"There we go." Lian announced as he and his Sliggo finally managed to break off a large chunk of the Origin Ore. Everyone's attention returned to him as he picked up the strange substance and offered it to Ash, who then accepted. After taking a quick minute to examine it, he nodded in approval.
"This looks good. Thank you so much, Lian."
"Pleasure to assist." the young Warden replied with a tip of the hat.
"Now you have to somehow turn that and the Red Chain fragments into a pokeball right?" Irida confirmed.
"Right." Ash nodded.
"Then I think it's time to let me get to crafting." Akari spoke up, taking the ore from Ash. "I'll take this stuff back to headquarters and see what I can do with it."
"You're sure you don't want help?" Ash cautiously asked her.
"If there's anyone that can make a quality pokeball out of materials, it's me." Akari assured him as she accepted the Red Chain fragments from Irida. "You should...go back to her anyway."
"Thanks, Akari. I will." he agreed, grateful for her understanding. Akari gave him a small nod and a weak smile and the two went their separate ways. Ash let out Braviary and flew back up the mountain while Akari began the journey back to Jubilife Village to get her best crafting tools.
Within a few minutes, Ash and Braviary had returned to the base camp they had left earlier. May was still sitting in the tent with Pikachu in her lap and Glaceon resting at her feet. As Ash touched down on the ground and recalled Braviary to his pokeball, Pikachu's ears perked up and he looked outside, smiling upon seeing his trainer return.
"Pikapi!" he cheered, catching May's attention.
"Huh?"
"Pikapi!" Pikachu repeated as he pointed over to Ash. May followed his direction just in time to see Ash running towards her.
"Oh!" she gasped as she sat up with a small smile on her face. Ash ran to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder, clearly happy to see that she was still safe and unharmed despite his absence.
"Hey…" he greeted her, unable to hide his smile.
"Hey...how'd it go?" she asked.
"Well, it got a little complicated. But the bottom line is that we got what we needed and everyone is ok." he explained, deciding she didn't need to know the graphic details of what was ultimately just a waste of time.
"I see…" she acknowledged with a small nod. "But then…where's your partner?"
"Don't worry. Akari just went back to headquarters to create the pokéball we need to end this." he assured her, taking a seat next to her in the meantime.
"...You two seem close…" she softly commented, catching Ash's attention with her tone. He knew her well enough to know what that tone meant. She was a little jealous.
"Yeah. But that's all we are. Good friends. There's someone else in my life that will always mean so much more to me than any other woman ever could." he assured her, hoping she was picking up his hint. A blush crossed May's cheeks as she slowly brought her eyes up to meet his.
"Oh…?" she wondered, a hopeful look on her face that told Ash she had gotten his hint. "...And who would this...other someone be...?"
"...You May…it's always been you…" he finally answered her, unable to deal with holding back his feelings about her any longer. May blushed hard as Ash gently took her hand into his own with a loving squeeze. "I love you May…and I always will…"
"...Something tells me you know a lot more about me than you've let on…" she finally responded once she found her voice again.
"...I do...heh…in fact I know everything about you…the exact shade of blue in your eyes, your favorite song, and even the number of strokes it takes you to brush your hair…and I wish more than anything I could tell you all about it…but I can't…not yet anyway…" he explained, holding her hands a bit tighter as if he were afraid she'd disappear. And in some ways, he was.
"I see…" she whispered, trying to grasp the revelations Ash was giving her. Her cheeks were lit up with an even bigger blush as she did. "Please tell me Ash…who are you really...?"
"...I'm your boyfriend May…" he answered.
"What...? I'm your girlfriend…?" she whispered, her eyes widening.
"You're my girlfriend May...I know you don't remember us...and that's why I didn't tell you earlier despite how much I wanted to...because the last thing I wanted to do was force you into something you weren't ready for…but you deserve to know now…I love you…and with or without your memories that will always be true…" he promised her, making sure that there was no hesitation or doubt in his voice. The two of them remained silent for what seemed like an eternity as the weight of everything sunk in for the both of them. Finally, May broke the silence with a comment that surprised Ash.
