Chapter 8
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or it's affiliates.
A/N: Thank you all for the great reviews that you left, I really appreciate it. Some of you may have noticed that I added Lily to the character list for the story. Don't jump to conclusions, that doesn't mean that she will get together with Ash. The list will keep growing for the next two or three chapters but there is no set shipping... yet. Please keep sending me your ideas and opinions of the story, as my past reviewers will tell you I answer all reviews and try to give as much information as I can without giving away the plot. Anyway, please read and review.
The day was as beautiful as anyone could ask for. The sky was a clear blue without a single cloud anywhere, the sun was bright and warm bringing with it a warm breeze. From the balcony of the Sinnoh Pokemon League, Lily could see and feel all of this despite the black jacket that she was wearing but she didn't seem to be enjoying any of it, which was evident by the frown on her face. She was busy looking down at all the happy people on the beach enjoying the wonderful day, that she didn't notice someone walk up next to her.
"Nice day, isn't it Lily?"
Jumping slightly at the unexpected voice, Lily turned her head to see Sabrina with a small smile on her face. "Uh, yeah it is I guess."
Sabrina watched with a sympathetic look as Lily turned back toward the beach with a sad look. "Your thinking about Ash again, aren't you?" Sabrina stated knowingly.
"Did you read my mind or am I really that obvious?" Lily asked, never breaking her gaze from the happy people on the beach.
"I don't read my friends thoughts, you know that. You have been acting down since you found out he left" Sabrina answered while putting her hand on Lily's shoulder. "I know you miss him, we all do but he's been gone for three months without a sign of him. Why are you still so down?"
Lily finally broke her gaze away from the beach below and looked at Sabrina. "If I tell you something, will you promise that it will stay between us? You can't even tell the other girls, especially my sister okay?"
"Of course. I promise." Sabrina said seriously.
"Okay good." Lily sighed. "I miss Ash because I have strong feelings for him."
"And by strong feelings you mean?" Sabrina questioned with a small grin.
"I mean more than just friends feelings." Lily stated while looking anywhere but at Sabrina.
While Lily was avoiding eye contact, Sabrina was smirking knowingly. She may not be the most emotional person but she was still a women and they have a sixth sense about this kind of thing. Ignoring her own feelings toward Ash, Sabrina decided to figure out how it had come to be. "How did you start feeling this way? You never traveled with him or spent a lot of time with him, so whats the story?"
"Well, when he came to get the Cascade badge he protected the gym from Team Rocket. He was so brave, defending people and a place that he barely knew. But that only got me interested in him." Lily said but was interrupted by Sabrina.
"That was years ago when he was ten. Was there more recent interactions between you two?"
"Sort of. A few years after he got the badge, Daisy, Violet, and myself went on tour and Misty had to stop traveling with Ash. Well when our tour ended, Misty stayed on as gym leader and occasionally she would get letters from Ash. When she was in a good mood she would read the letters out loud." Lily said with a bright smile. "The adventures, the people and pokemon he had seen, it was all so amazing. He helped so many people and even saved the world, all before he was seventeen. And the way he wrote to Misty was incredible."
"How do you mean?" Sabrina quizzed.
"He cared for her, always wrote about how much he missed her and couldn't wait to see her again. It made me so... envious. I wanted someone to care about me like that." Lily looked toward Sabrina slightly guiltily.
Sabrina gave a comforting smile and nodded for Lily to continue.
"Then when he was accused of that horrible crime, everyone turned on him and they were going to exile him, Paul and I went to see him."
"You did? Neither you or Paul said anything about that before. What happened?" Sabrina asked slightly surprised.
Lily turned away and looked out at the ocean. She was silent for a minute, choosing her words carefully. "I kissed him."
"You did?" Sabrina said more than asked, slightly jealous. "What kind of kiss? On the cheek?"
"No, on the lips." Lily whispered, barely loud enough for Sabrina to hear. Lily's whole face was turning red and she had begun biting her bottom lip. "But I knew that I shouldn't have done it and ran out of the room right after."
