#and then i misty-stepped to the far side of the fighting arena | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

unlockthelore · 5 years ago

Text

Compassion

Sesshomaru was capable of many things: relieving enemies of their lives, silencing an army of humans single-handedly, and instructing those under his command. Though, what most would expect him incapable of is compassion.

For her? He could make an exception.

From the series Affections Touching Across Time on Ao3. For more updates, follow the affections touching across time tag on this blog.

Sesshomaru had grown accustomed to the idea of change. It was an inevitable, unpredictable, and untethered force constantly inspiring. In lieu of Naraku’s threat, life ebbed on as it had before, with obligations and concerns he had no prior interest in rearing their head. His mother was far more talkative than she’d been centuries past.

Though not wholly to him. While their relationship wasn’t hostile or that of strangers, she’d taken more to communicating with Rin than she did him or Jaken. Granted, he could understand why she neglected to speak with the latter. She seemed to derive some amusement out of Jaken’s plight. A terrible thing for the small imp. The Lady of the West did not tire easily and his anguish might keep her for the next millennia or so.

However, the West was one of his issues. An achievement of which he had no interest in until his mother divulged information to Rin and curiosity beset her to ask. Perhaps showing immediate interest in Rin’s revival whilst in his mother’s presence wasn’t the best idea. Unknowingly, he’d handed her quite a bit of ammunition to use against him in the form of someone he couldn’t rid himself of easily.

Or at all, if he were honest.

The years he’d spent apart from Rin gave perspective. Time to understand his place in the world, seek out stronger opponents, and wander his father’s lands. In his absence, his mother took the helm as the Lady of the Western Lands and her opposition was quickly dealt with. She would not allow his father’s hard work to be undone by unruly demons or upstarts of humans believing the aftermath of Naraku’s defeat was cause for rebellion.

“I will hold until you are ready,” she said. Her voice carrying from the mouth of Bokuseno, eyes unseeing and wooden lips shifting without the demon’s will. Sesshomaru had half a mind to turn on his heel and leave but spindly branches blocked his path as the forest reacted to Bokuseno’s will.

It both pained and amused him that the tree demon could be possessed by his mother. A pain reflected in his stoic countenance as he listened to her words.

“Once you are prepared to take the helm as your father’s successor, heed these words. You will have need of the dragon, imp, and seeress. Though we may be inu yōkai and many remain in our court, we are surrounded by vipers, waiting for the faintest showing of skin to strike. Remember compassion as it has been taught to you, my son. Blade and claw will not serve you well in an arena of words and promises. I’ve protected you as long as I could and I will continue to do so, but change is coming, Sesshomaru.“

Sesshomaru clenched his jaw but said nothing as sight returned to Bokuseno’s eyes, his boughs trembling with a shudder as best as a tree could muster.

“What did I say, Lord Sesshomaru?” Bokuseno asked to Sesshomaru’s back.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes as he cleared the path of branches before him with a flourish of his hand, whip cutting through the rattling wood, sending it raining down as he passed. “Nothing I don’t already know,” he said, his mother’s warning and thinly veiled assurance receding to the back of his mind as he heard Jaken and Rin’s laughter.

In the glistening waters of a stream teeming with fish, sunlight dancing upon its rippling surface, Rin and Jaken splashed about in hops of catching another fish to add to their ever-growing pile guarded by A-Un. While the imp who’d sworn himself to Sesshomaru’s service hadn’t changed a bit from they met, Rin had grown into a woman in the blink of an eye. Truthfully, he knew it had been longer than that. Years spent apart with letters and fleeting visits, her life detailed to him with words on scrolls written by her own hand and enthusiastic retellings from her own lips. Gone was the starry-eyed way she’d regard him, replaced with a sharpness and wit, along with an accuracy for interpreting his actions and words ( few, though there may have been ).

Brown eyes compelled Sesshomaru to speak earnestly, even if his words were sparse. Rin’s intuition had grown as much as she had. Deduction and sneakiness allowing her past his defenses. And try as he might, he couldn’t reconcile who she was now with the girl she’d been. The Rin that followed at his side, barely standing taller than his knee, was and wasn’t the Rin praising Jaken for a successful capture after he’d toppled into the water and nearly gotten swept away with the current. Her hands supporting him under his arms as he recounted the feat.

She lacked his former ward’s innocence.

She no longer viewed humans with contempt but remained wary of their intentions.

Kindness came to her easier but so did decisions, and her hand was swift in carrying them out.

He no longer had to shield her from a fight. Her tricks and skill made her an even greater asset.

Sesshomaru decided to concede his mother’s point. Change was coming as before. It had already come for Rin, taking his former ward and instead granting him a trusted friend and companion. Who learned throughout the years how to hide things even from his eyes.

Dusk fell over them gently. Jaken and Rin, exchanging blunted barbed words and smiles until they tired, the tall grass swaying in the breeze while the fire crackled between them. A-Un settled comfortably at Rin’s back. Since her return to their group, the dragon was rarely if ever not by her side. While Rin no longer required their constant protection, A-Un’s electricity crackled brightly in their open maw and smoke plumed through their nostrils when a threat to her was posed.

Thankfully, as Rin slept at A-Un’s side with Jaken curled beneath the dragon’s tail, there were no physical threats to harm her. Mental, however, was another tale.

Nightmares lingered in the reaches of Rin’s psyche. They were not an enemy Sesshomaru could destroy or a plot to thwart. An ill-given punishment for the actions of others marred upon her mind in scars no remedy or spell could heal. He’d been patient with her in her youth. Waking her when she was in tears and calming her when she screamed herself hoarse. It wasn’t her fault, he reminded himself, and the agitation he felt waned. Worries lingering in the back of his mind during their time apart.

If others would be cruel to her when she wailed and cried.

Would they steal her voice away with callous words?

Render her unable to even muster a smile?

Gratefully, none of his concern came to fruition. To his relief, Rin no longer screamed in her sleep or woke with inconsolable hiccuping sobs.

Instead, she rose in a solemn silence. Muted shadows swallow her as she wandered from A-Un’s side and over the mumbling lump that was Jaken, disappearing into misty thickets with only the curl of her hair on the wind as if bidding farewell. Sesshomaru wasn’t a heavy sleeper. Years of battle making it nigh impossible for movement to go unnoticed. And he’d seen her the moment she rose to leave. Briefly considering letting her be until salt — sharp, heady and bitter — spurred him into movement. Rin’s footsteps were noiseless.

A faltering pride swelled in Sesshomaru’s chest as she ducked beneath low branches and side-stepped gnarled roots, likely having memorized the path after venturing it earlier in the day. Though at that time, the sun shone brightly, pinpricks of sunlight visible between the leaves haloing her in a soft golden glow. She’d been smiling and humming, skipping through the foliage freely.

Not walking quietly, back straight and head raised high, hands lingering at her side with fingers twitching. Alert and prepared, but no less weary of something and upset.

Sesshomaru’s nose twitched at the potent scent of flowering blooms, sweet and strong, overpowering the salty bitterness tinging the air. Slivers of moonlight colored the mist lingering over a decadent array of blooms swaying amidst the tall grass. Rin’s steps, careful and calculated, avoided clusters of flowers deftly as she stepped in a rhythm almost as if she were dancing. Sesshomaru lingered beneath the boughs of a withering tree, watching her quietly as she moved, only to crumple to her knees after a misstep.

Her shoulders trembled but he heard no sound. Sharp and bitter saltiness drowned by the flowers’ sweet scent, crisp snapping of flower stems joining the chirping crickets and buzzing insects. A quiet wind rustling the leaves on the trees and carrying her hair eastward. Rin’s hand snapping at another flower’s stem and tucking it in her lap before pulling a single dusky black plait from behind her ear, her thumb caressing the orange tie at the ends before falling to her lap, resuming weaving together the flower stems.

Sesshomaru refused to look elsewhere. His nose hadn’t failed him in years and he doubted it would now. But he couldn’t intrude. Autonomy had given Rin a need for privacy. However, it also hardened her stubbornness. At heart — Rin was a free spirit and akin to providing comfort to others whilst bearing her own burdens, yet she faltered when allowing others to assist her. In years prior, Sesshomaru would have never thought it was a trait they shared. Rin had always been cheerful as a child. Akin to speaking her mind, no matter how crass the thought.

But there was much he didn’t know of her. And while this was one of the lessons he disliked, he would pay attention nonetheless — finding himself at her side almost in an instant when a silvery tear rolled down her cheek.

“Rin?”

Her hands stilled. The flowers stems tremble in between her fingers and in the dim of the night, he cans the myriad of flickering emotions painting anguish across her features. Sesshomaru knelt in the blooms, careful not to crush them, but lingering close enough to her side that he could make out the dried tear streaks amidst the rivulets of newer tearfalls.

Lowering her hands to her lap, Rin muttered in a voice barely above a whisper. “… I thought the flowers would hide the smell…”

Sesshomaru’s lips twitched at the corners, threatening to dip into a frown. He told himself once more that he wouldn’t fault her for this. Her memories, while old and in the past, were just as meaningful to her in the present. Lifting his hand achingly slow, Sesshomaru carefully wiped away the streaks of tears with his thumb, wrinkling his nose as the sharp salty tinge grew stronger.

“Why would you try to hide them?”

“Have you seen A-Un try to tiptoe through flowers..?”