"...Kiss me." Ash didn't need to be told twice. He leaned in and kissed her lips with a gentle tenderness that conveyed all his love for her. May kissed him back and he softly moaned, moving a hand to her cheek to cradle her head. She leaned into his touch and the kiss deepened, all while Pikachu and Glaceon happily looked on. Seeing their trainers in this way was a joy for them both, only farthing the hope that they'd both be ok in the long run. Finally, after a few more moments, May slowly pulled away for air and their eyes met, a new connection seeming to glow between them. "Wow...That felt...really good…"
"I really missed feeling that... absence really does make the heart grow fonder…" he replied, flashing her a loving smile. May blushed hard as she continued to keep her gaze on his eyes. The same warm brown eyes that had brought her so much comfort before coming here. She still didn't remember him, or anything about their relationship, but she definitely felt something for him. Something strong.
"Ash...Ash I-"
"Ash!" a familiar voice suddenly interrupted both turned and were surprised to see Akari running towards them, waving an odd-looking pokeball in her hand.
"Hold that thought May." Ash said as he then looked over at Akari. "You finished making the pokéball?"
"Yup." Akari nodded as she handed it to him. "The Professor and I call it the Origin Ball."
"Origin Ball huh…?" Ash said as he looked the ball over and May looked at it curiously over his shoulder as everyone else gathered around to look as well.
"So that's it huh?" Adaman asked.
"Quite some impressive work there Akari." Irida smiled.
"Indeed." Kamado nodded, earning a blush from Akari.
"Thank you…" she replied bashfully.
"Now let's finish this. Together." Ash announced, smiling at his team.
Soon, after a hike back up the mountain, Ash's team arrived back at the steps of the Temple of Sinnoh. The destroyed roof and broken pillars reminded Ash of Spear Pillar, the ruins he once visited back in his time. In fact, aside from some additional weathering from the passage of time, the two were now identical.
"So Spear Pillar was once the Temple of Sinnoh…" he mumbled to himself.
"Something wrong?" Akari asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Nothing. Just taking one more deep breath…" he answered as he turned towards everyone. "Alright. May, Akari, and I will work together to deal with Palkia. We need the rest of you to stay clear of the fighting for now. If one of us goes down, someone else steps in and takes their place. We can't afford to fail in this fight."
"Right." both girls nodded.
"You can count on us." Adaman agreed as Irida and Kamado also gave their seal of approval. With the plan in place, Ash, May, and Akari walked back into the Temple and stood across from Palkia. The Legendary Pokemon growled at them, challenging them to a fight in his crazed state. But this time the three of them did not back down. Seeing this, Palkia began charging an attack at his mouth and Ash grit his teeth and grabbed Dialga's pokeball from his bag.
"Here we go!" he yelled as he tossed out the pokeball at the same time that Palkia fired his attack. A bright light enveloped the entire mountain top and everyone braced for an impact. However, no one felt a thing. Slowly Ash opened his eyes and found Dialga standing between him and Palkia, having shielded him and the girls from Palkia's attack. Enraged by Dialga's appearance, Palkia roared loudly and yellow energy began to burst forth from his body. The familiar light of frenzied energy began to engulf Palkia and Ash grit his teeth, knowing exactly what that meant for Palkia.
"What's happening?!" May gasped as the energy began to swirl violently around Palkia, concealing him behind it.
"The frenzy is overwhelming Palkia!" Adaman realized.
"Oh no Mighty Palkia!" Irida called out worriedly. Slowly gaps in the energy began to form and revealed what was now underneath it. Everyone gasped in shock as Palkia roared, now sporting a vastly different appearance. He had now taken on a centaur-dragon hybrid look while trading in his arms for another pair of legs, putting him on all fours. New plates covered his face like armor and the pearls on his body only got larger as they glowed with what seemed to be even more power.
