I called it a 'revision' but honestly, it's too different to call it that. Hope it's alright, this time.
Enjoy!
Well, despite everything he's said and done, despite Lance being home and a nurse being here, there's not a sound to be heard. Not from anyone, except Meep's occasional chirp considering she's pretty pleased about how speedy she's become.
Having been peeking around the corner for a good half hour without being spotted at all, Ash sees Wallace with his back towards Clair, who is leafing through a magazine while Steven is on his phone. However, either she's gotten trouble reading or she's not reading at all, Clair has been leafing through that same magazine for as long as he's been standing there. And Steven isn't even looking at his phone, Ash is behind him and all the teen sees is a black screen so the man isn't even paying attention to it. The intrusive thought to call him and give him a bit of a scare makes the teen leave, afraid he'll give in. But yeah, despite the joy of his favourite person being home again, the mood's gotten a little frosty and he's at wits end on what to do, seeing they aren't speaking to each other. All he can come up with is that either Steven or Wallace overheard Claire's 'apology' for being an asshole towards him and kept bringing it up, that things went downhill from there.
Ash isn't sure where to go from here, to be honest, he's gotten his sights set on getting Meep to become the best she possibly can, all while trying to dodge Mewtwo's request to champion train it as well… not to mention the odd dreams he's been having since he went to Hisui. Adaman plays a big part in them, always does as he's the first one the teen sees when he starts dreaming and no, it's not due to attraction, it's likely due to the fact that all of his memories of being there are fuzzy except for Adaman. If he had any talent for drawing, he could bring him to life on paper again, that vividly he still remembers the man. But, considering that no one in the house needs him close -not even his uncle since he's being cared for by the nurse who will be here for quite a few hours still- he goes back to his room, only to halt in the doorway because there's something on his bed. And Dialga sits next to it as if it just went to play fetch. Now, Ash might be imagining it but the pokémon seems delighted with itself, it even does a little binky when he approaches his bed.
"What's gotten into you?" Ash asks when Dialga playfully darts away when he tries to reach out to it.
There's no response, the pokémon isn't very talkative and honestly, he's willing to bet all of his luck on the fact Mewtwo has gone to search for these berries that supposedly reset the stats of a pokémon who has battled before and thus, gotten the wrong kind of experience. As if these actually exist, he would very much like it if the pokémon would leave his phone alone and not chase something basically worthless as Ash feels like he can't make Mewtwo any more perfect than it already is. To him, there isn't something like 'wrong' experience so he finds it weird and a little sad that Mewtwo's gotten such a thought in its head. Still, he promised to support it so if the pokémon finds those berries, he'll do what Mewtwo asks of him, if only to make it happy.
Ash shakes his head and stares at the box on his bed, it looks… old. How does he know? There's a really weird knot on the top, he's not seen it before and considering good knowledge always gets lost in time, he's got a hunch where this package has come from.
"Went back to Hisui, then, did you?" he asks and Dialga continues bouncing on his bed like a young pokémon, completely unresponsive. "Not at all helpful, huh?"
'You know I can be.'
Ash rolls his eyes.
"You know how much this experience puts me on edge. Why'd you even go back in the first place?"
'Unfinished business.'
A short and sweet answer but Ash likes spicy better. He doesn't know how to feel about unfinished business in the past, his heart squeezes at the idea that he'd left them with an issue of any sort. Well, other than kidnapping one of their wardens, that is. It's a pretty hefty box too, perhaps it's a good thing it's all ice downstairs, he'd hate for anyone to walk in and see it and then try to question him about it. With a lot of repugnance, he undoes the knot and checks the contents. Of course, there is a letter, it's a big thing but there's a lot of confusing information inside it, he remembers Adaman alright, Irida a bit more fuzzily but her name is familiar enough… but who the hell is Cogita and why would she be giving him her regards? What did he do? There's a drawing of the temple at the Spear Pillar too, did he mention to Adaman that it was broken up and in pieces all missing back at his time? Did he admit being a time-traveller to him? It's hand-drawn too, Adaman took some time putting all of this together… if he gave this to Cynthia, she'd be able to repair the temple. He'd feel pretty good if he saw it all complete again, it'd be a treasure with all the pokémon who don't exist in these times, put out for show and yet, what would she tell everyone? How sure can she be that this is real?
To add insult to injury, there's a mention of the Forty, Adaman wrote him that they are thankful for his support and that he will endeavour to keep them safe for as long as he can. It makes Ash a little teary, especially if this seemed so important to the man but that his brain couldn't be bothered to remember it. Still, the 'Forty'… the name rings a bell but at the same time, he can't recall where he heard it before. There's a sound downstairs, he's quick to shove the box under his bed but then a sound from inside it catches his interest and he's torn between going downstairs or staying here and risking someone coming up to his room. He holds still for a little while, to hear if someone's coming up the stairs. There isn't any noise, though so he carefully slides the box from under his bed again and checks what made that odd noise he heard. He blinks, there are a couple of marbles but like, really big ones, almost the size of his fist. Adaman mentions that they're a gift to him and that he'll find them useful but he doesn't specify what they are and it's got Ash scratching his head.
To his horror, there's a knock on the door, he's been so focused on the letter he never heard any other noise but it's certainly not Clair, she would've barged in already. Ash carefully slides the box back to where he had hidden it, only to hesitate because it would be an easy-to-spot item for anyone who decides to snoop. Heaven knows if his aunt doesn't still think he's somehow responsible for that awful weather, she might come in and look for evidence. But whoever was at his bedroom door, had patience, it took Ash a couple of minutes to decide where to put it but in the end, he decided on the sock drawer and then, when he was sure that it was carefully hidden, he goes to check out if that person is still at his door and lo and behold, they are. It's just… Ash didn't expect it to be Lucian, of all people, to be standing there, already halfway turned from the doorway, as if he was already planning to leave. But if he's going to talk about waving his freak flag again, he's slamming the door in the man's face.
"Oh, hey, I almost thought I caught you mid-nap," the man chuckles but Ash fails to see the mirth of it.
"You caught me mid-something, yeah. What's up?"
"I volunteered to go shopping but I don't know where the supermarket is. Wallace told me you would like to come with me."
'Wow, that sounded so forced,' is all Ash can think but he finds himself nodding, if only not to make this situation even more awkward.
How did he get here if he doesn't know his way around Mahogany? Isn't he a good friend of Lance? Well, he's in it for the ride, he couldn't possibly refuse but Ash is going to blow a fuse if Wallace will be singling out Clair with whomever else arrived here today and continue the argument they had before figuring out that he could overhear them. Also, Lucian is nervous, he's not exactly biting his nails but he's nibbling on something around his finger and Ash rules out cannibalism so it's got to be nerves.
"Okay?" he asks and the man snaps his head up, as if horribly surprised by the idea of any interaction. "I guess not, then" Ash deadpans. "What's gotten you worried, then?"
"Was there a fight before?"
"No, just Clair being herself. Why, did you slip on the ice around them?"
"Err… Almost. You're sure you're not involved? You don't exactly seem happy."
"Being accused of witchcraft does that to me," the teen says dryly. "But I'm not sure whether that had anything to do with whatever went on down here."
