The Blue Spirit

by silentplayermc03

A vision has been seen by Arceus; a world covered in darkness, corrupting both humans & pokemon alike but it also showed two heroes fighting against it. Plans are formed, old & new friends meet, relationships are made, emotions run high, secrets are revealed & an inevitable world war engulfs them all against the darkness…

44. Chapter 43 - The Princess and Her Knight

THE BLUE SPIRIT

CHAPTER 43 – THE PRINCESS AND HER KNIGHT

A red haired girl was sound asleep in her bed not seeing any dreams at the moment. She wasn't alone though since a round pink egg pokemon along with a tall blue frog pokemon were in her room, each in a different corner. The pink .egg pokemon, Blissey, was resting while the bipedal frog, Greninja, was wide awake, standing with his arms crossed. Not once did he move his gaze from the girl or fall asleep. He had given his word and he would keep it. His discipline and honor was second to none, though equal with his comrade Lucario. He was thinking about how unfortunate this poor girl was, having to go through such terrible experiences. He wanted to help her in some way, his trainer's personality having rubbed off on him, as well as on all of his other comrades in arms. But he had no idea how to help her except by following his trainer's orders.

Natasha's sudden whimpering made his eyes widen and the second he took a step towards her, she began to toss and turn. In the process, she hit the ice flower on the bed side dresser and it went flying into a nearby wall and shattered. Greninja shot to her and Blissey woke up from the sound of the ice flower breaking, immediately going to the red head to help out. But neither knew what to do. Should they wake her up or let her go through it herself until she wakes up? Their choice was made for them when she stopped and her eye opened, to reveal it filled with fear, her whimpering continuing as tears fell. Greninja attempted to calm her by gently holding her hand but she withdrew from him. Even Blissey's attempt was rejected and both pokémon's expressions turned sullen. They glanced at one another and the taller of the two quickly left the room to go get the one who could help her.

The sun was shining through the balcony curtains, hitting a brunette girl in the face. She grumbled a bit and moved her head to get the shine out of her face but was unsuccessful. She opened her eyes, squinting a bit from the sun's rays. She was about to get up and stretch but felt something weighing her down. She moved her sight to it and found an arm wrapped around her, its hand interlocked with hers and on her chest, though over her red night gown. That was when she remembered that she was in bed with her love and they had cuddled together before falling asleep. A happy smile spread on her face as she looked behind her and gazed at his face, watching him sleep peacefully. She had been patient for so long while her 'sisters' had their turn but now it was her time. That was when she remembered what one of them said last night who just joined the group; that she would be waking them up early. Seeing how she hadn't done that yet, she decided to beat her to the punch and wake him up herself. But she also wanted to have a little fun while she was at it.

A wicked grin appeared on her face as she felt his body against hers. She began moving her lower body, grinding against him. She could feel his reaction, something beginning to grow and press against her rear. It turned her on and she started moving faster and with more pronounced movement, causing him to let out a groan but was still asleep. She became enflamed, wanting more and to experience some of the pleasure herself. So she moved his hand onto her breast and made him squeeze it, making her moan as a result. She felt movement from him and the moment she turned her head, she felt a pair of lips on hers. They kissed for a moment before separating, blue and brown eyes finding one another.

"Talk about a wakeup call," whispered Ash and May smirked.

"I wanted to beat Leaf to the punch," confessed May. "But with a twist." Ash grinned, saying he doesn't mind at all and kissed her again. They were about to get into it again when the door was swung open abruptly, catching both of them off guard, making them yelp and draw up the covers over them instinctually.

"What the hell Greninja?!" asked Ash in alarm, seeing who barged in but then saw the worried look on his pokémon's face and understood. "Is it Natasha?" he asked and May became concerned as well. His pokemon nodded and the raven haired guardian turned to the brunette. "May, I..."

"I'm coming with you," she said and he nodded, not even attempting to argue. They got up, quickly changed their clothes, with May borrowing some of Ash's and went with the water starter to Natasha. They entered her room and saw her wide awake and crying. The moment she saw Ash, she tried to extend her hand to him but couldn't. The raven haired guardian hurried to her and grasped her hand, sitting beside her. May went around and sat on the other side of the bed.

"It's alright Natasha. I'm here," whispered Ash, holding her hand. Her crying intensified and that made Ash take her gently into a hug. She slid her arm around him as much as she could and cried into his chest. She had seen another nightmare about the Skull Brothers and what they did to her. Both of them felt horrible seeing her in such a state. After some time of letting it out, she slowly started to calm down as she started gaining a feeling of comfort and a sense of security from her embrace with her savoir. "There you go Natasha. You're safe here. I won't let anyone or anything hurt you ever again." Natasha sniffed in response, tightening her grip on him. May smiled a bit and nodded at Ash when he glanced at her. She wasn't angry or jealous. She knew that this poor girl needed support and the only person that can give it to her is Ash right now. "Hey, I want to introduce you to someone Natasha. This is May Maple and she is my girlfriend," he told her. She slowly turned her gaze to the brunette while still in his embrace. May gave her a gentle smile and a nod of her head. "She's going to come with us and my mom when we take you to the hospital. And we're going to go in just a little bit. Okay?" She didn't react but kept looking at May, who was starting to feel a little embarrassed from the attention. She was used to it in her coordinating but not this way; it was a blank look. Ash turned to his pokémon. "Blissey, can you get my mom please?" Blissey gave a cry of her name before leaving the room. He then turned to Greninja. "Thank you for your service buddy. Take a good rest." He returned the blue frog after he gave him a curt nod. "I'm going to go write a note for the others so could you watch over her for a bit May?" he asked and she replied saying it was no problem. "Thanks. I'll be right back Natasha." He lowered her back onto the bed and she surprisingly didn't make much fuss over him leaving. Ash was glad when he noticed that. He left the room to write the note for the others.

May was looking at Natasha, seeing the way she was looking at him as he left the room. She smiled, understanding the how and why. "Hey there," she said softly, catching the attention of the red head who turned her gaze to her, slightly fearful now since she didn't know her and was alone with her. "No need to be afraid of me or anyone here. Ash only surrounds himself with people he can trust and people who would do anything for him, as he would for them. And I just wanted to let you know that I'm so sorry for what you've been through. Even if it takes time for you to open up to us, we're here for you. So please, don't be afraid of us at least," she said softly.

Natasha listened to her words and thought about what she said. She seems nice but is she being genuine? He did say that she's his girlfriend. I just hope she doesn't turn out to be a back stabbing bitch like all the whores back at base. But, then again, would he choose someone like that to be his girlfriend? After what I've seen him do in the news and what he did for me? Natasha studied May a little bit and looked into her eyes, trying to find some sort of hidden agenda in them. May gave her a warm smile, commenting that if she needs something to let her know. I can't find anything. Is she for real? I guess she is. Why else would he pick her?

The door opened a moment later and both Ash and Delia entered with Blissey right behind them, making Natasha and May look at them. "Thanks for everything Blissey. You should take a rest." The pink helpful pokémon smiled before she was returned and Ash turned to Natasha. "Time to go. Are you ready?" he asked her and she nodded. She felt with him that she would be able to go through with the hospital process. Delia lowered the covers and both her and May helped her sit up and assisted her in standing up. She tried to take a step forward but almost immediately pain shot up her legs. She stumbled and almost fell to the ground but Ash caught her in the air. She was breathing hard, trying to overcome the pain and stand up but couldn't when she tried again. She whimpered and shook her head. Instantly Ash took her up into his arms, carrying her in his arms. "Let me," he told her and she grasped his shirt tightly, her eye closed as she felt so ashamed and worthless that she couldn't even stand. "We're going to teleport," he said to the red head and she barely responded by slightly nodding her head. He glanced at May and Delia before the four of them teleported to the hospital.

A while after the four of them left, one from the group woke up and entered the kitchen dressed in their pajamas. The woman took out a teapot, poured some water into it and then placed it on the stove before turning on the gas. She adjusted the level to about half strength for the fire and then leaned against the kitchen counter. She was about to think of what to make for breakfast when she spotted a folded piece of paper propped up on the island in the kitchen. She took it and saw it said 'Everyone' on the outside flap. She opened it and read what was written inside. "Bless that man," commented the woman with a smile after finishing her reading. She thought about what was written in the note when suddenly her eyes widened. "Shit. If May's with him so early then that means she spent the night with him. Norman's going to have a fit," she said out loud to herself.

"Why am I going to have a fit?" Caroline's stomach churned, slapping herself mentally for saying that out loud. She thought she had left her husband sound asleep in bed but looks like he had woken up as well. Before she could respond, the letter was taken from her hands without protest. She faced her husband as Norman read it. When he finished he looked at his wife. "Why would I be upset about this? If anything, this is quite chivalrous of him, no?" he asked her.

Caroline's eyes widened in astonishment. She wasn't expecting him to say that. "Yea, I guess you're right."

Norman chuckled. "Really? You guess you're right? Weren't you the one who wouldn't stop talking about how great a man Ash is to annoy me?" he asked her laughing a bit, making Caroline chuckle weakly. "I swear woman. Sometimes I think you just do things to annoy and tease me on purpose. But that's one of the things that I love so..." He trailed off, not finishing his sentence because the wheels in his head started turning. He looked back at the note. Then at the digital clock on the stove. Then at his wife Caroline who tried to display a neutral expression but couldn't. His eyes went to the note again. Then his wife. Note. Wife. Note. Wife. "Son of a bitch!" he rapidly said suddenly, making Caroline jump. "May spent the night with him didn't she?!" he asked her.

Caroline quickly took control to keep him from exploding again. "Now, Norman, just because she did doesn't mean they did anything. And if they did, they're of age. And they are in love. We can't really stop that. And I thought you said you'd be supportive of them?" she asked him.

"I AM!" he retorted back loudly, making Caroline jump again, startled but also became a little angry herself with his outburst. He noticed her angry expression and changed his tone. "I am Caroline. It's just…" He let out a long sigh to calm down before continuing. "May's my baby. Max is younger but he's a boy and soon will be a man. I don't have to worry about him too much." Caroline narrowed her eyes at him and scowled. Norman waved his hands in front of him quickly and explained. "You know what I mean Caroline! With males, it's different. Females are the ones who get DNA shot up into them, making them change and become pregnant! It's like a part of another person that becomes a part of them for the rest of their lives whether they become pregnant or not!" Caroline relaxed her expression a bit and Norman felt it was safe to continue. "Max is our son and has to be careful too but he's still a guy. With May…she's my first born and my daughter. She'll always be my baby. I remember when I would hold her in my arms. I remember when I had to tell that green haired piece of shit Drew-what's-his-face to stay away from May because she told us how he's bothering her all the time." Caroline nodded at that, remembering how May was both disgusted and slightly afraid of that particular person because of his constant advances after traveling with him some. "Even though she loves Ash and he loves her, I don't want her to move too fast. I'm supportive of her decisions but I don't want her to act rashly and impulsively. And I want them to wait till they're married," admitted Norman.

Caroline had an understanding look form on her face. "I know honey. But this isn't like the old days anymore. Many don't wait until they're married." Norman sagged his shoulders and hung his head. Caroline hugged him with him returning it and continued speaking. "I know that you're old fashioned. That's a good thing and I love that about you. And you know so am I. Though a little bit more open than you are though," she teased him as they separated and Norman smiled a bit. "But you know that you don't have to worry about May getting hurt by Ash. He saved her so many times, helped her find her calling, encouraged her. He did so much for her and for the other girls. He loves them and they love him. He attacked Palkia for Arceus's sake when the Lord of Space threatened his loved ones for crying out loud!" Norman's eyes widened and let out a gasp. He had forgotten about that. "If there's anyone who's worthy of our daughter…worthy of the other girls…worthy of having multiple girlfriends and so many good friends…worthy of our support and trust…it's the man that May has fallen in love with so many years ago and is with him right now; Ash Ketchum," finished Caroline while looking into her husband's eyes.

Norman was quiet for a moment, thinking about everything that his wife said. She was right. Ash is the only man good enough for his daughter because of who he is and what he's done for others and for their daughter. "You're right Caroline. Everything you said is true. But…I just can't help it. Maybe I've forgotten what it's like to be a young adult who's in love," he admitted.

Caroline nodded in agreement. "I know honey. But I do remember how we waited till we were married. How others waited that we knew of as well. I remember how special and intimate the joining of bodies and souls was meant to be. How kissing was all that we did and was considered to be alright. Now it's just backwards," she sighed, shaking her head. "Kissing is now thought of being intimate but the joining of two bodies and souls as one is considered to just be an itch to be scratched every now and then. I don't like it either. Society is really crumbling."

Norman scoffed. "You can say that again," he told her.

Caroline chuckled and smiled afterwards. "But the good news is that May and Ash…their situation is different. They've had feelings for each other for years and would do anything for each other. You and I both know they will never separate. With that in mind, I think it's alright for them if and when they take the next step, even without being married right now."

Norman took in a long breath before letting it out. "I hope so Caroline. I hope so," he said.

Caroline grasped his hand, getting an idea to cheer him up. "C'mon. Let's not think about that right now. Tea won't be ready for a bit and I still don't know what I want to make for breakfast. That gives us some time," she told him with a sly look.

Norman's face lit up and he smirked back at her. "You've never been this active before. You trying to have another kid?" he asked her.

Caroline just grinned. "Maybe it's all this lovey dovey stuff in the air with all the young couples around us that's getting me into the mood more often. And would that be so bad if we had another kid?" she asked him.

"No. But I don't know if I can keep my sanity if we had another girl," admitted Norman with a laugh. Caroline just shook her head while chuckling as she led her husband back to their bedroom.

While Mr. and Mrs. Maple went at it in the privacy of their own bedroom, a young teenage boy was staring at the ceiling while lying in bed in his own room shared with a couple others who were still asleep. His glasses were on and his hands were behind his head. He was thinking about what he saw his idol and friend do yesterday. How he killed that horrible man in front of him like it was nothing. How he had an army of pokémon with him. How his powers were so strong as an Aura Guardian that it even made Riley become concerned and how the world itself seemed to tremble when he unleashed it. He felt goose bumps on him and a slight shiver go down his spine. "Am I scared of Ash?" he asked himself quietly after that feeling passed. He thought of why he felt the shiver until he realized the reason for it. "No. I'm not scared of him. I'm scared of what he has to do because of what's coming," he told himself. He thought of Ash and his burdens and how he's been doing his absolute best to become strong so he can protect everyone he loves and cares about. That made his respect and admiration for his idol grow.

His thoughts about that made him eventually think about what his sister said last night. That she doesn't care if her family didn't approve when they reveal that both Cynthia and Leaf are accepted into the group of Ash's girlfriends. Max remembered how he was so in shock that he couldn't even comment on it at all. He couldn't believe it. Not only had his idol won several girls' hearts, including his sister's, but also that of the Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia Shirona. It was rumored that she couldn't be won over. But Ash did somehow. "Luckiest guy I swear." He chuckled a bit, thinking about how Ash had several incredible girls to be his girlfriends and how his sister was one of them. He thought of how May had a crush on Ash from practically the very first time they met. She would never miss a chance to speak about him every chance she got when they separated after their travels together throughout Hoenn. It did get rather annoying sometimes, which he called her out on and teased her for it by saying that he and everyone else knows how much she's in love with him. And that would cost him a smack or punch against the back of his head every time.

He didn't mind that though since he knew that her hitting him was just proof that he was right that his sister May loved his idol Ash. He also knew that Ash had traveled before with other people and other girls as well. He thought of his memories and what he saw Ash do in them. He even thought about all the things he saw him do with his own eyes to help and protect others. He always saw Ash as a caring person. Someone who would do right no matter what and would always be there for his friends and family. Even with him getting angry or losing it sometimes, you could still count on him when shit hits the fan. And how he was so good with pokémon; taking care of them and battling with them. That's what made him his idol at first. He also knew that Ash would do anything and everything for May and the other girls Misty, Dawn, Serena, Leaf and Cynthia. He was actually happy that he and her are together. He could think of no one better for his sister and doubted there would ever be one. "Good thing Ash isn't so blind around girls anymore," he said out loud but quietly so as to not wake up his roommates. "I think May would have killed him by now for not noticing," he joked darkly, chuckling.

That made him remember how he used to be oblivious as well around the opposite gender. How he would think girls are weird and icky. But after starting his own pokémon journey and traveling around some, he met a few girls who he considered good friends and even developed a small crush on one of them after growing up some. But that was extinguished when he found out she was in love with someone else and wouldn't ever be seen as more than just a friend to her. He became a little depressed, thinking about his first crush that didn't end well until a certain blonde girl's face appeared in his mind, making him smile. "Bonnie," he said in a whisper towards the ceiling and his smile grew wider. Sure, she was a couple years younger than him. He's fifteen and she's thirteen. But they were both still in the teens. And he was surprised how easy it was to be around her. How they had so much in common. He felt like he was alive when he was around her. He wanted to do things for her and show her how much he cared about her. And she wasn't afraid to show that she liked him back. Hugging him, hanging out with him, doing things together and their very first kiss in the arcade. Thinking about all that made him realize something suddenly. "Is this what…May was feeling all the time for Ash?" he asked himself another question again. He shook his head slightly, letting out another chuckle. "Damn. I know now why you acted that way sis over Ash in the past. Cause I feel the same way for Bonnie and want to do everything I can for her. And don't worry sis. Even though I doubt they'll do so, I got your back if mom and dad try to break you and Ash apart." He swore to Arceus that he wouldn't let his parents break up his sister and his idol no matter what. After that promise, he started thinking more about Bonnie until his bedroom door was opened and he was told to get up for breakfast a good while later by his mother.

Three blue glows appeared in the lobby of the Indigo Hospital, startling several nurses and patients. As soon as Ash, May, Natasha and Delia appeared, the brunette immediately got hold of a nurse and told her of what they needed. The nurse quickly checked them in and led them to any empty room. Ash lowered Natasha onto the bed and Delia drew up the cover over her while the nurse turned on the equipment. She turned around after that and rummaged through some supplies in a cupboard. She took out an IV bag and a needle. She drew closer to the red head, whose eye widened at the sight of the needle. She felt ghost pains of being cut and saw them laughing again at her in her mind's eye. The raven haired guardian sensed her fear spiking. He grasped her hand and talked to her, telling her it's alright. She looked into his eyes, which was locked onto hers. She moved her arm a little out towards the nurse who understood the gesture. The nurse drew closer, grasped her arm, tapped on it a bit to make the vein more visible and put the needle into her visible vein. The red head kept her gaze on Ash, wincing a bit at the split second sting she felt from the nurse's action.

"I'm proud of you Natasha. Good job," he told her softly, and she tightened her grip on his hand in appreciation over the praise. It may have been pathetic and pitiful for her to like hearing him praise her for something like that, but right now, she'd take whatever she could get.

"That's all I can do for the moment. I'm going to get one of our top doctors," the nurse told them after attaching a sensor to her finger to display her heart rate on the monitor and the three thanked her before she left. Ash told them he was going to go use the restroom and be right back. As the three females stayed in the room, Delia and May tried to have Natasha talk with them or react in some way back to them but weren't very successful. The red head was keeping her gaze on the door, waiting for him to return. They decided to leave her alone for the time being and had some small talk until the door opened. It wasn't Ash but the nurse along with a doctor.

"Good morning, I'm Doctor Ned Wilson," introduced the doctor as he drew closer to his patient on the bed. "My lord, what happened to her face?" he asked, seeing the rough state the red head was in. "She looks like someone used her for a punching bag," he commented.

Delia and May scowled at him at his lack of tact and Natasha felt humiliated. Why did my doctor have to be such an asshole?!

"Look here, if you're just going to talk without helping, you might as well leave and we'll have another doctor help us," shot Delia. Natasha glanced at her, agreeing whole heartedly and thanking the kind mother in her head before returning her gaze back to the doctor.

"I'm sorry but you should relax Ms. I was merely caught off guard," replied back Wilson. Delia's nostrils flared in annoyance but didn't comment back. "Now, what happened to her?"

"What do you think?" asked May heatedly. "She was beaten and raped for the sheer amusement of others and we brought her here to get treated! So get to it!" Her explanation of what happened shocked the doctor and his nurse.

You didn't have to tell them…but then again, I guess they have to know, thought Natasha, but was feeling humiliated a bit.

"Beaten and raped?" he asked, his eyes wide. "What is the world coming to?" he asked to no one in particular, shaking his head. "Nurse, get some x-rays ordered, an MRI and get the rape kit. On the double." The nurse left the room to schedule the procedures as he hovered over, peering at her wounds, noticing that her nose was broken but it looked like it could be fixed without surgery. "Who did this to her?" he asked.

Do you really have to be so close to me?! The red head was feeling uneasy and uncomfortable with him leaning over her and being so close to her. She was reminded of the Skull Brothers looming over her as they violated and abused her. She felt like she was going to be attacked and her heart started beating faster, which showed on the monitor. "It's normal for rape victims to be scared," remarked the doctor without emotion when Delia and May pointed it out. Both mother and girlfriend didn't like the doctor and neither did Natasha. Even though he was here to help, she didn't like his vibe and didn't like him at all. She doubted she could ever like let alone trust any man in the world ever again either because of what she's been through. She wanted her savior to come back immediately, knowing he'll protect her. That's when she realized that perhaps there may be one man who she could actually trust…

"It doesn't matter who as they've been served justice. So will she be alright? Can you help her?" asked Delia.

"Of course I can help," replied the doctor, becoming offended a bit as he continued looking over her. "The swelling around her eye will go away on its own and I believe her nose isn't broken to the point of needing surgery. We can snap the bones back into place and have a nose guard placed over it for a couple weeks at least. I will have to wait on the x-rays to confirm that but I'm pretty sure about it. Also, the x-rays, the MRI and rape kit results will let me know what else needs to be done regarding anything else." Right when he finished, the nurse came into the room along with Ash.