"Oh my gosh…" May gulped.
"This is bad…" Ash said as he bit his lower lip. The amount of frenzy energy in Palkia had to be even stronger than it was in the Lords if it could physically change Palkia's entire body that way. "We have to calm his frenzy…"
"Calm his frenzy…?" May asked in confusion. As if to answer her question, a plentiful supply of balms were suddenly presented to each of them, seemingly from out of nowhere. May and Akari were visibly confused, but Ash had a hunch that Arceus was still looking out for them. Even if he couldn't help them directly right now because of the rift, he must've loaned them his power in the form of creating the perfect balms.
"We use these…everyone ready?" he asked.
"Ready." Akari nodded.
"Me too." May agreed.
"Us too." Pikachu promised.
"Right." Glaceon echoed. Ash looked up at Palkia as Palkia glared down at the three of them. After a moment of silence to size each other up, Palkia made the first move by firing a blast of energy at them. All three trainers dodged the attack and once they were on their feet again, they all started throwing some of their balms at Palkia. Each of them missed a few times here and there, but the bulk of the balms hit their target and broke upon impact, allowing Palkia to smell the ingredients inside. Even still, his rage only continued. Palkia then used Draco Meteor and flaming meteors started to rain down on the group battling.
"Incoming Draco Meteor! Everyone move!" Ash yelled as he dodged a meteor that threatened to squish him. Akari and May moved out of the line of fire as well and they all waited until Palkia's attack had stopped. Once they were fairly confident it had, they all moved back in and threw more balms at Palkia, doing everything they could to connect their balms with his body. Palkia roared out again as he reared up on his hind legs and fired another blast from his mouth, this time taking direct aim at the girls.
"Look out!" Akari yelled as she dove out of the way.
"Eek!" May yelped as she dove in the other direction, both managing to avoid Palkia's attack. Ash held his position on the other side of Palkia and threw as many balms as he could while Palkia's attention was on the girls. Palkia roared with fury and turned his attention back to Ash as the girls got back onto their feet. Both of them started to throw more balms while Ash had his attention. Palkia suddenly summoned another Draco Meteor and was once again able to stop all three of them from throwing balms as they scrambled for cover. Ash hid behind a nearby pillar as the girls did the same not far away.
"Are you two ok?!" he yelled out.
"We're fine!" Akari answered.
"We have to get him to stop that attack! Or we won't get another clear shot!" May yelled back. Ash and Akari shared a look and nodded. They knew how to get that opening.
"May follow Akari's lead and both of you get into position!" Ash instructed them, to which both girls nodded. At the same moment that the meteors stopped pelting the mountain, all three trainers dove back into the open and each of them threw a balm at the same time. The balms all hit Palkia at the same time and dazed him, forcing him to stop his attack and provided them with the opening they were looking for.
"Now!" Ash yelled, grabbing a pokeball.
"Go Typhlosion!" May yelled as she threw her pokéball and released her Fire type.
"Help us out Samurott!" Akari echoed as she threw her pokéball and released her Water type.
"Come on out Decidueye!" Ash screamed as he threw his pokeball and released his Grass type. The three starter Pokémon all appeared on the field and surrounded Palkia along with their trainers.
"Typhlosion use Infernal Parade!" May started them off.
"Samurott use Ceaseless Edge!" Akari followed up.
"Decidueye use Triple Arrow!" Ash finished. All three Pokémon fired their strongest attacks all at once and left the dazed Palkia with nowhere to go to escape. The Legendary Pokemon roared in pain as the attacks all sapped away the majority of the energy he had left, causing him to stumble as he tried to stay upright.
"He's almost down!" May realized.
"Quick! Throw as many balms as you can!" Akari yelled.
