Ah, humanity.
Driftveil City, Unova
"Hey, you're hearing that funky music too, right?"
"Sango, I swear if this is another one of your jokes-"
"Chill out, I'm sure of what I saw, Onyx." She interrupted him while she was on top of her Glalie, who was hovering around the man. The duo was atop what appeared to be a church on a hill, looking down at the Driftveil Gym. "You can say I'm a clown all you want, but you know I get serious when it comes to the keys."
"If anything you're more of a jester." Onyx replied. "Even then, we're talking about stealing from the richest person in Unova. This guy will obviously have a lot of security. Maybe we should ask Agate before doing anything."
"Oh, please, you heard her, she told us to leave her alone while she looked for those Pokemon." Sango replied. "Come on, it'll be easy. He's a miner and we're two members of the Off-Colors, what's the worst that could happen?"
"...Fine, let's make this fast." He replied before jumping off the roof.
"Heck, yeah!" Sango exclaimed while her Glalie followed him.
Back at the Asagi.
"It all began a few days after I decided to join Drake." Friede started narrating. "We navigated for a while on his boat until we arrived at a seaside cave on the southeast of Paldea."
...
"Hey, Old Man, are you sure of where we're going?" Friede asked a few steps behind Drake, while his Pikachu walked next to the captain illuminating the cave using Flash.
"Yup, and like I told you, if we're really going to do this, then we're gonna need a ship."
"But we already got a ship!" Friede complained.
"That old stuff isn't up to the task, I'm afraid we're gonna need a bigger boat." Drake replied while the two kept walking until they made it to a small lake inside the cave, which had some ships wrecked inside of it.
"Uh, sorry to disappoint you, old man, but I was expecting something more visually impressive." Friede said.
"Don't be deceived by looks." Drake said releasing a Kingdra on the lake to then hold onto his back fin. "Hey, does your Garchomp know how to swim?"
"Uh, yes?" Friede replied.
"Then take a deep breath and follow us." Drake said before Kingdra took a sudden dive with him onto the lake.
"H-hey, wait!... I'm suddenly having second thoughts about following this guy." Friede said before releasing Garchomp and jumping to his back along with Pikachu, the shark took a dive as well and once they were underwater they realized that the small lake was an entrance to a huge underground sea, they then noticed Drake and Kingdra going down to the seafloor and Garchomp quickly followed them.
Kingdra stopped in front of a giant sand mountain and waited until Garchomp was next to him, Drake then looked at Friede and pointed at the sand before tapping on Kingdra's back, with the seahorse shooting a Dragon Pulse afterwards, Garchomp looked at Friede who nodded at him and Garchomp then joined with another Dragon Pulse, both kicking up the sand until it settled down to reveal what appeared to be the mix of a blimp and a pirate ship, this caused Friede to gasp in surprise until he remembered they were still underwater and quickly covered his mouth causing Drake to laugh before he pointed at the ship, Kingdra then swam towards it and Garchomp followed him.
The two made it to the very top of the ship where they found a hatch, Drake returned Kingdra and tried to open it without success only to be joined by Friede, with their combined effort being enough to open the vault which sucked them inside the ship, with Garchomp quickly following them and closing the hatch before the water filled the place.
"HAHAHA! That was great!" Drake exclaimed standing up and looking around while Friede recovered. "I almost can't believe this big guy didn't founder after all this time."
"Where- ...are we?" Friede asked between coughs.
"Come with me." Drake said guiding Friede through several hallways and stairs until they made it to the bridge of the ship. "This is home... Welcome to the Brave Asagi, Fred."
"It's Friede." He replied.
"Yeah, sure." Drake said while placing his hands on the helm. "My friends and I built this lovechild of a ship and an aircraft 30 years ago. We flew around Paldea and the world under the name of 'The Rising Tacklers'." He said to then crouch and take a small box that was right beneath the helm before walking back to Friede, opening the box to reveal a Golden key with a blue water droplet as its symbol.
"So that's a Tera Key too?" Friede asked taking the Water Key and then pulling the Flying key out of his pocket to place the two side to side.
"Yeah, we managed to gather quite a few." Drake said. "...but in the end we couldn't find them all and we disbanded after a while... and well, the Asagi ended up resting here... everyone moved on and made their own lives, I did so too, but... I also tried to continue the quest, without success, needless to say, I never found another key again... until I met you..." He said with a smile. "Fred, you gave me back the hope I lost so many years ago... I know you already said yes, but this will be a really dangerous journey, if things go as I imagine, then we'll meet really bad people and those people won't hesitate to kill us, are you sure you want to follow me?"
"You're basically telling me my only two options are returning to being a thief or joining a veteran dragon pirate captain in a dangerous treasure quest around the world." Friede smiled. "...what do you think I'm choosing?"
"Fine then, welcome to the Rising Tacklers, Fred." Drake said offering a handshake.
"Hmm... that name feels like it's missing something." Friede said to then look at his Pikachu. "I know! How about Rising Volt Tacklers?"
"I mean, it's not like the name is subject to change, but-"
"Sorry, it's Rising Volt Tacklers now. Right, guys?" Friede asked and both Pikachu and Garchomp nodded. "See? It's three on one, you lose, we're the Rising Volt Tacklers now."
"...Hahahaha!" Drake bursted out. "Fine then, Rising Volt Tacklers it'll be. Now let's get this baby back on the surface."
"Aye aye, old man!" Friede said with a salute. "Uh... how do we do that?"
"Well, the instruction manual should be somewhere around here." Drake replied.
"You don't remember how to drive this thing?"
"It's been 25 years since the last time I was here, ok? Give me a second."
A week later.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, old man?" Friede asked with his hands on the helm of the Brave Asagi, guiding the ship through the surface of the ocean.
"Don't worry, Fred, you're doing great." Drake said standing close to him in front of a table while looking at a map of the Paldea region. "I'm still wondering about where to go first though."
"Hey, so how many keys did the original Rising Tacklers get?" Friede asked.
"We got a nice total of 10 keys in 5 years, believe it or not, compare that to many people who had spent their whole lifetime only to get a single one, I'd say we did pretty well... but one stormy night, we were ambushed... we lost four of those keys and then we had a big discussion... and shortly after that we split up... the Rising Tacklers were a team of 6 and we all took one of the remaining keys and parted ways, The water Key was the one I ended up with and I left it here in the Asagi."
"Huh, so to get all of the keys we'll have to meet the members of your crew, right?"
"Yeah..." Drake sighed. "And I imagine they won't be too happy to see me, but we don't have much of a choice, still, I'd prefer to leave them for last, maybe seeing that I collected the rest of the keys will convince them... it's not like I'd ask them to be part of this again, they all made their lives, they all have families, and like I told you this quest is a dangerous."
"You don't have a family?" Friede asked.
"Not one that wants to know about me at least. I guess I was never that good with women." Drake replied. "The Tacklers were the only family I ever had... and who knows? Maybe they'd want to come with us when we go to find the greatest treasure of Paldea." Drake gave a small nostalgic smile while staring at the map until he was interrupted by a slamming sound and he looked up to see a Salamence on the windshield of the ship.
"Uh, is that one yours?" Friede asked.
"No, I don't think so." Drake replied.
"Hi!" A purple-haired girl waved from the back of the Salamence. "Mr. Drake! Good to see you again! Do you remember me?"
"You're... that girl with the Shelgon, right?" Drake asked. "Mitch, was it?"
"Michelle, actually, but I'm glad you remember me!" She said while her Salamence slowly slipped from the window. "Uh, can we come in?"
...
"It's an honor to meet you again, Mr. Drake!" Michelle said taking a bow in front of him.
"Yeah, I remember now." Drake said. "Some months ago, back in Hoenn, you asked me to make you my student."
"Correct, but you told me and my Shelgon that we still needed to learn some things by ourselves." Michelle said. "So we've both been training a lot, as you can see, so now I came to ask the same question to see if your opinion has changed."
