Chapter 15
Bruno watched Ash leave with a slight sense of foreboding.
"Do you think I overshared?" Lorelei asked coming to stand by her husband.
"Possibly" he said kissing the top of her head "but he trusts us, and the information we both told him was something he needed to know. Trust me, the sooner he takes in what was said the better off he will be in the future. I just wish I'd have listened to my dad more as a young man when he tried to tell me about life."
"I think he needed to hear it from a man" Lorelei said moving away "and I think Red needs to sit down with him soon and talk to him."
"I'll ring him" Bruno said picking up his phone and dialling Reds number.
"Hi Bruno" Red said answering and sounding confused "is everything ok?"
"No" Bruno replied sighing heavily "we need to talk about Ash…"
At 4:30 Ash wandered out of the Pokémon centre and headed towards the gym, still contemplating what Lorelei and Bruno had told him about Jasmine.
"Olivine City is more trouble than it's worth" Ash said aloud to Pikachu "first Chikorita, then Jasmine. What next?"
"Hopefully nothing" Pikachu said "two issues are enough. Let's just get in, get the badge and get out. Who do you plan on using?"
"Heracross, Cyndaquil and Machamp" Ash replied "the first two need the experience. Mareep won't do well against Steel types. If it's four on four, I'll likely put you in last. As you said I just want to get the badge and go"
"Should be a piece of cake" Pikachu said nodding as they walked through the doors and presented his Pokédex to the receptionist.
"Jasmine is dealing with the apprentices at the minute, but you can go straight through to the battlefield. It's straight through those doors." The receptionist said. Ash nodded and wandered through only hearing the last part of the conversation she was having with a young trainer who had her head bowed.
"…cannot believe you thought such a thing was ok." Jasmine said sternly to the girl "for you to cheat like that was disgraceful. I have literally just got off a phone call with the League about who is likely to go and compete this year and you were near the top of my list, but I will have to choose someone else now."
"But" the girl said looking up, unshed tears in her eyes.
"But nothing" Jasmine said cutting off any retort "you put water repellent wax on your Onix to cheat your way to victory against someone who needs my badge. Not only that but that challenger is the son of the Chairman of one of our sponsors in Goldenrod City! You have embarrassed not only me but this gym as well. Now leave, I'll decide what to do with you when I have the time."
The girl left running past Ash who just raised his eyebrow at the scene.
"Oh, hi Ash" Jasmine said blushing slightly "sorry about that."
"Water repellent wax?" Ash asked "that's a new one. I'm surprised her Onix stayed still while she applied it."
"You and me both" Jasmine said, "It's only because I spotted it mid-battle that I found out. It's a shame because she was my most promising student."
"What are you going to do with her?" Ash asked.
"I'm not sure" she replied "at this point I may have to report her. I was lucky the challenger listened to me and is coming back tomorrow for a rematch. Anyway, you're here for the badge aren't you? Shall we?"
"Sure" Ash said walking to one side of the field while Jasmine walked to the other and took out her Pokégear.
"Ok" she said to the referee who was watching from the side line "this will be an Elite Battle. It will be four on four, with no substitutions and the standard move limit applies."
Nodding the referee input the data onto her screen and waved her flags.
"The challenger will release his Pokémon first, the gym leader second. Go"
Strange Ash thought but shrugged as he enlarged a ball and released his Cyndaquil.
"Let's go Magneton" she replied releasing her Magnet Pokémon.
"Very interesting" Ash said "I remember the first time I battled one of these. Was it really nearly four years ago?"
"Lt Surge" Pikachu said "well it was Magnemite but it's close enough."
"Yeah" Ash said "I battled a Magnemite not long after writing a paper about them for Professor Oak about how they're formed. They've always fascinated me and I'm still no closer to figuring out just how they evolve."
"I wish I could help" Jasmine said, "mine evolved a few weeks ago during a battle so I can't help you."
"Ok Cyndaquil" Ash said "Dig, let's see what the Magneton can do."
"Thunder Wave" Jasmine shouted without missing a beat "don't let it go underground."
Thankfully for Ash Cyndaquil managed to get underground just as the wave passed over the field.
"Head to the hole, Thunderbolt down it" Jasmine said making Ash nod in approval.
"Surface and use Flamethrower" Ash said as the bolt flew down the hole only to come out of another hole five feet behind it along with Cyndaquil who sprayed flames at the magnet Pokémon making it screech and groan before it quickly used a Thunder Wave to disperse the flames and move out of range. Cyndaquil stopped near the hole just observing the magnet who just hovered over its own side. Having enough of waiting Ash called out "Curse and then back into the hole."
"Curse from a Cyndaquil?" Jasmine asked confused.
"Yup" Ash said "that was a surprise when I scanned her. It seems it was her egg move; I often wonder who her father was as there aren't many fire types that can use Ghost moves. Anyway, Flamethrower"
Jasmine was left flatfooted as Cyndaquil popped out of a hole a few feet from Magneton and bathed it with flames again only this time Cyndaquil made sure to make sure it couldn't escape by jumping on it.
"Magneton is unable to battle" the referee shouted when the inevitable happened. Cyndaquil hopped over back to Ash feeling very happy with herself. She had felt like she was being left behind lately development wise as Ash didn't really use her that much, so she was really glad to prove herself in a battle that mattered.
"Well done, Cyndaquil" Ash said "that was fantastic. You have got really good at that strategy. You ok to continue?"
Nodding she set herself and waited to see who would be brought out next.
