Delia Ketchum barely had the time or the energy to return to Cerulean City, but she managed to mack back within the nick of time.
"Presenting the Sensational Sisters!" Violet's voice played over the speakers.
The assembled crowd raised their voices in excitement as the three girls dove one at a time into the transparent tank in the middle of the building. Each girl took turn being the center of attention, swimming with their Pokémon as they performed feats of acrobatics. Violet partnered with Starmie, who tossed her into the air with a whirlpool. Then, to improve the act, one of the horsea shot several beach balls at the girl, who then promptly caught them and juggled them, whilst caught in the whirlpool. Lily partnered with several seel, performing an underwater ballet with rhythmic dances and catchy songs. Then Daisy danced atop a familiar kingler, one much larger than normal; Daisy sang and danced from atop its shell, whilst Lily and the seels circled around them.
And there were so many acts that Delia had a hard time remembering them all. She delighted in all of this, glad the girls were able to perform once again.
The crowd certainly agreed, granting the girls a standing ovation for their first water show in months.
After the show, Delia found them in the backrooms of the gym. The girls were still dressed in their swimsuits, still sopping wet. They sat around a small pool, attending to a rather exhausted Kingler.
"...not bad for a first time," Violet said as she patted the gigantic crab on the head. "You're quite the gentleman, you know that?"
Kingler made a pleasing sounding series of beeps before inclining his head towards Delia.
This prompted the girls to turn towards the woman.
"Hey, Miss Ketchum!" Violet said with a smile. "How was the trip to Pewter City?"
"The Harrison family were quite nice." Delia smiled back. "I just barely caught the show. Traffic to Cerulean was a lot worse than I expected."
"That might be our fault," Lily said, half gloatingly. "Still glad you were able to make it, Miss Ketchum. I hope you enjoyed the show."
"I did." Delia smiled warmly, glad to see the girls were able to enjoy themselves once again. "You ladies were great on stage!"
The girls delighted in that statement, giving Delia a smile of satisfaction.
At this point, Kingler made several honking noises and waved his claws in the air.
"Oh, before we forget,, thanks for letting us have Kingler for our show!" Daisy said as she walked over. "He's such a sweet and well behaved crustacean ."
Kingler honked in an affirmative.
"I'm glad he's doing well." Delia then turned to Kingler. It felt a little wrong to give away one of his son's Pokémon, but Kingler needed this. One morning, the gigantic crab had become depressed once word around Ash's death had become common knowledge. It wasn't clear who told him, but he somehow learned the truth. So, Delia sent the crab to the girls to help him move on. That seemed to work, having allowed both Kingler and the girls to bond while Delia was away.
The girls then continued to admire the large crab, polishing his shell. The crab seemed to delight in the praise, making pleased sounding noises in response.
At this, Delia smiled, if bittersweet. She still missed her son, but she was glad that some good came out of his passing. Though, as the girls went back to their ordinary lives, the woman considered whether or not it was time for her to resume working at her restaurant.
Misty lunged at Dewott, mallet in hand. He deftly sidestepped the blow, and drew on one of his seashells. Water gushed out from his scalchop in a fan as went for a counter attack.
In haste, Misty channeled water into her fins and formed an Aqua Jet to speed past the attack. She narrowly avoided the hint and promptly retaliated, throwing her whole body at the fleeing mustelid.
Responding in kind, Dewott did the same and swept to the side to avoid the blow. The otter drew on his other scalchop and swept side to side in a spinning counter. Misty took several hits, several shallow cuts appearing over her belly.
The buizel then saw an opening from the top and made her choice. Propelling herself with a jet of water, she leapt up onto the air, mallet raised.
Dewott planted his feet firmly onto the ground and braced himself.
Misty put what strength she had into her mallet and came crashing down onto Dewott's body.
The otter, however, did not flinch. With a roar, he launched himself into the air and leapt right towards Misty, scalchops extended.
In that instant, water met wood… and for once, water triumphed. In a single hydrodynamic cut, he sliced the head of Misty's mallet and then knocked a slash right at Misty's head.
A searing pain knocked the buizel off course and onto the ground. Misty grasped at one her cheeks, a small trickle of blood oozing from the injury.
"Oh, sorry!" Dewott said as he walked over to her. He knelt down and offered a hand. "I just… I didn't expect your hammer to well… break like that."
"Don't worry. I got it for cheap." Misty stared at the shattered pieces of her mallet. While it might not have cost that many Carats, she did like having a hammer to bash heads in.
"Misty?" Staryu called out."Are you well?"
"... I think. How do I look?" she asked as she touched her wound. It bled, though far less than she had been expecting.
"A mild cut, I think. You probably won't even notice it tomorrow, if not the day after," Staryu said, not indicating any hint of hesitation or dishonesty.
Misty blinked at that, wondering how she could have withstood an attack that cut through a block of wood like it wasn't even there, yet all she got was a mild cut. Then again, she probably should learn to accept Pokémon were so much more durable than humans.
She turned towards the observers and noted that Togpei looked very concerned. She was being comforted by both Goldeen and Cyclizar, who tried to reassure her adopted mother was safe. Misty waved a paw and smiled at her. "It's okay, I'm fine!" she said.
This seemed to raise Togepi's spirits as the little Pokémon soon jumped for joy.
The buizel stood on her feet and dusted herself off before speaking to the Pokémon that injured her. "If that's all there is to it, there's no harm done, right?"
"Yeah, something like that, kid," Dewott agreed.
"Kid?" Misty blanched.
"What? You're at least a thirty Moons younger than me!" said Dewott.
Just then, droplets started to fall from the sky.
"Hm, rain?" Staryu commented.
"Hm. I guess the weather guild called for a late afternoon rain, today," Dewott mused, rubbing his chin.
"We should probably head inside then," Misty shrugged. She hadn't even known it until now, but the sun was starting to set. She must have had so much fun if that much time had passed without her realizing it.
"Huh, why?" Dewott blinked, looking legitimately confused.
"So, we don't get soaked…?" Misty replied, though as she said that, she felt an odd tingling sensation around her body.
Dewott just stared. "You do realize you're already wet, right? Like I get sending Togepi to hide somewhere where it's dry, but you're kind of coated in water already."
"Uh, Misty. Remember you were just fighting and during which, your favorite attack covers you in your own water," Staryu commented.
"Oh." Misty's whiskers twitched. Right. Aqua Jet basically drenched her in water already. She raised one of her paws, allowing water to fall at its center. She felt a connection there, a rush of energy that she only really felt while in the open ocean or in rivers. She felt light on her feet, like she could dash a hundred yards in a single bound, yet had the strength to move a whole … truck if she put her mind to it.
Togepi's laughter caught her attention. The little egg danced and pranced in the rain, giggling as any delighted child should.
"Togepi!" Misty called out. "Head over to the veranda near the house!" While rain itself didn't cause sickness, cold and chilly rainwater could cause illness if it lowered body temperature too much.
Togepi made a pout, but Cyclizar and Goldeen escorted the child closer to the Tajiri manor, putting her out of reach of the cold rain.
"We should probably move closer, just so Togepi could watch," Misty told her sparring partner.
Dewott did not mind.
As the group walked closer to the veranda, the son of a merchant posed a question. "So, have you tried other shapes yet?" He then clarified, "Water shapes. Like, you've got a workable Aqua Jet, but I wanted to know if you've done anything else."
"I mean, I can do a Whirlpool and I've learned to freeze the water around my fist to make an Ice Punch, though that still kind of hurts to use," Misty said. She squinted an eye. "I haven't done this stuff for very long, so I don't know if I'm supposed to know more moves than this."
"You've done well, Misty. You've adapted to being a buizel quite well!" Staryu encouraged. "You've picked up techniques as well as can be expected given you've only just started training some months ago."