"Well, I'm not sure..." Drake said crossing his arms.
"Hey, just take her in." Friede said. "You can't expect me to do all the chores of this huge ship on my own."
"Heh, guess that's right, we'll need more hands to handle this big boy." Drake said. "Mitch, you're welcome to join, but I just started a really dangerous adventure and hopping in means you'll put yourself in danger too, are you really up for that?"
"Yes. Of course!" Michelle nodded. "If I plan to become a Dragon Master then I need to be ready to face some danger, right?"
"Very well then, welcome to the Rising Volt Tacklers." Drake said and Michelle smiled widely to then give her Salamence a hug. "Hey, Fred, can you give Mitch a tour of the ship?"
"It's Michelle."
"And it's Friede." He added. "But yeah, I imagine I can do that."
"Well, go ahead, I'll be taking the helm." Drake added. "Make sure to explain to her our whole deal with the Tera Keys too."
"Sure thing, follow me." Friede said walking to her. "This shouldn't take that long."
A few hours later.
"And this is the living room." An exhausted Friede said dropping on the couch. "God, why is this place so big?!"
"That's a really amazing story." Michelle said sitting by his side. "But these Tera Keys sound quite dangerous."
"They are, but that's another reason why the Tacklers are trying to collect them, to make sure they don't fall in the wrong hands." Friede replied.
"So you're also Mr. Drake's student?"
"Nah, I'm no student, I'm his chief mate." Friede corrected. "Is more of a 'he does his thing, I do mine' but I guess learning a pirate trick or two doesn't sound too bad."
"Well then, I guess that makes us partners." Michelle said. "It'll be a pleasure to learn with you."
"Yeah, whatever you say." Friede rolled his eyes. "Just don't get in my way."
"So, what do you think Mr. Drake will be tasking us to do?" Michelle asked.
"Whatever it takes to find the Tera Keys, I guess." Friede replied. "Either way, this will be a new start for me, my days of breaking into places and stealing stuff are over."
6 months later.
"You want us to do what?" Michelle asked.
"I want you two to break into the castle of the Paldean Royal Family and steal stuff." Drake said.
"Yeah, I mean, we're pirates, that makes sense." Friede said. "Not sure what I expected."
"Wait, Paldea is ruled by a royal family?" Michelle asked.
"Yup, well, they're more like 'face' rulers that handle interregional stuff." Friede said. "Most of the decisions inside Paldea are taken by the League."
"Fred is right." Drake said pulling out a Rotom Phone. "And look what the little prince just published in his social media."
"You have social media?" Friede asked. "Wait, you have a phone?"
"You know what a phone is?" Michelle asked.
"This is why I never had kids." Drake sighed. "Just look at the picture." He insisted and the two saw a young man with pointy silver hair and red sunglasses smiling inside a vault filled with golden objects.
"There!" Michelle pointed at a grail behind the prince, which had a golden key inside of it. "That's a Tera Key for sure, but which one?"
"The symbol looks like a grinning face so I'd say it's Dark." Friede said. "So you want us to break into that castle and take the key?"
"Yup, we're already on our way, I've trained you two a lot these months but it's about time you handle a mission on your own, so I'll stay in the ship as your getaway driver." Drake explained. "I trust you guys can do it, but if the situation gets out of control I want you to retreat immediately, got it?"
"Got it." Michelle said. "We can handle this, right, Friede?"
"You bet." He nodded and the two first-bumped.
"Then prepare everything you need, we'll be arriving at the castle in a few hours."
...
"I still think Drake should've given us more prep time for this." Michelle said to Friede. It was already late night and the two were now at the crow's nest of the Asagi which was currently flying above clouds.
"You know what they say, pirates don't think, they act." Friede replied.
"I've never heard anyone ever say that." Michelle replied to then sigh. "Friede, promise me you won't do anything stupid."
"What? You expect me to screw this up?" Friede asked.
"Hey, listen, you heard Drake, this is our first mission without him, we have to impress him; and you know well he has had to save your ass more than once. This is no time for your clowning."
"Come on, I can be serious when I want to." Friede replied. "You Dragon people are so old fashioned."
"Alright, mates, get ready." Drake's voice was heard from a speaker above them. "We're right above the castle, just go through the clouds and you'll be there, I'll be waiting for you, be careful."
"Ladies first?" Friede asked and Michelle simply raised an eyebrow. "Just saying." He said before jumping himself out of the crow's nest and into the clouds.
"This damn guy." Michelle sighed before following him, the two released their Dragons and fell on their backs, with Garchomp and Salamence quickly diving through the clouds until they found themselves above a giant black castle.
"Welcome to the major leagues, Mitch." Friede whispered.
"Let's land over there." Michelle replied and the two dragons landed atop one of the towers in the castle before being recalled as Friede pulled out his Pikachu. "Remember, this has to be a silent mission, let's avoid any possible fights."
"Sure, sure, I got this." Friede replied and the duo got inside the tower through one of the windows. "Now we just need to find where that vault is."
"Use Yawn." A voice whispered.
"What was-" Michelle was about to ask but before they could notice, they were surrounded by small white bubbles and an Umbreon appeared before them. "Oh no."
"Sure, 'Let's land over there', this is what I get for listening to you." Friede complained before the bubbles popped on their faces, making them go drowsy and quickly fall asleep.
...
"Wakey, wakey." A voice called them and both Michelle and Friede opened their eyes being blinded by a light until they got a clearer view and noticed they were inside the vault they had seen in the picture that Drake showed them, with coins, statues and various valuable objects all around.
"You okay, Mitch?" Friede asked her
"Yeah, uh, how did we get here?" Michelle asked holding her head.
"Well, I brought you here, dear." The same voice called and the two saw a slender young woman with purple curled hair sitting on a throne in the middle of all the gold, she had red eyes and purple lipstick. Her outfit consisted of a white long coat with two Black stripes in the sleeves, a black crop top with a white collar, a red necktie and Black shorts along with black high heel boots, red glasses on her head and an Umbreon sitting by her side.
"Helloooo there, my name is Rachel Zatsuri." She introduced herself with a smile.
"Like we care." Friede asked as he continued to look around. "W-Wait, where's Pikachu?!"
"Over here." Rachel said showing a belt with Poke Balls. "Along the rest of your fellas, you won't need them for our talk, Mr. thieve."
"Hey, we're not thieves! We're pirates!" Friede replied.
"That's like differentiating a Digglet and Wigglet." Rachel said.
"Let me guess, you're the princess of this castle." Michelle said.
"Eh, not exactly." She answered. "I'm just a friend of prince Lear and the Akdos family, who will not be very pleased once they know you two tried to break into the castle."
"So they don't know yet?" Michelle asked. "Wait a second, why did you bring us here?"
"Well, you happened to arrive on one of my many sleepless nights and I was quite bored, life tends to be pretty dull for a noble in a castle, but when I saw you two coming out of the clouds, I knew things were gonna get interesting." She explained. "The prince also had a very busy day and I wanted to save him the ruckus."
"And what do you want from us exactly?" Friede asked.
"I'd simply like to know why you came to steal the castle's vault?" Rachel said. "It seems like a very 'high risk, low reward' stuff, there has to be an easier place to steal."
"W-What do you mean? We're not here to steal anything." Friede replied with a nervous laugh.
"And that's a lie." Rachel said pulling out a Poryphone. "Now, where was Sawyer's number?"
"Sawyer?" Friede asked.
"Yeah, Major Sawyer Dyran." Rachel replied. "He's the chief security officer of the castle and a good friend of the prince who will be more than happy to throw you two in jail for the rest of your lives."
"No, no wait!" Michelle shouted. "Ok, fine, we're here to steal, but listen, we just need one thing, one single little thing of this huge collection and then we'll leave."
"One thing in specific, huh? That makes more sense." Rachel said. "And what is it?"
"...That key over there." Friede pointed behind her and Rachel saw the object still inside a grail and on top of a pedestal.