"You caught me off guard" Jasmine shouted over "that's on me and it won't happen again. Let's go Forretress."
"A Forretress" Ash mumbled confused "why would she send out one of those?"
"Forretress vs Cyndaquil, begin."
"Flamethrower" Ash shouted wanting to see why she would pick a Pokémon that spends most of its life not moving.
"Rapid Spin" she shouted confidently as it began spinning in midair making the flames split off into different directions "Toxic Spikes." still spinning it began to scatter purple spikes all over the field making Ash frown. While they wouldn't really affect Cyndaquil they would kick in once she was substituted.
"Flamethrower" Ash said, "burn the field."
"Rollout" Jasmine shouted seeing Cyndaquil concentrating on trying to get rid of the spikes and look up too late and get smashed into.
"Damn" Ash said figuring out why Forretress was able to hit her. The upside of using Curse was that her attacks and defence improved but it came with a caveat, her speed slowed and her footwork became more sluggish meaning she was a sitting duck for a Pokémon that could spin all around the field like a top. Cyndaquil wasn't going to win this due to him making a mistake but he needed to see how she made the move work in a real time environment.
"Cyndaquil, I've lost us this one, but we'll try and help out our teammates" Ash said as she stood up and saw Forretress still spinning on his side before he swung around and headed back towards her. "Flame Wheel, head right for it."
Cyndaquil set herself knowing she wasn't going to win this one, but she felt the absolute trust in Ash that had developed over the last few months, coated herself in flames and charged forwards spinning like a Catherine Wheel and collided with Forretress who took the impact and carried on spinning. The forces colliding was so strong that the dust and wind soon coated the entire field shielding them from view. Ash could only watch on as the inevitable explosion occurred making him shield his eyes from the dust that was kicked up.
"Forretress and Quilava are unable to battle" the referee said when she saw the outcome "Challenger please send out your Pokémon first."
"You didn't have to do that" Ash said as he recalled his fire type and talked to the ball "but thank you. Heracross, you're up" his fighting bug appeared and winced as he put his feet down on the ground. Evidently Quilava hadn't managed to get rid of the Toxic Spikes completely.
"I thought I'd win that one" Jasmine said frowning as she recalled her Bagworm Pokémon "I had the advantage but still drew."
"That was because Quilava evolved" Ash said "Cyndaquil wouldn't have drawn that one, but with the extra power boost from evolution she could match your Forretress. Type advantage came into play too. Your Forretress was very unlucky there."
Nodding Jasmine observed her opponent who gingerly put his foot down, wincing. At least one thing had gone her way. "Skarmory, you're up."
"Damn" Ash said at the major disadvantage he was now at "I forgot Johto has a major flying type that's also Steel type. Do your best Heracross."
"Skarmory vs Heracross, begin"
"Earthquake" Ash said much to the confusion of Jasmine who looked on astonished as the field was ripped up but did absolutely nothing to her Pokémon that was hovering fifteen feet off the ground.
"Air Slash" she shouted as Skarmory did a loop in the air and sent twisted sending scythes of compressed air Heracross' way who managed to jump through them just in time.
"Again" Ash said thinking up a way to try and get an advantage.
"I have no idea what he's doing Skarmory" Jasmine said, "keep up with the Air Slashes."
Ash had to trust his Pokémon would know when to dodge so he could help him further down the line. Looking at the field he saw that it was close to being ready, but it likely needed one more.
"One last time" Ash said as Heracross dodged again and smashed his feet into the ground, breaking the ground completely into tiny pieces "Excellent" Ash said looking up at where Skarmory was hovering after finishing trying to hit Heracross and failing.
"Why have you ruined my field?" Jasmine asked frowning.
"Well, the issue Heracross has at the minute is that he's more of a close quarters fighter, rather like my Machamp" Ash said "so they have very few ranged attacks. However, some of the ranged attacks they do have require a set-up, like this one. Rock Slide" Heracross grinned when he figured out what Ash had planned and began scooping up buts of the field in his arms and launching them at Skarmory who suddenly had to start weaving in and out of flying debris. Usually, he felt very safe up here but right now he was feeling anything but.
"Damn, get away from there Skarmory!" she shouted seeing what the Earthquakes had been for. The ground was literally in pieces that were large enough to do some serious damage should they hit and Heracross was more than strong enough to bodily throw chunks of land skyward. Skarmory panted harshly after a few minutes of dodging, and for the last minute he had no idea where Heracross was due to the speed at which the rocks were thrown. He was far too busy concentrating on not being hit. One of the first things Ash had done when he started the battle was to see how high the ceiling was, and given it was a closed off building he knew that there would come a point where Skarmory couldn't get any higher, so inevitably the only place it could go after reaching the ceiling was down, which it had unconsciously done. Heracross had trained for these moments too with Machamp and had developed his own plan of hiding behind some of the fallen rocks which had piled up and stealthily made his way to where Skarmory was located.
"He's underneath you" Jasmine shouted to the bird who couldn't see him. He certainly felt the rock though that hit the underside of his belly and tried to bank away before its wing was clipped by another rock and struggled to correct itself only to be hit by another one on its over wing. It had the unfortunate effect of lowering itself to being just a few feet off the ground when Heracross finally used his own wings to help fly the few feet and landed on Skarmorys back, who was unused to such a weight, and it crashed into the ground.
"Megahorn" Ash shouted "and use Close Combat"
It was over for Skarmory Jasmine thought wincing as Heracross pummelled her poor bird before launching it into a rock structure Heracross had formed in the middle of the field.
