THE BLUE SPIRIT
CHAPTER 013 - CONFRONTATIONS
All they needed was just two hundred more tickets. They thought it would've been relatively easy to get those remaining tickets between the six of them. And they were right for the most part. The only problem they encountered was that several of the games had lines of guests waiting for their turn to play. Even when they split up to tackle multiple games at once, it still took them some time until they eventually got them. Gathering at the back of the arcade area where the ticket exchange booth was, the guys handed their tickets to Ash who stood waiting for his turn to redeem them. Lucario found Ash with the other guys as soon as he got in line.
And it was at that moment they both received a mental message from Gardevoir through their aura bond with her; "Tracey's back and he brought friends."
At once the raven haired trainer reacted. "We gotta go back now!" shot Ash as he turned around and sprinted back towards their table. Lucario was right beside him while Pikachu hung on his shoulder with the rest of the guys following after him some distance behind.
Ash ran like there was no tomorrow, nearly tripping over all the fallen food and toys on the ground and bumping into many people but he didn't care. Coming to a sudden stop as he crashed against their booth, he looked inside but found there was no one there. Catching up with him some seconds later, the guys were breathing hard and wanted to ask what happened.
*BOOM*
But they were all prevented from doing so when they heard a loud explosion suddenly from outside that sent a small tremor through the arcade. "No…please no…" pleaded Ash as he hurried outside, dreading what he may see with the rest of them hot on his heels. They stepped out to a cloud of smoke that Lucario quickly dispersed using his Psychic attack. When the area cleared and they were able to see again, what they saw made Ash's heart leap to his throat.
To the left of them stood five males; Tracey, Kenny, Rudy, Calem and Drew and they had multiple pokémon out in front of them. Every single one of them was sporting sinister smiles over what they had just done. To the right of them were the six girls; Misty, May, Dawn, Serena, Iris and Joy who were all covering their mouths with their hands, eyes filled with tears. In the middle of the area between the two groups, was a petite white and green body on the ground that wasn't moving at all.
The second he saw her on the ground unmoving, Ash moved towards her with a look of disbelief plastered all over his face. As he did that, the guys moved to stand near the girls, to offer support and help fight with them. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder onto the ground and faced the hated group while growling and letting sparks fly from his cheeks constantly. He was ready to defend if they sent any cheap attack if not shock them into oblivion. Placing himself between the yellow mouse and the raven haired trainer, the black and blue canine bared his teeth while snarling viciously at the ones who dared attack the white and green fairy.
After what seemed like ages to him because of his disbelief, when in reality it only took a short while, Ash finally reached the form on the ground and fell to his knees, unable to believe what he was seeing. "No…Gardevoir…no…please…wake up…please…" Hearing Ash's whimpers made some of the guys' growl in anger and the others kept their face stoic while the girls let out even more silent tears. At this point, several other random people crowded around them unnoticed by the two groups. They too heard the explosion from both inside the arcade and in the surrounding areas.
Lucario was about to attack when he heard his master's pleas. Hurrying to them without hesitation, he knelt beside Ash and Gardevoir and he couldn't help but let out a gasp seeing the state she was in. She was battered and beaten with black and blue bruises everywhere along with some nasty cuts on her that were bleeding. A memory of the first time he saw her popped up into his mind but he quickly pushed that aside and focused on the present. Placing a paw on her side gently, he was able to sense her condition. "She's still alive Master. Her aura is still with us but she's gravely hurt. She needs medical attention." Lucario focused to channel some healing aura onto her. His paw had blue glowing energy surround it before blue energy flowed over Gardevoir like a wave. A second later and she began whizzing loudly.
A bright yellow bolt of energy sped towards Ash, Lucario and Gardevoir all of a sudden. Before anyone could say anything, Pikachu jumped up and absorbed the electrical attack before landing back onto his feet and growled loudly while larger sparks shot from his cheeks. Ash and Lucario didn't even react to the attack since they knew that Pikachu would intercept it.
"Hey, stop you assholes!"
"What the fuck is wrong with you dipshits?!"
"They're not in a battle anymore!"
But Ash's group called out against the cheap attack together. Many more were shouted at them, even from the unknown bystanders but the disgusting trainers didn't care at all. "What? They're in the middle of the battlefield and he used a recovery move. Looks like the battle is still on to us," smirked Tracey while the others laughed and nodded in agreement.