The second Natasha saw him, she calmed down, knowing he would make sure she didn't get hurt. Her heart rate even relaxed, the beeping on the monitor slowing down. The others in the room glanced at it before the doctor commented it's normal again. Delia however, wasn't so sure, having noticed how she changes with her son around her. She may have gotten her first real indication that Natasha truly does feel comfortable and safe with her son around. This could also be a clue to how the red head feels about him too and how she may actually fall for her son. If that's true, add another one into the group, thought Delia, chuckling inside her mind while keeping a straight face.

Ash introduced himself to the doctor who mumbled out a hurried greeting in return. He took the rape kit from his nurse and placed it on the nearby table. He washed his hands with soap and had his nurse put on some hospital gloves before turning to back to them. "I'm going to have to ask you all to leave while I administer the tests from the rape kit."

Hearing that they had to leave her while this unknown man, even though he was a doctor, performed tests on her, touch her, made Natasha become scared and she looked at Ash. The monitor showed her heart start to beat faster. NO! Please don't leave!

Ash turned his attention to her, sensing she was looking at him and her aura had become filled with fear. He also noticed the increased beating the machine picked up and went to her and spoke softly. "Hey, it's alright. You said you trust me right? He's going to help." Her eye was focusing onto his and was trying to communicate with him, opening her mouth to speak but no sound came out. She attempted to convey her desire with her facial expressions while talking in her head.

Please don't leave me! I don't want to be alone! I don't want him to touch me! I don't care that he's a doctor! Please don't let him touch me! Please don't leave me!

Ash turned towards the wall to his side with a confused look, making them all look at him. He could've sworn he heard someone talk as he heard a couple words. What the hell? He glanced at the other four in the room besides Natasha. "Did you guys hear that?" He asked them and they shook their heads, concerned. "I could've sworn I heard someone say 'alone' and 'don't care'..."

Natasha's eye widened after hearing him say that. He had heard her thoughts. But how? He wasn't a psychic as far as what she knew about him and there was no evidence or stories about Aura Guardians being able to read minds. But maybe he can and maybe she can make him hear her again. Please hear me again! Don't leave me! Please! Don't let him touch me!

"I'm sorry but none of us heard anything Ash," said May with concern.

"I guess I'm just imagining things," he sighed. He looked at the red head and gave a kind smile to her. "We'll be waiting right outside the door alright? You'll be safe and he won't hurt you." Wilson glanced at the young man, about to say that the process may actually hurt but stopped himself in time. He didn't want to drag this out any longer. He had plans later on that morning and wanted to finish up quickly. He glanced at the nurse and gave her the signal to get the kit ready. As the nurse got the contents in the kit ready, Natasha gave him a few whimpers while speaking in her head but he didn't catch it. Ash, after wishing her luck, headed towards the room door with his mom and May. The heart rate monitor began showing even more frantic heart beats.

No! Please don't go! Please don't leave me! They reached the door and May opened it. Please hear my thoughts again! May left the room. I don't want any man but you to touch me! Delia left the room and the doctor took a couple items into his hands and went to her side. Ash glanced back and saw the doctor about to start, moving towards her. No, stop! Please! He gave Natasha a reassuring smile before he turned around and exited the room, the door swinging shut behind him. COME BACK!

Ash froze in front of the door in the hallway. He heard it again. Someone shouted. He glanced around, confused and worried. May and Delia saw the concerned look on his face. "I heard it again," he told them and the two tilted their heads, becoming troubled over his behavior. "Someone shouted 'come back'. I heard it. I'm not crazy as I'm sure this time. It was a girl's voice and she sounded scared and…wait…" Ash focused on the voice that said it and realized that he heard it before since it was similar though it was weaker and hoarser. His eyes widened all of a sudden. "Damn it!" Ash whirled around and barged through the door, throwing it open in the process and it hit the wall startling the doctor, nurse and red head. "Get your hands off of her!" growled Ash, seeing the nurse pinning her down with the doctor attempting to forcefully give her an anesthesia shot to make her sleep. Delia and May were right behind him and both of them quickly became angered as well over what they saw, narrowing their eyes at the two.

"We're only trying to do our job. She resisted so we had to, we had no other choice!" said the doctor. "Now leave before I call security on you. I have a patient who needs me." He turned back to the red head who was giving Ash a look of betrayal that made his heart sink.

"I said get away from her!" he repeated, his voice now booming with power. The doctor and nurse glanced at him in time to see his eyes glow blue. The nurse let out a gasp, now realizing why he looked so familiar and the doctor was scared still, realizing who the young man is as well. Natasha's fear faded away and was now looking at him with awe. The doctor and nurse backed away immediately while the guardian quickly moved to be beside the red head and grasped her hand, knelling beside her bed and is eyes turned back to brown. May and Delia walked in to the base of the bed, glaring at the doctor and nurse before turning their attention back to the red head. "I'm so sorry Natasha. I just understood you. I promised I'll stay by your side and I will stay no matter what if you want me to stay while they do the tests. I just didn't want to embarrass you or anything in case you didn't want me around."

Natasha looked into his eyes and spoke in her mind again, hoping he'll hear her once more and more clearly. Please don't leave me again. I can't do this without you. No man but you can touch me. No male doctor. Please hear me. Please understand me.

"She doesn't want a male doctor. She wants a female doctor. And she doesn't want me to leave from her side. Have your best female doctor come do everything," stated Ash without even looking up from the red head.

He heard me! He heard me! Thank Arceus! Ash heard that as well and smiled at her, nodding and she felt better.

"Do I look like your servant? I'm one of the best doctors and surgeons here! You don't order me around and this is my hospital! What I say goes! And I say you need to leave and not bother us again so I can help her!" he countered back.

Ash grew angry at that and he stood up straight, locking his gaze onto the doctor. He strode towards Wilson and stood a foot away from him, his eyes glowing blue once more, scaring him. "You say you're a doctor?" he asked him and continued without waiting for him to respond. "Then shouldn't such a grand doctor like yourself respect the wishes of his patients?" Wilson stayed silent. "She wants a female doctor. Now get one to come here and have her do the tests and I'm staying with her unless she wants me out. Do that and maybe I won't file a complaint or charges for assault on you trying to force her. Got it?" he asked him and Doctor Wilson sweat dropped before saying he'll get their best female doctor to come immediately. Ash stepped aside to let him go. He glanced at the nurse still there and told her to leave as well, to have someone else come instead of her.

"I'm surprised you didn't threaten to kick his ass, Ash," stated May with an impressed look.

"I could've but doctors like him are more scared of being sued," he said and his mom and girlfriend chuckled a bit. He went back to Natasha and sat down on the bed beside her. "I'm sorry Natasha. I didn't know what you wanted. Please forgive me for not understanding you," he pleaded. The red head managed to move her hand towards him and she grasped his hand. He smiled at her, relieved that she wasn't angry with him.

"How did you know what she wanted?" asked Delia for both her and May. They wanted to know where this came from.

Ash was quiet for a moment, thinking about the possible reason why. "Remember how I mentioned Lucario say that I might be able to communicate mentally with my aura? I guess I can hear her when she tries to communicate with me. I'm going to ask him how it just happened all of a sudden. Let me try with you two. Try to talk to me mentally," he told them. Delia and May thought for a bit before both said some things in their minds towards Ash as he tried to hear their thoughts.

I'm very proud of you my son.

So when are we going to finish what we started in the morning?

Ash smiled at his mom after hearing her mental words but then started chuckling after hearing May, going a bit red. "Thanks mom and later today May. I have big plans for us." Delia smiled and May went red while smiling sheepishly. Natasha was looking at Ash in wonder.

He can even hear them too. Is it always or just when he's focusing? When Ash continued talking with Delia and May, oblivious of her thoughts, she got her answer. It looked like he could only communicate mentally with someone when focusing on them. A moment later, the door opened and a female doctor that seemed to be around Delia's age, perhaps a bit older, stepped inside with a nurse who was a few years younger than the doctor.

"Hello. You must be the Aura Guardian Ash Ketchum. You gave Doctor Wilson quite a fright." She and her nurse smiled while Ash rubbed the back of his head. "My name is Lilit Swanson. This is my good friend and one of the best nurses here, Adrine Johansen." She introduced themselves to them and shook each person's hands. Ash sensed she was being genuine and was glad that she was here. He could tell that Natasha was feeling better about who her doctor now was as he didn't sense any major disturbances in her aura. She was still afraid but not overly so.

"Thank you for taking over for Doctor Wilson. Natasha didn't want a male doctor and he had a hard time hearing that," said Delia after introducing herself and May.

Lilit nodded before brushing it off. "No worries. He may be arrogant and annoying but he's also one of the best in the world. That doesn't excuse him for his behavior though. A doctor must always respect his or her patients' wishes. Now, he gave me a quick rundown about what happened and what we're doing. I'm sorry to hear that Ms...I'm sorry, there's no last name here," she remarked, looking over the paperwork. "Can you tell me?"

Ash glanced at Natasha who had turned her gaze back at him. "Her last name is Dobrev," he said.

"Okay thank you. Now, when is your birthday?" she asked.

"Can't we take care of this stuff later?" asked May.

"I guess we could. But please make sure we do as it could get me in trouble later," she requested and they agreed after glancing at Natasha who slowly nodded. "So, Ms. Dobrev…my colleague gave me very little information. Can you tell me what happened and where exactly you feel pain? Besides your cuts and bruises I mean? Places where it hurts more than the others?" Natasha shook her head slowly and glanced at Ash who looked at her. It was silent for a little bit as she told him mentally where the most pain is located that she is feeling. She felt embarrassed in telling him but had no choice and she had a feeling that he wouldn't make her feel worse about it. Both doctor and nurse glanced at one another but said nothing, waiting patiently.

While she was attempting to communicate with him, Ash's eyes were locked onto hers and his brow was slightly furrowed. May couldn't help but smile at his concentrated gaze because it looked so cute to her. Delia noticed her doing that and nudged her a bit on the side. The brunette glanced at her and saw her beloved's mother smirking at her and she went red before looking away, a sheepish look on her face. Delia just kept her smile on her face as she turned to face her son again.

After a couple minutes, Ash turned to the Doctor Swanson and Nurse Johansen. "She can't speak," started Ash. "Something happened to her voice but I can communicate with her mentally somehow with my aura. She prefers to be called by her first name, Natasha. She was beaten and raped by some thugs, cutting her and bruising her all over. She has pain all over, but the greatest amount of pain is in her lower body, throat and back where they carved a word into her back. She's been traumatized and she's easily scared and is afraid right now. I'm the only one she feels comfortable with since it was me who got her out from where she was trapped," explained Ash, making them become horrified.

"Oh my Mew," commented Adrine, clapping her hands to her mouth as Lilit shook her head. "You did well Mr. Ketchum," she added after lowering them, giving him an impressed look.

"Please, just call me Ash. I'm not one for such formalities," he requested and the two medical professionals nodded. Delia and May were smiling and Natasha was awed at this humbleness.

"Alright. Well, an x-ray and MRI has been ordered. I see the rape kit is here. And I take it you're going to stay with her throughout everything?" asked Doctor Swanson to the young man.

"Yes, unless it's very personal, like if you have to undress her," he stated. "If and when it comes to that, my mom will stay with her during those times. I don't want to cause her any more embarrassment or discomfort." Ash turned to look at the red head. "Sound good to you?" he asked her. Natasha nodded and gave him an appreciative look that he thought about that for her. Even though he had already seen her in her birthday suit and she trusted him more than anyone else at the moment, she would like to keep at least some dignity, if there's any left. And she was starting to warm up to his mother after all she did for her, checking in on her and being here right now. Even though it was only a little bit, it was enough for her to not be so scared of his mother.

"Alright. Looks like everyone here is on the same page unless someone wants to add something?" asked Lilit. Nobody made a sound or movement. "Let's get to work then. Let's first check on her nose, eye, cuts and bruises then we'll do the rest."

Sometime later, back at the Indigo Hotel, many in the penthouse suite at the top floor were awake and getting ready for breakfast. A certain brunette with green eyes was feeling especially giddy. She had finally been able to fix things with the love of her life and they would soon get together and let everyone know. She smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror in the bathroom after washing up. She had just woken up. I can finally be able to leave my past behind me and walk a path towards a much better future. A future with my childhood friend who has become the man of my dreams. Her smile became larger as she thought that, putting on the blue cap onto her head. She was going to put that specific hat on everyday for the rest of her life because he had bought it for her when they were kids. Speaking of said man, it was time for her to wake him up. And she knew just exactly how to do that.

A playful grin spread on her face as she went to his room, giving the others she saw already awake with joyful greetings. They gave her amused looks, seeing her in such a happy state, knowing the reason why but didn't comment. She entered his room without knocking, wanting to see if Ash and May were up to something naughty. What she wasn't expecting was for the bedroom to be empty. She then saw the bathroom door closed. Maybe they're in the bathroom? They might be going at it in the shower like Serena did with him after she told us about their date. Hehehehe….I got you two now! She readied her Poketch to take a picture of them in the act. She opened the bathroom door and took a quick step inside, camera at the ready. She was expecting to hear noises or the shower running. She wasn't expecting for the bathroom to also be empty and nothing happening in there. "What the hell?!"

"What's wrong Leaf?" Leaf turned around to see it was Misty.

"I was going to wake up the lovebirds with a small prank but Ash and May aren't here. Do you know where they are?" she asked.

"Should've known. Some things are hard to change huh?" she asked, teasing her and Leaf laughed a bit, turning a bit red bud didn't deny it. "Ash left a note in the kitchen. He, May and Delia took Natasha to the hospital to get her checked out." Leaf relaxed, finding out everything was alright. "What were you planning on doing?" asked Misty, curious.

"Should've known. Always has to help doesn't he?" she asked rhetorically but Misty still nodded with a smile. "Well, nothing grand, just scare them or something, but they weren't in bed so I thought they'd be in the bathroom together doing something so I thought maybe take a picture but that didn't work either," admitted Leaf.

"I see. You know, I want in. I need to get Ash back for his stunt back at the lake," replied Misty .with a smirk and Leaf's eyes widened.

"You want to play a prank on Ash?" asked Leaf in disbelief.

"Who's playing a prank on Ash?" asked another girl. The two turned to see Dawn, Serena, Cynthia, Anabel and Sarah standing behind them.

"We are Anabel. Want in?" asked Leaf. The new arrivals glanced at one another before having wicked smiles form on their faces. "Looks like you are. Alright, what are we planning on doing?" she asked them. The seven girls began brainstorming together as to what they could do to prank Ash without getting him too angry over it and something that would be remembered for a long time. While they thought of their grand prank, the cooks of the group were preparing breakfast while a few others were getting the dining tables set.

"So how long do you think it'll take for them to come back?" asked Lizabeth while she put plates on the table in front of each chair. She and Shauna had woken up before even Ash and his small group went to the hospital. They went to their place, got some extra clothes and also called their work place and asked for some time off, saying there was a family emergency. They had come back a short while ago and volunteered to help set the table.

"Probably a while," answered Joy, who was placing utensils next to the plates. She requested some time off from work as well from Goodshow after what she went through. "Natasha had many injuries on her and they have to do several tests as well and each one takes some time. Hopefully there's nothing too serious and they'll be back by mid day."

"Man, I would hate being tested on all day. Hell, I can barely stand my annual checkup that lasts half an hour," commented Shauna. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, watching the others do their tasks. She had already finished her job of placing the condiments and bread on the table.

"Good thing you're not there with them. You'd probably drive them crazy and have that poor girl die from annoyance," quipped Iris, making several people snigger and her to huff out some air.

"Is the table set?" asked Johanna from the kitchen.

"Pretty much," replied Daisy Waterflower after placing some napkins around the table.

"Good. Tell everyone to come for breakfast, or should I say brunch as food's ready." They told Johanna that they would and went to get everyone else. Soon, everyone was gathered in the dining room to enjoy their meal. As they ate, they conversed in smaller groups. The parents were speaking with one another and the seven girls were whispering with each other in the corner of the table. Gary and Ilene were unnaturally silent though, having many thoughts go through their head about each other and their raven haired friend. The others were speaking with one another normally.

In the hotel room a few floors below them, three girls were busy packing while a fourth was sitting on her bed, lost in thought. Giselle and Liza were gathering their belongings and putting them in their travel bags. Sabrina was using her psychic powers to fold her clothes and pack her luggage while relaxing on her bed, leaning against the headboard.

"So lucky," whined Liza, seeing the psychic prodigy get her stuff packed neatly without lifting a finger. She looked at her own suitcase and saw her clothes were just haphazardly thrown into it.

"Don't be such a sour puss," said Sabrina with a grin, finishing up and had her luggage zip up by itself, ready to go. She was feeling ecstatic that she would be seeing a certain someone again soon.

"Okay, I gotta ask; what's up with these words you use?" asked the green haired girl. Sabrina tilted her head. "Sour puss? Wusses? You're using words that haven't been used in years. Don't you know any newer insults or the lingo that's used today? Are you that sheltered?" she asked while teasing her.

"Shut up and you know why," answered Sabrina, her eyes narrowing but went her cheeks flushed with color as well.

"Whatever Sab. Keep using that as an excuse if you want but you know you're just hiding behind it because you're afraid and don't have the guts to go out there, to try and learn new things," remarked Liza while continuing her packing.

"I'm not afraid of anything or anyone Liza!" countered Sabrina.

"Right. Is that why you hide in your home all the time and barely come visit us? Keep doing that and you'll never find a man," replied Liza as she looked at her friend with a smirk.

"Shut up! Look who's talking! As if you've ever found one while staying in your cabin in the valley all the time! And that's none of your business!" snapped Sabrina, her face reddening even more while a pink glow appearing around her.

That made Giselle look at her with fear. She heard rumors of how powerful she was, being the only human in the history of mankind to have so much psychic power that she can cause everyone, pokémon or human, within a half mile radius to have skull crushing headaches. And that was if she was feeling merciful.

Liza became embarrassed as well but also scoffed. "Whatever Sab. At least I'm not scared to go try to see if a man's worth it or not."

The dark haired psychic growled. "Oh so a few dates with some losers and now you're miss queen of the world and knows everything? And I'm not like you Liza to just let anyone get into my pants."

This time the green haired girl growled back. "Screw you Sab! You know I've never done anything with anyone! At least I have the so called 'balls' to show off what I got and go out with a guy before casting judgment! All that power you have and yet you're such a…such a…wait, what word would you use? AH! I got it! You're such a scaredy cat!" shot Liza with a triumphant smirk.

"Shut up Liza! Keep this up and I'm going to hurt you!" threatened Sabrina, levitating off her bed.

"Is that so? So why don't you come here and try to do that without your powers?" asked Liza, crossing her arms and giving her a challenging look. Sabrina glared at her and was just about to use her powers to lift her into the air…

"Can you two quit it and shut the fuck up?!" yelled out Clair abruptly, surprising the other three. Sabrina floated back down onto her bed and her glow faded away while giving her fellow gym leader a startled look, Giselle had her jaw drop and Liza was looking at her in shock. "You two never stop messing with each other every time we're together and it's driving me crazy! Nobody here gives a shit if you've been with one man, a dozen men or none at all! Life isn't about just finding a guy! And both of you are as clueless about it all just like everyone else!" She stood up on both her feet and pointed at Liza. "You talk so much shit yet you've never done anything with anyone so I wouldn't be talking!" Liza went red and Clair then pointed at Sabrina. "And you! You keep bringing up excuses all the time as to why you can't do this or that!" Sabrina's white face turned scarlet. "I've had enough of your constant bullshit about this damn topic!" Clair finished by throwing both her hands down and giving both of them a glare.

"Whoa, what's up your ass?" asked Liza, trying to shift the light away from her and Clair narrowed her eyes on her but didn't respond back. "Oh I'm sorry, you don't have something up your ass that's why you're so moody," continued Liza laughing and Clair fumed. The green haired girl was now just messing with her, knowing how to push her buttons, thinking this was just another time she annoyed the gym leader.

"Something's wrong Liza," stated Sabrina suddenly in a concerned tone of voice. She had sensed that Clair was emotional at the moment. That was something that didn't really happen to her and that worried her, which also caught Liza's attention.

"Don't you dare enter my head!" snapped Clair suddenly, catching the psychic off guard. "You have no right! And there is nothing wrong! I'm just sick and tired of you two going at it all the time over this when both of you have about as much experience as a damn teenager! Grow the fuck up!" She glared at them again before heading into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"What the hell was that about?" asked Liza, turning to Sabrina, who didn't respond as she had no idea. She wanted to know what the problem was but didn't and wouldn't enter her friends' minds without permission. She wasn't like that. Most of the time. But wouldn't ever do so when they were emotional.

"Ah, will she be alright?" asked Giselle and the two older girls looked at her before sighing.

"Yea, she should be. We just tend to piss her off a bit sometimes like this but it rarely happens. She'll cool down and be back to herself soon. I hope," explained Liza and Giselle nodded, thinking about what she just heard but Sabrina didn't comment. She was unsure even though this would happen once in a great while but something was off about her friend this time and she didn't need her powers to notice that.

But something was nagging Giselle. She really wanted to the answer to a question and she couldn't help herself after a moment. "Does she really like taking it up her ass?" asked Giselle suddenly. Liza and Sabrina stared at her with looks that clearly said 'did you just ask that?'. The black haired young girl became embarrassed as she just realized that Liza was joking. "Oh, you were kidding. Right." Giselle turned her crimson face away, hoping they would just drop it. Sabrina and Liza glanced at one another and did their absolute best to keep their laughter in to not embarrass their younger friend. Though they had such a hard time keeping it in that they just burst out laughing. Giselle felt humiliated but when Liza threw an arm around her shoulder and commented that she never laughed so hard, the academy alumni merely smiled back a bit.

