Ron the True Fan: Can you notice this NOW? …quickly, to the bottom notes: more important messages there! …After you read the chapter, obviously.
Ecruteak City - Johto Region - 1008 hours local time - Day 423 of Ash Ketchum's Journey
Morty didn't bother. Screw the rules. He was doomed, so why bother delaying the inevitable?
The rules said that combat was how this whole territorial dispute would be solved, but Morty was not stupid enough to know he had a chance in hell against Ash Ketchum.
He was duly warned by Falkner and Bugsy. And to be blunt? He wasn't an idiot. He ruled the former capital, but that was about as much a handicap as a benefit. And honestly, he knew he was doomed.
Why drag it out?
Just outside town, Ash scowled. Someone was planning on doing something on his top ten list of things he hated: a charity badge.
"What's with the scowl?" asked Max.
"I feel like I'm about to be treated like a charity case." Ash replied. "And I don't like it."
Kyoji scoffed. "Dude, you're going to kick the gym leader's ass no matter what." said the fellow prince, getting a look from Ash.
"That ISN'T the point. The point is I don't want to be GIVEN a badge, I want to EARN it." he stressed. "If I don't earn my badges, it doesn't feel right. It feels fake. If they just give up without a fight, that's not a victory on my part. It's an insult. Not just to me, not just to my Pokemon, but to them. Mostly to them!"
A twisted sort of sense, Kyoji supposed. And the fact Ash really hated being given things. He wanted to EARN things. He wanted to work for them.
"…You didn't say I was wrong about you kicking this guy's ass." Kyoji said after a minute.
"Because it doesn't MATTER." Ash retorted. "Just like the whole Miltank thing-"
"Ash, you couldn't've returned Charizard even if you tried." Max cut in. "He'd've broken out before you could get him back to the ranch. There was no other way that would've ended."
"Besides, she kinda needed a slice-no, two full humble pies." Kyoji added. "She was a spoiled little bitch. Tell me there wasn't one time you were an arrogant bastard and got something similar done to you."
"My gym battle in Pewter." Ash answered. "I lost. Massively. But Pikachu wasn't crippled for life."
"Charizard would've broken out and nothing would've changed outside your hand being shredded by exploding Pokeball." Kyoji stressed. "So… stop stressing."
Ash continued to scowl. "I don't like handouts." he said.
"We're WELL AWARE." Kyoji snapped before Ash was suddenly yanked backwards into the main bed.
"Nap time!" declared Becca as the tomboy dragged him in. "You know the rules!"
"Help!" Ash cried… Max and Kyoji just pulling closed curtains to give them privacy.
"We both know he needs it." Max said, grinning at Ash being 'smothered'.
"Yes. He does." Kyoji said, chalking up another victory.
Three hours later - Ecruteak Gym
Enforced or not, that cat nap helped.
That said, he was right.
"I know who you are." said Morty. "And I'm just going to get this over with. I've told Gengar about… this. So just send out your strongest dark-type and get it over with."
Ash was now in a bad mood. "Morty… This belittles you and your Pokemon." he said calmly. "I don't want a HANDOUT. I want you to give your all, just like I will."
"I don't see the point," Morty said. "And as you're taking over the region for Lance-"
"Excuse me WHAT?!" Ash demanded.
"Uh-oh," said Iris at the angry yell as the girls all looked at kimonos in an open-air shop.
"You're telling me I've been taking over the region for Lance SINCE I GOT HERE?!" Ash snapped.
"I thought he told you!" Morty replied, raising his hands. "Though I can guess why he didn't based on your reaction."
"Pikapi." 'Ash, calm down and think about it,' his starter said, making Ash stop. "Pikachu." 'If Johto's a disjointed hellhole, there's no way they can even try to get the Shadow Pokemon thing under control. At least now they can get started and there can be a flood of trainers catching them and purifying them.'
Ash listened to the mouse before nodding his head. "That's right. That IS good news," he said before the rage returned. "But I still don't like BEING LIED TO."
"Look, take it out on me." Morty said, spreading his arms. "You're mad. Two birds, one stone. You get to vent, Lance gets to clean up Johto a little more. And honestly… I'm tired of running this place as a feudal lord."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't solve the problem that you're basically throwing the fight." he said.
"I follow Giratina. And why fight the truth?" the gym leader asked. "Honestly, you're doing me a favor. And if the battle's not enough for you to think you've earned the badge… do something else for me."
