THE BLUE SPIRIT
CHAPTER 17 – SHOCK AND AWE
It's one thing to wake up and find someone in bed with you. But waking up and realizing you're in bed with four girls who are also the ones you have feelings for and them you, is an entirely different matter. When Ash woke up in the morning, he had momentarily forgotten what had happened the night before and was about to shout in surprise over what he first saw when he opened his eyes. Luckily he was able to stop himself in time and instead just kept his gaze on the four who were fast asleep in bed with him.
Serena, Dawn, May and Misty were fast asleep with two of the girls practically on top of him while the other two had cuddled up against him on either side. Looking at them for a while, he remembered what they had talked about just the night before. Raising his sight towards the ceiling, he closed his eyes while feeling very happy. He couldn't believe the situation he was currently in, nor the agreement the five of them made together before falling asleep. But he wasn't going to take it for granted and was going to do his best to show how much he cares for each of them.
Opening his eyes, he looked at them again and the corners of his lips curled up into a smile. They're each so beautiful both inside and out. How did I become so lucky all of a sudden? While he continued gazing at them while they slept in the bed with him, he noticed something amusing. Each of them had their hair messed up, most likely because of moving around while sleeping. And each of them had their face buried into his upper body. But one other thing that he noticed was that they were quite still and he felt fear engulf him for a quick second, thinking they weren't breathing.
Before he started to freak out, he noticed their bodies slightly moving up and down as they breathed in and out quietly. Becoming relieved immediately, Ash took in a deep breath to calm himself and exhaled quietly. Oh man, I gotta relax or I'm gonna end up killing myself from stressing out. When he finally calmed back down, Ash looked at the girls again while alternating his view towards each one every few seconds. Looking up at the ceiling once more, he closed his eyes while a large smile spread on his face while thinking. I'm one lucky ass guy. I can't believe I got another chance. But there's no way in hell I'm gonna mess this up too. Thank you Arceus.
After mentally stating his gratitude for receiving another chance, Ash considered going back to sleep for a little while longer. Until he felt one of the girls move. Opening his eyes, he looked at the one who started moving. Watching her as she stirred slowly from her sleep, she then lifted her head a little that caused her blue hair to fall down partly over her face. Her sleepy blue eyes connected with his wide awake brown ones.
The moment Ash looked into her eyes, he smiled. "Hey Dawn. Sleep well?" he asked in a whisper to not disturb the other girls. His question made Dawn awaken fully and her eyes widened in realization. The previous night's memories came rushing back and she was about to let out a squeak when Ash covered her mouth hurriedly out of instinct. "Ssshhh! They're still asleep," he warned while still whispering.
After he lowered his hand, Dawn moved her eyes over the still sleeping girls. Oh, that's right. We did all sleep together. And I'm practically on top of Ash… Her heart started beating a little faster as she could feel herself growing hotter over that thought. But then a smirk grew slowly on her face as an idea went through her mind. She raised her eyes back up to meet with Ash's. "They're not asleep. They're only pretending."
"How do you know?"
"Call it woman's intuition."
"Really?" asked Ash, cocking one eyebrow.
"Oh alright, fine," replied Dawn with a lingering sigh. "They're playing with your belt buckle."
"WHAT?!" yelled Ash as he pulled the blanket off of them and looked down.
Nothing was amiss but his shouting had woken up and startled the girls. The first to say something was the honey blonde haired girl. "Ash, why'd you scream in our ears?" asked Serena sleepily, rubbing her eyes, still not fully awake to realize what the situation was. Misty and May also did the same as they sat up in bed.
"Dawn scared the crap out of me, saying that you three were playing with my belt buckle!"
Instantly, the three girls fully awakened because of those words. Blushing heavily over the idea, they were still embarrassed and upset over the prank that the blunette had just pulled. "HEY!" shouted the three girls together, rounding on Dawn instantly.
Seeing them turn on her, Dawn jumped off the bed and backed away with her hands up in an attempt to calm down the three girls who followed after her. Though she was frightened, Dawn quickly got another idea to turn the tables. "Okay, my bad, just a little prank you know? But the bigger question is why are you scared of us playing with your belt buckle Ash? Didn't you say that you like us?"
Stopping their advance after hearing Dawn's words, Misty, May and Serena didn't move for a second before they slowly turned back around to face the raven haired trainer. Now it was Ash's turn to be afraid as his eyes widened in fear at seeing their narrowed eyes locked onto him.
"What's so scary about us doing that Ash?"questioned May in a low and dangerous voice.
"I…ah…well…." muttered Ash, unable to speak, his face paling quickly with his heart rate skyrocketing.
Misty, May and Serena were getting closer and Dawn joined them, sporting an amused look on her; she was obviously very pleased with herself on setting him up.