"Skarmory is unable to battle. Please send out your final Pokémon"
Recalling her bird, she shook her head wondering what she could do. Ash still had two Pokémon in reserve along with a Heracross who only looked slightly winded at the succession of moves it had used. She didn't really have a choice other than to use her absolute best.
"Steelix, you're my final hope" she shouted releasing a huge silver covered rock snake.
"Steelix, Pokédex number 208, the Iron Snake Pokémon and the evolved form of Onix. It is said that if an Onix lives for over 100 years, its composition changes to become diamond-like."
"Very nice" Ash said nodding before his attention was drawn to Jasmine who pulled out a necklace and sighed in resignation as Steelix began to glow and stretch. Its jaw enlarged significantly, and its side spikes grew larger, now made of shimmering crystals. The eyes of Mega Steelix turned a striking blue, and its lower jaw gained additional heavy armour that ended in a rounded, curved shape. A third pair of ridges appeared on its bottom jaw, alongside two sharp, flat structures consisting of three conjoined projections on each side. The most amazing thing about this transformation was Steelix itself floating in mid-air, the ground around lifted from the floor and started orbiting it as if it had its own gravitational pull.
"It does look rather intimidating" Ash said nodding "Heracross, do your best."
"Steelix vs Heracross, begin."
"Heracross get in close and use Close Combat" Ash shouted as his bug zipped across the broken floor in between the broken bits of floor getting within striking distance of Steelix.
"Iron Tail" Jasmine said as quicker than expected Steelix twisted in mid-air and struck Heracross straight across the midriff with a glowing silver tail and sent it hurling into the wall at breakneck speed.
"Wow" Ash said as he looked on in shock "usually I'm the one dishing out that sort of power."
"Heracross is unable to battle. Challenger Ash, please release your third Pokémon."
"Pi, I can't use you" Ash said making Pikachu chuff "I just can't. I know you could beat a normal Steelix but we've never tried to electrocute diamonds. Gyarados, you're up" he said releasing his huge shiny water dragon which earned a gasp from Jasmine. Gyarados appeared and looked around before precariously perching on a bit of ground that was barely holding itself together
"She's beautiful" she said looking on with shining eyes as Gyarados just looked on impassively at her opponent who also didn't say a word.
"Hydro Pump" Ash said and Gyarados reared her head back and sent a huge geyser of water at her opponent who just managed to twist out of the way at his mistress's command. Gyarados however swivelled her head and tracked Steelix who tried to dive down but seemingly forgot there wasn't really a floor anymore, just an open chasm and took the hit directly on his back sending him crashing into the chasm twenty feet down.
"Stone Edge" Jasmine shouted after seeing her starter take a direct hit. The bits of rubble that circled Steelix suddenly started to form in front of Steelix who launched them at Gyarados in a hail of razor-sharp rocks who grunted as she took the super-effective attack and automatically sent another Hydro Pump to combat them. Eventually the hail stopped and Gyarados settled once more on her bit of land, bits of her body battered and bruised with tiny cuts littering her maw.
Growling she looked around and focused on her opponent who slithered upwards back to where he started at the beginning of the battle.
"She has some impressive power to be able to still battle after that" Jasmine said.
"Gyarados is more powerful than your Steelix" Ash said arching his eyebrow. Jasmine however grew stony faced, a feeling that was seemingly mirrored by her Pokémon.
"Rock Tomb" she said icily. Her Steelix was furious at the insult, there was no way he could be anything but and he roared and glowed white as the ground heaved once more around Gyarados who tried to twist out of the way but due to her size she was unsuccessful and soon enough parts of her body had been encased in rock preventing her from moving "Stone Edge again. Let's show them who is actually more powerful." The rocks began to form at the front of Steelix again and soon another hail of rocks was sent on their way to his opponent.
"Relax Princess" Ash said making her swivel her head at him as the move headed towards her "you can still move your head. Hydro Pump and wait for my signal." Gyarados nodded and sent another huge geyser of water at the oncoming attack which matched it before beginning to push it back before a minor explosion occurred from the build-up.
"Now" Ash said "Outrage, break free and head for him." Gyarados began to glow white, her eyes became feral as they lost any sense of rational thinking before she squirmed and the rocks that were preventing her from moving shattered outwards in a terrific blast before she launched herself at Steelix, wrapping around him as she pummelled them both into the chasm, reckless in her pursuit of beating an opponent that had harmed her.
"Get out of there" Jasmine said as the two fought for dominance, wrapped around each other "while she's near use Stone Edge again, she's too close to use Hydro Pump."
"Gyarados if you can hear me, use Flamethrower" Ash shouted wincing as more cuts opened up on her body, trying his best to ignore the obvious pain is Pokémon would be in once she regained her mind. Thankfully she still seemed to have some presence of mind as she bathed them both in flames, causing Steelix to groan in pain once more. Less than a minute later a very bloody Gyarados slithered up to the top of the field, in quite obvious pain and stopped in front of Ash, looking down at him.
"I know" he said gently touching her crown "you fought well. I'm very proud of you. Gyarados, return" he finished recalling his water dragon.
"Gyarados is unable to battle, Challenger Ash send out your final Pokémon"
"Queenie, you're up" he finished releasing his Salamence who roared as she was released and looked around for her opponent.
"It's in that chasm, hiding and trying to recover" Ash said "Princess was severely injured battling him, but he's very nearly beaten. Head to the middle, ferret it out. You know what to do."