"And what does that thingy do?" Rachel asked to then stand up from the throne and take the key in her hand.
"It's just a nice paperweight." Friede replied to then receive a slap from Michelle.
"I said no lies, dear." Rachel replied.
"Fine, fine, listen, we can't tell you the details, but..." Friede sighed before continuing. "What you need to know is that the key is really important to our captain and we really want to give it to him."
"Your captain?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah, he's like... a father to us." Michelle added. "He's been looking for that thing his whole life and we just want to help him."
"Hmm... sounds good enough to me." Rachel smiled before tossing them the key and the Poke Balls. "You should be leaving then, but keep in mind, I won't help you get out, it was already hard enough to bring you here without anyone else noticing."
"Thanks a lot." Michelle said as she handed Friede his Poke Balls, who also took the key and hid it in his jacket.
"I still don't get it." Friede said. "If you're a friend of the prince, why are you helping us?"
"Like I told you, I just needed a better way to pass the night." Rachel replied. "And it's just a key, I'm sure Lear won't miss it. Be on your way."
"If you say so..." Michelle replied and the two walked to the door of the vault and pushed it open.
"So what do we do now?" Michelle asked.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing there!" A guard down the hallway shouted.
"Now we run!" Friede shouted leading the way with Michelle behind him.
"Miss Rachel?" The guard asked seeing her inside the vault.
"Oh, no! Those evil thieves caught me and forced me to bring them to the vault!" She exclaimed. "Oh, poor me!"
"Liquidation!" Friede shouted releasing his Garchomp who curled into a buzzsaw and broke through one of the walls to get outside the castle with the duo both jumping to his back before Garchomp took flight at Mach speed and quickly disappeared between the clouds, making it to the Asagi and breaking through to one of the windows due to the panic, with Friede and Michelle getting off his back while they both tried to catch their breath.
"We... we did it?" Michelle asked.
"We're back." Friede replied.
"We're alive." Michelle continued.
"We got the key." Friede said pulling it out of his jacket.
"...WE DID IT!" They both shouted and shared a hug while Garchomp celebrated with them.
"Let's go with Drake!" Michelle shouted taking the key while the two ran all the way to the bridge to meet with Drake and tackled him down with a double hug.
"Guys, that was amazing!" Drake exclaimed with a laugh. "I'm so proud of you! I... do I want kids now?" He asked and the two simply laughed. "Geez, I think I haven't felt this way since... since the original Tacklers found our first key, heh. Now let's get out of here before those guys notice us." He said standing up and taking the helm to guide the ship away.
"We really did it, huh?" Michelle smiled looking at the key.
"Oh, right, here." Friede said handing a Poke Ball to Michelle.
"What?" Michelle asked.
"You handed me this Poke Ball by accident, it's not mine." Friede said.
"Well, it's not mine either." Michelle replied.
"But it was on the belt that girl gave us, so-" Friede opened the Poke Ball and this released a Red Squawkabilly who flew to Michelle landing on her head before suddenly starting pecking her forehead.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Get off, you stupid bird!" Michelle shouted.
Meanwhile on the ground.
"And they call me flamboyant." Lear said looking up at the ship from outside the castle.
"Worry not, young prince." Sawyer told him. "I already prepared a group, the Off-Colors and I will chase them down in a moment."
"...Nah, let them go." Lear said. "This was meaningless, if you and those three weirdos go after them those thieves will think of themselves as important."
"If you allow me a word, young prince." Sawyer continued. "This wasn't just a theft, it was a mockery to our kingdom and they threatened our future princess as well."
"...Rachel, did they hurt you?" Lear asked.
"I'm completely fine, don't worry." Rachel replied.
"Then this isn't nothing to get ourselves worked about." Lear replied. "Got that, Sawyer?"
"As you wish." Sawyer nodded.
"Still, what did you say they took?" Lear asked again.
"Just a dusty golden key with a derpy face on it." Rachel said.
"That thing? Mom found it in an antique shop some years ago and I simply thought it was pretty..." Lear replied while he looked up at the ship again before it disappeared among the clouds. "Then the mission right now is finding out why those people needed that key so badly."
"Don't tell me, you're gonna ask her to investigate?" Rachel asked.
"With due respect, Sir, she's still rather unstable after what happened." Sawyer said.
"Oh, don't worry about that, Jean will be more than happy to be working again." Lear said. "She still owes me a good favor after all."
6 months later.
It was late night in the Asagi yet again. A cold air was filling the place and everything seemed calm, except for one thing, Michelle, who was strolled alone through the hallways of the ship, she walked in circles several minutes apparently contemplating something until she finally arrived at the bridge of the Asagi, walking to the treasure chest that was next to the helm and opening it to see the three keys that they had gathered. Water, Flying and Dark.
"...I'm sorry, guys." She whispered before taking the keys in her hand.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mitch." Drake's voice called behind her and she took a deep breath before turning around to see him along with Friede and his Pikachu.
"I knew you were acting weird lately." Friede said. "But I wanted to believe it was just your peridot."
"Her what?" Drake asked.
"You know, eh, girl stuff." Friede added.
"...Mitch, I don't know why you're doing this, but I know you must have a reason." Drake said. "What's going on? Is someone threatening you?"
"Y-You shouldn't h-have let m-me join you." Michelle stuttered keeping a tight grip on the three keys.
"Enough talking, time for action." Friede said with a Poke Ball on hand.
"No, wait." Drake insisted. "Mitch, please, it doesn't have to be this way, tell us what's going on and I promise we'll help you."
"...My name is Michelle." She replied before letting fall a Poke Ball and releasing a Salamence that attacked them with sudden Fire Blast, but Drake quickly got himself in front of Friede and blocked the flames with his back.
"Drake!" Friede shouted.
"Don't worry, my coat is fireproof!" Drake replied. "A Dragon Master has to be prepared, right? He smirked before the Salamence stopped his attack to then grab Michelle with his jaw and break through one of the windows of the bridge flying away.
"I'm going after her!" Friede shouted releasing his Garchomp and quickly jumping on his back to follow Michelle and the Salamence, leaving Drake and Pikachu behind while the captain stood looking around and processing what happened.
"...I knew it was all too good to be true." He sighed holding his hat before Pikachu jumped to his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He said before running to the window and jumping out of it.
...
"Hey, you! At least let me ride on your back!" Michelle complained while the dragon still flew carrying her with his mouth. "I'm talking to you!" Michelle shouted before punching the Salamence on his nose, causing him to stare angrily at her before letting her fall to the void. "You discount Pseudo!" She shouted while the Salamence huffed.
"Mitch!" Friede shouted behind them and Garchomp took a sudden dive, stopping right beneath Michelle and letting the girl fall on his back.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Friede shouted and tried to take back the keys, but Michelle pushed him away.
"Friede, you don't understand!" She shouted back.
"All I understand is that you betrayed us!" Friede replied. "We were supposed to be a team!"
"I'm just trying to keep you safe!" Michelle shouted.
"You what?" Friede asked.
"MENCE!" The Salamence roared from above falling with a Dragon Rush.
Garchomp quickly turned on his back and the attack impacted him right on his chest, knocking him out and pushing off both trainers, the force of the impact caused Michelle to let go off the keys and Friede quickly took the Flying and Water Keys, but Michelle managed to take the Dark key again and kicked Friede away right before the Salamence grabbed her with his jaw again and flew away, disappearing among the clouds while letting Friede and his fainted Garchomp to fall to the void.
"...So this is our last glorious failure, huh?" Friede asked looking at the ground while they continued on free fall, he looked at the keys in his hands again and smiled before returning Garchomp to his Poke Ball. "No, just mine... Thanks for everything, pal... and, thanks, Drake." He smiled before closing his eyes until he heard a whistle followed by a loud sonic boom and opened his eyes to see Pikachu and Drake on top of his Mega-Salamence flying at him at high speed, with the captain managing to catch Friede with a hug barely a few meters before he hit the floor and Salamence glided long the ground until he stopped and everyone sighed in relief.
