Chapter 17: Against all odds
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NOW – ALOLA
Lance had to throw his arm in front of Kukui's chest to stop him from sprinting right in the middle of it.
Miriam turned her full attention to Ash, her back straightening in excitement. "There you are!"
Kukui's heart hurt looking at Ash. He was pale as a sheet, bloodied scratches all over his arms and clothes dripping wet – but the look on his face was thunderous, jaw set and eyes aflame. Ash spread his arms protectively, yelling at Miriam, "Leave Mewtwo and the pokemon living here alone! They've done nothing wrong!"
"Then stop resisting already, if you truly want me to leave them be", Miriam snapped back. "You're only making this harder for everyone involved!"
She was squeezing Mewtwo's poke ball tightly in her grip, fingers white-tipped. Mewtwo stayed completely still, like frozen in time, gazing at Ash with unreadable eyes.
"Why do try to get me to come with you?" Ash asked bluntly. "Is it about the stuff you were saying about the legendaries?"
"Well, it's true, isn't it?" Miriam said manically. "You have discovered a way to contact them. To lure them to your presence."
Ash took a faltering step back, looking dumbfounded. "Lure them? No, I-"
"Ash!" Lance shouted sharply. Both Miriam and Ash turned around, finally noticing them at the edge of the clearing. Ash's eyes widened.
"Ch… Champion Lance?" For a second, he looked almost too stunned to continue speaking. Then, he looked past the other two men and his eyes met with Kukui's, and his face opened. "Professor Kukui! Are you okay?"
"I'm all right, Ash", Kukui replied firmly. He turned to the hunter. "Miriam", he growled. "Enough of this nonsense. Can't you see this has already gone too far? You're never going to recover from this mess."
Miriam scoffed. "Nothing's impossible when you have Mewtwo at your side. That's something you lot are about to learn the hard way."
"You have no idea what kinda forces you're dealing with right now", Lance warned. "Not just the police of multiple regions, but the G-men, pokemon rangers and Island Kahunas of Alola as well. It's over, Miriam."
Looking past Miriam, Kukui could see that Ash had leaned over to whisper something to Pikachu while she was distracted. Pikachu was nodding, deep concern mixed with pure determination in its eyes. Ash looked like he was barely staying upright, his trembling hands braced against his knees and skin paled down to an unhealthy pallor. But his eyes were bright and his gaze steady as he pointed a finger at Miriam, whispering Pikachu his plans.
Suddenly, Kukui got an awful feeling about what was about to happen, adrenaline rushing through his body making him light-headed. He reached out and grabbed Nanu's shoulder desperately.
"Nanu", he choked out, when Nanu turned his frown at him. "We need to stop Ash! He's about to-"
"What?" Nanu snapped.
"I don't know", Kukui babbled. "I just know it's something risky – look!"
Ash had straightened his back again. Kukui didn't know where he got the strength from, but he looked steady again, hands fisted, and feet planted into the ground like he was preparing to withstand the force of a hurricane head on.
"Quick attack, Pikachu!" he ordered, and Pikachu was off like a bolt of lightning, zooming across the clearing and being all over Miriam before she was able to even fully turn around.
"Get it off, Mewtwo!" Miriam screamed as Pikachu ran lightning-quick circles around her feet, making dust and dirt billow all around her, forming a thick cloud that covered her from head to toe.
Mewtwo looked hesitant for a moment, the visibility around her so bad it must've been worried it would harm its master if it tried to attack Pikachu.
"Now, iron tail!" Ash shouted. "Just like we planned!"
Pikachu leaped up, smacking its tail at Miriam, who screeched in pain. Mewtwo's eyes started glowing and it raised one of its hands. A pulse of purple light shot out and hit Pikachu, sending it flying across the clearing until it smacked into the far trees. Pikachu yelped once, and when it hit the ground it stayed down, completely unmoving. Horrified, Kukui could only watch as Ash's face hardened even further, eyes darkening under his tangled tufts of hair.
