Chapter 6: No Need for Royal Discussions
A figure had entered Washu's lab and scoured around. Washu worked on a floating keyboard. She wasn't bothered by the pitter-patter of tiny feet bouncing around the lab. "I wonder if I can ask Ash if I can borrow Bayleef to understand the herbal scent she gives off?" pondered Washu, "Perhaps, her scent may lure Tenchi to me." The figure found a way into the new room where Ash and Pikachu rested. It found Pikachu before it took a new shape. Hands emerged and scooped Pikachu from the bed he shared with Ash. Pikachu still slept. In the living room, Sasami came to the couch, realizing Ash and Pikachu weren't there.
"That's right, Washu said she created a room for Ash and Pikachu to sleep in rather than the couch," she remembered. "Let me check in on those two before I wonder where Ryo-Ohki vanished to." She knocked on the door which emerged from the wall. Washu opened the door to see the youngest of the girls.
"Sasami, what's up?" she asked. "Did you want to come by and ask Ash what he wants for breakfast?" Sasami awed the idea of breakfast.
"Not really, but speaking of," she spoke up. "Could you make something for the smell of food to get Ash awake?" The idea made Washu giggle in seeing it herself.
"Gosh, that sounds enticing!" she cooed. "It makes me wonder what you have in mind for the morning." Sasami giggled as well.
"Aside from that, did Ryo-Ohki come by?" she asked. Washu blinked, not sure about the cabbit.
"Can't say I have-" started Washu before a yelp broke her response. Washu and Sasami realized that it wasn't Ash. "Pikachu?" They reached the door to the new room before she kept Sasami back. Washu entered before seeing Ash awakened and covered in his pajamas. They saw Pikachu being held by a young woman who looked like Ryo-Ohki in her girl form but wearing a white nightgown that reached the knees.
"Is that Ryo-Ohki?" wondered Ash.
"That is," Washu sighed. Ryo-Ohki mewed as she cradled Pikachu in her arms. He looked flustered to being in Ryo-Ohki's arms. After the fiasco, Ash joined Sasami in mixing some egg with cinnamon and extract.
"Do you need the bread, yet?" asked Sasami.
"Just about…" studied Ash. Tenchi came to the kitchen as the skillet was heated.
"Ash, I have a question," he brought up. Ash turned to Tenchi. "Maybe you can join me and Dad out to the city to see what's over there." Ash smiled, thinking a bit of time outside of the household would allow him to explore what this place had to offer.
"Sure!" he accepted. As they talk about what plans were available, Ryoko and Ayeka discussed plans. After breakfast, Sasami was doing the laundry, hanging the futons on the hangers. Suddenly, there was a pull from the other side.
"Ryo-Ohki!" she laughed before looking over, only to find Ryoko.
"I'm a little big for Ryo-Ohki," she teased. Sasami gasped to who joined her.
"Ryoko? But… you don't do anything we see around the household!"
"True… but I have reasons. By the way, Ayeka's watching over Ash." The information made Sasami skeptical.
"My sister?" She began to suspect something was off. "Wait, why would you and Ayeka be talking to each other? You're usually fighting each other for Tenchi."
"Not at the moment. I did want to talk to you about our new occupants."
"You mean Ash? And his Pokémon?
"Who else? See, he told me after Ryo-Ohki took us to space about being pretty high before." Helping, Ryoko flung another futon over the wire.
"He was?"
"Yeah, he was helping a little pigeon… or as he called it, a Pidgey… to fly as high as possible and it reached the limits of Earth's ozone where it tired out. He did say how cold it was when they got so high in the sky."
"I bet, and how little air there was…" Nodding, Ryoko straightened the futons out.
"Anyway, I know you brought up my rivalry with Ayeka… but I still remember how you and Tenchi enjoyed those cooked sweet potatoes the first night you came to pick Ayeka and Mihoshi back to Jurai." Sasami giggled to Ryoko's memory.
"That's because I loved how the sweet potatoes tasted." That's when a thought popped in Sasami's head. "Say, I think I can try that one day for him and Pikachu." Hearing the wish, Ryoko snickered.
"There you go! I bet they haven't had sweet potatoes back in their world!"
"Let alone the way Tenchi does it." They laughed as Tenchi heard the conversation.
"Have Ryoko and Ayeka declare a truce because of Ash?" he pondered. He had nothing to base it on. He shrugged and moved on. Ash and Pikachu came to the gardens and checked on the vegetables. As they did, Ayeka emerged from behind.
"I bet Ryo-Ohki can't wait to have these," Ash believed as he petted the grass protruding from the ground.
"I thought I'd find you here," Ayeka said. Ash and Pikachu turned to the elder princess. "It makes sense with how much you have wanted to help us." Pikachu nodded while Ash was curious to Ayeka's visit.
"Princess Ayeka, what's up?" he asked. Ayeka came to and plucked Pikachu to softly embrace by her chest.
"I thought we could have a nice 'heart-to-heart' about our worlds," she offered. "Come and join me." She carried Pikachu as Ash followed. They started on a new walkway. "I do admit that I feel uneasy with Ryoko doing chores when she hardly does anything."
"And you're telling me about it?"
"We… made an agreement to have everyone have a chance to talk to you about it." The plan made Ash and Pikachu awe the idea.
"Okay, I guess that can make sense. I did want to know more about Jurai and your family."
"I'd wanted to, but if you tell me more of your friends." It made Ash and Pikachu puzzled.
"Misty and Brock? What would you like to know?" All Ayeka did was giggle.
"It's a way to know about your world some more. After all, Brock had been your maid, so to speak."
"I wouldn't really say 'maid.' He's the oldest of ten siblings, a mix of brothers and sisters. He took care of them when his parents left. His dad, Flint, returned and took back the duties of being their dad again after failing to be a trainer. No idea about his mom."