"It's ok." Drake said trying to catch his breath. "I-I got you, kid... just in the nick time, right?"
"A couple of seconds earlier wouldn't have been so bad either." Friede said doing the same while his Pikachu jumped to hug him and he looked at the keys in his hand. "...I'm sorry, she took the Dark one, I couldn't stop her."
"She would have taken them all if it wasn't for you. Thanks a lot." Drake sighed before giving Friede another hug. "And don't worry about it, I'm not letting some stupid keys separate the Tacklers again."
4 years later.
"Welcome back, captain!" Murdock greeted Drake as he arrived on his boat, which attached to the stern of Asagi as a tender boat.
"Good to be back." Drake replied as he put fit on the Asagi and Murdock received him with a salute.
"There, no need to be so formal." Drake replied with a short laugh.
"Sorry, you know I'm still working to earn my place here." Murdock replied. "Either way, how was your vacay week?"
"Eh, pretty nice I'd say, it's always good to go back to Hoenn." Drake said. "And I happened to meet with Ash of all people, he was helping his friend with some underwater mission and I gave them a little hand as well. What about you two? Did I miss anything?"
"I wouldn't say so exactly, but Friede said he had to show you something. He's at the bridge."
"Really? Then I better don't make him waste time." Drake replied and made his way to the bridge, finding Friede on the helm with Raichu by his side and Navi on his shoulder.
"Glad you're finally back." Friede said giving a worried frown.
"So, what's so important that you couldn't tell Murdock?" Drake asked.
Friede hesitated before doing anything and pressed a button close to the helm, which projected a holographic screen in front of them, showing a video of Michelle.
"This is a message to the crew of the Brave Asagi." Michelle started talking. "... Friede, Drake, listen... I can't give you the details through this call, but I need to talk with you guys, something's gone... terribly wrong and you two are the only ones I can trust, I'll meet you in 5 days at the abandoned Rocket Warehouse on the southwest of Paldea at sunset... Please, be there."
After that, the screen turned to static and Friede looked at Drake again while the captain seemed to stare at the nothingness.
"I know what you're thinking, I've watched it like a hundred times." Friede said to then turn off the screen and give a heavy sigh. "Well, the message was sent exactly 5 days ago, but we still have a few hours before the sun goes down...So?"
"Of course we're going." Drake blankly said.
"You're... joking, right?" Friede asked. "It's the most obvious trap I've ever seen in my life! How can you trust her after what happened?! She lied to us for a whole year!"
"She was part of the crew for a whole year!" Drake replied. "She was family for a year, she saved you during your missions more times than I can count. You and I both know something was odd when she betrayed us...That Salamence wasn't hers, I'm sure of it, her Salamence wouldn't have attacked us without thinking and it wouldn't have grabbed her with its jaw like that, and on top of that, you said that during the chase she told you she wanted us to be safe. I'm going there to find out whatever the hell happened that night. But if my chief mate is so scared then I guess I'll have to go alone."
"...Fine, I'm going with you." Friede answered with another sigh. "Man, this is such a bad idea."
"Let's take my boat, tell Murdock he'll be in charge of the Asagi for a few hours." Drake said leaving the Bridge.
"Alright then, Raichu, I want you and Navi to stay here with Ludlow. Try not to make him suspect anything." Friede said and both Pokemon saluted before he left the bridge to follow Drake.
A few hours later, Friede and Drake arrived at the accorded place, both of them were now staring from outside at the warehouse where they met all those years ago.
"Heh, quite a few memories rest here." Drake said.
"Hey..." Friede trailed off. "I know I don't say it a lot, but-"
"I know, Fred." Drake interrupted him with a smile. "I always knew."
"...Fine, let's see what this is all about." Friede said before releasing his Garchomp who quickly took down the door of the warehouse, letting the pirates in to find Michelle sitting on top of some wooden boxes.
"You guys!" Michelle exclaimed before running to them.
"Don't you give one more step!" Friede shouted and his Garchomp jumped in front of them and roared at Michelle.
"Friede, listen, we don't have time for this!" Michelle shouted.
"And why not?" Friede asked.
"They could be here any minute!" Michelle shouted. "Listen, we-"
"They?! See? I told you this was a trap!" Friede shouted to Drake.
"If it was a trap, would I have brought this?!" Michelle shouted showing the Dark Tera Key to them. "Listen, I'm in much danger here as you guys are! I barely managed to get this window of time and you're making us waste it!"
"...Fine, if that's true then give us a key!" Friede said.
"I... can't do that." Michelle replied.
"Oh, that's it. Dragon Claw!" Friede ordered and Garchomp rushed to the girl, who jumped back and barely avoided the slash.
"Fred!" Drake shouted.
"No! I'm not buying this!" Friede replied. "You heard her! She's waiting for someone and she doesn't want to give us the Dark Key! Whatever is going on I say we fight first, take her back to the Asagi and ask questions there where we're safe!"
"You're not safe in the Asagi!" Michelle shouted. "Why can't you just use your God damn brain for two minutes?!" She shouted again before releasing a Milotic that quickly shot an Ice Beam at Garchomp who countered it with a Fire Blast.
"Dragon Rush!" Fried ordered and his Garchomp dashed at Mach speed surrounded by purple energy.
"Triple Axel!" Michelle ordered and Milotic's tail was surrounded by cold air before turning into an icy spiked mace which she used to smack Garchomp away.
"Dragon Pulse!" They both shouted and their Pokemon charged the attack at the same time.
"That's enough!" Drake shouted and released his Altaria, who used Snowscape to summon a blizzard and force both Pokemon to stop their attacks while Drake stood in between the two. "Fred, I want you to calm down, right now."
"But I-"
"Shut!" Drake shouted to then sigh and look at Michelle. "Mitch, why can't you give us the key?"
"If I give you the key Jean will know I handed it over!" She shouted.
"Who's Jean?" Friede asked before the whole warehouse suddenly began to shake.
"No, no, no." Michelle whispered before the whole ceiling suddenly collapsed on top of them and each Pokemon did their best to protect their trainer and once the dust settled, a Salamence could be seen flying above them with a Drapion riding on his back.
"That Salamence from before." Drake said.
"And he's got a friend." Friede added.
"You have to get out of here!" Michelle shouted before the Salamence suddenly dove down towards them.
"Moonblast!" Drake ordered and his Altaria fired a pink beam towards them, but Drapion countered it with a Cross Poison which was followed by Salamence using Dragon Rush to slam himself onto Altaria, pushing her onto the ocean beneath them and leaving a big whole on the floor while Drapion jumped off him right before that to grab Michelle by her waist with one of his claws and push her to the ground. Milotic tried to help her trainer, but Drapion quickly grabbed the Water-Type by her head with his other pincer and started injecting poison directly from it.
"Mitch!" Drake shouted as he went to help her, but Drapion smacked him away with his tail to then raise Michelle in the air and tighten his grip causing her to scream in pain.
"F-Friede, catch!" Michelle exclaimed tossing the Dark Key at him, but Drapion threw Milotic through one of the walls and quickly extended his free arm to catch the key with his pincer before it could reach Friede and the moment he touched it the Tera Key activated and Terastalized him into a Dark-Type.
"Tsk, Terastalize!" Friede shouted pulling out his Tera Orb and changing Garchomp into a Fighting-Type, the shark then rushed to attack Drapion, but just before he could the Salamence came back from the ocean and grabbed Garchomp with his claws, taking him up to then use expell a Hurricane from his mouth and push him down to the floor again.
"Friede, get Drake and you out of here!" Michelle shouted while the Drapion charged a powered-up Night Slash and extended his arm to stab him, Friede froze and simply closed his eyes until he felt something warm splashing on his face and opened his eyes to see Drake panting in front of him, with Drapion's pincer going through his chest.
"D-Drake?" He stuttered.
"Heh, fireproof coat..." Drake smirked before coughing a spurt of blood. "Should've... made it pincerproof, right?"