"Ah. Well, Cynthia figured you had something to do with it, she's trying to defuse whatever happened."
Oh, he did something again, huh? Ash refrains from rolling his eyes, he knows better than to trust someone who's so smooth like Lucian. Might as well write your diary on the walls of a subway with this man, he's so used to getting things his way he likely doesn't realise when he's crossing a line. And that's a bad thing around Ash, he's full of lines and pitfalls and today isn't going great for him so that's promising. However, when he sees Clair stomp past him, straight into the garden, the teen figures that he ought to not trust Cynthia near a bomb but then again, his aunt is such a big field of red flags, they should be careful with any planes flying overhead, they might confuse her for a landing strip. Wallace made a great point, though, Cynthia must've honed into his good intentions and probably sided with him straight away, he should be thankful for these people looking out for him but excuse him for being a little upset at the excellent timing of all this Tauroscrap that's happening. Lance's return should've been smooth and cool, not rocky and as cold as the mood is right now. How is the man going to relax when he needs to walk on eggshells all the time?
"Do you know why she just walked past us as if we were air?" Lucian asks, looking confused but honestly, it's not a bad look on him.
"Like I said, she accused me of witchcraft."
"What the heck did you do for her to say that?"
"According to her, I influenced the weather. And I thought we talked it out but Wallace doesn't seem ready to let it go and Clair is many things but not tolerant."
"… She thought you made that freak storm happen?"
"More like thinking I called Tornadus and Thundurus to create it."
"Wasn't it on TV that those two pokémon weren't here but in Unova at the time?"
"She called it fake news and shut down the TV," Ash answers. "Look, I don't care she's mean to me, there's nothing she could tell me that I haven't heard yet. I just wished it would go away, I'm so worried about Lance, this isn't right!"
"It isn't, that's why we're going shopping to make a party happen, yes?"
"No drinks, I don't want to clean up after you again."
Lucian falls silent after that as if it couldn't get any more awkward. The cashier is bewildered to see the man but professional enough not to say anything about the elite trainer passing by her, sulky as he's carrying the heaviest bags. Ash isn't bothered by the show of this forced weakness, it's not his fault the man doesn't get any other training than carrying his huge ego around all day and it's not as if he's getting off scot-free. He's got one leg less than Lucian and certainly not any ego to carry around, just his own worries which are heavy enough at the moment so sure, he'll carry the second heavy bag but he will complain about it if Lucian dares to say something to him about it.
He doesn't get the chance to moan about not having any feeling in his fingers, though, Cynthia takes the bag from him with a blinding if not truly unfitting smile on her face and Agatha, who takes him to the living room and talks about all kind of everything that basically didn't mean much to Ash. Yep, he survived the storm, yes he'd been a little scared and yeah, he know what kind of stick was up Clair's butt but that didn't mean there was anything he could do, the teen told his godmother several times that he thought they'd talked it out but somehow, the conversation always went back to the part that confused him and that was the part he hadn't actually seen happen, where Wallace encountered Clair. But with his aunt being M.I.A for now and Wallace busy in the kitchen, Ash gets so bored by the accusations that he drones out whatever is being said, he can't bring up the energy to be bothered with it, not when there's something more pressing on his mind. Ash just can't let go of Cogita or the Forty mentioned and he spends some time trying to rack his brain into remembering it because he can't stand the idea of him having forgotten about it!
"Try not to overexert yourself, child," Necrozma says, softly, as if it too is afraid to upset him even more.
But Ash won't surrender his thoughts so easily, if it was important in the past then it's important now too. He won't let this time-traveller disease get to him.
"It is not time-traveller disease. Not this time."
What is he supposed to do then? Listen to people trying to answer questions he doesn't know how to answer because he wasn't there? Hasn't he suffered enough now? Honestly, Ash almost wishes he never left Kalos at all now, even in between the irate Gym leaders and issues with adults, no one comes even close to how bad his aunt can make him feel. Maybe that's on him too, Lance told him she didn't like the supernatural and still, he explained a few things to her and even while he kept it surface level, Clair somehow manages to pin all the issues in her life on him.
"Maybe you should go and have a rest, you have gone through something bad only recently."
Ash stands up automatically, he hadn't been listening to what everyone around him was saying and so he manages to walk out mid-conversation, leaving a couple of startled people behind. He goes to bed, knowing better than to pass up on good advice, he's out like a light but downstairs, Wallace, Cynthia and Agatha stare at the staircase in slight horror still.
"Did he just up and leave?" Cynthia asks, bewildered because that is the most disrespectful thing she's ever seen anyone act towards Agatha and the last person she would expect that kind of behaviour from would be Ash.
"I have the firm suspicion he wasn't even listening," the elderly woman sighs and shakes her head. "How I wished for Clair to understand what kind of effect she has on that boy, he is clearly badly affected by what she said."
"No," Wallace says and he's got a frown on his face. "He's not bothered about Clair at all, he knows what she's like and all that's happened right now is the fact that we've put our foot in something and reminded him of something he would've forgotten otherwise. But he wouldn't have let this bother him unless there's something else."
"All in all, I find it incredibly childish of Clair to put up a show like this on the same day of Lance's return home," Agatha huffs, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "She better be prepared, next time, if I confront her, I'll have Gengar on watch."
He's missed lunch and Cynthia is not pleased. Ash looks at her oddly, he's not seen her this upset before so that's interesting. Less interesting that she's upset with him but these days, there's no pleasing anyone, not even him. That nap did more bad than good but at least Kozzy tried to help, that's more than anyone in this house has done. All this talk isn't doing much for him but honestly, Cynthia made a sandwich for him and the poor piece of bread has been so brutally cut, he almost pities it.
"Ash, talk to me," she says but he comes up empty on what to say.
"Where's Lucian?" he ends up saying and she sighs.
"Outside, looking for Clair. Why, would you rather talk to him?"
"No."
Her expression is priceless but she's too polite to call him out on his Tauruscrap.
"Are you okay, Ash?"
"Err… Good enough? I mean, when's this supposed party?"
"When Clair returns, of course."
"Oh, so there's fireworks too, huh? Cool, remind me when they've found her, I'll go upstairs."
"Was she that mean to you, Ash?"
"She was just stressed, Lance getting into a burn-out while he's still her role model must've shaken her up a little, I'm not kidding when I say she's been so stressed, she might be next in line for the burn-out, though I feel there won't be a party for her when she gets home."
Cynthia gives him that look only unimpressed women can manage so honestly, he might just be keeping his mouth shut for the rest of the time she's here.
"Have you been talking to your therapist recently?"
"Err… No, he's in hospital. Forgot to call the replacement therapist too. My mistake."
"Please call them for me. If you can't talk to me, maybe they'll be able to make it easier for you."
Ash blinks, he doesn't think he's even got the number of the replacement therapist any longer but sure, he'll do it if it means not being put on the grill. So he eats the sandwich that disappears inside his hungry stomach and then goes upstairs, to see if he can't find that number anywhere. But the thing is, he's easily distracted, seems like Mewtwo has found what it was looking for, otherwise it wouldn't be looking so smug. However, the pokémon's expression falters a little when it lays its eyes on Ash. Is there something written on his forehead or is he just pulling a face without realising it?
