Chapter 11: Ortlinde & Discovery

Using Gate, Touya joined Ash, Sue and Pikachu as they traveled to a small castle. Ash and Pikachu awed the building. "This is where you live?" asked Ash.

"Yep!" cheered Sue. "Neat, huh?"

("It is!") cheered Pikachu. Alfred opened the door to see who was visiting.

"Master Touya, and my dear daughter," he noticed. Sue ran to Alfred with huge excitement.

"Daddy!" she cheered. The two hugged.

"Sueshie, how are you?"

"Good!"

"I'm glad." Turning, he found Touya, Ash and Pikachu. "Please, come in." Accepting, Ash and Pikachu came forward, only to stop when they felt Touya not leave.

"We can join…" reminded Ash.

"I'm actually going to pick up the other family," Touya denied. "I'll be back. GATE!" Touya opened another Gate before stepping through. Ash and Pikachu looked dumbfounded.

"I'm sure he's got a decent reason," Alfred eased. "Let's come inside." Ash and Pikachu shrugged before following Alfred inside the castle. In a study, Sue found Ellen with excitement.

"Mom!" she cheered as she hugged Ellen.

"Sueshie!" she called and hugged back. "Have you been behaving for Touya?" Sue nodded.

"I also had my first kiss with Ash!"

"Oh, you did? I thought your first kiss would be with Touya."

"So did I, but Ash and I did it on accident. Still, I enjoyed it." Ellen smiled to Sue's fun as Ash and Pikachu arrived. Ellen soon spotted the two.

"Ash, Pikachu, welcome to the Duke's castle," she greeted as Alfred came from behind. Pikachu galloped before leaping into Ellen's arms. She giggled to the Pokémon's wish. "You don't want to be away from me, huh?" Pikachu laughed to the thought.

"You were gentle with him before when we visited Touya's castle," Alfred reminded. Ellen giggled more.

"Duchess, is there a reason you invited me and Pikachu over?" asked Ash.

"There is," Ellen confirmed. "See, we wanted to show you around and ask you more about the world you're from. Master Touya also mentioned your lightweight helmet which you still own." Ash sighed at the mention of his Trainer's Cap.

"I'm sure Master Touya can clarify this helmet when he returns," Alfred assured. Ash mulled to talking about the cap. "While we wait, let me show you around should you need shelter away from the mansion."

"Sounds good," Ash accepted. He followed Alfred while Ellen, Sue and Pikachu watched happily. Ash and Alfred stopped by a door where the latter opened it.

"Here is the Guest's room," Alfred named. "Should there be a reason for you to stay here, this is where you can stay." Ash nodded, knowing where to go. "By the way, I overheard that you took my daughter's lips."

"See, Sue and I rode on horseback around Brunhild with a pair of horses, one being Wedding Belle. I kinda find it cute that the horse was given that name." The name made Alfred giggle.

"Possibly a foreshadow of events to come." The thought made Ash blink in confusion. "Don't worry. Continue on."

"Right… After a stroll and picking up fruit that Wedding Belle liked, we stopped by the hillside to enjoy a picnic and had some small talk before she became a tickling monster on me. I was pinned and suffered from her ticklish attacks before we got tangled and kissed." The story made Alfred chuckle.

"My goodness… I mean, I wanted to discuss with Ellen about making Sueshie a big sister like Yumina will be."

"You do?"

"Yes… The reason is that if anything were to happen to us, Sueshie won't be alone. Then again, you're here for her." A giggle came from Ash as Alfred brought out an amulet where it was a crucifix, but it had a hoop on the top instead of it being a cross. On top was a person sitting on a crescent moon.

"What's that?"

"Touya gifted us a Fertility Amulet. He told us that he'd be blessed with nine wives, mainly those at his mansion: Linze, Elze, Yae, Yumina, Lucia, Sueshie, Hildegard, Leen…"

"I get it. That's still a lot of girls to take care of. I don't know if I could handle two, let alone nine…"

"He must have done some good to have them be part of his concubine. Alas, I do believe Touya's fortune may take a hit with you and Sueshie being close."