Salamence nodded as she took flight.
"I told you we were stronger" Jasmine said smirking at Ash who just shook his head.
"You weren't" Ash said "we were limited by her size; in an open-air battle we'd win but the confines of the gym restricted us. That's on me, Queenie you're directly above him. Fire Blast."
"Get out of there Steelix" she shouted frantically as the flames built up in the dragon's mouth. Steelix sensing that he was in quite a lot of danger came bursting out of the chasm heading straight for Salamence, its mouth glowing black in a Crunch attack. Queenie was used to facing charging Pokémon and didn't even flinch before letting loose the powerful fire move, smashing straight into it sending it hurtling back into the open floor, de-transitioning as he did so. Jasmine recalled him before he could fall into the open floor and hung her head.
"And that's all she wrote" Ash said nodding in satisfaction, letting loose a sigh of relief. He would have to do some serious counter-training to rock moves. He was incredibly unhappy at how he had behaved in this battle, something made him hesitate at times and he had no idea what and it had severely cost him with the injuries Gyarados had received. Shaking his head in disgust he walked down his box and carefully skirted around the field which had been completely destroyed due to their battle. He watched as a stiff backed Jasmine walked forward with her hand outstretched. Shaking it he quickly let go when his aura started to tingle, trying to pass it off and not flinch. He suspected that due to him now knowing someone was a threat to his relationship his own aura was threatening him.
"Well done" she said stiffly holding out a badge in her other hand "here, you have earned the Mineral Badge."
"Thanks" he said taking it as gently as he could "it was a good battle."
"It was" she said nodding and frowning as if contemplating saying more.
"Anyway thanks" he said as he turned around and began to walk out. Jasmine didn't say a thing as she watched Ash walk away. As soon as the doors closed behind him she allowed herself to fall to the ground and began crying her heart out.
Ten minutes later Ash was standing in the Pokémon centre explaining to Nurse Joy about the battle and the guilt he felt at Gyarados being severely injured.
"It happens Ash" she said "it's the reason why I'm here. If she was well enough to express how hurt she was then she'll be ok, you just have to tell her you're sorry and go from there."
"I will" he said sighing "thanks Nurse Joy."
The next day Ash walked to the beach with Gyarados' Pokéball in hand. He'd decided to leave everyone else in his room, guarded by Pikachu. Pikachu 'said' he was guarding them, but Ash knew better, he was just being lazy. Finding an isolated spot at the end of the harbour pier he released her and she came splashing into the sea before surfacing and looking around, finding Ash watching her. Cautiously she approached him and looked at him warily.
"I just want to apologise for not stopping the battle sooner" he began "there's a few things I need to talk to you all about that's been on my mind and it has distracted me from being fully focused on the battle. It's not an excuse though for letting you get so injured, so I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
Gyarados stared at him for a good twenty seconds before she lowered her head and nudged him, making him stumble back as she was not a light Pokémon. "I am sorry. As I said I need to talk to you all at some point about what I found out today."
Gyarados chuffed again and butted him. "You want me to talk to you first?" chuffing she nodded and Ash sighed, looking around "Ok, we'll go for a sail then and I'll let you know. Come on." Jumping onto her back he quickly scaled her head and sat atop it as she turned around and headed out to sea. From atop the lighthouse Jasmine looked on as Ash left, clasping a pendant locket in one hand.
A few hours later Ash arrived back into Olivine City and headed back to the centre, going straight to bed.
The next day he awoke to his rooms phone ringing from Nurse Joy saying he had a visitor. Puzzled he walked downstairs and stopped dead.
"Dad?" he asked walking forward looking confused "why are you here?"
"We need to chat" Red said walking forward and clasping him on the shoulder. "go and get dressed, we're going fishing"
"Fishing?" Ash asked shaking his head trying to clear it "I'm confused, why?"
"Just do what I said" Red replied sitting down on the sofa "go on, go and get ready."
"But I had plans to go over what I need to talk about with the therapist tomorrow" Ash said.
"Which can wait" Red said "if need be we'll go over them while fishing. Now, hurry up, time's a ticking."
Confused Ash just shook his head again and walked up to his room "My dad's here Pi, apparently we're going fishing for the day."
"Oh right" Pikachu said as he jumped onto Ash's shoulder. Picking up his Pokéball belt, and collapsible rod with lures he walked down where hid dad stood up. Walking out of the door they headed down to the pier in silence and chartered a boat. Throwing his bag into the boat Red made sure
"Since when did you know how to pilot a boat?" Ash asked as they pulled out of the jetty.
"I learned many years ago" Red said looking around, seeing the way forward was clear and gunned the throttle "believe it or not you mothers mum, your grandmother that is was the one who taught me. She had grown up near Vermillion City in a little village just north of there and frequently travelled to the port, where, as a young lady she met your grandfather who was a captain of one of the ships. It seemed inevitable that she would learn to pilot a boat given the nature of his job. Delia, for all her wonderful tendencies to be able to pick things up easily could never grasp this, however she still wanted to be able to sail so I learned from your grandmother. They had moved to Pallet Town not long after giving birth to your mother, your uncle at this point was well into his own journey as a trainer so they didn't feel the need to stay in Vermillion. They moved because her mother, your great-grandmother had moved to Viridian City as that's where the best care home was for the psychiatric patients. I don't know much about her, only that one day she started seeing things that weren't there and needed round the clock care. Of course, this was in the day where these things were kept quiet, the population at the time held such a stigma against that sort of thing. They didn't have the technological advances we have now to provide quality care, adequate barely covered the treatments.