"Yeah, probably," Dewott said as he clearly made a thoughtful expression. "Misty, ever tried learning to shape water to make a weapon instead of using a cheap wooden mallet?" He then presented one of his scalchops and conjured a small glowing fan of water.
"I've never heard of a buizel learning Razor Shell," she said. Though, the buizel had to admit, a part of her salivated at the idea. She could do all sorts of things if she knew how to conjure up a weapon like that. She wouldn't even need to replace her hammer.
"There's other moves that involve making blades, such as Liquidation, but all of them come from the same root." Then to demonstrate, he gathered the rainwater around one of his fists into a crude boxing glove before shaping it into some sort of pole and then to a simple blade.
"What is that?" Misty called out.
"Oh, just a hydrokinesis trick," Dewott answered and shook his head. He let go of the technique, allowing the water to drip off his paws. "I'm still not good at it, but you know, it can't help to expand your repertoire. Like, if you've seen a theater show with Water-type, you know what I'm talking about!"
"...I'm very intimately aware," Misty glowered. Her sisters were probably doing one such show right now, perhaps ordering Starmie to make a fountain or for Horsea to flood the audience in the splashzone. Though she tried not to let that thought ruin what could have been a chance to get stronger. "And you think these same tricks can help in a fight?"
Dewott nodded his head. "It can't hurt to try, right? Like, at its core, most moves are all different ways of using the same few elements."
"Why are you offering to teach Misty these things?" Staryu interjected, a little suspicious.
"Curiosity, like I get to teach a human. That has to count for something, right?" he admitted. "Plus, I'm still trying to figure this out myself."
"I suppose that's fair," Staryu conceded and then raised a question. "... Are you interested in teaching other interested parties?"
"Is it applicable to those without hands or paws?" Goldeen asked from nearby.
Eager as Ash is on a regular day, Misty advanced and extended her paw. "So, what am I supposed to do to copy that?"
Dewott raised his own paw. "It's actually fairly simple, the first step at least. You just conjure water and put it on a limb. Think of how you do your Aqua Jet, but only on your paw."
Misty frowned, not liking the explanation's simplicity. Though, she gave it her best try. With rain still pouring down, she had plenty of water and energy to work with. So, she gathered what rain spilled around her and tried to… draw that feeling of power onto her wrist. To her surprise, a sphere of water formed around Misty's paw.
But then, the water simply lost cohesion and all fell off just five seconds later.
"Hm, looks like we're going to need to make some work, " Dewott commented. "Let's try some other techniques."
Brock felt like he was hitting a brick wall and not the kind he could just tear apart with his claws. He stared at the crystal wrapped around his wrist. The lycanroc focused hard onto the crystal, hoping to magnify its light. Yet, all he could manage were a few short lived sparks.
Yet, despite his troubles, his friends, his companions managed to brighten their crystals and for longer.
Vulpix giggled with delight as she displayed the shimmering gem on her wrist. Onix had a steady gray shard, whilst Geodude managed a subtle shine with a mix of earthen hues. Even Zubat, the blind member of the party, managed a deep, if short-lived purple.
"I'm doing something wrong, I know it!" Brock said to his team. Yet it felt like squeezing a square peg in a round hole. "What did you guys do?"
"Steady thoughts. Like earth. Stable, firm," Onix was the first to volunteer. "Focus."
Brock focused on the crystal, staring at it. He tried to wrangle his thoughts, to gather them up and keep them from going off on tangents as he focused on the ground. But the odd thing about being told to steady your mind, that tended to cause the opposite reaction. He was halfway to thinking about what shape the nearby clouds resembled before he gave up. "This might not be working."
"Oh, I know!" Vulpix said, eager to please. "I was thinking about a volcano! Fiery thoughts and warmth so maybe that might work?"
Brock wasn't a Rock-type nor did he have Fire Fang down, but he was willing to try anything. So, he tried to think about a volcano, to describe it in his own mind. Volcanoes were categorized by their mineral composition and general shape. Shield volcanoes were flat, stratovolcanoes were tall, volcanoes could be layered on top of one another. He tried to list out as many random tidbits of information as he could… and made no progress. "Uh…"
"How about sounds!" Zubat cried. "Like, I can't see anything, but maybe uh… think of Mt. Moon? That's where you got me!"
Brock's thoughts drifted towards Kanto and towards the mountain that was just outside his hometown. He hadn't gone to the distant mountain as much as he would have liked, having been unable to adventure much ever since his parents had left him to raise his other siblings…. Siblings who now didn't have an older brother to look after them. What would happen to them without him? It hurt to think about.
"Brock?" Vulpix's voice reached the lycanroc's ears.
Brock snapped from his vision and shook himself free. "Sorry, I… I spaced out…" he breathed heavily. He glanced down and noticed the crystal at his wrist had glowed slightly brighter than before. Though the glow rapidly faded away and was nowhere near as bright as the others, it was progress.
"Huh, looks like you've found a way to move forward, Brock," Geodude commented.
"I just wish I knew what I did to make it brighter or what you guys are doing that I'm not." Brock answered, wracking his mind to think about the solution to the problem before him. Maybe it was something simply, something that was patently obvious: he wasn't an actual Pokémon, like everyone else. All of his friends were born and raised as Pokémon and they were better skilled at being Pokémon; Brock may have made major strides in adapting to his new body so quickly, but he had nowhere near the sheer quantity of experience. Still, that didn't mean he was giving up.
"Cultivating your talents isn't meant to be easy or simple," Kyuko told them. The...beautiful ninetales walk in between them, examining their crystals as they went through. "Really, you should applaud yourselves in learning to use such an unorthodox and difficult technique in such a short span of time."
Brock tried to avoid getting swept up in those eyes. His heart pounded in his ears, but he kept himself from moving.
Vulpix raised her chest, both defensively and to express pride. Onix surveyed the fox patiently, whilst Geodude and Zubat hung back.
"Once you have a good grasp on how to externalize your own Essence, you can imbue it into objects with the right training," Kyuko explained. "I assume the young alchemist wished to instruct you in her trade?"
"That's correct, though I think I'm the only one who actively studied alchemy before this," Brock managed to say, though he felt like he was one step away from saying the wrong thing.
"Cinder need help. Potions taxing. Brock offered help. Others help Brock," Onix explained. It brought to the lycanroc a small measure of relief to hear those words, whilst the rest nodded in agreement.
"As they should," Kyuko approved as well, though with an odd sense of certainty in her words, like it was the natural order of things. "Though it seems that you might be struggling with how to go further, Brock." The fox swayed her tails and hummed. "Perhaps, you might require more direct instruction?"
Brock shivered at the request, afraid of making a fool of himself. He could refuse, but at the time, he wanted to know what he was doing wrong. "Are you sure it would help?"
"It can't hurt!" the tall fox insisted. She pursed her lip and then turned towards the others before returning to the lycanroc. "Young master, I believe it would be best if we went somewhere where there are few distractions."
A wave of uncertainty went through Brock as he heard the request. A large part of him desperately wanted to accept, to have a private chat with a pretty girl like this, like he always wanted. Yet, he hesitated, because they were supposed to be different species. What if he lost control or did something he'd regret. Before, he could have Misty or someone else restrain him and drag him off, even if that was against his will, but that wasn't the case now.
"Brock," Vulpix's voice reached his ears once again. "You should go."
The response startled the wolf, mostly because he knew that there were problems between the two foxes. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"If it'll help you learn, you have to do it," she insisted. Vulpix turned her attention to the priestess. "It shouldn't take long, would it?"
"Hm?" Kyuko seemed intrigued by that. "No, this will not take too long. It might not even be an hour." She looked up at the sky, the sun just a fading plume of orange at the horizon's edge. "We'll be in time for dinner."
Brock looked between the two foxes, trying to feel the mood between the two of them. They seemed professional enough, yet that just obscured what lay beneath the surface.