Miriam was fuming with blind anger. "You- obnoxious- brat! What the hell was that? Did you really think-" She held her right hand with her left, protectively pressing it against her chest. It looked like it was broken – it must've taken the brunt of Pikachu's iron tail. She pointed at Ash with her good hand. "You really thought that did something?"
But Ash was hardly listening to her. He had fallen to his hands and knees, crawling across the clearing like he was looking for something. Breathing hard and thin, shaking hands patting down the grass below him, he moved forward with single-minded focus.
"We need to do something", Nanu muttered. "Now that she's distracted."
It was a dangerous idea. Miriam's full attention was on Ash, and she was furious. One wrong move and she would direct her anger at someone – most likely Ash – with the full force of the legendary Mewtwo by her side.
"One last chance, brat", Miriam seethed. And then suddenly, she had her eyes turned at Kukui, Lance and Nanu, that manic glint now directed at them. Kukui felt a sense of imminent danger settling over them. Miriam grinned madly. "Give up and come with me, or I'll order Mewtwo to blast your precious professor and his buddies into million tiny little pieces! I'll give you five seconds to decide."
Following her cue, Mewtwo turned on its place and faced Kukui and the others. It started glowing, its energy rapidly building into a thick bubble around it.
Miriam counted, "Three, two, one…"
Ash pushed up to his knees. His eyes were sharp, mouth a thin line. He held something in his palms as he struggled all the way back to his feet.
"Destroy them, Mewtwo."
With a final glance at Kukui, Ash sprinted the last few meters that separated him from the line of sight between Mewtwo and its targets.
Kukui's heart dropped, horror filling him from head to toe. He didn't even hear himself scream.
"NO!"
Ash skidded to a stop, his back to Kukui, facing Mewtwo, and took the massive blast straight to his chest.
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THEN – SINNOH
It didn't take long for Brock and Ash to reach the front gates. The doors were lodged open ja Brock walked straight out of the property, and past the gates on the road were multiple parked trucks and motorcycles. Brock threaded through them until he stopped by a one with an open back, and without further ado he turned and eased Ash to sit on the edge of the hold.
"May, Max", he said, while Ash struggled with basic balance and tipped straight over onto his back with a huff. "I got Ash. Where's the change of clothes for him?"
"Just a second!" May's voice said, and Ash looked up just as Max leaned over him in wonder.
"Ash!" he yelled happily, crouching by him. "You made it!"
Ash grinned up at him. "Max!"
May was standing behind Max, with a towel and a bundle of clothes in her arms. "Don't touch him, Max", she warned. "He's covered in that weird stuff. Here-"
She dropped the towel onto Ash, who grabbed greedily onto the soft material with his sticky, freezing fingers. "Thanks", he said earnestly.
He pushed himself into a sitting position and began toweling off most of the remaining goo from his skin, hair and clothes.
"And here are the clothes – they're your own spare change from your backpack", May said, giving him the bundle. She turned away politely while Ash changed into familiar, fresh jeans and a hoodie. He felt vaguely bad for ruining Abigail's borrowed clothes so completely, but he also had an inkling she wouldn't care all that much.
"Oh, and-" Brock started, rummaging around one of the backpacks that were stored in the truck. "Something I forgot to give back to you at the pokemon center…"
He straightened his back and presented Ash's long-lost cap in his hand. "Tada!"
Ash's eyes widened. He grabbed the hat and turned it around in his hands. He'd assumed it had flown off while he was hanging outside the aircraft or something. "Oh, wow! I thought I lost it forever! Where did you find it?"
"Luckily, it dropped while Hunter J's aircraft was taking off inside the Tree", Brock told him. "I knew you would be looking for it later, so I grabbed it."
Smiling gratefully, Ash put it on. "Thanks, guys", Ash said, feeling much more like himself already. He looked down at his hands. His skin was scratched and bruised from the various tumbles he'd taken, tiny cuts littering his forearms and his trusty old fingerless gloves almost worn through. His skin was deathly pale, almost translucent. He remembered what Lucario had said to him after the tank: You feel hazy. They took too much.