"DRAKE!" Michelle shouted while Friede remained in shock, the girl tried to free herself, but Drapion simply squeezed her tighter to the point his pincer started to cut through her skin, but the girl still tried to force her way out while ignoring the pain.
"Grr...Pion!" The scorpion called to the Salamence who dove to them again as Drapion jumped to the Dragon's back while pulling his pincer out of Drake, letting him drop onto Friede who barely managed to hold him while he still processed what happened.
"D-D-D-Drake... DRAKE!" Friede finally reacted and carefully left Drake on the floor, Drapion was about to attack Friede again, but Garchomp managed to stand up and shoot a Draco Meteor from where he was and pushed their foes back.
"Garchomp, use Sand Tomb!" Friede shouted and Garchomp roared to the skies summoning a sand tornado that surrounded them and gave him the chance to fly away with Drake and Friede, Salamence took himself higher and looked around the port, but after being unable to spot them decided to fly away, with Drapion dropping Michelle on the Dragon's back while the girl held her sides in pain.
"Friede... Drake... I-I'm sorry." She whispered before passing out. Meanwhile, Garchomp had taken Friede and Drake behind another warehouse, helping Friede to place Drake on the floor again.
"Well, that looks fatal." Drake said looking at the hole in his chest.
"Hey, stop talking! Everything is going to be ok, I swear!" Friede shouted taking off his jacket and pressing it on the injury.
"What did I tell you about lying?" Drake asked with a small smirk.
"I-I just need to stop the blood, right!?" Friede shouted. "And then we'll take you to the hospital and and-"
"Hey." Drake said in a soft voice. "It's okay... I always knew it would end in something like this... I had a good ride."
"I'm not letting you give up!" Friede shouted.
"Friede, look at this." He insisted. "...There's a difference between giving up and knowing when it's over."
"Nothing is over! NOTHING!" Friede replied. "I won't let you go! I already lost Michelle, I'm not going to lose you too! I-I just- what can I do?! We can't take you flying like this, you'll lose all your blood, but I can't stop the bleeding from both sides, I-" Friede held his head and tried to think but was interrupted by Drake who pulled him out of his thoughts by placing his hat on his head.
"That looks good on you." Drake said with a smile. "Thank you, Friede...Thank you for giving me hope back... It's up to you now... That recklessness of yours will change this world... my only regret is that I won't be here to see that... how about one last hug?" He asked and Friede threw himself over him with a hug. "Ugh, that hurt, I should've expected it..."
"I'm sorry." Friede whispered hugging him tighter as he effortlessly tried to avoid the tears coming from his eyes. "I'm so sorry. I-I'll find the keys, I'll get that treasure, I swear."
"I know you will, kid." Drake smiled again. "Best of luck, Captain Marvin... nah, that sounds dumb... heh... how... about...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Captain Marvelous...
...
...
...
...
...
"And... that was it." Friede finished the story leaving everyone around speechless while he was doing his best to not burst into tears. "I... I-I stood by his side... and in less than a minute he was gone... It all happened so fast... was it really a trap? I don't even know... If I had let Michelle explain, if I hadn't jumped to conclusions, maybe we could've done something together... maybe Drake wouldn't have died... but he did, and that's a weight I'll have to carry, that's why I don't like to wear his hat... W-Well, it's been a really long night, right?" He asked trying to make a smile before walking away. "E-Everyone, just go to sleep, we have plenty to do tomorrow."
Everyone in the living room seemed to think in silence for a moment and Ash was the first to stand up and leave, the rest of the members left one by one until Dot and Murdock were the only ones left in the living room, with the girl tapping on her Rotom Phone.
"So... how's your data checking going?" Murdock asked.
"I'll finish it tomorrow." Dot replied to then sigh and put away her phone. "I guess this is the part where I ask you what Zir was talking about."
"Dot, listen, I-"
"You were an explorer." Dot interrupted him. "And Mom was one too... she died in one of your missions, right?"
Murdock stood speechless for a second before sighing. "...Dot, there's far more to that story than you think."
"Then how about you give me another fucking lore dump!" Dot shouted standing in front of him.
"...Listen, you heard Friede, it's been a long night and-"
"And you think that's a reason to not talk about this?!" Dot kept shouting.
"...No... that's my way of saying I'm not gonna tell you." Murdock replied standing up as well. "I promised your mother that I wouldn't make you part of that, and that's a promise I'm keeping...Sorry." He said before walking away leaving Dot alone in the living room.
"...I'm already part of this." Dot whispered.
Meanwhile with the Explorers.
"AAAARGH!" Zir shouted tossing around a table onto a wall in the living room of their headquarters. "Are you seriously telling me that after all that fucking hustle you only got a single key?!"
"Well, how many keys did you guys get?" Michelle asked unfazed still wearing Drake's coat over her shoulders.
"Don't you start talking shit!" Zir replied. "That was your job!"
"And your job was to take down the rest of the Tacklers!" Michelle shouted. "But you all got sidetracked with your personal beef and screwed it all up!"
"Don't talk like you didn't take it personal with Friede too." Amethio answered. "Besides, Ash Ketchum's team doubling the numbers on the ship certainly didn't help."
"And Conia, why are you just standing there?!" Zir shouted at her, noticing she was simply thinking in silence. "You're not gonna say anything?! Michelle pretty much left you to die!"
"No, I didn't!" Michelle shouted. "Conia, listen, I know I abandoned you but I had no other choice, I couldn't risk the only key I had, besides, I knew Ash would stop to help you and he did, so everything worked out for you in the end, right?"
"Yeah... I-I guess." Conia replied.
"You weren't sure of that!" Zir said to Michelle. "You didn't have the right to abandon Conia just like that!"
"That's enough, people." Spinel said walking into the room. "The important thing is that we have one more key while the Tacklers lost one, and we also got Dorothy's data so this wasn't exactly a failure, but nevertheless, Jean wants to talk with each of us, Conia, you're going first."
"Why do I always go first?" A bummed out Conia asked before standing up. She made her way through a hallway and opened a door to enter an office where she found a silver-haired woman sitting on a desk while handling what appeared to be a metal bracelet with a screwdriver.
"Well, Conia, how has your day been?" The woman asked.
"Not... so good, Jean." She replied.
"Thought so." The woman sighed. "Can you please let out your Golduck?"
"I-I... what for?" Conia asked.
"Can you please let out your Golduck?" She repeated and Conia gulped before doing so.
"There we go." Jean smiled before placing the bracelet on her wrist, and after pressing a button, the bracelet extended into an arm cannon and fired a red beam that turned Golduck into a golden statue.
"Goldie..." Conia trembled before kneeling in front of her Pokemon. "T-This is all my fault, I'm so sorry."
"Ha! GOLDuck! I'm so funny!" Jean said to herself with a short laugh while Conia softly cried in front of Goldie. "There, there, Conia, don't worry. You have to remember that Pokemon are just tools, they'll never cry for you the same way you cry for them."
"That's not true!" Conia shouted. "G-Goldie loves me just like I love him! H-He's been with me my whole life, please... please, I'll do anything, don't do this to Goldie!"
"Listen, Conia, I didn't want to do this, but you can't keep failing like this..." Jean said standing up from her desk and firing a blue beam from the cannon which shrank down the Golduck statue to toy-size. She then picked it up and placed it on a shelf next to the mini statues of a baby Kangaskhan, a Ralts, a Nidoking, a Nidoqueen, a Salamence and an Umbreon. "It's not like I want to blame you, your Golduck was never up to the task, so until then, serve yourself." She said before tossing the girl a Dusk Ball. "My Drapion is there, hopefully he'll do better."
"I don't want any other Pokemon!" Conia shouted. "I-I just want my Goldie back!"
"Geez, what am I supposed to do with you?" Jean rolled her eyes and then walked to Conia. "Listen, you know the rules when this happens, the best way to get him back is to not disappoint me anymore, can you please just do that?" She asked raising Conia's chin.