"On it!" Ash agreed as he started throwing as many balms as he could. Akari and May followed his lead and threw balm after balm at their opponent. Every balm hit its mark now that Palkia was too dazed to move away. Within moments each trainer was down to their last balm. "Give it all you got!" Ash directed them as he threw his last one at the same time as both of them did the same. The three balms all collided with Palkia at once surrounding him in a familiar scent that seemed to finally break through. A massive release of energy began to take place and Palkia roared in pain, the release of so much energy hurting his body badly.
"He's in too much pain!" May gasped, horrified at the screams of pain that came from Palkia with each burst of energy that came forth.
"Ash the ball!" Akari reminded him.
"Right! Go Origin Ball!" he screamed as he threw the Origin Ball at Palkia. The ball soared through the air and began to glow as it drew nearer to Palkia's body. Finally, it collided with Palkia's torso and shone brightly with a red light as it opened. Palkia was sent inside in a bright flash of light and the ball then snapped closed, falling to the ground as red energy seemed to seep off it in waves, almost like heat. The ball shook once, then again, and then one more time. Finally, a snap was heard across the mountain top and the ball stopped moving. A silence that felt like an eternity passed over the group until finally, May spoke up.
"Did it...did it work...?" she asked with a shaking voice. Ash wasn't sure how to answer her question, so he slowly started walking to the pokéball, gently picking it up. As soon as he did, Akari suddenly gasped and drew their attention.
"The sky!" she exclaimed. Everyone looked up and were surprised to see the sky slowly returning to normal. The blood-red color seemed to fade away and was replaced by the vibrant blue that they all remembered.
"The sky is back…!" May smiled. Ash smiled a little as well, noticing that in addition to the red color, the rift also seemed to have left the sky.
"Yeah...and the rift is gone as well." he commented. The three trainers slowly turned their gaze to each other and their smiles only widened.
"We did it…" May smiled.
"We saved all of Hisui…" Akari grinned.
"We sure did…" Ash agreed with a smile of his own. All at once they all broke into celebration. Ash and Akari shared a high five before May hugged Ash excitedly and he quickly hugged her back. The rest of the team rushed to them all just as excited as the young trainers were.
"That was amazing you guys!" Irida cheered.
"You guys were awesome!" Adaman agreed.
"Thank you both so much!" Akari smiled as Ash and May nodded in agreement.
"Well done to all of you. You three showed amazing courage during that fight." Kamado congratulated them.
"Thanks, Commander." May smiled.
"Thank you, Sir." Ash and Akari said together.
"Thanks to your efforts, Hisui is once again safe. And we are all in your debut." the older man continued with a respectful salute, which made all three of them smile. "Now come. We'll have a celebration in Jubilife Village the likes of which have never been seen."
"Oh wow!" Akari gasped excitedly.
"That sounds like so much fun!" May agreed.
"And of course, all of Hisui is invited." Kamado added, addressing the Clan Leaders this time.
"Count the Diamond Clan in." Adaman replied with a thumbs-up.
"The Pearl Clan too!" Irida agreed.
"Good. Let's go then." the Commander announced as he began walking away from the Temple. The Clan Leaders followed him excitedly and Akari was right behind them. May was about to follow when Ash stopped behind her and gently grabbed her arm to stop her.
"Ash?" she asked, turning back towards him.
"Before we go, please, tell me what you were going to say to me before. Back at base camp." he requested, making May blush slightly. In all the commotion she had completely forgotten that their conversation had been interrupted. She was stunned that he remembered.
"U-Uh…" she stammered as she tried to find her words. Ash waited patiently for her and finally, after a deep breath to compose herself, she answered. "I just…I think I'm in love with you too…"
"May…" he whispered with a smile grander than none before. May blushed as he gently took her hand and smiled at her. Finally, a similar smile crossed her face and both of them leaned in, connecting their lips in a passionate kiss. A happy moan passed between them as their Pokemon shared a happy nuzzle, pleased with the site as well. After a few minutes, they both slowly pulled away and they smiled at one another until a voice called out to them from down the steps.
"Hey! You guys coming or what?" Akari called out, waving at them shared a chuckle and Ash took her hand back into his.
