I haven't really posted any public works about my Legends Arceus side adventure for Ash, and this felt like a fun way to do it. I like writing romance. Maybe I'll get around to writing other aspects of that visit, if I can think of things I'd like to share about it.

For the time being, this story is based on some cooperative writing involving my wife's PLA Jubilife Village OC. She's a little flawed. But, so is Ash. Enjoy!

"Exiled!? They can't be serious."

"You have a problem with that."

"You're damn right, I do!"

"Well, it's a good thing that you're part of the Security Corps, and not the Commander, isn't it?"

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. Though, she couldn't see it, with him pacing back and forth through the Agriculture Corps sleeping quarters. Back and forth, back and forth. Restlessly.

"...Are you just going to keep pacing."

"Maybe." He knew that was a petulant answer. Hearing her scoff almost made him feel bad, but he doubled down and continued doing so.

Beyond the quaint enclosure were grand, unending, bleeding red skies that had all of Hisui in a panic. The sky was cracking open to bear even more terrifying light, above Mt. Coronet. Many had already resigned themselves to doom, while those that still clung to hope grew restless.

Pokémon could feel the unease even more keenly than humans. Or, maybe they were well aware just how fragile their already tenuous understanding with the humans was, in this moment.

Of course, that unease had permeated the entire region, and that didn't exclude the privacy the living quarters provided. Why would it?

A short, curvaceous woman sat on her cot, hugging her knees. Curly pink hair cascaded past her shoulders, and thick, pinned back braids framed her face, held in place by a headband decorated by two vibrant green leaves. Her plump lips pursed and thick brows furrowed, violet eyes watching her lover pace. "All of this happened after they attacked the Nobles."

"They were suffering." The man stopped in his tracks. Black, spiky hair spilled over his tensed shoulders in a ponytail, hanging over a pale blue yukata. "The kid helped calm them down! You heard the Diamond and Pearl Clans."

"And look where listening to them got us!" The woman snapped back. "You know they're lying."

"What do you even think their plan was? They don't even remember where they're from."

The farmer rolled her eyes. "And you believe them?"

"Rosemary can tell. Don't you think she checked, with all this shit going on?"

That should have settled the argument, then and there. She, of all people in the village, knew. She'd heard the rare Aura Pokémon's voice echoed in her own mind. Part of her trusted that.

Another, deeper part of her was freaked the fuck out by it.

Not wanting to address an argument she knew she'd lost, she bitterly laughed. "Almighty Sinnoh has given up on us. The sky is bloody red. How can you be so nonchalant about this!?"

The Security Corps recruit from a faraway land pinched his temple between his fingers, muttering a swear. He had an answer to this. He had a million of them. Endless encounters back home that made Hisui's imminent collapse feel like just any other Tuesday.

Of course, he was confident that this would get wrapped up neatly. It always did. But, that invited just as many questions, if not more. No answer he could give was safe to give. So, he didn't have one. "Everything they've done for the village." He was the next to deflect, waving a hand. "Does none of that matter, now?"

"They're an outsider! They can't be trusted."

The man winced, involuntarily. "I'm an outsider," he argued, turning to face her with a hand against his chest. "Is that how you look at me?" His face gave away his hurt. Thick, dark brows knit into a hurt expression. marked by pursed lips.

"That's… different." She took her green ankle-length skirt in a white-knuckled grip. She hadn't realized the implications of her words until the dependable, but increasingly befuddling Pokémon wielder had pointed them out. "You're just from a different part of the world. Not from the rift! Not from some other world, or some other time! I know why you're here!"

Sweet Shaymin, did that leave a heavy silence. One that felt like eons.

"...You're here from overseas. To protect Jubilife," she repeated his mission statement. She didn't like his non-answer, and filled in the blanks for him. "You said that you want to help us understand Pokémon. To keep us safe."

All of that was technically true. He could just say "yeah," and settle the matter here. He wore his heart on his sleeve, it wouldn't be hard to believe that he simply felt bad for the kid from the rift.