She tried to laugh. A tired giggle, mirthless and utterly hollow, crude compared to her usual infectious guffawing laughter. Sesshomaru could imagine what would happen if A-Un were to wake and see Rin like this. The dragon would have stopped at nothing to find the source of her pain. Curled around her as if she were their own and held her close til morning. But A-Un remained in the clearing and Sesshomaru knelt beside Rin, wiping away the tears as they fell.

“Is it the nightmares?”

Rin’s smile fell almost immediately and her eyes shuttered. Sesshomaru did frown at the look on her face. Devoid of cheer, almost completely blank, save for the tears wetting her eyelashes and the pad of his thumb with every swipe. She sighed, a wispy rattling laugh parting her lips. “… It’s funny..” She said, though the humor was both lost on him and nowhere to be found in her words. “I thought I didn’t have any tears left to cry. But… here they are…”

Sesshomaru wasn’t sure what to say. Words oft escaped him in matters such as this and he doubted they were what Rin wanted entirely. So where words failed, action prevailed. There was only a small space where the flowers wouldn’t be easily crushed and it wasn’t enough for both of them to sit comfortably side by side. With his hand leaving her face, Rin’s eyes widened fractionally and he heard her breath catch as he shifted to sit behind her. His armor carefully removed and set aside, allowing him to wrap his arms around her.

She stiffened in his hold. Every muscle tensed and quivering, the tension gradually melting as she sagged against him, her head thumping against his chest. There was little else Sesshomaru could do but rub his hand up and down the length of her arm, squeezing gently when she shifted. Content to listen to Rin’s shuddering breaths and the wilds around them until she was ready to speak, leave, or do anything at all..

After a lingering pause, a long pause broke the silence. “I lied to Master Jaken,” she admitted, sucking her teeth and brushing the back of her hands beneath her eyes. “Just a bit..”

“Mm?”

“Well, it was a harmless lie. If I told him the truth, he would’ve just panicked.. And he sleeps like a log anyway.”

“What did you say?”

Rin snickered, likely amused by the memory, and Sesshomaru was pleased that her laugh had regained some of its enthusiasm. “I had something I needed to do. Girl things. You should’ve seen how quickly he turned tail, it was a little funny.”

Sesshomaru almost wanted to smile as she laughed, but every time her hands pulled away from her eyes, the brackish scent assaulted his senses. Squeezing her upper arm, her laughter stuttered and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“You don’t have to hide from me.”

Rin paused and inhaled deeply, laying her hand against his sleeve, her fingers curling into the fabric and pulling it taut. “… I know,” she managed to say and the weariness combined with the fragility of her voice tensed something in his chest. He held her tighter in response and if Rin noticed, she was gracious enough not to point it out. Continuing with a rough tear-filled sigh, her hold on his arm so tight that she was shaking. “I’m just a little ashamed, I think. It’s been so long. I should be better now.”

Sesshomaru could hear the admonishment. Her frustration, fear, and anxiousness. Perhaps at one point in his life he had felt similar to her. Though his qualms were of a different sort, and he’d had centuries to come to terms with them for better or worse. Rin was forced to confront her worst fears, death, and understanding of a species that she both feared and abhorred. Sesshomaru wouldn’t fault her for her feelings but he wouldn’t uphold the way she spoke of herself either.

Where others might have broken, Rin hadn’t.

Her pain could take centuries to heal and he would hold her throughout it all.

“You are allowed to feel what you do,” Sesshomaru insisted.

Rin said nothing and briefly, Sesshomaru wondered if that was the end of their talk. Then, the world seemed to slow as she turned in his embrace to face him. Brown eyes, glazed over and brimming with tears, met his own. Her lips trembling as he drew her into his lap and cradled her against his chest, allowing her to pull her knees in close. The soles of her feet, dirtied with damp soil and grass, brushed against the leg of his hakama and he could care less for the stain. Flowers fell from her lap as she moved and he reached out to cup them in the palm of his hand, lifting them back to her view and allowing her to pluck them from his hands.

Her fingers caressed his own for a bit longer as she gathered the last of the flowers, tracing the lines of his palm.

“Thank you,” Rin murmured, her lips soft and warm as they brushed against his cheek as he leant his head down.

“… Mm.”

He knew she didn’t mean about the flowers but chose not to touch on the subject. Allowing her to shift in his lap, spreading the flowers out in her own. The pungent scent dissipating as she brushed her fingers along the flower petals. Peace reigned as Rin gathered herself, examining each of the flowers with interest. Her fingers occasionally falling to the exposed skin of his wrist, tracing the length of his marks with interest.

“One day, I’ll grow taller than you…”

With how lazy her touches were becoming and the dreamy tone of voice, along with such a ludicrous idea, sleep must have been creeping upon her again. Rin had grown considerably but in comparison to his half-brother’s wife and the slayer woman, she was quite small. Still, he would humor her.

Burying a smile in her hair, Sesshomaru muttered low. “Will you?”

“Absolutely,” Rin protested, wiggling her toes as she laughed heartily. He drank in the sound, reveling in its return as she added. “And then we’ll see who hugs who.”

“…I look forward it,” Sesshomaru said, wiping away a few stray tears as he pulled away to see her face. Her eyes flicked up to meet his own, unspoken apologies and hopefulness glimmering beneath the fog of discontent.

“Can you stay with me for a bit longer?”

He could have told her that he had no intention of going elsewhere. That he would stay with her until she felt at ease. Carry her back to sleep at A-Un’s side or his own. But he said neither thing, simply pulling back to rest his chin against her head. “…Continue what you were doing.”

Her breath hitches but he could practically hear the smile in her voice as she spoke. “Are you sure, m’lord?” There was a slight shuffle, and he could hear the telltale sounds of her muttering as she weaved the flower stems together. “If I finish this, I will try to make you wear it.”

“Will it make you smile?”

After a short pause, Rin nodded.

Like this, Sesshomaru cared little for appearance and decorum. What he desired was the smile he adored and if he had to endure wearing one of her flower crowns, then so be it.

“I will wear it then.”

#inuyasha fandom #sesshomaru #rin #sessrin #fanfiction #my fanfiction #affections touching across time

20 notes · View notes

letswritefanfiction · 6 years ago

Text

Pokémon Alphabet Challenge: V is for ‘Verse

Can also be read on ffnet here.

When he barged in, he immediately saw that the Battle was already over, and she was shaking the hand of a young boy in front of her. Whether the Battle had ended in win or defeat for her, Ash didn't know, but he also didn't slow down for her to make it through formalities. Once he was fairly sure that the echoes of the pool wouldn't distort his voice, he shouted, "Misty!"

In the empty arena, his voice spread like water, touching every wall and sounding almost like he had shouted from within the pool itself. Misty's head shot up at the sound of her name and soon she was standing ramrod straight.

"Ash?" she asked in a terrible shock. "What are you doing here?"

He ran right up to her, one hand on her shoulder, one on her cheek, then one in her hair, and one taking her hand. Then he grinned.

"It's you. It's definitely you."

It had all started with a simple mission from Lusamine.

Well, it was from Lusamine, but it definitely wasn't simple. Simple was fighting and capturing the Ultra Beasts. Not simple was trying to find the root cause of why so many Ultra Wormholes were opening up in the first place, and why Ultra Beasts kept on coming through them. As far as the Aether Foundation knew, the only ways to open Ultra Wormholes were through Legendary Pokémon like Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma, sometimes through the Ultra Beasts themselves, and through the machine that they had created. And theoretically no similar machinery was in use anywhere else.

Not that it was the job of the Ultra Guardians to research any of the strange phenomena going on. But there were two sentences from Lusamine and Professor Burnet that locked them into this job nevertheless.

Lusamine: "We've hit a standstill on our research at the Foundation and we'd like to check out things on the other side."

Professor Burnet: "I've noticed a strange uptick in Ultra Wormhole-like energy emanating from you kids and Lusamine since you returned so, if you're up to it, you're probably the best candidates for the job."

That's how they came to be the lead explorers of Ultra Wormholes. And it was going great! Until that time they didn't manage to make it to Ultra Space at all.

They'd been growing increasingly familiar with Ultra Space. Sophocles had nicked a few more rocks and taken them back to Alola for study (that first one was still just for him, though). They'd also deferred to Rotom Dex to record videos and whatever data it found. So it was immediately evident when they came out the other side of a Wormhole and, instead of landing in a dark wasteland defying even their most rudimentary physics knowledge, they were dropped in a very normal-looking forest.

The first one to voice everyone's alarm, Lillie, asked: "Um, where are we?"

"Are we in Lush Jungle?" Mallow asked.

"No, the foliage is wrong," Kiawe answered. "This isn't a jungle; it's a forest."

"Kiawe's right!" Rotom Dex exclaimed. "The flora here doesn't match any that I have anywhere in Alola."

"It looks kinda familiar…" Ash said as he began to wander around. "Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika!"

"How can you tell?" Kiawe wondered.

The forest didn't seem to have any particular markers or anything else to make it stand out. It looked like any other forest anyone had seen ever. The ground they were on seemed relatively well-trod, so perhaps they'd found themselves on a part of a main trail. But aside from that…nothing.

"No, I swear I've been here before," Ash insisted. "See! Look!"

Sure enough, Ash ran over to a wooden board that had been hammered into the ground.

"Viridian Forest," he read confidently.