Ash backed up on the bed and soon found himself pressed against the head board with no more room to move back. The girls were too close for him to try to move in a different direction. He was trapped and he knew he didn't have many options. And so he went with the truth. "I've never done anything like that before and I panicked!" confessed Ash finally while holding up his hands in front of him and turning his face to the side with his eyes tightly closed in fear. "Plus I didn't want anyone walking in on us like that, especially Gary! I'd never hear the end of it!"
Stopping their advance with their angry looks being replaced with amused yet understanding ones, the girls couldn't blame him for his reasoning. Glancing at one another for a quick moment, they came to a silent agreement. Climbing onto the bed, they gathered around the young man. Misty and Serena grasped Ash's right hand while May and Dawn grasped Ash's left before gently lowering his hands together.
Their action made Ash open his eyes and looked at them from the corner of his eyes. Expecting a punch or a slap, he was surprised to see the four of them smiling while sitting around him on the bed. He faced them fully and tilted his head in confusion. "Ah, why are you smiling at me like that? Did I do something funny?"
"No dummy. What you said was cute and adorable," said Misty.
"Yea, we haven't done anything either, so we're just messing with you," added Serena.
"What...oh I see." Ash smiled a little, relieved that they weren't angry. "Heh. Well I guess that's a good thing then? The five of us can experience new things together huh?" The girls blushed madly after he said that. "Ah, are you guys okay? What did I say?"
"Ash, sometimes you really are dense," laughed Dawn, making him scratch the back of his head.
"But it's okay. We like it," said May.
"And here is a little something for you to occupy your thoughts for a bit," finished Misty as she leaned in closer.
Ash was dumbstruck as the beautiful red head gave him a quick kiss on the lips and pulled away shortly after. Before he could even understand what had happened, Dawn leaned in and gave him a quick kiss as well, his eyes widening. Before he could react to it, the blunette pulled away only for Serena to swoop in and catch him off guard when she laid a kiss on him. He was expecting May to be next since she had made slight movements towards him, distracting him. After Serena pulled away, May leaned in with a slight grin on her face, happy with her successful distraction and gave the last kiss from the four girls.
When she finished and pulled away, which was all too soon for Ash since he had finally begun to enjoy the kissing, the raven haired trainer was still stuck in a daze, not noticing the four girls' large smiles on their faces. Becoming overcome with giggles at the sight of Ash lost in a trance over what they just did, the girls quickly got up off the bed and left his room hurriedly, lost in their laughter. It took a couple minutes for Ash to compose himself before he got up and went to the bathroom to wash up.
While Ash washed his face and brushed his teeth, he couldn't stop thinking about the girls and it just made him smile as he went through his morning routine. Finishing up shortly after, he left his room and ran into the others in the living room. After talking to them for a little bit, he decided to go downstairs to retrieve Gardevoir and told them.
"Hey, wait up!" called out Misty as she caught up to him and he turned to her. "Let me come with. The girls are still getting ready and I don't feel like just waiting around."
Ash was more than happy to go get his pokémon with Misty but he controlled himself. He didn't want to look like an idiot already. "Sure, let's go." Leaving the suite, the duo took the elevator down to the ground floor. "Thanks for coming with Misty. Gardevoir will be happy to see you too I bet," said Ash.
"No problem," replied Misty, smiling at him. "I do want to see her again too."
Smiling back at her, Ash nodded and the next second, the elevator reached the ground floor and opened its doors. Stepping out and walking towards the front counter, they found Joy looking right at them. "Hi, good morning Joy," they said together.
"Good morning. Up rather early aren't we? Couldn't wait?" she asked with a knowing look.
Ash chuckled. "Yup. She can go now right?"
"Yes, she can," answered Joy as she took a paper on a clipboard and handed it to him. "Just sign the release forms for me please."
"Sure thing." Grabbing it, Ash quickly signed it and handed it back to her. "Here you go," he said while giving it back to her.
"Thanks," said Joy as she took the clipboard and filed away the document he just signed. Getting up, she led Ash and Misty into the back where the pokemon center was located. "Just to let you know, I've just finished up some tests and everything looks good to me," said Joy with happily. "Honestly, I'm pretty shocked that she was able to heal so quickly. Her wounds were very severe."
"Maybe Lucario used Heal Pulse on her? Either way, its good she can finally leave," said Ash.
"Hmm…Maybe you're right. I'm actually surprised I didn't think of that. Well, right this way." Joy led them to Gardevoir's room before excusing herself to go back to the front and the two stepped inside.
"Pikapi! Pikachupi!" Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms, giving him a quick nuzzle against his chest and then leapt onto Misty's arms, nuzzling their cheeks together and then remained with her.
"Traitor," muttered Ash as the group laughed, Gardevoir being the last one to stop. "So, we can finally get you outta here. No more nurses waiting on you. How's that feel?" asked Ash.