Ash knew it was bad. He gnawed on his lip, feeling his friends' eyes on him.
"What happened to you?"
It was May. She crouched down next to him, taking his hand on hers. She squeezed his fingers carefully.
"You're shaking."
Ash knew he was. He shrugged, thinking about Lucario attempting to donate its aura to him. He wondered if it was okay, if Tobias had found it amidst the chaos of the battlefield.
"Just need some rest", Ash said, still not looking up. "You see, they used my- they were using Lucario's and Mew's aura to create a Mewtwo. It was…" He breathed in shakily. "The process was gonna kill Mew and- and maybe Lucario. So I…"
He shrugged again, and Brock hummed softly. "You offered your aura for it too, didn't you?"
Ash nodded at the floor. "So now there's another Mewtwo. A-and it's gonna suffer… 'cause of what we did."
Brock gave him a heavy look. "Doesn't sound to me like there was much you could've done to stop it."
Just as Ash raised his head to look at him, there was a yell and the sound of running steps, and then-
"PIKAPI!"
Ash was tackled to the floor by something small and yellow and sparking. He let out a startled laugh, breathless, relieved. Finally.
"Pikachu!"
Pikachu crawled all over him, nudging his neck and face and licking side of his ear, before backing off with a disgusted look in its eyes. "Bleh!" it complained, wiping its tongue with its paw as it tasted the residue goo on his skin.
Ash just laughed harder. "Sorry, buddy. I know it's gross."
"Piikaa…"
It flopped down to lay on his chest, content to just be close to him. Ash wrapped his arms around it and looked up to greet the newcomers.
"Hi Abby, hi Kellyn", he said, grinning lopsidedly. He did a double take seeing the third person. "And Kidd, hey!"
Kidd Summers laughed. "Hello to you too. Lance asked me to come help with the cleanup, so here I am."
"Ash, thank the gods", Abigail gasped, hopping into the truck to kneel next to him. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Gave us a good scare", Kellyn groused. "We followed Latias into that warehouse but only found Max and Tobias there… Wasn't a great moment."
"Max said they took you and Lucario to Team Enigma… That you were supposed to help them get Mew back, somehow", Abby murmured, brushing her fingers along his arm lightly. "Lance was beside himself when he heard that."
"Yeah", Max said in a small voice. "It was kinda scary when you didn't come back anymore."
"Well, I mean, we got out", Ash hurried to say, looking at Pikachu. "But I'm worried about Lucario and Mew. I- um. I lost them back there."
"Tobias is looking for them right now", Brock told Abigail and Kellyn. He said to Ash, "I'm sure they're fine."
"And you'd be right", someone said behind them. "Well, at least about Lucario."
Turning around in a hurry, they saw Tobias approaching with Lucario and his Darkrai following close behind.
"Lucario!" Ash gasped, rolling onto his hand and knees.
"Hey, Ash-"
"Pikapi-"
"Are you alright?" Ash asked Lucario, ignoring Pikachu and Abigail's protests as he crawled towards it and Tobias.
Ash! Lucario greeted, rushing the rest of the distance to reach for Ash. It grabbed his hands and – it flinched, eyes widening as it looked at him in concern.
Ash, you are…
Ash smiled tightly and retracted his hands, pulling away from Lucario. "Glad you're okay", he said quickly.
"Found it hiding near the front entrance", Tobias said. "Apparently Mew disappeared after it had teleported Ash and Lucario away from the lab. No one has seen it – or Mewtwo, for that matter – since."
"Did you find Lance?" Brock asked.
Tobias nodded. "Yes. The situation is mostly under control. They are wrapping up the operation soon. Oh, and-" He leveled a look at Ash. "Pokemon Hunter D has been arrested as well. Thought you'd want to know."
Ash leaned against the truck wall, feeling slightly woozy. "Yeah, we saw him earlier. Officer Jenny must've gotten him." His last sentence came out in a jumble of barely pronounced words.