"Where's that?" Sophocles asked.

Sophocles looked even more nervous than Lillie. He was frowning, eyes darting this way and that, even shivering a bit as he stood there in his Ultra Guardian suit. And his thin eyebrows were nearly overlapping each other. Lillie, on the other hand, had taken Mallow's hand and was looking at Ash with determination.

"Viridian is the big city closest to Pallet! We're just outside it right now. Oh, don't worry, Sophocles; we'll be fine. I'll get us out of here in no time."

"O-Okay," Sophocles said, his muscles beginning to relax a bit.

"I can't see the Ultra Wormhole for the trees," Lillie said, looking up at the sky. "I'm not quite sure how we're supposed to get back home from here."

"If worse comes to worse, we can always take a boat home," Lana said. "It should only take a few hours."

"I guess that's true," Lillie agreed, though she couldn't help but continue looking at the sky with concern.

Just then, everyone noticed a buzzing sounding from deeper in the forest. "What's that now?" Mallow asked.

"Uh…" Ash began to look a bit more worried and Pikachu's cheeks sparked. "Nothing we haven't dealt with before…"

"Hold on!" Rotom Dex cried. "If I record that sound, I can match it to—"

It didn't get to finish, though, as Lana shouted one word that made the situation very clear to everyone.

"Beedrill!"

The swarm burst through the trees, heading right for them, stingers at the ready.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu made quick work of the Beedrill, sending them all off flying the other way with the single blast. It wasn't enough to terribly injure the Beedrill, but enough to spook them and let them know that more pain would be involved if they didn't turn tail and return to the forest.

"Whew, glad we took care of that," Ash said as Pikachu fell back to his shoulder.

"Pikachu's so great!" Lillie exclaimed.

Before the buzzing had even fully faded, a rustling came from further in.

"What now?" Sophocles groaned, back to looking nervous, now hugging Togedemaru to his chest.

"I'm not sure," Ash said uneasily. "Stay alert, Pikachu."

"Chu." Pikachu raised itself to all fours, still on Ash's shoulder, fur raised in spikes like a Jolteon.

Pokémon broke through the brush, stomping through the bushes and looking at the Ultra Guardians with disdain. But these weren't the Pokémon Ash was sued to seeing in the Viridian Forest. In fact, members of the Weedill, Caterpie, or Pidgey lines were nowhere in sight with the arrival of their new visitors.

"Those are three angry Kangaskhan," Rotom Dex whispered.

Nobody breathed as the Pokémon began to circle around them. This must have been nesting territory. Or maybe Pikachu's Thunderbolt had been just enough for them to feel threatened. Whatever it was, these Pokémon were big, and their power rippled off of them in the form of bulging muscles, barely hidden beneath armor-like skin.

"Does this happen often, Ash?" Lana whispered.

"Can't say it does."

Before they could begin strategizing a plan of attack, from the distance they heard: "Golduck, Confusion!"

The Confusion traveled in a tight circle, encompassing all three Kangaskhan, but not touching any of the Ultra Guardians or their Pokémon. The move froze all the Kangaskhan in place, and they heard the same voice that called the Attack cry out again:

"Run!"

And they did. Ash led the way, leading the group—hopefully—out of the forest. Fortunately, like Ash had said, they weren't far from the edge and soon came across a clearing with the view of a city in the distance. Then they noticed that another boy had joined their group. A boy Ash quickly recognized.

"Gary! Wow, thanks for saving—"

"Red, what were you doing back—oh. Sorry, I thought you were a friend of mine. He has a Pikachu too."

Ash blinked at their new addition, not immediately seeing any differences between him and Gary. They had the same spiky hair, brown with shades of auburn. Ash couldn't see a single difference in facial features, and he even wore a yin and yang necklace like Gary used to have. It was uncanny. But, to Ash's knowledge, Gary didn't have a Golduck. And he wouldn't look at Ash with the vacant expression of a stranger that this boy was wearing.

"No, my name is Ash, but you look exactly like my friend, Gary," Ash said with a grin on his face. "Isn't that cool?"

"Amusing coincidence," the boy said dryly, as though it wasn't amusing at all. Then he continued, "Anyway, I see you all are Trainers. If you're going to travel through the Viridian Forest, try to be more prepared. It's dangerous here."

"I don't think so," Ash said. "And I've spent a lot of time here."

"My mistake," the boy said. "It just looked as though the lot of you were about to let yourselves get attacked by those wild Kangaskhan. If you're here all the time, you should know that Kangaskhan never stop attacking when they think their child is in danger."

"Well, there aren't usually Kangaskhan here!"

"There have always been Kangaskhan here."

"We would have been able to handle ourselves just fine," Kiawe stepped in, interrupting the two boys.

"Good to know. Then I won't worry about you as I research the disturbance that seems to have occurred here."

"What kind of disturbance?" Lillie asked.

The boy sighed. "I'm not quite sure, but I just received data reading that there might have been a dimensional disturbance in this area. And my scanner says that there's otherworldly activity near here."

The boy showed off a large tablet that had some sort of a graph on it.

"Oh, that was probably us," Sophocles said. "We just came here via an Ultra Wormhole."

"A what?"

"An Ultra Wormhole," Lillie repeated, taking over for Sophocles. "We've been exploring another dimension called Ultra Space through them, but this time we seem to have landed here in the Viridian Forest instead."

"Well, that would explain the strange get-ups," the boy muttered to himself, looking over the group again in the matching uniforms Lusamine had given them. "Let's say I believe you. Would you be willing to tell me and my friends what you know?"

The Ultra Guardians looked at each other, reading one another's faces to try and get a gauge on what they were all thinking. Then Ash turned to the boy with a smile, their previous squabble forgotten. "We'd be happy to! Hey, what's your name?"

"Blue Oak," the boy said. "Viridian Gym Leader and grandson of the great Professor Oak."

At that, everyone gasped, looking at Blue in disbelief.

"Y-You say you're Professor Oak's grandson?" Ash asked.

Lillie turned to Ash and said, "Um, Ash…strictly from a theoretical point of view…I think we may be in another dimension after all."

Blue said he was obligated to take them to the Champion in order to figure out what their next step was. But they had to figure out a way of getting to him.

The first obvious solution was Kiawe's Charizard—and it turned out that Blue had one as well—but that would hardly be enough for the seven of them. Then, to everyone's surprise, Blue called out, "Green, I know you're hiding in the bushes listening, so please come out."

A pretty brunette popped out of the bushes, a big grin on her face as though she reveled in getting caught. She came straight over to Blue and put a hand on his face. "What's the matter, baby? Too proud to admit that you need my assistance?"

The Ultra Guardians—aside from being surprised by the girl's spontaneous appearance—all recoiled a little at the intimate gesture and pet name. Blue, for his part, kept a straight face, as though she wasn't stroking his face in front of a group of strangers. "Could we use your Pokémon to meet with Red?"

"What's the magic word?"

"Please?"

"Not good enough."

Blue sighed. "Pretty please?"

Green clapped her hands together, looking quite pleased with herself. "That'll do. Come out everyone!"

With a flourish, Green reached into her bag and released a number of PokéBalls into the air. The Alolan crew watched eagerly to see what Pokémon she would show off to them. But then, simultaneously, their heads all tilted to the side in confusion and they released a group: "Huh?"

There before them were three pink, blobby Pokémon, none of whom the Ultra Guardians associated with flying.

"What are we supposed to do with them?" Kiawe asked, nose wrinkled at the strangely unhelpful Pokémon. "A Wigglytuff, Jigglypuff, and a Ditto?"

"Fly, of course!" Green answered. As she said the word, her Wigglytuff began to get larger before their very eyes, expanding and, eventually, floating off the ground. When it was about five feet up, Green grabbed onto its leg and she, too, lifted into the air.

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense," Sophocles said.

"None of these Pokémon are capable of learning the move Fly," Rotom Dex confirmed, taking on a confused expression itself.

"Maybe things are different here!" Ash exclaimed, the only one of the lot to have already overcome his disbelief. "Pikachu, do you think you could fly here?"

Pikachu then began to puff himself up like the Wigglytuff had only to deflate a few seconds later and shake his head sadly.

"Okay, so two Charizard, a Wigglytuff, a Jigglypuff, and a Ditto," Lillie summarized. "Assuming we're all going, theoretically, that still leaves us three short."

"Just two, actually," Blue said as he released another Pokémon. A Scizor, which none of the Ultra Guardians had ever seen Fly before either. "But you guys should probably return your Pokémon to lighten the load as well."

Sophocles, Mallow, Lana, and Lillie returned their respective Pokémon, but Pikachu, of course, stayed out. Blue looked at him expectantly, and Ash explained, "Pikachu doesn't like his PokéBall, so he always stays out here with me."

Blue shook his head. "Figures."

"We're still two short," Mallow said, bringing them back to the task at hand.

"Leave it to me," Green said. "Ditty, Transform!"

Somehow, without further instruction, Green's Ditto began to grow and shape shift into a large, green serpent, orange tendrils bursting out of it. But it was in the air the whole time, certainly, and inarguably, flying. And certainly a big enough size for a number of them to ride on.

"Meet Rayquaza-Ditty!"

"Rayquaza?" Ash asked, looking a little bit surprised. "That's not quite what I remember Rayquaza looking like."