"Speaking of dinner, we should probably make that before Ash decides to do something without supervision again," Geodude grumbled as he hopped off.
"Ash not in kitchen," Onix said simply as he craned his head. "No one is."
"Of course not, why would an upper class riolu be…" Kyuko appeared to give the rock snake a weird look and then shook her head. "Nevermind. We will see you then," she promised.
Vulpix looked like she wanted to say something, but simply her head and walked away.
Brock's team then went into Tajiri manor, whilst the Kyuko took the lycanroc in the opposite direction. The ninetales took the rockhound deeper into the gardens.
"This should be sufficient enough for our purposes," Kyuko mentioned. She smiled over the wolf.
Brock shivered, almost afraid to be swallowed up by that grin.
"Now, don't be afraid," she laughed, like wind chimes. "Please, let's work on this together."
Brock felt his heart pound and stilled himself as approached. Right, the two of them were here for a purpose… and nothing else. Nothing at all.
"I've noticed you've been quite… hesitant about yourself," the fox said with a frown.
"... You could tell?" he asked.
"Your posture, especially how you hold your tail, is a dead giveaway," the fox said.
Brock looked down at himself and noticed she was right. His posture, he was curling himself inwards, his tail between his legs. He straightened his body out, though still felt very uncertain.
"Hm…Better. Fear doesn't suit you." Kyuko walked around the well and then turned to face the lycanroc. She smiled. "Brock, do you know what makes you so special?"
"No," he admitted. He hadn't even seen a rockruff before he became one himself. Importing from outside of Japan turned out to be quite the hassle. "I know my color is unusual, but that's about it."
"Hm, that's a shame. But then, it is my duty to inform you," the ninetales mused aloud. She flashed her teeth and drew in close. "Your kind, Brock, have a close connection towards the sun and moon. Most of the time, lycanroc are blessed with the light of only one. You are special for being the very rare sort to be touched by both."
"... How rare?" Brock found himself asking.
"Perhaps once every thousand Moons? Most don't even know the relevance because of how rarely a lycanroc gains a twilight blessed coat," Kyuko hummed. "There have been very few lycanroc of your type but almost all of them have ended up becoming people of great importance. Why, you yourself have been thrust into a position of importance just by simply knowing the heir of the Tajiri estate."
Suddenly, the looks the lycanroc had been receiving started to take a different meaning. He was that kind of special. Perhaps Brock should be thankful that so far he had only received looks.
"...I think I understand," Brock answered, fear in his voice. "But why tell me all of this?"
"So, you know how great your destiny is." Kyuko responded. She narrowed her eyes and focused on the lycanroc haunches, with a frown. "You shouldn't be cowering with your tail between your legs; you should be firm, bold. The gods saw fit to mark you as special. You should act like it."
If they did, someone had a sense of humor. I'm not a lycanroc. Brock shuddered. "... I didn't ask to be like this. It just happened. I was actually aiming to get to Midnight." Just because he wanted to pretend like he had hands again.
"And yet, you make a fine example of what your kind could become." Kyuko gave him a thoughtful look. "Besides, I don't think that form would have suited you."
Brock wanted to disagree. He would have preferred if he had just ended up a normal lycanroc instead of having evolved into a very "blessed" one.
"Hm, do you dislike yourself?" Kyuko Said from seemingly out of the blue. "Or at least what had happened to you since you evolved?"
"What?" Brock said, taken aback. "What gives you that idea?"
"Just an idle guess. Given your earlier statement and your general demeanor, I was wondering if your problem is one of internal discontent," the priestess explained. "It might explain your inability to properly gather Essence and project it."
Brock had to admit, it was a very accurate guess. He didn't know how much she really knew, but it wasn't a lie to say that he was very uncomfortable with how he was now. He had gotten through most of it, but things haven't been the best. "You can say that," he admitted and sat down on his rear. "Alot of things have happened to me since I came into Citrine."
"Such as?"
"I'm trapped here, unable to see any of my family." And trapped as the wrong species. "Then I suddenly evolved and… things.. Got complicated."
"Complicated how?"
Brock wracked his brain on how to explain this. Aside from the size and mass differences, lycanroc did remember that things seemed….simpler then. When he had first transformed into a rockruff, he had gone from the group caretaker towards being more of a supervisor. He wasn't attracted to Pokémon, either, so he didn't try to avoid looking at females in his egg group; in fact, he didn't even realize girls were after him until people went out of their way to tell him! And fighting was different, too. And then, it hit him. "It felt like I had more control, back then."
"I see." Kyuko nodded her head. "And you felt like you had been losing control since you evolved?"
"Yeah." Brock frowned. "Ever since I changed, it felt like… if I didn't guard myself, I'd do something stupid or reckless." It wasn't just falling for Pokémon that was the problem. Every time he fought, the thrill of the battle made him violently bloodthirsty, as if the idea of being a predator was something that he delighted in.
"Then stop guarding yourself." Kyuko surmised.
Brock blinked, unsure of how that was supposed to work.
The priestess continued. "Brock, you shouldn't be afraid of what comes naturally to you!"
Except, it wasn't natural. He wasn't a Pokémon! He shouldn't have such… urges. "But-"
A tail pressed itself against the lycanroc's lips. "No, buts," she said. She brought one of her paws over to Brock's wrist and raised the crystal wrapped around in it to his eye level. "Brock, you aren't going to advance further by denying what you are."
Brock stared at the priestess, as though the words struck at something deep inside of him.
"You are a lycanroc," Kyuko said, referring to the obvious. "One blessed by twilight, for that matter. You aren't anything else, not anymore. You'll only hurt yourself by refusing to accept this simple truth."
He wasn't human, not anymore. Brock knew that already, yet somehow those words reverbated more clearly now that someone had said to his face. His body trembled, as though an earthquake was about to rumble through him. "But what about…"
Kyuko placed a paw over his mouth. "Don't think about it," she said and focused her eyes onto the crystal. "Feel it," she said.
Brock's eyes drifted over to the crystal wrapped around his wrist. It felt warm, its light dim yet growing.
"All Maiju are born with Essence deep inside of them," Kyuko said in a solemn whisper. "All you have to do is to reach into it, to dig deeper."
And yet, Brock wasn't born with Essence. No human was, except for maybe those psychics and mediums. Yet, why did he have Essence now? Was it just because he became a Pokémon? Where did it come from? All he knew was he saw a silvery light emanating from his crystal.
"It is more than simple energy," she said. "Most Maiju only think of it as being used only for spells, of using the powers the gods grant us, but Essence is the power of your heart, your own will made manifest."
The light in Brock's crystal grew brighter and brighter, growing in magnitude. It was still nowhere near the intensity of what his friends could manage, but it was more than he Yet, as the lycanroc tried to summon more and more, he found himself engulfed in emotions he tried to subdue. He fought against the encroaching infatuation that swept him off his feet when he saw any pretty girls, contrasted against the fiery wrath that rose to the surface whenever he fought. He tried to force those emotions away, yet the light in his crystal dimmed and dimmed.
The priestess shook her head. "Brock, don't struggle. Allow yourself to go further."
"But I…" the wolf shivered, swirling chaos and head within him lashing out.
"Do you think you're going to get anywhere if you deny your true nature?" Kyuko answered. "You are a lycanroc," she reiterated yet again. "Act like it."
Whether it was the urgings of a pretty lady or something else, Brock felt a rush, something like a release. Like two tectonic plates that struggled to slide past each other, only to finally manifest an earthquake, the lycanroc felt a surge of power go through him.
Faint silver light emanated from Brock's crystal, brighter than anything he ever managed before. He was a lycanroc. And that simple bit of information gave him such relief.
"See?" Kyuko giggled. "You're making progress."
"Yeah," Brock managed to say. He felt short of breath, like he had just run through a marathon.
"Good. Not particularly efficient, but it's a breakthrough," she commented. "We should go back to your servants and tell them the good news."
