I Own Nothing
Chapter 8
Ash, Pikachu, Lapras and Blastoise had been travelling for a few hours now just soaking in the sun on the sea as they travelled to their next destination. Ash had planned on going to Pinkan Island but wondered whether it would actually be worth it.
"I mean" Ash said as they were sailing towards the island in question "do we need anything from here?"
"It's an island full of Pink Pokémon" Pikachu said, "doesn't that, I don't know, inflame the professor juices in you?"
"No" Ash said simply "because I know the reason why. The Pokémon there aren't rare or endangered. They're pink because of the plants and foliage on the island itself. There's a chemical in the fruit that grown on the trees that makes the turn pink. If they were captured and left the island they'd turn back to their original colour. It's the plants that are being protected on the island, not the Pokémon."
"Oooh" Lapras said "can I turn pink? It sounds like it'd be fun."
"You'd have to eat a vast amount of them for a period of time but yes, you'd be able to turn pink" Ash replied.
"I'd quite like to see some pink Pokémon" Pikachu said "plus didn't you say you had to breed endangered fauna as well as Pokémon"
"Damn" Ash said recalling that he did "there's no guarantee that they'll give me any though. The Jenny on that island is extremely protective, to the point of fanaticism."
"Why?" Pikachu asked curiously.
"She's been living there on her own now for about nine years" Ash said, "And apart from the odd researcher or professors visit she's had nothing but Pokémon and trees to talk to. And given the reports I've read of this island she's a bit loopy."
"Should have brought Brock with us" Pikachu said chuckling.
"Brock would have been shot on sight by this Jenny" Ash said seriously "honestly, this Jenny has put out an email to every regional professor that if she sees him in person, she will not be responsible for her actions."
"Really?" Lapras said "is this Brock that bad?"
"Yes" came the chorus of Blastoise, Pikachu and Ash at the same time causing them all to chuckle. And then the strangest sound Ash had heard echoed from his bag "that's my phone, isn't it?" twisting around he opened his bag and grabbed his pokegear and saw Sam was ringing him. Halting Blastoise he answered.
"Hi Professor" Ash said confused "everything ok?"
"Hello Ash" Sam said "a few things. I received a CV this morning from a Tracey Sketchit applying for a job that's not even advertised naming you as a referee, something you want to tell me?"
"Oh yeah" Ash said "we talked about this before the league, you're not getting any younger professor and you admitted yourself that you'd take someone who could help lighten your burden. And I know you've been too busy over the last few months to even put out a job advert, you likely forgot it due to your schedule. So, when I saw you and Tracey getting on, I decided that he deserved a shot and gave him your works email address."
"I have needed help lately" Sam replied sounding weary "and you can vouch for him?"
"No" Ash said, "I don't know him, but he did try and help with the search for the Crystal Onix on Sunburst for no other reason than to be able to meet you."
"What?" Sam asked perplexed.
"He made a bet with me that I would have to introduce him to you if he found the Onix first" Ash said laughing "but he never found it and looked sad that he'd never get to meet you. So, I helped him out. He seems like a good bloke though and he seems dedicated to helping Pokémon. I think he'll be a good fit for you."
"I'll give him a chance" Sam said "speaking of the Onix I read your report, I noticed you left the location out. You know that will harm your credibility on the report, right?"
"I have picture proof of them" Ash replied "and we saw the same Onix twice. But I'm not fussed about my credibility on this one. They deserve to be left alone and as they haven't been seen in decades; I think they're hiding quite well."
"You're quite correct Ash" Sam said "anyway I just have one final thing I need to ask you. I understand you're near Pinkin Island, correct?"
"Yeah" Ash replied "in fact we were just about to have a vote on skipping it as there's nothing there that I'm interested in. I know the reason the Pokémon are pink, and I know what's really being protected on the island. So, as I'm unlikely to be given any Pinkin Berries and I'm not going to steal them I can't see the attraction."
"Well, I'm afraid that you're going to have to visit there" Sam said causing Ash to sigh "now don't be like that, I've arranged for you to be given some of the local fauna in exchange for your services."
"You're pimping me out?" Ash exclaimed "Seriously?"
"Don't be so dramatic Ash" Sam said dismissing his reaction "Now, the local Jenny is having some trouble with the wild Pokémon who have got into a territory dispute, and I need you to go in and settle it."
"What Pokémon?" Ash asked warily.
"A Nidoking and a Rhydon that's recently evolved." Sam replied "I need you to subdue and capture one of them to sort the issue out. Jenny will have more information and I'll see about relocating either of the Pokémon, that is if you don't want to keep it."
"I'm good" Ash said declining "I don't need one for my team and they're too volatile to be able to live at my home and keep people safe. I don't want to keep getting calls about areas of my home being destroyed. Not only that but it's highly likely Ava will be with her mum some days on site and it's too risky."
"A wise decision" Sam said "and thank you for this Ash. Truly thank you." before Ash could respond Sam hung up leaving an irritated Ash to gather his thoughts. After a minute or two he looked around and was surprised to find Charizard had joined them.
