Ron the True Fan: And once again. Remember, my primary writing motivation is YT subs! Links to the channel are in the profiles.
Route 38 - Johto Region - 1008 hours local time - Day 423 of Ash Ketchum's Journey
Ash kept his badges out of sight. For good reason.
Bloody goddamn magpies. Fortunately, the Murkrows had other things to focus on.
Staring at their type counterparts as all four Natus STARED at the crows. And the parrots were not happy.
"NATU…" said the birds.
Ruby looked at the parrots. "They're adorable when they're angry." she said, resisting the urge to pick one up and cuddle with them.
Silver rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as they stopped to avoid hurting the murder. …which is what a group of crows are called. And Ash knew Murkrows were goddamn magpies, so… he was keeping the badges out of sight.
Then the Natus all took to the air and started pecking the Murkrows.
"KROW!" cried the murder as they were relentlessly pecked by the parrots. It was almost comical to see a bunch of green balls with beaks pecking crows wearing witch hats. Before it could get more violent, though, a Pokeball smacked into one of the Murkrows, capturing it without much resistance.
Ash turned to find Silver smirking like Giovanni, before he saw Ash looking at him. "Well… I wanted a Murkrow." he said sheepishly.
Ash supposed he couldn't blame him, plus it saved him the trouble of needing to recover his badges. The Natus redoubled the pecking, forcing the murder of crows to retreat.
The Natus teleported, returning to their respective trainer and making smug 'Natu's.
"Best parrot." Kyoji declared, petting the green ball of feathers.
"Gible!" 'Best Poke-friend!' agreed the yellow land shark, prompting Kyoji to pet him, too, resulting in an eyesmile and happy warbles. "Gib…" 'Best friend period…'
"Natu." 'Flawless victory.' said Anabel's parrot.
Three hours later
The Natus stared at one another.
"Natuception!" declared Yang as the parrots stared at one another, while Ash was talking to the fifth Natu's trainer, a young boy around 8 years old who got his bird early because of his dad.
"How he thinks he would be a terrible father, I will never know." Kyoji muttered, saying what all of Ash's lady-friends were thinking as Ash did what he did best: teach someone to be confident and improve themselves.
Serena, though, was in the middle of a daydream, seeing Ash as older and the young boy with black hair… and with a little blonde girl listening to their daddy.
Robin and Mei actually backed away as Serena had her happy moment, but the other 'veterans' all had similar moments of 'Ash would be a GREAT father'.
"Three more years." Serena said aloud. "Three. More. YEARS."
"SOMEONE wants babies." Kyoji muttered.
"Yes. I do. I want Ash to show off his parenting skills." Serena said, very proud and eager. "He will be the PERFECT father. You'll see!"
Kyoji had absolutely no doubts about that… once they got out of the toddler years.
"Hey, guys!" came the call from a friend as Casey ran up, Red running towards her to greet her.
Some might consider this unnecessary. They might even find it creepy.
But after a year of active resistance and frustration with Ash, Kyoji wanted to help someone else attain love and happiness. Ruby, Yang and Weiss took every chance to spend time with Red, why NOT give them a hand? And Casey too, when she caught up with them or got ahead.
…He had a good idea WHY…
So why NOT help them stop dancing around one another?
First, though, he had to convince Casey to go WITH them. Shouldn't be that hard.
The following events take place over the next two weeks…
"MMPH!" cried Red as Yang fell on top of him, their lips meeting as Serena and Kyoji's Gible cheered, lilac and brown staring into one another.
"GAH!" Weiss cried as she ducked into a bush after her dress floated off when she fell into the water, Red blushing at her lithe form when not hidden by it.
Natu safely kept the dress in his tiny little talons.
"…I can almost understand why Misty hates bugs." Casey groused as a bunch of Spinarak stared out of her sleeping bag, Kyoji punching the air as she was forced to share a bag with Red.
Date night was going well for Red and Ruby. So much so, Serena and Kyoji almost exposed themselves as the two came close to kissing.
The cuddles. THE CUDDLES!
…the enforced cuddles, as there was so much rain that they were cut off from the wagons thanks to a certain land shark and it was COLD.
"You know Ash is going to kill you for this, right?" Anabel asked as Kyoji and Serena snuck peeks at the group with binocs.
"His vow is dead and never covered anyone but him anyway." Serena retorted. "Besides, I'd rather see them happy and together than dancing around each other until the end of time."