Anyway, your mother is useless at piloting, I found it rather easy, and they had their boat moored in Pallet Harbour for a time. It was given to Giovanni when your grandparents passed away. Unfortunately, it sank a few years before you were born, Giovanni was livid as it was on its way around the Orange Islands when it was caught in a storm, ironically enough near Shamouti. The wreck is still there I believe. He used it to try and schmooze a tycoon's daughter and they hit a reef. An eight million Pokédollar yacht is now lying at the bottom of the Orange Islands Ocean because Giovanni wanted to impress someone. Needless to say, it didn't work. Anyway, would you like to learn?"
"Yeah of course" Ash said standing up and having his first ever lesson on piloting a boat.
"Now, this is nothing like Giovannis boat, but the methods are pretty similar." Red said as he gave Ash a crash course on sailing. "The most important thing you need to remember is this. If you can see the writing, as clear as day on something in front of you, you are going to hit it' so you need to be alert at all times."
"Noted" Ash said looking around "wow, are we at the Whirl Islands?"
"We are" Red said dropping the anchor and parking the boat. Looking at his watch he saw it was 9:30am "what time is your appointment today?"
"It's the Silph thing today" Ash said, "I need to meet up with their representative around 5pm as its an evening gig."
"Plenty of time then" he said digging out his rod and setting up. Half an hour later they had their feet up watching their rods "So, I received a phone call from Bruno. Apparently, something happened yesterday? Wanna talk about it?"
"I'll be honest dad; I don't know what to think" Ash said sighing.
"Explain then" Red said getting a few beers out of his cooler "don't tell your mum, she'd bloody kill me. You are only fifteen after all, but I think we can let that slide for today. Plus, we've only got two each anyway, I've got sodas for when we finish this conversation."
"I won't say anything to mum" Ash said laughing "Anyway I suppose it all started a few days ago when I visited the lighthouse..."
Half an hour later Ash finished his beer and looked over at his dad who was deep in thought. "I'm going to ask you something and I want you to really think about the answer before you speak, Ok? Good. Is Nia the one for you?"
"My aura says so" Ash said.
"I said think Ash" he interrupted cutting across him "I didn't ask what your aura thought. I asked what you thought."
"But my aura is the one who decides for me" he said puzzled.
Red sighed as he finished his beer "I never once thought this would be this difficult. Ash, your aura guides you to who it believes you're destined to be with, that is true. And your radar helps in that regard but at no point do you have to agree with it. You can choose to ignore that choice should you not want to be with them. I'm not saying you can choose anyone else, we both know aura prevents that, but you still have a choice on whether to be with Nia or not. So, I'll ask you again. Is she the one for you?"
Ash ruminated over the answer for a good few minutes before hesitatingly saying "Yes."
"You sound unsure" Red said reeling his rod in and rebaiting it before casting back out, something Ash mirrored.
"I'll be honest, until you just asked me, I never once considered questioning it" Ash replied, "now I'm questioning everything."
"I'd apologise but this conversation is necessary" Red said "Lorelei and Bruno told me about your dilemma, but I needed to hear it from you. For the rest of your life Ash you are going to be bombarded with thoughts about women. The fact you're a good-looking lad doesn't harm you either and you'll soon be an actual adult. Three years is no time whatsoever. Your future wife, If you decide Nia is that, will be bombarded by sensationalist nonsense from the moment you announce your relationship to the public. You are now the Kanto Champion, aiming to do the impossible in a very short space of time. And if you succeed your life will never be the same again.
Before I disappeared, I was involved in a scandal that was of my own doing. As we know aura prevents me from actively doing anything physical with anyone else, but that doesn't stop me from talking to anyone. From my end it was purely that, talking but cheating starts in the mind Ash and it lingers and festers until the thoughts then become reality. I was lucky that I ended things before anything happened. Having your free will taken away by aura is a horrible thing to have to come to terms with, one very few have to go through. But we have, Ash. We have had it taken away and it's shit. I'm not trying to justify anything by the way. It was my own doing because I was angry at the world, but it was still on me. I found out a few months later that she was planted in my path for that reason, to tempt me to break my vows but I still very nearly did.
I've never really talked about this with your mother, mainly because, try as she might, she just wouldn't truly understand as she had the choice to reject me. I'm grateful she didn't as I do truly love her but when I hit aural puberty there was a part of me that hoped I'd never find anyone so that I would never potentially pass that feeling on. When your mother told me you had inherited aura I was distraught, not just because I'd been absent for thirteen years but also because I'd missed out on teaching you all this.
People often tell me, it's better late than never having these conversations but this one is far too late in the day for us to help your mindset as your aura has already settled and chosen. The point I'm trying to get across is that for the rest of your life you're going to be part of situations, conversations etc that will put you smack bang in the middle of Nia and other women who will sometimes stop at nothing to interfere or come between you. I had Ilene who did her very best to keep me away from your mum, something she also tried with you through Riley. So, I need you to ask yourself is Nia the one that you want to put through all these future situations and most importantly of all is she worth it. I don't want you to become resentful of aura the way I did, for taking away a choice I never truly had."
Ash remained silent for a good half an hour as he processed what his father had said. It was very strange to reconcile the legendary Pokémon trainer with the man that was sat at the side of him, a man who by his own admission had very nearly broken his marriage vows through his own dumb decisions.
"Does mum know about what happened?" Ash finally asked.