Beaming with happiness and relieved to know she can finally leave the pokemon center, Gardevoir began celebrating. "Great! I can't wait to get out of here. I swear I'd probably die of boredom here if it wasn't for Lucario, Pikachu and Joy," revealed the fairy pokémon.
The raven-haired trainer glanced at each of the three mentioned who were promptly avoiding eye contact with him. "Oh really? And what exactly did they do to entertain you so well?" Ash could tell, even without his abilities being heightened from aura, they must've done some crazy and embarrassing things to keep the fairy pokemon in good spirits since they were acting this way.
"Pikapi, pi pi pika pikachu kachu pi pika!"
Narrowing his eyes at his starter, Ash kept his glare for a full two seconds before letting out a sign in defeat. "Alright fine. I won't force it out of you if you three keep your mouths shut."
"OH!" Hearing that, Misty instantly knew it was regarding something embarrassing about Ash and she really wanted to know what it was. She gestured to the yellow mouse and caught Pikachu's attention. "You'll tell me later right?" she asked but Pikachu shook his head and he crossed his arms.
"He knows better Misty," commented Ash with a proud look at his starter. "Pikachu might hang out with you or the girls more when you're around, but he won't betray me."
Misty sighed since he was right. Pikachu may not battle against her or the other girls and he might stick to her or their side more when they're around, but the yellow mouse would never betray Ash. Misty couldn't help but feel proud that Ash had such loyal pokémon. They would tease, joke and prank each other, but when it comes down to it, they had each other's backs no matter what and she knew it was because of his unique personality that helped him grow such strong bonds with his pokémon. It was this same thing that made the connections between him and most of his friends that strong as well. Because of all that, Misty knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would never betray him, nor would the other girls and he would never betray them or their other friends either.
After speaking with Gardevoir for a bit, Lucario turned to Ash. "Master, do you know when your next match is? I'm itching for a battle."
Thinking for a moment, Ash shook his head. "No, but we'll check the tournament board before we head back up. I promise you'll get a turn but I don't want to have you compete until the later rounds." Lucario dropped his head a bit but didn't argue, knowing the reasons why. One of which was that Ash wanted to save him and his other more powerful pokemon for the later rounds. "But we'll go full blast for training together today. How's that buddy?"
Lucario lifted his head with a big smirk on his face. "I hope you're ready to get pulverized Master!"
"We'll see Lucario," replied Ash with a challenging grin.
The way they spoke made Misty worry a little. "Um, Ash, what do you guys mean by that?"
"Oh, Lucario and I spar together," answered Ash calmly as if it was the most normal thing in the world. But when all he got was Misty giving him a shocked look, he explained further. "It's no big deal. We've done it a lot. No need to worry about it," said Ash with an uncaring shrug.
Misty stared at him with a shocked look before exploding. "Are you crazy?! You can't spar with a pokémon, especially one as powerful as Lucario!" snapped the redhead, absolutely certain that he would get hurt if he did something so dangerous.
"Hey, it's okay. We've done it a million times before. I promise we won't get hurt," said Ash but she still looked scared but before she could say anything, he came up with an idea. "Hey I know, you can watch us spar then you'll see Misty."
"If you think I'm going to watch you let yourself get pulverized then you're a bigger dummy than I thought!"
"Mist, please. Just trust me."
His pleading tone and the way his eyes pierced into her own made Misty feel her resolve wavering. She let out a reluctant sigh as she finally agreed. "Okay, fine. But if you get hurt, I'm gonna mallet you into the ground Ketchum!"
Ash chuckled, hearing her bizarre threat but knew it was her way of saying how much she cares. "It's a deal Mist." He smiled at her and without thinking, gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She blushed, not expecting him to do that while his pokemon stared at Ash. None of them were expecting him to act so boldly, especially in front of others. Suddenly aware of what he did and in front of whom, Ash cleared his throat and hurriedly changed the subject. "Let's go check the battle board." They all left the room, with Ash leading the way while blushing slightly and Misty was sporting a rather gleeful look on her face.
As they made their way out, Gardevoir gracefully followed along while stretching out her arms and body, feeling ecstatic to no longer being bedridden. She was beaming from ear to ear as she was so relieved to be out of the stuffy room. Lucario seemed to be in a much happier mood as well, seeing his comrade and close friend back on her feet. Pikachu was standing on Misty's shoulder, cooing in delight as she scratched his head.
Reaching the lobby once more, their small group headed towards the tournament board easily enough after waving at Joy at the counter. Several other trainers were standing in front of it and scanning it for their match times. Ash moved in front as one of the trainers left after getting his required information. "Let's see…" He quickly scanned the information and found what he was looking for. "Looks like I'm the last match of the day at 5pm. My opponent's name is Jack Thompson. Richie's is today too and he's up against a Judy Smith at 4pm." Memorizing the times, Ash faced his friends. "Well, that's that. Let's head back."