First of all, its markings were all off, and it was missing notches that Ash remembered on its body. And he certainly had no memory of the streamer-like orange bits that were coming off of it.

"Whatever, it's our interpretation of a Mega-Rayquaza. A friend described it, and this is what we came up with."

"Wait, so your Ditto can transform into other Pokémon without even having seen them? It can just approximate?" Lillie asked.

"Not just that," Green said with a wink. "Ditty can turn into anything!"

"Anything?" Lana asked, wide-eyed.

Rotom Dex's screen began to glitch a little as it said in a panicked voice, "Does not compute, does not compute."

"Literally," Green said to Lana, "Correct use of the word 'literally' too, right, Blue?"

Blue rolled his eyes. "That's right. Now let's hit the road. Who knows how much time we have before things start going haywire around here."

But as far as Ash and the gang were concerned, they already were.

Ash was immediately confused when, instead of flying west towards the Indigo Plateau, where he expected the Champion to be, they flew north-east towards…well, he didn't know. And he couldn't ask Blue about it either, because he was being lifted by his Scizor while Ash had taken his Charizard, being one of the few to have experience riding one. As they passed over towns, though, he was able to keep track of where they were. It was easy to spot Mt. Moon and then, before he knew it, they were descending into the heart of Cerulean City. He'd know it anywhere.

"Why are we in Cerulean?" he asked as those who had offered flying Pokémon returned them to their 'Balls.

"Because it's where the Champion spends most of his time nowadays," Green explained with a wink.

As the crew began walking behind Blue and Green, they noticed they were heading straight for a nondescript building. It had no interesting features or architecture to hint at what it might be, except for some large lettering on the outside. And once it came into view, Ash had one question.

"This isn't the Cerulean Gym?" Ash cried out, the almost-statement really coming off as more of a disbelieving question.

"It can't be!" Sophocles agreed. "This isn't what the Cerulean Gym looks like!"

The first time Ash had seen the Cerulean Gym, it had been kind of a corny circus-tent-looking building with a big Dewgong on the front. Then, it had been rebuilt to look more intense and challenging. All glass and sharp angles—something to be taken seriously. And he didn't know much about architecture, but it had to be the architectural focal point of the city, he was sure. This one before him was just a block with some windows. It got the job done, but it was hardly eye-catching.

"But here, it does," Blue said as they made a beeline for the front doors. "And it is."

The sliding glass doors opened up automatically for them and they found themselves in a fairly spare lobby, not looking much more interesting than the outside of the building would imply. There were some paintings of various Water Pokémon, basic chairs, a couple plants, and an unmanned reception desk.

The lot of them just stood there for a minute, and the Ultra Guardians were confused.

"Uh, are we supposed to tell someone we're here?" Mallow finally asked.

"Not necessary," Green said as she reached into her pocket. "This'll take care of that."

And out of her pocket came a red tablet. Rotom Dex immediately flew over.

"Ooh, an older style Pokédex! May I see? I want to check out what functions it has!"

Green held out the 'dex. "Sure! And you're about to see one of its functions in action."

As Rotom started scanning the Pokédex, Blue pulled out his and held it out next to Green's. After a moment, they both began beeping. Rotom flew back, eyes wide.

"What's that?" Sophocles asked in alarm.

"Just give it a second," Green replied.

For a minute, all they heard was the beeping of both Pokédexs, but eventually Lana said, "I hear another one."

Sure enough, there was a faint beeping coming from further in the Gym, growing stronger by the second. And then another boy, about the same age as Blue and Green, entered, Pokédex in hand. When he appeared, they all put their Pokédexs away as if on cue, and the beeping stopped.

"Very interesting!" Rotom Dex noted.

"Hey, guys; what's up?" he asked. "Who're your friends?"

"Not friends; more like lost Mareep," Green said. "Guys, this is Red, Indigo Champion."

"A Champion," Kiawe repeated, sounding impressed. "It's an honor to meet you."

"Aw, thanks," Red said. "Oh, wow, a Pikachu!"

Red ran up to Ash and Pikachu and reached out a hand. Ash started to say, "Hey, wait a minute, he doesn't like just every—" but Red was already caressing Pikachu's cheek just the way he liked it.

"Awesome! What do you call it?"

"Um, Pikachu?" Ash answered with confusion.

"Huh, that's funny," Red replied. "No nickname? Here, meet mine!"

Red took out a PokéBall and released a Pikachu in front of them. It was a Pikachu, no doubt, but definitely different from Ash's. It was a little squatter, stockier almost, though nevertheless in great shape. Its cheek sacks were a tad smaller and not quite the perfect circle's that Ash's Pikachu had, plus the marks on its ears were shorter.

"Meet Pika!"

"Not really a unique nickname," Sophocles whispered to Kiawe, who couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Pika and Pikachu excitedly made their way over to each other and gave a few sniffs. Then they turned around and locked tails, taking part in a Pikachu handshake.

"Incredible!" Rotom Dex exclaimed, taking pictures of the encounter, and taking note of Pika's measurements.

"At least that's the same in this universe," Ash commented, smiling at the Pikachu.

"Hey, guys! Did I miss anything?"

Just as Pika and Pikachu were separating, in walked a face that everyone found familiar.

"Misty!" everyone said in unison.

Everyone except Ash, that is, who shook his head and said, "No, that's not Misty."

Pikachu seemed to agree with Ash. Instead of leaping for her like he usually would, Pikachu stayed firmly planted on Ash's shoulder, if anything, retreating further from her.

"Is it one of her sisters?" Lana asked.

The girl tilted her head and looked at Ash strangely. "Actually, I am Misty. The Cerulean Gym Leader. And I don't have any sisters."

"No," Ash insisted. "Your hair is different. It's not as spiky and your bangs are thicker. And you're supposed to have three sisters."

Rotom flew up in front of Misty's face, bringing up its camera. Misty's face took up half the screen, while an image of another Misty—the Misty all the Ultra Guardians knew—showed up on the other half. Rotom declared, "They're a ninety-nine percent match! Almost the same, but not quite!"

"Hold on, I'm stopping this now before we really go into crazytown," Blue inserted. "All of them claim to have come here from another universe through a portal called an Ultra Wormhole. And I thought we should tell you, Red, the Champion, before figuring out our next step."

"Is there another me in this universe?" Misty asked, looking at the whole group with continued confusion.

There were vague affirmations, but all of the Ultra Guardians looked just about as confused as Misty did. Except for Ash, who was still looking at Misty with a scrutinizing stare. His eyes just about bugged out of his head when this guy, Red, put an arm around her waist and pulled her close. But no one said anything about it, so he didn't either.

"I'd love to help," Red said, "We've been noticing interesting phenomena in the region for the last few months that we haven't been able to get any leads on and it would be great to get some answers. But I'm not sure exactly what it is that you want."

"You see," Lillie started, "usually we travel through an artificially created Ultra Wormhole, and then we travel back through that same one to get home. But when we flew here, I noticed that the Ultra Wormhole wasn't visible in the sky where we must have come out. So now we're not sure how to get home."

"Can you create a new one?" Red asked.

"Not exactly," Lille said uncertainly. "Certainly it's possible, but, assuming you don't already have the technology, we'd have to create it. And none of us have the knowhow for doing so."

Red nodded very seriously at her and then put a hand behind his head and said, "Yup, that's definitely a problem."

Misty elbowed him in the ribs. "Babe, that's not really a helpful thing to say."

Babe?

Ash squirmed a little, but said nothing as the conversation continued around him.

"Well, since we have no current solution to our problem, and it'll likely stay the same for a while," Mallow asserted, "why don't we just see what we can do to help you guys out and then return to this little dilemma when we're done?"

"I think that's a great idea!" Green said.

"Why don't we go to my house?" Misty offered. "Get comfortable as we get to know each other?"

And that's how they came to be in a house that shouldn't exist, in an unfamiliar Cerulean City, in an unfamiliar Kanto region with no apparent way home.

The Misty Ash and the others knew lived at the Gym. The first floor of the building was the Gym proper, and the upstairs was their living area.

This Misty lived in a mansion.

They had been accompanied—by servants!—to an enormous sitting room with ornately upholstered chairs and couches that most everyone was afraid to sit on. But Misty and her friends plopped down and made themselves comfortable, which gave the Ultra Guardians the confidence to do the same. Misty dismissed the servants, but no sooner did she do so than another showed up with lemonade and shortbread cookies. No one in the group would have known what to do with themselves, if they'd all not had a little taste of this on their visits to Lillie's mansion.

Once that song and dance was done, Rotom was the one who jumped into action, wanting to share everything it had recorded in the past few months with Red, Blue, Green, and Misty. Apparently in this version of Kanto, there was no knowledge of Ultra Beasts at all, or the powers of the Legendary Pokémon of Alola, although their myths—probably not myths, everyone acknowledged—still seemed to exist. It showed footage of Ultra Space and the Pokédex entries for the Ultra Beasts that they had encountered. And everyone patchworked together the story of how they'd discovered Ultra Beasts in Alola—their Alola—and how they'd ended up in this new universe.

"Does that sound at all like what you've been experiencing in your region?" Lillie asked when their tale was told.

"I'm not sure," Red answered. "There have been no sightings of any reported 'Ultra Beasts', at least not yet."

"That's not to say that there aren't any," Green added.