Clair was looking at herself in the mirror, leaning towards it with her hands on the counter. She was ready to go before the other three, having gotten out of bed early since she couldn't sleep anymore because of her dreams and waited for them. She knew how her two friends acted with one another and it usually doesn't bother her. They would've finished up their pointless 'fight' soon too with the usual lifting up of Liza into the air but why did it unhinge her even more so than usual this time? She was confused as to why she became so angry at them all of a sudden. She hung her head, taking a deep breath and began thinking about that when an image flashed across her mind's eye, causing her to stop her thoughts and her heart to race. She shook her head, trying to get the image out but instead of it going away, it became clearer. It was of the raven haired guardian, smiling charmingly at her. She raised her head and the instant she looked into the mirror he appeared in it. His mouth moved as she heard his voice in her head; "You're mine. Now and forever."

Her lips began to quiver and her eyes watered as she realized why she was feeling so angry, so annoyed and why she had snapped at her friends. She was angry because of many things. She was angry because of the topic they were arguing about since it reminded her of her past and what she was feeling now. She didn't want to remember what she went through and she was angry at herself, for who she fell for, the reasons why and how he had captured her heart, her friends' hearts. That she now belonged to him without the others or him even knowing, how she wouldn't be able to move past it, how he would never know and how she would never be able to tell him. How her friends had feelings for him too even though they wouldn't admit it right now. And how if she ever had the courage to pursue it, that she would have to compete with her best friends for his affection. Her best friends who were there for her in her darkest hour…

That's what caused her to lash out at her friends and she felt like an asshole for that. It wasn't their fault of how she felt or what he made her feel or how he made them feel. She turned on the faucet and washed her face, cleaning up the tear marks on her cheeks before drying up with a towel. She looked herself in the mirror again, looking for any signs that may indicate she had cried a bit. She didn't find any except for her slightly puffy eyes but she could play it off as not having slept well and exited the bathroom. When she entered the room where the three where, she saw them packed and ready to go, waiting for her. They turned their gazes onto her and Clair felt embarrassed. "Look, I'm sor-"

"Shut up," interjected Liza and Clair went silent. "It's alright. Let's just forget about it." Sabrina and Giselle nodded at Clair when she looked at them and she gave them an appreciative look. "C'mon. Let's go. They probably have breakfast ready and I'm hungry," said Liza without shame. The four girls left the room, the luggage following from behind, levitating in the air thanks to the dark haired psychic.

At the Indigo Hospital, Ash and May were sitting on a bench together in the hallway right next to Natasha's room. "You think she'll be alright?"

"I'm sure she will be Ash. Your mom is in there with her and Lilit and Adrine seem like good people," assured May.

"Thank you for cheering me up my Princess." The raven haired guardian gave her an appreciative look. He slipped his hand into hers and they interlocked their fingers.

"You're welcome my Knight." She closed the barely existing gap between them and gave him a simple kiss before leaning her head against his shoulder and he leaned his head on top of hers. The two stayed like that for some time before the door next to them opened and three females stepped out. They talked a bit before two of them left and Delia turned to Ash and May. She smiled at the sight of them, making the two lift their heads and look at her. "Any good news?" asked May and Delia's smile faded away.

"And bad news," answered Delia. "Good news is Doctor Swanson and Nurse Johansen finished up the examination. The blood work, x-ray, MRI and the rape kit results should be in soon. Natasha is also resting. The bad news is they found multiple worrying things. Some of her cuts have become infected, there are tears…uh…down there and her throat seems to be damaged even worse than we thought. But they won't be sure of the extent of the damage until after the results." Ash and May both shook their heads and sighed before one of them started worrying and the other became angry.

"I should've killed those bastards the first time I saw them. I shouldn't have given them a chance. This is all my fault," said Ash, leaning forward and holding his head in his hands. He felt so awful that he had let it happen because he gave them a chance to repent but they didn't and instead tortured and violated this poor girl after he let them go. He may have prevented that from happening to Leaf and Joy, but Natasha still suffered through it. May started rubbing his back and tried to comfort him.

"It's not your fault Ash. It's alright giving people a second chance. You didn't know that they were such evil people. And it's not like you told them to do that. They did that of their own free will. You have done nothing to be guilty of and you're not responsible for what they did to Natasha or anyone else."

"She's right sweetie," added Delia as she sat on the other side of her son. "It's not your fault so don't ever think it is."

He remained quiet for a minute until he raised his head and stared ahead of him. "That may be true, but from now on things are going to be different. No more just handing out second chances. If someone wants a second chance, then they're going to have to prove that they deserve it." Both Delia and May said nothing since they agreed with him. They sat together in silence for a while until Doctor Swanson and Nurse Adrine came back. The three of them stood up. The doctor gestured for them to enter the room where Natasha is and they all entered it. The red head opened her eye when she heard footsteps. She wasn't sleeping but was resting her eye. Ash, Delia and May gathered to one side of Natasha while the doctor and nurse stood on the other side.

"We have some news," started Doctor Swanson. "Even though I have my best handling everything, it's going to take some time to get the results from the more complex tests to come in. As of now, I can't comment on those except for a few things." At this, Natasha glanced at Ash who sensed her become worried. He held her hand again to give her support and she tightened her grip on his hand so greatly that anyone else would have winced. "The good news is that the x-rays confirmed that her nose can be fixed without surgery. We can do that in just a couple minutes and she'll just need to have a nose guard on when she sleeps to keep it from moving until it heals for about two weeks at least. The other good news is that the MRI shows that even though she's been bruised badly all over, there is no permanent major harm to upper body organs or brain. She will recover from those in time and we'll give her some pain medicine for that to use when it's unbearable."

"That's good to know," said Ash as he glanced at Natasha and gave her an encouraging smile. Natasha felt a bit better, finding out she'll recover from those but she was still worried about the other things.

Thank Arceus. But what about my voice and throat? And what about…

"Yes it is," assured Lilit, cutting off Natasha's thoughts. "That's it for the good news for now I'm afraid. The bad news is we are unsure about her voice and throat, her lower body organs and she has infections on many of her cuts, especially on her back. We have cleaned them up as much as we could and bandaged them up but they still pose a problem and it is very serious. We'll prescribe some anti-bacteria medicine for her that she must take once every four hours with a meal. Also, we still cannot say for certain whether she has become impregnated yet and if she has contracted any sexually transmitted diseases either until we get the results." Natasha whimpered at this and Ash cupped her hand with both of his hands, trying to comfort her. May noticed his action. Even though she was upset over what Natasha went through, she couldn't help but feel moved by his caring display. That was one of the things she loves about him; his caring nature. "If it comes to either of that, we can schedule an abortion and most diseases we have the vaccine for it. Hopefully it doesn't come to either of those." The three of them nodded slightly with Natasha became worried about that, not knowing what to think or feel about that. "About what she eats, I recommend a diet of soft foods, like soup, eggs and cheese along with no carbonated drinks, mostly water or tea without sugar for a few days. That'll give her body, especially her throat, some time and the needed nutrients to recover a bit before eating more solid and complex food. Other than that, after we fix her nose and finish filling out some paperwork, you can leave. We'll contact you once we get the results back."

"Thank you Doctor Swanson. I'll make sure she gets everything she needs," assured Ash.

"And I'll be there to remind you and help you," added Delia.

"So will I," chimed in May. The doctor and nurse smiled at the three before they said they'll finish up everything soon and then they could go home.

Back at the hotel, mid way through their brunch, there was a knock on the door and Cynthia went to get the door. It was Sabrina, Clair, Liza and Giselle. She greeted them and told them to leave their stuff in the living room for now and to join them for breakfast. The four girls followed after the blonde Champion and greeted the rest that were eating before sitting down and helping themselves to some food. They all ate and talked for some time longer until they all finished and then they sat around for a little bit, letting the food settle in their stomachs.

"Alright," started Brock standing up and everyone looked at him. "I hope you all had a good meal. But, I wanted to tell you all that when Ash comes back after taking Natasha to the hospital, we are all going to come back here and speak to him about helping us train." He glanced at their new arrivals. "If you'd like to join us, you're welcome to do so." They gave their thanks for the invitation. Not even a second later, unknown to them, three blue spheres appeared in the living room. A sudden call from the living room made them jump a bit. "Speak of the devil," remarked Brock while chuckling as he headed out the kitchen, the others getting up and following him. They went into the living room to see Delia, May, Ash and Natasha, who was being carried by the former in his arms. They were only able to see her face for a quick second before she buried it into his chest out of shame and fear but they did notice some things. Her swelling on her eye had gone done a little thanks to Lilit applying some ointment on it and her nose was fixed. There were some bandages on her as well.

Even though she saw how critical her condition was when she first arrived, Clair couldn't help but feel intense jealousy fill her at the sight of the red head being carried by Ash. Some of the other girls who were hiding feelings for him were also slightly jealous yet mostly envious but hid it. They knew that she needed help and only Ash could do so now. Clair however, had a hard time seeing him with his arms wrapped around her, her cheek against his chest, her hands around his neck. She glanced over at his girlfriends and was surprised at what she saw; they didn't have any expression remotely near what she was feeling. Instead they looked concerned. How? How could they not feel anything at him holding another girl? Are they blind?! Are they that naïve?! Or…do they trust him that much? Are they that much more mature than I? Or is it…because they know he is theirs and no other girl can get him? Clair shook her head a bit while letting out a quiet sigh, trying to clear her mind. She felt a little disgusted with herself that she was feeling this way towards the poor girl. She had done nothing wrong and she needed help and support. I have got to get myself under control…

"Is everything alright?" asked Misty, drawing closer to them.

"Yes, everything's fine Mist," said Ash, smiling at her. "I'm gonna take Natasha to her room. Mom, can you get some soup ready please?" he asked her as he walked away with the red head in his arms and his mom replied back saying it was no problem before she moved to the kitchen. The parents followed after Delia to get an update while the others asked May.

"Well, she's a bit better now and they did a lot of tests. She should be fine but we're just waiting on some results that's gonna take some more time," she told them.

"Well, at least she's not alone," said Dawn. "We can help take care of her."

"Yeah and hopefully the results will be something good," added Sarah.

"I hope so too but she had so many cuts and bruises," stated Joy sadly.

"She's right and honestly, she looked so weak, so out of energy, that every breath she took seemed to rob her of life than to give her life," said Leaf in a low voice.

"Good thing Ash's pokémon was able to find the cabin in time where you all were," said Serena and they all agreed. They continued to talk while following after the parents into the dining room once more.

Ash entered Natasha's room, which was still the infirmary so to speak. He lowered her onto the bed and drew up the covers onto her to reach her stomach. "How are you doing?" Natasha gave him a look of gratitude. Better. Thank you. Ash smiled at her. He was getting better at hearing another's thoughts directed towards him, especially when he concentrated. He had a lot of practice at the hospital. And she was starting to relax more, especially with him around. "You're welcome. I know you'll get past this and I'll be there to help whenever you need it." She moved her hand towards his and he held it. She gave him a small smile. "There you go. I don't ever want to see you sad again." She felt her heart beat a little faster at his words. Why do you care so much about me? Her sudden blunt question caught him off guard, making him pause for a second, rubbing the back of his head before answering. "That's just who I am. I care for others. Whether I know them or just met them. I want to help people where and when I can. To give second chances to those who deserve it." I see. But you didn't fully answer my question. Ash sighed, looking away before looking at her again. "Because I feel responsible for what happened to you Natasha." Utterly confused, she tilted her head. Why would you say that? "Because I could've dealt with the Skull Brothers before they did this to you as I ran into them before finding you. But I decided to give them a chance to repent, to change their ways. I didn't know that their hearts were so dark. If I'd had known what they were capable of and what they would've done, I wouldn't have let them go. I would've finished them off right then and there. I'm so sorry Natasha. Please forgive me and if you don't I understand." Ash looked down at his feet when he finished, unable to keep looking at her.

Natasha couldn't believe it. Once again, this young man who she had never before met until barely a day ago had stunned her. He didn't know that she was responsible for everything involving the Skull Brothers and yet, he was taking the blame. He was putting it on himself. She had never even heard of such a person existing and would've called anyone who said there was someone like that a damn fool. But here he was, sitting right beside her, apologizing and asking for forgiveness for something that he was not at fault for. She squeezed his hand and he slightly turned to look up at her. You saved me from them. It's not your fault what they did. You saved me, took care of me, took me to a hospital, showed me respect, kindness and was concerned about me. You've done nothing wrong and everything else right. She felt guilty for making him feel this way for her since she had caused things by doing what she did. She hoped her words would make him feel better.

"You're wrong Natasha," he told her, turning his head to fully face her and she felt sadness start to creep up on her. "Not 'was', 'is'. I'm still concerned, will always respect your wishes, will still take care of you and will continue doing all that in the future too until you don't want it anymore." Her sadness washed away to be filled with something else entirely that made her feel…special. Before she could respond, the door opened to reveal Delia holding a bowl of warm chicken soup. "Hey Mom. Thanks for bringing that. I'll feed her and you can go eat," said Ash as he got up and took the soup from her.

"Are you sure sweetie? I can feed her and you can go eat. I don't mind."

"I know Mom. But it's alright. I'm not that hungry yet and I want to keep some room for when I take May out for our date tonight. You and May haven't yet so you two should eat at least," he told her. Delia smiled at him and reminded him about the medicine to give her after she eats and the nose guard when she rests afterwards. He thanked her for the reminder. Ash went back to Natasha, the bowl of soup in his hands. He sat down on the bed and started stirring the soup with the spoon to cool it down a bit faster. Natasha was moved by him even more by what she just saw.

You're so considerate. Ash looked up at her, pink circles appearing on his cheeks and rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks, but others would do the same." No, they wouldn't. You're different. I see that now. And you don't have to. You should go eat. Ash's cheeks flushed with color. "Thanks but seriously, I'm not special. And I'll be fine. As Dawn always says; no need to worry." He smiled at her and got a spoonful ready. "Let me know if it's too hot." He slowly raised the spoon to her lips and waited for her to take a sip. It's okay. Ash nodded and placed the spoon in her mouth when she opened it a bit more and she swallowed it. Who's Dawn? "Dawn's my girlfriend. The petite but mischievous blunette," he answered without thinking. Talking about Dawn made him remember how she would flirt with him, making his heart beat faster and a smile to form on his face while getting another spoonful ready. Natasha became confused from his answer. I thought you said May is your girlfriend? Ash looked up at her, his brow furrowed, lost for a moment. Then it hit him. "Oh. Hehehe. Sorry. I should've mentioned that I have more than one girlfriend. I have eight actually." Natasha's eye went wide. "Yeah, I get that reaction a lot from those who find out." He laughed a bit before raising another spoonful to her mouth. She automatically opened her mouth and took it. How? What? When? "Whoa, slow down. I'll explain things to you if you promise never to tell anyone and if you really want to know." I do and I promise. Ash smiled and gave her another bite. "Well, this kind of goes back a bit but I'll just give you a summary of it…"

As Ash fed Natasha and gave her a very quick rundown about his past with the girls and how they got together, everyone else was still back in the dining room. They had cleaned up the tables and were speaking with May and Delia while they gave them complete details now about their hospital visit. Delia was eating but May wasn't. The brunette wanted to wait for Ash after Delia told her what he said and would eat with him. It didn't matter to her if it was then or when they went out for their date. They were listening to them speak for a while now. Their friends and family were angry at this Doctor Wilson, were impressed at how Ash handled the situation and were glad that Doctor Swanson and Nurse Johansen took over and did what needed to be done without any complications between them. They were also awed when they found out Ash heard Natasha's thoughts and their own.

"Wow. It seems Ash is getting more and more powerful as time passes," commented Bonnie.

"That's good, especially since there's a war coming in about two years against the darkness and that monster he's going to have to face," said Max without thinking.

"MAX! They don't know!" shot Caroline, pointing at Liza, Clair, Sabrina, Giselle, Shauna and Lizabeth who had shocked expressions on their faces. Max just shrugged while mumbling out a "My bad". He was smacked upside the head by his mother for his big mouth, making him yelp and Bonnie to giggle.

"Okay, what's this 'war' about? This is the second time we've heard this mentioned. And what monster are you talking about?" asked Sabrina. Everyone went quiet and nobody knew what to say. "You know I could just read your minds but I don't want to do that to you." They gulped and glanced at one another, wondering who should explain things.

"There's no need for that." Everyone turned towards the dining room entrance and saw Ash standing there with an empty bowl in his hands. Delia asked about Natasha. "She's fine. She finished the soup, I gave her the medicine and told her to rest and the nose guard is on her. Greninja is watching over her," he explained, walking over to the head of the table and placed the bowl onto it as he did so. Many of them smiled a bit after hearing what he did for her. "You want to know about this war? I'll tell you. But you must promise not to tell anyone else." The newer members swore to keep quiet. "Alright then. This war is the reason why I disappeared. It started when…" Ash then explained everything, with some people who heard it already still getting goose bumps and the newer members of the group to gasp and yelp at certain parts. When he finished up, they were silent for a bit. To say the six girls were beyond stupefied was an understatement.

"I can't believe it. It's like Armageddon coming," commented Giselle, breaking the silence and shaking her head, shivering with fear.

"This…Ragnarok…he sounds like the Devil," remarked Liza in whisper. "Spreading darkness and evil wherever he goes…"

"That's why you're so damn strong…you've been training to fight against this evil," said Shauna, looking at Ash as if he was something else entirely instead of just a man. Lizabeth was too frightened to even say anything but she was looking at Ash as if it was the first time she's seeing him.

Clair was also silent, speechless. This young man, who she hadn't seen in years and has stolen her heart without him even knowing about it, had sacrificed much to reach new strengths so he can be able to protect everyone. And what had she done? Absolutely nothing important. Her mind became full of thoughts about him until her friend speaking snapped her out of it.

"But you said it's on your and Mewtwo's shoulders…How are you going to fight against it? What are you going to do about it all?" asked Sabrina in a worried tone, making everyone look at her before looking at Ash again. She didn't want him to face something so evil, so dangerous. She had seen what he had done in his life when bringing out her memories and she didn't know that he had done so much to prepare for this ugly future. And she didn't want him to face this by himself. She had allowed him to go alone to fight the Skull Brothers and had ended up hurt by it. She would not allow it to happen again.

"That's what I wanted to talk to all of you about," he told them. "There are some things I need to do that I will tell you but not right now. After the tournament."

Some confused looks we're given to him about that. "I thought you said you're not competing anymore?" asked Ilene.

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Well I still am because I wasn't able to tell Goodshow about leaving yesterday so I'm still in it. I will finish the tournament and see where I stack up against the strongest in the world before continuing with my plans for the coming war." Everyone in the dining room nodded their heads. They thought that was smart and several, including his girlfriends and mother, were happy that he wasn't quitting. "Also, I want to apologize." They all gave him confused looks. "I want to apologize for scaring you yesterday. For passing out like that and for…killing the Skull Brother in front of you." Understanding dawned on their faces. Some of them had already moved on from it, knowing he had to do it but others were still a little afraid. Not of him but of what he did. Before anyone could comment on that, he continued. "If there's anyone who's uncomfortable around me now, if you wish to go home or want me to stay away from you, I don't blame you and I understand. Please tell me now before I continue with the other thing." Nobody moved or said anything. Even though some of them were still uneasy about him killing and especially right in front of them, they knew that he had no choice in the matter and that he wasn't the type to like doing those types of things. Ash waited a bit for someone to speak up but nobody did. "Thank you. But if you ever want to talk, to let out your thoughts and feelings, please don't hesitate to do so with me." Several nodded while others didn't move but had neutral expressions on their faces. "Okay. Now, the other thing is I said I'll teach you ways to defend yourselves and help you train. I meant it and still do. It may save your life when I'm not around. Whoever wants to learn, meet me in the balcony in half an hour. And be prepared to sweat, to struggle and to work hard if you do." He glanced around the room before he began heading out towards his room. "Mom, can you check on Natasha for me while we train? She already knows and should be alright with Greninja there but just in case."

"No problem. I'll set an alarm for the medicine in four hours as well," she replied back and Ash thanked her. After he left, the others glanced at one another before they all got up and went to their rooms to get dressed in their exercising clothes except for the new arrivals and the parents, who had their own agenda. "I'll show where you can stay," said Delia, getting up to show Giselle, Sabrina, Liza and Clair. "We have two rooms left. Do you want two to a room or all four of you in one?" she asked them and they commented saying it doesn't matter. "Well if that's the case, how about we keep one room empty just in case and you four take the larger one?" They agreed and thanked her for that. Delia showed them to their room and told them if they need anything to let her know before leaving. The four girls began to change into their work out apparel.

When the raven haired guardian left the red head in her room with his pokémon watching over her, Natasha closed her eye to rest. The nose guard was on her and it was at first annoying but soon enough she stopped noticing it. She wanted to sleep but instead, she began thinking about everything that had happened to her. She couldn't believe how things turned out to be. The original reason as to why she was even at the Indigo Plateau was to somehow get into the guardian's inner circle, find out all she could about him, leave before the attack happened and inform her boss of everything that she learned. But now? She was cut off from Giovanni while losing all of her achievements and belongings that was given to her by him and she was raped and beaten by the same thugs she hired to pull off her plan to gain the guardian's trust that they botched. And the irony of it all? She somehow still ended up in the guardian's group with him taking care of her with no idea who she really was or the real reason as to why she was there in the first place.

Her mind latched onto that. Or more specifically onto the young guardian. She couldn't believe that such a person existed. He had rescued her from her nightmare of being the Skull Brothers' play thing and done so much for her. She never had anyone do even a fraction of the things he did for her. Then again maybe he's just being nice because he found me broken, she thought. There's no way someone that compassionate and caring could exist. As if to prove her wrong, her mind brought up how he fought off Giovanni's invasion of the stadium after the fifth round match ups. Then she remembered the way he held her, spoke to her, covered her up when he found her naked and weak, encouraged her, fed her, soothed her and stayed by her side throughout almost the entire hospital tests except for when it became too personal. No...I'm wrong. Because someone like that does exit…and he's the one who saved me.