Making their way back to the elevator, they stopped near Joy and waited until she was done with another guest. "Hey Joy, we'll see you later and thanks for everything," said Ash when she faced them.
"You're welcome Ash and it's no problem," replied Joy kindly.
"And you're welcome to come spend some time with us in our room anytime you want," added Misty.
"Oh thank you Misty. I'll probably drop by then. See you later!" Joy smiled at them as they headed to the elevator and waved bye to her before returning back to her duties.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As usual, Brock and Cilan were busy setting up breakfast now that everyone was awake. While they prepared their morning meal, the rest were relaxing in the living room. But when the door to their suite opened, they all turned their heads to see who it was.
"Gardevoir!" Jumping to their feet at the sight of the psychic fairy while also shouting the pokemon's name with pleasant surprise, Dawn, Serena, May and Iris quickly moved to her. Once they reached her, they took turns hugging her as they welcomed her back.
"It's so good to see you out and about again!"
"Yea, we're so happy you're feeling better!"
"Now we can have more girl time together!"
"Wow, let her relax you kids!"
"Thank you," replied Gardevoir with a smile, her cheeks slightly red over their concern for her. "I truly appreciate your kind words." Smiling at her words, the girls escorted her in.
"Breakfast is ready!" announced Brock and Cilan together as soon as they reached the couches.
"Great, I'm starving!" Shooting to the table, Ash wasn't the only one hungry since May was right at his heels. By the time the rest of their friends joined them on the table, the two had grabbed a little bit of everything. Once done filing up their plates for the moment, both May and Ash began stuffing themselves at top speed. Somehow the two were able to continue chewing their food even thought their mouths were beyond full.
"I thought I've seen him eat like crazy before but this takes the cake," commented Gardevoir, before turning her gaze towards the brunette. "And dear Mew, May is just as bad. They look like a couple of Swalot at a buffet," remarked Gardevoir, shocked at their lack of etiquette.
All but the two she talked about laughed at her comparison. Ash and May turned red but didn't stop their rapid eating. Instead, they glanced at one another, shrugged and went back to wolfing down their food while thinking the same thing; haters.
"This is nothing," started Max as he put some scrambled eggs onto his plate. "You know their little chicken wing contest? They've had bigger ones than that and those were scary. Talk about bottomless pits." Max let out an exaggerated sigh before he shook his head and began eating while the others agreed with some laughs.
Only one couldn't ignore the way the raven haired trainer ate. No matter how many times Lucario saw Ash eat like this, he would always become disgusted. And he knew no matter what he said, Ash would just shrug it off like always and continue doing so. Yet, he would always try anyways. "Master, you shouldn't eat so much and so fast if we're going to spar."
"Don'th worry about ith…oups…shorry Rishie…" Ash swallowed his food. "My bad Richie. Oh by the way, you're next match is at 4pm today, against a Judy Smith."
Wiping the sprayed food crumbs from his shirt's sleeve with a napkin, Richie gave a slight glare at Ash before shaking his head. "It's alright Ash. Just be careful and cool, thanks man."
"Ash, what did Lucario mean by you two sparring?" inquired Cilan, being the one to ask what was on most everyone else's mind.
"Just what it sounds like. He and I are gonna spar later on today." He continued eating as everyone just stared at him as if he was crazy. He raised his head after noticing the silence and saw their confused and concerned faces. "What?"
"You do know how ridicules that sounds right?" asked Iris.
Ash shrugged. "I've done it before."
Giving him wide looks of disbelief, the group moved their gazes towards the aura pokemon who nodded without saying a word. Jaws dropped and they all looked at Ash once more with shock. "This ought to be a very entertaining flavor. It will be a grand showing of strength and skill for sure!" remarked Cilan. His words snapped everyone out of their stunned states while also earning himself an elbow from Iris that he just ignored as he usually did.
"Okay, I have to see this," stated Gary, grabbing some toast. "I'm gonna enjoy watching you get your ass handed to you Ashy-boy! Damn it, I wish I brought my video camera with me." Gary was pissed that there was yet another thing to record and keep for later taunts and jokes yet he couldn't do so.
Shaking his head, Ash spoke with a smile on his face. "If you guys wanna come and watch, that's fine. Just don't get in the way."
Agreeing to it, they all decided to watch the sparring session. Each of them was very curious as to how their friend would fight against a pokémon as most of them had never heard or seen such a thing. Ash and Lucario shared a mental agreement to start off slow so they wouldn't scare them too much right off the bat.