"Right. But the opening and closing of Ultra Wormholes is still a possible explanation for what we've been seeing in the data."

"And what exactly is that data?" Sophocles asked.

Red looked to Blue for the answer. Blue sighed. "The long answer is that humans have always had an interest in other dimensions, particularly in how they relate to Pokémon. A number of Pokémon have been said over the centuries to come from other dimensions—mostly Ghost Pokémon which, as it turns out, is basically true—but actual research into it has been slow."

"Because it's so complicated?" Sophocles asked.

"Yes, it's difficult to access other dimensions, especially with any confidence that there will be few to no repercussions for doing so." Blue eyed the group. "As I'm sure you know."

Well, yeah they knew. Now. Maybe they hadn't put enough thought into what might go wrong in the exploring of other dimensions. They'd just fallen into it so quickly the first time that they hadn't really thought past doing whatever it took to save Lusamine. And they'd managed to perform so many trips without anything going wrong that it hadn't been on anyone's minds. After they made it home—if they ever did—they'd have to talk to Aether Paradise about having more failsafes in place.

"But the creation of Porygon-Z was probably the start of it," Blue continued. When he saw everyone's confused expressions he clarified, "Porygon-Z is an evolution of Porygon2, and its purpose supposedly was to be able to travel through alien dimensions. However, its creation was totally misguided and ended up an abject failure."

"Never heard of it before," Ash said.

"No data," Rotom Dex confirmed.

"Well, it's a human-created Pokémon, so maybe it doesn't exist in your world," Red offered.

"Anyway, about the same time that Porygon-Z was created, other dimensions really became a mainstream topic of conversation over in Sinnoh, where Dialga and Palkia actually opened up portals that people could travel through. Following that, there was a spike in research, specifically in the Sinnoh region, then Johto, then the technology spread to here."

"And we hadn't really needed it," Red said. "Until these past couple months. We have scanners that are supposed to show spikes in interdimensional activity that have basically been inactive for a few years now. But suddenly…"

Red trailed off with a shrug, but everyone knew what he meant.

"Well," Sophocles began, "judging by the fact that your Misty seems about the same age as our Misty, we can reason that our timelines must about add up. So if you guys have had this uptick in activity at the same time that we have, well, that can't be a coincidence, right? It has to be the Ultra Wormholes!"

"Otherwise how else could we explain ending up in your universe?" Lillie added.

A buzzing began emanating from Misty's watch at that point, and she looked at it with furrowed brows. "I'm gonna take this," she said.

Before standing up to leave, Misty and Red shared a chaste kiss on the cheek, and then she left the room to pick up the call. Once she was out of range, Mallow looked to Red, eyes dancing.

"So, are the two of you dating?" she turned to Blue and Green as well. "And you and you?"

Red scratched the back of his neck in an eerily familiar gesture and said, "Yeah, we—I mean, of course, yes. We are."

Ash, who had been petting Pikachu, froze in his motion. Usually, Pikachu would nudge him, trying to get him to pick back up, but instead he licked Ash's arm, trying to send a little comfort his way.

Green said, "What, me and Blueykins over here?" She poked a finger in his cheek.

"She's very different in private," was all Blue said.

"What can I say?" Green trilled. "I'm a performer."

"More like a trickster," Red corrected. "But yeah, they're seeing each other too."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Mallow said. "I'm happy for all of you!"

"Thanks, Mallow!" Green exclaimed. "I guess when you're in a group it's hard not to fall into dating each other. Though it looks like you all have avoided it somehow."

There were a few blushes throughout the Ultra Guardians as they either glanced at each other or completely tried to avoid eye contact.

"Yup! Somehow!" Lillie squeaked awkwardly, eyeing Sophocles who was licking his finger and swiping the platter on the table in order to get every last crumb of shortbread.

From his spot in Ash's lap, Pikachu looked up at Ash and gave him a toothy grin, wagging his tail into Ash's chin a bit. Ash's brows furrowed in confusion, but he began petting Pikachu again, figuring that's what his buddy wanted.

"Well, it looks like it's time to check your all's theory," Misty said soberly as she walked back into the room. "There's been a strange sighting outside of Cerulean that they want me to check out. Red, you wanna come?"

"Of course, babe," Red said, popping up off of the couch.

"We'll come too," Blue said, standing up and holding out a hand for Green.

"Sounds good to me," she agreed.

"Wait, we wanna come too!" Ash declared, leaping up.

Kiawe was the first to follow. "He's right. It's basically our job, after all, to handle these kinds of situations."

"Maybe in your world it is," Misty said. "But in this world you're civilians, so it's really best if you stay here."

"Actually," Lana started, "we don't legally exist at all in your world, so it shouldn't matter either way."

That rendered the others silent. No one could refute that.

Misty sighed. "Red, you're the Champion. It's up to you."

Red looked over the group once again, and grinned. "Well, look at them. They're already in uniform, right, so let's give 'em something to do!"

The group headed west outside of Cerulean, this time on foot, since flying had proven a bit of a hassle with the lot of them. Fortunately, whatever strange being had appeared outside Cerulean had been polite enough to stay on the outskirts and not jump in to terrorize the city.

"This should be the area," Misty said once the group had made it onto the Trainer paths.

"Must be," Blue said, taking out his tablet. "My scanner is showing even higher numbers than before. There must be an otherworldly creature here."

"Fascinating," Rotom Dex said, looking over his shoulder.

There seemed to be no sign of it, though. Mt. Moon was in sight and the Cerulean skyline was in the background, but there was not a strange Pokémon in sight. Spearow and Rattata, yes, but nothing that wasn't native to the Kanto region.

"How does this usually go?" Blue asked, turning to the Ultra Guardians.

"It's pretty simple," Ash said. "We find the Ultra Beast, catch it, and then return it to the Ultra Wormhole."

"Except we have a few problems with that," Mallow stated. "We don't know where the UB is, or an Ultra Wormhole, much less how to reopen one, and, Ash, do you even have any Beast Balls?"

"Beast Balls?" Green asked.

Without answering the question, Ash rifled through his pockets. "I have one," he answered, pulling it out to show the group. "Better make it count."

"Cool," Red said, getting up close to the 'Ball to look. "Man, I wish Crys could see this."

Ash bristled, pulling the 'Ball away. "Can't afford to lose this one," he said curtly, putting it back in his pocket quickly as Red pulled back.

"So that's one problem down," Kiawe stated. "Now it's about the UB and the Ultra Wormhole."

"Um, guys?" Lillie asked, her voice suddenly taking on a nervous tone that no one had heard in months. "I think I found it."

It took a few seconds for anyone else to spot what Lillie had, but sure enough, flitting between the trees was the only Ultra Beast that would draw a reaction like that out of Lillie: Nihilego.

"It's okay, Lillie," Mallow said, going to her friend and rubbing her arm.

"No, I know," Lillie said, frowning and looking seriously at the Pokémon. "I'm not afraid, Mallow."

"You know, you actually kind of look like it," Green said offhandedly.

Lillie turned to Green in shock. "W-What?"

"Well, with the hat. And then its tentacle…things kinda look like your hair and then legs. See?"

"No, I most definitely do not see!" Lillie exclaimed indignantly.

Green shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever. Just saying."

"Alright, everyone, stand back," Ash said, stepping in front of the group. "This is Nihilego, one of the most dangerous Ultra Beasts, so you'd better let me handle it."

"What makes it dangerous?" Blue asked. "It looks like a normal Pokémon to me."

"It's true that my mother's foundation has decided to classify UBs as Pokémon now," Lillie answered. "But this one has the extraordinary ability of merging with a human and taking over its mind. That's why it was originally classified as UB-01 Symbiont."

"It's a parasite," Sophocles summarized.

"So we should probably disarm it first so that it can't Attack any of us," Red said. "Maybe paralyze it or put it to sleep?"

"I've battled one of these before—I know how to handle it," Ash said firmly, ignoring Red's suggestion.

"Ash, Red's an expert battler," Misty said. "We could all work tog—"

"I've got it! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

The Attack made direct contact with the Nihilego, who turned to Pikachu and Ash with new focus. Then a tentacle lashed out, nearly grabbing Pikachu before he leapt to the side. Then another came and soon, Pikachu was zigzagging all around the field without an opening to get a hit in.

"Rotom, what type is Nihilego?" Red asked quickly.

"Nihilego is a Rock and Poison Type."

"Really?" Blue asked in disbelief, looking at the jellyfish-like Pokémon. He wasn't sure what his guess would have been, but a Rock Type sure wasn't it.

Red, meanwhile, was already in action. "Poli, go! Use Water Gun!"

Out of his PokéBall came a fully-Evolved Poliwrath who instantly began firing a thick spray of water at Nihilego, knocking it away from Pikachu.

"That's how you do it!" Misty cried.

Ash frowned. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out Type effectiveness," he grumbled just loud enough to be audible. "Pikachu, Iron Tail!"

The move just about connected with Nihilego when one of its tentacles shot out and wrapped around Pikachu, squeezing him tight as it moved to consume him like had happened to Lusamine.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted in alarm, instantly running towards his partner. He only made it a few steps before an arm reached out to stop him.

It was Kiawe.

"Ash, no," he said, looking his friend firmly in the eye. "You'll only get yourself hurt like Lusamine."

"But Pikachu—"

"Look."