"They're not my…" the lycanroc began, but by the time he had managed to speak, the fox priestess had already left earshot. Brock shook his head and decided that he didn't want to argue about that right now.
The lycanroc trailed back to the house, though as he did, he thought of that conversation's most recent events.
Brock had Essence. He knew he had to have Essence since he was a Pokémon, yet for some reason the revelation unsettled him. If he had Essence, why was it so deep within him?
"It makes no sense!"
"Should we try it again?"
"And waste time verifying what we already know?"
The table burst out into another series of arguments over what to do next. No one in the Dojo could explain the results they gathered, yet the case still needed to be resolved.
Cinder didn't bother trying to raise her voice, not wanting to make any more enemies than necessary. She had heard from her Master and her father about the various rivalries and disputes that arose when prestige and honor were at stake; she wanted no part in that.
"Enough!" shouted Sensei Tungsten. The ferrothorn battered his clublike limbs like they were a gavel, silencing the room. "Alchemist Cinder, would you care to summarize the findings we have gathered so far?"
Cinder winced at the request, but did as was asked of her. She pawed at several papers and charts had been hastily drawn on to arrange and model what information was available. "As far as we can tell, Raichu's Essence is still present within her body, but she has become completely unable to access it by any means." Said Raichu was not present, having been sent to sleep in a private chamber not too long ago.
The room went silent. Noivern and Noctowl scowled at each other, perhaps wordlessly settling a score between each other.
"The result of her physical weakness is in part because she is unable to use her own Essence, even passively. Because of this, she is much more susceptible to harm as she cannot endure physical trauma and also has a significantly reduced ability to recover from injury, inline how non-Maiju creatures suffer and recover from harm," Cinder sighed and pushed the documents away.
A somber mood fell over the room, everyone present indicating their inherent disgust.
The fox couldn't blame them. For Maiju, Essence practically defined them. Essence was the divine gift that made them alive. Everyone shared in it, even if their gift was humble. To know that someone, somehow was able to take that precious defining feature away, that was horrifying as it was abominable.
"...Can we do anything?" asked one of the other alchemists, an aromatise. "Can we save her?
"We currently have no solution to fix the Essence problem," Tungsten reiterated. "Though, given what we know now, that will be unnecessary to save Raichu's life." He then slanted his head towards Noctowl.
The large owl stepped forward. "Yes. With her cooperation, we have managed to perform a blood reading. Raichu's blood contained several trace amounts of toxic substances; we believe these are the cause for her physical weakness and declining health. Theoretically, purging her body of contaminants would allow her to recover, albeit slowly."
"Hm, depending on how weak her immune system is and how long she has been afflicted, normal healing techniques like Aromatherapy might be insufficient," Aromatise mused. "But at least that is a start."
Cinder internally agreed, glad that all of these hours spent working had the chance to save someone's life.
"... How did she get poisoned in the first place?" someone asked.
"We still don't know. It is likely the poisoning is related to what… cut Raichu off from her own Essence. While Raichu has been more willing to cooperate, she is still unwilling to speak about her experiences," Noctowl lamented. "But I believe we can earn her trust, though not at this moment."
"We should pressure her more," cried Noivern. "It is imperative we gather whatever information we can so that we can find the one responsible and bring them to justice!"
The room went silent, as the stakes were spoken for everyone to know.
Cinder's eyes drifted over to a nearby scroll, its contents a litany of disappeared Maiju. Raichu was simply the only one of that number to have resurfaced. How many of them were taken from their loved ones in a manner similar to the Electric-type? How many of them endured being intoxicated and cut off from their own Essence?
"This is why we were tasked with this assignment." Tungsten said. He looked out one of the windows, towards a darkened sky. "But I believe we are simply going to have to wait for tomorrow; it is late enough that most of us are already fatigued. We have done what we can today and there is no shame in that."
The room settled down as they took in the ferrothron Sensei's words. Cinder took a small measure in pride in having contributed in a small, yet important way.
"Scholar Hemlock," the ferrothorn addressed the noctowl. "If you believe that our patient can be cured of poisoning, I must request you perform treatment immediately."
"Of course, my friend," the noctowl performed a short bow. "I will see to it that Raichu is healed of her afflictions."
"Please do." Sensei Tungsten then turned to the other alchemists present. "For the rest of you, you are dismissed for the time being. Your Private rooms have been provided. Dinner will be given to you on request."
Nods filled the room. Everyone present slowly filed out.
Cinder allowed herself to disappear into the background and moved towards her assigned room, a small chamber set aside for her and her rotom assistant.
Once inside, the fox let out a sigh of exhaustion. Fatigue is a strange thing for a partially insubstantial being like herself. As long as she fed on something and did not suffer injury, weariness or tiredness did not really bother her. But that room, with all of those senior alchemists watching her every move, that drained her, as though their gazes drained away her energy.
She fell onto the mattress provided to her and curled inwards. She just wanted the day to be over.
Cinder?
The fox jolted into action and took a defensive stance, bristling her hairs on pure reflex… only to realize a moment later that it was simply Dexter's mechanical voice droning in her ears.
"Uh… sorry," the zorua growled. "You snuck up on me."
I apologize, I didn't mean to do that. The rotom said simply. He floated over the fox's head. I simply wanted to know how you were feeling since the meeting appears to be over.
The zorua nodded her head. Right. Dexter wasn't there; he was a valuable assistant and translator, certainly, but he had no professional standing as an alchemist. He had been sent with the other assistants. "It went as well as could be expected. Lots of shouting, arguments over who had the better theories. Before closing, we had to summarize the findings that we knew for sure since we spent an hour debating," she answered before scratching on her ears with a leg. "For now, Raichu will be given medical treatment to counter the poisons in her body, but we cannot solve either her inability to use Essence or her inability to understand one else.
Hm. It is peculiar. Dexter made a chine. Though I did have an idea.
Cinder blinked. "You do? Can it help?"
Possibly, though I struggle to imagine how I am going to convey it to anyone else. Dexter shook his body. Raichu's current affliction reminds me of how humans cannot understand Pokémon, Maiju speak.
"…What?"
My memories of the world before awakening are… confusing, but I remember that humans cannot understand Pokémon speaking, while Pokémon understand human speech just fine. In both cases, the speech used is identical, but in one scenario, the listener cannot interpret those words as easily.
"That doesn't…" the fox felt her jaw drop, as realization set in. Dexter had a point. Raichu followed the same rules of communication that humans did. While she had not experienced it herself, she traveled amongst Maiju who were familiar with the concept. And that was only one problem Raichu faced. "... She has been incapable of using any of her techniques and she is exceptionally fragile for her species."
She frowned, mulling it over. "Why is this happening? What's the goal?"
Perhaps to inflict this condition towards others? Dexter tilted his body. What if the goal was to become human?
A jolt went through the fox. It seemed plausible given the strange "human-like" disabilities Raichu faced. Perhaps the person who did this was another outsider, seeking a way to return home. This would then mean the kidnappings and experimentation might have been all in an effort to return to human form. And from what Cinder knew, most people did not even know the Crucible existed and those that did were not exactly willing to divulge that information. "... What would becoming human accomplish?"
It would weaken those afflicted. Dexter surmised.
"We lack the information to answer. We don't even know if cutting Raichu's ability to use Essence is the intended result and not some by product. Our sample size is only one frightened rodent." Cinder shook her head. "Also, we probably shouldn't volunteer this information to anyone else. That might lead to unfortunate questions." Such as where exactly did Cinder learn these human specific tidbits of information.
We'd need to learn more. Dexter agreed.
Feeling exhausted, the fox laid down on her bed and curled her body. "That's something to discuss another time, then." She scooted towards a pillow and adjusted her position. "How were things with the apprentices and assistants?"
The apprentices were curious about me. Dexter then made a chime. It felt… strange being the center of attention, with others attempting to analyze me. Normally, that's my job.