"Hi pal" he said before looking at his other Pokémon "it looks like we're going to be making a detour to Pinkin Island after all. The Jenny there has asked for our help in capturing either a Nidoking or a Rhydon that have been creating havoc over a territory dispute."
"Yay" Lapras shouted "I get to turn pink!"
"I don't want to know" Charizard said before returning himself to his pokeball. "Lucky sod" Ash murmured before directing Blastoise to the island that was just about in view. Half an hour later Ash had successfully navigated a few whirlpools and was faced with an issue. The entire island seemed to be thirty meters high and no matter which way Blastoise went they were faced with a sheer cliff. Seeing no other option he released a very sleepy looking Charizard who hovered wondering what was wrong.
"I know you're tired pal and in a minute you can go back into your pokeball but I need to get up there and it's inaccessible from the water." Ash said. Nodding Charizard carefully let Ash climb on before he returned his Pokémon and flew up the cliff on his dragon. Less than ten seconds later he landed and got off Charizard who again recalled himself. Chuckling Ash walked across the expanse of grass towards what he thought was the centre of the island. Twenty minutes later he came to a road that led South and North. Pulling out his GPS he saw that the ranger station was to the North-West so he took the path North and soon came across an odd shaped building.
Walking in he was immediately greeted with a blast of cold air from the air conditioning unit above followed by a blast of hot air.
"What the hell?" Ash exclaimed jumping out of the way and looking up to the heat curtain above the door.
"It's to make sure you're clean" came a voice from behind him. Turning around he saw it was a severe looking officer Jenny "you mainlanders are full of goodness knows what germs and we don't want them here."
"Are you saying I'm diseased?!" Ash asked incredulously.
"Yes" came the stern reply "we're isolated on this island, so the slightest thing that you could have picked up could have serious repercussion on the environment. To combat that we have the curtain."
"I am not diseased" Ash said angrily staring at Jenny before looking at Pikachu "I knew she was a bit loopy, but I didn't know she was this crazy."
"DO NOT CALL ME CRAZY!" She shrieked shocking Ash before suddenly calming "I am not crazy! I'm not!"
"And I am not diseased" Ash countered hotly "but it seems like we could do this all day so can we get on with why I'm here."
"Yes" she said becoming all business. Turning around she led Ash to a wall in her office that had sections marked off in dotted lines. "These dotted lines represent the Alpha Pokémon of that particular area. We had three on the island, Nidoking, Seadra and an Arcanine. Now as you can see, we have four and one of the three isn't happy. Recently I was alerted to a large explosion over here" she pulled out an extendable cane from what seemed like thin air and pointed to an area on the map to the South of where they were.
"Where did that come from?" Ash asked incredulously.
"Never you mind" she replied sternly "anyway when I got there, I saw the Alpha Nidoking in battle with a Rhydon. Now we only had one Rhyhorn on this island and it went missing a week ago. Evidently it evolved and has begun challenging Nidoking for territory rights. This is what you're here to sort out, however I fail to see what you can do that I cannot." She finished dismissively.
"Oh right" Ash said "in that case I'll leave you to it and carry on with my journey. Bye."
Shaking his head, he left the office muttering about ungrateful people. He was just about to walk out of the front door when Jenny came barrelling out "You cannot leave me to sort this out alone."
"Well, you clearly don't need my help" Ash countered hotly "you said so yourself. This was a favour for Professor Oak and I do not have to put up with your attitude." With that Ash carried on walking outside leaving a spluttering Jenny behind and made his way South along the path, fuming with the way he was treated. Pikachu hadn't said a word in that entire time and Ash looked at him, seeing he was desperate to say something.
"Say it" Ash said.
"No" Pikachu said laughing "you're far too young to know what I was thinking." Walking on down the path Ash suddenly got what Pikachu was meaning and stated laughing himself "you're not wrong Pikachu. That's probably what she needs. Anyway, we're heading South as it seems our next Island is that way. Well it's actually West on the compass but the island tapers down to a beach on this path."
"Where is it?" Pikachu asked.
"It doesn't actually have a name. The locals call it Fukuhara Island No. 4" Ash said, "I don't actually know what's on it so I thought we could spend the day trekking and looking for Pokémon to add to our home as we haven't really been doing all that great on that score."
Walking along the path Ash was too distracted to be aware of something off to the side of the path. Suddenly a tree from the side of the path came crashing down where Ash would have been had he not dove out of the way. Landing his head hit a rock and knocked him out for a few seconds.
Groggily he opened his eyes to see flashes of yellow and hear grunts of pain. Holding his hand over his eyes he closed them to try and come to more and after a minute he opened his eyes to find the flashes had stopped. Rolling onto his belly took some effort but he finally made it to where he was on all fours and shakily he stood up. Grabbing his head he felt his hand become sticky and looking at his hand he saw it was very red. Blood. Apparently, he was bleeding, which wasn't great news. His head started swimming again and he sat down leaning against the tree that had fallen across the path and closed his eyes. Vaguely he could hear shouting, but he ignored it in favour of trying to regain his bearings, but the noise soon became unbearable.
