Another week, another chapter, and even more characters. Honestly the sheer amount of characters in the Alola series overall was one of the reasons this arc took so long.
anyhow, review, favorite, etc.
Yellow recalled that Ash was from Pallet town.
Yet from how he was all too aware of the ins-and-outs of the Kukui household, one could assume that he had lived in Alola his whole life. The homeowners hadn't returned yet as evening became night, and they were all starting to get a bit hungry. Yellow thought they would order from out, but Ash insisted that he cook something up for themselves and the young toddler, who was quite preoccupied watching cartoons on the television. Ash hovered over the stove, tossing in who-knows-what into a large pot, Pikachu standing on the countertop next to him.
"Pika pika?"
"No, not toooo much salt. Not like last time."
"Pika-chuuu!" Pikachu was holding something. A small red bottle.
"Not this time Pikachu."
"Chuuuuu!" He lowered his ears, placing the bottle back down.
Yellow watched the scene unfold. Ash hadn't mentioned what he was making exactly, but it certainly smelled… like food. Oh well. She wasn't much of a picky eater anyway, and at least nothing was burning, for now. She sat next to Lei on the couch. The small child was locked to the screen. Yellow herself was somewhat bored.
Better than being stressed about Red or Giratina or whoever else. She felt a little guilty. Giratina's dark matter was spreading, and she was just sitting here. Sure, they had the means to free people from those hives, but it was far from a simple task. There was also the fact that Giratina's influence was spreading, with more and more people now becoming distorted. Just a few days ago it was a couple of people from an ancient town. Now it was almost an entire island. Who knows how much bigger this would get, and the entire time everyone who was captured would be suffering in their own minds. Ash had told her about Paul's thoughts while he had been a distorted trainer. Just the idea of it…
Guess I'm not bored anymore. She sighed before turning to Lei, who was now facing her. He was obviously confused, though whether he was actually concerned was anyone's guess.
"I'm alright." She put on a smile. "Nothing wrong here, just…"
"Yellow?!" He pointed at her.
"Yes…?"
Lei nodded. Seems like he got the answer he wanted… she hoped. She got up from the couch as Lei turned his attention back to the TV, stretching her arms. Ash and Pikachu were still focused on the stove. She looked around the room, and her eyes fell upon a large shelf. Moving up to it she saw that it was full of odd items, most notably a set of pokeballs organised next to a small collection of movies and books.
"Hey Ash, are these Kukui's pokémon?" she called.
"Nope. They're mine. Kept my Alola pokémon right here in Kukuis home."
"Oh." I guess this is his 'champion' team.
She snooped through the other belongings. A handful of books lay beside the pokeballs. 'On the photosynthetic capabilities of Alolan Exeggutor.', 'Lycanroc night form, mass hysteria, and the influence of urban legends in contemporary Alolan culture', and various other titles that went straight over her head. Science books, nothing unusual for the house of two pokémon professors.
Next to the books were a couple of DVD cases. She half-expected them to be nature documentaries or something similar. To her surprise, they mostly comprised of… wrestling promos? All featuring a similar looking figure on the covers, all of their facial features being hidden behind a red mask.
"Looks like the professors are big fans of the…" she squinted at the lengthy title. The highlights and best moments of Alola's premier wrestler, the… "Masked Royal".
"Oh right! That's…" Ash paused, almost like he was contemplating… something. "He's one of Alola's most famous wrestlers! Kukui and Burnet are big fans."
He was hiding something, and he wasn't so far away that he could fully hide the mischievous grin creeping along his cheeks.
"All Right! Food's done, just gonna let it cool down. Keep an eye on it, Pikachu ." Ash stepped away from the pot, making his way to Yellow.
Another set of DVDs caught Yellow's attention, a handful of movies. 'Terror of Mechatyranitar', 'Sharptillery vs Wailroc', 'Tales from the Kricketune', and those were some of the less obscene names she shuffled through. A strange collection to say the least, though not so out of place considering the wrestling DVDs right beside them.
"Some of my old movies," Ash said, now beside her. "Me and my friends used to watch these all the time after school on Friday's."
"Quite the… collection you got here."
"What can I say, I have good taste," he smiled sheepishly.
"Good taste, huh?" Guess he wasn't wrong, in a sense. Sure, these weren't exactly high class pieces, but they were perfect for weekend nights with friends looking for a bit of fun. They weren't exactly her thing, but Red loved stuff like this.
"I would say we should pop one in, but I don't think they'd be great for Lei," Ash said.
"Not at all." Yellow stared at one of the cases, the creature on the cover being an incredibly dopey yet horrid depiction of a Sharpedo and Octillery smashed together. She placed the cases back.
"Maybe one day I'll show him one of the ones I've been in," Ash said.