"Such disrespect and contempt. You and your group are an awful flavor," spat Cilan with obvious disdain.
"If it's a battle you want, then it's a battle you'll get!" yelled Brock angrily as he and everyone else in the group, including the girls, took out a poke ball each.
But before they could send them out, Ash spoke in a low tone of voice devoid of emotion. "No. There won't be a battle." Ash's friends froze, surprised at what he was saying and from the tone in his voice.
"Ah, I don't think so," started Rudy with a smirk, eyeing Misty.
"It was agreed that there would be one battle between us and you," drawled on Kenny with his gaze locked onto Dawn.
"And if we won, the girls would come with us, and if you won, which won't happen, then we'd leave you alone," remarked Drew with a condescending tone of voice while grinning at May.
"So, either continue right now or forfeit," advised Calem while staring at Serena.
"Either way, it doesn't matter as the end result will be the same. So hurry up and send out your stupid, worthless pokémon already," finished Tracey with his sight locked onto Misty's body.
"Nobody agreed with you cowards!" snapped Serena angrily.
"Well then why did your pokémon come out and fight us then?" jeered Rudy.
"Because you wouldn't leave us alone and you cheated!" shouted Dawn at once.
"Doesn't matter. Either send out another pokémon or come with us now," replied Kenny.
The group of friends looked at one another, not knowing what to do because of what Ash said and what their uninvited guests are saying. But then their attention was caught by Ash as he started moving again.
Standing up while facing his friends, Ash was carrying Gardevoir in his arms. He turned his head sideways a bit to glance at the horrible people behind him. Everyone's attention was on him now as a gust of wind blew past them, making Ash's hair move some. The sight of him in that position made many of the girls from his group and several of the unknown strangers standing around picture him as a hero, a knight in shining armor rescuing a damsel in distress.
When he started speaking, everyone listened in closely. "There won't be a battle because there's no chance in hell that you'll win. How dare you. Ganging up on an innocent pokémon like a bunch of blood thirsty animals, fighting unfairly. And I gave you a chance Tracey. But now you and your friends will answer for your actions!" spat Ash with such venom that even his friends were astonished from his tone.
Tracey was able to get a good look at Ash's face when he turned his head sideways towards them and a shock of recognition went through him. Fuck! It is him! When Ash finished his small speech, a sudden chill ran down each of the five's spine.
"Ash, let us help you," requested Richie, taking a step forward to show his willingness.
Ash shook his head however and turned to Lucario. "Take Gardevoir to the pokémon center," he told the aura canine as he gently lowered Gardevoir into Lucario's outstretched arms. "Pikachu go with them to support and protect," ordered Ash as he glanced at the yellow mouse.
"Pikapi!"
"Master, I cannot leave you here. I want to fight to avenge her! And we cannot forfeit!"
"I don't plan on it and I don't honor bets that involve gambling lives. It will be better that at least you two are by her side when she wakes up." He barely moved his gaze to look at the pink haired nurse. "Joy, somebody should be at the pokémon center right?"
"Y-Yes!" stammered out Joy, momentarily startled by his tone of voice. She and the others were beginning to worry. Ash wanted to take on all of them by himself and was speaking with such a commanding tone that it unnerved them.
Lucario glanced back at the offending persons and glared at them. "Who are you planning on using Master?"
"You know exactly who," answered Ash with rage coating each word while pulling out a poke ball from beneath his jacket.
Lucario sensed who was in there. "I understand Master. He will triumph over them easily. But what if his rage overtakes his senses? Would it be wise to have him partake in this battle? I can take care of them myself. Just give me the word." Turning his sight towards his now sworn enemies, Lucario snarled at them loudly, wanting to take vengeance on them for what they did to Gardevoir.
Their friends glanced at each other with worried expressions after what they heard Lucario say. What pokémon was Ash going to use that was stronger than all the ones in front of them combined? And did that pokemon really have an issue with controlling his rage?
"I'm sure and no, he won't lose to his rage again like in the beginning. Instead he'll use it like we've trained. And I'm done playing games," replied Ash in a rather scary calm tone of voice that made everyone have goose bumps. "This isn't just about revenge Lucario. It's about justice. They will answer for their crimes. They will not get what they want and will learn that they can't just do as they please," stated Ash with absolute conviction and certainty.