"Take that thing away."
"I will kill it if I see it again. This is your only warning."
"Will whoever that is shut up?" Ash shouted causing his head to swim again and he swayed over sideways, and everything became black.
Jenny
Livid. That's the feeling she had at the minute. She was livid with how that so called trainer had spoken to her. So much so that in her fury she had convinced herself a lot more was said. Well she wasn't having it. Angrily marching to her office, she snatched up her phone and punched in the number she had received for Professor Oak, calling Philena at the same time. Eventually they both answered surprised by the face of Jenny.
"Hello Sandra, is everything ok?" Philena asked.
"No, it is not ok" she said furiously "that trainer you sent to me is an extremely rude young man. I am furious right now with how he behaved towards me."
"Are we talking about Ash?" Philena asked confused "because he was perfectly reasonable and courteous with me."
"Yes, we're talking about Ash" Sandra said hotly "I've never met a more horrid person in my life. He had the gall to call me crazy! Can you believe that?"
"What did you say to him?" Sam said looking serious.
"You're taking his side?" Sandra asked incredulously.
"No" Sam said firmly "I am trying to establish the facts of what went on. Now, what did you say to him?"
"I didn't say anything to him." She replied looking angry as if the very thought of her word not being good enough "I told him about the problem, and he walked out..."
"Sandra!" Sam said interrupting her "I will ask you one more time and there will not be a fourth. What did you say to Ash Ketchum to make him call you crazy and then walk out? And stop deflecting!"
"He walked in and I screened him with the air curtain to make sure he was safe to be able to walk around the island and he called me crazy" Sandra said "and then I led him to the office where I told him of the problem with the Nidoking and the Rhydon and he walked out saying "do it yourself". That's what happened."
"I'm clearly not getting the whole thing here" Sam said shaking his head "I spoke to Ash before he arrived on Pinkin and explained the situation. And while he was reluctant to do the task, he still said he would. Now Ash has never let me down before so here's what's going to happen. I am going to ring Ash and get his side and if they do not correlate with what you're telling me I will be sending an email to your boss and Philena strenuously recommending that you are replaced on Pinkin Island. So, if you have anything else to add, I highly suggest you do so now."
"I may have inadvertently called him diseased after he used the curtain" Sandra mumbled after a minute of mulling the threat over "and then questioned whether he can actually do the job he was sent here for. But there was still no need for him to be rude!"
"Repeat that" Philena barked angrily shocking Sandra "and loud enough that we can both hear you! Because it better not be what I think you've just said!"
Before she could say anything though an alarm started blaring on the wall. Looking up she saw that it was coming from a crossover zone of Nidokings territory and Arcanines. Those two had never fought before so it must be the Rhydon encroaching again. Panicking she picked up her keys and left the room leaving the phone still on.
"I think it's time she was replaced" Sam said sighing "she's clearly not sound enough of mind."
"This one's on me Sam" Philena said wearily "I've been so engrossed in my research that I've failed to look after the islands and the people in them. That will be rectified, and Sandra will be relocated to an island with people on it and get counselling. I'll place a rotation of Jennys on Pinkin in future. Six months tops for each Jenny."
"I'll ring Ash now" Sam said, "and get his side." Patiently they both waited for Ash to pick up but it rang out. Concerned he dialled it again getting the same response. "He surely must still be on Pinkin" Sam murmured before a lightbulb went off in his head "the alarm!"
"You don't think he's in trouble, do you?" Philena asked concerned.
"I'm not sure" Sam said "I hope not. I'll ring you back later Philena when I have more information. I'll send an email to the Chief of Jennys in the Orange Islands backing up what you have planned." Saying goodbye, the screen went blank.
Jenny had ran out of the office and leapt into her jeep. Flooring the pedal she raced to where the alarm zone had indicated and soon enough she had come to the scene of the crime. Devastation was the word she had in mind. All around the trees had been upended, roots showing dangling in the air. She noticed Ash lying off to the side of the road trying to help himself up and failing but the biggest issue she had was seeing a Pikachu standing over a pokeball in between an Arcanine and a Nidoking angrily shouting at them. Making her way over she shouted to grab their attention.
"You two, back to your homes now. I'll sort this out." When both looked mutinously at Jenny they returned their attention on Pikachu who angrily sparked his cheeks and lightning whipped across the ground towards them both. It was a warning, one that was well heeded when Arcanine and Nidoking, who usually wouldn't be scared of electric attacks both felt the power in a simple warning shock. Both Alphas looked around and noticed the boy resting against the fallen tree before they looked at Pikachu and the pokeball before both angrily saying
"Take that thing away." Arcanine shouted.
"I will kill it if I see it again. This is your only warning." Nidoking intoned backing up his fellow Alpha.