She took in a small breath before thinking about something else now. How Giovanni was planning a huge attack that would wipe out pretty much everyone at the closing ceremony of the tournament. She didn't know what to do as every option or path she came up with spelled trouble for her. If I tell Ash, if I confess to him, he'll be furious with me. He'll probably kick me out of the group if he doesn't kill me the second he finds out it was because of me that the Skull Brothers were even here. She felt fear fill her at that, thinking how her guardian angel could possibly kill her for bringing those thugs and how it was her fault that they kidnapped his friends. But if I don't tell him, then he'll probably die. I don't think even he could survive or fight back against what's coming. She felt even more fear fill her at the thought of him dying because of that and that startled her. Am…Am I afraid of him dying? She thought about that a bit before pushing it aside and did her absolute best to keep her mind clear so she can go to sleep. Luckily for her, she was so tired out from her hospital visit and the tests that she fell asleep without much trouble. But her dreams were a mix of all her thoughts…

When Ash entered his room and saw Pikachu still sleeping, he smiled a bit. His starter had used the most powerful attack he could ever use yesterday. It had taken them a full month to get it right, to learn how to attract and redirect lightning strikes. Their training for that was sped up thanks to Mewtwo, Raikou and Zapdos forming thunder clouds out of nowhere to practice with and it was the purple feline who created the lightning clouds yesterday for him to use. Though Ash's anger and aura made the blue streaks of lightning appear. Raikou and Zapdos could use the same type of attack in addition, with it being far more powerful, affecting a much larger area but that made it far more dangerous, especially if they charged up like Pikachu did before the battle. The electric mouse had the perfect balance of power, accuracy and control to use that ultimate electric attack. He just needed to work on his stamina and endurance so he won't faint after using it just once. In the end though, Pikachu did an incredible job in Ash's eyes and felt he deserved the rest for today and didn't wake him. As for the other two in his room however…

Lucario and Gardevoir were sleeping on the couch in the bedroom, cuddled up together. Brock had woken up the aura canine after Ash had left, explaining the situation to him. He also suggested that the two rest in Ash's bedroom so they don't get bothered by the others. Lucario had agreed and gently lifted up the still sleeping psychic fairy into his arms before going to the room and laid down onto the couch. He made sure that his mate was comfortable and not in danger of being poked by his sharp appendage on his chest. Ash gently shook Lucario to wake him up and he opened his eyes.

"Master?" asked Lucario. "Are you alright? Do you need anything?" He tried to get up but was stopped.

"Slow down buddy," said Ash in a whisper. He pointed at Gardevoir and Lucario saw her eyes were still closed. "I'm good but I wanted to ask something but if you don't want to do it and stay with her, I have no problem with it. Will you help me teach them self-defense and train like we did? Though at a fraction of the toughness for now," he joked. Lucario let a grin form on his face.

"I would love to. But I don't want to leave her."

"Quit your whining and just go do it," mumbled Gardevoir but her eyes remained closed and Ash chuckled. "But can we do something later on tonight? Just us two?" she asked, still snuggling against him. Lucario looked up at Ash.

"Hey, I just need you for a few hours right now and even that you can refuse if you want to. What you want to do later is up to you. I keep telling you, you're my friend as well and free to do as you please," he told his pokémon.

Lucario smiled. "Alright Master and yes, I promise we'll do something together later tonight Gardevoir." The white and green fairy hummed in appreciation before moving off of the blue canine who stood up. She laid back down onto the couch and Ash placed a blanket over her. He took out his workout clothes consisting of black sweats and black shirt and changed into them. The two then left the room and headed into the balcony. Ash sent a mental message to Mewtwo and the psychic feline appeared. A second later, right before their eyes, all the furniture, game tables and other things that were in the balcony vanished into thin air and the large pool was covered with a solid and sturdy purple floor.

"Thanks buddy and nicely done," praised Ash.

Mewtwo just nodded. "I know. And you still owe me a full blast training session Ash," reminded the legendary.

Ash rubbed the back of his head, commenting that he remembers but if he could wait a little more. Mewtwo huffed but said no more. Ash then turned to Lucario. "I almost forgot to tell you something. At the hospital something happened to me. Basically…" Both Lucario and Mewtwo listened to Ash explain what happened. That he was able to communicate mentally with them and how it was because of Natasha that it started. "How did it just happen like that? Didn't I need to learn how and practice first?" he asked him. Lucario was silent for a moment, going over what he learned on the Lore of Guardians and Aura in his mind. Mewtwo was interested as well, waiting patiently.

"Usually yes, but what happened is normal under the circumstances. Lady Natasha was in such a horrible place, both physically and mentally that when you saved her, her aura latched onto yours." Ash was stunned and Mewtwo was surprised. Neither knew that aura could do that. Lucario noticed the worried expression on his face. "It is no cause for alarm Master. That can happen even between other people in similar situations where one is very emotional to the point of no return. She feels safe, secure and comfortable with you yes?" he asked and he nodded. "Just like in movies, when one is saved by another, it creates a bond between the two. Just like with having a bond between your mates, you developed a bond with her as well but differently. It's not a bond made with love but a bond based on security and comfort that she feels with you. Because of her feeling scared, vulnerable and helpless when you found her, your protecting nature allowed your aura to determine that she needed your help. As a result, it allowed her aura to be able to latch onto yours. Because of that, she is drawing strength from it, from you and you are slowly opening the channel that allowed you to use your ability to hear one's thoughts since she is unable to speak." Ash remained silent, thinking about what he just learned from him. When Lucario continued he paid attention to his words. "This bond has mutually benefitted both of you. This has allowed you to unlock that skill without much difficulty and use it with anyone and everyone and gives her strength in return. But you will still need to focus to hear another's thoughts and only when they're directed to you. Am I correct?" he asked him and Ash said he was. "With some practice, you'll be able to communicate with others mentally to them with ease and as you become stronger, it'll become easier to hear and speak with another human's mind without needing to concentrate on it like you do with your pokémon."

"I see. Thank you buddy for explaining it in a way I can understand," he told him. The three of them then waited for the others to join them in the balcony. As they waited, they took up meditative positions, sitting on the floor, cross legged. After about ten minutes, everyone except for the parents and of course the resting red head joined the three in the balcony.

Ash, Mewtwo and Lucario stood up after a moment and looked at everyone. They were all dressed in exercising apparel. The guys were wearing workout shorts along with sleeveless shirts. The girls were all wearing training shorts along with training sports tops but some of the girls had tops that exposed their midriff. There were some embarrassing moments when some of the couples looked at one another, turning red. Bonnie and Max were especially embarrassed, seeing each other dressed like that, turning crimson. Others however, merely commented on their lover's looks, like Lucy and Brock. Ash took in the sight of his girlfriends and smiled at them, making them smile back but also become slightly red. The raven haired guardian took a step forward, catching everyone's attention and they all faced him. "Thank you for allowing us to teach you what I have learned. Lucario will be your training Master in everything regarding the body and Mewtwo will be your training Master regarding the mind. I will assist the both of them during it all. Even though the training won't be the exact same as mine, it will not be easy and you must listen to every word they say. Any questions?"

"What about our pokémon? Will they be training as well?" asked Bonnie. The group glanced at her before looking at Ash.

"They will but not yet. Today, we will focus on ourselves today and maybe the next one as well before adding our pokémon into the mix," he answered and the group murmured out some understandings. "Any other questions?" he asked them. The group went silent and Ash turned towards Lucario and nodded at him. The aura canine stepped forward.

"During the training, you will hate me. You will want to hurt me. You will want to quit." Lucario's words made them all gulp, wondering just how extreme it's going to be. The ones who saw Ash's memories were wondering if it would be as harsh as what he went through. "But, we will start slow for today. We don't have much time or room to go fully into it yet while we are here. At the very end of the training though, you will be able to combat multiple opponents at once on your own and with each other. You will be faster, stronger and wiser. But it will take time until we reach that point. For now, I will show you several important strikes to use in a life or death situation until we can go deeper into it." Complete silence as all eyes was on Lucario, who signaled to Mewtwo. A purple dummy in the shape of man appeared next to the aura canine. "If you ever find yourself in that type of situation, where your life is on the line or you feel threatened, remember what I will show and teach you now as it can and will save your life by giving you an opportunity to either flee or take advantage." Lucario went to the dummy, turning to face it, the large group now on his right side. "The eyes, the spots next to the eyes on the outer sides of the head called the temple, the nose, the throat, the middle of the chest where the bottom part of the sternum is located and the groin." As he said each location, he threw a strike at the spot, making sure they could see. "There are other critical spots but those are harder to reach. Each of these spots I just mentioned is easier to reach and are very vulnerable areas. It doesn't matter if your opponent is male, female, large or small. If you must, target these areas and use as much strength as possible when you strike."

Lucario struck the spots again while repeating it to make sure they got it. He then glanced at the psychic feline whose eyes glowed blue. Many purple dummies appeared, spaced out evenly in the balcony. "Now, each of you move to your own target." The group spaced out and each moved to be in front of their own dummy. "Good. Now, copy me. The eyes." He struck the eyes and so did the others. "The temple." He struck the temple with the side of his hand and they copied him. "The nose." He punched the nose and so did they. "The throat." Again, he struck and they followed suit. "The sternum and finally the groin." They copied the aura canine and in the process, when they struck the groin, some of them were unable to hold it in and started to giggle or laugh out loud. Lucario snapped his attention to the area where the sounds came from and found the culprits; it was Max, Bonnie, Lily, Daisy Oak, Chili, Giselle, Dawn and Liza. Lucario vanished from sight and reappeared in front of them within a second, startling them. "You find this amusing do you?" he asked them. The eight gulped and started stuttering out apologies. "Silence!" he barked and they went quiet instantly.

Ash smirked at the sight of Lucario hounding on them. It was surprisingly amusing seeing someone else receive Lucario's treatment during his training. Unfortunately for him though, Lucario sensed it and didn't see the humor in that either and decided to teach all of them a lesson at once. "As punishment you will each give me twenty pushups after Master demonstrates how these techniques can save your life." Ash's eyes went wide at hearing that and Lucario gave him such a quick feral grin that only he and Mewtwo caught.

"Damn it," mumbled Ash quietly but he was still heard.

"Because of your whining, you're going to do so against three opponents," added Lucario. "And you know who they are." Ash cursed at Lucario in his head while Mewtwo chuckled and the others waited to see who he was going to demonstrate against. Three poke balls appeared in Ash's hand after the blue glows faded away and they opened to reveal Machamp, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. The three of them gave a shout of their name when they appeared. "Comrades, the three of you against Master; life and death fight, scenario one. Go!" The three fighting type pokémon advanced on Ash without hesitation. The young guardian had his eyes glow blue in response. "No aura!" commanded Lucario, startling everyone, their eyes widening as they watched the three fighting pokémon getting closer to their friend.

"Ah come on!" shouted Ash, the glow fading away while glaring at him. Lucario smirked and pointed at Machamp. Ash looked at the superpower pokémon in time to dodge the fist that was flying at his head. As they 'fought', Lucario began explaining what his Master was doing while they watched with anxious yet impressed gazes. Some of them were worried that Ash would get hurt. They knew he could do it and could take it but they still couldn't help feeling worried.

"As you can see, Master is outnumbered, overpowered and cannot escape. He is quicker than them but he will eventually tire out. He must find an opening and strike the moment he sees it. Whenever you're up against a stronger opponent, you must out think and out maneuver them like Master is doing." Ash was dodging and evading against all three of the fighting pokémon's strikes, some easily and some of them close calls, making them gasp in awe. "Now, he has been dodging and evading for a while. During this time he has been paying attention to how they fight, how they move and so should have you. And soon he will counter attack and watch how and when he does so." Lucario said no more so they could watch and perhaps learn from the demonstration.

Ash ducked under Hitmonlee's roundhouse kick and delivered a strike in between his eyes where his nose should be making the kicking fiend drop to the floor in agony. He then lunged to the side to avoid Machamp's four fists coming crashing down from above before delivering a strike with the side of his hand against his temple. Machamp cried out and stumbled backwards, dazed. Hitmonchan threw a punch that he side stepped. He then threw a hard straight punch to Hitmonchan's sternum, causing the boxing pokémon to gasp and drop to his knees. Gary winced at the sight, remembering how Ash hurt him too like that when they fought.

Lucario turned to the group before speaking. "Did you see how Master did that? He kept calm even against stronger opponents and being outnumbered. He didn't randomly throw strikes. Instead he waited for his time to strike back, conserving energy. And he did not attempt to go toe to toe with them. That is something you must all learn if nothing else; never go toe to toe with a stronger opponent and never attempt to copy them."

Clair felt a little embarrassed about that last statement. She had studied multiple different martial arts and was a black belt in many of them. Yet none of it prepared her for when Ash completely dominated her, without breaking a sweat. It reminded her of how foolish she was, trying to stop an angry, drunk and strong fighter. She wanted to fully hate that she was so easily dismissed as a challenge and what it caused her to feel. But she couldn't because it led her to open her eyes to the type of man that Ash was and how he's the type of man that she not only wants, but needs…

Lucario turned back to them all after the three fighting pokémon got back up and bowed to Ash who bowed back to them. He thanked the three before returning them. "Did I make my point clear?" asked Lucario. Everyone nodded and the eight apologized. "Good and apology accepted. I still want those twenty pushups." They groaned. "Do you want to make it fifty?" he asked them and the eight had their eyes widened. They immediately started doing the pushups in front of them all. "Good." Lucario was about to walk back to the front when he stopped and glanced at Gary. "Twenty. Now." Gary didn't argue or complain as he started doing the pushups. He was sniggering a moment before and thought he wasn't caught but was wrong. Ilene smirked at Gary for a split second as he did his pushups, thinking it was hardly a punishment. Lucario glanced at her as well and her eyes widened. "You too." Ilene went crimson before lowering herself down to do her pushups. Riley raised an eyebrow at that in surprise. He had never seen the Queen not complain about someone trying to order her around.

After they were done with the pushups and Lucario had reached the front again, he looked at them all before speaking. "You will practice against the dummies in front of you until I say stop. Master and I will go around checking on each of you. Remember the locations; eyes, temple, nose, throat, sternum and groin. Afterwards, we will test your strength and your endurance to see where you stand in that regard. And that will be it for today. Do not bother anyone and focus only on yourselves and your dummies for today. Anyone who is caught not practicing or bothering someone else will be doing pushups. And they start at fifty." Nobody commented or argued. They began practicing on their dummies after Mewtwo spaced them out a bit more so they could walk between them.

As everyone practiced the strikes on their dummies, the purple psychic feline was in front of them all, eyes closed and meditating but was keeping awareness of everything going on around him. The black and blue canine and the raven haired guardian were going to each person to check on them. The two were looking to make sure they were hitting the right spot and the strike itself was with proper technique. Power for the strike would be later as the former two are far more important at the moment.

Lucario demonstrated the proper way to land a punch to Max and Bonnie. After seeing them using proper punches now, Lucario finished up with the two younger teenagers and then moved towards Lily and Violet. Ash finished observing Brock's and Lucy's training. He gave the two a few tips on how to improve their technique in order to use less energy and speed up their strikes. Both of them appreciated the tips and quickly integrated them into their next strikes. They could immediately feel the difference and smiled at Ash afterwards. He smiled back at them and then moved on to Giselle, Liza, Clair and Sabrina. He saw that they were working hard and were looking pretty good in their exercising clothes, making him stare for a little bit but quickly gathered himself, pushed past it and observed their training. He felt pride surge over him seeing them take the training seriously and do their best. Especially Clair who he knew wasn't a beginner at all.

After observing them for a bit, he found out some things. One of them showed proper skill and technique. He wasn't surprised about Clair, because of her multiple black belts in different types of martial arts. "I know you're capable of doing more but still, nicely done Clair." He gave a nod of approval to the blunette dragon trainer.

She nodded back at him, keeping her face neutral but inside her stomach felt like butterflies flying around in it. "Thanks Ash and that's true, I can," she said, grinning a little, making Ash grin back. "But every serious trainer and fighter knows that all types of training is beneficial. Even the basic ones."

"I expected nothing less from a martial artist," he told her with a smile, making her redden slightly, her heart beat increasing but thanked him for the compliment. "And I haven't forgotten what I promised you. I will show you some of my moves but later. Okay?" he told her.

"I look forward to it," she replied back with barely contained glee at the thought of private training with him. She smiled at him that he returned before focusing on her training once more.

Ash turned to face the green haired girl and black haired girl. Liza showed good technique and Ash wondered if Clair had taught her or if she learned on her own. He still give a couple tips but also complimented and nodded at the green haired girl as well, making her feel heated from his charming smile, remembering her erotic dreams about him and her together but didn't show it. Instead, she smirked back at him right before striking the groin. Ash raised an eyebrow at her but she just grinned and continued her practicing. He shook his head, slightly chuckling before turning to Giselle. She was bad but each strike thrown was looking better than the last. Her guard kept dropping though and her biggest problem was her stance as it didn't give her any balance. "Stop Giselle," he said and she stopped and looked at him. "You're stance isn't giving you any balance, you're dropping your guard and your strikes are getting better but they're inaccurate," he told her.

She hung her head, feeling embarrassed and sullen that she was doing so poorly. "I'm sorry Ash. I...just haven't done anything really physical in my life except for some P.E. classes in school," admitted Giselle.

"It's okay and I'm sorry for making you sad. It wasn't my intention. But you need to know so you can get better. I'll try to not be so direct with the training," he said.

Giselle shook her head before fully facing him, turning her body towards his. "No Ash. Don't baby me. I need to get stronger and what you're saying is true. I can't be so sensitive about this stuff." Ash gave her a respectful look and a nod before showing her how to fix her problems. She heeded his advice and kept her guard up and fixed her stance afterwards, copying what he showed her. After watching her next several strikes, he nodded in approval and she smiled at him, feeling all jittery inside. Ash then turned to the last of the group, giving his full attention to Sabrina.

The dark haired psychic was having some…issues. Her strikes were using up too much energy and it looked like she was hurting herself because after every hit, she would wince. Ash wasn't too surprised since he had a feeling that Sabrina might have traded physical prowess for mental. She had no equal in mental ability except for legendary pokémon. But Ash knew that only focusing on just one thing would leave them vulnerable to everything else. He observed her a little more carefully for a bit longer and that's when he noticed another thing that was holding her back. There was a very faint pink glow outlining her hands as she struck the dummy. He moved towards her, but Sabrina kept going, not stopping her practice. She threw a punch towards the sternum but instead of hitting the purple dummy, her fist was caught in Ash's palm. She gave him a confused look, lowering her hand. "Why'd you stop me?"

"Your technique is poor. And…you're using your powers," said Ash. Sabrina's eyes widened. She didn't think they would notice as she was barely using any. She was wrong about that since Ash did and so had Lucario and Mewtwo long before he did. Both pokemon were waiting to see if the young guardian would notice it since they wanted to test him too. "Why?" he asked her and she sighed.

"It's kind of embarrassing," she started. "I have so much psychic power yet…my physical strength and ability is like a child's. I hurt and bruise easily if I don't protect myself when I physically hit something or something hits me." Her white face turned red at revealing that to him but Ash didn't comment on it.

"I see. Well, it's understandable." Sabrina tilted her head a bit. "I'm not that surprised to hear you say that because it makes sense. You probably focused on your mental abilities far more than your physical ones, trading one for the other. Am I right?" Sabrina gave him a guilty look. "I thought so. But now, you must not use your powers. You may get bruised and you'll feel some pain. But soon enough, your body will get used to it and become stronger. Just start off slowly. No need to try to throw a knockout punch. Alright?" She agreed and the faint pink glow vanished from her hand. Sabrina didn't want to disappoint him at all and wanted to show that she could become stronger. She was about to continue her training when he stopped her again. "I also mentioned your technique. Let me show you the right way." Ash stood next to her and showed her the proper way to strike the areas and she mirrored his movements. She could feel herself using less energy and yet the strike felt like it could do much more damage after spending some time with him showing her the right way. "There you go!" complimented Ash after seeing her use proper strikes.

"Thank you Ash," smiled Sabrina, feeling elated over his encouragement. He observed her for another couple minutes as she punched the dummy properly now. She winced even more after each hit, making Ash worry. Sabrina sensed that and glanced at him to give him a reassuring smile and continued on to show she was alright. Ash praised her determination and toughness, making her heart race before he left to check on the rest.

As the aura canine did, the raven haired guardian gave out suggestions and tips to several of his friends, such as Daisy Waterflower, Lizabeth, Clemont, Cilan and Cress. He also showed them proper ways to strike, to use less energy and how to stand with balance so their punches won't throw them off. The three guys thanked him for the tips and focused on what he told them. Daisy and Lizabeth beamed at him after praising their improvements. Lizabeth was feeling intense feelings over his approval on her training and she wanted nothing more than to thank him with a kiss but controlled herself. It was a good thing she knew how to control her urges and desires, her parents teaching her to be patient. Daisy felt pride surge through her when he praised her but also felt a similar feeling from last night. That confused her again but quickly pushed past it and focused on her training though her mind would go back to that every now and then.

Ash then went up to Ilene who was training in the far corner. He saw that she wasn't bad but wasn't great either. He suspected that Riley might have shown her some defensive moves to at least give her some time to run or get help. He watched over her training for a bit before speaking up. "Not bad," he told her.

Ilene stopped and straightened out after throwing a strike to the temple and faced him. "Thank you," she said solemnly.

Ash tilted his head, wondering why she was sad at first before instantly remembering the possible reasons as to why. "Queen Ilene? Are you alright?" he asked her, taking a step closer.