"What on earth has happened while I was away?"
"I dunno, I can't remember. Do you know who Cogita is?"
Mewtwo blinks but then pats the bed, a clear sign for the teen to go and sit down. Ash takes it as a 'yes' and sighs.
"Sorry, I think I forgot a lot. Kozzy says it's not time-traveller disease this time but I'm finding that hard to believe."
"You did not forget anything last time, you just got ill and that's what time-traveller disease does to one. But when it comes to the brain, it has no hold over it, the only one who does is you. And now I am worried because this is unlike you. Especially since you did like Cogita a lot."
"… I… Did she look like Cynthia, by any chance?"
"She very much did, yes."
The teen hums, his memories don't get any less foggy but honestly, he's getting nervous.
"I don't suppose you know if I was ever given the number for the new therapist?"
"You were not, I do suppose you could get away by notifying the hospital. Have you gotten any rest in between all this?"
"I did have a nap but that seemed to upset Cynthia because I slept through lunch."
"Humans," Mewtwo sighs and goes to lie down on the bed, Ash automatically does the same. "I want you to realise something, friend."
"Yeah?"
"You want to help and at the same time, it traumatizes you. And I am none the wiser, I learn from you and I have nothing to show for you to learn from me because if I had, you would care an awful lot less. This entire world can go to hell if only I know that you are safe with me, okay?"
"Okay."
"So, tell me that you are not scared, that you are okay or I will go back to the past and destroy them before you even met them."
"Mewtwo!" Ash exclaims, jumping up. "No, that's not right! I-if Cogita, if she is one of Cynthia's ancestors, what if she-"
His voice leaves him, the idea of Cynthia not existing, it doesn't sit right, in fact, he feels worse than before.
"Calm down. You are right, I can tell this makes you more upset so that means you are still yourself."
"That was mean," the teen sniffs, he got tears in his eyes at the idea of the amazing woman not existing. "Just because I forgot a bit, doesn't mean I want to see them punished. No one in the past has anything to do with it."
"But, then why are you not feeling safe?"
He blinks a few times, is this what he's been feeling the whole time? Ash understood that there was something earlier but he had blamed discomfort because the mood downstairs was chilly at best. But what if Mewtwo is right? What if he doesn't feel safe? As ironic as it would be because all he ever wanted was for his uncle to be home, safe and sound and now when the man is back like he wished for, he's suddenly not feeling safe any longer?
"You know what? I don't even know myself."
"Did you, perhaps, sleep alone?"
"… I think so. Pikachu and Dreepy were downstairs, trying to see how far they could go without being seen."
"Perhaps you should not do that again."
Sounds like a good plan, he'll have Gliscor out too, the pokémon has been convinced that it can purr his worries out of his head and considering Ash has had nothing but worries in his head since his accident, the pokémon has a full-time job. He's willing to bet that Fletchling and Froakie would like being out of their pokéball too… But first, he messages the hospital, just so that he has something to tell Cynthia when he goes back downstairs. On his way down, his phone lights up with a notification that dr. Knight is still his designated therapist, as the man has recently resumed his function after sick leave. Ash knows better than to believe he was sick but then again, not every illness is tradition so it might as well be the case. Still, his heart jumps a little, the message tells him that, if he would like it, they will notify dr. Knight to he desires a visit and that they'll let him know when it can be arranged. Of course, he sends back a very delighted 'yes, please' and so that's that.
"And?"
He jumps a little, he's still on the staircase and Cynthia apparently came looking for him.
"Whoa, I didn't expect you here! I was just looking at my phone, the hospital told me that my original therapist is back from sick leave, they'll see if he can come to visit sometime."
"Oh. Well…"
"Is it okay if I go to bed, though? I'm not feeling like doing much today."
"No, no, that's fine. Just… take care of yourself, Ash. I'd hate for something to happen to you and not just for Lance's sake, I care a lot about you. And I'm not kidding when I say that I'm very angry at Clair for what she did to you."
"Let go of it, that's not what's bothering me. I would rather have you guys at ease and not focus on her because she's not worth it. Sure, she can be kind but that's not who she is and no, I don't believe in second chances, people never change and I know she won't ever accept who I am. But the thing is, I'm not her responsibility, Lance made that very clear to me at the time when she had already upset me a couple of times. And it's hard for me to adapt because I've followed the words of a woman for most of my life so it's a hard-to-break habit. But every time she pulls something like this, I'm reminded why Lance is so adamant to keep her separated from me, so much so that he would rather have Steven and Wallace take care of me instead of Clair."
"Did they succeed?"
"In calling out her bullshit? Yeah, they sure did," Ash chuckles. "Without Wallace, we wouldn't be in this situation. But this small thing isn't enough for me to even consider disliking him, he gave me my first birthday party, I don't care what he does, Wallace has a permanent place in my heart."
"First… Oh, that reminds me, I got you a present too," she says and her eyes widen. "Lance told me that it could be no matter what but I got so caught up in everything, I forgot all about it. Gosh, is it okay if I send it here later? It's in my house still."
"Yeah, that's cool, don't worry about it."
Ash feels a little fuzzy, next to the idea of seeing dr. Knight again, Cynthia also had a birthday present for him? Gosh, maybe it's not so bad, being here. If only he could get the confirmation that he's doing something good, that would be awesome. Maybe tomorrow then, he's looking forwards to going to bed too much to be bothered today. Nothing beats sleeping in a heap of pokémon anyway, not even Mewtwo's prodding about his feelings for the training the pokémon very much wants to have. Instead of Mewtwo volunteering, though, it seems to have gotten Pikachu aboard and not even Ash's remark of Pikachu having the right nature for champion training can deter the pokémon, it counters with the fact that there are apparently mints for solving that issue. But it's not an issue for him and the teen's stomach churns uncomfortably at the idea of changing that, though, as if he doesn't see the difference between pokémon to pokémon, even if they have the same nature… but it's a base they all starts with. Everyone who claims he's independent has not seen him without Pikachu, Ash is very dependent on his little buddy. The idea of anything changing about Pikachu spikes such anxiety, it goes straight against his ideals!
"Okay, okay, no mints, I promise. But you could still train him a little."
"Why are you so hell-bent on changing, Mewtwo?" the teen asks as he sits up in his bed to look at the pokémon in front of him, feeling sad but mostly angry. "You know how I feel about this."
"I do but it is all nice and fuzzy to trust us to protect you but I would like to feel the same way."
"You doofus! And you tell me that you don't know what's wrong with people? That's what's wrong with people, thinking that they're never good enough while I would kill anyone who attempts to change you in any way."
"I will not let you aim anything at yourself."
"That was accidental!" Ash cries. "I was hurt and alone and you choose to sit with me through all my anger and misgivings, we are friends and I've learned from you and you from me. I never meant for this to happen, I-"
"Should shut up. And sleep."
The teen swallows the lump in his throat and sags back into the space between his pokémon. Gliscor makes a huffy sound and nuzzles its face against his neck. Dreepy nestles closely against his foot and Pikachu's at the top of his head. At some point, Mewtwo lays down again as well but by that time, Ash is too sleepy to care, yet one thing still is vividly in his mind and that's the idea of sitting Mewtwo down and talking to it about that champion training.
