand.

"Gregor, hoist her," she requested. Gregor pulled a bloodied-face Jessie by the underarms as a still seething Jessie glanced at the formerly-known Hero-King. "My kingdom will not tolerate actions against children. Should I hear anymore of this, pray to your gods for mercy." The threat did little to irk Jessie.

"I don't care if you're gods yourself, I will take the twerp's Pikachu," she growled as she tried to free herself from Gregor's grip. "This isn't the end!" Lucina drew her Falchion and pointed it at her throat. The blade so close to her neck, she seemed to lose all sense of anger.

"I say when it ends… and it ends now. Do you understand?" Jessie couldn't fight back now with her life in Lucina's hands. In her moment of fear, she finally relented.

"I'm not going to pursue the twerps again." Lucina may have her word, nodding to Gregor to release her.

"Leave… now!" The blazing fire in her eyes told Jessie that Lucina wasn't fooling around. Jessie and James recalled their Pokémon and soon left, running from potential death.

"Team Rocket's running for our lives!" they shouted as they ran off. Lucina sheathed her blade, satisfied with the turnout. She turned to Ash, pleased with the result.

"You should be safe." The trainers came over to Lucina, even though they didn't know who she was.

"So you're Nowi's friends, I take it?" asked Ash. Gregor laughed at the curiosity.

"Great friends of Nowi, and protectors of Ylisse," he informed. "But maybe protection of Nowi should be yours." Ash nervously giggled to what sounded like a joke.

"I may be a Dragon Buster, but I'm more after Dragon-Type Pokémon, not manaketes or dragons," Georgia clarified. "Nowi is someone I can leave alone." As Nowi introduced her Shepard friends to Ash, soon enough… she'll be heading back to the castle. She doesn't want to leave Ash but…

TO BE CONCLUDED…

(Yep, for those who haven't played Fire Emblem: Awakening, I'll spoil a plot. "Marth" is Lucina, Chrom's daughter who reveals herself two years after Gangrel's death. That's why this takes place ONE year.)