The new morning rose in Grand Jipang. Ash and Pikachu woke up and escaped the futon in Robin's flat. It had been almost a full day when Robin legally adopted Ash, now a new mother and son. Robin seemed to be stirring miso soup as Ash and Pikachu entered. "Morning, Robin," Ash yawned. Robin seemed startled, but she giggled to the naming.
"Honey, don't you remember?" she pointed out. "I'm your new mother now. You don't have to address me by my name." Ash irked as Pikachu ate a pear.
"Sorry… It's just that… well… I've been an orphan my whole life." He helped slice some bread. "I never thought I'd actually be adopted until yesterday. This whole experience is still brand new to me." He lofted a giggle. "I guess it kinda feels strange that I'll be saying the word 'Mom' more often since I never had a chance to say it once before my parents were killed. It'll take some getting used to." Robin patted Ash on his head.
"I understand… You're not used to the feeling of having a parent after losing yours when you were just an infant… but I know you'll adapt to it in no time. Just remember, the most important thing is that you're not an orphan anymore." Showing her resolve, Robin knelt to Ash's level. She placed both of her hands on his shoulders as Pikachu watched. "You're now my son and I'm now your mother, now and forever… and as your mother, I swear on my life that I'll love you with all of my heart… like this." She pulled Ash to her and wrapped her arms to hug him. Her hold was tight, but it wasn't bothering. She kissed Ash on the forehead and his cheeks, softly and slowly. "Okay?" Ash smiled, wishing to follow Robin's advice.
"Okay… and I promise that I'll be the best son ever." The promise made Robin smile.
"I know you will." She gave Ash another heartfelt hug before he hugged back. "I love you so much… my sweet and precious son."
"And I love you too… mom." Pikachu felt left out and squeaked to complain.
("Hey!") he voiced. ("Don't forget about me!") Ash and Robin giggled before they opened their arms to let Pikachu join. Feeling the embrace, Pikachu felt happy. ("I love you, Mommy!") While not quite understanding Pikachu, Robin felt the mouse's need.
"I don't need to guess what you just said," she smiled. "And I love you too, Pikachu." She kissed Pikachu on the circle cheeks and forehead. He let out a happy squeal. It was Ash's first full day under the wing of a parent.
Revenge! Kabuki Buggy Strikes Back!
Ash and Pikachu stepped out of their new home. "Are you heading to see Rayleigh?" asked Robin as she stepped to the door frame. Ash turned to Robin with a smile.
"Yeah," he confirmed. "He'll probably have me and Pikachu on patrol."
("We'll be fine, Mom,") Pikachu assured. Robin giggled to the creature's reply.
"Take care," she waived. Ash and Pikachu left to walk around Grand Jipang. Along the way, they came across Luffy.
"Morning, Ash!" he greeted. Pikachu leaped off Ash's shoulder before climbing onto Luffy's. He seemed amused to the gesture. "You wanted to see what it's like on my shoulder?" Pikachu squeaked in confirmation.
"Did you see Rayleigh already?" asked Ash.
"Yeah, he's got nothing special. We're just patrolling throughout the city to make sure it's all going smoothly, which can be boring."
"Oh, I know… but at least we're getting plenty of exercise." A sigh came from Luffy.
"Not a lot of us appreciate exercise as much as you." As they started their patrol, a question came to Luffy's mind. "So, how does it feel being adopted by Robin?" Ash tilted his head down before cupping his chin with his hand.
"It's still new to me. After all, I haven't had a parent since I was only a baby."
"Yeah, it still sucks that your folks were killed before they could raise you. Then again, at least it wasn't a bad deal since you happen to have these powers that some of us wish we had."
"Yeah? Try the discipline that I had to struggle with before Pikachu came to my life." They soon heard the kids coming by. Carrot, Onion, Pepper, Aisa and Orika arrived.
"Boss!" cheered Pepper.
"Ash!" called out Carrot. The kids arrived to see the group.
"Everyone doing okay?" asked Luffy.
"YES!" they replied. Aisa came to Ash.