Come morning, Ash sees all the signs of him having a bad day, his knee hurts bad and his balance leaves a lot to be desired. But his true desires overpower his weakness, sure, he's bent over his bowl of cereal with tears pricking at the edges of his eyes as he couldn't even get his prosthesis on but like hell will it stop him from going about his day. A long trip might not be an option right now but whatever he's got in mind doesn't need him to be mobile much. So if his left leg believes it can keep him at bay, he's about to prove it wrong. It helps that Steven pretends not to notice that he's in pain and just offers him an icepack, for comfort. It's Agatha who pipes up with the idea that a warm one and smiles at him when he catches her eye who makes his day a little better. She says that the weather's changing and that old wounds always ache the worst at those times. The fact that the warmth does help soothe his pain doesn't make Ash any happier, weather changes all the time so he'll be a walking forecast at the rate this is going! Whatever, one extra weird thing about him won't change much and honestly, he's feeling better, enough to go and sneak into his uncle's room.
He's been warned that Lance has changed, they call him snappy and upset but none of them answer Ash when he asks them if they were doing something that his uncle has never liked, not even the nurse who appears to be kind -but you can never be sure. As helpless as he is, the teen feels like he won't upset his uncle much, he's already struggling to open the door because putting his weight against it does nothing to help his balance. But he manages to pry it open, peeking carefully behind it and sighing in relief when he sees his uncle sitting up in the darkened room, meaning he didn't wake him up. Ash expected the darkened room, this dark but not actually dark atmosphere is something he knows Lance enjoys but everyone seems to be confused and worried about him doing it, all while he's been doing it for as long as Ash has been with him. His uncle hates the dark after what's happened in Orre, perhaps he's come back a changed man after Orre but the future can't change it, it can only bring comfort. Ash knows better than to approach his hurt guardian with questions, with some effort, he manages to give him a gentle kiss on his cheek and then flops down on the bed, right next to the man.
"Today is a shitty day," the teen concludes, a little wasted from the effort it took him to get up the stairs without his prosthesis but with a crutch that seriously got in the way.
"Mm," his uncle hums but snakes an arm around his shoulder.
Ash leans into the gesture, a smile creeps on his face but he's not sure if Lance is looking at him. Doesn't care much either, he's heard enough from the people downstairs, especially Cynthia is very vocal about her worries but as far as he knows, bothering people constantly won't have a great effect either and Lance certainly isn't an exception. He could've done without the blanket, though, it's the one he gave to his uncle at his first Christmas but heavens, it's a winter thing but Ash doesn't dare say anything because the man looks so peaceful, huddled with him under this blanket. He's sweating up a storm but like hell will he give up on this. The nurse arriving frees the teen from his prison made of his selflessly given blanket but he needs a shower, he feels sweaty and nasty but it was worth it. Cynthia looks at him weirdly when he comes down with wet hair but the teen doesn't care, he's going to get Flygon and Gible to go and lay with Lance. Perhaps the Gible doesn't like being near the man as much as Flygon does but at least the little pokémon is even less tolerant to Tauroscrap than Lance is and will chase the people intent to bother the man away. The nurse, who won't stay as long as yesterday, doesn't care if there are pokémon as long as they don't bite her so all is well. Now, however, it's time to have a chat with Mewtwo.
The pokémon surrenders before Ash can say anything, possibly because it already knows what he's about to say and there's no way Mewtwo can change Ash's unshakeable ideas about pokémon. But it wouldn't be like Mewtwo if it suddenly didn't find a different candidate and this time, it shouldn't be making much of a difference because it's Gible who volunteers. He tries to find a reason why the pokémon is so bloody concerned about undermining its weakness, being strong in something doesn't necessarily mean being weak in something else but it sure does when being super trained because all the attention goes to two stats and the others get nothing. If he were to, for example, give Pikachu the bad nature, his defence could drop and his natural weakness to Ground-types would be wide open to be exploited. Sure, Gible doesn't mind but that's the difference in character, it's how Ash knows the difference between Pikachu, who will be by his side no matter how great an evil is in front of him, while Gible won't care if the world explodes. As long as nothing hurts the little dragon, he won't do anything but as soon as something happens to Gible, the pokémon will follow relentlessly, not willing to give up his search for vengeance.
"Okay, let's do it, then," Ash then says, figuring that he won't be able to get the idea out of Mewtwo's head and considering the idiot got it into Gible's head and the little dragon being as adamant as possible, there's no way of changing Gible's mind.
Pikachu is reasonable like that, like that time when someone offered them this little, shrivelled pepper and the pokémon had gleamed at the opportunity but Ash knew they were being presented a Carolina Reaper, which would've burned a hole in the roof of their mouth. But if Gible wanted the pepper, well… he would've eaten it, even though the pokémon would've likely learned flamethrower after that, if not worse.
"You… is it truly okay?" Mewtwo asks, not having expected that, apparently.
"Watch it, your psychic powers are lacking. Shouldn't you be saying 'I knew it?' instead?" Ash grins and the pokémon blinks at him.
"Possibly but you have surprised me. You have led me astray there."
"Just be careful of whatever you promised Gible, though. He's going to be wanting it."
"Ah, but greatness is enough of a promise, Pikachu will be-"
Mewtwo pulls its paw away from where electricity is dangerously crackling all around the pokémon on Ash's shoulder and the teen just chuckles.
"I don't think you should finish that sentence."
"… Quite."
"So, where do we get the berries for the stats?"
"You do have a card where you can order free berries, do you not?"
"Oh, so I've got to order them too? You're full of jokes today, Mewtwo, congratulations. Can you at least tell me the names of the berries?"
"I most certainly can!"
Ash can guarantee that Gible will hate the diet of these berries, he's going to have to eat spicy food and that's certainly not his favourite taste, sour ones absolutely not either but tough, Grepa berries are in the mix too. He orders all of them and normally, in a few hours, they'll be delivered. Perfectly in time for lunch, they can start right away! As predicted, Gible isn't happy with the idea of his food being affected but Ash comforts the little dragon that it won't last long, until his 'redundant' points are gone which should be speedy enough.
That all in mind, he feels like he needs to go and visit some places, he's not done any research on where to find the pokémon to beat but all in due time. He wonders if Mewtwo will come to regret the decision to be so adamant but at any rate, Ash has been wanting to train Gible so that's at least something he can look forwards to. If, of course, he can manage to put his prosthesis on, he's tried it before coming down but the downside of the heat pack that eased the pain is that his knee or whatever remains of it is now too swollen to fit into the top. So that sucks, here's to hoping it'll fit tomorrow or he'll have to call the hospital. He won't know what to do if he's got an infection on it, somehow.