"I... o-ok." Conia stuttered. "I won't fail in my next mission, I promise."
"That's all I needed to hear, dear." Jean said to then brush Conia's hair. "Now, go and relax a little, tell Michelle she's next." After that, Conia weakly stood up and walked out of the office while Jean waited sitting at the desk for roughly a minute before Michelle walked in. The dragon tamer walked to her in silence and placed the Flying Tera Key in her desk and then started to walk away.
"Hey, wait a second." Jean called and Michelle stopped walking. "Let out my Salamence."
"..." Michelle simply turned around and did as told, with the earlier scene repeating as Jean turned him into a golden statue and then shrank him down.
"Perfect, all those months that I trained him to make him trust me gone to waste." Michelle sighed. "He was never at the level of my Salamence anyway."
"Yeah, there was a time when this dork was my ace, can you believe it?" Jean asked standing up from her desk to pick up the mini statue and leave it on the shelf, right next to the other Salamence statue. "Either way, now that we got Roaring Moon here we don't need him, right?"
"Whatever you say." Michelle said and tried to leave the office again.
"How did it feel?" Jean asked making her freeze again. "To go back to the Asagi, to see Friede again?"
"Why do you care?" Michelle asked trying to look unfazed.
"I just wanted to make sure you haven't forgotten the reason why you're doing all this." Jean replied.
"Believe me I haven't forgotten." Michelle replied. "And you better don't forget it either, because one of these days you'll let your guard down, and when that happens, will make you pay."
"That sounds like a threat, young lady." Jean smiled. "Quite a good threat, actually. We really do think alike."
"I'm nothing like you..." Michelle said with gritted teeth.
"Are you sure about that?" Jean asked with a giggle.
"...Why are you doing this to me?" Michelle asked.
"Because you remind me too much of me, dear." Jean giggled again. "The fact that I trusted you such a powerful Pokemon should be proof of it... I know deep inside you're enjoying all this and that's why you're gonna keep working for me and you're gonna keep feeling the thrill of it... sooner and later you'll start seeing things my way." She continued while getting closer to Michelle. "Who knows? You might even end up looking up to me as a parent figure." She added while Michelle looked down and clenched her fists.
"...I already had a father." She softly replied holding onto Drake's coat over her shoulder.
"Why did you even take that thing?" Jean asked dusting off Michelle's shoulder.
"...I just wanted to bother Friede."
"Yeah, sure, let's say I believe you." Jean sighed. "Good job with the key, I guess, anything else to say?"
"...Ash already defeated you." Michelle said causing Jean to tense up. "And now he's part of this race and he's sided with the Tacklers, what are you gonna do about it?"
"Heh, he defeated my persona of Hunter J, that's just fine." Jean smiled again. "Let's see if he can handle the real Jean Losutto... you may leave, tell the boys they're next."
Michelle held her head before leaving, once again Jean returned to her seat and in less than a minute, Zir, Amethio and Spinel walked in.
"Guess I don't have much to complain about you three." Jean said.
"You always demand a lot more from the girls." Amethio said.
"That's sexist if you ask me." Spinel said.
"How's Dorothy?" Jean asked.
"She seems fine, all things considered." Zir replied. "I... maybe we should've taken her with us."
"Eh, we had enough with Amethio's kidnap attempt, we didn't need two of those." Jean replied.
"I tried to convince Mela peacefully and she didn't listen." Amethio replied. "She's too enthralled with Ketchum."
"Yeah, sure, everyone loves Ketchum, tell me something new." Jean rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Zir, you'll get your chance to talk with Dorothy eventually, if anything she must be really curious about everything after tonight."
"Well, the data I've seen on her computer is certainly interesting." Spinel said. "She is, in fact, more advanced than what I originally predicted."
"You think you can get her Tera key tracker to work?" Jean asked.
"Of course I can, it's still incomplete, but I should be able to fill the gaps without much issue."
"Well, until then, I got a new mission for you, guys." Jean continued. "Professor Turo called me again, looks like he found the Poison Tera Key."
"Another one?" Spinel asked. "So my theory must be right, the original Tacklers were attacked near Area Zero."
"What does he want now? Another one of those weird Pokemon?" Amethio asked.
"Nope, we have something else to do today." Jean said turning around the computer on her desk to show them a picture of Liko, Roy and Ann. "These are Liko Matsumoto, Roy Ueda and Ann Iizuya, I need you to capture them alive and take them to Turo's lab. He'll give you the key once you bring them with him."
"They're just three kids, sounds simple enough." Amethio said.
"But what does Turo want with them?" Zir asked.
"That's not my problem." Jean said. "And it isn't yours either."
"When are we going then?" Amethio asked.
"Oh, whenever you feel like it, dear!" Jen replied with a smile. "I mean, the United Syndicate of Evil Underling's Rights forces me to give 8 hours of sleep so- YOU'RE GOING RIGHT NOW YOU FUCKING IDIOTS! WHAT DO YOU THINK?!
"Well, as much as I'd like to accompany you, fellas, I need to start working on Dorothy's tracker so I'm afraid I'll pass." Spinel said.
"Fine then, Zir, Conia and you are coming with me." Amethio said.
"Are you sure we should take Conia with us after what just happened?" Zir asked.
"She'll be fine." Jean said. "I just gave her some good motivation, I'm sure she'll be the MVP this time."
"Alright then, let's do this." Amethio said looking at the picture again. "Ann, Roy and Liko... let's hope these guys are more cooperative than Mela."
?-?-?
3 Days before the incident.
A week had passed since Ash received that notice. Alex, Liko's biological father, had returned to Paldea and was trying to take back Liko's custody, the whole Ketchum family dropped everything they were doing and focused on helping as they could, Rika being a lawyer was the biggest help, while the rest of Ash's wives and other people who've met Liko sided with him on the court as witnesses, however, after roughly 35 sessions, someone was getting rather tired.
"I don't want to do this anymore!" Liko shouted after locking herself in the bathroom of the court, with Ash and Rika being outside while the rest of the family was waiting in the courtroom. "I'm sick of this!" Liko continued while walking in circles. "I'm tired of that man talking like he actually knows me! I'm tired of his lawyer giving stupid reasons why I should go with him! I'm done! I've been living the best 15 years a child could ask for! Everything was perfect until he came back! The son of a bitch didn't even show up when I was born! What kind of father does that?!"
"Liko, this is not time for swearing." Ash sighed while looking at Rika smirk.
"Hey, I only taught her those words. She's the one that decides when to use them." Rika replied with a shrug while Ash sighed.
"Why does nobody ask me why the hell I want?!" Liko asked again.
"Liko, I already told you, legally speaking you're still three days earlier to be an adult." Rika said. "They can't take your opinion as valid."
"I'm gonna become a prime minister and change that fucking law, damn it!" Liko shouted.
"Ha! Taught you well, didn't I?" Rika asked with another proud smirk.
"Rika, you're not helping." Ash told her off. "Be serious for a second, I mean, we have this case in the bag, don't we?"
"We have a really good chance, yes." Rika said to then sigh. "But they've been pulling some nasty arguments as well, they're trying to make it seem like the court would only give Liko's custody to you because you're World Champion instead of because you actually deserve it. They even managed to find a loophole and 'revoke' Dendra's legal status as Liko's biological aunt for being married to you. These guys are good."
"And what if they win?!" Liko shouted again. "What if the court sides with Alex? If they make me go with him I'd never see you and my family again!"
"Liko, we'd never let that happen!" Ash shouted.
"You don't know that! You can't be sure!" Liko shouted again before starting to sob. "W-Why... why is this happening to me?!"
"Liko-"
"I was already struggling with knowing I'm not a real Ketchum and now these people are reminding me 24 hours a day!"
"Liko, calm-!"
"Why can't I just keep pretending I'm your daughter?!" She shouted slamming both her fists on the door and kneeling while letting her tears flow out. "That's... that's the only thing I've ever wanted to be!"