Kiawe pointed toward Pikachu and Nihilego, where Poliwrath was using another Water Gun to keep Nihilego from latching. Then Ash had an idea.

"Pikachu, if you can, use Thunderbolt when the water hits you!"

No response came from Pikachu, but when the water blasted him, his cheeks charged up, and a shock of electricity took over both himself and Nihilego, who dropped Pikachu to the ground. Pikachu scampered back a little and Ash grabbed him up and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry, Buddy. I should have known better than to use a Physical Attack."

"Pika cha," Pikachu said by way of accepting his apology. Then, in his fashion, he jumped down and landed in a power pose, ready to restart the Battle.

"That was a good move," Red said to Ash, a grin on his face. "Let's continue to pool our power!"

Ash nodded. "Right. Pikachu!"

"Poli!"

"You know what to do!"

Together, both Pokémon shot out their strongest Attacks yet, Pikachu's Thunderbolt wrapping around Poli's Water Gun and heading to hit Nihilego at full strength. When the Attacks connected, Nihilego faltered and nearly fell to the ground. Lana patted Ash's arm.

"I think it's time, Ash," she said. "Give it all you've got!"

"Right!" Ash reached into his pocket again. "Beast Ball, go!"

Ash threw the bright blue PokéBall, and its light wrapped around Nihilego. The 'Ball fell to the ground and began to shake. Everyone ran over to it and watched as it wobbled from side to side.

"It has to work," Lillie murmured as she held her hands over her mouth.

And, sure enough, the 'Ball relaxed, locking shut, and the Nihilego was caught. Ash picked up the 'Ball and pocketed it once more.

"Glad that's over with," he said. "No sweat."

"Right," Misty said wryly, looking at him with an arched eyebrow. Ash's brows furrowed at the comment, but he didn't say anything.

"Hmm, this is interesting," Blue said, his scanner out once again. "According to this graph, there's still some interdimensional activity going on."

"Do you think it could be an Ultra Wormhole?" Sophocles asked.

"Could be. I mean, I wouldn't know. But I doubt it, because the levels are lower than back at the Viridian Forest, and there must have been one there in order for you all to come through, right?"

"That's right," Lillie answered.

"It could be another kind of activity that we've encountered before," Red offered. "The Ghost dimension, the Distortion World…"

Blue shook his head. "The different kinds of energy read separately on here. It's definitely the same kind of energy that the Ultra Beast had."

"Maybe it's still Nihilego, even though it's in the Beast Ball?" Kiawe offered.

"I don't know…"

"You don't think…" Green started, looking around at everyone, then only at Blue. "You don't think it's them?"

Blue's eyes never left his device, but his lips pursed to form a thin line on his face. "Maybe."

"You know…that's kind of like what Professor Burnet said," Lillie reminded everyone quietly.

"But what would that mean?" Sophocles asked.

Blue shook his head.

"I don't know."

"I have a hypothesis," Lillie finally said.

The group had been in contemplative (relative) silence for several minutes, trying to sort out what to do with the new information that Blue's theory might provide them with. It would be nice to have Lusamine, Burnet, or Wicke at a time like this but, unfortunately, they were forced to find the conclusions on their own.

"What?" Lana asked.

"Let's say that we have a kind of residue on ourselves from traveling through Ultra Space. Maybe it's basically like a scent. So the Ultra Beasts can sniff it out and are drawn to us once they arrive in our world. Er, worlds."

"That would explain why our first spotting is after you all arrived," Blue said.

"And so close to where you were," Misty added. "And far from where we think the Ultra Wormhole is."

"Right, right, exactly!" Lillie agreed, getting excited. "If this is true, then we could use Nihilego to sniff out the Ultra Wormhole. At least, if we can find a way to mask our own presences."

"And then it might be able to open the Wormhole for us to follow through and back home!" Sophocles finished for her.

"Exactly," Lillie said. "Then it'll just be a matter of if we end up in the right world or not."

"And we'll deal with that when it comes," Kiawe said.

The group smiled. Once again, they had a plan. And an interesting theory to bring back to the Aether Foundation.

"You know what?" Mallow said suddenly, "This makes me feel a little fonder towards the Ultra Beasts."

"Even Nihilego?" Sophocles asked. Of all the Ultra Beasts that the Ultra Guardians had encountered so far, Nihilego had to have been the toughest, and the most damaging thus far.

"Yeah!" Mallow exclaimed. "It's like…they can't help it, you know? They're following us for a sense of home. They yearn after us like, I don't know, like they're in love with us! I, personally, feel flattered."

"Love?" Lana asked with a little snicker.

"Uh-huh! It's just like when that Dewpider thought that you were a Dewpider and was following you! They can't stop thinking about us, they wanna be around us all the time, they feel better when we're there—I'm assuming. I'm going to choose to see this as flattering."

"That does sound a little bit like love," Misty said, gazing at Red fondly. He smiled back at her and took her hand, giving it a little squeeze.

Ash watched all of this, eyes narrowing at the interaction between Misty and Red. Then he turned to Lillie determinately and said, "Let's go back to the Viridian Forest and find that Ultra Wormhole."

"Is there anything else you need of us?" Lillie asked Blue.

Blue shook his head. "No; I'd just like to see if this plan works."

"I guess we're flying again," Kiawe said, taking his Charizard's PokéBall back out.

"Actually," Green said, taking out one PokéBall instead of her previous three. "I've got you covered."

"Why couldn't we have thought of this last time?"

Kiawe was rolling his eyes and wearing an expression that he usually reserved for when Ash did something especially off the beaten path as the whole group stood back in the Viridian Forest, all holding hands, with a Mew in the middle of them.

Except the Mew then immediately dissolved back into the amorphous blob that was Green's Ditty.

Green shrugged with a playful smile on her face. "Oopsie, didn't think of it."

"We made it there anyway," Blue said in her defense.

Instead of enduring the long(ish) flight on strange Pokémon, this time, Green had told everyone to hold hands as she took Blue's and put on hand on her Ditto. Ditty had transformed into Mew, and then she'd called it to use Teleport, and they were exactly where they'd been when they'd first arrived in this universe.

"Now we just need a way to shroud ourselves from Nihilego," Lillie asserted. "But since we don't know exactly how it hunts us, I'm not quite sure what that shroud should entail."

"Ditty?"

Without another comment out of Green, Ditty began growing and slowly covering the Ultra Guardians with its squishy body.

"I didn't mean—!"

Lillie's exclamation was cut off as she was entirely covered by Ditty's body. Ash barely managed to throw Nihilego's Beast Ball towards the others before all the Ultra Guardians were completely engulfed in a thick, pink goo.

Red caught the Beast Ball with some difficulty, shaking his wrists out and wincing. Misty took them in her hands a rubbed a little, Red looking at her gratefully. They still weren't the same.

Blue, meanwhile, was looking at Green with amusement. "You didn't have to do that. You don't even know if this will do the job."

"But we also don't know that it won't. I think there's a good chance, since now they're totally covered in something from our world. And Ditty can completely vacuum seal them off."

"Then we'd better do this quickly," Blue said, gesturing to Red. "So they don't run out of oxygen."

"Right." Red nodded. "Beast Ball, go!"

He threw the Beast Ball in the air, and Nihilego flew out. The group watched closely to see if it acknowledged where Ditty was currently covering six human bodies and a Pikachu. It glanced about, but didn't seem to pay them any particular mind, instead turning its attention to the sky.

"I wish we would have tested this out with them first, to see if Nihilego was drawn to them without Ditty covering them," Blue said.

"Too late now, babe," Green replied, putting an arm around him. "Let's just watch and enjoy being the first ones to witness this mysterious being in our world."

"Not sure why you guys always have to be the people experiencing this region's 'firsts,'" Misty commented. "But there definitely is something cool, if rather dangerous about this."

"All in the job, Mist, all in the job," Red said.

Nihilego seemed to poke around the space before settling on a particular corner of the sky. It glowed for just a moment, hardly noticeable, and then the sky began to open up. It was like the sky had been made of glass all along, and Nihilego took a chisel to it and cracked it. Everyone intoned sounds of awe as the Wormhole opened up, and Nihilego slipped through it.

"Okay, better release them now, Green," Blue said. "They have to get up there before it closes again."

"And I've got just the idea for that!" Green declared. "Ditty, magic carpet!"

At Green's word, Ditty rolled up on one side, revealing the Ultra Guardians, who all gasped at the introduction to fresh air again, and then pushed itself under them, toppling them to the ground. Then, before anyone could get their bearings, they were all rising up in the air, towards the Ultra Wormhole on a floating carpet-Ditty.

"That was incredibly dangerous!" Rotom Dex declared as it floated above the group. "The oxygen levels—"

"Whoa!" Ash shouted, interrupting Rotom. "This is so cool!"

"I'm not so sure about that!" Sophocles called out in a worried voice. While Ash was pushing himself to his feet and looking down at the shrinking ground, Sophocles was on his knees, clutching onto the edge of the false 'carpet' for all he was worth.

"Thanks, Green!" Ash called, waving down at the group below.

"Yes!" Mallow cried out, now standing up as well. "Thanks for everything, guys!"

"I hope you have good luck!" Green shouted back.

"Me too," Lillie said just loud enough for the Ultra Guardians to hear. "I'm still worried we won't end up in the right dimension."

"Don't worry about that, Lillie," Ash said, casting one last glance back at the four down on the ground. "I know just how I'll know for sure."