Lucario bowed his head. "Alright Master but remember to stay in control. Both of you. You know it will not be good if you two completely let loose. Gardevoir and the others will be displeased as well," remarked the aura canine and the raven haired trainer remained silent. Immediately afterwards the aura canine headed towards the pokemon center while softly telling the psychic fairy in his arms that she'll be fine soon. Pikachu followed after them while keeping his guard up.
"While we're young! No matter what pokémon you bring out, you won't win against us!" shouted Tracey, having lost his patience and Kenny, Rudy, Drew and Calem joined in as they too started shouting things as well.
Becoming angry over their insults and shouting, several of Ash's friends, and even several of the bystanders started shouting back at them but they didn't care. The guys within their group took out poke balls and the girls even took a step forward as they called out to the raven haired trainer.
But Ash shook his head as he held up a hand to them so they stop. Lowering his hand, he started talking. "I've tried to be civil…" began Ash with his right hand gripping the poke ball tightly and shaking slightly from the fury engulfing him. The poke ball began shaking as well since the pokémon inside had felt the anger of his trainer. "I gave you a chance…" He turned around and glared at them with narrowed eyes burning with rage. His friends caught a glimpse of it in his eyes as he turned, making them flinch. "But you just had to spit in my face. You just had to bother the girls again. And you ganged up on my Gardevoir! No, you won't win, you won't have what you desire with such evil intentions and you'll pay for bothering my friends and for what you've done to my pokemon!" roared Ash, tossing the poke ball into the air.
A flash of bright white light and then an ear splitting roar escaped from the ball, causing everyone besides Ash to close their ears. The ground shook a little that caused many to stumble as they tried to keep their balance. Everyone there had stupefied looks on their faces as they took in the sight of Ash's pokemon.
An enormous, reddish orange dragon with two horns on its head, large powerful wings, long sturdy tail with a brightly burning flame at the tip and two arms with razor sharp claws on them was what they saw. Charizard spread his mighty wings and roared again, letting out scorching red hot flames into the air as he did so. Everyone there felt the heat even as the fire went up into the air, causing them to sweat.
"What a magnificent Charizard!" whispered Cilan as Iris gasped at the sight of the dragon.
"Brock, is that the same Charizard?" asked Misty in wonder.
"Yea, but he's so much bigger than most of his kind," answered Brock in a whisper.
"That's an understatement. And he's not just bigger, but he's stronger too. You can tell by the size of his tail's flame, the heat he's generating and the brightness of the flames. This Charizard is on a whole other level," added Gary in awe and everyone around him understood as they kept their gazes transfixed onto the pokemon.
"Charizard!" called out Ash, making Charizard turn his head towards him. "It's time to teach these punks a lesson." Charizard glanced at the group of pokémon in front of them. Barely a second later, he scoffed, spitting out a small flame in front of him, utterly disregarding them as a threat after evaluating them. He had felt his trainer's anger and thought he was going to battle a tough foe. He was ready for a real fight but instead he wouldn't even get a warm up and he felt disappointed. "Don't underestimate them. They ganged up on Gardevoir and hurt her badly."
Charizard snapped his head back at Ash with shock over what he was just told. Making eye contact with his trainer, it was as if the dragon was peering into his soul. A moment later the fire starter started growled loudly. Now the dragon knew why Ash was angered. Slowly, Charizard turned to face his opponents. No, he didn't consider them opponents anymore. In Charizard's eyes, they were now his sworn enemies for hurting Gardevoir. He and many others within their family viewed her as a little sister, since they found her scared, alone and beaten to within an inch of her life. They had all promised to take care of her no matter what. And these damn fools had dared to hurt her. He let out an incredibly vicious and much louder roar than he did before at the soon to be roasted enemies who were pushed back greatly from the sheer magnitude of power released by the roar.
"Charizard's pissed!" yelped Max as he took a few steps backwards subconsciously, covering his ears in vain.
"You think Max?!" remarked May, annoyed over her brother's comment but knew he was right, since she and practically everyone else there shivered in their spots while doing their best to ignore the roar.