His phone rings, it's dr. Knight! Ash is delighted to speak to the man, perhaps a little too happy and no, they don't get to the issue Cynthia wanted to discuss yesterday but the teen feels lighter and he's told he doesn't need an appointment… because, with Lance being home and rather being left alone most of the time, the teen thinks it's about time he starts to think about returning to Kalos. Dr. Knight is all for it, in all honesty, the man seems to believe that he should've never left, to begin with. And no matter how much Ash splutters, he realises that he's just been involved in a lot of unnecessary drama but then again, that happened in Kalos too. That's something dr. Knight doesn't have an answer too, today seems to be the day where the teen has the upper hand in comebacks. Fat good that'll do him. But at least he feels better than before, the berries he had ordered a while ago, arrive in perfect condition and like he excepted, Gible absolutely hates the taste of the spicy berries but at least he doesn't need to eat a lot of them. Ash still has his handy app by hand so he can check the pokémon's stats before he overfeeds Gible some food the poor pokémon doesn't like.
It's all in good nature, though, Cynthia is fascinated and apparently relieved that his focus has shifted from trouble towards something productive. It's funny how Clair is worried about how many murderous and powerful pokémon he has around him while everyone else keeps supporting him to make his pokémon as powerful as they possibly could be. Before he can even grin and say that Gible is ready for training, she has a gift for him that makes his skin crawl. But he likes Cynthia so much, he accepts the marble but dammit! Now he has a full team of pokémon who can possibly mega-evolve and a perfect target for the criminal that's probably made a lot of progress with whatever misdemeanours they had been planning and which Ash made easier to obtain due to professor Sycamore being an asshole towards him. Man, maybe he ought to rethink his strategy when he goes back to Kalos. Perhaps playing nice despite the Gym leaders being butt-hurt about everything he does and making as little waves as possible might work. Also, as much as Lucian wants to wave freak flags, maybe Ash ought to use them a lot less, if not at all and certainly try not to pull stunts like that Cresselia feather, unless it's absolutely necessary, like Tierno's case. Perhaps he shouldn't be telling anyone anything either, maybe they could figure it out on their own but even so, they won't be able to know all of his extra-ordinary talents as Ash doesn't use all of his and not very often too.
"You're thinking very hard there," the kind woman says and she bends forwards so she can look him in the eye.
"Kalos worries me," he says, figuring that being earnest will get her off his back the fastest. "It's a bad place to have a lot of Mega stones, I feel like. But maybe that's because of the horror story professor Sycamore told me."
"Horror story?"
"Once, I thought that someone who would willingly put their hands in a Glalie's mouth was an idiot but turns out, they're criminals too who won't stop at hurting the Glalie if the pokémon has a Mega stone in its mouth."
"Maybe not keep it in the Glalie's mouth then," Lucian pipes up.
"Yep, that's what professor Sycamore suggested too. Still, the idea creeped me out."
"Of course, it does," she says and brings her hand over to his shoulder. "It's because you care about your pokémon, it's no wonder that you would be worried. But I know a bit about who you are and what you can do… and who your friends are. If anyone tries to pull that on you, let me assure you that you won't be in trouble no matter what you do to ensure the safety of your pokémon, okay?"
"Including capital murder?"
"It's never capital when it's in self-defence."
"Good to know," he simply says but goes to investigate how much truth there was in that claim.
Turns out, there is, Ash can't believe he's been sleeping on this. It takes him a couple of minutes in order to get the official rule book in front of him but it's clear, anyone, be it a trainer or not, who attacks a trainer with or without a pokémon, is viable for severe punishment. Worse, if anyone as much as looks at him, he can get them officially removed, Ash can't help but feel like this could be important to him so he applies to get that to happen. That's why he's answering a very official call about an hour later, the officer has to know a couple of details before the teen can be cleared for this service but considering he needs a pokéhelp and is considered 'sensitive' in all sorts of ways -from mentally to being linked to Lance- he's told that the service will be available to him within a week. And it's international, Ash makes sure to read his rights and violations to make sure no one can hold his actions against him -for once.
"What's that smile on your face for, you look so devious all of a sudden," Cynthia says but she's chuckling. "Don't tell me you went to look up how to get away from murder, please?"
"No promises. I did find something cool, though," he answers and shows her his completed form for the service he's just initiated the activation off.
He can see her reading it attentively but her smile quickly turns into a grin.
"Did you really do that? Who do you have in mind?"
"No one, I just thought it could be handy."
"Don't use it willy-nilly, they're not going to be happy if they're going to have to remove everyone from your sight."
"Not my case."
She chuckles and shakes her head.
"Sometimes, you do really act like your age but I'm glad, Ash."
"That I'm a little shit? That's a first."
He couldn't care less about what happens, to be honest, Ash is pleased to have this line of defence. Let's see how happily Paul or Trip would be assholes towards him when he calls them out on their Tauroscrap and calls them bullies to get them removed. The idea brings a smile to his face but if he's got a choice, he would rather not see either of the two teens again, not after what he's heard from Barry. Instead, his attention goes to Pikachu, he can't swipe the Tamato berry from the pokémon quick enough but that gets him a judgemental stare in return.
"This is going to lower your speed EV, at least wait until I've processed it, dammit," he huffs and Pikachu looks a little guilty. "I get what you're saying, Pikachu, I know what you want but… you're different from Gible and Dreepy. So we've got to do things a little differently, yeah?"
"Chu."
"You're taking this very seriously, huh?" Lucian pipes up, he's put the magazine he pretended to be reading to the side. "How's Dreepy doing?"
"I've got her super training done, she's fine. Gible's next."
"Already? Wow, that's amazing, Ash. But if you're so good at it, why not give Pikachu the same treatment?"
"Professor Elm didn't get so bitchy with me over nothing, Meep's extremely rare in the sense that she's got everything going for her. Gible… it's not ideal but at the same time, Adamant is good enough and his ability works in his favour. While Pikachu, he's Hardy, that doesn't give him an upper hand in anything but he's fine like he is, Lightning Rod is a good ability to have… but then there are mints to help him but that's sensitive to me, unless Pikachu wants it, I'll have to give in but…"
Pikachu jumps in his lap, nuzzling his hands. Ash gets the distinct impression that his buddy agrees with him but he'll have to think about that mint, he'll have an aneurysm if something goes wrong. Pikachu has always been there for him, has always been a constant in his life… for that to change, it'll shake him up worse than his mother's removal from his life did -which was bad by itself.
"I get what you're saying," the man says and nods in appreciation. "Just so you know, the mints you're talking about don't have an effect on behaviour, especially not with older pokémon. They have a character with the nature so that's not going to do much."
"But from Hardy to Timid?"
"It doesn't sound bad to me, thinking about what one's doing is half the job done."
No… No, it doesn't but something deep inside him churns with the idea itself. Perhaps he should also look up some information about those things too… but not now. The sassiness he felt earlier has just been wiped out by a single mention of that mint, it scares him so much that Ash himself feels a need to calm himself down, like, it's a plant. It's natural. And some pokémon are going to eat it by accident, it's not life-altering and yet… he struggles to accept it.
"Hey, don't worry about it that much, Ash," Lucian then says and smiles warmly at him. "It's up to the both of you, no one else. Take your time, okay? Just… let me know what you've decided, yeah? Let me do something nice for you as well."