"Why? What was so wrong with kissing him? He never had a girl friend as far as I know, so whats the problem?"
"Misty. That was the problem." Lily spoke slightly depressed.
"Why, what did she do?" Sabrina asked while tilting her head to one side, thoroughly confused about what Lily was saying.
"She didn't do anything! That was part of the problem!" Lily exclaimed passionately. "She had feelings for him for years but she never made a move. But I'm her sister, who knew that she liked Ash, and I still made a move on him. I'm a horrible person for doing that to her."
Sabrina just shook her head in disbelief. Lily was more upset about betraying her sisters trust than missing Ash. She had put her family before a man that she liked a lot, and that was very mature of her. "Your not a horrible person, if you were you wouldn't be feeling so guilty about it. You love your sister, right?"
Lily nodded as small tears traced down her cheeks.
"And you like Ash a lot, right?"
Lily hesitated but then began to nod slowly.
"Well then the best thing to do is tell Misty how you feel about Ash. That way she will know how you feel and you two can sort it all out. Sabrina spoke knowingly, conveying advice that she hoped Lily would listen to. "Plus it would make things easier if Ash ever came back."
Lily nodded along with what Sabrina was saying, knowing that it made a lot of sense. "OK, I'll tell her but you have to come with me. Misty can be very violent about certain things and Ash is one of them. Please?" Lily pleaded looking Sabrina in the eyes.
"Fine, I could use some amusement." Sabrina shrugged as the two women went back inside to make a phone call to Misty to set up a lunch date.
Lumiose City, the biggest and most famous city in all of Kalos. With it's quaint little shops, quiet cafe's, and being in the center of the Kalos region it was a tourists paradise. Someone could spend days wandering the small side streets and large plazas without seeing all there is to offer in the vast city. However large the city maybe, if you were ever to be lost all you would have to do would be to look at the skyline. In the very center of the city, stretching to the sky in all its pristine glory is the Prism Tower and as long as you can see it and get to it, you will never be lost.
Though tourists may find all this interesting and photo worthy, one man in a cafe found it all to be dull and boring. Granted he had been here for almost three months but he never stayed very long, just in the evenings to have some coffee at his favorite cafe, Lysandre Cafe. He was sitting in the back of the cafe with his two baby pokemon sitting on the table sharing a danish as he sipped his coffee. Just as he finished the cup, a waitress walked up with a fresh one.
"Here's your coffee. Will that be all Mr. Ash?" The waitress asked courteously with a warm smile.
"Yes that's all thank you. But please its just Ash, not Mr. Ash OK?" Ash replied with a small smile.
"OK Ash." The waitress walked off to help the other customers but two other people were making their way toward Ash's table. One of them was a young women in her twenties wearing red pants with diamond cut outs down the legs, a black sleeveless shirt with an exaggerated collar and red shaded lenses. Her hair was a soft pink color and she carried herself with confidence and purpose as she walked. She had a soft smile on her face as she looked at Ash and his pokemon.
The other person was an older man who had an odd hairstyle resembling a lions mane but in red spikes with a beard to match. He wore a black suit with red trim and a gray fur collar on the jacket. He projected a presence that seemed to demand respect and project confidence. As they got closer to Ash's table, the man seemed to put himself in front indicating that he was the leader.
"Hello Ash. My name is Lysandre, owner of this establishment and this is my associate Malva. It is nice to finally meet one of our more frequent customers." he said deeply in a polite tone.
The deep tone of Lysandre's voice scared the two baby pokemon and they snuggled up to their dad for security. Ash seeing the babies react this way, smiled down at the two while caressing them both on the head to comfort them. Ignoring the two people standing at the table, Ash continued to comfort Pichu and Igglybuff till they had calmed down and then he returned them to their poke balls. Once he put the balls on his belt, he looked back up at Lysandre and Malva with a serious expression.
"Hello Lysandre and Malva. It is nice to meet you but I don't appreciate you scaring the young ones. What can I do for you?" Ash said slightly irritated with the situation.