"I overheard that you were adopted just recently," she brought up. "Is this true?" Ash nodded to Aisa's query.
"Robin is now my mom," Ash replied.
("Hold on!") voiced Pikachu as he hopped from Luffy's shoulder. ("She's my mom, too!") Ash had nervous sweat pour down the side of his face.
"Well, our mom," he corrected himself. The kids became thrilled to the news.
"You've been adopted?" realized Onion.
"Yeah, remember when I told you about that one day at the Pinwheel?" recalled Orika. "Ash's parents were killed when he was still a baby." Pepper gawked but composed himself.
"A story like that, I'm surprised that he's here with us," he gulped. "But… we're glad that you've got a mother. I don't wanna see someone without a parent." Ash nodded, believing him.
"Yeah, same to all of you," he agreed. Orika and Aisa came to Ash and hugged him from both sides.
"WE'RE ALL HAPPY FOR YOU!" the girls cheered before they kissed Ash on his cheeks, Aisa on the left and Orika on the right. Luffy laughed to the double-kiss while Ash blushed.
"Sanji's probably steaming the water at the Pinwheel right now!" he believed. Pikachu giggled to the comment.
"I finally found you!" shouted Buggy. Everyone turned to the crooked kabuki. There were several people around, including a lavender-haired middle-aged man wearing gold samurai armor and a bandanna over his forehead.
"Isn't that the syndicate boss, Buggy?" wondered Aisa.
"Who's the samurai?" asked Onion. Buggy eyed Ash and Luffy.
"First, you abandoned me in remains of Caribou," he started. "Then, you killed a lord!?" The kids looked up to Ash and Luffy, fear starting to grow.
"Tell me it wasn't Lord Cobra," Pepper pleaded.
"No, we have respect for Lord Cobra," Luffy clarified. "It's Lard Nelson that we took out." The lavender-haired had a twitch above one of his eyes.
"So, the rumors were true," he growled. "Nelson was killed in this city. No doubt, his blood soaks the land and the Nobles will harbor anger toward those responsible." Buggy irked to the news.
"Don't make it sound so dramatic, Krieg!" he warned. The rest of the group surrounded Luffy and the kids.
"Hey, let the kids go!" demanded Ash. "They didn't do a thing to you!" Buggy scoffed to the demand.
"Suddenly, the real boy of the Summoner is peeking out," he mocked. "If anything, I'll take them and your rodent for my own!" Krieg armed himself with a sword as the others had armed themselves with daggers and sais.
"Get ready to run through the smoke," Ash whispered. Carrot blinked, something not making sense to him.
"But there's no smoke!" he warned. Ash pulled out a black ball from his robe.
"Not yet," he grinned. Looking, Luffy saw the ball and trembled.
"A smoke bomb!?" he guessed. Pointing, Krieg gave the order.
"ATTACK!" he shouted. The men came after the kids when Ash smashed the smoke bomb. A thick cloud of smoke emerged and engulfed everyone. A clash of weapons were heard inside. Meanwhile, Robin was talking to Onami inside the Pinwheel. Ocarrot had finished picking up the dishes from a patron before her rabbit ears heard the two talking.
"Wait, you joined Ash in the bathtub?" realized Onami.
"I did," Robin confirmed. "Oh, you should've seen the look on his face when he saw me entering the bath with him." She held fists over her eyes before opening them up. "His eyes got so wide, they looked like porcelain saucers… and his face got even redder than Pikachu's cheeks." Onami tried her best to stifle her laugh.
"He really went like that!?" A softer laugh came from Robin.
"He did. He's so sweet and innocent, it makes me love him even more." A smile beamed from Onami as Ocarrot squealed.
"I can figure that." Suddenly, Onami thought about the tale. 'Hmm… if Ash really got like that by seeing Robin's naked body, I wonder how he'd react if he saw mine? I should test him sometime to really see just how innocent he is. He definitely can't be like Sanji or Brook.' Ocarrot had her own thought.