"Will whoever that is shut up?" came a voice from the boy before he promptly passed out. Immediately Sandra rushed forwards ignoring the stand off and checking over Ash. Seeing the cut on his head she looked for his backpack which was on the other side of the road. She knew trainers, or the sensible ones carried emergency first aid kits. Hopefully Ash one was one of those. Looking through it her hand moved a strange looking pokeball to the side and pulled out a bandage and what looked like anti-septic fluid. Hurriedly she rushed back over to Ash and gently cleaned his wound. Once it was as clean as she could get it, she wrapped his head in the bandage, being careful not to knock his head. Lying him back down she looked around and noticed that the two Alphas hadn't moved.
"Can you two help move this tree out of the way?" she asked looking at them. Both of them nodded and moved forwards but they struggled to move it. She watched as Pikachu walked over to Ash and tapped on two of his pokeballs releasing Venusaur and Machamp. Immediately they looked at Ash and became concerned, then they looked at the two other Pokémon and growled threateningly believing it to be their fault their trainer was injured. The Pikachu walked in front of them and explained what had happened pointing to the pokeball on the floor. Growling they approached before again Pikachu said something to them and they focused on the tree. Nodding they moved forwards and said something to the two alphas. Venusaur sent out several thick vines and Machamp's arms glowed and together they managed to lift and move the tree so that it ran alongside the road rather than across it.
Nodding the two Alphas walked away into the trees going their separate ways leaving just Ash's Pokémon. Jenny warily approached the pokeball and picked it up taking note of how serious the three Pokémon looked. Pressing the button, a huge shape appeared in front of her and collapsed. Whatever Pikachu had done before she arrived had been brutal. The Rhydon was still out for the count, covered in burns and a faint yellow sheen coated its body. But its limbs were the main issue she could see, usually their limbs were quite short and sturdy, but Rhydon clearly had a broken arm and a broken foot with the way it dangled uselessly. Shaking her head, she recalled the Pokémon and moved over to Ash.
"Can you help me get him onto the Jeep please. I'm afraid I don't have anywhere flat to lie him on so he'll have to go across the back seats." Sandra asked. Nodding Machamp gently picked him up and placed him into the jeep. Venusaur meanwhile had grabbed his backpack and hat and placed them in the jeep too before pressing his pokeball returning himself, Machamp doing the same after making sure he was secure. Pikachu jumped up and lay on him and Sandra drove as carefully as she could down the bumpy path back to the lab.
Eventually they made it back and Pikachu released Machamp again and they carried him inside ignoring the air curtain which activated, and they followed Sandra to a room just off to the side of the entrance hall. It was the room assigned to any researchers that visited here but it was all she had. Gently Machamp laid him down on a bed while Sandra went to fetch her first aid kit. As carefully as she could she cut his shirt off so that she could see whether he had broken ribs or something more serious.
"I know he's not going to be happy about this" she said to Pikachu who just stared at her watching her like a hawk "but I need to make sure nothing is broken." Gently she felt his ribs and made sure he was ok. "It seems like it's just his head. I can't do anything other than stitch it up I'm afraid so when he wakes up he's going to have a very nasty headache." Getting her medical sewing kit out she removed the bloodstained bandages and wiped it clear again before sewing the cut up. "I'm going to go and make a quick call, if he wakes up make sure he doesn't move."
Standing up she made her way to the phone and redialled Sam and Philena. After a few rings they picked up but whatever they were going to say stopped when they took in her face. She hadn't looked in a mirror so she wouldn't see what caused them to pause but her hair was in total disarray and her face was smeared with blood from where she had helped Ash and then touched her own face.
"Sandra!" Philena said shocked "what happened?"
"Nothing good" Sandra replied sighing.
"You're covered in blood!" Philena said, "what happened?"
"Well, the good news is the Rhydon has been captured" Sandra said holding up the pokeball "the bad news is it attacked Ash."
"Is it still alive?" Sam asked warily.
"It was when I released it to see what was captured" Sandra said "but it had a broken arm, foot and many electric burns across its body. I'm afraid the Pikachu did a number on it."
"And the blood?" Philena asked again.
"Ash's" she replied wiping her face again unintentional smearing the blood "when I arrived at the location he was off to the side of the road. I think Rhydon upended a tree, and he dove out of the way and I believe he must have hit his head either by a falling tree branch or a rock or something. Anyway, the battle was over with when I arrived, so I gave Ash first aid and helped him back here. He's currently sleeping off what's going to be a huge headache when he wakes."
"Is he ok?" Sam asked concerned.
"Yeah, he is" Sandra said "I've had to sew the cut up on his head but apart from that he should be fine, barring a concussion anyway."
"Make sure he doesn't move for a few days" Sam said "if he whinges tell him that if he doesn't do as he's told I'll bring his mother to him on Dragonite. The chances are she'll want to come anyway as soon as I tell her. You did well Sandra. Well done." Sam hung up and rang Delia to let her know what had happened. Unfortunately, she was tied up with the new chef but she said as soon as she could arrange cover she would be round to his. Nodding Sam hung up and leaned back in his chair and sighed. Was this his fault? He had sent Ash there after all.
