Chapter 18
(Welcome to the second part of the crossover of Repairing Broken Bonds with Ash's Story. Last time we had Ash Story AU's Ash and Lillie get caught up with what the Repairing Broken Bond AU group dealt with, and also had a double battle between the two Ash's. As I said last time, if there's two of the same character, I'm going to have the initials of the AU/Story the version of Ash is from in front of the name they go by, so AS for Ash's Story, RBB for Repairing Broken Bonds.)
(Also this is going to be kind of a long chapter, so if you want, get some sort of snack.)
The next morning came, and Lillie was the first to wake up, followed closely by AS-Ash. They quietly left the guest room and found Goh and Chloe already in the kitchen, making breakfast.
"Morning, you two!" Chloe greeted the pair from the alternate world. "How did you sleep?"
"I slept like a princess," AS-Lillie said, stretching. "Ash slept pretty well too. How about you two?"
"We slept great," Goh replied, returning to his breakfast preparations. "We woke up early and decided to cook. It's still strange, though—first, Golly got dimensionally abducted, and now we have younger versions of Ash and Lillie visiting because of dimensional shenanigans."
"Well, I wouldn't call it that," AS-Lillie sighed. "More like we have to keep trying different ways to get back home."
Just then, they heard a door creak open and saw Snowy, Golly, and Lillie-Ver coming down the hall.
"Morning!" Snowy yawned, as a half-asleep Lillie-Vee followed Snowy to the living room.
"Good morning, you three!" AS-Ash chuckled. Noticing Lillie-Vee's tired demeanor, he asked, "Rough night, Lillie-Vee?" Lillie-Vee gave a thumbs-up with her front left paw before slowly waddling towards the couch and sitting down next to it. Her eyes seemed to be changing to a light green, matching her human eye color.
Soon, everyone was awake and gathered for breakfast. With Minami having the last battle of the first round scheduled for the evening, the group had most of the day to spend with the AS Duo. They chatted about their plans for the day as they enjoyed their meal together.
They started their day in Silkan City. The gang decided to visit a dress store while in the RPA Department. The AS duo had to disguise themselves to avoid being recognized by people from other regions.
"Psst, alternate world brother?" Mark whispered to AS-Ash. "There's something bothering me..."
"Oh? What is it, Mark?" AS-Ash asked. "I'm here to listen." Mark pulled AS-Ash aside to talk privately.
"Alright, see, recently I hurt Lillie-Vee emotionally, pretty badly. And she has something pretty serious," Mark began, glancing around to make sure no one else was listening. "Do you... know what Violet Depression is, perhaps?"
"Violet Depression?! That's what she has?!" AS-Ash gasped, his eyes widening in shock. Mark nodded in shame. "Oh no... first another version of Alice, and now another version of Lillie... how does this keep happening?!"
"What happened with Alice?" Mark wondered.
"Okay, basically she got bullied by 18 different people at school because she admired me in that world. Even after she became her world's Ash's fiancé and the bullies mysteriously disappeared, she still deals with the pain of it," AS-Ash explained.
Mark looked troubled, "I didn't realize it was that bad. I don't want Lillie-Vee to suffer like that."
"We need to support her as much as we can," AS-Ash said firmly. "We'll get through this together."
"Damn, that's brutal..." Mark winced as AS-Ash nodded. "Yeah, to be honest, Trenor and I can be held kind of responsible for our Lillie's Violet Depression."
AS-Ash seemed taken aback, but Mark continued, "See, her brother is one of Ash's traitors here, and her parents believe she was killed by Ash, like the traitors claimed. After not seeing them for what, 15 years, almost 16 at this point, Trenor and I decided to take her outside to get some fresh air. When we were playing catch with her, she noticed her human parents. We stopped her from trying to reunite with them because we didn't want Ash to be caught. Unfortunately, we did it too harshly, and it made Lillie-Vee think that the love and care for her old life and family didn't matter. If it wasn't for Golly comforting her when she needed it, her situation would probably be worse. Thankfully, whatever Golly said to Lillie-Vee managed to slow the Violet Depression down, at least for now."