"She does" Red said "as soon as I ended my interactions with Rebecca, I told Delia everything. We actually separated for a few months, she went and lived with her mum, and I travelled to get my last Championship to become Pokémon Master. The distance helped us both. I knew within weeks how badly I'd messed up, but I also knew that any reconciliation had to start from your mum's side. Only our mothers ever knew what happened and thankfully after getting all of the Hoenn badges I was able to meet up with your mother who forgave me. I was 20 so this was a while before you were born."
"Ah ok" Ash said nodding and mulling over what his dad said "I'll be honest I've never even thought of looking at anyone else. The moment I saw her battle I was hooked, the way she moved, the way she spoke, the decisiveness of her actions, that lip ring. I always wondered if it would get in the way of kissing you know, it doesn't. I'll be honest Dad, I'm glad the choice was taken away from me as I'm bloody useless with women. I cannot handle emotions at the best of times but crying women make me scared. The only issue I've ever had with aura is why I was created. I know you were mad at the thought that me being here was anything other than a choice between you and mum, but I was genuinely created to combat a threat to the world, one I succeeded when I beat Mewtwo. At birth I was infused with an abundance of Aura that only flared up when Riley attacked me. I found that out the week I was in hospital at age 6 and ever since then my sole reason for training was to be strong enough to protect mum from those who would try to harm her.
I despised Rota for years because of what they did. At that point we didn't know if you were alive or not. Mum always maintained that she could feel you, but we still didn't actually know for certain and for Rota to try and steal me from her left a lasting impression. She would have had no one had Riley claimed me. The only reason I have dealings with Rota now is both because you're here and our ancestors Lucario who's basically running the place. Anyway, despite it's rocky start, aura has always been a comfort for me. I've never questioned what it promised me and what it had in store for me either whether that was through getting stronger, aiding me in healing others or finding love.
Yesterday made me feel very conflicted. For the first time I actually felt someone's hopes and dreams when Jasmine told me about her past relationships and what she wanted from life for the future. I felt her jealousy when I mentioned Nia, I felt her anger when she realised I was spoken for, and I felt her resentment that she had attached herself to a dream that would never come true. I felt pity, pity that I couldn't help her but also anger that she would think I would. That cloudy judgement impeded me in battle as for the first time I didn't want to beat another opponent because it would be another loss for them. I'm just grateful that Gyarados forgave me."
"You owned up" Red said handing him a drink "Pokémon, especially powerful ones will always respect a trainer that admits they messed up as long as it doesn't happen again. You're young Ash, you're bound to make mistakes. I had a look at your record last week. Two official losses in four years of battling is astounding but there-in lies the rub, you're not used to defeat. You're also not used to messing up. And you're certainly not used to your emotions getting in the way."
"So, what do I do?" Ash asked after a few minutes silence.
"Nothing" Red replied looking at him "there is nothing you can do Ash. You are not in control of other people's actions, nor their thoughts and feelings. I'm actually really proud of you because from what I've heard you've done nothing but make it clear to everyone that you have no designs on anyone but Nia. Everything is on the other person then."
"So, what was all this in aid of?" Ash asked confused.
"You needed to think about it Ash" Red said "you needed to talk it through, and you needed to understand that if Nia is your choice, then you can never, and I mean never put her in the same position I put your mother in. The sooner you processed just what Aura takes from you the sooner you can move forward with your relationship. You've literally spent a few days together in the month you've been together, so you don't really know what it's like to be in a relationship. It's hard graft Ash, anyone who tells you it's easy is lying but it's unbelievably rewarding when you fully commit."
"Thanks" Ash said sounding uncertain "I think."
"You'll understand what I mean someday Ash" Red said clapping him on the shoulder "I think we'll move from here, there doesn't seem to be anything biting does there?"
Pulling into the harbour at half 3 Ash took the bags out while Red gave the keys back to the harbourmaster before walking back to the Pokémon Centre.
"So, what do I do about Jasmine" Ash asked as they were walking along the promenade.
"Nothing" Red said, "You'll be leaving here in a few days' time so what would you need to do?"
"Dad, Hailee is my apprentice and lives a ten-minute flight from here" Ash said "I stay at the centre while I'm training her as I refuse to impose on Lorelei and Bruno. So, the chances of me seeing Jasmine are quite high for at least the next five to six years until she leaves on her own journey."
"Ah" Red said nodding seeing his dilemma "well again my advice would be nothing. Keep any interactions between yourself courteous and polite and never give her any indication that she has a chance with you. Absolutely do not ever try and give her relationship advice either, that was my mistake. I was naive enough to believe Rebecca was on about someone else, you don't have that excuse."
"Ok" Ash said nodding "I can do that. I mean I do it for others so I'm sure I can do it for myself. How did you get here anyway?"
"Blue lent me Alakazam" Red said making Ash pull his face "Ash, I know how you feel, believe me I once felt the same, but I no longer have aura. Psychics no longer affect me the way they once did. Don't get me wrong I have no desire to be around the abominations but eradicating them no longer plagues my mind and as such I don't feel the uneasiness of using a Psychic type anymore. Especially as I'm only using it to see you."
Sighing Ash nodded as he took in his father's explanation and looked at the time. "I need to head to the Whirl Hotel. It was good spending the day with you dad, I really enjoyed it."
"You too Ash" Red replied hugging his son. It was an awkward hug as Ash was a few inches taller than Red who stood at six foot one to Ash's six foot five. "Good luck with your convention, let me know if they have any cool new gadgets."