But, it didn't give her any further reason to trust him. In fact, he was justifying her distrust. (What to do?) His silence gave him more time to answer. (Could he speak up, now?) With the world on the brink, he very much felt this was a now-or-never situation. There was little point in hiding the truth, with history already in motion, right now.

It wouldn't jeopardize the present, right?

Arceus wouldn't be mad, right?

Would she even forgive him, even if the deity did?

A sudden, rhythmic ring sounded through the sleeping quarters. One that made his hairs stand up on the back of his neck, when he recognized it.

If the looming silence had had the woman on edge, the mysterious sound immediately put her on her feet. It led her to her beloved's bag. Before he could stop her, she rummaged through. Eyes widened at a peculiar, metallic surface. It gave off an even more peculiar warmth. She retrieved it, and her heart jumped into her throat.

A white, rectangular device with strange decorations, including golden grooves, an emerald button, and golden arches connecting around the back. Furthermore, a message appeared on its glowing screen.

"Despite it all, rifts will close."

The item's owner was peering over her shoulder. He read the text on the screen, and swallowed heavily. "Cryptic as ever, huh," he muttered under his breath.

"You." She hissed, and turned to face Ash. "What the hell is this."

Ash backed up, uncomfortably rubbing his neck. "That's…"

"Go ahead and read this to me." The woman shoved the phone towards him.

"Despite it all, rifts will—"

"What does that even mean!?" She shrieked, interrupting him. "This is the same freaky contraption the kid carries around, isn't it? You're— you're one of them!"

Ash wanted so badly to look away. Meeting her gaze felt damn near impossible. But, he did. Tears were bubbling up in her eyes. His own showed his weakness. "Look, just listen to me…"

His scorned lover shoved the Arc Phone into his hands, stomping off. "Un-fucking-believable. We welcome you into the village, we shared stories. Shared time together. Shared a—" She tossed Ash's bag at him.

"So, what, are you telling me to leave!?" The recipient snapped, catching the bag in his hands.

"Leave?" She scoffed. "Don't bother. I'm going to go tell Commander Kamado that we had two traitors." She marched towards the screen door with her back to him. He could still hear the stammering and sniffling in her voice. "...If you're lucky, I'll convince him t' just kick ya out, too."

"Murara!" He shouted, clutching the bag. His voice was hoarse. "Just wait a second!"

Her hand trembled, hovering inches from the door. "...You have ten seconds."

The man sighed heavily. "...If you're going to turn me in, you might as well know who I am and what I did. Right?"

Murara slowly dropped her hand. "Alright. Fine. Y'make a good case." She turned to face him, arms crossed under her chest. "I want to know everything."

"Well… alright," the man sighed. "But, that's going to take a long—"

"I want to know what's going on, Ash!" She snapped, tears dripping down her cheeks. "You clearly have a handle on all sorts of things I don't know a damn about. You talk to your Pokémon. You clearly came from that rift, and you aren't freaking out. What's a… what's a farmer girl like me supposed to do with all that? With whatever the hell you are?"

"Alright! Alright…"Ash stepped forth, and dropped a tender hand on her shoulder. She immediately shrugged it away. He deserved that. "...First thing's first. I am from the rift. I am from another time. And I was dropped here for a reason. So was the kid who fell from the sky."

"...For what. To do all this!?" Murara threw her hands in the air.

"No! To fix… whatever the hell this is, clearly," Ash clarified. "Let me break this down, best as I can. The kid isn't lying about not knowing where they're from, or why. I don't know exactly who they are, either… But, I know more about why they're here than they do."

"So, you don't even know who they are," Murara scoffed. "You both know too much and too little."

"You don't know the half of it," he grumbled. "They're here to save Hisui — more than Hisui, probably. I'm just here as back-up. To step in, if things get ugly."

"This isn't ugly?" She gestured to the eerie red leaking through the screen door.

"I've seen worse."

A look crossed between horror and disbelief screwed up Murara's features. "Who are you, and who put you here."

"I'm Ash. That's always been true. There's just… a lot more to me than I've let on."