"That is unusual." Cinde noted an odd sort of tremble in Dexter's movements. "Are you well?"
They asked me all sorts of questions, questions I tried to answer without revealing too much. But one question… bothered me. They asked me who taught me, educated me and I told them that I served Professor Oak. The rotom hovered over and landed onto the mat. They then asked me if he was my father…. I didn't know to answer that.
Cinder blinked. Elementals were strange creatures and she was not versed into any of the philosophy or tenets that applied to them. She was taught they were Maiju, they were simply created by either someone or by natural events. For Dexter, the answer should have been obvious. "But, Professor Oak created you, didn't he?"
He did, but I did not come into being until just recently. Dexter tilted his case face down and onto the mat. He knows I exist, but not that I had... evolved. Similarly, I know who is, but I haven't properly met him either.
Cinder knew she didn't have a good answer. This was far beyond her. She did the only thing she knew to do and that was to ask. "... What do you want the answer to be?"
Dexter flipped himself over, but said nothing. He clearly needed time to think. The two of them sat in the room for a quiet moment, the room devoid of any sound.
But instead of Dexter responding, Cinder heard the sound of several light thuds in the direction of the door.
The turned and noted that the sliding door was held slightly open, a small fissure. The fox rushed over and was quick to close the sliding door shut.
How odd. Did we forget to close the door? Dexter sounded.
"I don't recall. I'm exhausted," Cinder groaned. She hoped that no one heard anything that they said.
Though, come to think of it, that light thudding noise she heard earlier might have been footsteps. Perhaps it could have been a servant passing through the hall? She hoped that at least.
Ash did the only thing he could think of to make himself feel better…and that was by training. Normally, he would have trained his Pokémon to help him take his mind off of things, but all he had was himself. He would make do.
The riolu cycled through a series of katas, dancing from kicks to punches in rapid succession, following up with blocks and leaps, and then ending up with combination moves that he just learned. None of these things were something felt like he could do reliably in combat just yet, but he could feel himself getting better, his technique improving. Each time he repeated his cycle, he tried to do it both faster and more coordinated.
He wanted to be strong, just like his Gramps and his mom before him.
'
At the end of maybe his… fifteenth or fiftieth cycle, the riolu fell to one knee and panted to cool himself down and catch his breath.
Ash had never trained himself this much before, especially factoring in just… however long ago it was, his Gramps had said… all of that to him. He knew he should probably stop himself since it wasn't healthy, but he had to do something, anything.
"Ash?" Pikachu's voice called out.
Ash felt his ears twitch. He turned to find his first Pokémon walked over to him, his fur covered in a layer of fine dust. "Oh, hey, Pikachu." He then sensed a hint of worry coming from the electrical rodent. "Is something wrong?"
"I don't know," the Electric-type answered. He crossed his arms as he walked over, inspecting the riolu. "You just seemed worked up. I mean, I'm not you, but I know you. I can tell you're bothered by something."
"It's noth-" Ash shook his head. No. If there was anyone in this world he could be honest with, it was probably Pikachu. "It's just Gramps asked me something and I'm not sure what to think about it."
Pikachu walked over and offered a hand. "Do you want to tell me about it?"
Ash nodded his head. He extended a hand towards his partner and felt the warm surety of his Pokémon's presence within him. "Gramps asked me to… inherit after him." He frowned as he noted the sense of confusion from his first Pokémon. He tried to explain it as best he could. "He wants me to take care of… the family's belongings after him. I don't know if you understand, but how I was raised was that the children got to keep the things their parents owned."
"Right, I think I understand. Pokémon back home do this, too." Pikachu said. "Usually, it's territory or something, but it only lasts as long as the children can well… hold it.." He squinted an eye, lowering his ears. "Wait, doesn't that mean you have to stay here to do that?"
"Yeah," Ash confirmed. "If I'm going to inherit, I have to stay here." He raised one of his paws, noting how there were flecks of stone within it, stone that he grinded into rubble with his paws alone. "But I don't know what to do."
"What about going home?" Pikachu asked, concernedly.
Guilt started to well within Ash. "I want to go home. I also want to go off on adventures. But I also don't want to leave Gramps alone in an empty house with no one in it." He then raised his paws. "But then, Mom will never see me again either… I don't know if I can just leave her like that, either."
"It sounds awful," Pikachu said, sounding almost familiar with the situation. Ash could sense a brewing conflict within Pikachu, his own . "Can you, like, convince your grandpa to come with you?"
"I… I don't know, but I don't think he likes humans all that much," Ash admitted. He still hadn't told his Gramps about any of that. Did he even explain to his grandfather that his participation in a tournament came down to wanting to ask if he could leave Citrine? Any solution that involved him taking his Gramps out of Citrine would involve bringing up where he came from. As far as he could tell, right now, his only solutions were mutually exclusive with each other. So, he did the one thing he could think of, and confided in his starter. "If you had to pick, what would you do?"
"Hey, wait, why are you asking me!?" Pikachu gasped.
"I… I don't know, I just thought you'd have an idea!"
"Well, I don't know either!" Pikachu grumbled before a guilty look dawned on his face. His ears faltered as he began. "... I mean, Citrine's weird. Pokémon aren't supposed to live in houses. But if you stayed here with your Gramps, it'd mean you wouldn't have to go back to being human again."
Ash did not understand why Pikachu made becoming human again sound like a bad thing. Wasn't that the whole point of their journey in Citrine so far? "What do you mean?"
"I mean." Pikachu rubbed the back of his neck, searching for the words. "It's just we've always tried to be partners and work together…"
"... But it's different now," Ash completed as he remembered. With the two of them both being Pokémon, they weren't a trainer and his Pokémon, but two friends who traveled together. That more or less was the crux of what Pikachu felt; they were truly equal with the other, this way. If Ash opted to go back home, and more importantly, become human again, the two of them would be caught on opposite ends of a language barrier and in a world which would regard the rodent as merely Ash's pet rather than his own person.
Pikachu nodded his head in confirmation. "Yeah, like, it's really cool you can fight back against me! And then I could zap you even harder! And then you'd throw a rock at me or something!"
Ash chortled, that mental image being very humorous to think about. Yet in the back of his mind, he thought about what this really meant from his friend's perspective.
"But I can't ask that of you. I'd like you if you stay as a Pokémon, but you have a life to get to back to. It'd be selfish to stop you from letting you live your life because of what I want!" Pikachu said, a torrent of grief in his voice.
An uncomfortable feeling edged up Ash's back. "But haven't I done that to you? Like, none of you were interested in being battling Pokémon until I came around… got you all."
"Stop making sense, please!" Pikachu pleaded.
Ash frowned, thinking about it more and more. Trainers basically captured Pokémon to make them do what they want. It's considered polite to see if the Pokémon is interested, but most trainers don't stop to ask if every Pokémon they meet is interested in whatever goal the human has in mind. He certainly didn't ask Kingler what he wanted to do with his life.
"If it helps, I actually did want to battle under your leadership, Boss," Squirtle's voice reached the two of them. "Besides, I liked the potential fame and glory that came with the gig."
Ash turned and found the turtle, flanked by Bulbasaur. Both approached, looking exhausted from training. "Hey, guys," the riolu called out. His heart warmed and his tail wagged, hearing the support of a friend.
"Same here, though I don't care much about fame. Really, I would prefer the quiet life, but sports fighting is fine," Bulbasaur said.
Ash nodded, taking in the opinions of his friends. He frowned as he then went to ask for their advice, what they wanted. "Hey, guys, I need to ask. What would you think about if we stayed here?"
Both Squirtle and Bulbasaur turned towards Pikachu, silently asking for context. "His grandfather sort of asked him to stay here." The rodent gestured towards the mansion. "To take over his territory, but Ash can't do that if he leaves Citrine."
