Gladion was silent for a while, doing nothing but studying the small amount of the Kantonian Native's face that he could see.
"Follow me", was all he said, turning and leaving the room, not even checking to see if he was following.
Ash nervously looked towards the other Alolans, whose faces showed a range of emotions from concern to amusement, and began to follow Gladion.
He'd had to run to catch up to Gladion, who had already turned a corner and went up a flight of stairs before he caught up.
The duo continued in silence, Ash following the Champion, whose face was blank, not betraying anything to him.
The stadiums were all repetitive, with similar white walls with pipes that stretched overhead, forming a small matrix on the ceiling.
He readjusted his hat, reaching into his cloak's pocket, where Pikachu had become increasingly agitated and had sent small electric jolts through one of his arms, in an attempt to reassure the electric rat Pokémon.
They slowed, reaching a balcony overlooking the stadium they had just fought on.
Gladion outstretched his hand to Ash, palm upwards. "If you wouldn't mind I'd like to see your identification, be that a Pokédex or otherwise."
Ash remained silent for a second before answering with, "and what if I don't have one?"
The Alolan raised an eyebrow, questioning him if he didn't have one.
"Well then. If you didn't have one then I'm afraid that I'm well within my rights to confiscate your Pokémon and bring you into custody."
"Then I think you'll find I do have one"
"And can I see it then?", Gladion shot back, gesturing further to put it in his hand.
He decided to dodge the question, "What would be your reason for suspecting me of doing something illegal. As far as I know I've done nothing wrong."
"I am sorry but I'm also afraid that that information is confidential. You're just a trainer of interest and I can see why. A tournament, the biggest of potentially all time so far, and a trainer with seemingly no experience, no league placements or gym badges, no ribbons or keys.
Said trainer is strong, strong enough to take out entire teams single handedly with only one unevolved Pokémon in his first recorded battle. Yes, a feat that is possible with some beginner's luck no matter now unlikely.
Yet, in their next match, that mysterious and strong trainer faces a group of the strongest trainers in the whole region of Alola, it's unofficial Elite Four and Champion. Sure that trainer loses the challenge round but they face the champion in the battle round. A 3 on 3, but that trainer wins with only losing 1 Pokémon, and taking out both the ace and secondary ace with a rare form of Lycanroc. Not to mention…"
"I'm still to see your point?", he asked, interrupting Gladion before he could make a next point.
"You're suspicious, to put it mildly. A new way of using Z-moves, strong and unregistered Pokémon. One in particular, may I point out seemed strikingly familiar to both Silvally and my own Lycanroc. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you? Maybe take them from a dead man?"
Ash looked towards the battle, where he heard the commentator apologising to the audience, saying that the performance round would be delayed around 20 minutes due to complications with technology, clearly referring to the destroyed area that still lay in the middle of the battlefield.
"Dead men can tell their own tales", Ash said simply, not looking from the crater, "I'm sure those tales would be just as exciting when a dead man reveals themselves. Just consider that."
"Now I don't understand what you mean. How could a dead person tell their own tale?"
"Maybe some aren't as dead as they think they are. Maybe some aren't even dead to begin with. I'd like to think of myself as a dead man. I'm also sorry as I can't explain my own reasons for being here, both for your own safety and for those around you… such as sisters."
He could feel Gladion tense up, now reluctant to pry any further. Just as he began to feel relaxed, confident that he was in the clear, Gladion's hand rest on his shoulder, tightly gripping it.
"If you do anything to try and hurt Lillie, I think being arrested would be the least of your concerns. Now, I will ask. One. More. Time. Identification"
Ash simply shrugged, offering little but a small piece of paper, which contained the address and room of the hotel he was staying in, also saying, "I've already given it to you. You just need to put the pieces together. Remember my warning. You might not like what you find. If you decide to figure it out and do then come here and I'll tell you as much as I can."
He turned and began to walk off but heard a quiet mumble from Gladion as he asked himself a key question, "Could I already know him?"
To say she was happy would be an understatement. Her mood had clearly rubbed off onto her Pokémon, as Mawile and Pancham, were playing a dangerous game of tag with Pancham trying to hit Mawile with Gunk Shot and Mawile trying to hit Pancham back with weak Fairy Winds.
Ninetales was congratulating a proud Vileplume who was rapidly describing and redescribing parts of the battle. Altaria was showing off to a group of Swablu, which looked on with awe as it performed spins using Mist and Dragon Dance, causing a small cloud of ice and snow to form with Gardevoir looking on with slight jealousy at the flying dragon's small performance.
Delphox sat next to her, taking in the sun with Sylveon at her side, napping. Metagross was also asleep, almost hidden between some trees as a pair of Scatterbug began to play on top of one of it's legs, soon attracting the attention of most of the area's Pokémon, as they used the Iron Leg Pokémon as a playground.