Finishing their meal, they quickly cleaned up and headed into the living to relax for a bit. After waiting around the suite for an agreed amount of time of at least half an hour, so that their food could settle in their stomachs, the sparring partners thought it was a good time to go. Gardevoir decided to stay in the suite since she didn't want to go down again so soon. Pikachu volunteered to stay behind with her so she wouldn't be alone and she was delighted over it. Besides those two pokemon, the rest headed to the elevator to head downstairs.
Once they entered the lobby, Ash invited Joy to come watch his spar with Lucario if she could. She was due for a break and with nothing else planned on what to do during it, Joy decided it was the perfect time to take it. Leaving a sign that said she went on break, Joy joined them and they left the building. Heading into the nearby woods, they walked into it a short distance before finding a suitable clearing.
"Okay, this place looks good," commented Ash and Lucario agreed. He turned to his friends. "You guys might want to stay near the trees. We tend to move around a lot when we spar and sometimes it could get a little chaotic. But don't worry; we won't scare you guys too badly," said Ash with a smirk, getting ready for the spar by stretching.
Lucario chuckled as Ash got ready for their sparring session while their friends glanced at one another. They were getting psyched since they wanted to see just how Ash could spar against a powerful pokémon like Lucario. When Ash began taking off his shoes, socks and shirt, Misty, May, Dawn, Serena, iris and Joy went crimson seeing his toned but not too muscular body in the sun.
The four girls who were in love with Ash were practically staring at him, seeing him all grown up and in shape. Seeing them in such a state made the others laugh a bit, which shook them out of their trance. Hurriedly composing themselves, they couldn't get rid of their blushes while sporting sheepish smiles. And it didn't help either that each of them had many erotic thoughts run across their minds.
Gary, Brock, Richie and Max smirked as they saw the four girls get embarrassed and try to act normal while they continued staring right at Ash. Though Richie did feel a pang of jealousy when he glanced at Joy and saw how she too was sporting reddened cheeks at the sight of Ash shirtless. Grumbling quietly, Richie crossed his arms and faced his friend, but was imagining him falling on his face. Realizing what he just thought, he was a little disappointed in himself that he thought that but he quickly got over it.
Cilan had also noticed Iris's stare and he just reacted by doing the first thing that came to mind. By covering her eyes and he would have continued doing so until he was elbowed hard by her. "Don't be so insecure and I'm not a kid!" Iris's elbow and Cilan's open jealousy made the others laugh at the couple's actions.
"Alright, we're ready!" When they heard Ash say he was ready to go, they all turned their attention back to the two.
Lucario and Ash bowed to each other first before they each took up a battle stance. Mirroring each other, they both had their left foot forward with their right foot slightly behind and to the side. Their fists were raised at chest level with their left fist forward and the right slightly behind. "Are you ready Master?" asked Lucairo
"I should be asking you the same question," replied Ash and they both grinned. "On the count of three then?" Lucario nodded. "One…two…three!"
Man and pokémon dashed forward at once with such speed that it amazed their spectators. As soon as they got close to each other, they both launched punches at the same time that ended up with both fists colliding into one another, causing a small wave of energy to travel up through their arms between the two. Lucario immediately follow up with a right roundhouse kick to Ash's head but he blocked the attack with his free hand, automatically countering with a front kick to Lucario's chest but the aura pokémon blocked it with his free hand.
Taking a chance at a strike, the aura pokémon was about to deliver a straight punch to Ash's chest but it was deflected at the last second. Immediately afterwards, Ash threw a straight punch at the canine's head. Lucario ducked, evading the attack and attempted to deliver an uppercut to Ash's chin but the raven haired trainer took a step back, dodging it. A split second later Ash aimed his own roundhouse kick to Lucario's side but that was blocked too. Both Lucario and Ash launched punches again that ended up striking each other once more. Taking some steps back to create some distance between them after that last attack, both took up battle stances again while both of them grinned ear to ear.
"Not bad Master. Let's kick things up a notch, shall we?" asked Lucario.
"Now that's what I was waiting for buddy," replied Ash, his grin spreading further.
Before their viewers could ask them what they meant by that, both Ash and Lucario charged towards each other again. But this time they were moving much faster than before. Their fighting started taking on a much more frantic pace than before. Constantly the two increased the speed at which they fought to the point that everything just looked like a blur. Their friends watching from the sidelines were at first impressed at the sparring session in front of them. But as they continued to watch, their impressed gazes changed into ones of astonishment as the spar started looking like more of an actual full on battle as time progressed.
"Wow." It was the only thing the four girls could say. Each of them knew how resilient and tough Ash was, having experienced many things as they traveled with him. But this was something else.
"I'd never believe Ash would fight a pokémon like Lucario and be on equal footing with it," said Brock, impressed over what he was seeing.