"Dear me… I wouldn't imagine either of my mothers having all of those children." Her admission made Ash and Pikachu gasp as they all stopped.
"Mothers!? You mean you have more than one!?" The question made Ayeka chuckle.
"I should clarify: Sasami and I have a mother each, but we share the same father. My mother is Funaho Jurai, and Sasami's mother is Misaki Masaki Jurai. You've probably noticed the birthmark on Sasami's forehead, correct?"
("How could we not?") voiced Pikachu.
"Misaki, or my stepmother, has a similar mark on her forehead," Ayeka clarified. "You can imagine what kind of mother we both had growing up before coming to Earth to rescue Mihoshi."
"I'm starting to imagine," Ash awed. "For a moment, I thought having two moms meant that half of you was born from one and the other half was born from the other before they mended you together." Ayeka and Pikachu laughed at the assumption.
"Don't be so ridiculous!" she chuckled. "Oh, I need a good laugh once in a while." After calming down, she wiped a tear. "I assume that it was hard for Misty to birth Togepi, right?" Ash and Pikachu revealed deadpan faces.
"Togepi hatched from an egg I found, Brock kept warm and hatched in Misty's arms," Ash corrected. "I'm not even going to touch that subject anymore than that." Ayeka realized how close the subject came to being personal.
"I'm sorry. Perhaps you're not ready for something like that yet." A waive from Ash ended the topic.
"Anyway, what about Azaka and Kamidake? Why are they in those logs?"
"It's not that they're actually in those logs, but Azaka and Kamidake are guardians, formerly known as Juraian Knights and their memories stored inside. Even though their bodies were destroyed, the memories stored inside grant them abilities to keep me protected."
"You're kidding! Azaka and Kamidake's memories!?"
("That's creepy,") Pikachu shuttered.
"After the great Juraian War, their memories were preserved," Ayeka continued. "We were lucky to have survived with the damages sustained in the kingdom. How Azaka and Kamidake were spared in those containers still surprise me to this day."
"I bet," Ash believed. "And hearing you guys, I might see you and Sasami with a Clefairy." Ayeka became interested to the names.
"Clefairy?" she repeated. Ash brought out his Dex after getting it back from Washu. There, he found a picture of pink round star-shaped creature with black ears and a curl above its eyes.
"CLEFAIRY, THE FAIRY POKÉMON," it registered. "WHILE CLEFAIRY ARE RARELY SEEN, FOR REASONS UNKNOWN, CLEFAIRY ARE MORE VISIBLE UNDER A FULL MOON." Ayeka seemed intrigued by Clefairy's information.
"Oh my…" she hushed. "A creature like this is adorable. It's like a plush doll that I held when I was just a little girl back on Jurai. Though, tell me… why would you suggest something like this?"
"See, Clefairy were seen surrounding a meteorite in Mount Moon back in Kanto as they honor that huge rock," Ash started. "That meteorite contained Moon Stones that evolve Clefairy into Clefable." Ayeka seemed rather awed.
"That actually feels a bit fascinating," she admitted. They continued for some time before heading back to the household. As the family returned to the household, Ash returned to Azaka and Kamidake. When Ash told them about what Ayeka told him, the guardians confirmed the claims.
"What Princess Ayeka explained to you is true," Azaka briefed. "Our bodies had been destroyed beyond repair, but they are stored in here since it better links to our memories."
"I'm not questioning Princess Ayeka's story," Ash reminded. "I just find it hard to believe at times."
"Of course, since you're still new to Juraian knowledge," Kamidake believed. "Your world has its own guardians, right?" Ash pondered to the idea while Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki played around at the top of the staircase.
"I'm not sure about guardians," he doubted. "I mean, I was involved with three legendary bird Pokémon in Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres."
"Sounds like guardians in my opinion if they're legendary," Azaka believed. "Guardians of the sky."
"But they have significance if they play a role in the environment," Kamidake pointed out. Ash understood Azaka and Kamidake from the feed they made. He, Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki returned to the household where Ryoko and Ayeka discussed between each other. As evening settled, Ash sat outside and stared at the stars. Mihoshi came outside with a pair of bowls of stew.
"There you are!" she cheered. Ash turned to the blond.
"Mihoshi?" he realized. Mihoshi sat by Ash and offered a bowl.
"Tenchi made this stew tonight to give Sasami a break." Looking inside, there was meat, potatoes and ginger in a broth.
"It looks good." He took a spoonful and took a bite. He awed the taste. "It's like I'm not the only one getting lessons from Sasami." Mihoshi giggled to Ash's reaction.
"Is it alright if I ask you something?"
"Yeah, I'm all ears…" Looking to the stars, Mihoshi pondered her question.
"Has there been a Pokémon that you want to go after?" The question made Ash recall a moment in his past.
"There's one that comes to mind: Ho-oh." The name made Mihoshi look back to Ash.
"Ho...oh?"
"It's a Pokémon that flew through a rainbow after the storm on my first day as a Pokémon Trainer. I didn't know about Ho-oh until my friends and I stopped at Ecruteak City when Gym Leader Morty mentioned it. I don't know too much about it, though Morty doesn't believe Ho-oh was who I saw."
"I see… You're chasing a mystery?"
"Yeah, like why did Ho-oh appear before me and Pikachu?" The question made Mihoshi stumped.
"I believe the answer may come to you rather than you look for it. Maybe it knows of your passion and wants to fly in the direction that takes you to your goal." The guess made Ash smile a little.
"You might have a point. When Pikachu and I return, we'll have to look for Ho-oh and see where it flies towards." After finishing the stew, night had begun to fall. Ryoko and Ayeka believed they have information to help Ash and Sasami come together. What awaits Ash tomorrow?
TO BE CONTINUED...