Ilene shook her head and then looked out into the horizon over the railings. "I'm fine Ash. And you don't have to call me Queen anymore."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong. It's my duty as a Knight of the Kingdom of Rota to protect you and to make the things that sadden you to go away," he told her. "That's if you you'll have me back as one," he added in the end.

The young blonde queen faced him, her mood changing suddenly. "I would love for to have you be my knight of my kingdom once more Ash," she told him with a smile. She hugged him tightly with the raven haired guardian becoming a little surprised from her actions but reciprocated it. "Thank you for that and for forgiving me so easily."

"No worries," he told her after they separated. "I'm just glad you're not angry with me anymore. So will you tell me what's wrong?" he asked her.

She sighed a bit before speaking. "It's about Gary, me and our relationship. I can't talk about it. Not until I figure out what's going on myself," she revealed, looking down.

Ash felt intense sadness fill him at once. "I understand and I'm very sorry Queen Ilene. I...I was drunk and lost in my emotions. But that's no excuse. I didn't mean for things to end up this way. I'm so sorry," he apologized to her. "If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, please tell me and I'll do it. I promise," he told her.

Ilene looked up into his eyes and saw that he was genuinely sorry for what he did even though it was the right thing. That he didn't want to hurt her but had to have her know the truth. She felt a lump in her throat form from thinking that. She swallowed it, though with some difficulty, so she could speak once more. "I understand Ash and I told you before that I'm not angry with you about that anymore. I know you were just trying to protect me. But I need some time and space to figure out what I want and what I'm feeling. Whether or not Gary and I can still be. And my own problems and shortcomings as Queen."

Ash nodded. "Fair enough. But if you don't mind me saying this, Gary has done wrong in the past. Yes. But I think he has changed for the better. But take your time, don't rush anything but don't be afraid to speak your heart and mind. If you need something, just let me know. Alright?" he advised her.

"Okay and I know. Thank you Ash," she said. She smiled a bit before facing her dummy again and taking up her battle stance. He watched over her training while giving out some pointers and advice which she quickly applied into her training before he left. Ilene watched him move away for a moment before looking back at her purple target and continued on.

The raven haired guardian assisted a few of his other friends in their training before heading towards his childhood rival Gary. Ash was feeling a little tense, since he hadn't really interacted with him after spilling his secret. He wanted to fix things and he had promised his mother that he would. He silently approached the young pokemon researcher and spoke up. "Not bad Gary."

Said person glanced back at the speaker before looking at his target and punched the sternum. "I think you mean to say 'you're awesome Gary!' but it's okay. I forgive you this time Ashy-boy," he said while continuing his training. His voice was slightly covered in an annoyed tone. He had seen the interaction between Ash and Ilene since he was stealing glances at the blonde queen every now and then.

"Yea right," replied back Ash sarcastically, chuckling. "That will never happen." He went quiet for a few seconds, watching his old rival train a bit before speaking, noticing his emotions slightly on edge. "I'm sorry Gary."

Gary whipped around all of a sudden. "What?!"

"I said I'm sorry. I just..."

"Shut up!" snapped Gary at once quietly so others wouldn't hear him, cutting him off and startling Ash. "Don't start as I don't want to think about that right now. Just let me be so I can train in peace," he told him before facing the dummy once more.

Ash was expecting something like that and so wasn't truly surprised but still was saddened over it. He was hoping to patch things up with his old rival and friend but it looked like some more time was needed. He sighed and gave some advice to him before moving away. Gary glanced at his old rival's retreating form before using the information he was given to improve his skills.

The young guardian went around and complimented on a few others on their skill, such as Shauna, Richie and Chili making them feel proud of themselves. Shauna was feeling especially ecstatic at his compliments since she knew he was a great fighter from the stadium attack. The blunette Hoenn native wanted nothing more than to hold him in her arms and kiss him as thanks for his compliments. She almost did that too but stopped herself at the last second. She took in a deep breath, startled that she almost lost it like that. She cleared her mind and continued the training but kept glancing around every now and then to look at the raven haired guardian.

Everyone was sweating profusely and panting as time passed but they kept going. None of them wanted to throw in the towel and didn't want to disappoint Ash even though they were going at it for a while now. Most of them had seen snippets of his brutal training and what they were going through was child's play compared to it. If they gave up now, how could they help him or protect themselves when the war begins? They had more than just their well being riding on this.

After checking on a few others, he moved towards the area where his girlfriends were. He become dazed for a moment as he watched them train dressed in workout apparels that left half the body exposed, moving while covered in sweat. He snapped out of it and gave seven out of the eight some pointers and praise. After speaking with Cynthia, who knowingly teased him a bit with her movements, making him pout, Ash then moved towards the brunette from Hoenn.

May's face was shining from all the sweat she was letting out. She was wearing a red sports tank top that covered her stomach along with tight black training shorts, which was mostly the same as the other girls but just colored differently. Both pieces of clothing were drenched with sweat. Her long brown hair that was tied into a pony tail was swishing back and forth as she moved her curvaceous body to strike the dummy. Once again, Ash was momentarily stunned at the sight of his girlfriend training hard. He pulled himself together and watched over her training. He saw that she wasn't half bad, thinking that Norman probably taught her a bit. There was room for improvement like the others. However, she was a bit further along than most of the other girls except for Clair, Cynthia and Shauna who were better, but equal in skill with Misty, Liza and Sarah. He watched her punch the sternum again before closing the distance between them.

"Hold up May," he said and she turned to look at him, taking advantage of the break to take in some much needed breaths, her chest heaving and her shoulders going up and down. "You're doing well and you're good." May smiled at him while also blushing some at his compliments. "I have some tips for you though."

"Sure. What you got?" she replied back enthusiastically. Ash explained what he saw and what she could do to become better. She understood it all. "Ok. But can you show me too?"

"Of course. Here, watch me." May stepped aside to allow Ash to move in front of the dummy. She watched him hit the fake purple man with incredible skill. She could tell he was even doing it slowly so she could see it since she had seen him move much faster before. When he finished up he glanced at her. "So, did you get it?" he asked.

"I think so. Let me try." May moved to be in between Ash and the purple dummy. She took up a fighting stance, which caused her body to graze against his unintentionally, making both of them become hot all of a sudden. Good thing they were able to control themselves and it only lasted for a split second. "Like this?" asked May as she punched the area in the middle of the dummy's chest using the advice he just gave.

"Yea, that's better," said Ash. "But you're losing your footing when you're punching."

"I know. I'm trying but I just can't get it to stay," admitted May, looking down at her feet.

"Here, let me guide you," he told her and he closed the distance between them. He stood behind her and grasped both her hands from behind, making her blush again but he didn't see that. He raised both her hands in front of her chest with the left hand extended a bit out with the right hand closer to her, gently forming them into fists. "Now, move your right foot back to where mine is." May looked down at his foot that was just a short distance away and placed hers next to it. "Good. Now you have balance. See?" he pressed against her from behind, pushing her upper body a bit forward but her feet didn't budge from their spot. Feeling his toned body against hers made May heat up again and she wanted nothing more than to just turn around, push him onto the ground, get on top of him and kiss him…but she didn't. Ash was in a similar predicament. Feeling her against him, especially her ass against his crotch made him become enflamed. He controlled himself though by thinking of ugly and disgusting things but it was becoming increasingly difficult as time passed. He took a silent, deep breath before continuing the lesson. "Good May. Now, let's hit the target."

Ash speaking brought May back to her senses from her imagination. She was thanking Arceus that he couldn't see her embarrassed as she was blushing furiously from her daydream and at their position. "O-Okay Ash." The raven haired guardian extended out the brunette's right fist and had it collide into the sternum but not too hard. He asked her if she noticed the difference in the strike now, using proper technique and keeping her balance. May was only half aware of what he did. "I do. I can…feel it," she replied back with her words carrying double meanings.

"Huh?" That was all he said before he suddenly groaned into her ear, though thankfully not loud enough to catch attention from the others around them. She had started rubbing her ass against the bulge in his sweats again. "May…stop…" he whispered into her ear in a pleading tone of voice. She didn't listen, instead being turned on from his pleading. She continued, loving the sensation she was feeling while grinding against his crotch. With him moaning lightly into her ear and the chance of being caught in the act by the others, it made her become enflamed. She continued the charade of training, punching the dummy with his hands still on hers while still grinding against him. "May…" Ash whispering into her ear made her shiver. "Keep this up…and you won't be able to blame me for what happens next which will be everyone getting a surprise sex lesson in addition to this training." As much as she didn't want to stop, she knew he was right. She couldn't continue otherwise they wouldn't be able to control themselves for much longer. And she definitely didn't want an audience when they became intimate. Reluctantly, slowly, she stopped grinding against him. Both of them took several long breaths to calm down. "Thank Mew you stopped. I was this close to ripping off your clothes," he whispered into her ear, making her shiver from his bold statement. He decided to get back at her by giving her a quick covert kiss against her neck while he brushed against her chest with his fingers when he took them off her hands. His teasing made her moan quietly before moving away from her, leaving her trembling with anticipation.

"Damn it Ash. You tease," she mumbled. In order to not draw attention to herself and to keep her mind occupied on something else, she continued her training. Though her mind would periodically imagine the two of them together in bed, letting their animalistic urges out, making her grin while her face was crimson. Luckily for Ash and May, nobody noticed their teasing interactions under the cover of training. Except for one…

After a little while longer of them training with Lucario and Ash going to each person at least once, the two went back to the front of the group. "Alright, practice is done!" said Lucario and every single person stopped instantly, taking huge breaths and thanking Arceus they were done. "Take a breather until your strength test begins." Lucario turned to Ash as everyone rested, speaking quietly so only he would hear it. "While they rest, speed training with Mienshao for fooling around with Lady May. Get to it." Ash huffed out some air while summoning a poke ball to his hand. "Pushups after you call her and before you train until I say stop," he added because of Ash's less than enthused response, getting an annoyed look from Ash. After Mienshao appeared, Ash dropped to the floor and started doing his pushups, catching the groups' attention. "On your fingers!" barked Lucario after a while and Ash went from his palms to the tips of his fingers. "Good. Now on your knuckles!" Ash went on his knuckles now. "Faster!" Ash moved quicker. The others were staring with their jaws dropped at what he was doing. Even though Lucario was barking up commands left and right, Ash was doing the ordered exercises without missing a beat. "Left hand!" Ash raised his right hand behind his back and kept going. "Right hand!" Ash switched hands. "Slap hands!" That made the group tilt their heads in confusion until they saw what he did. Ash went back to two hands and pushed off the ground with more strength to give him time to clap his hands before going back to the floor to catch himself. He kept that up for a while until Lucario nodded. "Good Master! Now defend!" barked Lucario.

The others were confused as to why he would say that when he was doing pushups but what they saw next made them widen their eyes in disbelief. Mienshao shot to Ash with her arms glowing white but Ash pushed off the ground quickly, intercepting the sudden strike in time and the two continued. Mienshao moved faster and faster, trying to hit Ash but he was deflecting and blocking her strikes. "Excellent! Now, even counters! Alternate between fist and palm!" ordered Lucario. Ash began countering each of the fighting type's strikes with his own, having fist hit fist or fist land into open palm, their pace quickening, going faster and faster.

What they were seeing was unbelievable. Some of them have seen him training with Lucario and Lopunny but seeing him keep up with Mienshao, who was one of the fastest fighting pokémon, made them become beyond astonished. The girls who studied martial arts were being turned on at seeing Ash go toe to toe with the powerful fighting pokémon, being so impressed at his speed, skill and power. They had never before seen such an incredible human fighter before. "Finish!" barked Lucario, making them all jump. Both Mienshao and Ash threw one final strike that ended up hitting each other, making both go sliding back a few feet. They composed themselves and bowed to one another before Ash thanked and then returned his pokémon. "Good Master. You're speed is still top notch. But we can make it better." The aura canine turned to the others, seeing them still dumbstruck. "Attention!" he shouted and they jumped before standing up straight. "Now, we will test your strength." Lucario nodded at Ash who brought another pokémon with his aura. Snorlax appeared over the purple floor. The large, round and heavy white and bluish grey pokémon gave a lazy greeting and scratched its belly. "Each of you will give your hardest punch to Snorlax's stomach," said the blue and black jackal, making them all gasp.

"Won't that hurt Snorlax?" asked Bonnie and Max together. They glanced at one another, attracting the attention of their friends and family, making them become embarrassed.

"Unless you can hit as hard as Machamp, Snorlax will be fine. It'll actually be like a massage to him," said Ash and they calmed down.

"But how will this determine our strength level?" asked Riley, curious.

"Snorlax can judge the strength of anyone or anything by how much he feels from their hit and can let us know where each of you stand. So, line up and each of you give it your best shot," said Ash. His friends lined up with Bonnie being the first with Max right behind her and the rest behind the two. Almost everyone was feeling a bit anxious and excited to test their strength. Except for Sabrina. She was worried that she might not even get a rating from her strike, knowing how weak she is. Hell, she wouldn't be surprised if Bonnie was able to hit harder than her...

Speaking of the young teenager, Bonnie stepped toward the large round pokémon who towered over her and gulped. She glanced back at Ash, who nodded at her before glancing at Max. He gave her two thumbs up with both hands that made her smile. She felt encouraged and thanked him in her mind. She faced Snorlax and thought how she should do this. "Um, how should I go about this?" she asked, turning around to face Ash again.

"Pretend you're hitting the dummy's sternum again," advised Ash. Bonnie nodded and Sabrina took that advice to heart too. At least she won't look like a fool when attempting it.

"Okay." She took up a stance and readied herself. She concentrated, trying to put as much power as she could into her strike, just like Lucario showed her before punching the great round white circle in front of her. Her fist did not cause Snorlax's stomach to react at all but the pokémon felt something, but barely. He felt like something poked him very quickly and weakly. It did feel nice to him though. "His stomach didn't even jiggle!" cried out Bonnie and the others chuckled.

"It's alright Bonnie. Snorlax told me he through our aura bond that he felt something like a poke so good job," complimented Ash but Bonnie was still disappointed in herself.

"You did great Bonnie!" said Max, going up to her and trying to cheer her up. "You made Snorlax feel something and they almost never feel anything when something hits them, unless they're strong enough." Bonnie smiled at his attempt to cheer her up.

"Thanks Max," she said, giving him a quick peek on the cheek in addition, making both of them go red.

"Hey, hey, hey! Easy now! Don't go crazy lovebirds!" teased May, seeing her chance to get some payback on her little brother Max, causing the others to laugh and the two young teenagers to go crimson because of being embarrassed.

"Alright, let's leave the two alone," said Ash and the group calmed down. "You're up Max."

Max went up to Snorlax and just like Bonnie before him, took up the stance he was taught and put as much power as he could into his punch. But yet again, Snorlax barely felt a poke like sensation. Max glanced at Ash, to see if Snorlax felt anything and Ash told him it was the same as Bonnie's; a poke feeling. Feeling proud, he went to where Bonnie was standing and the two watched everyone else take their turns.

As they all got a turn, most of them had the same reaction as the two young teenagers; Snorlax barely felt a poke. Even Sabrina was able to make him feel a poke. She was so nervous because she didn't want to disappoint Ash, seeing how he believes in his friends. She put all the strength she had into her punch, using the technique that he had taught her. After her strike she glanced at him and saw him nod with a smile. She couldn't believe it but felt so happy that she was able to do that that she beamed back at him before moving to the others who had already taken their turn.

As they continued their turns, Ash noticed some things. Some of them were able to make the spot tickle from their hit, making Snorlax let out a chuckle. Even fewer still actually made him feel like he was hit, rubbing the spot he was struck but it still didn't hurt him. After everyone got a turn with Snorlax relaying the information to Ash through their aura bond, the raven haired trainer asked for their attention. "Good job all of you. I'm actually very impressed. All of you were able to make Snorlax feel something and that's good news," he told them, repeating it and it made them feel good that they are strong. Even Sabrina was feeling good about herself. "But there are still differences in the levels of strength between you all and that's alright. We all start somewhere but we will all become stronger. The training will mostly be the same for all of you, especially while we're here at the Indigo Plateau. But once the tournament is over, and if you decide to come with me to my island, we can get into more specialized training." They all became excited, wanting to go to the island he had stayed at mostly for three years to become so strong. "With the strength test done, it's time for your endurance test. We will be…"

"SNOR!" roared out the loud round pokémon, startling everyone except Ash, Lucario and Mewtwo.

"No, buddy," answered Ash, shaking his head, making his pokémon grumble.

"What does Snorlax want?" asked Giselle for everyone, her curiosity getting the better of her again.

"He wants Master to hit him. He wants to judge his strength after the last time since he's much stronger now," revealed Lucario, making them all want to see. "Why don't you?"

"I don't want to hurt him," replied Ash, making some of the group gasp and the others to burst out laughing, not believing he could hurt the large pokémon. Snorlax became annoyed and growled. He smacked his belly a couple times while roaring, taunting his trainer. Ash's eyes narrowed. He walked up to the large pokémon with Lucario and Mewtwo grinning as they watched the young guardian get closer to the large pokémon. Ash took up a fighting stance in front of Snorlax and looked up at him. "You sure you want this?" he asked and Snorlax taunted him again by smacking his large belly once more and laughed at him. "Well, you asked for it. Don't say I didn't warn you." Ash concentrated and then struck the target in front of him. His fist dug into the pokémon's belly, making it go inwards. Snorlax's squinty eyes widened in shock and he let out a whizzed gasp. Everyone was flabbergasted at what they just witnessed. Ash withdrew his arm, the pokémon's belly bouncing outwards again and looked up at his pokémon's face. "I did warn you." Ash turned around and walked back to his spot to stand next to Lucario and Mewtwo.

Seeing him make a powerful pokémon like Snorlax become still from a single strike made many in the group have their jaws drop. All of them were in disbelief over what he did, with several girls becoming enflamed by his display of strength, especially the fighters Clair and Shauna. A moment later, Snorlax recovered and rubbed his belly. "Lax lax snor lax."

"Thanks Snorlax and I hope you learned your lesson in underestimating others," replied Ash and Snorlax nodded. "Good. And thanks buddy. Have a good rest and you can have a buffet tonight back home. You know what to do. But only today! Got it?" He made sure to include that final part since his Snorlax was crafty and would look for loop holes when it came to eating. Snorlax frowned before nodding his head and then he disappeared in a flash of red light before his poke ball disappeared in a blue glow. Ash turned to the group. "Alright, like I was saying. Time for your endurance test. Two mile run." Some of them groaned at that but then Lucario narrowed his eyes, making them go silent instantly. Ash turned to Mewtwo. "Would you be so kind?" Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue and they all disappeared from the balcony and reappeared in front of the woods near the hotel. A purple path appeared leading into the woods. "Follow the purple path so you don't get lost. It will go through the woods and come back out in front of the hotel there," said Ash pointing to the right and they saw the purple glow at the tree line. "You will be timed but don't think about it too much. It will only be to see where you stand and where to start you off for the specialized training. Do your best, but don't kill yourself. And don't worry if someone passes you or if someone falls behind. Mewtwo, Lucario and I can sense all of you and where you are at so you have nothing to fear. Are you all ready?" he asked them. He got several nods and some replies back. "Okay. On three you start. One…two…three!" and the group ran forward. After the group disappeared into the forest, Lucario turned to Ash.

"Who do you think will be the first to emerge?"

"Misty," answered Ash instantly. When Lucario asked why, he explained. "She traveled for two and half years with me. We were always walking and running everywhere, same with the other girls but like I said, we traveled around longer with each other. And she swims almost every day, not counting the last couple of weeks. No doubt in my mind. My Mystic Mermaid will be first."

"What are you willing to bet on that?" asked Mewtwo

"I want in on that," added Lucario.

"When did you two start gambling and betting on things?" he asked the two, surprised.

"Since you came to the tournament, and there's no training going on back home, we started betting on each other in practice battles, displays of strength, endurance, humor and other things to pass the time," informed Mewtwo. Ash's jaw dropped before shaking his head. He couldn't believe how his pokémon turned into gamblers and betters.

"Alright fine. So what's the bet, conditions and reward?" asked Ash, deciding to partake in it.

"We each pick who's going to come in second. Not first because after what you said about Misty, it's obvious now. Whoever has their pick come second wins and the other two each have to do one thing that the winner says to do and no matter what, you have to do it," said Mewtwo.

"Okay. Since they just started, pick one right now!" replied Ash and the three of them said their pick immediately. Satisfied with that, they waited for them to finish up the two mile run. After some time passed, just like Ash said without any hesitation, his Mystic Mermaid was the first to emerge from the woods, panting but not out of breath. She had jogged at an even pace, passing everyone with ease. Ash went up to her and gave her a hug. "Nicely done Mist. I knew you would be first," he told her and she smiled while in their hug.

"Thanks Ash. I guess all that running away from legendaries with you paid off," she teased when they separated.

"It sure did and so did all your swimming my mermaid," chuckled Ash, making her chuckle too. As Misty relaxed, waiting for the others to come, the three were waiting anxiously for the second place runner to show. They had agreed to not use their senses to check where their pick was, focusing on the others instead. A short while later, the second runner showed up. "Ah Tauros crap!" exclaimed Ash, seeing it wasn't his pick.

"This is not good," said Lucario shaking his head since it wasn't his either.

"Looks like I win," stated Mewtwo with a smirk. Ash had picked Cynthia, Lucario had picked Riley and Mewtwo had picked Clair. The Blackthorn City gym leader was the second to appear. About thirty seconds later, Shauna appeared with Cynthia right behind her. The psychic feline started laughing at the two, making the four girls glance at the three. Ash and Lucario were annoyed with Mewtwo laughing at them so loudly and obnoxiously.

"What's so funny?" asked Shauna, hands on her hips and panting a bit harder than Misty had done when she emerged from the forest but alright for the most part.

"They just lost a bet to me," chuckled Mewtwo.