'Maybe if we're the ones bathing,' she thought. 'He could be more open to make babies together!' Her glee was hidden from view. Back at the battle, the smoke cleared. Buggy's men emerged with their weapons clashed in the middle. The kids were at the side. Before the men realized the vanishing act…
"Gum-Gum…" voiced Luffy before he spun with his arms flailing around, blowing away the goons. "Twister!" Luffy stood while the others were down. He looked around for a minute. "Where's Ash?" Even Buggy and Krieg couldn't find him.
"Where did those two go!?" argued Krieg. That's when Ash voiced himself.
"Cloaked in darkness, striking in darkness, he becomes the aquatic Shinobi!" he chanted. "COME FORTH, GRENINJA!" A flash from the roof of a flat caught everyone. Looking, the light disguised the summon until it came to picture. A blue bipedal frog with a tongue wrapped around its face like a mask emerged. Bubble-like padding was on his elbows and knees. There was a head-fin in the middle of two others parallel above his eyes and a yellow abdomen had a triangle of blue at the bottom. Luffy gawked in laughter to the sight of the new summon and Ash's new look, which included a scarf over his mouth.
"NINJA!" he excitedly cheered.
"The Summoner is also a ninja?" gulped Krieg.
"What temple trained him!?" gawked Buggy. Ash and Greninja leaped down from the roof.
"Water Shuriken!" commanded Ash. Greninja compressed water before it became a spinning four-sided star. It threw the star where the men cleared out of the way. However, the star splashed the ground. Tiny stars sprung from the ground and struck the men who thought they were safe.
"AWESOME!" the kids cheered.
"Why that little brat!" growled Krieg.
"I got this," Buggy offered. Using his power, Buggy split himself into many parts before flying at Ash and Greninja. "There's no way you'll survive this oncoming-"
"DOUBLE TEAM!" shouted Ash. Greninja developed copies, more than all of Buggy's parts. Buggy's eyes bugged out.
"WHAT!?"
"AERIAL ACE!" The copies of Greninja attacked, smashing into the body parts before hurling toward Krieg.
"I didn't sign up for this!" gawked Krieg. The body parts smashed into Krieg, knocking him out.
"I got this!" voiced Luffy. "Gum-Gum Lasso!" Luffy's arm stretched out far before wrapping it around Krieg and Buggy. Pikachu and the kids ducked before Luffy spun the enemies dizzy. "And… LIFTOFF!" With one final swing, Luffy flung everyone out of the city. They cried in shock.
"THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK!" yelled Buggy as they vanished. Ash and Greninja returned to Luffy as Pikachu returned to Ash's shoulder.
"Who was that other guy?" wondered Ash. "I don't know why he was there. He didn't fight."
"I'm more in awe that you're a ninja!" pointed out Luffy. Ash shrugged his free shoulder.
"I wanted to bring it out at some point," he admitted. The kids hugged Ash for his heroics. After cleaning up the area, Ash and Luffy saw others like Franky, Blue-Nose, Usopp and Brook heard from Boss about Ash being a ninja. Needless to say how shocked the boys were.
"Ash is a ninja!?" gawked Usopp.
"Does that mean he has kunai knives and smoke bombs!?" gasped Blue-Nose.
"Had Ash lived in shadow while at the orphanage!?" guessed Brook.
"That is SUPER!" cheered Franky. "You have to tell us about it!" Ash shyly itched his head.
"Well, it happened on accident," he confessed. "But you'll love the story behind it, especially with Greninja's help." Greninja nodded to the claim.
"I wonder…" spoke up Blue-Nose. Everyone turned to the reindeer. He noticed before backing off. "Oh, it's nothing!" Zoro stumbled in, looking rather disheveled.
"Are you guys still opened?" he slurred. "I was told that a bite to eat would keep the Saké down." Omao helped Zoro to a table as he glanced to Greninja. "Maybe I should lay off a little. I swear that I'm seeing a ninja in here."
"It's probably best not to think about anything else but food," Omao advised. Zoro was ready to eat, but what could Blue-Nose know in regard to the Summoner?
TO BE CONTINUED...