"How much. How much of what you've told me is bullshit. Your wives? Your kids? Your home?"

"Serena and Dawn are real! Elaine, DJ, Fire, Reve. My family's all real." Ash shook his head. "The only thing out of those that isn't true is where I come from."

"Well I've sure as shit figured out that much," Murara scoffed. "Southern Kalos ain't hanging over Mt. Coronet."

"Look, trust me. I've told you everything I can get away with. You think it was fun lying to you!?"

"You've done a damn good job of it."

"I really haven't. I could've just kept to myself, when I got here. Not told you how great you looked that day. How much fun I had battling. Kept to myself, and not risked anything. It would've been a lot easier to shut up and do my job."

Murara clutched her hand over her heart, gripping her yukata. "Then, why didn't you."

"Because, I know I would've regretted it. I don't do half-measures. As long as I'm in Hisui…"

The inevitability of those words crashed down upon them. Murara clung to Ash, making him drop his bag. She clung to him, now knowing the extent of how limited their time was.

She always knew it was limited. He'd told her very early on that he had a home to return to, eventually. A family. That was fine. She was fairly young. A summer flame couldn't hurt.

Oh, how wrong she'd been, to now know that Ash came from somewhere else entirely.

"...We're getting off-topic." She buried her head in his shoulder. "Who sent you."

Ash swallowed, and silently agreed to the topic change. "Almighty Sinnoh did."

She didn't bother to look up. For some reason, she believed him and his tone of voice. She shouldn't trust him at all, but something in his voice had changed. In hindsight, he sounded more sure now than he ever had. "Almighty Sinnoh did. And I'm supposed to believe that."

"Believe it or don't. It's the truth." He shrugged. "They asked me to keep an eye on the kid. Make sure things don't go to hell in a handbasket."

"And what about now? Why aren't ya out there, doing something!? How much worse can it get!?"

"You have no idea," he muttered.

Murara gripped his yukata to the point of her knuckles whitening. That managed to scare her more. "How am I supposed to take that?"

"I've seen all sorts of things," Ash replied. "I've seen the sky even darker and redder than this. More times than I could count, shit's been on the brink… Hell, when I was their age, I watched someone capture two of Almighty Sinnoh, trying to wipe the whole universe! Even worse, the guy looked just like Cyllene. Friggin' uncanny, I'll tell you," he laughed. It didn't feel all that humorous, right now. "Drove me crazy, the first few days after I got here."

So much of that flew over Murara's head. It didn't sound real. "...What do you mean two of Almighty Sinnoh. There's two?" A beat. "The Diamond and Pearl Clans were both right?"

"Both right, and both wrong," Ash answered. "Sorry. I'm speaking in riddles. There's actually four."

Murara pulled back, staring at him in disbelief. "Now, I get why you kept your yap shut. Nothing you say sounds real."

Ash laughed, for real, this time. "If I had a Poké Ball for every time I've heard that, I could fill the Pokédex, myself."

Murara cracked a smile, too. A fragile one, though. "...I think I need t' sit down."

"Does that mean I'm spared?" Ash smiled hopefully.

"Look. If you can convince me I don't need ta, then we'll talk about it."

His smile widened. He took her hand gently, and led Murara back to her cot, where they both sat down. "I never back down from a challenge."

"So, you've told me." Murara scooted closer to Ash.."You said you were great at coaching Pokémon, back home. Was that a fib, too?"

"Honestly?" Ash snorted. "I was actually downplaying that part a lot."

Murara raised a brow. Ash didn't even need to look to know she had.

"That came out a lot cockier than I meant it to," he conceded. "...But, I ain't lying. Where I'm from? I'm actually the World Champion of Pokémon battling." He gave a sheepish grin, as if spilling a dirty secret. "Ask Peeks, he'll tell you, too."

The woman blinked. "I don't know what wigs me out more. That, or thinking about people training Pokémon all over the world and sorting that out in the first place." A beat. "Watching Peeks, though, I kind of believe you. I had a feeling he was going easy on me, when I first tested you, 'n he was still impossible to follow."