"Wait," she shook her head. "You've… been in movies?"
"Yep."
"Like… a movie star?"
"I wouldn't say a star."
"But you've been in movies… how? Why?"
"I don't know, I just… stumbled into them." Of course he did. He reached for one of the DVD's. "Like this one. Kukui and Burnet watched it with me once. It was… kinda embarrassing if I'm being honest."
Yellow looked at the DVD cover. 'The Legend of the Pokémon Knight'. The title was a bit more digestible than the prior options, and there he was, a mid-teen Ash Ketchum in a ridiculous medieval styled outfit. Standing next to him was a girl with purple hair who… wait…
"Isn't that… the Unova champion? Iris, right?"
"Yah she is. Wait… from your world or…?"
"I guess in both worlds. It makes sense. Most of the champions look-alikes are also champions in the same region, save for Lance…"
She was interrupted by a slight pang in her stomach. Ash raised an eyebrow when he saw her clutch on to it.
"Looks like I'm pretty hungry. I'm sure he is too." Yellow gestured towards the couch. Lei's face was poking out from behind the pillows, staring right at them.
"You hungry too, Lei?" Ash asked. Lei nodded. He might have been listening to them for a while now. Even if he didn't know what they were talking about, he always listened intently whenever Ash was talking. Burnet had always told him that Lei liked the sound of his voice.
"Alright, let's get you something to eat." Ash walked over and picked up Lei. "You've gotten big."
"I… hungry."
"I bet," He carried him over to the table, setting him down on a small chair. Lei's head barely reached the table itself.
"Just a second." Ash went over to the kitchen as Yellow sat down at the table as well. He quickly returned with a handful of bowls, Pikachu following close behind him. He placed them down, taking a seat next to Lei.
Yellow veered into the bowl, not certain what to expect. To her relief, and in a twisted sense, minor disappointment, it was homemade mac-n-cheese.
"I know, nothin' special, but it came out alright this time, right Pikachu?"
"Pikkaaa…"
"Guess it can't be that bad," Yellow took a small spoonful of the pasta. Not bad. Granted, it was Macaroni and cheese.
"We'll, it's your turn." Ash took Lei's bowl into one hand and spoon in the other. "Open up."
Without hesitation Lei took a bite. Yellow couldn't help but stare at the scene. Ash was just so… rabid when it came to food. She never thought she would see the day where he didn't immediately go digging into his own bowl. Of course, there was no reason to think that he wasn't capable of demonstrating the patience to feed a toddler, though judging by how eagerly Lei was willing to take food from him, she doubted it was a first for Ash anyhow.
"You like it?" Ash asked.
Lei nodded as Ash gave him another bite.
The initial chaos of the merge subsided far sooner than anyone anticipated. In retrospect, it wasn't all too surprising. The people of both worlds were no stranger to life-altering events on a global scale, and altruism was not in short supply. Most people were happy to share a home, at least temporarily despite the obvious inconveniences. However, the awkwardness varied from person to person. Many found immediate friendship in their look-alikes. Others found it to be somewhat surreal. It couldn't be helped really, especially when some look-alikes didn't have any differentiating features at all.
Such was the case with Gladion, as he stared into what might as well have been a mirror, granted almost a decade younger. Beyond the height difference his look alike was basically a doppelgänger. They shared the same angular blond hair, green eyes, and always on-edge demeanor. They even shared the same name, and their mother and sister were also carbon copies of each other. Most unfortunate was that they shared a general mistrust of strangers, and as far as they were concerned, their respective look-alike was quite strange indeed.
The pair sat in the gigantic lobby of the primary Aether foundation facility. Overly clean and pristine, the building's interior had been designed to be 'welcoming' towards guests. For both Gladions however, the facility didn't bring much comfort at all, though it was clear that one was far less at ease then the other.
"You sure we can trust her?"
It wasn't the first time he'd heard that question from his much younger look-alike. He didn't even need to say who "her" was.
"I'm certain." It was the answer he always gave, and he knew that it wouldn't be the last time he would have to give it.
"Are you?"
"In my position, you would too."
"Hmmf". That's usually all it took. "Guess that's why you trust me so easily."
This was new. "Why wouldn't I trust you?"
"I mean a lot of folks got look-alikes, but not many of them were ripped from ultra-space when the merge happened. Who knows what I actually am."
"Exactly what I would say. No doubt you're my look-alike."
"Still…. I know our mothers are… different. But how different can they be?"