Ash ignored the various looks the group was throwing towards him and looked down at Ditty.

"Alright, Ditty," he said. "I'm going to need you to fire us into this thing as hard as you can. You ready? One—"

"Wait, I'm not ready!" Sophocles shouted.

"Two…"

"Get ready, everyone!" Kiawe cried.

"Three!"

And with a bounce, Ditty shot them into the Ultra Wormhole, and everyone crossed their fingers, hoping that this time, they ended up where they belonged.

Even though they'd followed Nihilego in, just like last time they ended up missing its world of Ultra Space completely, instead landing on a sandy beach.

"Oof, rough landing," Mallow said, rubbing her bottom before pushing herself up to standing.

"We made it to Hau'oli City Beachfront," Lana observed, a note of excitement in her tone.

"That appears to be correct!" Rotom Dex agreed. "It matches my data one hundred percent!"

"But did we make it to our Hau'oli City?" Kiawe asked, also standing up, then reaching over to help Sophocles.

The group couldn't miss seeing the Ultra Wormhole disappear from the sky, leaving them alone on what was hopefully their beach.

"I told you guys I would figure it out!" Ash said, jumping up from the sand, Pikachu still on his shoulder. "Kiawe, I need your Charizard."

Kiawe took a step back, looking at Ash with confusion. "What would you need with Charizard?"

"I need to fly somewhere," he insisted. "C'mon, you know I know how to ride it."

Slowly, Kiawe reached for his PokéBall, but he continued looking at Ash skeptically. "And you're sure you'll know we're in the right place?"

"Positive," Ash declared. "Just need to take a short trip."

"Okay…"

Still with hesitation, Kiawe handed Ash Charizard's PokéBall, and Ash was quick to call him there on the beach. He swept on the Pokémon's back with ease, Pikachu hopping in front of him for easier travel. Then Ash kicked off, and they were in the air.

"But Ash, where are you going?" Rotom Dex asked, trying to follow him a ways.

"I'll be back in a few hours!" he called, ignoring Rotom's question.

Kiawe's eyes bugged out. "A few hours‽" he cried. "Why?"

"Just need to be sure!"

And before Kiawe could argue the point any further, Ash, Charizard, and Pikachu were but a dot in the sky.

He'd done a very similar flight in a totally different universe only a few hours prior. Only this time, instead of heading for a cement box, he was looking for a huge, glass arena.

It didn't take long to spot, which was his first hint that this was, indeed, his universe. He urged Kiawe's Charizard to descend and they came to a quick stop in front of the building. Ash had barely recalled the Pokémon before he was running in the automatic doors, Pikachu scampering after him to keep up.

When he was inside, he was looking around frantically in every direction, taking an extra moment before he noticed the wide-eyed receptionist behind the front desk. He ran up to her.

"Um, can I—"

"Is Misty here?" Ash asked, cutting her off without hardly realizing it.

"Uh, yeah, she's just finishing a Bat—"

"Got it—thanks."

"Wait! But there's only supposed to be one chall—"

The door closed on her before Ash could hear the rest of her sentence. He didn't care. He knew the rule, but he also wasn't a challenger, so he wasn't technically breaking it.

He was an old friend.

Luckily, from his recent visit, Ash felt fairly confident with the layout of the renovated Gym. He wasn't an expert by any means, but it was easy enough to make it to the Battle arena. After all, that was supposed to be the most accessible part of the Gym. Well, aside from the main lobby. When he barged in, he immediately saw that the Battle was already over, and she was shaking the hand of a young boy in front of her. Whether the Battle had ended in win or defeat for her, Ash didn't know, but he also didn't slow down for her to make it through formalities. Once he was fairly sure that the echoes of the pool wouldn't distort his voice, he shouted, "Misty!"

"Ash?" she asked in a terrible shock. "What are you doing here?"

He ran right up to her, one hand on her shoulder, one on her cheek, then one in her hair, and one taking her hand. Then he grinned.

"It's you. It's definitely you."

Misty blinked at him in confusion, a bright pink blush rising to her face. "Of course it's me, you crazy—uh, Theo, thanks for the great match; I hope you have good luck."

The young boy was looking at the two of them with vague alarm and didn't need any more of a dismissal in order to make haste out of the Gym. His footsteps echoed, his pace as fast as could be without breaking into a run as he left Ash and Misty alone in the Gym.

One of Ash's hands had dropped from her hair, but the other was still in her hand, touching the dry skin that she was never able to quite moisturize. His thumb was rubbing over the roughness and she blushed further, sure that there was no way Ash couldn't notice the particular shade of Tamato Berry that had taken over from her chest to the tops of her ears.

"It's you!" Ash said again, this time with a giddy little giggle accompanying his grin. "I can't believe it! Can't you see, Pikachu?"

Pikachu had, by now, jumped onto Ash's shoulder, and was nodding, squeaking out a "Cha" of agreement.

Misty looked at the Pokémon, noticing that he seemed far less alarmed than he would if Ash had truly gone off the deep end, which gave Misty some confidence. Ash was fine and, if she asked the right questions, she'd be able to figure out all that was going on.

"Why wouldn't I be me, Ash?"

Ash blew a raspberry, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Long story, but basically me and my school friends ended up in another dimension that had this guy who looked exactly like Gary and there was another version of you, but it wasn't you, you know? Your name was Misty and you were the Gym Leader but you looked different, and your hair, and no sisters, and you were dating this guy and just…Wow, I'm so glad it's really you."

Misty blinked a few times, struggling to keep up with Ash's quick pace—she was out of practice—but at least it all generally made sense. Well, Ash-sense. Sense for what she knew Ash's life often tended to be.

"Okay…" she said slowly. Then she smirked and, once again, Ash was perfectly sure that he'd caught the right Misty. "Who was my boyfriend?"

Ash frowned. "He was the Champion. Some guy named Red."

"Red?" Misty repeated. "That's awfully strange."

"Yeah, and his friends were named Blue and Green and he had a Pikachu too and he'd named it Pika."

For a moment, Misty tried to suppress her smile but before she knew it, a full-on laugh fell out of her. "Of course that's the kind of weird world you would find, Ash. I'd expect nothing less."

"Yeah, well, it's whatever. I know he was the Champion—whatever that means in that world—but he was whatever. You could do much better."

Misty stiffened a little. She and Ash were best friends and in all the time they'd spent together they'd chartered all kinds of different territories of conversation. They'd left nearly no stone unturned. But this wasn't the kind of thing they talked about. Outside talking about Brock's dalliances. It just wasn't.

"Well, thanks," she said uneasily. "But I guess I hope that Misty and Red are happy together."

Almost reluctantly, Ash said, "Yeah, I guess they seemed happy. I mean, they weren't, like, lovey-dovey or anything, but they touched and stuff."

Misty was suddenly much more aware of the feeling of Ash's hand in hers. Was this the kind of touch that Ash had seen her double and the Champion do? Or were they kissing? How romantic or friendly was it and what did Ash see it as?

"I uh…" Ash's voice was quieter now, even raspier than normal. His whisper always made it seem as though his voice wasn't made for it. Like his voice was made only for yelling in Pokémon Battles and he was only to whisper when it was something really private. Intimate. "I didn't like it. Didn't like…watching it."

"Well, Ash…you've never really been one for romance, lovey-dovey or mild. I'm pretty sure I remember a lot of fake-gagging back in our childhoods." She didn't know what else to say. What he wanted her to say.

"It was all wrong," he continued. "Wrong Misty, almost you but not quite, and wrong guy. I'd hate to see you with a guy like that."

Again, she was at a loss. All she could say was, "…the Champion?"

"Just—some guy," Ash said, clearly growing frustrated. His voice was no longer a whisper, but it was still just as raspy; he was almost growling.

"Ash," she pleaded. She took a risk and grasped his other hand, "what are you trying to say to me right now?"

"I—" It sounded strong. It sounded determined. Then it deflated after only one note. "I don't know. I…I feel really confused."

"What's your instinct telling you?" she pressed. "That's always been what you've had luck in. What you've trusted most."

"I—I just…" He stumbled a few times, his eyebrows looking almost like his brain was going to burst through them. "I'm the only one I want to see with you. Like that."

Her voice was a whisper. "Like what?"

Ash continued to struggle. He raised their hands. "Like this." He put his hands on her cheeks and hers fell to his chest. "Like this."

He stopped and she could feel his heart racing a mile a minute.

"Like what?"

"Like this."

He narrowed the gap, and the first thing Misty thought was that she could feel Pikachu's leg tickling her chin. She smiled a little into the kiss. Then she thought, she was kissing Ash. Or rather, he was kissing her.

They pulled away before too long, both breathing heavily, both from the lack of air and the profound nervousness that had found its way into their chests and was pressing onto their lungs. Before thought had entirely returned to her, Misty said, "I'm going to have to go to this other universe and tell its Misty thank you."

"For what?" Ash asked, oblivious as ever.

"For this," she said simply. "For whatever it is that happened over there that made you come running from Gods know where to my Gym."

"From Alola," Ash said. Then he rubbed the back of his neck abashedly. He'd been filled with an almost manic energy from at least when he'd arrived back in this universe, if not earlier, and was only just starting to come down from the high. "I actually took Kiawe's Charizard. I told him I'd be back in a couple hours, but…"

"But what?" Misty asked, a little confused, and a little hopeful.