Ash
Ow. That was the first thought in his head. Gingerly he opened his eyes and had to focus as the room was in complete darkness. Sighing he closed his eyes and winced again as a sharp pain went across his head. Warily he brought his hand to the painful part of the head and winced again as he felt bruising and were those stitches? Bringing his arm back down he tried to recall what happened. He remembered a tree falling and him diving out of the way. He recalled a lot of yellow flashes and then loud voices before…nothing. That was all he could remember. Looking over to the side of what he figured was a bed he focused his aura and flinched in pain again as a lot of it was rerouting itself to his head trying to heal him. That was one of the most frustrating parts of being an aura user. While it worked on healing you while you were unconscious it only did so in dribbles so as to conserve your vital organs. But when you were awake aura deemed your body capable of healing itself while it focused on the major injuries. So, it caused Ash a splitting headache while it worked on his head.
Hearing a gasp Pikachu's head shot up and saw his trainer moving around.
"Try not to move" Pikachu said causing Ash to look at him sharply and flinch again "sorry."
"It's ok" Ash said croakily "where am I and what happened?"
Over the next half an hour Pikachu painted the picture for Ash about what had happened since he was knocked out. When it got to the part of capturing the Rhydon Ash frowned but listened on. When he finished Ash had a few questions. "How did you capture the Rhydon?"
"I threw a pokeball at it" Pikachu said slowly as if it were obvious "I've seen you do it many times. It's not hard."
"Oh" Ash said dumbly "It's just I don't think I've ever heard of a Pokémon capturing another Pokémon. Barring Mewtwo and those clone balls that is so I think you might be the first. Where is the Rhydon?"
"Jenny has it" Pikachu making Ash nod and wince again.
"Has my mum been told?" he asked warily.
"Yes, I have" a voice said from the other side of the bed. Looking over he saw his mum sitting on a chair wrapped in a blanket looking at him. "How are you doing Ash?"
"I'm ok" he said frowning "Now that I know what happened I am anyway. My aura is acting up again though, at least this time I know why."
"It's healing you, isn't it?" Delia asked, "It's focusing on your head and it's making you uncomfortable, isn't it?"
"Yeah" Ash said "you'd think I would be used to it by now, but it hurts. Are you ok mum?"
"I am now you're awake" Delia said, "you've been unconscious for two days now. I got here yesterday evening. Pikachu, can you give us the room please. We need to talk." Nodding Pikachu left the room leaving mother and son to chat.
The next day Ash was feeling a lot better and was able to walk around unaided. Making his way to Jennys office he knocked on and entered. Looking up she immediately looked away blushing "Can you at least get dressed before wandering around? It's indecent."
"I would but I'm waiting for mum to bring me another shirt" Ash said "someone cut mine off me."
"I had to check for injuries to your ribs" Sandra said officiously regaining her composure "for all I knew you could have been bleeding internally while I was focusing on your head."
"I know" Ash said "I'm not mad. In fact, I came here to thank you for what you did. While my aura helps with healing it works better while I'm conscious and it may have been several more days until I woke up if I weren't stitched up. You did a good job too. So, thanks." standing up he left Jenny to her work and made his way back to his bed where he dug out his laptop and continued with his own work. A few hours later his mum came in with a fresh set of clothes for him that she bought on Mandarin Island. "Here Ash" she said handing him a blue tank top "I had to get a size up from the last one you bought. I'm glad it fits."
"Thanks mum" Ash said sitting back down "how are you feeling?"
"Much better after our talk" Delia said "you?"
"I'm good" Ash said "the noggin is a little sensitive still, but I have perfect vision again and my aura is circling evenly in me so that's good. It means it's done everything it can to heal me and it's just a case of me being careful now."
"Where's next for you?" Delia asked packing another top into his bag and pulling out the GS ball. "Is this why you're here? I can't feel anything coming from it."
"Fukuhara No. 4" Ash said laughing "yeah, I've no idea where the first three are unless they're tiny satellite islands. It's made of a weird kind of limestone so I'm going to investigate and see what I can find out. As for that" he said taking the ball from his mum and holding it up "yeah, that's the ball Sam wants. It seems pretty useless doesn't it? You wouldn't believe that it's storing something that resonates strongly with my aura." handing it back to her he looked at her.
"Any idea why?" she asked placing it back in his bag.
"Best guess?" Ash said rhetorically "it has something to do with an ancestor of mine and dads. How Sam would know though is anybody's guess. I'm still irritated he won't tell me."
"Yeah, he fobs me off too whenever I asked him" Delia said wryly "he conveniently finds something to do as a distraction. It doesn't work but I got fed up and stopped asking him, so in a way it did work."
"He's a sly old bugger" Ash said laughing "I've missed you mum. And I'm sorry it's taken something like this to be able to see you again."
"Oh Ash" she said running her hand through his hair being careful to avoid his stitches "I've missed you too but we're both really busy these days. When are you back home?"
"Probably not for another few months" he replied "I've got one badge so far and I'm doing an anti-clockwise circuit of the Islands ending on Pummelo where the championship battle is held. I could probably get them done in a few weeks if I flew on Charizard but I'm enjoying travelling again and Blastoise and Lapras are loving being on the open ocean. The time will fly by. This was just a freak thing no one could account for. I hope you're not too mad at Sam, he couldn't have foreseen this."