He sighed. The distrust was not surprising. Their mothers were both obsessed with the Ultra-beasts, powerful pokémon from another dimension, a concept that was far stranger a few months back. That obsession tore a rift between their mother and her children, to different degrees. For the older Gladion and Lillie, it was growing up with a mother who seemed to overlook their needs for her own at every turn. His look-alikes situation was far more… intense. A life of alienation devolved to almost total insanity, with their mother taking a complete stranglehold over every aspect of their lives. Oddly enough, both Lusamines were held in the grip of an Ultra-beast, and while Gladions mother would recover and atone for her mistakes, his look-alikes would fall into a coma in the ensuing conflict, still unconscious even to this day.
"I understand your concern but our Lusamine's different. You can take my word for it or not."
"Fine."
It's not like there was anything he could really do about it at the moment. Currently, the Aether foundation was at the forefront in regards to research about the merge, with Lusamine as the spearhead. Granted, they haven't really determined… anything concrete about its origins, save what Ash had told the professors from his current escapades.
It was tough work, and felt almost impossible, but it had to be done. Even if they had to put everything else on hold for the time being.
Even if that meant they had to pause the search for his father…
"Gladion?"
It was professor Kukui, with Burnet right beside him. Gladion recognized them as the pair from his world. Despite that they too had carbon copy look-alikes, the Kukui's personalities couldn't be more different. The fact that the professor didn't opt to ambush them was evidence enough.
"Professors." He and his look-alike got up as they moved towards him.
"Good to see you both. Mom and the others are inside."
Pleasantries would have to wait. They nodded and made their way to the labs.
The aether foundation laboratories were the best in the world. Period.
Just entering one immediately highlighted this fact. To say that the equipment was state-of-the-art would be an understatement, as it implied that the technology was at least at-level with a handful of competitors. In reality, the technological prowess of the foundation was only matched by its talent. Top scientists and researchers from across the globe could be found in these sanitised halls.
Kukui always preferred his school, quite frankly. He guessed that Lusamine understood that, as they were told to meet her in one of the lounge room consisted of a handful of dull couches and tables. Compared to the rest of the building, it was nice and mundane.
The small group entered the room. Lusamine was already sitting on a small couch next to Lillie. Lillie was the spitting image of her mother, with both of them sharing Gladion's blonde hair and green eyes. On another couch sat three other individuals. One was Lillies look-alike, who like Gladion's was a near carbon copy save for the significant age difference. Next to her sat another individual around her age, Sun, a young boy with grey eyes and unkempt black hair, wearing loose fitting attire that was perfect for the Alolan heat.
"Everyone's here, good. Well almost everyone," Lusamine said.
"I guess the other professors are still busy, huh?" Gladion asked.
"Yes. I asked them to come but they insisted on staying in the city. There's still a lot to take care of."
"Surprised they let Lillie come on her own, all things considered…" Gladions look-alike said.
"Gladion. Please." Lillie's look-alike said. "Not right now."
He nodded. She was right. Everyone in the room was clearly on edge. In the corner of his eye he caught his older look-alike ease up.
"Anyway, what have you got?" Any news about Akala?" Kukui asked.
"We're getting some strange readings from the interior of the volcano. It's certainly dormant, but we have no idea what those readings are. They're unlike anything we've seen before."
"Which means that whoever goes in there will have no idea what they're up against…"
"We don't have to send anyone in yet. We can wait until we get some solid data," Burnet said.
"How long can we afford to wait? It looks like your champion Ash and Senior Yellow's quest might be the only way to stop this, before it gets worse," Gladions look-alike said.
"What if it's more dark matter?" Kukui asked.
"Doubtful. Reports from other areas say that locations tend to come up as almost non-existent when in contact with dark matter. We can see the volcano and its tunnels are still there. They're just… odd."
"It might be dangerous and all, but that's what dexholders do. Deal with all kinds of trouble, right?" Sun said.
"Kids got spirit…" Kukui sighed. "I still don't like this. But it looks like we don't have much of a choice."
"I think we're all rushing things," the older Lillie spoke up. "We still don't know where that shard could be. We can't go looking around the volcano blindly."
"Agreed," Lusamine reached for her bag. "Anyhow, that's not the reason I asked you to come here." She pulled out a small, plastic box. She opened it, revealing a set of white glowing crystals inside. "They finally sent us some crystals from professor Birch's lab. This is just the first batch."
"Maybe with these we can finally take back Ula'ula…but…" Kukui said.
"But what? These are the key to freeing that island. That's what the crystals do, right? Destroy dark matter wherever the cores are. Even repel some of those creatures…" Gladion said.
"Not all of them, according to their report from the Draconid tower. Quite frankly we don't even know how these crystals exactly work, even if we can make them."
"I want each of you to take one for now, just in case." Lusamine held out the boxes. The others in the room took a crystal each. "That's it for now. I'll send the others their crystals soon. I'll contact you all when we find out where that shard might be."