Finished with his declaration of war, the fire starter began to slowly advance against his enemies while keeping his wrath filled expression locked onto them.
Gary took the opportunity of relative silence in the area now to allow his urge of explaining things come forth. "Charizard are highly prideful pokémon. They normally don't fight with pokémon that are weaker than themselves. Instead, they seek out equal or stronger opponents and they are fair fighters. But, they are also very protective of their friends and family. Since Gardevoir's one of Charizard's friends and the fact that they ganged up on her has pressed many buttons at once; not fighting fairly, hurting his friend, attempting to hurt Ash, bothering us and probably some others things. Basically, Charizard is furious now and only getting angrier," lectured Gary and the ones around him who didn't know were astounded to learn how complicated the pokémon's nature was.
Seeing the larger than average dragon make his way towards them and even after hearing Gary explain about Charizard's nature, their opponents didn't care and remained steadfast on their goal of getting the girls. "Like I said, it doesn't matter who you choose. We'll still win!" boasted Tracey, with Kenny, Rudy, Kenny, Drew and Calem chiming in as well. "Marill, Hydro Pump!" The small round blue pokémon fired a pressurized torrent of water right at Charizard that hit square against his chest, drenching the dragon in the watery attack. "Yes! Direct hit!" Tracey smirked gleefully when the move made contact but then it immediately vanished from his face once the attack finished. "Wait…WHAT?!" shouted a shocked Tracey.
Charizard was still standing after a direct hit and he wasn't stopped or even slowed down from his advancing. The only things that changed were his growling got louder and his tail's flame became even bigger. Even Ash's group was stunned that Charizard gave no reaction at all to the super effective attack.
Stepping forward, the Orange Islands native ordered his move. "Electabuzz, Thunder!" yelled Rudy. A yellow pillar of electrical energy dropped down from above, slamming into Charizard and then exploded, covering the area in smoke.
Everyone there waited for the smoke to clear with waited breath. After a few seconds, growling was heard from within the smoke that soon turned into a snarl as the smoke cleared. Even though the dragon like pokémon was covered in water that had amplified the power of the electrical attack, Charizard was still standing. He continued forward, closing the distance against his enemies while the flame on the tip of his tail kept growing in size.
"No way in hell! Not after a Hydro Pump! He should've been cooked alive!" cried out Rudy in fear.
"How the fuck is he still standing?!" asked a stupefied Calem, while the rest within their group were unable to speak at the moment.
Even Ash's group and the strangers in the area were dumbfounded over what they just witnessed. "How did that not do any damage?" asked Joy in disbelief.
"Probably from sheer willpower and incredible strength. That Charizard is no ordinary Charizard," answered Richie in awe.
Ash crossed his arms with his glare intensifying. "Charizard is one of my most powerful pokémon. He has trained to shrug off those types of attacks, especially from low level pokémon. It'll take more than that to stop him. If you surrender now and apologize, then maybe we'll show mercy!"
Hating how they were looking like incompetent fools because of Ash, they began shaking with rage. "No matter how strong he is, he can't withstand us all!" yelled Kenny.
"That's right!" Everyone, fire at once now!" yelled Drew and all five of them from within the hated group shouted commands to their pokémon at the same time.
"Marill, Hydro Pump!"
"Electabuzz, Thunder!"
"Meowstic, Psybeam!"
"Empoleon, Ice Beam!"
"Exeggutor, Solar Beam!"
"Roselia, Leaf Storm!"
"Flygon, Dragon Pulse!"
"NO!" / "STOP IT!" yelled out many but it went unheeded.
A massive explosion occurred as the powerful attacks hit their mark at the same time, sending up a thick smokescreen that hid the dragon. "Hahaha! So much for your speech Ash and your so called powerful Charizard!" sneered Tracey while laughing and the others joined in.
Ash's friends were anxious and impatient as they waited for the smoke to clear. Even the unknown bystanders had fearful and concerned looks on their faces. Slowly, the smoke faded away and they began seeing a faint red sphere in the middle of it. As the smoke cleared, the red sphere grew brighter.
"What the fuck is that?" asked Calem, his smile disappearing.