"I'll be mad at him for the rest of his life as I am with everyone that places you in danger" Delia said sincerely "that doesn't mean I won't forgive him as I know it wasn't his fault. I'm leaving tomorrow, sadly I can't leave Paul on his own too long, not at this early stage in his training anyway."
"That's ok" Ash said "I'm going to be doing the same. I hate being cooped up in bed even if it's for my own good."
"You always have done" she said laughing.
The next day Ash had packed his bag and gingerly placed his cap back on his head before deciding to put it in his bag. It was far safer in there, especially with how strong the wind was on the sea. Walking out of the room with Pikachu on his shoulder he saw his mum standing near the door with Jenny. She had actively avoided him the last few days he'd been awake, and Ash didn't care enough to confront her about it. She wasn't at fault for what happened, and he'd said thanks so as far as he was concerned it was over and done with.
"Mr Ketchum" Sandra said stiffly "I'm glad you're well enough to travel. Have a safe journey."
"Thank you" he said nodding to her before leaving through the door. As it opened the curtain went off again and 'cleansed' Ash. Shaking his head he turned to Sandra and said "I'm still disease free." before walking out of the door followed by his chuckling mum. As they walked down the path they passed where his accident had been and stopped to take it all in. Taking a deep breath Ash carried on until half an hour later they reached the shoreline and he said goodbye to his mum.
"Oh" he said unclipping a pokeball from his belt as Delia released Sams Dragonite "Can you give that to Sam please, it's the Rhydon. I've not healed it so it should still be unconscious and hurt. Pikachu wanted to carry on hurting it so I felt it safer to keep it locked away."
Nodding Delia put it in her bag, gave Ash a hug commenting on him being unnecessarily tall and mounted Dragonite. Less than ten seconds later she was a distant speck in the distance. Shaking his head, he released all his Pokémon to let the know he was fine, to thank them for their aid and that they were carrying on with their journey.
It was around five hours later that Ash saw his destination in the distance. For the last half an hour he had been feeling slightly woozy so seeing a place to set up camp for the night was a godsend. An hour later Ash landed on Fukuhara and set up camp on the beach. He wasn't feeling great so after they had lit the fire and been fed Ash went to bed, even though it was only around 8pm and leaving his Pokémon to stay up and chat.
The next day Ash was feeling much better and decided to wander around the island. He sent Charizard on a scouting mission in the air to see how big the island was and was astonished when Charizard told him there were around ten other humans who had just landed on the far beach. According to Charizard it seemed like an archaeology team which piqued Ash's interest. Recalling everyone and packing up he made his way inland taking note of the various vegetation and fauna. There wasn't anything special on here he decided after walking through the forest for an hour.
"Not one Pokémon" Ash commented to Pikachu "Not one."
"It's not that surprising really" Pikachu said "this island is tiny and apart from trees and fish in the sea it's not very hospitable. And why is the ground so crumbly?"
"Yeah, I've noticed that too" Ash said agreeing with Pikachu "it's not very stable, is it? It feels like the whole island could give way at any moment. Ooh now what's this" he finished as the trees suddenly ended and in front of him was a huge cave entrance. Taking out a torch they headed inside and followed the tunnel that led to a cave with walls covered in what looked like shells. Taking out his Pokedex on a whim he pointed Dexter at the wall
"Kabuto Pokedex Entry 140, The Shellfish Pokemon. Kabuto is a Pokémon that has been regenerated from a fossil. However, in extremely rare cases, living examples have been discovered. The Pokémon has not changed at all for 300 million years."
"I knew it" Ash said excitedly "I knew they were Pokémon. These fossils must have been here millions of years." pulling one off Ash was amazed to find the wall surface that covered it shake off as it came to life in his very hands causing Ash to shout in shock. Reacting quickly, he hit it with an Aura Sphere knocking it out.
"Well apparently it's still alive" Pikachu sniggered poking the shellfish Pokémon. Ash shook his head and pulled another off and the same thing happened again.
"Ash" Pikachu said poking the second Kabuto "stop touching things or the whole bloody cavern will come down on us."
"Ok, ok" he said hurriedly. Looking around he heard faint voices and made a quick decision. Pulling out two Pokeballs he captured the two knocked out Pokémon and hid in a little alcove, Pikachu joining him. Soon voices could be heard a lot clearer.
"I'm telling you, I heard a voice" a voice said.
"We're the first people to visit this place in hundreds of years" a womans voice said.
"Then explain those boulders falling on us as we were coming here" the first voice said.
"You saw how crumbly the soil was." the womans voice replied "You're just being paranoid. My goodness, look at these walls!"
"They look like a very strange pattern" a different voice said "and look here, there's two indentations in the wall. I wonder what could have made them."
Deciding now would be the best time to reveal himself he picked up a rock and threw it on the ground causing everyone to look in his direction. Walking out of the shadows he took in who was there. Recognising the Nurse Joy from the Granpa Canyon expedition he smiled and waved.