Abigail frowned at him. "You're so pale, Ash. Are you gonna be alright?"
Lucario hopped into the truck. He needs attention immediately, it said curtly. Let me assist him.
"No!" Ash snapped, and there must've been something stark in his voice because Lucario froze, and everyone around them turned to look at Ash in shock. Ash grimaced, pushing himself tighter against the wall. His voice was weak when he added, "Stay back."
Pikachu hopped onto his lap, looking unsure if it needed to defend him from something or not, and Brock's voice got soft as he sighed, "Ash…"
"I'll be fine", Ash muttered, and felt a bit like he was trying to convince himself as much as the others.
Something caught his eye, and he squinted into the darkness. There was someone walking down the road towards them.
"Were you looking for Mew?"
Ash new that voice. Miriam.
He jolted, scooping Pikachu tightly in his arms. "Watch out, guys!" he yelped, and Tobias, Kidd and Kellyn instantly moved to stand by the end of the truck, positioning themselves between the approaching hunter and the rest of their group.
"Who are you?" Kellyn demanded, and Miriam laughed. She pointed past him, straight at Ash.
"Someone who has unfinished business with that brat."
Kidd squared her shoulders, her hand moving to her belt of poke balls. "Don't step any closer."
"What did you say about Mew?" Tobias asked in a low tone.
Miriam's grin stretched. "Hello to you too, brother. It's been a while."
"Brother?" Kellyn repeated incredulously, while Tobias's expression got darker.
"Miriam."
Ash couldn't help but stare between them. "You… you're brother and sister? But that means…"
"Yes", Tobias said through his teeth. "Saga is our mother. Enigma is a family business. That's why it has been so difficult to get out of it."
"Ah, yes. Toby really is the black sheep of our family", Miriam chuckled. "Always complaining, always going against our Mother's wishes…"
"And you, instead, couldn't wait to grow up fast enough to go to capture missions with them", Tobias spat. "Always excited when they brough home a catch in 'prime condition'. Begging Mother to give you the best ones."
Miriam laughed. "Like anyone knowing their worth would. Not like you who wanted the broken and defective ones that were about to be eliminated because no one would buy them. I still remember you crying when they told you you couldn't save them all." She mimicked a child's voice in a mocking way, "B-but mommy! I know that Latias is half-blind, b-but I still want it! P-please don't kill it, Mommy!"
Tobias's eyes darkened. "You know Latias has lived a good life with me. All of them have. Even Darkrai was seriously ill when I got it, and it's now the strongest of my team."
"You're right, I've got to give it to you", Miriam retorted. "You've always had a knack of dealing with the difficult ones." Her voice lowered into a snarl. "Too bad you decided to betray us."
"Sure. And I shouldn't've waited this long with that", Tobias said bluntly. "Seeing how you almost just killed Mew."
Miriam suddenly looked pissed off. "Mew this, Mew that! What is it with your obsession with that damn pokemon?"
"That Mew is extremely important for the region it came from", Kidd said seriously. "If it were to die, hundreds, if not thousands of people and pokemon would suffer."
"And why would I care?" Miriam snorted. "It came from Kanto, anyway, so it has nothing to do with Sinnoh. My region is going to be fine. Kanto can perish for all I care."
That hit Ash somewhere deep, and he had to bite his lip not to start arguing with her – there was something more important he had to do. He'd seen something behind Miriam, and he'd need to get there, quickly and without getting noticed, while she was too busy one-upping her brother.
Silently, he slid towards the edge of the truck and shook his head at May and Abigail as they reached for him in concern. Pikachu crawled along with him, sensing his plan.
Brock must've noticed it too, because he stepped forward, effectively blocking him from the view of Miriam. "I heard the G-men have already captured Saga and most of her men", he told her, clearly attempting to rile her up. "Doesn't sound that good for you or for the future of Team Enigma."
Miriam bared her teeth at him. "It's not over yet. That's why I'm here – to finish off some loose ends."