"We learn something new every day, don't we?" said Richie as he glanced at Joy. Her jaw was dropped and was not moving. Richie half smiled and tapped her on the shoulder for a moment before finally getting through to her. She turned his way, mouth still open. "Hey, so I'm guessing you want a bug to go in your mouth?" asked Richie jokingly. Joy shut her mouth instantly and playfully smacked his shoulder while Richie chuckled.
Right after that, Lucario dodged Ash's kick and cart wheeled away a bit. He straightened out and called out to Ash. "I think that's enough. Warm up's over Master!"
"That was only a warm up?!" asked a shocked Max out loud for everyone.
Before anyone could say anything, Lucario vanished from his spot. Ash settled himself into a defensive position and focused his senses so he could detect the pokemon's movements as he scanned the area around him. A couple seconds later, Ash threw a sudden punch to his right, causing Lucario's image to flicker there for a second before it vanished. About five seconds later, Ash whirled around to deliver a side kick at another location. Lucario's image once again flickered before disappearing.
"Do any of you know what's going on?" asked a confused Joy.
"It looks like Lucario is using Extreme Speed to try and land a sneak attack on him. But Ashy-boy is preventing him from doing so," explained Gary and they all understood.
They watched as several more attempts were made by the black and blue pokémon. Each time before he could land a strike from nowhere, Ash would counter each attempt. After the last attempt was stopped, both Lucario and Ash back flipped away from each other. They finished their acrobatic display by landing on their feet with a respectable distance between them.
"Good Master. You have remembered our training well," praised Lucario and Ash gave a curt nod in response. "Let us practice at our full strength now."
"Full strength?" murmured the friends to each other.
Raising his eyebrows slightly, Ash asked a question. "You sure we should do that here?"
"Yes. Nobody else is around and your friends are trust worthy."
Ash nodded and turned to the others with a grin on his face. "You guys are in for a treat."
"What do you mean?" asked Brock
"You'll see soon enough."
Giving a slight nod to one another, Ash and Lucario then stood still a couple seconds. The others were confused as to why they weren't doing anything. But a few seconds later, they all gasped at what they saw happening in front of them. Both of them had a blue glowing outline appear on their bodies as their eyes glowed blue as well. Next, both of them had their aura flare out from within their bodies and they looked like blue flames dancing around them. They had summoned their aura powers to the fight now.
"Even though they're just sparring, I can't help but wonder how majestic they look," whispered Joy while some of the others nodded in agreement while the four girls agreed while thinking different things.
Wow Ash, you've really developed your Aura powers since Rota, thought an impressed May.
I've crushed on you since the beginning because of your caring ways but damn Ash; you've become so strong and sexy too! Dawn was left with her mouth hanging open, practically drooling over the sight of him.
I know you were special Ash but this takes the cake! Gazing at him in awe, Serena wondered just how did her crush become so incredible.
You never cease to surprise me Ash, even after all these years. Misty smiled as she realized she could never predict what he'll do next.
"Let's see how much you can take Master," stated Lucario, a blue glowing sphere of energy appearing in his right paw. He immediately fired it after it grew into a large blue sphere of energy, an Aura Sphere.
Before anyone could even register how quickly the attack was launched, Ash brought up a blue dome of glowing energy around him, an Aura Shield, at the last second. Colliding against it, the Aura Sphere exploded on contact. Lucario fired another Aura Sphere and that too was blocked by the Aura Shield.
"Not bad Master. Let's see how you handle rapid fire!" taunted Lucario before launching nonstop Aura Spheres at Ash.
Continuing in holding his shield, Ash advanced towards Lucario while trying to dodge some of the attacks. Though he could block them with his Aura Shield, each one blocked would drain him of energy. So he maneuvered around the field in a haphazard fashion so his pokemon wouldn't get an easy clear shot. After displaying some impressive acrobatic skills, he drew close enough to Lucario and a small blue sphere was seen materializing in one of Ash's hands. "I hope you're hungry Lucario!" jested Ash as he launched his own Aura Sphere at the pokémon from point blank range.
Lucario's eyes widened in shock at the close range attack that was aimed for his head and it almost struck him. But the aura pokémon was able to put up a shield of his own at the last second. The ball of glowing blue aura energy exploded against his shield. Right afterwards, Lucario vanished from sight as Ash was preparing another attack.
Ash stopped and took up his defensive position again. He sensed where Lucario would be with ease thanks to his Aura Senses and readied another Aura Sphere. As soon as Lucario appeared, Ash spun to face him and launched the sphere without hesitation. The sudden attack made Lucario bring out his own shield again in order to block it. This continued on for a bit until Ash blocked one final Aura Sphere from Lucario.
After that, Lucario vanished from sight again and reappeared instantly across the field in front of Ash. "Well done Master. You have mastered the basics and kept your skills sharp. Let us finish this sparring session with a bang. Let's try the new technique we've been working on for the past couple months."
"Those were only the basics?!" repeated Gary, completely dumbfounded.