"... Pretending, huh?" Ash asked. "Liko, you are my daughter... but, you're also his daughter, whether we like it or not. And sadly, this is the only way to solve this once and for all, everyone there is waiting for you so the court can give its decision."
"That's why I don't want to go..." Liko trailed off. "This is where all this ends, in a few hours I could be back home or-"
"Just stop thinking about that." Ash said. "Even if we lose I'll do everything in my power to make sure to see you everyday. Nothing in this world will pull me away from you."
"...You promise?" Liko asked.
"I swear." Ash replied.
"Me too, just in case." Rika added and after a few seconds the door was opened and Liko jumped to his arms, giving him the tightest hug she could while still sobbing.
"...I love you, Dad." She whispered. "You... Y-You're the person I love the most in this whole world."
"Everything's gonna be ok." Rika said while brushing Liko's hair. "You heard your Dad; and you know that also includes all your Aunts and siblings, the whole family is with you, Liko, whatever happens."
"Alright then..." Liko nodded while cleaning her tears. "I... I think I'm ready."
...
After a few minutes, everyone was back on their seat, Ash and Liko were on the defendant's bench, with Rika as their lawyer, whereas Liko's biological father, Alex, was on the plaintiff's table along his lawyer, while both side traded glances and Ash's family and friends were all behind them in the benches, the woman with the role of the judge was simply sitting on her bench, looking at various papers until she finally took a deep breath and put them aside.
"...Will the people in the courtroom please stand?" She asked and everyone did as told, but Liko clenched her fists before suddenly raising her right hand, something that the judge instantly noticed.
"Yes, Mrs. Matsumoto?" The judge asked.
"Miss Polo... would you allow me to say something?" Liko asked. "I know I'm not legally allowed to do so, but it feels really unfair that you're juggling with my future as a person without knowing my opinion."
"Mrs. Matsumoto, I understand how you feel, but this is as hard for me as it is for you." The judge replied. "It is very difficult to try and come to a final decision, this court only wants the best for you."
"...No ...That's not true!" Liko suddenly shouted to then jump on top of the table. "You only want to milk this for the media! Because my Dad is the World Champion! But he's not here as the World Champion, he's not even here as Ash Ketchum! He's here as my father!"
"A father with 15 wives that barely has time to spend with his children." Alex's lawyer objected.
"Nobody cares what you think, Doug!" Liko shouted at him. "Yeah, he may not be perfect, and who cares?! No one is perfect, but my Dad loves each and every one of us! There are so many parents out there that don't care for their children, that don't even want to see them, meanwhile my Dad is breaking his back to make sure all of us have a good life, even if he can't spend the whole day with us most of the time, he makes sure that the moments we're with him are the most special we could have, and he always priorities the family over his work, the fact that he dropped and canceled all his battles and meetings for this case should be enough proof of that!"
"Yeah, you tell 'em, Big Sis!" Ken shouted and the rest of her siblings started to cheer.
"Order, order!" The judge complained.
"Alright, Liko, I'm very touched, but I think you should get off the table." Ash whispered.
"Let her be, she's having an inspirational moment." Rika replied.
"And as if that wasn't enough, I was raised by my aunts too, the 15 most wonderful women in this world, who all love me as if I was their daughter and I love them all as my mothers too! And I love all of my siblings even if we're not related by blood! You have no right to push me away from my family!"
"I mean, legally we have-"
"SHUT UP, DOUG!" Liko interrupted him to then point at the judge. "I'm Liko Matsumoto Ketchum! KETCHUM! And no matter what you decide today, none of you are going to take that name away from me! NEVER!"
"...Mrs. Matsumoto, please sit down." The judge replied and Liko hesitated before complying.
"As I was going to say." The judge sighed again. "This was a very difficult decision and after a lot of thought, this court has decided that Liko must be... with her real father."
"HIJA DE TU-
"And with that." The judge interrupted Liko again. "With that, I mean, the one father that truly knows her and she truly knows, the father that raised her, supported and taught her everything she knows since she was born."
"Y-You mean?" Liko stuttered to then smile.
"Under this declaration, Liko Matsumoto Ketchum stays in full custody of the Ketchum family. He dicho, Caso Cerrado!" The judge smiled while smacking her gavel and everyone in the benches celebrated while Liko jumped to Ash and trapped him in a hug again.
"Comete esa, Pendejo!" Rika shouted showing both her middle fingers to Alex and his lawyer.
"Rika!" Ash complained.
"Oh, please, I've been saving this up since the case started. Come on, let loose a bit, say something like 'Chupame un huevo y la mitad del otro." She winked and Ash simply sighed while Liko laughed.
"Hey, hey, this isn't over." Doug said to Alex. "We can always ask to appeal the case."
"...No, it's fine." Alex said to then stand up. "We lost fair and square." He looked at Liko and Ash for a second before sighing and walking out of the courtroom.
"...Wait for me here." Ash whispered to Liko and left her with Rika before following Alex out of the courtroom and into a hallway.
...
"You're really not gonna appeal?" Ash asked behind him and Alex stopped walking to turn around and see him.
"I was, it was my original plan in case the court sided with you." Alex replied while crossing his arms. "But after that speech I think it's obvious that Liko doesn't want to come with me."
"...Hey, listen, I know we both said some not quite nice things during the case, but I just wanted to tell you that despite everything, I understand you, you feel guilty for not being there for Lucca and you were trying to fix things up by taking care of Liko-"
"Don't speak for me." Alex interrupted him.
"I'm trying to speak for Lucca." Ash said. "She never said a bad thing about you, not even once; and if she could forgive you then so can I... but my point is that you're a bit too late to get in Liko's life, some 15 years too late I'd say."
"... When Lucca told me she was pregnant... I was scared, ok? We were both way too young, two kids that didn't know anything about life and took too many risks." Alex sighed. "When I left, I thought that would push her to abort... she could be alive now if she had done so."
"Alright, this is the part when you say something nicer to stop me from punching out your teeth." Ash said cracking his knuckles.
"...Had I showed up after Liko was born, would you have given me her custody back then?" Alex asked.
"Well, Dendra certainly wouldn't have let me do that, she already hated you back then for abandoning Lucca." Ash said. "But honestly... I'm not too sure, I was scared too, I wasn't any older than you were after all."
"And still, being younger than me you managed to raise Liko probably better than I could've done."
"I had a lot of help." Ash said.
"That's good to know." Alex sighed again. "I'll... stay in contact with you, fine? I lost the case so I have no right to push Liko, but... tell her that I still want to try."
"Sure thing." Ash offered a handshake and Alex reluctantly accepted to then continue walking away, Ash then turned around and found Liko peeping at the conversation from a corner. "You heard all that?"
"Maybe." Liko scratched the back of her head while walking to him. "Do you really think I should give him a chance?"
"Liko, you're the only one who can take that decision." Ash said taking a knee in front of her. "His intentions weren't all bad despite everything, but if you don't really wanna know him that's fine, I mean, I never got to meet my father and I never felt like I needed to. They say the family you choose is better, right?"
"Right." Liko smiled to then give Ash a light kiss on his cheek before hugging him again. "Thank you, for everything, I'm grateful you're father, more than anything."
"And I'm grateful you're my daughter." Ash replied. "More than anything."
...
"So that's how you fell in love with your Dad?" Roy asked.
"You're ruining this beautiful story!" Ann shouted to then slap him while the three were sitting around a fireplace along their starters.
"Anyway, Liko, why don't you keep going?" Ann asked.
"Well, I think that's all there is to say." Liko said. "After that, we all went home, and well, my Dad started with the preparations for my birthday, but I already told you about that, that was the day I was sent here to the past."
"Well, why don't you tell us again?" Roy asked. "Maybe there's one or two details that we missed. There could be something in that story to help us send you back."
"That sounds like a good idea." Ann replied. "Go ahead, Liko."
"Well, here goes, it was the day of my 16th birthday..."
Back in the Asagi.