"Yeah. That's basically it." The Fighting-type nodded his head as he looked to the large and ancient house. He didn't really have any strong feelings about the house itself, but it was a monument to his family, his heritage that he didn't even know. And more importantly, it was where his grandfather lived. "I want to know what you guys think, because … I trust you."
"I always wanted to go back to the Squad eventually," Squirtle admitted. "But I always knew there was always a chance I'd find a reason to never come back. Really, I thought it would be like I fought to the death or something, but I'm not going to complain." He frowned as he thought about it some more, though didn't speak.
"I have no ties, so I don't have an opinion on that," Bulbasaur said simply. He then looked Ash directly in the eye. "But I don't think it'd be good for you."
"It wouldn't?" Ash said, legitimately surprised.
"I don't know if this lifestyle will suit you," Bulbasaur said as he poked his own chin with a vine. "I don't think you're the kind to settle down, to simply stay put. I don't know much about whatever your grandfather's position is or what his duties are, but I think it'd involve spending alot of time in one place."
Ash nodded in understanding. He had to admit, just sitting down for long periods at a time made him restless. Having his whole life become that way? That seemed unthinkable. "I didn't think about that," he admitted.
He frowned, knowing that if he told his Gramps about his choice, the elderly lucario might be heartbroken.
But before he could think on that further, Charizard's voice bellowed from above. "HEY GUYS!"
Ash raised his head to the sky, towards Charizard who flew over head and towards them. The riolu sensed a bubbling excitement coming from the dragon. "Charizard!" he shouted in reply.
Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle all raised their hands and voices at the time, beckoning the large Fire-type to them.
The large dragon swooped down and landed so hard that the impact made a small thud.
Charizard looked down at them all, his breathing unsteady. But despite that, he lunged down and grabbed whoever was close to him in a hug
"Woah!" Ash laughed.
"Charizard!" Pikachu groaned, annoyedly caught up in Charizard's grip.
"Looks like someone's had a good day," Squirtle commented. "How was school? Your tutoring?"
"I learned quite a bit!" Charizard said with excited glee. "I can't wait to show you guys!"
"That sounds great!" Ash agreed. He could feel the bubbling excitement and glee from his once disobedient dragon. Clearly, the tutoring had to have excited him for him to react in this way.
Charizard set Ash and Pikachu down. He leaned slightly to the ground and then with a swipe of his claws dug lines in the dirt. They were crude and poorly practiced, but present all the same.
The Fighting-type looked down and read the word put in on the dirt. "...Charizard…" he read. Ash quickly understood. "They teach you how to write?"
"My species name! And a few other words!" Charizard boasted, full of pride in himself and his accomplishment. "It took alot of work, but I did it!" He then proceeded to write several other words, like fire, wood, and even Ash's own name. None of them were quite perfect, but anyone who could read would have figured them out easily.
"Wow, I didn't think you'd be so happy," Pikachu commented as he thought. "So, what? Did they teach you to read?"
"...A bit. I mean, I learn a bunch about numbers and symbols, but I can't recite it all just yet." Charizard admitted. He deflated slightly. "The tutor said that I'd need to go through everything and it might take a while, but they said if I applied myself.I could do good and be properly educated!"
Ash smiled, proud of how Charizard celebrated this accomplishment. It was legitimately the happiest the dragon had been in a while. And it was over learning to write his own name. Granted, Ash remembered having the same kind of pride when he showed his first written words to his Mom.
"So, how do I stack up to the rest of you guys?" Charizard said. "Like, I know you guys learned to read, but how good is your writing? Can you guys write your name?"
Pikachu practically glowed with embarrassment. "Uh, do we really have to?"
Ash snickered, sensing that this might have been one area his friend lacked confidence in. The riolu smirked and then wrote his own name in the dirt, including his last name. The execution was pretty standard, nothing special.
Pikachu sighed. He bent downward and wrote a single word.
"Uh, Chu…ikipa?" Ash read, going over the word phonetically since he didn't know what it was.
"What? No!" Pikachu slapped himself. "I was writing the name for my species."
"Wait, can't spell it correctly?" Charizard snickered.
"It's not like I needed to get good at it!" Pikachu defended himself. "Besides, most Pokémon don't need It!"
Ash made a light smile. Looks like Charizard wasn't the only one who needed to learn the basics. He bent down and wrote onto the dirt his own name and his current species. "I don't know it's pretty handy!"
"Yeah, but you're human, so it doesn't count!" Pikachu said with his arms crossed. "It's not like anyone else here is really good at spelling and writing?"
"Uh, about that…" Bulbasaur stepped forward. He wrote his specie's name onto the dirt with a vine.
Squirtle giggled and also did the same. "I can also do taxes and interest rates," he boasted.
"Aw, come on!" Pikachu groaned, obviously very disappointed to find out he was the one person in the group who couldn't properly spell his name.
"Wow, that's something I think I've only seen my Mom do before," Ash commented on Squirtle's boast. If true, that probably meant Squirtle was better educated than he was. "Since when did you learn to do that?"
Squirtle shrugged, a hint of embarrassment on his face. "Oh, just some I picked up during the Squirtle Squad days. Never really used it much, but it came in handy every now and again."
"How?" Pikachu fumed, not quite believing what he said.
"Yeah, how?" Charizard interjected. "Like, I can count to eight with all of my fingers, but I don't know this. Do you just… count more?"
Squirtle laughed. "It's a bit harder than that, but I'll show you when you're ready."
Charizard simply shrugged, but accepted that. He then asked Squirtle some more questions that Ash tuned out. Pikachu continued to be upset by what topics didn't know.
The riolu simply stood there, thinking about how ridiculous the scene looked: a fiery dragon that talked about his day at school to a relatively small turtle. If he told anyone back home about this, no one would believe him.
But then, a large groan came from the riolu's belly, a rumble that was audible to everyone present.
Everyone turned towards Ash, giving him an odd look.
"Sorry!" Ash flashed a smile towards everyone. "I guess I'm hungry!"
Everyone rolled their eyes.
"It is dinner time," Bulbasaur agreed. Without further prompting, everyone turned to the direction of the dining room.
"I wonder if anyone's cooking," Pikachu wondered aloud. He sighed and turned back to Ash. "Hey, Ash, you really should talk to your grandfather about this stuff."
Ash frowned. He knew his partner was right; he really should talk to his grandfather about everything. And with stuff like inheriting, he had to talk to his grandfather about what he was going to do. "I'll think about it."
Pikachu nodded his head and continued walking with the others.
Ash trailed behind everyone else. Not because he was tired, but because he kept thinking. If it was dinner, would that mean his Gramps would be there? If so, what was he going to say to him?
James felt exhausted. They spent all day and all night both putting together the parts for their electric motor and correcting the errors made in the production. And all of that work brought them here.
The pikachu took a step back and wiped his brow; it was still a little weird that he wasn't covered in sweat, but he didn't care. He looked upon his creation with satisfaction, knowing full well that he and, by extension, Team Rocket were now no longer dependent on those outside of their little group.
"... Why does it have to be so… big?" Victreebel asked, placing a vine on his chin. The carnivorous pitcher plant hopped around the edge of the contraption, which about as big as he was.
"Because it's moving a ship," the pikachu answered lazily as he put his paws over the inactive device. "Also, because we have to compensate for the fact it's basically homemade." Granted, most electric motors you'd find in a home improvement store weren't designed to power a medieval sailing ship, so maybe it was sized appropriately?
He then grabbed onto a special apparatus on the contraption, with each paw holding onto one wire. With the circuit closed, James sent a quick bolt through his body and then through the motor. The machine spun, not particularly fast, but it spun in the correct direction, without making any sound. The motor would run… and it only took five tries and three near self destructs.
As James let go and let the motor come to a stop, Jessie chimed in. "Finally!" she cried. "That means that you can be the engine, while I can take my rightful place as Captain!"