"New technique?" asked Richie to no one in particular but no one else said anything as they continued watching as Ash and Lucario.
Getting ready to show off the new technique that they were working on, Ash and Lucario got into the same stance. Bringing both hands together back to their right side while moving their left foot forward to stabilize their position, they started concentrating. A small ball of glowing blue aura energy appeared in the middle of their hands and grew larger. Once it reached the size of a small ball, they both launched their attacks, streams of blue colored aura energy trailing behind them as it traveled. The beams of aura energy collided and a power struggle ensued soon after with neither one giving up.
"They're even in power!" shouted Richie after a moment of witnessing the power.
They all wondered who would prevail and hoped it would be their friend. The four girls especially wanted their crush to win so much that they shouted words of encouragement together all of a sudden; "You can do it Ash!"
Hearing them, Ash's aura flared out more for a split second, but that's all it took. His aura beam pushed Lucario's back a bit before causing an explosion, resulting in a small smoke cloud to hover around the sparring partners for a few seconds before clearing out. It revealed Ash and Lucario taking deep breaths but other than that, they were fine.
Lucario recovered quicker and nodded at his trainer. "Good job Master."
Smiling at his pokemon, Ash nodded. "Thanks and you're not bad yourself Lucario." Heading back to where his clothes were, he began getting dressed. Putting on his socks and shoes first, he picked up his shirt and started walking back to his friends as he put it on. He came to a stop in front of his friends and asked them what they thought. All he got for an answer was silence. Chuckling, Ash then turned to face the girls. "By the way, thanks for the help girls."
"Help?" repeated Serena, noticeable confusion on her face.
"For what?" asked Misty, tilting her head.
"We didn't do anything," added May.
"You sure you alright?" asked Dawn.
Ash chuckled again, shaking his head. "No, no, I'm good. And you did help. Your words encouraged me, gave me a little boost. So thank you."
"Oh," responded Misty, May, Dawn and Serena together while their cheeks reddened slightly over the look he was giving them.
"Really? Their words gave him a boost? How does that work?" asked Iris.
Lucario decided to explain so that they understood. "That is true Lady Iris. An Aura Guardian can manipulate and use the Aura around him. But they can also draw strength from those who believe in them. Their words did more than just encourage, just so you know."
"Ah, okay, I understand. Thanks for explaining it to us Lucario."
"It is my pleasure," replied Lucario as he did a short bow. "My Master's friends are his trust worthy allies and I know you will guard this information with utmost care."
Hearing him say that made them feel good about how they were trusted. And they all voiced how they wouldn't tell anyone anything about Ash's aura abilities. Everyone believed that the less people that knew about his aura, the better.
"Hey, what was that last attack Ash?" asked May after they made their promise.
"That was an Aura Beam," answered Ash, pausing so he could crack his neck before elaborating. "It's one of the advanced techniques and one of the most powerful attacks an Aura Guardian can use. It's hard to learn and requires using a lot of aura but the payoff is worth it when you can master it. Lucario and I have been working on it for the past few months now," explained Ash. They understood and were impressed that Ash could use such an awesome move.
Glancing at her watch, Joy's eyes widened. "Oh shoot, I gotta get back to work." Looking up from her watch, she saw the concerned looks on her friend. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll catch up with you all later when I get off," said Joy as she took a few steps away from them while waving bye.
"I'll walk you back if you'd like the company," offered Richie and Joy accepted it.
"So, another couple in the works, eh?" pondered Gary out loud with a suggestive look while pointing at the two walking away from them as they headed towards the hotel together.
"Seriously Gary? You're such a kid." Iris shook her head and walked towards the hotel with Cilan walking beside her.
"Whatever short stuff," huffed Gary as he followed them. Glancing at one another with a few even shrugging and chuckling, Ash, Lucario, May, Misty, Serena, Dawn, Max and Brock followed after the pokémon researcher back to their hotel suite.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Once they arrived back at their suite, Ash excused himself from the others and hopped in the shower. Lucario and Gardevoir headed to the balcony together so they could have some time together. Pikachu jumped onto the couch and curled up to take a nap. After Ash showered and dressed, he left his room and found everyone in the living room, sitting on the couches and talking while the TV was on. Catching the attention of the girls, Ash mouthed the word 'now' and they nodded.
Moving to stand in front of the TV, Ash got everyone's attention. "Hey guys, there's something I need to tell you," said Ash as he picked up the TV remote and turned it off before placing the remote back down onto the coffee table.
"Sure thing big guy. What's on your mind?" asked Brock, as he gave his brother in all but blood his attention.
"Well, I don't know exactly how to say this since it's something that's so new to me. But…well…" Ash scratched the back of his head, a clear sign that he was either confused or nervous, and in this case, it was both.