He and everyone else got their answer when the smoke finally cleared and they saw what the red sphere was. Charizard had wrapped itself in a circle of heat and had brought his wings in front of him, which were coated in a metallic shine. The sphere went away and Charizard once again spread out his wings, returning to their normal color. His eyes narrowed in fury and the flame on its tail was as large as the pokémon itself now.
"Impossible!" yelped Drew.
"How the hell is he still standing?!" screamed Kenny.
"All the attacks made contact!" remarked Calem.
"Ah, I see what he did. Very smart and I'm impressed he was able to pull off such a difficult combo maneuver," remarked Cilan, with Brock and Gary nodding in understanding.
"What? What did he do?" asked Iris immediately, everyone listening in to find out as they kept their eyes glued on the dragon.
Brock decided to be the one to explain this time. "Charizard used Heat Wave to cover himself in a flame cocoon, while using Steel Wing to put up an extra layer of defense. Using the heat from the sphere of flames, the extra layer of density from Steel Wing, add that to Charizard's already resilient body and you've got an almost impenetrable defense, where nothing but powerful attacks from powerful pokémon would be able to punch through," explained Brock as simply as he could so everyone could understand.
"But that's not all," interjected Gary, continuing where Brock left off. "Look at his tail. The size of Charizard's flame on his tail shows how angry he is right? Right now he's at his peak rage. You feel the extreme heat coming off of him? You should because I'm sweating balls right now. Anyway, that rage and heat also helped him shrug off those attacks. Ash used Charizard's rage to boost not only his attack, but his defense too," finished the pokemon researcher.
"In all honesty, the fact that Charizard was able to combine all aspects of his species versatility into such a formidable defense is astonishing," commented Cilan with obvious praise over the dragon's display.
"I didn't know Charizard can do that," whispered Iris in response. She and everyone else there stared in awe at the Kanto starter.
Ash wanted nothing more than to unleash hell on them for what they did but he was controlling himself. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that they could absolutely pulverize them without breaking a sweat. But he didn't want to be seen as a vengeful person, even if the ones standing in front of him definitely deserve to be shown their place. Taking in a breath, the raven haired trainer began speaking. "You see what you're up against. You have no chance. As much as I don't want to…as much as I hate you right now…as much as I just want to have Charizard just let go…I will still give you one last chance to apologize and leave with your integrity intact."
"What?!" shouted the five at once. Tracey, Kenny, Rudy, Drew and Calem were outraged over his words and yet, only one seemed to have lost all sense of reason at that moment at that moment. "Fuck you! Fuck all of you! Misty, go screw yourself with your pokémon! By the way Gary, you're desperate sister was a boring fuck!"
Gary snapped in anger over that and practically jumped from his spot but was quickly held back by Brock, Richie and Cilan. "You fuckin piece of shit! I'm gonna rip off your leg and beat you to death with it, you stupid son of a bitch!" Gary continued throwing out every cuss word and insult he knew at Tracey while struggling to get free.
Before Misty could respond to Tracey, Rudy spoke up. "Don't listen to them! Forget everyone here beautiful and just come with me! No one else deserves you but me!" stated Rudy as he held out his hand towards the red head. But Misty just glared at him and Tracey while crossing her arms. "Fine, your loss you stupid whore!"
"Dee-Dee, we've known each other since we were kids! We talked about being friends forever! And that means we should get together too!" said Kenny, trying to convince her. Dawn responded back by raising both her middle fingers at him with a hateful look all over her face. "You backstabbing bitch!"
"Serena, you should be with me and no one else. You and I know this. So come here now!" commanded Calem as he pointed to the ground at his side. Serena however shook her head and took a step backwards to increase their distance. "You dare not listen to me you slut?!"
"May, we've known each other for a long time so let's take the next step. You know you want to," stated Drew while sporting his best charming smile. May however gave him a look of disgust before pointing into her mouth and pretended to throw up. "You think you're better than me you fuckin cunt?!"
Ash heard each of them says those things at the same time and at first he couldn't believe what they just said in order to get what they wanted. But a split second later, his anger brought him back into focus and he snapped. "THAT'S IT! CHARIZARD FINISH THIS!" shouted Ash in rage.
Charizard roared again and a red outline glowed around his body as he focused his power to the attack. A sphere of fiery energy appeared in front of the dragon's mouth and quickly grew in size with incredible heat radiating off of it. Ash's friends and the bystanders were amazed at the dragon's power and everyone there was sweating from the heat.