Ash had dropped onto the gravel and was crawling on his hands and knees around the group, arms trembling and sweat building on his forehead from the exertion. Pikachu kept glancing at him in worry, but Ash kept his eyes firmly trained ahead and kept going.
There was a small ball hovering inches off the ground, and Ash knew it was a capturing device. He'd seen something similar used on Pikachu by Team Rocket more times than he could count. And he had a pretty good idea which pokemon was held inside it.
"And what would those be?" Kellyn asked, eyes narrowing threateningly.
Miriam drew up to her full height. "That damn kid who-" She glanced past Brock, into the truck, and choked to a stop when he noticed Ash was missing. Her eyes widened in alarm. "Where-?"
Ash had reached the capture ball, and tugged it into his arms, bracing it against his body. "Pikachu, use iron tail", he croaked, and Pikachu readied the attack just as Miriam yelled, "NO!"
"Piika-chu!"
"Stop that!"
The ball in Ash's arms shook and cracked, and Mew burst out, weakened but furious.
"Cresselia, use psycho cut!"
Miriam threw a poke ball and a beautiful legendary burst out, already aiming at Ash and Pikachu. Ash sat blinking on the ground, too sluggish to think of anything to do, but Pikachu was ready. Cheeks sparkling, it jumped in front of the powerful attack and countered with thunderbolt.
It wasn't quite strong enough, and the psychic move cut through it and slammed into Pikachu.
"Pika!" it yelped in pain as it flew back, and Ash caught it before it could hit the ground. Cresselia was fresh and immensely powerful, and they were too close to each other for a fair fight, and Ash knew from experience this could only end one way.
"Cresselia, use moonblast!"
Ash wrapped his arms tightly around struggling Pikachu and turned over, bracing to take the attack himself. He squeezed his eyes shut but realized after a few seconds that the move never connected. Heart racing, he looked around and saw they were held inside a protective bubble of glowing energy.
"Lucario", Ash gasped, and Lucario glanced at him from where it was standing over them, arms raised to shield them with its aura.
I cannot hold this for long, it warned. We need to get away from her.
Outside of the bubble, there was fighting. Ash could barely see Miriam's Cresselia going against Tobias's Darkrai, and the shape of Brock running towards him and Lucario.
"Ash!" he shouted, and it sounded muffled trough the rumble of the aura that surrounded them. "Ash, are you okay?"
Ash got up to his knees just as Lucario let out a breath and stumbled, shield dropping. It fell back, and Ash reached to brace it against his body. The noise of the battle hit them with a slam and Brock was suddenly leaning over him, hands reaching to check him over.
"I'm fine", Ash said, and his voice sounded distant to his ears. Pikachu jumped away from his hold and snapped something scathing at him. Ash grimaced, batting away Brock's searching hands. "But Lucario and-"
He looked around and saw Mew slumped on the ground behind him, barely able to keep its upper body off the ground. It mewled softly and then flinched as Cresselia's attack was barely blocked by a beedril Kellyn must've just caught with his capture styler.
"How do we get out of here?" Brock muttered to Ash, looking around worriedly. "I can carry you, but someone needs to take Lucario and Mew, too."
"I can help", Kidd said from behind him. She stepped forward and bent over to tug Lucario up and against her side. Brock grabbed Ash's hands and pulled him up, and Ash swayed and leaned hard against him to stay on his feet. Pikachu crawled under Mew and lifted it onto its back, and together their ragtag group shuffled back towards the truck.
"If we can just get back to the truck and get it moving…" Brock said under his breath.
"Ash, Brock!" Max yelped, and suddenly he and May were running towards them. Their eyes were wide and scared, lit up by the flashing lights of the aggressive battle going on near them. "What's going on?"
Brock started towards them, horrified. "No, guys, stay back!"
Squeezed against his side, Ash could only watch as Miriam released her Gardevoir and had it use dazzling gleam towards them. A powerful light built around Gardevoir and then it charged, straight at the unprotected May and Max. May screamed, throwing herself in front of Max, but someone was even faster.