"Spit it out already," shot Gary, becoming impatient and was promptly smacked upside the head by Iris for being so rude.
"Alright, geez," said Ash, letting out a sigh. "Well, it's something that's really important and doesn't involve only me, so I shouldn't be saying it alone since it regards a few others that you all know. So with that said…" Ash glanced at the four girls. Understanding him, they rose up from their seats and joined the raven haired trainer with two standing on either side of him while facing the others still seated.
The five of them received questioning looks from their friends and Ash decided to just rip the band aid right there. "It's about the five of us. Basically, I like each of them and they each like me," said Ash bluntly. As soon as he said that, the ones on the couches gave him and the girls looks that they were kind of expecting, which were shocked expressions consisting of wide eyes and dropped jaws.
Becoming embarrassed, he and the girls reddened at that but Ash took advantage of the silence and continued. "We figured out about our feelings for each other when we talked last night together in my room. Since this is such an unusual circumstance, we decided the best way to figure out if each of us really wants this is to spend some time together," he revealed and those words seemed to snap their friends out of their stunned states
"Wait a minute," said Brock, finally regaining his senses. "Are you saying you five are gonna be in a relationship together?"
"No, not exactly," said Misty, making them all turn to her and her blush deepened. "What Ash is trying to say is that he and one of us girls will be in a relationship for a day to try it out between us."
"Since he can't pick one of us…" started Serena, drawing the attention onto her now. Becoming embarrassed over their incredulous looks, she kept going. "…and none of us want to let him go again, we decided he should take each of us out on a date and treat us as his girlfriend the whole day during our turn."
"So basically Ash is going to go on a date with each of you to see if he really does like you?" asked Iris to make sure she understood and the others wanted verification as well.
"Yeah basically," answered May as she took center stage. "That'll let us find out if we still want to be with him as well. We decided the only way to be fair and to see if what we want is really what we want, we need to try it out for a bit and see if it feels right."
"So that's why we're telling you what we planned," stated Dawn, making sure they were paying attention before continuing. "We don't want you guys to get all surprised or confused and think Ash is cheating on one of us with another one of us. That made sense right? Yea it did," said Dawn before beaming at them all.
The rest stared at them for a moment, trying to process what just happened. Suddenly Gary burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Ashy-boy, you're way over your head! You're so screwed! The girls are gonna eat you alive! HahahaGAH!" Gary was sent crashing to the floor face first.
Misty had walloped Gary with her mallet, earning herself a thanks from Ash while Iris starting laughing. "Haha! You never know when to shut up, Oak," teased Iris while Gary groaned as he slowly picked himself up off the floor.
"Hey Gary, maybe you should stay on the floor. You were a nice throw rug. You matched with the furniture," joked Ash.
Everyone laughed at the joke and Gary chuckled. "Touché. I'll give you that one asshole just cause I know I match with everything."
A collection of eye rolls and head shakes were made by many in the group and once done, the purple haired girl spoke up. "So when does this boyfriend, girlfriend dating thing start?" asked Iris.
"Tomorrow. We wanted to let you know first. The girls will let me know by the end of tonight who's first so we are ready," answered Ash.
"Okay. Well thanks for letting us know what the situation is. Very mature of you five," remarked Cilan before smiling widely. "I feel as if this will bring a very interesting and spicy flavor to the group."
Iris elbowed him again. "Don't you ever stop that?" she asked in annoyance.
"I am a connoisseur, am I not?" asked Cilan as he turned to face her. "How can I stop being me?" His question made Iris puff out her cheeks, making their friends laugh and chuckle.
Once that was done, they all hung out for a little while longer. After talking amongst each other a little they soon separated to do their own things. Ash went to his room to meditate for a bit before his second match with Lucario, Gardevoir and Pikachu joining him. All of the girls headed to one of the rooms to talk and so Iris can find out more details about what really happened between the four girls and Ash from last night. While they did that, Max and Richie began a game of Battleship. Brock went outside onto the balcony to call someone in private since he closed the door. Cilan also was on his phone since his brothers called him and he ended up heading towards his room to talk to them.
Left on his own, Gary practically spread out on one of the couches and started scrolling through a list of articles about the tournament on his tablet. One particular article caught his eye since it was about the favorites for the tournament. Selecting it, he quickly read through it and certain names popped out at him. Once he finished reading the article, he lowered the tablet and thought about some things. It's gonna be one heck of a tournament, thought Gary with a big grin on his face. We got Paul, Trip, Tobias, Richie, Ash and a couple that I don't know about but the article said that they'd be tough to beat. And we have Ash dating the four girls? His grin turned into a large smirk. I hope you're prepared Ashy-boy. You'll find out how hard dating is. He chuckled to himself. Well, at least I know I won't be bored for the next couple of weeks with. With his grin still on his face, Gary raised the tablet and read through some more article for the moment.