"Hi" Ash said "it's been a while."
"Ash Ketchum" Joy said clutching her heart "you almost gave me a heart attack."
"Well, I thought making you aware someone was here would be a better thing to do than just speaking up from the shadows." Ash said laughing.
"You're not wrong" she said coming forward and hugging him, the top of her head barely reaching his chin "Look how much you've grown since I last saw you. And you're so handsome too!"
"You're making me blush" Ash said blushing heavily "How are you doing? Is your husband ok too?"
"Yeah, we're both fine thanks" Joy said her face lighting up happily at the mention of her husband "this is my last expedition of the year until next June, so I'll get to spend a lot of time with him soon."
"Let him know I asked about him and tell him thank you again for looking after me in Porta Vista." Ash said.
"I will" Joy replied "anyway what brings you here?"
"I'm here on research purposes actually" Ash said "I was reading up on this place and it intrigued me. It's made entirely out of limestone which makes it perfect for building on yet there is nothing on the island, not only that but not one Pokémon lives here. It's quite astounding."
"It is" a man said walking over and introducing himself as Steve "it's one of the reasons why we're here too. This wall is really strange too, it's a puzzle I just cant figure out."
"Oh, that's the easy bit" Ash said surprising them "they're Kabuto fossils. Every single one of them."
"Kabuto?" Joy said pulling one off making Ash and Pikachu wary. Strangely it didn't reanimate making Ash and Pikachu look at each other in concern. Why did he have a different reaction? "How do you know?"
"I scanned it with my Pokedex" Ash said repeating the process for everyone.
"Well, at least they're still dead" Steve said shuddering "I would hate to think what would happen if they all started reanimating at the same time. We had enough trouble with those boulders before" Ash didn't say anything.
"For the last time" Joy said exasperated "we are alone on this island."
"You said that and then Ash appeared" Steve countered "your record for this is less than stellar."
"What's this about boulders?" Ash asked
Rolling her eyes Joy told Ash what had plagued them since arriving on the island as they made their way out of the cave to set up camp just outside it. A few hours later when they were all sitting around the campfire swapping stories on extinct fossils Ash got the feeling that they were being watched. Sending out his aura he received a ping from around three hundred meters up above the cave. Standing up abruptly he released Charizard off to the side and told him what he felt. Taking wing Charizard decided to fly in the opposite direction and circle around as stealthily as he could hoping to identify who was spying on them.
Sitting back down the others looked nervously at hm.
"Everything ok?" Steve asked cautiously.
"No" he said nodding up at where he felt the presence "you were right in the cave. We're not alone."
"What?" Joy asked nervously "how do you know?"
"Aura" Ash said looking at them "none of you act suspicious, carry on with your chatting or they may disappear. I've sent Charizard to locate them. Anyway, you were saying about an Armaldo, in Altomere was it? I've never heard of that place."
"Oh yes" the man said carrying on with the story "theres a legend saying that the city of Altomere in Johto was attacked by fossil Pokémon a long time ago and was mysteriously saved when a wave forty foot high threatened to engulf the town suddenly vanished. No one knows how either but a short time later two statues of the Legendary Pokemon Latios and Latias were erected in the harbour as sort of Guardians to the city. The day after the curator of the local museum found a skeleton of an Armaldo inside the museum on the floor next to the fossils of Aerodactyl and Kabutops that were already set into the ground. Anyway, the curator dug up a section of the floor and set that into the ground next to the others. Supposedly the original fossils were Pokémon of a trainer that tried to destroy the City using a machine in the museum itself. Obviously, he failed, or it could just be a myth, but it was the first recorded fossil of an Armaldo in centuries."
"Oh wow" Ash said thoughtfully "I'll have to give it a visit sometime. It's in Johto you said? Where abouts?"
"It's an island just south of Azalea Town but you can also get a ferry from Cherrygrove Town." the man said, "I suppose you'd just fly there though and save money."
"More than likely yeah" Ash said jotting down the location in his journal "anyway here comes Charizard now." his big red dragon landed next to him and whispered in his ear causing Ash to nod.
"There's someone up there, hidden" Ash said "tomorrow while you guys do more research in the cave I'll go up there and see who this mysterious person is. For tonight myself and my Pokémon will keep watch." Joy grateful to Ash kissed him on the head as she went to bed.
The next day they rose just after 10am and set to their tasks. Ash decided the best way of finding the person was to trek through the woods from behind where he felt them the day before, so he flew on Charizard and landed half a mile away and set off trying to be as careful as possible. An hour later Ash began to get pings on his 'radar' and made his way in that direction. Soon enough he came to a campsite that had been left less than ten minutes before. Now in a rush Ash made his way down the hill towards where he knew the cave to be and saw to his horror a man releasing several boulders down the hill and onto the campsite. Several of them blocked the entrance to the cave trapping the scientists who were already in there. Ash reacted instantly coming behind the man and karate chopping him knocking him out. Releasing Charizard he asked him to take Ash and the man down to the campsite where after a few bumps and bruises (to the man) they landed. Immediately after tying the man up Ash released his original team and they set to work clearing the boulders from the cave.