Milotic swam in a nearby lake next to Absol, who sat on the water's edge, its paws dipped in the water as the two began to chat.
They stayed like that for a while, maybe around 15 to 20 minutes before she felt Delphox suddenly tense, her eyes moving slowly to survey the area before resting on a purple haired woman who was sat on a nearby bench writing, with an Alakazam sharing it, holding a book up for her to read.
'What's wrong Delphox?' She asked her faithful starter through their connection.
'That woman over there. She's almost robotic like one of Clemont's machines. She'll look over, write something down, pretend to read the book for around 30 seconds and then repeat it.'
Serena's brows furrowed, watching from the corner of her eye as the woman repeated the same cycle that Delphox had described
'That's definitely suspicious. Do you think we should go somewhere and see if she follows?'
'There's something though. I can't seem to read her, I get close to reading her thoughts then something removes me from them. I can't be sure whether it's her Alakazam or her herself. Could she be another Psychic?'
She took Sylveon onto her lap before beginning to brush her back, continuing her mental conversation. Sylveon got the message as she wrapped one of her feelers around her wrist, to listen to their conversation.
'She very well could be. I remember Ash talking about meeting a few during his journeys. I think one might've been a gym leader from Kanto, something about some Ghost types.'
She looked to a nearby clock, which showed the time as around 1PM.
"Okay everyone", she shouted to her Pokémon, all of them turning towards her, Altaria returning to the ground and Milotic swimming as close as she could manage without leaving the water, "I think it's around time to eat. Please can you all return".
All her Pokémon shouted back in agreement, the ever-Gluttonous Mawile running up to her, returning himself, and she returned them all except Sylveon and Delphox, the former still having a feeler wrapped around her wrist and the latter taking a position to her right
"What do you two think to getting some Lumiose Galettes? It's been a while since I've last had any. Our teacher wasn't exactly thrilled when he realised that we'd 'chanced our secret' just to get some", she said the last part quieter than the first, just so that if she was actually being followed that they wouldn't be suspicious.
After making her way out of the park they located the nearest restaurant, which wasn't too busy, especially considering the time of day.
She caught the attention of one of the waiters, who asked her how many she wanted seats for, suprising him after asking if they had anywhere she could seat Milotic and Metagross. Luckily, they had an area free that had a shallow area of water in an open space with a few tables lining the corner.
After she had placed her order, a range of different flavour Pokepuffs and a few plates of Lumiose Galettes, she noticed the same woman from the park sit inside, but still not too far from a window.
After eating she went for a walk around the city, around the entire northern and southern boulevards and then to the centre where Prism Tower stood.
She looked up at one of the sides, a slight dent still remaining from when Pikachu had fallen off it all those years ago, the damage not having been repaired.
She thought back to her journeys with Ash, Clemont and Bonnie, remembering how it had been to travel with the others.
She felt a tight squeeze on her wrist as Sylveon pulled her back to the moment, the Intertwining Pokémon giving her a big smile, causing her to smile in return.
She glanced around, finally finding the woman from the park, still behind her, but more obvious than she'd been previously.
She began to walk away, starting to return back to her hotel when she felt a hand grip her shoulder. She turned and stepped back, both Delphox and Sylveon filling the gap she'd created between her and the Purple haired woman.
They stared at each other for a moment, the woman starting to speak, "If you wouldn't mind I'd like to speak with you, preferably somewhere less public."
He roared at the night sky, the bright stars of Route 10. It was rare to see the lights of a town for him, much less the two of Cyllage City and Geosenge Town.
He looked up, to where he knew Arceus would be, watching carefully, amused with the inner workings of whatever strange plan were being carried out in that moment.
Not that he cared one bit. He was free. Free to roam the world. Yes, they rarely ever left Kanto and Johto, being the home to Ho-Oh, who they protected, following the orders of Arceus. It was nice to see
He heard a thumping around around a kilometre away, rapidly approaching, and turned to see Raikou land next to him, also looking up to where Arceus was, then looking back down to him
"See anything interesting on your patrol?",she asked, doing something halfway in between a roar and a yawn.
"I cannot say that I have good friend, although I am not going to complain about the fresh air that I'm getting, it certainly feels better than being confined to Kanto and Johto and having to follow Ho-Oh. How about you?"
"Neither have I. I'm not entirely sure what Almighty Arceus wants of all of us here. It is nice though. A rare change of landscape for us."
They heard another rapid thumping and cleared a space for Suicune who landed in between them on the large rock.
"Have either of you have found anything?", they asked, looking between the two and then up to Arceus. Both of them shook their heads.
"Well it is getting late tonight. What do you two think of getting some rest. Here is as good a place as any, right?"
"That it is", he said, agreeing with the Aurora Pokémon, "I shall see both of you in the morning."