The ones being targeted by the attack however grew scared at the horrifying sight and they quickly tried to do something about it. "Quick! Attack! Fight! Do something!" screamed Tracey, Kenny, Rudy, Calem and Drew at their pokémon. But their pokémon didn't move since they were unable to act. The sight of Charizard still standing after their combined assault had shaken them to their core, frozen in fear that this monster of a pokémon didn't have the slightest scratch on him after their combined attack.
Sensing his pokemon ready to counter attack, Ash threw out his hand in front of him as he called out the attack. "BLAST BURN!" roared Ash.
Charizard fired the most powerful fire type attack. The large ball of fire was shot at his enemies with a stream of bright yellow, orange and red flames trailing behind it as it flew towards its target. The ball of flames hit its victims and expanded rapidly. Engulfing them in a great vortex of fire, the tornado of deadly flames spun around with great speed before finally letting off an explosion. The explosion rocked the area and also sent its targets blasting far away from where they were as smoke filled the area.
After the smoke cleared, Charizard roared in victory while letting out another stream of fire into the air from its mouth. Ash walked up to his pokemon. "Great job Charizard. I doubt they'll bother us again." Ash rubbed Charizard's back in appreciation and Charizard nodded. Returning the dragon, Ash then turned to look at his friends. "I'm gonna go check on Gardevoir." Sprinting passed his friends as he made his way back to the pokémon center, the raven haired trainer had many thoughts go through his head and he hoped that Gardevoir was alright.
Unable to do anything but watch him run back to the hotel for a moment, the remaining group of friends then glanced at one another before wordlessly agreeing. They followed after him but at a less hurried pace since they wanted to give Ash some space and time to collect himself. And they all had some of their own thinking to do over what they just saw.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
They arrived at the pokémon center about ten minutes after Ash did. Joy led them to the emergency medical wards and they peered through the room window. Ash and Lucario were sitting beside Gardevoir as she lay on the bed while Pikachu was curled up on the bed next to the psychic fairy. It looked like she was sleeping and they also noticed that tears were flowing down Ash's cheek. The sight of the pokemon and the raven haired trainer in those states made them feel completely sullen and wondered what they could do to help. While unable to stop letting out tears, Joy entered the room after a moment and took over for the league official who stepped out of the room.
Lucario sensed when his Master's friends arrived but didn't react until he sensed that the rest of the girls wanted to come in. Moving towards the door, he held it open for them so they could enter. Misty, Dawn, Serena, May and Iris walked in and after entering the room, the girls huddled around Gardevoir's bed. Lucario moved to a corner of the room while the door remained open as Brock, Cilan, Gary, Richie and Max stood within the doorway. All of the girls had tears flow down their cheeks at the sight of the battered and bruised fairy pokémon on the bed before them and most of the guys weren't doing much better either but only Max was letting out tears. A moment or two of silence in the room passed until some of the girls just couldn't stay quiet anymore.
"I-It's all our f-fault! We're s-so sorry A-Ash!" apologized May in between her sobs.
"We weren't able to react to stop them from cheating and attacking her when she was distracted," remarked Serena with heavy tears going down her cheeks.
"We should've kept her from battling on her own, no matter what she said," stated Dawn, fruitlessly wiping her tears away but they kept pouring out.
"We should've joined in on the battle since it was our fight, not hers! We're so sorry!" said Misty with her hands clenched into fists and just letting her tears fall down.
After the four of them said what they were feeling, it was quiet in the room again except for the sobbing noises of the girls, the monitors that were beeping as they kept track of the pokemon's vitals and the sounds of movement from Nurse Joy as she tended to Gardevoir. Both Iris and Joy wanted to say something as well, since they were there too and felt just as guilty for doing nothing. Yet they didn't know what to say and felt that if they did try to say something, it would cheapen what their friends said. But in the end, both of them knew that they had to apologize at the very least.
"I'm sorry Ash. I should've done something," said Iris in a sullen tone as she held her hands against her chest.
"I'm sorry too. I didn't do anything," whispered Joy as she looked at Ash, who's gaze was locked onto the bedridden pokemon, before continuing her work.