"Bet? What kind of bet?" asked Cynthia, making Ash go wide eyed. Before he could tell Mewtwo to shut his mouth, he told them the conditions of the bet. Three of the four girls became angry while the fourth felt happy.

"You told them I would finish first without thinking?" asked Misty, her heart fluttering over the fact that he believed and thought so highly of her.

"You didn't think I can come first?!" shot Clair, insulted.

"You didn't bet on me?!" snapped Shauna, peeved.

"You bet I would come in second place?!" growled Cynthia, advancing towards him.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up!" cried out Ash, taking some steps back, his hands up and waving them in front of him like a white flag. "I said Misty would be first no matter what because I've traveled around longer with her and know her well and she swims every day! I know you all are strong too but I don't know what you guys do every day! But I know Mist has great endurance and stamina and almost no one can run away from her! C'mon Cynthia, wouldn't you have decided the same?!" Cynthia stopped advancing, hearing his words but kept her eyes narrowed. Ash glanced at the other two. "And I'm sorry but I had to pick Cynthia because I know her better than you two, I've hung out with her more than you two and know more of her feats than yours even though you're both accomplished fighters. It's nothing personal!" he told them. The two calmed down but they growled at him before turning their angered gaze to the side and crossed their arms over their chests. Both of them were thinking that it was personal because they each wanted to impress him, though he was unaware of that. But hearing him say that they weren't better than Misty or Cynthia made them feel a little hurt, though they were acting a little childish over it. Ash let out a long sigh and rubbed the back of his head. A few of their friends arrived just then as well, panting and Lucario's pick was among them. He shook his head, disappointed in his choice.

Cynthia walked up to Ash and he faced her. He tilted his head, not knowing what she wanted. She leaned in towards his ear to whisper into it. "When it's my turn, we'll see just how great your stamina is my Champion." Ash's eyes widened and he felt his heart thump loudly. Cynthia raised her head, winked at him and smirked before walking away, leaving a dazed Ash behind. Misty saw him entranced, watching Cynthia's every move. She walked up to him and smacked his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance.

"Thanks and sorry Mist," said Ash sheepishly, rubbing where she struck him.

"You're welcome but you may not want May to see that. She's been waiting for awhile you know," she told him. "I hope you have something amazing planned for her."

"I do," said Ash confidently. "Thanks for helping me Mist and for looking out for me. I don't know what I'd do without you," he told her, causing her to form a beautiful smile on her face while blushing a bit.

"Anything for you Ash," she told him. "I know you try your best for everyone and I'll be there to help you out with anything and everything, including what happens between us. Having several girlfriends can be quite a challenge to keep happy and take care of. But I know you can do it because if anyone can, it's you."

"Thank you Mist for believing in me," he told her. He then pulled her into a deep hug that Misty returned. The two stayed like that for a few seconds, loving the feeling of the other in their arms before separating and gave each other a quick peck on the cheek. He mentioned to her that his mom knows about everything and that they can be open with her about everything. The water trainer thanked him for letting her know and that she'll tell the girls as well. A little later, they saw two brunette girls exit the forest.

Ash went up to May and Leaf when they arrived. Leaf grinned at him, while May raised her hand to show thumbs up, that she was alright. Both of them were panting heavily. Ash smiled at the two and complimented them both. "Well, what'd you expect from us? To not make it? Some boyfriend you are, not believing in your girlfriends," teased Leaf after catching her breath, smacking his shoulder in the same spot Misty hit. Ash rubbed the area again, pouting. "Ah look, poor little Ashy is hurt and sad. Why don't you make him feel better May?" suggested Leaf. Before May knew what happened, Leaf pushed her onto Ash who caught her in his embrace.

"LEAF!" yelped May, annoyed by her stunt but didn't withdraw from Ash. She glared at the other brunette who didn't care about the annoyed look, laughing as she moved away from the two. Ash wrapped his arms around the Hoenn native tightly. "Ash, I'm all sweaty. Even more so than before. And I stink," she said quietly, turning pink from embarrassment.

"I like it," he told her, drawing her in closer to him and she let him while turning as red as her sports tank top. "It shows that you worked hard, that your body is strong and that you're not afraid to sweat." She slapped his chest playfully, calling him a dork. She then wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned in and gave him a kiss. "Hmmm…salty," commented Ash after their kiss, getting a taste of her sweat off her lips. May stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed and leaned in for another kiss but she turned her head to the side and he ended up kissing her cheek.

May smirked at him when he pouted. "Call it payback for upstairs," she said. She pressed against him and leaned in closer. Ash was heating up from feeling her body against his. "But I'm not done yet," she said, leaning in to kiss him. At the last second though, she moved to his neck instead of his lips and gave him a slight hickey while running her hand down his chest to his stomach. Ash trembled from her actions and she withdrew from him, now leaving him unsatisfied by walking away towards the other girls.

"Damn it May!" remarked Ash and May glanced back at him with a playful smirk before giggling. "That's it! Come here you!" shouted Ash and he shot after her. May squealed and started running away while unable to stop laughing. The ones who were there watched the entertaining scene between the lovebirds running around. As the chase continued, more and more were finishing their run, emerging from the woods. Every time Ash got close to her, May would make a sudden turn and make him slide to a stop before chasing after her again. He could've caught her each time but where was the fun in that?

"Can't catch me!" taunted May in a sing song voice after another failed attempt made by Ash.

"Oh we'll see! No more games!" said Ash and he picked up the pace. Seeing he wasn't kidding around anymore, May yelped and dashed to the group waiting for the rest and hid behind the girls. She hid behind Misty, Leaf, Clair, Cynthia, Serena, Sarah, Daisy Waterflower and Liza. "Hey, no defenses allowed!" whined Ash as he tried to reach her through the wall of girls but they kept blocking his attempts and May kept moving behind another one. Everyone was laughing as Ash attempted to snag the Princess of Hoenn through the 'wall' of girls.

Ash kept trying to reach through but was thwarted in each attempt. He made one final attempt, extending his arm through between Daisy and Sarah. He swiped the spot where May was but missed as she ducked. "Damn it…" He withdrew his arm, taking a step back and in the process brushed lightly against the chest of one of the blondes, making her blush heavily. He felt that and knew for certain that she felt it too. "Sorry," he told her quietly so no one would hear since no one else noticed from the wall of girls. The now scarlet colored girl didn't say anything but nodded. Ash turned his attention to the brunette hiding behind the 'wall'. "I'll get you back for this May. Just what until tonight," he told her before walking away. The girls laughed harder, with May turning crimson thinking about what he'll do to her later on that night. The reddened girl was still for a moment before snapping out of it, hoping no one noticed anything.

Within the next five minutes, almost everyone else reached the end and was given approving smiles and nods from Ash, Lucario and Mewtwo. But there was one person who still hadn't finished yet. "Where's Sabrina?" asked Liza, the fist to notice, looking around and so did the others.

"She's still on the path, near the end but stopped moving. Looks like she's tired," informed Mewtwo.

"Okay. I'll go after her. We're done for today's training anyway so why don't the rest of you go back to the hotel to rest and I'll go get her. Lucario, Mewtwo; thanks and you guys are free for the rest of the day." They watched him sprint down the exit of the purple path before teleporting back to the hotel.

Ash was looking for any sign of the Saffron gym leader. He quickly made his way down the still purple path before he rounded around a corner. Mewtwo sent a mental message to Ash that he would keep it there until they left the forest and to not forget about their deal on the bet. The young guardian replied back, telling him his thanks and that he won't and to just let him know once he figured out what he wanted.

Ash took a turn after he traveled a short distance on the purple path. As soon as he faced down the path he turned into, he saw her. She was sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree, shaking and panting heavily, covered in sweat. Ash went to her quickly and knelt down beside her. "Sabrina? Are you alright?" he asked her with fear. He looked over her to see if she suffered any injuries but she looked fine. The dark haired girl turned her gaze to him, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she took quick short breaths, feeling nauseous.

"I-I'm…fine…j-just…exhausted…and queasy…" she said to him in between her breaths. "I'm sorry…I tried to keep up...with the others…to push past the pain…"

"I told you not to kill yourself Sabrina," he told her and she lowered her gaze to the ground.

"I… was scared...that if I didn't finish…you would think…I'm weak…without my…powers…and…be disappointed…"

"What I said before Sabrina wasn't that I thought you were weak. I would never think that you're weak and that's no reason for me to be disappointed in you. How could I ever be disappointed with you?" he asked her. She looked at him over what he said before looking back down again. "Why would you even be scared of something like that?" he asked her, absolutely confused as to why she would feel or think such a thing. She didn't answer him but turned her gaze to his again and gave him a look. He was so worried about her that he did not notice the look. "It's alright. Let's get out of here. Can you walk?" he asked her. Seeing him not get it, she looked away, crestfallen. A moment later, she slowly nodded. He helped her stand back up and assisted her down the path with one arm wrapped around her waist. She felt herself turning red and burning up with him holding onto her. But she also felt pathetic and not good enough for him to even touch her, especially when she stumbled a couple times. Seeing her struggling a bit, Ash went to pick her up but she stopped him.

"No Ash. I have to do this. Alone," she told him. I can't be weak. I can't fail. I have to prove that my body is strong and not just my mind. He didn't notice what I was trying to show him with my gaze but maybe he'll notice this. Ash didn't hear her thoughts because of two reasons; her mind was almost always shielded and he had to concentrate to hear it even if she had allowed him. She made him move away and she took some steps forward. Ash could hear her gasping for air, her conditioning very poor.

That was when he realized how right he was; even though she looked beautiful, her body was fragile since she had traded her physical strength for absolute mental superiority. And that perhaps his comment before about that may have triggered her to push past the pain. He felt responsible for what she was going through, becoming worried because she was pushing past her limit but dangerously. He went to her side again when he saw her almost fall but she caught herself. "Sabrina, you don't need to do this. You don't need to prove anything to me or to anyone else. Please stop. Please let me help," he told her. He took her hand gently and her heart fluttered at it and wanted nothing more than to let him help, let him carry her. But she couldn't do that.

"No." She slipped her hand out of his and continued, barely walking and her breathing becoming ragged. "You made me…open my eyes Ash. I can't…just focus on my powers. I…need…to become strong. I'm doing this…for myself. To prove…to myself…that I can take the pain…and go the distance." And to show you that I'm worthy, she finished in her mind. Sabrina kept going, leaving Ash behind who was rooted to his spot from what she said.

It made his heart ache to see her push herself so much because of what he said to her earlier. He called out to her from his position while she continued. "Sabrina, what I said before, I didn't mean for you to kill yourself to become stronger over night. It's not like that and you know it. You will get stronger; I know you will as I believe in you. But this isn't the way. So please, stop this. I can't watch you do this to yourself," pleaded Ash. Sabrina heard him talking from behind and the words washed over her. She stopped for a moment. She felt emotion fill her like it never did from his concerned tone of voice. She knew he was right but she didn't want to admit defeat, to admit she was weak. Ash thought she was done but then she kept moving forward. "Sabrina, please stop," begged Ash, seeing her practically hurt herself for something that she didn't have to do because of what he told her.

I can't stop Ash. I can't. I have to keep going. To prove to myself…and to you….that I'm not weak. That I don't need my powers for everything. That I can do this without them. That I am strong enough to be worthy for you.

Sabrina kept taking one step after another, forcing herself to keep going even though she was out of gas, even though she was gasping for air, even though her legs felt like heavy bags. Ash watched her continue down the purple path, struggling, not giving up, no matter what he said to her. She was being stubborn, but it moved him and it made his respect and admiration for her to grow over seeing her determination. She reminded him of himself, how he would push on even when he shouldn't.

Something stirred inside the young guardian at the sight of the psychic prodigy pushing past her limits, past her pain but he didn't notice what exactly it was, his worry for her overshadowing the sudden feeling. Yet it led him to decide to help her reach her goal. He sprinted after her and luckily caught up to her in time to keep her from falling after reaching her. "Sabrina…"

"Don't...tell me...to stop," she interrupted, glancing at him with tired but determined eyes, taking heavy breaths.

He smiled at her, throwing her off guard. "Then let's finish this together." It took a moment for her to register what he just said. She nodded and allowed him to wrap his arm around her again and she wrapped an arm around him. He assisted her down the rest of the purple path. It made things a little easier for her but she still felt some pain with every step she took, breathing heavily. When they finally reached the end of the purple path, emerging from the forest, the purple path disappeared and Ash glanced at Sabrina. "Well done Sabrina. You did it."

Sabrina raised her tired gaze to his. "Thanks to you," she replied back sullenly, disappointed that she couldn't do it but Ash shook his head.

"No; it was all you Sabrina. All I did was hold you up. You're the one who made us move," he revealed to her. Her eyes widened when she realized it now; he didn't take any steps until she did. She flung herself onto him, hugging him tightly out of appreciation and also leaning against him for support.

"Thank you Ash. Thank you for believing in me," she told him and he returned the hug. Her heart beat increased in speed as she felt his body against hers once more like back in the club. She didn't want to ever withdraw from his embrace. But knew that would unfortunately come to pass, sooner or later….

Ash was feeling something familiar as well from back in the club, the stirring feeling that had awoken a little before becoming stronger. He became confused by it but didn't dwell on it though. "You're welcome Sabrina." When they separated, he smiled at her, making her smile back. "How about we go back home and relax huh?" he asked and she agreed. The two disappeared in blue glows and reappeared in the living room where the others were. Seeing the two there with the psychic alright made their friends smile, glad that she wasn't hurt. Sabrina almost dropped to the floor after taking a step, making several shoot to her but Ash was the one who caught her and kept her up. "Whoa. You're past exhaustion. You should lie down," he told her. She didn't argue, unable to speak since she was busy trying to regain her senses and catch her breath.

"We'll take her to lie down," offered Liza. She and Clair stepped forward to help her. The two assisted their close friend to their room and while they walked away from him, Sabrina glanced back at Ash who gave her a concerned look. She faced forward again in time to keep them from seeing her face redden.

May walked up to Ash. "What happened to her?" she asked.

Ash looked at her before answering. "She was exhausted, pushing herself past her limits in a dangerous way. She wanted to prove to herself and to us that she didn't need her powers for everything. That she wasn't weak, that she wasn't a disappointment." Some concerned expressions were shown by the group and he saw it. "I tried to explain that none of us saw her that way, to make her stop but she wouldn't listen. I then offered to help her finish at least and she allowed me to do that. That's why it took so long for us to come home," he told her and everyone there.

May frowned a little. "Why would she think that or do that? She doesn't need to prove anything. She's Sabrina, the psychic prodigy! Everyone has heard of her, even in Hoenn!" Ash sighed, shaking his head, indicating that he doesn't know why.

The others were lost as well until someone spoke up. "It's because she doesn't want to just be known as a psychic prodigy. And she doesn't want to be a burden in the future." Everyone turned towards the person who said it. It was Professor Oak. He and the other parents had joined them in the living room. "During your training, I was watching you all train and noticed some things about each of you. About Sabrina, even though it was barely the beginning, she saw that even though her mental powers are formidable, her physical being is less than stellar. She doesn't want to be kept back and doesn't want to be vulnerable or be a liability." Oak moved towards Ash, seeing him becoming sullen over his words. He placed his hand on his shoulder. "You are not at fault Ash. You opened her eyes, showing her that one who focuses on only their strengths, leaves their weaknesses to be targeted. You showed her how she had been limiting her growth by only 'living' as the psychic prodigy." Ash nodded slowly but he was still upset. Oak turned to face everyone else. "I hope her example shows that you must not place too much pride or trust in your abilities or to only see yourselves as what the world sees you. I'm not saying to not be confident, or to deny what is true but don't become cocky and don't be content. There is always room for improvement and there will always be someone stronger or faster or smarter. Possibly all three or more. But that does not mean to kill yourselves in order to reach new levels. Understood?"

Oak's words were heard by everyone and they all thought about what he said. But the one who was impacted the most was the raven haired guardian. He had been coasting through the tournament, with hardly any challenge until the stadium attack. He had been placing too much faith in his and his pokémon's level. He should be because of all of their harsh training for so long, trusting in himself and his pokemon, but he was being too cocky and over confident. And was viewing himself as mostly just a pokémon trainer with aura powers and being content in his level of strength.

But now he realized that he was wrong and acting like another arrogant trainer. He had to continue. He had to become stronger. And he had to fully embrace who he is and what he's capable of. Hearing Professor Oak's words and watching Sabrina push past her limit dangerously, made him realize that no matter how strong he is now or how he is viewed by others, he can still get stronger and change, adapt. He had to. He had too much riding on it. He had to protect everyone he holds dear and many others. He wouldn't and couldn't let them get into danger because of his contentment with his abilities and his inability to be more than what he or others saw himself as…

"Ash?" He snapped out of it and glanced at May. "Are you alright?" she asked worryingly. He had been standing still and silent for a couple minutes, his gaze looking ahead of him in a trance after Oak finished his speech. The group was looking at him, concern on their faces. Ash let a small smile form on his face.

"Yea, I was just thinking about what Professor Oak said," he replied and she understood. He glanced at his Poketch and saw that it was about 545pm. "May, I'm gonna go check on Natasha and then shower for our date. Be ready by 7pm." She smiled at him, feeling all giddy inside before leaving to shower herself and get ready. Ash headed towards Natasha's room. Most of the group broke up and went to shower since they stunk, taking turns to do so while doing different things as they waited.

When Ash stepped inside the room, he saw Natasha still sleeping, his Greninja watching over her from the corner. "Hey buddy. How you doing?" whispered Ash. Greninja gave a slight shrug while whispering out that he was alright but bored in his poke speech. "I know buddy but this is important too. Thank you for doing this." The ninja frog gave him a curt nod. Ash turned to the red head who was still sleeping.

The door opened after a moment and Delia came in with another bowl of soup ready. "Hey sweetie. Four hours has passed. We need to wake her up so she can eat and take her medicine again," she said. "I'll feed her so you can go get ready for your date with May. But since you're here, maybe you can wake her up?"

"Sure Mom." He moved closer to Natasha's bedside and softly spoke to her. "Natasha…Natasha…wake up please…Natasha…" The red head turned her face towards the faint sounds she heard from her sleep before opening her eye. Her other eye had its swelling go down more but she wasn't able to open it yet. When she opened her eye, she thought at first that someone else had come, her vision blurry. Her heart jumped, beating madly with fear once again filling her. But then she felt her hand grasped gently and that voice that would instantly soothe and calm her down, speak. "Hey, no need to be scared. It's me, Ash," he said, sensing her fear. She blinked a few times, her vision getting clearer each time and after the last one, saw that it was him. Thank Arceus. I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else. "It's alright. I don't blame you. I know it's going to take some time and that's okay. Just try to remember that you're safe here okay? And sorry for waking you up but it's time for you to eat again and take your medicine after. My mom is going to take care of that this time. Alright?" Okay. Thank you for understanding and caring about me. He smiled at her, making her feel comforted a bit. He got up and Delia sat down with the bowl in her hands. "Thanks Mom. I gotta go shower and get ready."

"No problem sweetie. Have fun with May on your date," replied Delia. Ash thanked his mom before telling Natasha that he'll be back later but Greninja and his mom will be here for her. Natasha didn't want him to leave but she didn't want him to become annoyed with her either. She did feel safe with his Greninja around and she had warmed up to his mother Delia a bit. She thanked him again mentally and told him she'll be fine. After Ash left the room, Delia turned to Natasha getting a spoonful ready of some soup. "I may not be able to hear your thoughts, but I think we can make this work right? Anyway, let me know if this is still too hot by shaking your head if it's not or nodding if it is."

Ash entered his room and saw Gardevoir awake with Lucario sitting beside her, talking. When they noticed him, Lucario requested that they be returned so they can have their time together at their island. Ash smiled and returned the two and then glanced at Pikachu. He was still snoozing away and he chuckled. Snorlax…I swear. He moved into the bathroom to take a shower. Afterwards, he got dressed and was ready with a few minutes to spare. He sat down on the bed, thinking about where he was going to take May.

He hoped that what he had planned and set up way in advance was still there and not messed up. He was worried since it took longer to have his date with May than he thought. Then again, Mewtwo had promised to keep the areas he set up in advance hidden, safe and the food to be teleported there once they went. He had worked hard on setting up each of the dates for the four girls and he had set them all up on the same day. The day he and Misty were together, he left on Pidgeot to prepare for their night together. He was surprised that it didn't take him long at all and so he decided to get his date areas ready for May, Dawn and Serena as well. It cost him some time with Misty but he was glad he did that because things had become so hectic while staying here that he wouldn't have been able to otherwise. And Misty hadn't once complained about it. He made up his mind to make it up to her, since he wasn't able to spend much time with her on their date day unlike the other three. He had taken Dawn to the lake, Serena to Rhyhorn Racing and he trained with May extensively today while fooling around with her a bit. He did swim with Misty in the lake but not as much as she probably hoped for and that's when he suddenly got a great idea to make it up to her. "That will be perfect," he said to himself.

"Pikapi, pika pika!" Pikachu had jumped onto his shoulders after waking up.

"Hey buddy. Rested?" he asked and Pikachu nodded. "Glad to hear it. Pikachu, I'm gonna go out with May tonight so hang out with Misty and the other girls okay?" Pikachu nodded but then let a devious grin form on his face, making Ash tilt his head.

"Pikapi...pika pika pi pi pika pi chu pika," he said while holding up a finger on one paw and a circle with the other hand.

"PIKACHU!" yelped Ash, embarrassed and astonished at what his starter just did. Pikachu slid off his shoulder, laughing so hard that he didn't even notice when he hit the floor. Seeing him not stop, laughing harder while holding his stomach, Ash got an idea and a devilish smirk appeared on his face. "Just you wait till I tell May to let out her Glaceon and Dawn to let out Buneary."