"You know you could probably just message my PA, right?" Ash asked, "Joanne would let you know."
"I didn't" Red said releasing Alakazam "but I do now. Back to Indigo Plateau please Alakazam." Red disappeared in a flash of purple and for the first time in a few days Ash felt more at peace. Grabbing a folder on his table Ash left with Pikachu and headed to the Whirl Hotel. It wasn't a difficult place to find, in fact Ash had passed by it every day to go to the Lighthouse and harbour. It was a huge building, easily over two hundred feet tall and housed over a thousand people. Today though Ash would be going inside to give a talk about Silph, something he hadn't really prepared for, which all of a sudden made him feel a little queasy.
Flashing his credentials to the doorman he walked inside and nearly stopped at the opulence. It was royal blue carpets as far as the eye could see with deep green walls and dark red and gold pillars. Walking up to the receptionist he gave his details.
"Thank you, Mr Ketchum, you're a little early so if you could take a seat on the couches, we'll call for you when the others get here."
"Actually, I wonder if you could do me a favour" Ash said "I'm due to attend a therapy session here tomorrow. My sponsor Hatori Suzuki has organised it but he didn't tell me what floor he's on or even his last name. All I know is his name is John and I'm booked under the name Satoshi, if that helps."
"Certainly" she said typing in his name "well it seems like there is a John staying here. However, he is doing just that, he's staying here. He doesn't have a practice here so I supect you'll just be meeting him in his room."
"That makes sense now" Ash said laughing "now that I think on it Hatori didn't say it would be a proper session, more of a getting a plan of action in place. Do you know what room he's in? I brought my notes for him on the off chance he'd be here to just drop them off."
"Of course," she said "he's in room 302. Just take the elevator to the third floor and turn left. It's the corridor straight down there."
"Thanks" Ash said looking at the time and seeing he still had half an hour. That should be more than enough time to get back downstairs "I'll be as quick as I can. Hopefully he's in."
Walking briskly to the elevator he took it to the third floor and followed her directions. Knocking on 302 he waited and heard feet walking towards the door. When it opened Ash was amazed as he certainly never expected John to look like he did. He was barely five foot tall, balding and wore huge rectangular spectacles.
"Er, John, is it?" Ash said uncertainly.
"I'm John" he replied pushing his glasses up "who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Ash" Ash replied, "I have an appointment with you tomorrow afternoon for a therapy session."
"Come in" he said leaving Ash stood at the door "well come on, we don't have all day." rifling through a lot of papers on his desk he pulled out a diary and flicked through it. Ash walked in and shut the door, looking around as he walked into the lounge area where there was just a couch and a TV. Ash was very confused, was this man actually a therapist?
"It says here that I have an appointment with a Satoshi" John said looking up and peering at Ash.
"Satoshi is my middle name" Ash said "Hatori thought an alias would be more suitable."
"Yes, he always did think it was funny to come up with codes, even as a child." John said shaking his head "confusing, idiotic man. Anyway, our appointment isn't until tomorrow, why are you here now?"
"Oh" Ash said trying to ignore the slight against his boss "I'm due to take part in the convention for Silph in fifteen minutes and I thought I'd drop off my notes for you. I've included everything I can think of."
"Just drop it on the couch" he said turning around and shuffling off to the cupboard and pulling out some food "So, you're his stand in then. Tonight, I meant?"
"Oh yeah" Ash said further puzzled by the man "I felt like I owed him for booking the session tomorrow."
"That man" he said tearing the top off some rice with his teeth and looking at Ash "will do anything to get out of a convention, especially one that he put together. I wish you the best of luck tonight, Ash, the insufferable oaf hasn't told anyone that he won't be here so be prepared to be asked questions you have no idea how to answer."
"How do you know that?" Ash asked, "and do you two not get on?"
"Oh, we get on about as well as cousins normally do" John said pouring water into the rice and pulling out some vegetables and beginning to chop them up "We have this game you see that we've played for decades. We try and surprise the other by putting them into situations and seeing how they react. So far, he is losing, I rather think he hoped for an excuse not to come here to see me and suffer another humiliation and you were a ready-made excuse. I'm sorry you've been used like this Ash but if you're planning on having a long and beneficial relationship with him you better get used to it."
Shaking his head Ash muttered about conniving bosses.
"Anyway" John said looking over at him "I'll have a look at those notes tonight. Hopefully we can hash out a schedule that suits you."
"Thank you, John," Ash said looking at the time. "I better get downstairs before they send a search party out."
"It would be rather funny for the convention to be delayed because that idiot didn't tell anyone he was being replaced today" John said chuckling "good luck."
Leaving Ash didn't really know what to think. What he knew though was that Olivine City had turned out to be the most problematic city he had been in in four years of travelling. He couldn't wait to leave.
The convention wasn't really that bad, Ash decided that evening. Sure, people had been put out that Hatori Suzuki himself hadn't shown up but given how much of a global ambassador Ash had been over the last few years the disappointment didn't last too long. He had spent most of the evening fielding questions about his battles rather than about what upcoming releases Silph had planned, something Ash was grateful for as neither Joanne nor Hatori had sent him anything detailing what was on sale. He was thankful there were billboards dotted around the place that showed the new releases. Ash didn't really feel the need to promote them as they weren't his cup of tea but given the crowds that had turned up, they were obviously theirs. He was also grateful that there was at least six other people sat at the long table on the stage that wanted to talk about their product's too, something Ash was happy for them to do.