"We're coming! We're coming!" he laughed as they both headed out of the temple.
As night fell across Hisui, the entire region was at the biggest celebration they had ever been to. Everyone was dressed in festive clothes and were jumping between eating, dancing, and drinking. It was clear everyone was having a good time. Ash looked out across the crowd and couldn't help but smile. Kamado was at a table with Cyllene, filling her in on what happened up at the Temple. Beni was happily serving the crowd is famous potato mochi which Akari was on her third round of. Adaman and Irida were out on the dance floor with several other members of the Diamond and Pearl Clans, all enjoying a newfound sense of peace between their clans, all except for Melli, who was doing his best to remain sour among the festivities. And finally, Ash's eyes landed on May at the snack table, finishing off one of the cupcakes that had been prepared. She looked so beautiful among the festival lights, and even without her memories still, he knew that their love had been restored. And now that the crisis was over, they'd probably be going home tonight. So while he was happy that she had fallen in love with him again, he couldn't wait to ask Arceus to give her memories back to her and get back to their real lives. May then noticed his gaze and smiled, walking over to join him.
"They really know how to party around here." she commented.
"They sure do. It's a great party." he agreed.
"So tell me…what will you do now...?" she asked.
"Well, we closed the rift and that's what we were sent here to do...so I suppose all that's left is to go home." he answered, finishing his drink.
"And…where's home?" she asked, obviously nervous about something that she couldn't possibly know anything about without her memories. Ash gently took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"It's hard to explain…but once we get there you'll remember everything. I promise." he assured her, giving her a smile. May was obviously still nervous, but his comfort was more than enough for her as she gave him a small smile.
"Well…if this is our last night in Hisui then…would you like to dance?" she asked.
"With you, it'll be my pleasure." he replied with a happy grin. The two trainers went out onto the dancefloor as the band that was playing switched gears from the upbeat fast song to a slow waltz. May placed her free hand on his shoulder while Ash placed his hand on her waist. Slowly they began dancing in time with the music. The two trainers keep their eyes locked on one another, tuning out the world as they danced. Their partners were nearby and were watching the dance, happy for them without a doubt. Glaceon turned towards Pikachu and gently licked his cheek, surprising him as he looked towards her.
"I really missed you." she whispered.
"I missed you too. And I promise I won't ever let anything happen to you again." he whispered back. The two Pokemon shared a smile and then leaned into a loving kiss. Slowly they both pulled away and Glaceon kept her voice low.
"Do you want to…find somewhere quieter to talk…?" she asked, clearly hinting at the word "talk".
"I'd love to." he nodded as he intertwined his tail with hers. Glaceon happily purred and both of them ran off to a more quiet street. Meanwhile, on the dance floor, Ash and May continued their dance, smiling at each other all the while.
"It's good to see you smile again." Ash smiled, dipping her body in time with the music.
"Well I like your smile too." she giggled. Holding her body in his arms, Ash kissed her lips tenderly and she wasted no time in kissing him back. A moan of delight passed between them as their lips stayed locked as long as they could maintain it. Finally when the need for air became too great, May slowly pulled her head away and Ash brought her back onto her feet. "You said...we were together back home?"
"We sure are." he nodded.
"And you...still want to be with me...?"
"I do. Even if you never remember our lives together, I'll just share a new one with you. Because either way, it's you. And I love you." he said, smiling at her in a way that she knew he was being truthful.
"Well then...I think I'd like that too." she responded, flashing him a similar smile. Ash gently rested his forehead against hers and gave a soft chuckle.
"I'm glad to hear that…" he whispered. May smiled back and moved her body a bit closer to his, causing him to blush.
"Maybe we could have...a "private dance"...?" she whispered subtly.
"If that's what my lady wants…" he whispered back with a playful grin. She smiled and blushed as Ash lifted her into his arms and took her back to his barracks, wasting no time in locking the door.
To be Continued...