"Ash" Joys voice came from inside the cave "we've checked deeper into the cave and there's no other way out."
"Try not to worry" Ash said "we'll get you out of there as soon as we can. We're focusing on one side to try and get some air into the cave for you first. I'd advise you all to move at least twenty feet away from the entrance in case rocks fall backwards into there. This shouldn't take long."
It took nearly six hours to clear enough of the boulders to help them clamber out of the cave. Helping them to the rather deep stream where he had erected privacy curtains he let them clean themselves up while he cleared more boulders. Eventually he had cleared enough of a path into the cave to be able to enter it again. Thanking his Pokémon he waded into the stream and fell face first into it causing laughter from the others. Ten minutes later he had cleaned himself up and got changed before walking back over to the man who had been silently observing them for the last hour.
"Now" Ash said dragging him to the campfire and sitting him down on a log "you're explanation better be phenomenally good for why you've just tried to kill us all."
"I wasn't trying to kill you" the man said gruffly "I was trying to scare you all away and I mistimed letting the boulders go. I was hoping to block the cave, so you'd clear off before it's too late."
"What do you mean too late" an irate Joy said looking at the man "my husband was five meters away from being a widower today because of you!"
"When the scavengers arrive the moon will glow an angry red, the land itself will vanish and be swallowed by the sea" The man intoned trying to sound mysterious "That is a prophecy handed down through generations of my family. It predicts what will happen if people take from this island that which is not theirs."
"You absolute lunatic" Ash said "you nearly killed people just because of some vague prophecy?"
"It is not vague!" the man shouted "there is a blood moon due this very night, one that hasn't happened in over a millennia! You will see, this night the island will vanish forever and you with it if you don't leave. I will say no more."
"I'll see you arrested" Joy said angrily standing up and going into her tent. A few hours later she emerged and walked into the cave followed by Ash.
"Do you believe the man" Joy asked Ash breaking the silence as he looked at her notes of this place.
"I'm not sure" Ash said looking at the Kabuto fossil in her hands "I think I'm starting to understand how it was formed though. I was telling Philena Ivy about the history of these islands, and it's just occurred to me that this was originally located at the northern point of Mandarin South. But what a lot of people don't know is that Mandarin South was located about ten miles West of OIivine City, where their limestone quarry is located now. I suspect this was a natural trap and all these Kabuto were in the middle of migrating and became trapped and sealed and when the Volcano erupted near Olivine, this part broke away in the process and kept travelling south until it's where we are now. It can't be a coincidence that thousands of Kabuto are in the same place by accident."
Whatever Joy was about to reply was interrupted by a screaming scientist heading their way "Joy" he shouted "The walls are breaking. The Kabuto are reanimating." and as if by magic the Kabuto in her hands started to change colour as the grime and dirt fell off and it started clicking angrily. Letting it go she stood up quickly, packed up her research and they left hurriedly to the camp. Exiting Ash realised that it had suddenly become very dark and when they got near they found that many of the scientists had already packed up their tents and we're rushing southwards down the stream towards their boat. Ash packed up his tent and followed them grabbing the man as he did and forcing him forward. As they reached the beach an almighty earthquake made them all fall to their knees as before their eyes the island started collapsing in on itself. Calling out Lapras and Blastoise he threw the man across Lapras' back, apologising to her and clambered onto Blastoise and headed out towards the boat, quickly followed by the research team on their own speedboats until they were about half a mile away from shore.
Turning around Ash looked up as the clouds shifted and the moon was glowing red. Hearing a gasp from Joy he followed her gaze and quickly brought out his pokegear and started recording what he saw. Thousands of Kabuto had surfaced to the top of the very choppy sea as the island vanished before them collapsing into nothingness and seemingly as one all the Kabuto turned North and moved off in that direction. There were so many it took a good few minutes for them to vanish but eventually they did. Making his way over to Joy who had just climbed aboard her expedition boat he hauled the man onto it and put him in one of the seats at the back. Ignoring the man who was looking smug he followed Joy into her cabin and gave her all his notes he had taken along with sending her a copy of the recording of the Kabuto.
"I don't want any credit" Ash said when she asked him if she could use him as a source "all these notes are yours, this is your expedition not mine. I was never here."
"Why?" Joy said surprised "some of these notes contain crucial information Ash. You must want something?"
"No" Ash said simply "I don't" seeing her mutinous expression he continued "I'll tell you what, should you and your husband decide to have kids let me know. I'd love to be an honorary uncle. And if you don't, for whatever reason I still expect you to keep in touch with me. Just send me a copy of your article whenever you write this up."
"Ok" said blushing. "I can agree to that. Thanks Ash, for everything."
Hugging her he smiled at her and left the cabin ignoring the man. Whistling for Blastoise he climbed on and said "Ok Pal, it looks like we'll be riding at night. Lapras, if you somehow get lost follow the moon, that's the way we're headed towards the next island. You should be fine as it's only eighty miles away. A place called Kinnow Island. Let's go."