Yeah, he leaves that statement alone for now. As sensitive as the entire matter is, Ash isn't leaving anything up to chance, including his attitude. So he nestles himself in the couch, figuring he doesn't need to be by himself as he touches upon a part of his life he would rather leave be. But… if Pikachu wants it, well, so mote it be. Who is he to suddenly dictate what the pokémon does, he supported Pikachu's choice not to evolve too, right? However, the more he looks, the more the teen is convinced that Pikachu won't enjoy seeing how Volt Tackle suddenly wouldn't do as much damage, and neither would Iron Tail. Thunderbolt and Thunder, however… even more if he goes with Modest…
Ash decides to leave the matter be, for now… yet sneaks a couple of berries into Pikachu's dish, just to make sure he's not going to get heckled for not supporting his little buddy. Gible doesn't exactly feel good eating the berries, though, he hopes that won't become a problem but dammit, now Froakie is in it too! He should've put his foot down and stopped Mewtwo but then again, it's not like it'll make that much of a difference right? Also, as he retires to his room, the teen has a look at the calendar… and pins his departure from Johto in about two weeks. That should be enough to have his pokémon all trained because well, Froakie and Pikachu are about speed and special attack and Gible is mostly about attack. Might as well get all of them in one go, right? Something tells Ash that things are going too easy but well, he can't say that his pokémon aren't behind the idea, Lucian did own up to his promise and got him the mint, though it's not for Timid because Ash talked to Pikachu about it and it was clear that Modest worked out better for his buddy. The man nearly lost a few fingers that day, Pikachu went for the mint before he could give it to Ash but in the end, the teen figured that his buddy just wanted to show that the mint wouldn't change a lot.
To see Pikachu still act completely normal -or at least, as Ash has gotten to know him- relieves the teen to the point where he's looking forwards to the training. Lance, who comes down more often after a few days of bed rest, is supportive of his idea and that's all the boy needs to give his all for it. The inhabitants of Viridian Forest won't look at a Gible the same ever again and the Psyduck at that small pond not too far from his home are now pretty wary of Pikachu and Froakie. But that's fine, it'll give those pokémon an edge over being sneaked up on and honestly, Ash is pretty happy he got to see pokémon like a Caterpie all valiant and willing to fight, as if they felt happy at being pestered for training. It kind of reminds him of his mother, who would complain over paparazzi all the time and yet would appear as nice and friendly as possible as soon as a camera was aimed at her. The thing is… now that the three pokémon are done, there's a fourth who he has to train in all secrecy. Oh yes, Mewtwo ate all the berries on its own accord, Ash isn't sure why but perhaps it noticed how bothered the boy got at seeing the pokémon not enjoying their food -although Gible isn't complaining, he's gotten his normal diet again and couldn't be happier for it- but well… Well, some of the wild pokémon weren't at all happy to see Mewtwo in front of them, even if Ash can't read minds, he could tell by the way they acted but tough for them, it didn't help to give Mewtwo any sympathy towards beating their asses. Perhaps beating isn't the right word for it but its psychic powers sure got the job done.
And finally, Mewtwo is happy, it can apparently feel the difference from before and confirms that its alignment of his powers has found a good channel inside it, while it didn't have that in the past. Ash isn't sure what that means so the pokémon explains it as a highly complex water duct going in every curve and bend to get to a certain point while now, there's a straight connection from the water to the where it needs to get. In all honesty, the teen is just glad that Mewtwo is feeling okay.
For the first time, Ash also scans Smog, it was coincidental as he was just checking the contents of his travel bag he has unceremoniously dumped in the corner of his room after his speedy travel back to Johto. He's not sure how to feel about the pokémon still having shadow moves, he's done a bit of research before and he believes he read something about shadow pokémon forgetting their shadow moves once purified but he could be wrong, since a lot happened during the time where he did it and his mind wasn't completely focussed on the purification either, with his uncle being in such a bad condition. So the teen calls professor Brunet and considering that his ownership of the Shadow pokémon is well-known, she must've saved his number since she answers it very quickly.
"Hello, Ash! What can I do for you?"
"Hello, professor. I… I was wondering if I read it correctly, do pokémon forget the shadow moves after purification?"
"They absolutely do but I take, from your hesitance, that it isn't the case with yours?"
"Err, no, Smog knows Shadow Blast and Shadow Panic still."
"Oh, two even? How peculiar, I would say that this would mean the pokémon isn't even purified but considering that you can hold it, that would strike me as odd. Then again, you did specify that the pokémon knew you from before, even going as far as to express a deep bond of friendship."
"Yes but someone else has held Smog and it didn't like that person prior to becoming a Shadow pokémon."
"You do possess an extraordinary ability, perhaps the pokémon isn't even purified at all but its anger could have been drawn out of it through your ability instead of the tradition, yet not always so nice ways of purification."
"… Wouldn't that mean that Smog would attack people if I wasn't there?"
"Oh, absolutely. But at the same time, I can hear how much you care for the creature, I don't believe for a second it would appear anywhere you wouldn't be. And you did capture it, did you not?"
He sure did, he felt guilty about that for weeks until Smog got cognitive enough to tell him that he was being silly, that the pokémon loved the idea of now being officially linked to him. But the professor has calmed him down and honestly, the dark Lugia is trying to get every inch of its body to touch him, coiling and curling all around his legs and waist… a pokémon with a closed heart would never be feeling that now would it? So the teen holds Smog close after that and looks up what this Shadow Blast and Shadow Panic are, concluding eventually that it's just Areoblast and Confusion but with a bit of stab in it, seeing how every bit of research ends with 'dangerous' and 'lethal' so honestly, there might be a bit of an edge to the attacks themselves. Ash can't imagine just how evil his opponent must be to send Smog out on them but it might be possible for it to happen anyway, wouldn't be the first time he attracted troubles bigger than he could manage. Also, whatever is hiding in Lumiose City, it isn't sitting well with him, all the false pretence of the people who live there claiming that nothing's wrong isn't doing much for him, especially since there's this voice who talks to him.
But at least he's gotten over himself and whatever worries he had, his pokémon who all had the desire to become really strong are all on the right path and Meep's enjoying Gible's chatting, maybe the little dragon is bragging about all the Caterpie he's defeated. And then, of course, there is Lance, who has never looked better, he's doing all sorts of things in the house and he's smiling most of the time. By now, Agatha and Lucian have gone home, same as Wallace and Steven -the latter told him that he'd find him in Kalos again- so now it's just Cynthia who's persistently sticking close and mostly taking the annoying calls since she still wants to protect Lance from something despite how peaceful this house has become.
"Uncle?" Ash asks, approaching the man in the kitchen.
"Yeah?"
"Can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure, stay away from the stove, though. I'm frying, the oil may spit at you and I don't want you to get burned."
The teen looks at the stove with a dirty look, silently agreeing with his uncle since he also doesn't want to get burned. He goes to stand at his uncle's other side, earning him a smile.
"So, what can I do for you?" the man asks, busy coating something with bread crumbs.
"I wanted to know if it's okay if I leave to go back to Kalos in a few days?"
"Oh, tomorrow, then?" Lance grins and Ash rolls his eyes.
"Nah, I'm not going on a plane at the weekend, it's too crowded. But like, next week. Would that be okay?"
"Of course, I've never felt better and I honestly… you shouldn't have worried so much about me."