"Well, regardless, that isn't exactly...ideal," AS-Ash groaned. "At least Golly knew how to slow it down."
"Yeah, but I hope she can hold on until we figure out a cure," Mark sighed, tears starting to form in his eyes. "I never wanted to really hurt her. I just snapped out of fear that Ash was going to be hurt again by her family. This is all my fault..."
AS-Ash hugged Mark and said, "We'll figure out a way to cure Lillie-Vee. We just have to not give up until it's over."
"You say that, and yet my Ash was very willing to give up when it came to helping us..." Mark instantly recognized the voice. They turned around to see Voidlie, Voidpix, and Voidchu appearing from behind a conveniently placed curtain that was red with blue polka dots.
Back with the others, Insey was explaining information Misty had given her about the traitors. Apparently, Clemont had access to the video logs of Professor Oak's lab after the betrayal, but he couldn't delete them because Professor Oak had set it up so they needed his thumbprint to fully delete the files. This most likely included the betrayal and the process of beating up Lillie-Vee's human body. According to Misty, Professor Oak felt very bad about having to do that but still did it since the others tricked him into thinking it was saving the world.
As the ladies continued browsing, Chase and Snowy noticed Lillie-Vee looking at a pink birthday cone hat while wagging her tail.
"Oh? What are you looking at, Lillie-Vee?" Sarah asked curiously. The others stopped and noticed Chase, Lillie-Vee, and Snowy had paused. "Oh, looking at party hats?"
Lillie-Vee's ears drooped slightly more, as Snowy facepawed in irritation.
"You really take after me, huh?" RBB-Ash sighed. "It's her birthday. I thought we told you this, my boy..."
"Oh, right, sorry, I forgot again," Chase nervously chuckled before turning back to Lillie-Vee to comfort her. "Sorry, Lillie-Vee, I didn't mean to forget."
"Wait, it's her birthday?" AS-Lillie gasped. "Why did none of you tell us?!"
"Guess it never came to mind..." Minami sighed, as Snowy facepawed.
"Don't worry, Lillie-Vee, we didn't forget, we promise," Golly stated, quickly realizing the sinister aura was returning. "Hey, calm down. I... I don't want to reveal this but—"
A loud crash was heard behind them. They turned to see AS-Ash being launched by something, kicked out of the vision disguise he was using. They then saw glitchy purple figures resembling Lillie, Pikachu, and a Vulpix—Voidlie, Voidchu, and Voidpix.
"So, that dimension-hopping Ash has finally crossed into our world!" Voidlie scoffed, her eyes glowing red. "I've been wanting to meet you ever since you encountered yourself from my home world."
"'Home world?' What are you even talking about?" AS-Ash questioned, dodging a Thunderbolt from Voidchu. "Whoa, calm down! Who are you, and why do you look like Lillie, Pikachu, and, I assume, Snowy?!"
"Let's just say that one of those alternate versions of you didn't know the full story," Voidpix growled before firing a Moonblast toward AS-Ash. RBB-Ash quickly intervened, using Protect to shield his alternate self. Golly, Pikachu, AS-Lillie, and Delia also joined the two Ashes to confront the shadowy trio. But AS-Ash stepped forward, insisting he could handle himself.
"Listen, I'm no stranger to the concept of fighting back, and I'll go against my own morals if you try anything!" AS-Ash threatened. The void trio stared blankly at him as Voidlie smiled creepily.
"Oh, like how you almost destroyed an entire town full of innocents because someone pissed you off?" Voidlie coldly stated, causing AS-Ash's eyes to widen in shock. "You see what I can do now? Mark was smart to try and get information from you that could be useful in the long run. Although, it hurts that despite traveling with my alternate self, you fail to recognize who I used to be..."
"Wait, you're alternate versions of Lillie, Pikachu, and Snowy...?" Serena gasped. She, Goh, and Chloe were standing protectively in front of Chase, Sarah Ketchum, and Susanna Mobile.