"Oh no, you're not!" James complained. "You can use electrical moves, too! You can keep the motor charged up!"
"And mess with my hair?" the eevee spun around and shook her tail. "I think not!"
James scowled. "All you did was sit around and act like a welder!"
"And I was very good at it!" she countered. "And besides, you're better at electricity than me! You charge the motor?"
"Ya knows we coulda just make a battery, right?" Meowth grumbled."Like, top it up and charge it whens we can?"
Jessie and James blinked at each other, both apparently having forgotten batteries existing at all. That was probably something that had to be worked out, since otherwise, someone would have to be attached to the motor to keep its magnetic fields active.
"Whose job was it to make the battery?" James found himself asking.
"Arbok and I were supposed to draw up plans," Weezing said in his twinned voices. "Uh, we can't, er, draw…"
"I mean, technically, I could, but uh… no artistic skill here," Arbok mentioned. "Also, like, neither of us know chemistry, so uh, why did you ask us to do that?"
That was a good point, James had to admit.
"Gah, do we have to do everything?" Jessie complained as she went to find a clip board and started frantically scribbling on it with a paw. "So, we need batteries, preferably a wet cell. We'll need to figure out a mix. Do we need anything else?"
"A complete rebuild of da ship, and dat's before we install da new parts," Meowth pointed.
"A propeller and some sort of gear system if we want to transfer that rotational force to other parts of the ship, especially if we want to make it more automated," James commented as he wondered if they had enough technical skill and expertise to offset their complete lack of qualified sailors. "We'd probably need to completely rebuild the command console, too."
"This is starting to look… expensive." Arbok commented as he read over Jessie's shoulder. "Can we afford this?"
Jessie frowned. "We've already ran through all of the Carats that came from the Game Corner and then all of our reward money from Fjord! I mean, it was great having money for a bit, but we're going to need to scrounge up some cash fast if we want to not go back to starving every day!"
"Fjord might still want the motor blueprints," James provided. Though, given how long it took to assemble everything and the fact that it needed quite alot of technical expertise to assemble and fix, the knowledge might have been less valuable than initially thought. "With his help, it might be enough to get the ship afloat."
"Maybe, you're right," the eevee sighed. "Still, I'd like some extra cash."
"Huh. Ya know, we coulda ask da guy who owns da house?" Meowth shrugged. "Like, he's gotta have loadsa dough!"
James felt like that sounded like a good idea. And Jessie didn't seem too bothered.
Team Rocket left the workshop in what might have been… hours since they huddled up.
A heady aroma wafted up James's nose, a smell that was very difficult to discern, but smelled delicious all the same.
"What's that… "Jessie sniffed the air, her tail shaking. "Marvelous smell?"
Arbok stuck his forked tongue out and quickly drew it back in. "Seafood, fried. Maybe some fresh bread?" He stuck his tongue out again. "Seems like a three course meal?"
How Arbok could tell all of that just by sticking out his tongue, James didn't know, but what he did know was that it seemed like the Twerps were going to eat without Team Rockets. "And they didn't tell us!?" he shouted with much annoyance.
"Yeah! We slaved for hours over a machine and they weren't going to tell us dinner was served?" Jessie agreed. "Why didn't they tell us? Did they want us to starve?"
"Uh, you did say for no one to bother you?" Victreebel said, clutching both of his leaves together in a pensive gesture.
"Traitor!" James groaned. But he was too angry to be really mad. Honestly, he hadn't even felt hungry until he remembered he should have eaten at least once today.
"Come on. I think it's dis way!" Meowth beckoned over with his paws.
Team Rocket followed the smell down some hallways until they were just a stone's throw away from the dining room. Right outside the dining room was an elderly lucario, who paced back and forth just in front of the dining room. James wasn't an expert or anything, but he got the impression the jackal seemed very nervous, anxious about something.
At Team Rocket's approach, the lucario turned his head and eyed the group. "What are you doing here?" he snapped.
James stumbled backwards. He was only kept from falling because Victreebel caught him. "Oh, uh…" he struggled to find the words; the lucario caught him off guard.
"We's was just hopin ta eat, Mista!" Meowth stepped up. "Like, da Twerps have got to be expectin us!"
At that, the lucario stared hard at Meowth. His knuckles shifted ever so slightly, prompting the cat to make a gulp. The lucario shifted his attention towards Jessie, as if waiting for a response.
"That and uh… maybe ask for a loan?" Jessie said, as she went to hide behind Arbok… then tried to hide behind the much smaller fox. "A small one…"
James really felt like Team Rocket was going to be sent blasting off for the first time in a good while. Given what the lucario was doing earlier, pacing in front of the dining room, that they might have seen something they weren't supposed to.
The elder jackal then let out a sigh and turned to face Team Rocket once more. "I do not recognize you, but I believe you are more of my grandson's followers?"
"In a manner of speakin," Meowth answered nervously.
James offered an apologetic smile. "Technically, we followed Pikachu," he said, added a slight clarification. "The other pikachu."
"Yeah, we admired his strength," Jessie supplied.
The lucario narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I suppose that is… sensible," he commented. He frowned. "You're familiar with my grandson, aren't you? You know how he is?"
"We know him just as much as the other Twerps!" Jessie said, trying to sound as helpful as possible.
"Yeah, we've known him since he started his adventure!" Though, James did omit the fact that their first meeting with Riolu Twerp involved mass kidnapping at a hospital no less. That might not have gone over well.
The lucario nodded his head and then scrunched his face as he made a decision. "Does he have any familiarity when dealing with the… upper class?"
Jessie, Meowth, Weezing, Victreebel, and Arbok all turned their attention towards James.
"Gee, thanks, guys!" The pikachu grumbled at how everyone in the group outed him just like that. "Technically, my family, but they're atypical."
The lucario scrunched an eyebrow.
James decided to explain. It wasn't like Jessiebelle and his parents were going to visit him anytime soon. "They faked their own funerals to try to trap me in an arranged marriage. The Twerps was caught in the trap, too," He frowned. "The less said about that, the better."
"Oh." the elder jackal rubbed at his chin. "I suppose that's… better than I expected. I suppose his expectations would be more tolerant if he's already had something that extreme."
"Ya planning something, uh Mista Tajiri?" Meowth asked.
"Just thinking for the future," the Fighting-type shrugged. He turned back to the dinning room door and slid the door open. "Come, I shouldn't have kept you from dinner, too long. We can even talk about your… loan over supper."
"Got dat right!" Meowth laughed as he walked in.
"Say no more!" Jessie bounced after him.
The rest of Team Rocket also moved in. James, on the other hand, lingered in the back, lost in thought. It was kind of funny how Riolu Twerp ended up having a sort of parallel to James's own life. Both of them were heirs to to prestigious families, though he hoped the riolu didn't end up in an awful arranged marriage.
Ash tossed the fish in the skilled and threw it over the other side. A sizzling sound filled the room as water evaporated from the fish's flesh. The jackal pup smiled at his work.
The riolu felt like he was getting good at this whole "cooking" thing. Sure, he wasn't particularly skilled yet, but he felt confident in himself, especially when it came to performing tricks that relied on having good hands.
"Ash, don't play when cooking," Misty reprimanded him. "You're going to have an accident if you're not careful."
"I'm careful." Ash flipped his fish onto a plate to be served. Then, he reached into a barrel and threw another fish onto the skillet.
As the fish cooked, he surveyed the rest of the room. Most everyone was present and they even had some guests in the form of Dewott or that priestess from earlier today. Ash's team actually were the last to enter the room, but none of the other groups had finished cooking. So, the riolu decided the best thing to do was to quickly fry something up over a sizzling fire.
"It smells good," Brock murmured in a relaxed voice. The lycanroc huddled near the fire, curled up and at rest. His mouth watered as his tail shook. The riolu could sense something was different about the wolf, though he couldn't quite explain it. It didn't feel bad or anything, but it was different. Maybe it was confidence?