"How's your sleeping aid doing?"
The man sighs, pausing his bread-crumbing action for a little while.
"Okay, you did help me. I suppose it's only fair for you to have worried, I must have looked like a wreck."
"Acted like it too, to be honest."
"At least you gave Clair something to do, too."
"Yeah, wouldn't necessarily call it that. Did you talk to her already? To hear how nice she was to everyone?"
"Was she nice to you, though?"
"… I don't consider her brand of 'nice' to be fitting for the word but she can be nice. On occasion. When she's forgotten about my abilities and the shit that follows me."
"Is that a no?"
"Kinda?"
"You're such a bad liar."
"I'm not, Clair just has these weird curveball mood swings, I mean, you have a good idea what I can do, do you think I can walk up to a random ass pokémon who isn't even here and ask it to dramatically change the weather to apocalyptic levels?"
"Perhaps it's better for her to stay at home then, if she's spouting such bullshit. I'll have to thank Cynthia for being honest to me too, I didn't think Clair had the gull to say that to your face but apparently, I was mistaken," the man sighs. "Honestly, what is it with her these days?"
"These days? Have you looked at her battle profile? I think you mean, her whole life."
Lance laughs at his response, while Ash feels tickled pink at the idea that his frustrations apparently are funny -for once, most people frown when he complains about something several years later, Misty had the funniest response to the news he had a therapist, she claimed he needed one since he turned ten.
"Cynthia told me you were feeling your teenage self. But honestly, Ash, you're free to leave whenever you want, just… don't let anyone here send you away, okay? Clair isn't the owner of this house and no matter how often I've told her not to mess with you, she keeps doing it so I hope you're not counting on seeing her here often because I don't care for disrespect in my own damn house. And you shouldn't let her walk over you, one day, this house will be yours so act like it. Don't let her get to you like that."
The boy blinks, that was a loaded response, one he needs some time to think about. He didn't let Clair walk over him, to be honest, she just frustrates him a lot but hey, if she won't listen to Lance, then he shouldn't feel bad that she didn't listen to him either, she's just stubborn then. And then, the house… he'd love to own this house one day and he can make a promise to his uncle that he'll have it for a very long time too, he'll take great care of it… and it'll have a legend of him lodged into the veins of the wood, since Ash is here to stay.
"So… it's okay if I leave? You'll be okay?"
"Of course! And I've got a piece of you with me," the man says and points at the charm the teen's made a while ago. "Just don't take the long way home when you come back, okay?"
"I won't!"
The woman in front of him smiles in delight, she gives him a piece of paper with a beautifully drawn pokémon on it and he hears himself say that he'll do his best, that his talents are far-reaching but that he isn't sure just how far-reaching they could be, that this pokémon might be hiding in a place not near where he remembers home to be. And the lady, so much like Cynthia, laughs so daintily as she hides her mouth behind her hand as she assures him he will be quite enough, that perhaps his talents are only a small part of his incredible imagination. That his person is already much more than necessary for the simple act of remembering a pokémon in a time where it will be hidden, all forgotten about, cast to the side by humanity who no longer needs it. That, if he can protect forty people from the sins the future holds, he can revive a forgotten legend.
With a snort, the teen is startled out of his sleep, giving his neighbour a frightful scare. He's quick to apologise, of course, being scared by another passenger on a plane isn't ideal so Ash tries not to act too weird after that sudden awakening. And then, very suddenly, he realises what he's forgotten and also, how important it was! Dear lord, he's such an idiot, how could he have forgotten about that? Thankfully, he has a good ticket, which makes him able to stop wherever he wants and he travels light so he doesn't have to worry about luggage. Nope, he's going to halt Kalos for at least a day, there's something he needs to do.
Cynthia hears the cringle of paper when she touches the placemat on the desk. And gasps when she lifts it to see what the noise was as she sees a detailed drawing of… is that the Spear Pillar?! There's a note, of course, it's Ash's handwriting, he would be the only person on this earth she would be able to believe to get this kind of information, there's no doubt in her mind that this is correct too and his note doesn't say much other than that this is a copy from a drawing someone made for him, someone who remembers the temple before it got destroyed. This sounds so much like a lie to her, there's data of the Spear Pillar having been broken up into a billion pieces for at least two millennia, there's no way someone who still remembers exactly how it looks is still alive. Also, the names of these pokémon are so odd and yet… they make perfect sense.
To think Ash would trust her with this project makes her feel incredibly special, he just missed the courage to say it to her face but honestly, she's glad, she still doesn't know what to say as she's got her hands on this precious copy. She can only imagine what the teen must have felt like and oh, did she tell him to talk to a therapist while he was feeling down about this? That must not have gone down well, perhaps he got into that teenage mood- her thoughts are interrupted by her phone, Cynthia isn't feeling up to answering it but one look at who is calling her, changes her opinion, the Spear Pillar has been broken for a while already, a few moments more won't make a difference.
"Hello?"
"Have you seen a newspaper already?" the man she's gotten to know well, mostly thanks to Ash, asks.
"Gurkinn, it's six in the morning, of course not."
"Wait, I'll send you a picture then."
She's worried, perhaps influenced by the paper she's holding in her hands. Cynthia can't phantom for the life of her where Ash found someone who knows this sort of information, all while she's travelled the world looking for Sinnoh's history. All her findings were so little compared to this single piece of paper, so meaningless and yet… Her breath hitches when she gets the picture.
"The false Life bringer? Who the heck is that? And why are they saying it's safe for Aura users? Hasn't it been safe for them for over twenty years now?"
"Do you know where Ash is?" Gurkinn asks, he doesn't sound happy but also not sad.
"Err… On a plane? Oh, perhaps he's already landed in Kalos."
"He's not in Kalos, Cynthia, I've called Diantha and she checked, he never stepped off the plane, if he got onto it in the first place."
"Lance saw him leave, and he almost followed him into the terminal, he would've walked straight into the plane with Ash if it wasn't for ticket control. The boy got on the plane, trust me on that."
"Well, then he must've gotten off it at a certain point."
"Can I call you back, Gurkinn? I'll look into what's going on, I'll let you know when I know something, okay?"
He agrees but Cynthia is ready to skin someone! Just when she thought the kid would behave, he suddenly gets off that plane and runs off! And what the hell does Gurkinn want from the boy, anyway? He better not bother Ash or they'll be having trouble, being protective of an Aura user is one thing but he better not be messing with him or with her. Thankfully, the person from the airport who takes the call helpfully tells her that the teen got off at Unova so the first thing she does, is call Alder, who notifies Iris and then, she calls the regional professor.
"He's here? Ach, why though? I thought he was in Kalos?"
"Please, Aurea, help me find him. He was supposed to go back to Kalos but he never arrived there, he got off the plane at Unova earlier this morning."
"How early?"
"At three in the morning."
"Scheisse, it's ten, right now. That's seven hours, dear lord, he could be everywhere. Does the champion know already?"
"Yes, I called them first."
"Alright, thank you, Cynthia, I'll go and look for him."
"Thank you, please let me know if you have some news."