"Oh look, at least one of you isn't a moron," Voidpix scoffed, turning to Lillie-Vee. "Well, maybe not you, since you probably feel like we're familiar. You should, since we've been constantly using aura to help you in any way we could." Lillie-Vee stayed silent but shocked, as AS-Ash looked into Voidlie's eyes.
"Alright, let's just make this quick," AS-Ash groaned. "Where are you from? Why are you not in your home world? And how long have you been out of your home world?"
"I'll answer since I was your...partner," Voidchu stated. "We've been out of our home world for almost 16 years now, monitoring Lillie-Vee and transferring Aura to soothe some of her mental pain. As for the other two questions, well...I guess it's fine that you all learned the truth..." He then began explaining their story.
In another world, specifically 15 years and 10 months ago...
"This is ridiculous! Whenever we try finding this Red guy, he always just gets away before we find him!" Voidlie shouted. "Where in the world could he have gone?!"
"Aww, are you wondering where that idiot went?" They heard Lillie's own voice behind them. They turned around to see...Lillie and Snowy standing there?!
"You fakers..." Voidpix growled as the three got ready to fight back, but the faker duo just laughed in defiance.
"HEY! What are you laughing about?!"
"You three don't get it, do ya?" Faker-Lillie coldly stated, giving a creepy smile. "But I must respect your attitudes, as it seems like you already knew what happened despite being unconscious during our body thief act."
"Yeah, none of your business," Voidchu growled, preparing Thunderbolt. "Give us back our bodies!"
"Oh, silly Pikachu..." Faker-Snowy giggled cruelly. "We and our partner have taken your identities so well that not even Ash or Lillie's family could tell something was up. The main thing we regret is not having you see Ash get his heart shattered as he believed we were the real deals." The void trio's bodies shook with hatred towards the fakers.
"Aww, what's wrong, you three?" Faker-Lillie questioned sarcastically. "Oh, you still love him, don't you...? Wow, even after everything that's happened, he's not a good friend to you. By using mind-reading powers, we recall a previous timeline. One where we didn't appear, but Giovanni tried to use one of you as bait to try and kill him. Come on, Lillie, don't act like you don't remember. He LET Arceus turn into a Nihilego, and you were the only one out of you three that never got a chance to rekindle your friendship, while Pikachu and Snowy couldn't reform it."
"Stop it, faker!" Voidchu yelled, as tears started forming in Voidlie's eyes, but her fakers kept going.
"Then, the first time we entered, he straight up left you, ain't that right?" Faker-Snowy said maliciously. "You had hoped that he'd come to rescue you, but nobody came. Now look, he did the exact same thing as last time, not even responding to your calls for help. You know it just as much as we do, you three: Your Ash never truly cared about you. One incident, not even being your own doing, and he loses all respect for you. Even now, you can't hope for him to believe you're the real deal. Why? Because I found him when hanging out with Dawn and Serena once, but I played along while sensing his aura. Full of hatred...hatred for everyone who wronged him...especially you three..."
"Why you, I'll...!" Voidchu got close to screaming but stopped as Voidlie began crying. "Lillie..."
"Aww, did we hurt the widdle pwincess' feelings?" Faker-Lillie mockingly laughed, only to barely dodge a Thunderbolt. "Wow, feisty! Oh well, might as well make sure you can't stop us from taking your lives, but I've got a better idea for how to dispose of you. Killing you would leave evidence, and would be too merciful..." Faker-Lillie and Faker-Snowy started summoning a purple orb and threw it at the void trio, engulfing them in it...
End of flashback...
"When we woke up, we found ourselves in this world, right outside the castle, after Lillie was transformed into an Eevee," Voidchu continued explaining. "We never got too close, or we would've been spotted, so we secretly transferred calming Aura to soothe her pain. Then we told Mark another matter, which he was smart enough to try and get information about from the alternate Ash here."
"Why do I feel like we might know where you three are from...?" AS-Lillie muttered quietly, not loud enough to be heard.