Pikachu stopped his laughing immediately and looked up at Ash with a scared look. He liked both of them but was shy and scared as to how touchy affectionate they are. "Pikapi! Chu! Chu! Chu!" cried out Pikachu. Ash just shook his head and began walking out of the room. "Pikapi!"

"Sorry buddy, but you asked for it," said Ash and quickly left the room. Pikachu dashed after him, his cheeks sparking, getting ready to shock him into next week. But when he entered the living room, he saw the two pokémon who he liked and liked him right there, confused until they saw him. Both pokémon had their eyes light up.

"Glaceon!" cried the blue ice cat pokémon.

"Buneary!" yelped the brown bunny pokémon.

Pikachu's eyes widened, skidding to a halt in front of them. He was not ready for this at all since he didn't know what to do. He attempted to turn back and run for it but both pokémon tackled him. They hugged him and snuggled against him, not letting him out of their grip while Pikachu cried out for help since they were choking the life out of him.

"Just like his trainer," remarked Sarah giggling and making some of the others laugh.

"Hey, has anyone seen my Buneary or May's Glaceon?" asked Dawn as she stepped out of their room. She stopped after seeing Pikachu being squeezed by the two pokémon's hugs. "Huh…how'd you two get out?" she wondered but did nothing to help the electric mouse. She knew how much her Buneary and May's Glaceon loved Pikachu.

"Thanks to Mewtwo," answered Ash and everyone who was in the living room understood. "Pikachu just missed Buneary and Glaceon so much that I had Mewtwo teleport them out of their poke balls so they can spend some time together." Pikachu shot a dirty look at Ash from under the two female pokemon, thinking of all the ways he was going to electrify him later.

"Yea, whatever you say my Guardian," giggled Dawn, returning back to her room. She knew why he did that but didn't comment, leaving her pokémon alone. Ash just chuckled in response before he and others started laughing out loud at seeing Pikachu being dragged away into an empty bathroom by the two pokémon.

"Pokémon egg incoming!"

"Very funny Gary," replied Ash, shaking his head while others continued to laugh.

"Looking good Ashy," commented Leaf, entering the area from her room and seeing him dressed in his black tux with red long sleeved buttoned shirt and black tie. He thanked her with a grin and she winked at him. The newer girls that have feelings for him just entered the room and were unable to look away, staring for several seconds until they hurriedly composed themselves. Luckily for them, no one was paying them any attention for something else had their attention who was the gym leader of Petalburg City in Hoenn walking into the living room with his wife.

"So…you're taking my daughter out huh?" Ash turned to face Norman in time to see Caroline elbowing him, telling him to quit it with his tone. Norman grumbled but didn't argue back. "Alright, alright." Norman cleared his throat and spoke again, but this time more calmly but still had a serious tone to it. "I want her home by 9pm and no funny business or I will make sure you are in a world of pain."

Caroline elbowed Norman harder this time that made his eyes bulge. "Remember what we talked about!" shot Caroline.

He glanced at his wife who was giving him a look of rage that he had only seen once before. That was when he had to sleep on the couch in the living room for a month with no 'fun' stuff either. Many in the group were chuckling at seeing him become afraid from his wife's death glare. "Ah, I mean, you better treat her right and don't force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. Just be safe, enjoy your time together and you can stay out as long as you like. However, if you do anything that upsets her, then I have free reign to kick your ass from dusk till dawn. Understand?"

"Yes and I promise to take care of her Mr. Maple," said Ash, not joining in on the laughing and that was a good call otherwise Norman would have punched him. Norman nodded at him and the two shook hands. Caroline smiled at her husband when he glanced at her.

"So whipped," quipped Gary, still chuckling.

Norman snapped his attention onto him. "Are you dating my daughter?" he asked him, his eyes narrowed. Several people, including Ash had a feeling of foreboding come upon them.

"Ah no," answered Gary, becoming worried and wondering where he was going with this.

"That's right. You're not and you never will. And that means you're not protected by my wife," explained Norman, cracking his knuckles.

Gary gulped and took a step back, waving his hands in front of him. "Just kidding around! You know me!" Gary took another step back and Norman advanced. "Ah guys, a little help here," he pleaded, looking around but nobody was helping him out. Instead they had amused looks on their faces and were waiting to see what happens. "REALLY?! Mrs. Maple? Caroline?" he asked, glancing at her now.

"Sorry Gary, but I can only protect the man May loves from my husband. Anyone else, and it's free game. You're on your own," she explained seriously. Gary's jaw dropped and looked at Norman again, seeing him getting closer and closer with a wicked grin on his face.

He called out to his grandfather. "Ah Gramps? Wanna do that special talk thingy you do where you make people understand somehow?" he asked and Oak just shook his head, smiling. It was time that his grandson learned to keep his mouth shut or at least learn when to open it. "Are you kidding me?!" he asked him, utterly surprised.

"Now, how should we begin Gary?" asked Norman after he reached the young pokémon researcher.

Seeing no way out and that he had to own up to this mouth getting him into trouble again, Gary sighed before replying back. "I'm sorry Mr. Maple. I didn't mean to offend you. I was just kidding around. But if you have to hit me, I guess I deserve it," he said. He braced himself for the strike.

"I'll give you points for taking it like a man," said Norman. His fist shot forward and Gary tensed up, closing his eyes. A second passed, then another. After a few more seconds, Gary cracked open his eyes and saw the fist an inch away from his face. A finger extended from the fist and flicked his nose hard, making him cover his nose with his hands, his eyes watering. "Gotcha," said Norman before laughing out loud.

"That was cruel," replied back Gary, making the others burst out laughing.

"Eh, you'll live," remarked Ilene after catching her breath. She thought it was hardly a punishment for what he did. She also believed that he was being a drama queen right now. Gary snapped his gaze to her, not believing she just talked to him, even if it was just a few words. Ilene's eyes locked with his for a second before she turned her gaze away, still smiling a bit.

Gary was smacked against his back suddenly and saw it was Norman. "Hope you don't keep a grudge against us kid," said Norman. "Just 'messing around' right?" Gary glanced at Ilene again, who turned her gaze back to him for a split second before looking away.

"Wouldn't think of it," replied Gary, a smile forming on his face while keeping his gaze on Ilene a little longer before looking away. "I can handle a joke." The two shook hands and moved on, with the young pokémon researcher feeling a little better. I might still have a chance to fix things with her. But I still need to know if there's anything between her and him…

A honey blonde haired girl spoke up all of a sudden. "Ahem. Can I have your attention please?" asked Serena and everyone who was there, turned to face her and the girls with her, shielding May from sight. "Introducing the spunky brunette…" she started.

"The talented Top Coordinator…" said Misty.

"The beautiful bottomless pit…" added Dawn. Her comment was to get back at May for her comment during her date day, which also earned her a punch in the back.

"The Princess of Hoenn, May Maple!" finished the three girls together before moving away to show May in her red dress she wore at the club the other night, with two straps going over her shoulders and a diagonal cut from one leg's knee to the other leg's thigh. She was also wearing a red long sleeved but thin jacket with the brown flower hair clip in her hair. Her hair was flowing down with some curls at the ends. She looking even more beautiful than usual and Ash had a hard time not staring at her.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," teased May, making Ash snap out of it while their friends and family laughed. Ash moved to her and grasped her hand.

"No picture will ever do you justice," he replied back, making her heart beat wildly and the females in the room to 'aw' at his words.

Before anyone could say anything else, Max walked up to Ash and May who looked him in the face. "Ash, I just wanted to tell you something." Ash nodded, waiting patiently for his friend who he viewed as his little brother as well. Max took in a breath before continuing. "I just wanted to say that I'm glad that you are the one who my sister likes and is going out with. I don't think anyone else will ever be good enough for her. She deserves the best and so do you. So with that being said, I hope the both of you have a great time tonight and know that I support you two in whatever you do," said Max to them both.

May smiled at her little brother before hugging him and he returned the hug. "Thanks Max. That was the nicest thing you've ever said to me," she replied.

"Eh, don't get too used to it May," remarked Max. They chuckled and so did many others.

The two siblings separated and Ash raised his hand towards Max who shook it. "Thank you Max for giving me your approval to date and be with your beautiful sister May," said Ash with respect. Max nodded at Ash before the two stopped. Ash wrapped an arm around May's waist and she did the same to him. "See you guys later." And with that, both Ash and May disappeared in blue glows. Several of the newer girls let out quiet sighs, each of them wishing that she was in May's shoes right now...

"Wish I had a super powerful psychic pokémon to do that whenever I wanted," commented Liza, making the group chuckle.

Bonnie went up to Max and he looked at her. "That was sweet of you Max," she told him. Max's cheeks flushed with color before letting out a stammering thank you. "You up to play a game?" she asked him.

He smiled at her, relaxing a bit. "Sure! I'd love to!" he replied back. The young couple sat on a couch in the living room after grabbing some console remotes and soon enough they were playing a co-op game together. The others separated into smaller groups and split off to do something with several even going it alone as they had many things to think about.

A giant waterfall was flowing down the side of a large mountain that had many craters from many meteor strikes over time along with many waterfalls in and on it. It was because of those reasons that this area was called Meteor Falls. A particular large waterfall also continued into the mountain, separating into multiple smaller ones as it flowed through it until they all reconnected into a larger one again when it exited. This mountain also had extensive tunnels, caverns and chambers built into it. An ancient tribe of people that are still alive to this day use this place for one of their homes but it was very hard to find them. They were called the Draconids, because they kept the Lore of the Dragons as well as several prophecies, some of which had come true already.

Two glowing blue spheres appeared on the side of the mountain where a large cliff was that overlooked the entire area around it while also offering a wonderful view of the waterfall nearby. The two glows disappeared to reveal a young brunette woman and a raven haired young man. The girl's blue eyes widened with surprise as to where they came to.

She had an idea of where they were but wanted to be sure. "Are we really at Meteor Falls?!" she asked, breathless at the gorgeous view in front of her view that consisted of mountainous areas, forests and small towns in the distance with a small lake nearby at the foot of the mountain. The sun was setting in the horizon that caused the sky around it to be colored in many different shades of red. He chuckled a bit, seeing her reaction. He tightened his arm around the girl's waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Yes we are May," he said, confirming it. May's face reddened at being up against Ash so much but she also placed her free hand onto his chest. They stood there for a few minutes, looking at the view. He then gestured to follow him and he led her to a small circular table that was set up for two in the middle of the area. He assisted her in sitting down on her chair before taking his seat.

When Ash bent down to take out the food boxes and drinks from underneath the table, May watched him prepare their meal. She propped her elbows on top of the table and rested her chin on top of her clasped hands, a smile on her face. She was so happy, her heart beating for the man in front of her. She couldn't help but feel so lucky, feel so blessed, to be with someone that would do anything for her. Someone who had helped her find her calling, achieve her goals, her dreams. Someone who would move mountains for her and even attack a deity for her. She hadn't forgotten how he stood up to Palkia for her and her sisters. She kept her eyes on him, watching him finish setting the table, taking in his every move. She started feeling really hot even though the weather was fair and leaning a little towards the cooler side. Her mind had wondered to when they were in bed that morning and then of them fooling around a bit while training together. She kept her gaze on him while continuing her imagination, becoming redder and feeling hotter with each passing moment. "May?"

She snapped out of it, raising her head from her resting position, feeling a little embarrassed but glad he didn't say anything, whether he noticed or not. "Yes?"

"Coke, Dr. Pepper, juice or water?" He had already poured them some red wine and wanted to know what other drink she would like.

"You should know that by now," commented May.

Ash grinned. "Dr. Pepper it is then." May smiled at him for remembering her favorite drink. After he poured them both some, he held up his glass with red wine. May copied him. "Let our lives be filled with as much happiness as possible."

"And let the good times never end," she added with a radiant smile. Ash returned the smile before the two clinked their glasses and drank.

"I hope you're hungry May," commented Ash after setting down his glass and started opening the food boxes.

May's stomach grumbled almost as loudly as Ash's right then. He snapped his attention away from the food because of the noise and looked at her, causing her to blush heavily. "I'm starving. I haven't eaten at all," she admitted.

"You haven't eaten all day?!" asked Ash. May shook her head. "Why?"

"I wanted to wait to eat with you too after your Mom said you were going to hold off until our date."

"Wow." Ash was stunned and May blushed even more. "You did that for me? That's the first time I've ever heard you saying no to food." May gave him a sheepish look that made him chuckle. "Thank you May. I guess that just makes things ever more perfect." He spread out the food boxes, opening all but one very large one in the middle of the table. The ones he opened were a veggies platter consisting of carrots and celery sticks, some onion rings and some fries. All food that May loves to dip into ranch and munch on.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Well, I think it's time we had our rematch. And since we're both hungry, that just makes things better," he said and opened the last food box. At the sight of what was hidden in the box, May's mouth watered and her eyes grew wide. It was chicken wings. A bunch of chicken wings in two very big piles. She had never seen so many for just two people. Then again, she reminded herself that she and Ash were almost bottomless pits. One pile was lemon pepper flavored and the other was spicy barbeque flavored. May licked her lips and was just about to grab one when Ash smacked her hand away.

"HEY!" she cried out. "You know better than to get between me and food!"

Ash chuckled at her furious expression. "I know. I just wanted to tell you something before we dig in." May's expression relaxed a bit but narrowed her eyes at him. He was being very cruel right now, making her wait even more before she could have the delicious chicken. "There are exactly two hundred wings here." May took in a sharp breath as she thought something; so many chicken wings! "This will be the contest to end all other contests. This will decide once and for all who the Champion of eating is."

May smirked and took off her thin red jacket before placing it over her chair. Ash felt a little hot seeing her without the jacket on, exposing some more skin. He did the same thing as her with his jacket and rolled up his shirt's sleeves afterwards. She became a little stunned from seeing him without the jacket and his sleeves rolled up with a tie. It just seemed to make him even more eye catching somehow. She shook her head and readied herself. "You ready Ketchum to face defeat?" she asked.

"Are you?" he asked her with a grin. May gave him a mock glare and his grin went wider. "On three. One…two…three!"

Both Ash and May snatched a wing and tore into it. It only took a few seconds for both of them to completely clean the meat off the bones, drop the uneatable remains onto their plate and grabbed another. They maintained eye contact the whole time as they devoured their next wing. The two couldn't help but smile at the sight of their beloved in such an amusing scenario; all dressed up elegantly and yet eating their food like rabid animals. If it wasn't for the competition they had going on, they would've ended up laughing out loud after a couple minutes.

As they continued their battle of the stomach, the large piles of chicken wings was shrinking, becoming smaller and smaller as they quickly demolished them. After some time, the two were starting to slow down, feeling themselves fill up. They groaned a bit when they started to notice that. They had forgotten to pace themselves, so hungry were they that they just let their gluttony take over them. They didn't even touch the other food, so focused on the wings.

After biting into another wing, both Ash and May stopped, taking a breather. "You alright? Feeling full?" he asked her.

"Yea, unfortunately," she answered, rubbing her surprisingly still flat stomach with her clean hand. That was one of the things she prided herself on. No matter how much she ate, she still kept her figure. "It's so delicious I don't want to stop but I don't want to make myself sick," she said, eying the wing in her other hand.

Ash chuckled. "I know what you mean. How many did you eat?" he asked.

May looked at the bones in her plate. She quickly counted them and looked up with a triumphant look. "Eighty one. I doubt you ate as much as me," she said with a triumphant look.

Ash gave her multiple impressed nods. "Not bad, not bad. Let's see…" He counted his pile of bones and when finished he started laughing. May started getting worried. "Wow…I can't believe it…" He shook his head before looking up at May. "It's a tie…eighty one."

May's eyes widened. "No way! I ate more than you!" she got up and went over to his side and started counting the bones. Ash couldn't help but take in her figure next to him, having bent over a bit to count his bones and that accentuated her curves. When she finished counting, she sighed. "Eighty one. I guess it is a tie…" She turned her head to him and found him staring at her. "Ash?"

He grabbed her and pulled her to him all of a sudden, making her yelp before silencing her with a kiss. May returned the kiss and soon it erupted with passion, tasting each other's lips and of the wing sauces that was coated on them. They withdrew a few minutes later, looking into each other's eyes. "Hmm, lemony spice," quipped Ash, licking his lips, making May giggle and slap his chest.

"How charming," she replied back sarcastically before placing her finger on his lips. She moved her finger over his lips and then a bit against the area around them. Ash wasn't moving, confused as to what she was doing until he saw what she did afterwards. She wiped off some of the wings sauce stains from his lips, removed her finger that was now covered with sauce and put it into her mouth, sucking on it. Ash gulped and he felt his pants become tighter as a bulge grew. "Hmm…tasty," she said in a sultry voice after removing her finger that made him heat up.

"You little tease," he said, making her laugh.

"You know you enjoyed it," she said before giving him a short but loving peck while still sitting on his lap.

"How can I not?" he asked with a grin and she grinned sheepishly, blushing. He reached out and grabbed a few moist napkins that were contained in the small white square packages and opened two of them. He handed one to May and both started wiping their hands before drying up with a towel he pulled out from underneath the table. They wiped each other's mouths clean with the towel after as well.

"Prepared for everything huh?" she asked him, impressed.

"I try to be," he said. When they finished he stood up with her in his arms, making her wrap her arms around his neck before lowering her onto her feet. "There's something I want to show you." He went around to her chair and got her jacket, holding it up for her to wear.

"Thank you and alright," she said as she wore her jacket. Ash put his back on, grasped her hand, interlocking their fingers together before leading her to the mountain. They were surprisingly still able to move around comfortably even with full stomachs. "Ash, why are we going here? It's a dead end."

"You'll see May," he told her. They walked up to the side of the mountain and stopped. Ash placed his free hand on the mountain and pulsed out some aura. A blue wave of energy flowed over the mountain wall before disappearing. The ground shook a bit as an outline of a doorway appeared on the side of the wall that made her gasp loudly. The makeshift stone door sunk in a bit back before sliding to the side. May gasped at what he just did, unable to speak. Ash stepped inside, his aura outlining him to give them some light. May snuggled up against him because she was cold, she couldn't see anything and she was slightly scared. Ash noticed all three and hugged her tightly. "It's alright May. I won't let anything happen to you. It may be a little scary but it's worth it. I promise," he told her.

"I know and you know I trust you. I just can't help it," she said, hugging him tighter. Ash just smiled at her and they continued walking a bit.

They reached another dead end but the path was opened up by Ash pulsing out his aura once more. The dead end was removed to reveal a large circular area. As they walked in, Ash let some Aura Spheres fly up into the middle of the area to light up the chamber with its blue glow while they hovered above them. What May saw made her widen her eyes and take in a sharp breath. There were carved images on the walls of many things but also of several of the legendary pokémon and the largest ones were of the weather trio deities of Hoenn; Rayquaza, Kyogre and Groudon.

"So beautiful," commented May, letting go of Ash to walk closer to the walls. "What is this place?" she asked, brushing her hand against the carvings.

"This is one of the ancient prayer rooms of the Draconids," answered Ash and May glanced back at him with shock.

"The Draconids?! Are you serious?" she asked. She had heard of them but never met anyone who claimed to be a Draconid or anyone who met one. Until now. "How do you know and how did you find this place?!"

"I found out about this place when I was training my aura here with Lucario. We felt something calling out to us and after searching around a bit, we couldn't find anything. That was when Lucario remembered something in the Lore of Aura, how it can guide guardians to hidden places. It was the Aura Guardians of the past who helped the Draconids make this room for them. You need to use aura or a special key that only they have to get in. We used our aura to find this place and when we did, we met the Draconids," he told her.

"You met them?! How could you tell they were Draconids?!" she asked, her voice loud and echoing in the large area. He chuckled while nodding his head.

"Yes. Draconids have a certain vibe, certain aura around them. And they told us that they are Draconids after getting to know one another. Though they were slightly annoyed and angry that we had accidently interrupted their yearly ritual. We met two of their elders and their Lore Keeper, Zinnia. She's a heck of a battler and a very cool girl to know," admitted Ash, making May become a little jealous.

"Is that so? Did anything happen between you two?" she asked with a slight accusing tone of voice, making Ash chuckle.

"No May. How could it? I was thinking about you, Misty, Dawn and Serena all the time. And even if I wasn't, she's not for me and I'm definitely not for her. Plus, she looks like she's in her early twenties but she's actually about a thousand years old," he revealed. May's jaw dropped.

"How is that possible?!" she asked.

Ash just shrugged. "Never told me. She said she can't reveal all their secrets to me even though they felt like they could trust me. Anyways, we got to know one another a bit more and then we battled. I barely won a three on one handicap match; my Charizard, Sceptile and Pikachu versus her Salamence."

"She must be really good to cause three of your best to almost lose against just one of her pokémon," commented May, impressed at this Zinnia and no longer feeling jealous.

"She is," agreed Ash, nodding his head. "Being alive for that long let her get a lot of experience and that's needed to control Dragon types. And this was during my earlier months of training. I could probably take her now no contest." May rolled her eyes but didn't comment, since it was probably true. Ash just chuckled before continuing. "As a reward for being one of the few to beat her though, she gifted me with a pokémon egg that hatched into a Bagon who now has evolved into my very own Salamence."

"Wow. That's kind of her. How come he hasn't battled in the tournament yet and you only used him to look for Leaf?" she asked.

"Well, I don't want people to know about all of my pokémon just yet even though Salamence is almost as battle hungry as Charizard. And it's a she, not he. Oh and she did fight against the Skull Brothers," he corrected her.

"Ah okay, I gotcha." She looked at the carved images again, walking beside the stone wall until an image made her stop. She brushed her hand against it, her eyes watering. "Manaphy…" May felt a gentle but strong hand grasp her shoulder. She leaned her head against it. "I miss him so much…"

"I know May. I tried to find him for you," said Ash and May turned to look at her beloved. "And I did find him. But he couldn't leave the temple and we couldn't go to him. It's the time where the temple is at the lowest point in the oceans for a few months now. I'm sorry May."