Ash heard them all but remained silent as he thought about what they said while staring at Gardevoir. A short while later, he shook his head before replying back to them. "It's not any of your faults. The only one who's at fault is me. I brought her here. I left her alone. I convinced her to come as I promised to always protect her and to never let anything happen to her." He let out a long sigh as he hung his head. "I had found her when she was still a Kirlia all alone in a forest, hungry and scared. And the worst part was she was beaten almost to death. I made a vow to her that I would never let any of that happened to her again. I've failed that promise. I wasn't able to keep it. I'm not worthy of her trust or her friendship. And I'm definitely not worthy of being her trainer." Unable to control himself, Ash started shaking in his seat with his head still hung and more tears escaped from his eyes as they fell to the ground. His confession made them all feel even more horrible and they couldn't help but feel even more saddened.
"You're wrong Ash."
Ash snapped his gaze up at Gardevoir with worry. Her telepathic voice was still soft and angelic like but it sounded so weak. And he saw how her eyes were only slightly opened. Pikachu sat up and patted her hand gently while giving her a comforting smile, earning himself a small smile from her. Lucario moved towards the bed and knelt by her other side, holding her other hand gently. "Comrade, it's great to hear your voice again," Lucario said happily and Gardevoir gave him a small smile as well.
When the psychic fairy turned to face him, the raven haired trainer spoke. "How can you say that? I promised to keep you safe no matter what. Especially after all the horrible things you've already gone through," said Ash sadly.
Gardevoir gave a kind look at him. "You're not responsible for those past crimes nor are you responsible for the acts of evil people and their pokémon today. It's not your fault that I got hurt. They fought unfairly and took advantage when I was distracted, which I should have foreseen. I wished to protect my friends Ash, the best I could, as you have done so many times and I would do it again in a heartbeat."
"But that's my job! I don't care about me getting hurt! That's fine in my book!" Several of the girls gave him a look over those words but he didn't notice that and neither did anyone else. Except for one. "But I can't stand it if anyone else does! And I promised!" countered Ash, losing his composure to his feelings.
"And the fact that you feel remorse for what others have done, when it's especially not your fault, shows that you care beyond measure. You ended the confrontation, not with vengeance in your heart but with justice, to teach them a lesson. I know that you gave them multiple chances to apologize for their crimes and change their ways and that is a good thing." Gardevoir felt winded after speaking so much and needed to take a moment to catch her breath before continuing on. "You saw that there was no good in their hearts, that they wouldn't stop even when facing defeat and that they would continue their ways if given the chance. That's when you unleashed your fury upon them. You fought to protect out of love, like you always have. That is only one of the many qualities that you possess that make you a great person, a great leader and a great trainer. I'm happy and proud that you're my trainer," finished Gardevoir as her eyes closed and lost consciousness.
"Gardevoir? Gardevoir!"
"It's alright Ash. She's only resting as the sleep medicine finally kicked in," remarked Joy while checking her vitals.
Ash let out a relieved sigh. "Thank Arceus."
Lucario stood up and turned to face the raven haired trainer. "Master, I know you're feeling horrible over what happened but you should rest for the tournament tomorrow. You won't have to worry about anything either as I shall stay by her side."
Moving his gaze away from the sleeping fairy to the aura canine, Ash thought about what he said for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I'm okay Lucario. I'll stay here beside her. And I'm not worried about the tournament."
Lucario didn't like his reply and tried again. "Master, even if you're not worried, you should still go rest for tomorrow. You might need to…"
"I don't need rest," interrupted Ash.
Lucario narrowed his eyes over that. He knew how his trainer could be so stubborn and even though he knew that it was needed sometimes, this was not one of those times. "Master…"
"I said I'm fine," snapped Ash with a glare at his pokemon who glared back.
Surprised over his words and behavior, the group of friends glanced at one other as they wondered what they should do. The girls looked at one another and silently agreed that they should convince Ash to go and try to rest since he couldn't do anything else at the moment. But before any of them could say or do anything to get involved and convince their friend that his pokemon was right, said pokemon acted.
Ash was outlined in a blue glow and was prevented from moving from his spot since his pokemon used his Psychic attack on him. "Stop Lucario!"