"And that's a wrap." Nemona sighed while dropping herself on bed. "Geez, this has been the longest night of my life." She said to then look down at her arm, still able to move it, but feeling sluggish once she tried to move her fingers one by one. "So, Florian, huh?"
"Are you sure we should go down? I mean, Arven told us-"
"Nemo, the cure for you could be down there. It's a risk I'm willing to take, but I understand if you prefer to stay."
"...Of course I'm going with you, dummy."
"Nemo!" Ash's voice called her back to the present as she heard knocks from her door.
"Hmm... I'm going." She answered with a bit of hesitation and walked to the door, opening it just enough to see his face. "Uh, yes?"
"Nemo, is everything okay?" Ash asked. "I know I've been asking you this a lot, but I feel like you're-"
"I'm what?" Nemona interrupted him. "Lying to you?"
"I didn't say that." Ash replied. "But even the densest person on earth could tell something is up with you."
"It's nothing you should worry about." Nemona said. "I-I was just a bit worried about having my arm fractured, but look, it's ok now, Mollie gave it a good twist and everything's fine." She said extending her arm and moving her hand. "So, to change topic; how's Mela?"
"...She's fine, all things considered." Ash replied. "I just checked on her, Penny insisted on sleeping with her tonight."
"I'm glad we all managed to get out of the fight rather unscathed." Nemona continued. "That Salamence... a-again, I'm really sorry about freezing, I don't know what came to me. We just need... to train a lot more, right?"
"Yeah, we need to get a lot stronger." Ash answered. "You remember that explanation that the Professors told us? There's like a dozen of those Pokemon still somewhere in Paldea, not to mention, Miraidon too. next time we find one of them, we need to beat him."
"Yup, so let's start training tomorrow morning, senpai! See you!" Nemona tried to close the door, but Ash put his foot in the way and stopped it. "Uh, anything else?"
"This is the thing, Nemo..." Ash gave another worried frown before giving another sigh. "...Would you like to sleep with me tonight?" He asked causing the place to be filled by an awkward silence.
"...uh, what now?" Nemona asked dumbfounded with a light blush.
"Wait, what?!" Iono shouted coming out from behind a hallway plant with her rotom Phone in hand. "...Yeah, of course I was recording, I don't know what you guys expected. Don't change topic! What do you mean you want to sleep with her?! You skipped like 5 steps of the dating stairs!"
"What's with all the noise, guys?" Penny asked opening the door of her room.
"Ash asked Nemo to sleep with him!" Iono shouted.
"You what?!" Penny asked.
"Hey, wait a second." Mela said behind Penny. "Remember their date? She said that the next time they were alone they would give that a follow-up."
"Ash Ketchum! Each of us almost died tonight!" Penny shouted again. "Do you really think this is the moment for something like that?!"
"Hey, that wasn't what I had in mind at all!" Ash complained.
"Well, if that's the case then I guess you don't mind if we all sleep with you then, right?" Mela asked.
"Well, I guess not, but-"
"Then it's decided! We're having a sleepover!" Penny shouted. "Cause I guess I have to keep watch on you all, bunch of horny dogs!"
"You're still embarrassed about eating his finger?" Mela asked and Penny simply blushed and walked back to her room. "Guess we're bringing the sheets, see you in a moment, Ketchum." She added with a wink.
"I'm bringing Dot!" Iono said to then run away. "Nobody tell Monster Tits and the Drug Lady about this!"
"Sure, I guess we're doing this." Ash sighed. "Nemo, are you-"
"Y-Yeah, a sleepover is a good idea." She replied. "I'll go to your room in a minute, yes?"
"Fine, I'll be waiting." Ash relied finally letting the girl close the door. 'Nemo...' He thought. 'I'm sorry, but... I need to know what's going on."
And that's it!
Now, this could end up in two ways, a heartfelt conversation that helps Nemona open up, or some harem stuff between Ash and the girls where Iono makes them play truth or dare or spin the bottle, we'll most likely do both.
Hunter J is with the Explorers! I guess they both give me the same vibe and thought it would be a good idea, but what are they planning? And how do Lear and company fit into all this? Will Amethio capture Liko's team?
We'll also get to see Sango and Onyx's mission
Anyhow, can you guess who are the remaining members of the original Rising Tacklers?
We'll have some answers next time in 'Coming to Step on you Toes'. Here's a preview:
"Holy Mew!" Iono shouted. "I thought I was flat but that girl is a literal washboard!"
"Well, that's... pretty mean."
Also, I've been receiving a lot of messages about Fighting Dreamers lately, probably cause it's been well over a year since the last chapter, but don't worry, fellas, I'm already working on it. I hope to give you all a nice surprise.
Reviews:
KGBeastboy
As always, man, I appreciate a lot your ideas, though I was thinking that maybe I could change Drayton's trial to only use Unovan Pokemon, but having Ash train and adapt to a whole new team could work too. Although I'm still wondering if I should add the DLC's story after or before my take on Area Zero, everything from Kitakami and the Blueberry academy could be adapted before 'The Way Home', guess we'll have to wait and see.
Giggukarda Guy
Yeah, Concierge was cool, but I don't think I'd bring Haru here, maybe for the 100 NPCs.
UltimateCCC
Maybe we'll see in the following chapters.
Shu-Nightmare
Well, we still don't know how much of the future Liko changed, but well get to that.
EmperorSnorlax
I agree, but I don't want the Paldean team to lose the spotlight.
Dragonkeeper10
Yup, but I already used father-in-law Peony in Fighting Dreamers, so I'll try to make a different take with him this time.
And of course, we'll get more of the Explorers, but I also feel like it's time we get back to our other Antagonist. Y'all remember him, right?
References:
Our title of today 'No one brought us here but me' is taken from the lyrics of ' Independent Together' from Steven Universe: The Movie.
"We're gonna need a bigger boat." - Jaws.
"I was expecting something more visually impressive." - The Amazing World of Gumball.
"My days of breaking into places and stealing stuff are over." "You want us to do what?" "I want you two to break into the castle of the Paldean Royal Family and steal stuff." - Ant-Man.
"This is why I never had kids." "Do I want kids now?" - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
"Ladies first? ...Just saying." - Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs.
"...So this is our last glorious failure, huh?" - Megamind.
"Just in the nick of time, right?" "A few seconds earlier wouldn't have been so bad either." - Spider-Man 3.
"Well, that looks fatal." - Alita: Battle Angel.
"There's a difference between giving up and knowing when it's over." - DC League of Super Pets.
"Nothing is over! NOTHING!" - Rambo: First Blood.
"That recklessness of yours will change this world." - Lyrics from 'Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger'.
"...Dot, there's far more to that story than you think." "Then how about you give me another fucking lore dump!" - Lyrics from 'Back for Another Bite' by JT Music.
The scene between Jean and Michelle is based on the scene between Robin and Slade from the episode 'Apprentice part 2' from Teen Titans.
"The son of a bitch didn't even show up when I was born! What kind of father does that?!" - Phineas and Ferb.
"I'm gonna become prime minister and change that fucking law, damn it!" - Kanojo mo Kanojo.
"Why can't I just keep pretending I'm your daughter?!" "Liko, you are my daughter." - Man of Steel.
The whole courtroom scene is based on 'No se aceptan devoluciones' also known as 'Instructions not included' while the judge 'Miss Polo' is from the show 'Caso Cerrado'.
"Chupame un huevo y la mitad del otro." - Fernanfloo.
"Don't speak for me." "I'm trying to speak for Lucca." - Justice League Unlimited.
"15 years too late I'd say." - The Incredibles.
"I'm grateful you're father, more than anything." "And I'm grateful you're my daughter. More than anything." - Lyrics from 'More than anything' from Hazbin Hotel.
And as always, our villains' last names are inspired by Villains from Gokaiger:
Jean Losutto - Jealoustto.
Lear Akdos - Ackdos Gill.
Sawyer Dyran - Dyrandoh.
Rachel Zatsuri - Zatsurigi.
That's all for today, Holdonlupin is out!