May hugged him, keeping her tears at bay. "It's okay Ash. At least I know he's alright. You tried and that means so much to me," she told him. She raised her gaze to his and gave him a loving kiss that sent electricity through them both. When they separated, they smiled at one another before the brunette turned her gaze back to the carvings on the mountain walls to keep her thoughts off of the small blue pokémon. "What's that image?" she asked, pointing to what looked like a ball of fire with a tail that was carved above the weather trio. She separated from Ash and walked closer to it.

"Ah, if I remember correctly, Zinnia told me it's a meteor but it represents more than just that," he said. "She spoke of how the Draconid legends said of how once every thousand years, a great tragedy will befall the world from the sky. She also said that the world can be saved but only if the guardian rises from its slumber to protect life."

"That sounds horrible…" replied May before she had her eyes widen all of a sudden as something clicked in her head, making her look at Ash with concern. "Why does everything have to deal with you? Why so much burden on your shoulders?" asked May, her eyes becoming watery again and fear completely filled her. She went back to Ash and hugged him tightly, letting out some tears over what she heard.

Ash hugged her back and spoke. "It does sound horrible huh? But it's alright. This isn't about me. For once. The guardian she was speaking about was Rayquaza, who did that a thousand years ago. And I don't think we have to worry about that as I don't think this darkness is coming from the sky," he told her, lightly chuckling to keep the mood light.

"Even so Ash, I worry so much about you," she said looking up at him with teary blue eyes. "All the things I've seen you do…all the incredible, risky and dangerous things that you've done…" He felt so terrible for making her become so scared and upset over what he's done. He rubbed her back with both hands gently while tightening his hug on her. May felt some comfort over it but didn't stop, keeping her gaze on his. "I won't be able to live or move on with my life without you. Promise me that you'll never leave me. That you'll never leave us. That you'll never let anything happen to you so you can always be with us…with me," sobbed May, letting it all out. She had been holding that in for a long time and after what she just learned, she couldn't anymore. She lowered her gaze and leaned her head against his chest.

"I promise May," he told her, now gently stroking her head through her hair. "Nothing will keep me from you. From the girls. No one and nothing will be able to prevent me from keeping my promise. Not this darkness…not a meteor…not Ragnarok…not even Arceus himself…nothing can prevent me from being with you all for the rest of my life. I promise." Ash let her sob it out a bit more until she calmed down. He gently raised her gaze to his with his hand. Blue and brown eyes found one another, not wanting to ever look away. He leaned in slowly and gently placed his lips onto hers. May felt the love he has for her through the kiss and that made her heart beat wildly. He slipped his hand into his jacket and pulled out a thin box after separating. "For you May."

May formed her beautiful smile that Ash loved seeing and took the box. She opened it with slightly trembling hands and gasped. Inside it was a white gold necklace with a red diamond crown that had the points of it look like flames against a black pendant background. She turned it over and saw the inscription on the back;

FOR MY PASSIONATE PRINCESS

MAY MAPLE

May flung herself on top of Ash suddenly, making him drop to the ground as she cried out with happiness. "I love it! I love it! Thank you my Knight!" she said while showering him with kisses all over his face. Ash felt himself heating up from all the kissing. When she finally stopped, she looked at her doing. Ash's face was covered in lipstick and it made her giggle. He smiled before sitting up and May ended up sitting on top of his lap.

"I'm glad you like it May. Here let me put it on you," he offered and May let him. After he put the necklace on her, she asked him how it looked. "Perfect only because it's on you." She blushed and got off of him before standing up and helping him up too. Ash grasped May's hands and closed the distance between the two. "May…you are an incredible girl. I love your appetite, your motherly personality and I love that you're passionate about everything. Those are just a few things out of the many that I love about you and can't get enough of."

Ash's compliments made May melt as her heart fluttered. She was looking into his eyes as he said that to her and she could feel the emotion behind them. She also closed the distance between them. "Ash, you are the man of my dreams. Since the very first time I saw you, I believed you to be special and unique. And I was right. You're protective and caring nature, you're refusal to back down when the going gets tough and how you've always been there for me…not to mention the only guy who has an appetite like me." He grinned at that and she giggled a bit before continuing. "No other can ever measure up to you. I love you and only you."

The two leaned in and shared a simple yet deep kiss that sent electricity through them both once again. When they separated, Ash sent a mental message as the two hugged each other tightly. They disappeared into a blue glow and reappeared in his bedroom. It was late, almost midnight, with everyone else fast asleep. They entered the master bathroom connected to the room, washed up, with Ash getting some help from May to get the lipstick off his face and brushed their teeth before they exited. Ash took off his jacket and placed it on the nearby chair, with May doing the same. He went to open the dresser drawer to take out some pajamas but then May moved in front of him.

"Let me choose what we're wearing," she said, slapping his hand away before digging through the clothes. Ash chuckled and was about to step away when May stopped him. "Oh no. You're not going to be able to prank me. You're staying right behind me." She flung her left hand back, grabbed his shirt and brought him up against her as she continued looking through for clothes.

Ash knew what she was up to but before he could mention anything, he froze while letting out a hiss of pleasure. May had started rubbing against him again. Hearing Ash do that, May stopped her 'search', focusing on that instead and continued, making her movements faster and more pronounced as the bulge she felt against her rear became bigger. She couldn't help it, loving the feeling of him against her, especially from behind. She felt a pair of strong hands clamp down on her waist before they slowly traveled up her sides, making her shiver in anticipation from the message. The hands kept going up and then moved forward before grabbing onto her well developed breasts over her dress. She let out a moan as they were squeezed. She become so heated she thought she would burst into flame.

May whirled around, surprising Ash. She grabbed him from his shirt's collar with both hands and pushed him backwards until he hit the wall. She then leaned in and kissed him furiously with him returning it. Both of them were becoming enflamed beyond control but before they lost themselves in it, they separated. Blue and brown eyes looked into one another. "You ready for this?" he asked her in a whisper.

"I am. I love you Ash. With all my heart. I want to experience the next level with you. It's time for us to continue what we started in the morning. And before you ask, I'm on the pill," she said quietly, without any embarrassment. He let a charming smile form on his face.

"I love you May," he said.

The two leaned in and kissed, tasting each other's lips before their tongues got involved. May had one hand cupping his face with the other on his chest, rubbing it. Ash placed one hand in her hair while his other hand with up and down her side. Both of them became enflamed and soon they couldn't take it anymore. May started unbuttoning his shirt with both hands and Ash fumbled a bit with the zipper on the back of her dress. Both became impatient at the same time and did something in the heat of the moment; May had yanked his shirt open, making the buttons go flying everywhere and Ash had ripped apart her dress from behind, the zipper not yielding to him.

"I'm…sorry…May…" he moaned into her mouth as they continued their passionate kiss.

"Don't…care…" she replied, before taking off his tie and pulling his shirt off of him to reveal his muscularly lean body. "You'll…buy me…another…one…" she said in between her kissing as her hands began to unbuckle his belt.

With May not caring, Ash decided to completely forget about the dress. He pulled the clothing apart from the tear he caused using his strength and the red dress split in two. May was startled a bit from the tearing sound but didn't stop her affectionate display. The brunette allowed the now useless item of clothing to fall to her feet at the same time her raven haired lover had his pants drop. Both of them kicked away their clothes and dug a hand into their lovers' underwear. They moaned with pleasure at feeling the other's hand on their most private and sensitive of body parts, rubbing against it. May had her other hand massaging his chest, loving the feeling of his firm body against it. Ash had his other hand behind her back, fumbling around with her bra strap for a bit before finally getting it released. He yanked it off of her and grabbed her now free breast, making her moan into his mouth.

May had kept him up against the wall this whole time and loving it. She stroked his shaft alive, making it stand at attention and harden while still in his boxers. Ash was enjoying it all, letting her take control in the beginning as he played around with her breasts and rubbed her womanhood under her panties. A short while later however, he decided to take control.

He switched their positions around, now pushing her up against the wall, causing her to squeak in surprise before continuing. He started moving down her body, bombarding her with kisses until he reached her magnificent breasts. He licked her nipple before he started to suck on it, making her gasp and then moan loudly. She had really sensitive breasts. She couldn't handle the new sensation and the heat inside her was becoming unbearable now. Ash felt her shivering from his actions and her womanhood became wet. He stuck two fingers in at once that made May jump from it before starting to let out high pitched sounds in between her moaning.

"Ash…oh my god…Ash…" she panted, arching her back against the wall. He was unable to reply, his mind focused on the task at hand. And mouth. He continued his ravenous assault on her tits while he kept fingering her for several minutes, making the brunette tremble from it. She grabbed his head with both hands and pushed him against her supple mounds more, making him bite down onto them. The brunette squealed in joy at that and she felt herself getting hotter and hotter until she felt like she was going to burst. "Ash…I'm going to...to…ah…oh god…oh…I'm gonna..." May was just about to go over the edge from just these sensations alone, her feelings and emotions already over the limit because of his experienced touch. But then he stopped all of a sudden, making the heat slowly die down. "Why'd you…stop?!" she panted, mostly angry and unsatisfied, a little exhausted and a tiny bit relieved.

He raised his head and looked into her eyes. "Because we're just starting," he whispered to her, making her shiver in excitement from his playful tone of voice. He grasped her panties and pulled them down her legs and had her kick them away. She then did the same to him with him kicking away his boxers as well. May then got an idea and grasped his hand before they could get a good look on each other and Ash followed her. She led him to the bedroom balcony door, opened it and went outside with him right behind her. She let go of his hand, walked up to the balcony railings, turned around and leaned against it. Her hands clasped together over her flat stomach, with a sly look on her face, her skin glowing under the moonlight.

"Like what you see?" she asked him with a smirk. Ash couldn't help but stare at her body, more curvaceous than the other girls but still proportionate. Her fair skin, larger than average breasts with pink nipples, her firm round butt and exposed womanhood. He couldn't take his eyes off of her and she couldn't take hers off the sight of his fully nude body either. No matter how much Misty, Dawn and Serena told her, no matter how descriptive and generous they were in their stories, it didn't do him justice. His six pack abs, his firm chest, broad shoulders, toned legs and his well endowed shaft. Hell even his scars looked good. After hearing from her 'sisters' how much pleasure he brought them, she couldn't wait to experience it too. It took a moment for Ash to snap out of it but when he did, he grinned at her and walked towards her.

"I don't like what I see…I love it," he told her before leaning in to give her a kiss, their bodies rubbing against one another.

When they separated, she looked him in the eye, burning with heat. "Show me how much you love me," she told him as she grabbed his shaft and started to stroke it, making him hiss with pleasure.

"What my Princess desires, she will get from her Knight," he told her, making her heart skip a beat.

He lifted her up from her legs, spreading them open while having her lean against the balcony railings. He drew in closer with her guiding him towards her opening. He pushed the tip of it into her slit, making her quiver from feeling the hot shaft in her while the cold wind blew over them. He slowly made his way in until he felt her barrier. He glanced up at her and she nodded. He broke past it and went all the way in, in one swift motion. That caused May to bite down on his shoulder to prevent herself from screaming out loud from the pain and waking up the others. Ash winced from her bite but didn't stop her or comment on it. He stood still for a moment, giving her time to get used to it. When he felt her loosen up on her bite, he slowly moved his lower body, making her let out a moan against his shoulder. That caused him to feel the vibrations from her quivering lips against his skin and that made him want to just thrust into her like there's no tomorrow but didn't. Not yet. He had to get her used to it first.

May was feeling like she was going to burst into flames from feeling him moving in and out of her, becoming so heated from it. She felt so much pain when he broke her hymen at first, her sisters' stories not doing justice on that either. It slowly went away to be replaced with something else completely opposite of pain. His warm member heated her up from inside, preventing the chilly night air from making her feel the cold, though her nipples had stiffened from them cold air blowing past them. "Oh Ash….hmm...it feels so good…"

"The way…you're hugging me…it's making me go crazy!" he said and picked up his pace.

"OH GOD!" cried out May, feeling him increasing his speed and power. "Oh my god! Ash…I don't know…if I…if I…can take this…but don't stop…no matter….what I say…don't stop!" But Ash had no intention of stopping. He continued his pace and even though it was making her feel so overwhelmed, May loved every second of it, feeling like she was in heaven. Or so she thought. When Ash bent down towards her chest and took a stiffened nipple into his mouth, flicking it with his tongue a bit before sucking on it, her feelings intensified and now she believed she was in heaven. "Hmm…" she moaned. She grasped his head with her hands and pushed him down onto her tits again and held him there. "That's…it…Ash…Oh god…hmmm…you love my breasts don't you my Knight…never stop…ah…giving them attention…" she moaned. He mumbled back, his mouth full of her perky tits. Ash kept sucking on her nipples and would bite her breasts every now and then, alternating between the two while also licking once in a while. He kept up his pace as well, moving in and out of her. This continued on for some time before both of them started to feel like they were about to explode. He stopped his assault on her tits, raised his head and looked into her eyes.

"May…I…I can't hold it back anymore!" warned Ash.

"Do it! Fill me up! Make me feel like a real woman!" she ordered. He kissed her and with a final ram that went all the way into her womanhood, he exploded into her. Feeling his seed inside her made her go over the edge and May released. The two separated from their kissing, letting out groans. She leaned forward onto Ash, tired, who was still holding her legs up, frozen in his position. "Oh my god…that was…that was amazing…felt so incredible…but why…why did it have to end?" she whined a bit, her cheek against his chest, hearing his heart beat slowly return to normal.

"Who said…anything…about it ending?" panted Ash a bit. May looked up at Ash in surprise, wondering what he meant. Then she felt it. His shaft was still inside her and still hard. He pumped into her a couple more times, making her moan before he slowly withdrew from her.

She protested it but he didn't listen. She tensed up when she felt the cold breeze flow over her exposed womanhood now. "You're such…a tease," she whined at him while in his embrace, feeling cold, hollow and empty without him inside her.

"You're so impatient…and I'm a tease?" he asked her, making May redden slightly though she grinned at him. "Which reminds me, you tease. Time for payback for today," he lowered her legs back onto the balcony floor, spun her around and had her lean against the cold metal rails while he pressed against her back, his shaft against her ass and his arms wrapped around her stomach. Feeling his warm body behind her with the cold metal against her front, the two opposite sensations made her go ecstatic. "You ought to be punished for all the teasing you did to me today." He rubbed a bit against her ass with his shaft, making her go crazy from feeling it against her rear. "You want it don't you? You want to be punished. Is that right?" he whispered into her ear with a playful growling tone of voice.

She turned her head back towards him, giving him a begging look. "Please Ash…Make me whole again. Put it back in. Put it in and fuck me hard. Punish me for my teasing," she pleaded, grinding against his shaft with her ass. Ash lined up his shaft to her opening again before entering her once more, making May let out a loud moan. She felt complete once more and pleasure coursed through her body instantly. He pushed all the way in before slowly pulling back out and then went back in slowly. He kept going like that, making May go insane from the leisurely yet fulfilling pace. "Ash…that feels amazing…but please stop teasing…go faster…harder…" But he didn't do that. Instead, he raised his hands and grabbed her breasts and started to play with them while continuing his slow pace. Even though she wanted him to go rougher, this slow pace with his hands on her tits sent her pleasure levels higher, especially when he pinched her nipples. "Hmmm…that feels so great...oh..." She then felt one of his hands move higher and then cupped her face. He gently turned her gaze back towards him and she felt a pair of lips against hers. Their tongues immediately got involved and tasted each other. Ash couldn't control himself anymore and started picking up his pace, pumping into her like a wild man, slamming into her from behind, making her breasts and her necklace that was still on her to bounce from his actions.

May squealed loudly at the new pace before it caused her to moan and pant loudly into his mouth as they kissed. "Yes...yes…YES!" They separated a short while later and their eyes locked. "Ash! That's it! Fuck me! Teach me a lesson!" she said with zest with their gazes so close to one another, feeling the other's hot breath land onto their face.

"You're gonna be sore in the morning!" he replied back cheekily while thrusting into her powerfully.

They continued like this for several minutes longer. May was feeling so much joy from the rough yet pleasurable movements inside her that she didn't think she could survive it all. Ash was losing himself from the way she was hugging his shaft, her body against his, the cold wind blowing over them and started to go even faster and harder, making her let out high pitched moans. He grabbed hold of her tits tightly, squeezing them while using them as something to hold onto while plowing into the brunette that he loved so much. That made May become even more heated and she started letting out very loud lewd noises from it. The two kissed at once to keep her from waking up the others.

When it came to the point of almost no return, they stopped their kissing, blue and brown eyes looking into the other. "Oh God! Ash…I'm almost…there…but…oh damn…too much…Ash…I can't…"

"You asked…for this!" replied Ash. He lowered his hands, clamped down onto her waist and summoned up the last of his energy. He started ramming into her like he was possessed from behind, slamming against her rear with no remorse, causing smacking sounds to cut through the quiet air and forcing May to grab onto the metal railings to keep herself up.

"OH SHIT! ASH! I'm gonna…" she couldn't continue, panting and moaning so much from his movements, feeling the heat inside her overwhelming her senses.

"MAY! I'm about to…to…" stammered Ash before going silent, focusing on the task at hand, feeling all of his essence gathering to a single point in his lower body. Both of them felt like they were going to explode, their emotions and feelings so over the limit.

"FUUCCCKKKK!" exclaimed the two together all of a sudden after one final deep thrust. Both of them had released at the same time with Ash feeling hers wash over his shaft and May felt his seed once again fill her and warm her up from the inside. Both of them stayed frozen from the blissful feeling for a bit before they dropped to the balcony floor, unable to stay standing but remained connected. They panted loudly, trying to regain some energy back. May slowly glanced back at him and Ash looked at her. Both of them smiled sheepishly before leaning in and finished their lovemaking with a kiss.

"You were…heavenly," said Ash when they separated and May formed her beautiful smile that he loved seeing so much once more.

"You were out of this world," complimented May and Ash formed his goofy trademark smile.

A gust of wind shot over them, making both of them shiver. They nodded at one another and May got up, his shaft slipping out of her, making her feel even colder now as well as a little hollow again but was completely satisfied from their love making. She helped him up onto his feet and afterwards, he instantly picked her up into his arms, making her squeak in surprise. She thought he would be exhausted but it looked like he still had enough energy to do that.

He walked back into the bedroom, closed the balcony door, opened the bed covers and lowered her gently onto the bed. He followed in after her and drew up the covers. May had him snuggle up against her again like the previous night, with her butt against him and his arm wrapped around her. Both of them started warming up, lying against one another's bare bodies. The brunette glanced back at the raven haired man and gave him a simple but long kiss filled with her love and he did the same.

"I love you. Goodnight my Passionate Princess," he whispered to her after separating.

"I love you too. Sweet dreams my Knight," she said to him.

They laid their heads onto the pillow. May interlocked their fingers together before resting their hands against her bare breasts. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep after a few minutes. Ash watched her sleeping for a bit before he lifted his head to look at her face. "I swear nothing will keep me from you May. I will never leave you or the girls. You all are my life. My heart will cease to beat if anything happened to any of you." He leaned in a bit and kissed the side of her forehead gently, making her hum in response before quieting. He smiled before lowering his head back down against his pillow and closed his eyes. It didn't take too long since he was so tired out but also because he felt so comfortable as well. He fell asleep feeling happy and content with everything regarding him and his girlfriends.

As the couple drifted into their dreams, a single person was wide awake in her bed, tears going down her cheeks. She had woken up a short time ago, after the couple came back home. She was tired out and very sore from the training she partook in that day. But she got out of bed anyways and made her way to the kitchen to get some water. After drinking some and taking a bottle from the fridge, she was about to go back to her room when she thought she heard something. She moved closer to the sound, expanding her psychic powers to sense who or what was causing it. She stopped, rooted in her spot the second she realized who was making it.

She felt her heart shoot up to her throat and her stomach start churning as if she was poisoned. She couldn't stop 'seeing' what was happening behind the nearby closed door of the master bedroom thanks to her psychic powers. Words, emotions and images flashed in her mind. She saw him and her going at it, like animals in heat, panting, moaning, grabbing, caressing and kissing. She saw him in her mind attack her, teasing her, pleasuring her, making love to her and she saw her loving every single second of it. She saw them finish and saw them tell each other how much they love one another. She saw them cuddle in bed, telling each other their pet names for one another. But what she saw at the end of it all, when he made that promise after his lover fell asleep, that he would never leave her and that she was his life, the dark haired beauty broke out of her trance and shot to her bed in her room.

Sabrina stayed up for a long time, crying silently into her pillow. She had thought he had seen something in her earlier that day, when he helped her finish her run. The way he held her, the way he spoke to her with concern in his voice. Could she have been fooled once again? She couldn't read his mind to find out if she was wrong or right. She couldn't tell how he felt about her. The only person she ever truly had any feelings for, the only person who ever did anything for her and she couldn't get him to notice her. Even after their dancing in the club, even after sharing some of their most personal secrets with one another, even after training together…he still didn't notice her.

What do I have to do?! Why won't you notice me Ash? Why won't you speak to me like you did to May? Why won't you hold me, kiss me, love me like you did to her? Why? I thought…I thought you meant what you said in the forest…I thought…Sabrina stayed awake a little while longer, thoughts swirling in her head with tears freely falling from her eyes. Finally, after snapping herself out of it, composing herself again, she had decided on something. What I thought can't be wrong or false. I've never felt this way before and I didn't sense any falseness in his words. He does care. I just need to show him, to make him notice me, to make him realize that he does want me, need me. I swear to Arceus…I will do everything within my power to show him what he means to me…and to prove that I'm worthy to be with him…to have him say to me what he told her…that he loves me and can't live without me either. After she made that promise, Sabrina slowly fell asleep, seeing dreams of her and the only person she had ever cared about…together.