Ash scowled before sighing and sending out Krookodile.
15 minutes later
Iris, now wearing a very fancy cream and red kimono and her hair done up accordingly, watched as Ash walked out of the gym, looking pissed off.
"Did you win?" she asked, making him look at her, the anger melting away like it wasn't there. "You looked mad."
"I've been conquering Johto for Lance without knowing it," he said numbly, still rather dumbstuck at how pretty Iris looked. "And Morty didn't want to bother giving me a proper gym battle."
"Maybe he just knew he'd lose," said the dark-skinned angel standing before him.
"That's not the point, Iris. I'm not a charity case: I want to earn everything, not have it given to me." Ash said, grousing over the fact he only faced Morty's Gengar, who BOTH wanted it over with.
"But…" she stressed.
"But he won't give me the badge until I attend a performance from the Kimono Girls." Ash said, still annoyed. "Apparently, as a Giratina worshiper, he doesn't like dealing with a performance involving Ho-Oh."
"Well, Ho-Oh IS the god of resurrection." Iris reasoned. "But everyone was going to attend anyways, because we thought you'd be a while."
"Pika." 'Maybe watching them perform would be relaxing. Misty was friends with the youngest one, Sakura, wasn't she?' Pikachu suggested.
Ash thought about it. Why not? It would get his mind off the disappointing gym battle.
The girls all wore formal kimono for the performance. Ash was regretting forgoing the vow as he was now having very… VERY impure thoughts.
He blamed the King. and as he was aware that Sabrina's former puppetmaster was still in his head, her too.
(Blame that was misplaced: it could all be traced back to the fact that his Serena asked him to give up the vow and he could NEVER deny her anything if she asked)
He vaguely noticed Kyoji and Max fistbumping at his reaction.
Little shits.
"Hello, Ash~" purred Serena, who offered the seat between her and Misty to him. "We saved you a seat."
Ash kept reminding himself of two things: one, he was in public. Two, his AGE.
He quickly sat between the two girls, Misty grabbing his left arm and Serena his right.
Any thoughts exited his head as the stage curtains opened. The Kimono Girls of Ecruteak, in full regalia, bowed as one, before beginning to tell the tale of the Legendary beasts.
Eusine already bored him with it in the last timeline, so he focused on the Eeveelutions for a while.
"O Lord of the Skies, we call to the heavens where the rainbow lies!" they chanted after they retold the tale. "We implore you to grace us with your flight, to bring us heaven's light! Bring your Sacred Fires to all! Grace this sacred earth!" All five of them rang a small bell.
"HO-OH!"
ASh thought this was part of the performance before the girls all looked up at the noise, followed by something large landing on the roof of the building.
On instinct, he bolted, heading for the exit, followed by the rest of the group, then all the theatergoers.
The sight was awe-inspiring… to those not used to the sight of them.
The roof had the Rainbow Pokemon nesting on it before the massive phoenix took to the air, circling Ecruteak, a rainbow in the wings.
Ruby, Weiss and Yang all pulled out their 'dexes and took photos. "Big bird." Ruby said, awestruck.
Red was a LITTLE less awestruck and more fearful, given the LAST time he saw a Ho-oh, it gave Ash third-degree burns over most of his body on top of killing their father.
Because some people don't bother rereading the Kanto Arc and apparently need REMINDING. (WHACK!)
The phoenix landed on the ground, the Kimono Girls all staring in awe at the true Lord of Ecruteak before Ash approached the big bird.
"I never got the chance to say thank you. For New Island and Orre, I mean." he said to the bird. "You saved my life."
Ho-Oh stared. Then the bird's head lunged forward and the massive beak snapped… on the brim of his hat, before lifting it off his head before rearing up and staring back down at him.
Kyoji struggled not to laugh at the absurdity. "…did Ho-Oh just steal Ash's hat-"
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Ash yelled at the Legendary.
'You want the hat back? Catch me if you can.' said the female legendary, taking to the air.
"Pikachu!" 'I'm game!' cried Ash's starter, Ash himself running to grab a ladder to follow Pikachu to the rooftops.
Misty blinked. "…Did Ho-Oh just… pull a Primeape?" she asked as Ash climbed onto a roof.
"Pikachu, use Electro Ball!" Ash ordered as he chased after the Rainbow Pokemon, Pikachu spinning and launching an ball of lightning at Ho-Oh, which impacted the feathers on the right wing.