"I doubt he'll mind." As they continued, Gate opened up once again where Pikachu and the females were. In came Touya, Yumina, Yuel and Tristwin.

"I'm back," Touya announced. Ellen and Sue giggled while Pikachu raced to Yuel.

"So, this is what you have in mind?" teased Ellen as Pikachu reached Yuel's shoulder.

"See, we're interested in what Ash's world is like," Tristwin explained. "Not to mention that an associate has found something that might interest Touya and his group considering their history with adventures like these." Sue became curious as Yuel and Pikachu nuzzled.

"It hasn't been long enough for me to miss you," Yuel teased. Ash and Alfred returned to see the rest of the party.

"So, this is why you had left, huh Touya?" smiled Alfred.

"Yeah, Yumina and Sue did say that you all were curious about Ash's world," Touya briefed as Ash helped Yuel recline.

"I do admit that a place like your world is making me wonder if you've started teaching Ash your Null Magic," she pondered.

"I have, just with some simple stuff like Slip and Mirage," Touya confirmed. "Speaking of… Ash, could you show your mother?"

"Sure," Ash accepted as he had his hands out. "MIRAGE!" Performing Mirage, Ash made an image of an old man appeared. He had gray hair that seemed to lean over his forehead. He wore a red shirt underneath a white lab coat and beige pants.

"Who is that?" wondered Yumina.

"This is Professor Oak," Ash mentioned. "He gave me Pikachu when the original Starter Pokémon were taken by other starting Trainers."

"Oh, so he can give me a Pikachu as well?" wondered Sue.

"No, it doesn't work like that," Ash denied. "The professors I've come across, Professor Oak and Professor Elm, have three starter Pokémon to offer in either a Water, Grass or Fire Pokémon." Sue and Yumina whined to not having a Pikachu of their own. "Professor Oak's three Pokémon are Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander." He handed Touya the PokéDex. He pressed a few buttons before he had his hand over some parchments.

"DRAWING!" he chanted. In a flash, a picture of a blue baby turtle with a brown shell emerged with a squirrel-like tail. Touya pressed the PLAY button.

"SQUIRTLE, THE TINY TURTLE POKÉMON," it computed. "THE SOFT SHELL AFTER SQUIRTLE'S BIRTH HARDENS OVER TIME WHERE POKING IT WITH FINGERS WILL BOUNCE OFF." Alfred took the picture to observe before passing it around. Touya used Drawing again, this time with a blue lizard-like creature with a green bulb on top. Using the Dex, Touya played the new creature. "BULBASAUR, THE SEED POKÉMON. BULBASAUR USES NUTRIENTS IT STORES IN ITS SEEDS TO GROW." Sue awed the picture of Bulbasaur as she picked it up. Touya used Drawing once more, this time it was a small orange lizard with a flame on the tail. He played the Dex once more. "CHARMANDER, THE FLAME POKÉMON. THE FLAME ON CHARMANDER'S TAIL INDICATES ITS LIFE FORCE. IT WILL DIE IF THE FLAME GOES OUT." Yumina awed the description as she took the last picture.

"Funny enough, I actually had all three before," Ash admitted. "But they're on different tasks. Squirtle is with other Squirtles as firefighters, Bulbasaur is back at Professor Oak's ranch watching over other Pokémon, and Charmander… or should I say Charizard is training in a special place with other Charizards."

"Oh, so you have a collection of them?" guessed Yuel. Ash giggled as Pikachu felt the baby kicking in Yuel's womb.

"I wouldn't say I have a collection…" he shrugged. "They're in the ranch or out training with other Trainers or other Pokémon." Ellen seemed interested with the collection Ash had.

"Touya did say that you've started with learning Null Magic," Alfred recalled. "Perhaps, you'll learn Gate soon enough so that we can all interact with them." Ash nodded to the request.