"What the hell are you two doing?" came the voice of an annoyed Ash, who walked up behind them, a steaming cup of coffee in hand, Pikachu walking beside him with his own mug.
His wife-to-be and de-facto best friend gave each other a look of 'we're boned'. "…Shipping." Kyoji said sheepishly.
"My love life is one thing." Ash snapped, angry on his brother's behalf. "But Red and those girls are another. You had NO right-"
"Ash, they've been dancing around each other for nearly three months." Serena cut off. "They clearly love one another. They're just too shy to admit it. We're not forcing anything, we're just… providing lubrication."
Ash groaned as Pikachu snickered. "WHY did you have to make that sound perverted?" asked the trainer.
"I literally can't help it," his blonde betrothed replied. "Jade isn't just my libido, she's my confidence. They all have to share the wheel. But after your Greenfield confession-"
"You've felt more confident than ever." Kyojji finished. "And because you're more confident, you sound like a total pervert."
Serena shrugged helplessly. "It's part of who I am. I can't help it." she finished.
Ash sighed. "Just… tone it the hell down. I don't want your antics getting passed along to our kids when we eventually start having them." he asked, right before Serena glomped and kissed him, almost knocking the coffee mug out of his hand.
Kyoji could hear happy moaning from both of them as they started actively making out, turning his attention back to the other happy group, finding Casey hugging Red… and then gently planting her lips on his for a few seconds. And then he smooched Weiss. Then Ruby.
Ash wasn't entirely wrong.
But he wasn't right, either. If two people are clearly in love with one another, you don't leave it alone. You help them get together and be happy.
Though Ruby and Yang were sisters. That… might make matters difficult…
They could work it out on their own.
With said group, Red was working on that himself.
Casey liked him for the same reason Misty liked Ash: cheerful, outgoing and confident, minus the issues he had.
Weiss for his understanding, his eagerness to help.
Yang because he could have fun, try to cheer people up and played along with her teasing.
Ruby because she shared his enthusiasm for Pokemon, the excitement when they saw something so rare and monumental and the eagerness to improve and help people.
That and the girls liked how easy he was on the eyes. They had a good idea what he'd look like when he was older thanks to Ash. And they liked what they saw.
Just… one problem. Red could only have one girlfriend. Normally.
Thank Arceus he was, thanks to the revelation of Ash being Crown Prince, allowed to have multiple spouses as a member of the Rotan Royal Family.
One step at a time, though.
"How is this even going to work?" Red asked, the girls all cuddling for warmth in the rain with him. He couldn't call them his girlfriends - romantic interest or not - and while harem might be accurate, it was also a little demeaning.
"A day at a time." Ruby said, yawning at the end. "Just like your brother."
"Seconded." said Casey, who was barely awake.
Red smiled before seeing something approach in the rain.
It… was Ash. he was carrying a waterproof bag, probably with a thick blanket in it, while he was getting drenched. He got closer, under the cover of the tree, opening the bag and removing the blanket before draping it over the group, instantly making them more comfortable.
"Be good to him." Ash warned the girls, sounding like their father, Grimsley Ketchum, before going through the rain back to the wagons, the infamous Johto mud almost sucking him down in places before finally, barely, getting back to the safety of the road.
Red was sure Ash just didn't want to deal with the first three years of dealing with kids, because he would be a REALLY great dad.
50 years prior - Ilex Forest - 13 years after the Cipher War and Shadow Rebellion
It was unusually dry.
Johto was known for three things: being the capital province of the URN - now past tense - having Pokemon that were different then Kanto and the mud.
But it had been unusually clear for weeks, allowing Sammy Oak to indulge in his hobby of Pokemon sketch art without getting sunk three feet into the mud.
"Playing with your toys?" asked a gray-haired young woman, who, somehow, was Sammy's girlfriend in spite of them being polar opposites, making him jump.
Agatha was dressed in dour colors, but still smiled, looking like a happy young woman in a funeral home. Sammy was more serious, wearing plain khaki pants and a white shirt.
"Aggie, don't scare me like that!" Sammy demanded, the ghost-type trainer smirking like a Gengar.
"Couldn't resist. You were so focused on sketching that you ignored everything else." 'Aggie' replied before climbing onto his lap. "Besides, you promised me a special edition."
"Well, go find a good tree and-"
"BBBBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
Both turned to the sound of the cry. A Pokemon, certainly. But not one either had heard before.
It didn't matter: if this was a Pokemon under attack by a Shadow Pokemon, they needed to help, Sammy shoving everything into his bag and running, Aggie hot on his heels.
"BBBBBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" 'GET OFF MY ASS, YOU SON OF A BITCH! I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH THIS AGAIN!' snapped Celebi, flying away from a Houndoom and a Scyther, with some jackass on a bike tailing them.
This was ridiculous. Celebi DID NOT want to do this crap twice over.
But stable time loops and all that. Oak clearly remembered what happened and so did Agatha. So she had to get both of them and jump into the future.
And there were her targets.
She slammed into the younger Oak, who then hit Agatha, knocking them over before she began the process of traveling through time.
They'd live.
Day 251 - Arborville - 1103 hours
Kyoji stared at the two on the bed. The gray-nette looked kinda cute, if familiar. …Oh, screw it, she was a hottie.
"Kyoji…" Ash started, getting his attention. "That's Agatha."
Kyoji looked at her. Then at Ash. Then back to her. This cycle lasted a few minutes.
"As in the old Elite Four ghost master?" asked the Ranseian soldier incredulously. "HOW? I mean, ok, time travel-"
"The face looks the same and the hair…" Ash trailed off, as Agatha's hair color was exactly the same as when she was an old woman. "I think Giratina let her get old, but only because it was honest. The dead don't lie."
"And Giratina is the lord of the dead, making him, her, IT the most honest being in the universe." Kyoji finished as the two began to stir.
"Celebi!" cried Samuel 'Sammy' Oak, Ash putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Calm down." Ash said firmly. "You're in Arborville. Celebi wasn't with you. She probably flew off to recover safely. We brought you here so you didn't get covered in mud."
Sammy glared at Ash. "Why should I believe you?" he demanded.
Ash, not even offended, rose an eyebrow. "If I was lying, wouldn't you still be in the middle of the forest, waiting to get rained on and drowned in the mud?" he asked, even as Pikachu sparked threateningly. "Pikachu, calm down. He has every reason to be suspicious. And YOU need to not electrocute him, former Shadow Pokemon or not."
Sammy blinked, as did Kyoji before the Ranseian figured it out. This was Professor Oak as a kid.
Ash was reassuring him that the future was going to be brighter. And considering Ash was the living expert on time-related bullshit…
Except for the Celebi that thought he was her dad…
"HOLY CRAP! A CELEBI!" Yang yelled outside.
"POKEDEXES! POKEDEXES!" cried Ruby excitedly.
Oh, boy.
Entry 132: Ilex Forest
Also known as the Forest of Time, Ilex Forest is a hotspot of temporal activity, being home to a shrine dedicated to Celebi.
Celebi has been fleetingly in the forest multiple times, including a clear photograph of the pixie Pokemon five years prior to the Cipher War.
Ron the True Fan: Welcome to Movie 4! Now…WHY do I constantly refer to this as Ilex Forest? Because the WHOLE FUCKING FOREST encompasses Johto. But Ash WAS going through the portion in the game anyway. The anime, as usual, just expanded on it and put a whole tree town in there.
Takeshi Yamato: Yeah. And… time travel. Again. …WHY did I let Ron talk me into this?
Ron the True Fan: Talk you into what? You fucked off on the writing part long ago. Movie 4 is my problem and mine alone.
Takeshi Yamato: True enough. Still… My opinion on time travel is clear and has been stated MULTIPLE TIMES across various forms of media, but I'll say it again: There is no middle ground. It is either incredibly good or it's CRINGE-WORTHY. And the latter is far more common than the former, so I tend to stay clear if I can help it.
Ron the True Fan: Translation: It's either Star Trek First Contact or it's Doctor Who. In that order: Trek rarely, if ever, makes shit time travel stories. Doctor Who has been a steaming pile of Triceratops shit for decades in contrast. I'd know: I was forced to watch it and I was ten seconds away from SLITTING MY WRISTS just to get away. Thank Gible for DVDs with Trek. Speaking of, check out Ship and Soul for more Trek fun. And speaking of Trek, my YT channel (link to it is in the profile) is now airing the story campaigns for Star Trek Starfleet Command 2 - Orion Pirates Plus so check THAT out too. And leave a sub. PLEASE.
Takeshi Yamato: And Star Trek Adventures players, keep watching the Tethys Shipyards for more Trek Spaceframes and Hero Ships! We're also going to be doing another new series soon, separate from Tethys. The first vid will be made and posted on Saturday, so keep an eye out for that.
Ja Ne!