The next day Ash made his way back to Johns room and was amazed that the room looked much tidier now.
"I'd only been here a few hours" John explained while making them a drink as Ash sat down "I was taken by surprise when you turned up yesterday, I thought I'd have an extra day to get things ready but never mind." handing Ash a drink he sat down and observed Ash who just looked back "I read the file" he said nodding to it "if it were anyone else I'd say you were a liar or a brilliant fantasist. However, I did my own research on you last night and the evidence to support your claims is overwhelming. I don't usually say this to my clients but well done on staying sane as well as you have. That you aren't rampaging around the regions laying waste to places in your anger is astonishing really."
"It's not been easy" Ash said sighing "there's been too many close calls over the years where either myself or my Pokémon had enough, and we all had to talk each other round. I have the most tolerant group of family members in them. They are all amazing and have very much been my grounding anchors."
"I agree" John said nodding "I would hate for anything to happen to them because I don't think anyone, even the new Pokémon Master Cynthia would be able to stop you. You have the loyalty of legends, something no one else can compete with. Anyway, as I said yesterday, we will be using today to try and come up with a schedule. My office is in Saffron City, I'm actually on holiday and doing this as a favour to Hatori who now owes me one. So, Ash. What is your schedule for the future?"
Over the next hour Ash and John hashed out a tentative schedule. It would have to be done online for now as Ash wouldn't be home for a few months and even then, he'd probably be home for a few days before heading to Mt Silver.
"Given the scattered days you have available I would highly advise you to let me know a few days in advance of when you're near a town or city so we can arrange a time." John said, "As long as you take this seriously then I'll help out however I can and try to be as flexible as I can, but you must be cooperative Ash."
"Oh, I will" he replied "I need help. It's why I asked for help. And every Sunday I have a three-hour session with Blue on my future duties as Kanto Champion. I've only missed a handful and that's been because I was either out cold after Greenfield or he's had to cancel."
"Good" John said approving "that means you can certainly dedicate time. I hope you keep that mindset. Anyway, that's really all we were doing here today. What are your plans?"
"I need to go to Cianwood City for my next badge" Ash replied "I also read yesterday that the Whirl Cup is taking place in a weeks' time so I'll likely have a look at who's taking part. After that I'm flying directly to Ecruteak again to get back on schedule as I've been five weeks behind since I started my Johto journey through one issue or another."
"Well good luck" John said shaking his hand.
"Have a good holiday" Ash replied before leaving. Walking out of the hotel he gave his mum and Nia a quick message saying he'd be unavailable for the next few days due to travelling to Cianwood City but that he'd arranged therapy days. Packing his things up he headed downstairs and handed a key and a package to Nurse Joy with some instructions for them.
Releasing Salamence he asked her to head to Hailees for a few last-minute instructions. Landing ten minutes later he greeted them and thanked them.
"Whatever for?" Lorelei asked.
"For telling my dad about what happened" Ash said, "we spent the morning chatting yesterday and it's really helped."
"You're more than welcome" Lorelei said, "we were afraid we'd overstepped the mark in doing so."
"No" Ash said looking at Hailee who was sat down eating her dinner "I cannot afford to have another breakdown like the one I very nearly had in my battle. Gyarados was injured because I let my emotions get in the way. You also cannot run that risk with your daughter either being so close to me, so I understand. Anyway, I won't see you guys again until early August at Silver Town. I just have one more thing to do" he finished standing up and walking over to Hailee who was talking to her two Pokemon.
"I'm heading out now Hailee" he said smiling at her "you have your instructions from me. Just remember to have fun while practicing them, it helps."
"I will" she said sliding off her chair and hugging him.
"Take care of her Riolu" Ash said to the young Pokémon who nodded back enthusiastically "And now we come to you" he finished looking at the Ralts who tilted its head "I'm not even going to pretend to be happy that Hailee has a psychic type." Hailee went to interrupt before Ash held his hand up silencing her "I'm not Hailee. We do not mesh, not one bit. However, you seem to be able to talk to the Ralts which brings its own issues, one I hope won't be a problem for a long time. So, Ralts I'm only going to say this the once and I hope you listen well. If, for any reason you are not here for your own personal reasons, If you have been ordered here by someone else to spy on Hailee or if you are here to sabotage my apprentice in becoming a psychic rather than an aura wielder I will find out, and I will not hesitate to destroy you. Only once before have I ever felt the need to threaten the life of another Pokémon and it ended in a battle where I broke his back and saved the world. I hoped that I would never have to again but to protect my apprentice, to protect my friend's child I will do so. I hope you heed my warning; it will be the only one you will ever get."
Nodding to Lorelei and Bruno Ash left and released Salamence, sighing as he did so. "South-West please Queenie. Cianwood City." flapping her wings she soared off into the early evening sky and was soon flying over the huge expanse of blue Ocean onto his next challenge.
Casey walked into the Pokémon centre just as Ash was leaving Loreleis and gave her Pokémon to Nurse Joy. "They've been through a lot of battles on the way here. Can you heal them please?" she asked handing over her Pokédex.
"Certainly" Joy said scanning it "Oh, I have a package for you. Here you go" she said lifting up a box with a note on top
I thought you could use this. Good luck on your journey and I look forward to seeing you at the League. ASK
"I wonder what it is" she said taking it over to the table and unwrapping it. Gasping she quickly tore the paper off and teared up. In front of her was a state-of-the-art Pokéblock Maker, complete with a box full of Lum and Sitrus berries.