"I... I really feel bad that your world put you through that, other me..." Lillie-Vee whimpered, but Voidlie gave a slight smile.
"It's alright, I can't let the past define me..." Voidlie sighed, before turning to RBB-Ash and AS-Ash. "You two, on the other hand, if we find out you ever made the same mistake to either version of us, it'll be the last mistake you ever make." The two versions of Ash started sweating nervously before Voidpix threw a map at Mark, instructing him not to let Lillie-Vee see it. "Well, maybe later we'll encounter each other again, but for now, we're neither allies nor enemies. We'll have to wait to see if that changes." Suddenly, the Void trio teleported away, leaving the group stunned.
"What the hell was that?" The group turned around to see a white-haired woman with pale skin holding a strange device in her hand.
"Alice!" RBB-Ash and Serena exclaimed. The group all went towards their friend, Alice, to say hello, as Golly spoke up. "Sorry you had to see...whatever that was."
"It's fine. Anyways, David's currently in his battle, so he asked me to deliver the device you asked him to make with that crystal necklace Golly owns," Alice explained, holding a circular screen pad in her hands.
(David is one of my OCs, the Steel Type Gym Leader and also the son of Diantha, who is also very good at inventions. You can probably put two and two together with what he made.")
"I see, thank you!" Serena happily exclaimed before handing the device to the AS duo. "This should help guide you to other worlds, and if it only leads you to one, that world likely has people used to alternate reality traveling. They should be able to help you get back to your home world almost immediately if you end up there."
"That is a lot of information to take in..." AS-Ash sighed. "Science is amazing, but geez, is that a complicated mess! At the very least, if it doesn't get us home, the other likely situation is it brings us to a world that should be able to get us home!"
"Thank you, guys. You know, despite this probably being our shortest stay in an alternate world, I think it's one of our most memorable," AS-Lillie exclaimed as the group shared a giant group hug, holding back tears. "Alright, let's get going home!"
RBB-Ash nodded, immediately teleporting the AS duo to the castle when nobody outside the group was looking. AS-Ash and AS-Lillie quickly packed up everything they brought and bought, getting ready to travel with Lunala again.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," RBB-Ash sighed. "It has been a while since I've had to say goodbye, possibly forever, to people I've become friends with. But still, I think I speak for the rest of them when I say that we all really enjoyed having you two here, even if it wasn't for that long."
"Yeah, it's pretty hard, isn't it?" AS-Ash sighed, recollecting the friends he hasn't seen in a while. "But hey, maybe someday, we'll be able to cross paths once more! Just promise us one thing..."
"What is it?" RBB-Ash questioned, as AS-Ash and AS-Lillie looked down.
"The thing that your Lillie is struggling with, that those three without their identities said Mark knew..." AS-Ash began, before sighing. "It's an Aura disease called Violet Depression. It can be fatal if not treated in time. Another version of us and Alice were forced to endure the effects of it, and I'm not even sure if they survived. Promise us that you'll do whatever you can to prevent your Lillie from suffering such a terrible fate."
"You don't have to make me promise that, me," RBB-Ash declared. "I failed to help my version of Lillie many times ever since the betrayal, and even if it might be too late, and I don't have a chance to save her, I'm not giving up on saving her. I'll never give up until the bitter end!"
"That's good to hear." AS-Lillie sighed in relief. "For now though, to make sure it doesn't get worse, celebrate her birthday for the rest of the day. She deserves it after everything that's happened!"
"We will, there's no doubt about that!" RBB-Ash declared. "Anyways, you all stay safe on your adventures, and other me?" AS-Ash looked to RBB-Ash one more time as the RBB version said one last thing to him. "Always try to understand everyone, even if you don't like them or they have wronged you. Try to understand people, okay?"
"I'll try to. After all, I can't give up until it's over." AS-Ash chuckled, as Lunala started to fly off with the two trainers on its back into an Ultra Wormhole, which closed soon after the AS-group went through it.
"Never change, younger me, never change..." Ash sighed as he started to teleport back to his family.