Mew leapt off Pikachu's back and stretched its tiny body wide, and a bubble of energy formed around the kids, their pokemon, Brock and Kidd. Ash blinked, once, twice, and the third time he looked around they were no longer in the forest.
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NOW – ALOLA
The following moments were a blur. Lots of yelling, lots of running around, both Lance and Nanu throwing out their pokemon – multiples of them, advancing on Miriam with a thunderous fury they only reserved for their worst enemies. Kukui falling down to his knees next to Ash's limp form, numb fingers patting down his barely moving chest, pulling his head and shoulders onto his lap, brushing his messy hair away from his eyes.
"Ash", he muttered, voice hoarse from screaming. "Please. No, please, Ash…"
As Kukui moved him, Ash's bent arm slid down from his chest and straightened against the grass, his palm opening, and broken pieces of a poke ball fell away from his limp fingers. Kukui stared at the singed pieces of blue material, struggling to comprehend what he was seeing. What it was that Ash had literally put his life on the line for.
Before he could fully make sense of it, a large form loomed over them, landing softly and silently onto the grass on the other side of Ash.
Kukui raised his head in blind anger, ready to yell or punch or even bite at anything that might still want to hurt Ash. Arms tightening protectively around the thin shoulders that laid on his lap.
Mewtwo. It gazed down at Ash, its expression unreadable. There was no longer a collar around its neck, and it looked softer somehow – serious, but gentle.
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he freed me.
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Kukui's took a sharp breath. A shiver went down his spine at its voice. He stared up at it.
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why?
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Kukui could hardly speak through the lump in his throat.
"That's just who Ash is", he whispered.
Mewtwo reached down to where Ash's hand laid, picking up a piece of its own broken poke ball between its fingers.
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he sacrificed his life for my freedom.
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Dread filled Kukui's heart. "His life?"
Mewtwo nodded.
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that blast was meant to kill. it was how my master intended.
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"She's no longer your master", Kukui forced out. He didn't bother trying to wipe away his tears before they fell. He had to make sure Ash was still breathing under his hands. And he was – thin and rattling, but still breathing. He wasn't dead.
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he jumped in front of that beam fully aware of the decision he had made.
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Mewtwo tilted its head as it bent over Ash's still form. Kukui held his breath.
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it was during that final second before my attack was upon him when I realized it. I saw how he held my prison in his hands, how the only thing he clearly wanted was to destroy it and set me free from my shackles. that was when I realized why I felt such a strange connection to him.
"Why?" Kukui whispered. Mewtwo pressed its hand against its chest.
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there's a part of him in me. a part of him he had donated willingly to me years ago, before I even took my first breath. I knew I couldn't let him die. so… it was during that final second when I was able to stop the attack from hitting him fully.
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Mewtwo straightened, raising to float slightly above the ground once again.
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he shall live.
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Kukui dropped his head, tears flowing freely now. "Thank you", he breathed out. "Thank you."
Mewtwo said nothing more. It glanced towards where Lance and Nanu had Miriam pressed against the ground, thick shackles going around her wrists, and without sparing her another glance, it continued to another direction, leaving Kukui alone with Ash again.
Kukui wiped dirt and blood away from Ash's forehead. He seemed fragile, as small and pale as he was in that moment, though Kukui knew he was anything but. Not a single other person would go to the lengths to protect others like Ash would. He was insanely reckless, insanely stupid, insanely brave and selfless. And Kukui had never loved him more.
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Mewtwo returned after a minute. It was carrying Pikachu, the little mouse half-awake in its grasp, weakly struggling to reach towards Ash. Mewtwo laid it gently onto Ash's chest, and Pikachu burrowed into it, whining softly into the crook of Ash's neck.
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I thank you, Ash Ketchum.
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And Kukui held them, steady and strong for the both of them for a change, until the medics finally rushed the scene and made him let them go.