Ho-Oh cried out before sending a simple gust of wind at Pikachu. "Pika!" 'That's it!' he snapped, an aura of power appearing around him, preparing for a Volt Tackle as he started running, leaping to keep the pace before launching at the legendary. "PIKA!" 'AYBABAYAY!i
Kyoji blinked. "What," he said to the gibberish.
Ho-Oh got gut punched, for lack of a better term, as Pikachu slammed into her stomach, resulting in an almost comical open beak expression, the hat falling towards the crowd, Misty reaching for and putting it on as it got close.
Serena pouted. "I wanted the hat." she groused.
"You already got to wear his hat." Misty reminded. "Someone else gets to."
Serena knew better then to fight over the hat.
"PIKA!" 'SAMBOSA!' cried Pikachu as he Volt Tackled Ho-Oh again and as he spun off, he lobbed an Electro Ball at her, doubling the attacks.
"…What is with the random gibberish?" Kyoji asked again, confused, though Gible cheered happily at it.
"Gible!" 'More random screaming!' said the land shark.
He got his wish, Ho-Oh, swooping in with a Sky Attack, but Pikachu just met her head-on - literally - with… well…
"PIKA!" 'I WROTE A SONG!'
Anabel blinked. "I suddenly want a pie," she said before looking at Iris. "Do you want a pie?"
"Not today," said the dragon tamer as the battle continued.
Ho-Oh panted before Ash got in as close as possible, then tossed an Ultra Ball at Ho-Oh, as he - and everyone else - knew that a Pokeball was next to useless against a Legendary.
The ball made contact, Ho-Oh converting to energy and being sucked into the ball, which then fell to the ground.
The outer ring on the latch glowed red, then turned to steel, the ball shaking before the release button clicked.
Ash had caught Ho-Oh.
"Alright, you overgrown pidgey, time to get my hat back." Ash snapped, approaching the ball as soon as he climbed down from the rooftop, the Kimono Girls all trailing behind him as he approached.
"You are the master of the Lord of the Skies." the youngest, Sakura, said to him. "A great honor."
"I have no intention of keeping Ho-Oh." Ash said before he heard a cough from Misty, making him look at her to find… her wearing his hat.
That settled it. He was letting the bird out and releasing her.
"You release that overgrown Natu from your care and there will be hell to pay," Anabel declared, giving him a hard look. Serena joined in, Ash wincing at the reminder of his biggest weakness: the girl who broke his vow. The fragment of her that remained was probably protesting him letting Ho-Oh leave.
…And he couldn't deny her. It wasn't quite to the level of whipped, but making her happy made him happy.
He still opened the ball, allowing Ho-Oh out. "I'm letting you roam free. I've got too much experience with legendaries being removed from their niche to remotely THINK of anything else being a good idea." Ash said as soon as she fully materialized. But he didn't activate the permanent release command. "Get going. Please."
'Call on me when you need me, Chosen of Arceus.' Ho-Oh said, before wincing at the Pikachu-shaped bruises she now had and took to the skies with some effort.
"THAT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!" exclaimed Ruby, startling all of them. "THIS SHOULD NEVER STOP BEING AMAZING!"
Ash WISHED he could agree with her. He'd just seen too much to be amazed by legendary encounters anymore. Now it was just 'what's the problem and how do I deal with it?'.
It was depressing when the extraordinary just became mundane.
Entry 131: Kimono Girls
The famous performers of Ecruteak normally comprise of five sisters from a particular family - who appear to have been influenced by Ho-Oh to produce five daughters whenever the previous generation of Kimono Girls are too old or otherwise unable to perform - who have a purpose outside of their dances and storytelling, as recently revealed: they summon Ho-Oh to face a worthy challenger.
Ron the True Fan: (Raiden shoots past while screaming randomly) Raiden wins. Flawless victory. Gibtality!
Takeshi Yamato: *Cackles*
Ron the True Fan: In all seriousness, if anyone actually notices this - at the time of publishing, it APPEARS FFN has unfucked itself in terms of notifications - I have a simple request: MAKE AN AO3 ACCOUNT. If this happens again, and it WILL… well. You can't keep up to date if the emails crap out again. And of course the usual 'subs for chapters' message.
Takeshi Yamato: Indeed. And the usual plug for Star Trek Adventures players to check out the Tethys Shipyards vids.
Ron the True Fan: And do check out Ship and Soul on BOTH accounts. As it was published during the stupid blackout, I don't think anyone noticed it.
Ja Ne!