Speaking of confidence, Ash felt like he was doing so well flipping the fish without so much as a spatula. He felt like he could do so much more.
He raised his skillet just a little faster than previous attempts…. and ended up throwing the fish way, way out of the pan. The fish was sent flying!
Panicking, Ash leapt to chase after the flying fish, only for it to land squarely on his grandfather's face.
Everyone in the room froze, most unsure of how to act.
"Sorry!" Ash stumbled right before his grandfather.
Gramps d picked off the raw fish and stared at Ash. The riolu was worried he would be angry, except he seemed more confused than anything. "You're… cooking?"
Ash nodded slightly relieved that Gramps wasn't mad.. "I'm not that good at it, yet. I only just started." He made an awkward smile. "I have rough edges, still." Such as making mistakes like throwing a fish into people's faces when he was overly excited.
"I see." Gramps took the fish and threw it back onto the skillet. "It is just a little amusing to see you cook, grandson. Many of the upper class see the task as beneath them, even your mother spoke about how it was the job of servants."
Ash cracked a smile. "That's kind of funny. Mom owns a small restaurant now. And she cooks all the time!" It hurt a little to think about his mom, but simply knowing how she used to be when she was his age delighted him.
"Hanako? My Hanako? A chef at a restaurant? What a scandal." Gramps laughed, holding his abdomen back. He wiped the tears from his eyes. "It's…. ironic, I suppose. She was always so invested in her standing in the family."
"Ash looked at his grandfather, sensing a deep pit of sadness and longing coming from his heart. "I mean, I'm not really… upper class. I grew up in a small town and hadn't really went to the city all that much."
"It sounds humble," Gramps replied.
Humble was one way to put it. Ash turned back to the fire, his skillet in hand and began to cook the once again. Idly, he wondered his Gramps might have thought of his life in Pallet Town. He barely knew him, but the lucario seemed to perfect a quiet life around living things, given how much he tended to the garden… Would he have liked the fields back home?
The rest of the room had settled down, having decided that Gramps wasn't all too upset at having a fish tossed in his face They resumed whatever conversations they were already in. Team Rocket had also snuck and took their own table. Most of them kept to themselves and those immediately around them.
Pikachu, however, had other plans. Ash felt his partner's presence right behind him, a split second before the Electric-type placed a paw on his shoulder.
"Ash," Pikachu's voice reached the riolu's ears. "Remember what we talked about?"
The riolu barely got a hold of himself, almost throwing the fish in his skillet again. "Uh…" he stuttered, blanking out before remembering the conversation earlier.
"Hm?" Gramps inclined his head.
Ash gulped, afraid of what his gramps would say if he knew. He spoke the first thing that came to his mind. "Pikachu, now's not really a good time."
Pikachu shrugged. "Will there ever be a good time?"
Unease fell over the riolu. The rodent had a point. Ash turned towards his grandfather and couldn't find the words to say.
Gramps picked up on that and raised a paw in a "stop" gesture. "If it's difficult for you to say, you don't have to," he said.
Ash lowered his head, ashamed that his grandfather was giving the option to back out. He had to do this, to at least speak to his grandfather about something, anything. "Gramps," he spoke, his throat tightening as fear gathered inside of him. He raised his left wrist and presented his Looplet, because that felt like the easiest thing to admit. "The reason why me and my friends are competing is we wanted to go home. We were told the Legendaries, the gods, would allow us out if we asked."
The lucario returned with a neutral expression, though Ash could feel a storm brewing inside of him.
The room turned deathly quiet as everyone realized that while the elderly lucario was perfectly willing to forgive getting hit by a fish, the conversation that he and Ash were having was another matter entirely. Misty stumbled towards them. "Ash, what are you doing?" she hissed.
"I'm… trying to talk to my grandfather," Ash said, finding the strength to reply. "He… asked me to do something and it's important that we.. .talk about it."
"Indeed," Gramps replied. He visibly tried to calm himself, closing his fists and locking his hands together. "I asked my grandson to inherit after me and he has chosen to reply. Logically, he cannot properly inherit these lands if he is no longer present."
Misty stared at the two of them before backing away one or two steps. "Fine, Ash," he responded.
"I'm sorry, but I can't… do what you want." Ash felt awful, sensing his grandfather's disappointment.
Pikachu put a paw over his partner's back, reminding Ash of presence.
"I understand, perhaps it was too much to drop the responsibility on you soon when we had only just met," Gramps replied, his tone that of a man who was exhausted and tired. He sighed and turn back to his grandson. "You know, your mother had the same plan as you did, to leave Citrine under the guidance of the gods."
"That's how we know it works," Ash confirmed. He didn't feel comfortable explaining the human part of this plan, but he thought it was easier to discuss where they were going. "Mom and Dad, they left Citrine that way."
"They told me about that on the day of their victory," Gramps answered back, his voice tired and ragged. "I didn't want to believe it though; that's why I wanted to believe your mother had been in Citrine ever since. I suppose I would have kept believing that until you showed up."
"...You knew Dad, too?" Ash asked automatically.
"Assuming you refer to a certain luxio, he… wasn't my preferred choice for your mother's husband," Gramps admitted, mildly ashamed. "But I suppose that your mother was used to the idea that she had more say in the matter than any of her siblings."
"What do you mean?" Ash asked again, his fear overtaken by curiosity. It sounded like Gramps knew quite a bit.
But that was when the smell of something burning caught the riolu's attention. He turned back to the fish on his skillet and realized he had kept it over the fire and burned one side. Ash tossed the fish onto a plate and put the skillet away. Meanwhile, Misty panicked and quickly put out the fire.
With the crisis taken care of, Ash returned to face his grandfather, who didn't seem too bothered. "Uh, sorry about that… what were you saying?"
Gramps nodded. "Your mother was the youngest of seven; she was… not supposed to inherit and was treated as such."
Misty's whiskers twitched, a faint sympathy radiating from her, perhaps because the situation sounded so much like her own.
Ash knew he wasn't that smart, but he knew enough to know something . "But isn't it supposed to be the oldest that inherits?"
Gramps radiated both shame, fear, and revulsion at same time.. "Yes. And under normal circumstances, she would have been so far down the line of succession meant that her life was… less defined as the others. She didn't even receive a betrothal because no one expected her to have inherited anything. "
A sick feeling came over Ash. He knew where this was going, especially with the fact that none of his aunts or uncles were present. "...What happened to them?"
"A war," Gramps said, as though the words were everything. He sounded so lost. "It isn't talked much these days, but one day objects from outside came into Citrine. I believe your father called them "Pokéballs". They were at the root of so much suffering. Our family were called to fight, to restore order, but so few of us survived."
"Afterwards, I… tried to rebuild. Hanako was the only one of her generation left and so, she was set to inherit everything. I ended up arguing with your mother so much over everything that I drove her away." Gramps shook his head. "I made it very easy for her to cut ties and simply leave the realm altogether."
Ash wonders just how much of what his grandfather said related to the riolu right now. After all, he was being given a major responsibility since there were no other candidates, just like Mom. Though, did Mom feel as guilty as he did right now?
"Ash." The lucario offered a paw. "I know it's a lot to take in and I know that you still want to go home, but, my grandson, would you at least be open to the idea of staying here? Would you give me the chance to convince you otherwise?"
After what he learned of what his grandfather suffered through, Ash couldn't find in heart to simply refuse his grandfather's advances. He found himself bringing his paw towards his grandfather's.
"It will be many Moons before the tournament is held;" Gramps reassured him. "You have time to change your mind."
Ash nodded his head, exhausted. He turned to his friends to see their reactions. His team were neutral about the matter, though Pikachu gave him a nod of acknowledgment that practically said he would do whatever Ash went with. Misty simply silently observed.
Why did he feel like he had only just made things more complicated?