Cynthia will be biting her nails for a little while longer, it takes the professor a while to get out of the laboratory but she would easily change her schedule for the missing teenager. The disappearance of Ingo is still fresh on her mind, the region had been on edge of a calamity but then the man returned safely to Unova, in a totally unexpected town and confused to the max. But it's clear that Ingo's disappearance gave some services an edge, she gets a call about an hour after Cynthia called, that Ash has been found, that he's actually with the twin Subway bosses. She tells them to keep the boy there, that she'll be there to pick him up and make sure he gets to his plane. A quick message to the worried champion later and she's on her way to see Ash and perhaps ask what the hell he's been doing all this time. Maybe she doesn't even want to know but this child has unnecessarily worried a lot of people.
Her worries are whisked away when she sees the teen stand there, talking to Ingo but Emmet has his arm around his shoulders. To get the man this amicably, Ash must have behaved like an angel, Emmet hasn't been approachable ever since Ingo's disappearance and his attitude didn't change much after his brother's return, since Ingo appeared to be suffering from amnesia and hallucinations. The stories she's heard from the man, dear lord, it's nothing short of a miracle that he didn't end up in an asylum, people had reported hearing him scream in his sleep during his stay in the hospital. And when he'd been released, both Subway bosses had retreated, they wouldn't fight, nothing. So to think Ash would've been greeted like this… What is it about this child that even Cynthia is worried about him?
"Professor!" the teen exclaims, zooming over towards her as soon as he sees her but she doesn't miss the heated look that appears on Emmet's face.
But she won't hurt this boy, he's got her in a close hug and honestly, whatever misgivings she had, melt like butter in a hot pan, she puts her arms around the child and holds him close. In reality, the professor has been worried about Ash ever since she got that call, where Augustine took him away from her. She kept wondering what on earth had made this once so confident child act so hesitant and mostly, doubtful of his own abilities. Her motherly instinct kicked in bad that day, her assistants must have noticed because she got much less resistance during work hours the very same day but how could she not care about this boy? She's got a clear view of the white line going across his face, the scar that's a reminder of the horrifying accident he got in. Yes, professor Brunet told her about it, since they've worked together more than occasionally and well, the poor Alolan woman had gotten the scare of a lifetime when the teenager called her to get more information about the Ultra Beasts. And the thing is, she hadn't known Ash got attacked by several Ultra Beasts so she had found it odd too and then, of course, Lance's extremely unhappy explanation came, as well as the request to shut the fuck up about it and to answer the kid's questions.
Funny how that turned out, professor Brunet had told Ash what he wanted to know and that's about all that happened. Well, after a couple of idiots created a breach in the security system of the pokémon league and got parts of their research. It hadn't been a happy time, certainly not because not too long afterwards, Lance made the report of what had happened and somehow, both she and professor Brunet couldn't help but feel like Ash had something to do about it. So to now have the ability to hold him and keep him safe does a lot for her.
"I'm glad to see you, Ash. Now I can tell Cynthia that we've found you."
"Oh, but then why didn't she call me?"
That's a good question, the professor will surely forward it towards the champion as this would've been the most logical thing to do, which the distressed woman must've forgotten about. It's no use telling her that now, though, it'll come off as insulting and Ash is being nothing except a darling, saying his goodbyes to Emmet and Ingo and following her like a little baby pokémon.
"Let me accompany you to the airport, Ash, just to be sure that you get on it safely."
"Of course, I would like to spend some time with you. My next flight is at nine in the evening, after all."
Ah… that's more than a few hours still. Well, it's not like she's got anything planned now, the professor never expected to find Ash that easily or that he'd come along so willingly but hey, it's been a while since she's had a free day so maybe it would be nice to spend it with this interesting child. After all, if Cynthia is so invested in him, he's likely more than just interesting and a good mystery has always got her in a good mood.
"Oh, I like your car a lot better than professor Elm's," the teen says, looking relaxed as he's got his arm out of the window of her jeep.
"I would have assumed you would like an electrical one better."
"Sure but your roof opens, it's so nice."
"He's got a closed car because he often transports pokémon, you wouldn't believe how often they would try to jump out of a moving car."
"Mm-hm."
Well, the boy is lucky it's nice weather today, in fact, the dreary morning clouds that promised a lot of rain like the days before disappeared a little after eight so that was a little bizarre but honestly, good on him. The professor decides to go to a restaurant with the teen, as he apparently didn't eat anything yet and she can't have that, he's clearly already lost some weight and along with all his clear signs of worries being on his mind, she wants to give him a bit of a break before going back to Kalos… which Ash isn't exactly looking forwards to. She listens to him as he explains that he doesn't like the capital of Kalos and that he doesn't trust the people who tell him not to worry because he knows something's wrong with that place. The professor listens carefully, very hard to ignore her buzzing phone because she doesn't want to give the boy the idea that she isn't interested in him -unlike his mother, who she has some choice-words for if they ever meet- and besides, she has messaged Cynthia that Ash is with her a good hour or two ago.
She would've likely answered the phone when she knew what it was about but for now, it's just Lance and Cynthia in the living room. The woman is trying her best to remain calm and not let Lance see just how she's feeling but this man wasn't such a good inspector for nothing. He's smiling at her with that little devilish smile she's gotten to recognise that she's failing at keeping her secret, which she doesn't necessarily like but the idea that she needs to tell him that they lost connection with Ash for a few hours… Honestly, Cynthia would rather not.
"Ash got off in Unova, huh?" he then says and she deflates. "Honestly, Cynthia, you can still talk to me freely, I'm not going to explode."
"… Are you sure about that?"
"Positive," the man answers and she needs to look away or he'll see her roll her eyes. "Why did you need to talk to him anyway?"
"Gurkinn called me, something about an article in the news. I didn't ask about it, I was so caught up in trying to locate Ash that I've not spent much thought about it. I can ask if you're curious?"
"Curious, yes but I'm not as friendly with Gurkinn as you are or Ash, for that matter."
"Oh," she says and looks back at her phone, Gurkinn hasn't seen her last message yet… but then she frowns. "How'd you know he'd gone to Unova, though?"
"Look at the news on your phone."
'Hell dammit, what is it with the news today,' she grumbles and takes out her phone, swiping left to the newsfeed… only to pause.
NEW POKEMON DISCOVERED IN UNOVA, the headline read and the moment she clicks on it, she knows why Lance would assume that Ash has something to do with it. Thinking back on the issue with Clair, who accused the teen of having made a deal with Thundurus and Tornadus… Was she right? Of course not, they weren't there, they were seen in Unova at the time, restless and… Wait, did they know? This new pokémon looks a lot like a-
"Aw hell no," Cynthia says, an eerie feeling falling on her like a weighted blanket.
"I bet you he had something to do with it."
Yes… Yes, so does she but likely not in the way Lance thinks Ash was involved in it. First Ingo, who made a description of an awesome child that instantly gave her the impression that the man's saviour was Ash, then the drawing of the Spear Pillar… and now the pokémon she remembers having seen in one of the old books she found during her search in the history of Sinnoh?
"Will you be okay on your own, Lance?" she asks and the man raises an eyebrow at her.
"Of course. Why, where are you going?"
"Kalos."
End of chapter 38