"Honestly, once he came in, that was a warm-up," Ash admitted. "A fun one, though… And, I'm telling you, the world's really changed a lot. A hundred-thirty-ish years from now," he clarified, rather than make Murara dig for answers again. "That's where I'm from."

"A hundred…" The woman leaned into Ash, again. "I ain't gonna lie. A lot of what you've said makes a lot more sense, knowing that. The way you act around Pokémon, it's like you've never been threatened by one a day in your life."

"Oh, I have!" He laughed. "Plenty."

"And you'll still walk up to them like it's nothin'."

"Well, I'm a little nuts," Ash conceded. "But, it's not just that. People and Pokémon… Things are just different. It's not perfect, but we live together. We battle together. Thrive together."

"It's hard for me to imagine," Murara admitted. "But, it sounds like a nice place." She looked off, and then up at him hopefully. "...You ever hear of Jubilife Village, there?"

"I've heard of Jubilife City." Ash grinned at her. "It's where I watched Dawn compete in her first ever Pokémon Contest."

Ash had rarely seen Murara's eyes glow, the way they did in that moment. She smiled to herself. "...Y'know, I was just thinking. If you're from the future. Jubilife's around. You're around… That means whatever this is comes and goes, huh."

"That's really what I've been thinking," Ash admitted. "It's scary. This sort of thing always is. But, it'll be fine. We just need to have faith in that kid."

"Y'know, you could've led with that."

"Would you have believed me?" Ash smirked.

They both knew she wouldn't have. Rather than fib, she grabbed the man's top, and pulled him in for a chaste, but enduring kiss. It was like the cork on all of their turbulent feelings had been popped.

Now, they could just bask in a gentle silence. One that lasted, until their lips parted.

"I'd apologize for threatening t' turn ya in," Murara continued. "But, I had to do right by my village."

"And I'd apologize for lying," Ash replied. "But I didn't want to screw with time and space."

They both smirked, which bloomed into a smile, and then quiet laughter.

"Let's just call it even."

"Yeah."

Their peaceful silence was broken by mutterings and commotion, from the outside. It drew their attention back to reality. Gasps and angry mutterings. People gathering in the town square.

"...It sounds like they're about to give them the boot," Murara said.

"Yeah." Ash nodded, frowning. He got up to his feet. "I'm gonna go see them off, if y'don't mind. Gonna give them a word or two before they go, with Rosa's help."

"You're not gonna say nothin'?" The farmer asked. "Hell, if you're the strongest, why aren't you handling it?"

"Believe me. I want nothing more than t'charge out there and handle it all. I asked." Ash shook his head. "...But, it's not my job, this time. It's not what Almighty Sinnoh wants. But, I'll give you my word. If shit gets out of hand, then they can bite me."

Sorry, Arceus. No offense.

"You'd disobey Almighty Sinnoh?" Her eyes widened.

"Wouldn't be the first time," he grinned.

Mura stared at him, and shook her head. "...I'll come see it off. I don't think I can say nothin'." She held a hand out, and Ash pulled her up. "Don't wanna bring up suspicion."

"You're really keeping it all to yourself?" Ash asked hopefully. His walk to the screen door was slow, while he awaited her answer.

"...I will. If it's for Jubilife's own good. But, I want you to tell me more, when we get back."

Ash felt an overwhelming sense of relief; like the weight of a Bronzong had come off of his back. "You've got yourself a deal. I'll give you, and only you the full scoop." He took her hand, and stepped out into the overbearing red of Hisui.

Mutters of scandal and disbelief echoed, as the hero was led out of Galaxy Team HQ.

It was hard to watch their face, as Cyllene escorted them towards the gate. But, it would be fine. If Ash was needed, he'd help. That was always the plan. But, the kid from the rift was strong, just as he was, when he was young. Maybe even stronger.

Watching them, now, Murara felt her outrage dwindle. If they did prove their innocence, she could already see herself one of the first to welcome them back.

Despite it all, rifts will close.