"Sorry about that, it was never my intention. As for what I am here for, I would like to hire you." Lysandre spoke sincerely while Malva was still silently observing Ash.
"Hire me for what? I already have a job at the berry farm outside of town and that makes enough for me and my pokemon, so why do I need another?"
"Because working on the farm is a waste of you and your pokemon's talents." Lysandre said knowingly with a smirk.
"And what talents would those be? I'm just a wandering trainer with no badges, what talents could I have?" Ash lied, while leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.
"Talents that would allow you to beat the Champion of Sinnoh with only three pokemon, kill four officers and throw the President of the Pokemon League out of a window all in the same night. I need someone like you, someone who gets things done. No matter what." Lysandre said losing all humor in his voice.
Ash's eyes flashed open quickly upon hearing Lysandre's words and he let his chair down and stood up from it. Though Lysandre was taller, Ash looked him in the eye with a cold glare. "How do you know about that?" Ash coldly asked in a whisper.
"Cafe owner is only one of my titles. I am also the owner of Lysandre Labs which created the Holo Caster, the best communication device in the world. Using the Holo Caster and another of my enterprises, I know what is going on all around the world within minutes. And as they say, bad news travels fast and everyone saw what you did as a bad thing." Lysandre smirked, knowing he had gotten Ash's attention.
"If everyone thought it was a bad thing, why do you want to hire me?" Ash inquired coldly.
"Because Team Flare needs your help." Malva spoke up, drawing the attention of both men. Lysandre gave her a glare and she backed away and looked down like a child in trouble.
"Team Flare? You mean those weaklings in the red suits, you run that bunch of weirdos?" Ash said disbelievingly.
"Yes I do." Lysandre said with a sigh. "Those weaklings are the reason I need you. I want you to help train them so we can achieve our goals."
"And what would your goals be?" Ash asked, getting tired of all the run around and hoping Lysandre would get to the point.
"We want to make a world where there is enough for everyone, where no one pokemon or human, has to go hungry or be homeless." Lysandre said with a sparkle in his eye from thinking of his dream.
"Hmm well that's not what I was expecting. Most of the Teams that I have run across want to take over the world, not try and save it." Ash said with a thoughtful expression on his face. "If I were to join your little group, what would I have to do? Be specific."
"Well like I said before, you would have to train some of the lower level members but one of the main things we need you to do is boost Team Flare's reputation. If you show that Team Flare is a force to be reckoned with, everyone will have to take us seriously." Lysandre explained with enthusiasm at the possibility of Ash joining. "All you need to do is beat the Kalos Champion."
"So let me get this straight, I have to get all the badges, win the League tournament, beat the elite four and then defeat the Champion?" Ash said while looking between the two with a look like they were crazy.
"No, no its much simpler than that. Malva here is an elite four member and can recommend you for the elite four challenge."
"Hold on, if she's an elite four member shouldn't she help your reputation? Her strength must be formidable." Ash asked .
"I'm not officially connected to Team Flare, if I was the League might strip me of my position. Plus I have challenged the Champion before and lost so I won't be much help." Malva said seriously.
Ash was at a cross roads and unsure which way to go. He had enjoyed the peaceful life he had lived these last few months, with the honest work and small pleasure of the cafe every night. It had reminded him of a time not so long ago with Red and Yellow, eating dinner and talking about the days events. However he had seen the many homeless who lived in the alleys of the city and despite his less caring personality, it didn't seem right to not do something. But did he want to put himself out in the limelight like that? Did he want to get involved in Lysandre's plans? What if Lysandre wasn't being completely truthful about his plan but did he really care? He couldn't see the people he wanted to, couldn't see his hometown and couldn't even set foot in the Five Regions. Really, what did he have to lose.
"Lysandre, I accept your offer. I will join Team Flare but no suits and I do things my way, deal?" Ash proposed confidently.
"I think I can agree to that." Lysandre said with a smile and shook Ash's hand to seal the deal. "Now that you are part of Team Flare, I need to ask you something. What do you know about the Legendary Pokemon of Kalos?"