"At least I can do that, maybe bring my other friends over and see this world," he planned. Pikachu started to hum over the baby bump which everyone saw. Yuel started to cry.

"Were you praying to my child yet to come?" she wondered.

("I was,") Pikachu smiled. Yuel picked Pikachu up and hugged him.

"You precious little thing…" she cooed. Everyone smiled and giggled at Pikachu's love.

"Back to the topic at hand," Tristwin voiced. "Ash, your world has some fascination that has caught everyone's interests… at least in this room. Do Pokémon attack people?"

"No, not without a reason," Ash denied. "There have been Trainers who've attacked others and been arrested for it. Otherwise, wild Pokémon are mostly peaceful. If Pokémon were around Queen Yuel and they saw her pregnancy, they'll be more into wonder and awe than violent. They would want to see and greet the baby." Yuel giggled more, thinking of what creatures would be seeing and willing to help.

"The idea sounds rather adorable to see," Yumina laughed. That's when Alfred chose to speak up.

"Your world sounds admirable from your words, young Ash," he praised. "We would like to see it for ourselves. The other reason I invited you here is perhaps up your alley as you would like to presume, Master Touya." Touya and Ash prepared for the request. "There is a dungeon that was recently found in the Great Sea of Trees. It was marked with pathways marking the six elemental magics from reports taken. However, the reports have come with a price."

"Those who have gone inside have not come out," Touya assumed.

"A fate as cruel as it sounds," Tristwin believed.

"So, you want us to go and explore this dungeon?" wondered Yumina.

"You've had plenty of adventures and having powerful magic on hand, it may be something you can do," Alfred believed. Touya, Ash, Pikachu and the cousins seemed a little concerned. They Gated back after saying their farewells and returning Yuel and Tristwin back to the kingdom. Back at the mansion, Touya told Linze, Elze, Yae, Lucia and Kohaku about the dungeon.

"It was marked with all six of the elements?" wondered Linze.

"Yeah, and no one knows what is even there because of the casualties," Touya reported.

"This could mean that it's designated for someone with all six elements to conquer it," Kohaku believed. "It could be new Divine Beasts that was brought up some time ago… which still baffles me since I thought Kougyoku, Kokuyou, Sango and I were the Divine Beasts."

"It's possible that there may be even more that have yet to be uncovered," Lucia mentioned. Kohaku groaned to the idea as Rosetta came by.

"A dungeon where there's a chance to uncover more secrets that Dr. Babylon didn't find in her time," she believed. "And it's located in the far south. That's some distance from here."

"Right, but we can Gate to the Kingdom of Mismede," Touya plotted. "From there, it's just beyond the border from the report." Lucia sensed a problem.

"There's likely a sabotage," she mentioned. "There's the Kingdom of Sandora which borders south of the Great Sea of Trees. It's a country that has legalized slavery, meaning we could be captured and doing God knows what." Ash shook his head.

"You girls are too valuable to be captured and slaved," he remarked. "If I could contact Liza and my Charizard, that country would be toast. I'd rather have those people freed than be forced to do things I don't want to see." Leen appeared out of nowhere and wrapped her arms around Ash's neck. This startled him.

"Hearing you say that, I'm actually surprised that you care about us more than Touya," she teased. Ash sighed to the remark.

"I've seen it happen before," he mentioned. Leen giggled before turning Ash and the chair around. She mounted onto Ash's lap.

"History…" she lisped. "Well, at least we can depend on you should anything happen to Touya." She kissed Ash on the bridge of the nose. Ash blushed at the affection while Elze laughed.

"A fairy decent response, huh, Ash?" she teased. Touya believed this was a moment to explore.

"Okay, let's prepare for the trip to the Great Sea of Trees," he acknowledged. Everyone agreed. Ash and Pikachu may experience a danger no one predicted.

TO BE CONTINUED...