Lucario however shook his head and then raised his trainer into the air. Not knowing what he was doing or planning, everyone there was alarmed over his actions. They were about to say something when the aura canine spoke in an angry tone. "No Master! I have sworn to help you, to stand by your side no matter what and to keep you from making mistakes. You're about to make a mistake! Do not sabotage your goals and your plans because of one tragic event! What happened to Gardevoir is horrible but don't think it's only you who suffers! She knew the possible consequences and she'll feel even worse if you lose your concentration. I fear this is but a taste of what we may face! We must focus on the bigger picture! Use this to become stronger! Remember what is at stake Master! Honor her by doing what we're meant to do! So stop this self pity right now! Go clear your head, put your heart back together again and don't stain Gardevoir's noble actions with your emotional tantrum!" criticized Lucario, his frustration evident for all to see. Finished with what he wanted to say, Lucario made Ash fly through the room towards the door. The guys cleared the door and Ash flew through the door and slammed against the hallway wall with his back causing many to scream in shock at what the aura pokémon just did.
While everyone else went to check on Ash as he slid down the wall onto the floor, Lucario stepped back inside the room to be by Gardevoir's side and shut the door. Pikachu had left the room with the others to check on Ash with his ears dropped and feeling uneasy over what just happened. He didn't know what to do as he was stunned over everything that happened.
"Ash, you alright?" asked Brock for everyone as he and several others knelt beside him while the rest remained standing behind them.
Ash was disoriented for a few seconds but quickly recovered and stood back up with the ones kneeling beside him doing the same. He was fuming over what his pokemon just did. Looking at everyone and seeing the expressions of concern on their faces, his anger began to fade. Hanging his head once more and stuffing his hands into his jeans' pockets, he turned away from them and walked towards the exit. Pikachu followed behind him in silence.
The girls made to follow him as well but Brock stopped them, telling them he needs to be alone right now. Knowing he was right, they didn't argue. But that didn't mean that they would remain quiet.
"I hope he feels better soon. Lucario didn't need to be such a jerk!" whimpered Dawn, as she dropped onto a metal bench in the hallway.
"I wonder what caused Lucario to get so angry," pondered Serena as she sat down next to Dawn.
"Must be something that they haven't told us yet," interjected May as she paced up and down the hallway.
"It has to be. But Ash has always felt bad whenever he can't protect or help anyone, and if someone gets even a little hurt on his watch, he feels as if he failed the whole world," remarked Misty, pulling off Ash's hat that was still on her head and looked at it.
"But Lucario on the other hand sees this as a lesson compared to something else. What did he mean by saying they knew about the possible consequences?" asked Iris, making them all think about that.
"Could it mean something really bad?" asked Max, becoming slightly scared as he started imagining things.
"Who knows? We won't know the full story until Ash and Lucario tell us everything," said Richie.
"Well, until then, we must stay patient, keep our minds open and help out as much as we can if needed once he tells us what's going on," advised Brock.
"Brock's right. We'll help out Ash because he's our friend and friends should be there for one another," added on Cilan.
"Wow, okay boy scout," commented Gary, making Cilan glare at the pokemon researcher who just rolled his eyes. "But you're right; we'll help Ashy-boy as much as we can because you know he'll be lost without us." Some of them couldn't help it and chuckled at that. A short while passed in silence as they all thought about what just happened. "So, anybody wants to take a bet as to how long it'll take Ash to come back?" asked Gary since he couldn't take the silence anymore. Everyone stopped and glared at the young professor. "Just trying to ease the tension," he said while shrugging and the rest either shook their heads or let out sighs in response.
Seeing as how no one was doing anything or saying much, the pink haired girl went back inside the room and checked on Gardevoir. While doing her job, she thought of some things and decided that now would be a good time to get started on what she promised Ash. When finished, she told Lucario to come get her if anything changed and the pokemon agreed. Stepping outside, the nurse went up to her newly made friends. "Ah, excuse me?" The girls looked at Joy. "Can I talk to you alone?" They nodded and followed the nurse into an empty room with a circular table and six chairs. Joy closed the door behind them and they all sat around the table.
"What did you need to talk to us about Joy?" asked Serena as she drew her chair closer to the table.
Joy was quiet until she straightened her back and looked at the girls around her. "It's about Ash…"