"I think I might need to send Charizard back without me," he said. "And I can catch up with them later."

Misty grinned goofily. "I guess we need to go to the Pokémon Center then."

Ash grinned back, taking one of her hands in his once again. "Guess so."

In order for Kiawe to learn that his Charizard was going to be returned via the Melemele Pokémon Center and not on a winged trip to the Pokémon school, Ash had to make a few phone calls. It took a few tries to reach one of his friends, but eventually he reached Lillie at Aether Paradise, where everyone else was as well.

"Ash, where are you?" Kiawe shouted, butting into the frame to make himself heard. Lillie leaned away and smiled awkwardly.

"You left us, Ash!" Rotom Dex added indignantly.

Ash blushed a little, embarrassed now that he had to explain his little episode. "Actually, I'm in Cerulean City."

"I have no idea why you decided you had to go there to confirm our universe," Lillie said. "The rest of us came straight here to speak with my mother and everything checks out."

"Well, except for how we ended up in the wrong universe, how we made our way back to this one, and why you're suddenly acting so strange," Sophocles listed, ticking off his fingers one by one.

"And why you took my Charizard!" Kiawe added.

"Your behavior has been a little strange, Ash," Mallow agreed, but with a tad more tenderness than either Kiawe or Sophocles.

"Yeah, sorry about that, guys, I know," Ash said. "The other universe, uh, made me realize that I had some…unfinished business."

"Hi, guys!" Misty said, choosing that moment to come into frame. A quick glance down at Ash and his reddening ears told her that she made the right decision in doing so.

"Hi, Misty!" Lana said enthusiastically. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm just peachy, Lana, and how are all of you?" she asked. "Sounds like you've had quite a day!"

"We have," Mallow agreed. "I'm sure Ash will tell you all about it."

"Oh, he already has."

"I have pictures!" Rotom Dex added.

"I'd love to see them, Rotom, thank you!"

"Ash, did you go all the way to Cerulean just to visit Misty?" Lana asked.

The words didn't come to Ash right away, so Misty took over, saying, "It seems like it was something like that."

"What about my Charizard?" Kiawe begged again, his voice hitting full desperation this time.

"Your Charizard should be arriving at the Melemele Pokémon Center as we speak," Misty said simply. "I hope that's not an inconvenience to you."

Kiawe's whole body curled over a bit and he breathed, "No, that's just fine, thank you, Misty."

"Wait, so, Ash, you're not coming right back to Alola?" Sophocles asked.

Ash looked at Misty and couldn't help the soft smile that formed on his face. "No, not right away. But soon enough."

"But Ash, we have school!" Rotom Dex insisted. "And how am I supposed to accompany you when you've left me in Alola while you're in Kanto?"

Ash laughed. "I won't miss any school, I promise, Rotom."

Meanwhile, the girls were all looking at each other with growing smiles on their faces. "I think I know what's happening," Mallow said conspiratorially.

"I agree," Lillie said. "It's the only logical solution."

"What is?" Sophocles asked.

"I can't draw any logical conclusions!" Rotom Dex agreed.

"Oh, you guys will figure it out someday," Lana said, waving them away.

"Are we right, Ash? Misty?" Mallow asked.

Ash and Misty exchanged another glance. "You may be right, Mallow," Misty answered.

The girls all squealed. Sophocles turned to Rotom Dex. "What could they be so happy about?"

Rotom Dex had a question mark pop up on its screen. "I have no data."

Ash and Misty laughed at the scene before them and Ash finally said, "Well, it seems like I don't have that much time here, so I'm going to make the most of it if you guys don't mind."

"We don't mind at all!" Mallow said waving at them through the screen. "Have fun!"

"Hope to see you all soon!" Misty said, waving back.

When all the goodbyes were said and done, it was just Ash, Misty, and Pikachu sitting in front of the blank video phone. Then, as though it had been their habit forever, Ash took Misty's hand as they both stood up, and they made their way out of the Center, Pikachu on his shoulder.

The truth was, he'd probably have to head back to Alola that night for school in the morning. And he'd hate to worry Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet about where he was. He'd return to his friends, the Ultra Guardians, and they'd probably be called to another mission soon enough, probably to research how things had gone so wrong today.

But for now, he could only be grateful that they had.

#fanfic #pokeshipping #aaml #ash and misty #mangapokeshipping #oldrivalshipping #pokemon #oneshot

25 notes · View notes

lysiluna · 5 years ago

Text

@deercrest Support Rank || F

ლ↷————————————————————————↬

THIS WAS THE MOMENT she had been dreading ever since their separation at the Academy. From the moment in the mud, angry clouds crying for an unsalvageable, broken bond, Lysithea had kept this nightmare under lock and key. It was responsible for countless nights spent petrified in her sleep with the horrid imagining. Now, once more, she faced it. Not as a nightmare, but as an inescapable reality. This time seemed DIFFERENT . Salmon eyes no longer held the firey fervor they once did. Instead, her iris had become laced with weavings of despairing detetchment. In the wake of Edelgard's passing, she had become a desperate martyr with no master. RABID AND RECKLESS.

THE WOMAN BEFORE HER was not a warrior named Hilda.NO. To Lysithea's crazed eyes, ( hidden behind wild, unkempt bangs ) she appeared to be an indistinguishible blur. As BLADE and AXE clashed!! and clashed!! their feet danced in the mud, the last warriors standing in the shadow of Garreg Mach being partners in a routine of do or die. And yet, Lysithea could feel the h e s i t a t i o n of her opponent. There was no room for P R I D E , and Hilda's reluctance would be her undoing. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! you will die and the dream will survive. EDGE SLICES SKIN, MAGIC BURNS FLESH. a painting on the ground, of ash, mud, and blood. PRIMAL SHOUTS DISCONNECT THE SOUL. but reveal the spirit broken. A WILD EAGLE SINKS HER TALON INTO THE DEER... THE THUNDERBRAND PIERCED THROUGH. A mage's breath, heavy and clinging to every morsel of oxygen through the flamebourne ash, occupied the silence alongside her opponent's own defiant, furious lungs. The accuracy of this strike had been far from vital, yet Lysithea ceased to fight on. They were on the CUSP of a moment, the fringe of a time. A time, having gone out.

THE WARMTH of the Thunderbrand faded, it's crackling energy weakening as it's wielder trembled. (yet still, she held on for dear life) Soon, darkness befell the sword, cold bone now dormant in Hilda's shoulder. AFTER SIX YEARS OF WAR, THEY WERE CONNECTED. In defiance of this connection, Lysithea released the blade. A shallow step back. Another. Finally, the weakening villain stumbled over as a tumbling tower of cards might. One last, futile glyph formed in her hand before shooting off a pathetic spark of embers. F A I L U R E

A CASCADE OF CLAMOR sounded suddenly throughout the silence of their arena beneath Garreg Mach. Alongside the form of what had once been a family's home, brittle planks had been crushed beneath her density. COUGH! COUGH! COUGH, COUGH, COUGH! . U p o n h e r t h r o n e o f d e b r i s s h e r e m a i n e d u n m o v i n g. THE TICKS OF TIME WAIT FOR NONE. This fate was one that had been accepted in her heart many years before the war. Now, finally, it was a matter of waiting. As if a song from a dying raven, she croaked a short, gut wrenching laugh. For the first time in her short life, she was waiting for nothing, in particular. The world and it's magics began to fade from her mind's eye. All she could think of, was the darkness that awaited to welcome her failures. DEFEATISM WAS BANISHED for but a moment, as the racket of weapons falling jolted her instincts. This noise was punctuated by the sound of hesitant steps crunching against desolate dirt. As far as her recollection could reach, the traitourous mage could remember no more a tender sensation than that of the hand that held hers with fright. ( right. you should be afraid. ). A force unknown to Lysithea had began to brush the war warn hair away from her eyes -- and their dullness was revealed to her enemy. Small lips opened briefly at the hazy sight of pink in front of a flickering white.

∘ who's there...? ∘ Her voice was low, a whisper hardly audible over the hot, midday wind. A subtle sound. Was that a whimper she caught? A sigh? Perhaps it was merely an animal. Perhaps that animal was herself, meeting a demise where she could not even conceal her own pathetic state. No, it was not her. It was a voice, from the figure on the other side of her foggy lenses. The voice offered an answer she already knew -- she simply wanted to live the lie. Hilda rambled, as she was bound to do. Meaningless questions, powerless pleadings, wishful thoughts. They were all weaker than the sounds of her own heavy, lethargic heartbeat. The only word that pierced the viel of her drumming heart, was WHY? ( why did you continue on? Edelgard was gone, I would have fought for you to have another chance! You had the chance, so WHY?? ) ∘ It was always my dream — Edelgard simply gave me the strength to believe in it.∘ The stale air became riddled with reticence. Moments passed by, Lysithea's lips stayed sealed shut. It was not long before the pressure in her chest began to well up, and her eyes began to sting with the unfamiliar introduction of mistiness. With an unyielding determination tied to her very soul, she withstood the trial. Words were let loose, however. ∘Do you think the children of tomorrow I had sworn a promise to will be able to forgive me? For failing them? ∘ A mistake. The muscles in her chest tightened, every shallow beat pounding against anguished tension as she shuddered at death's door. Eyes shut tight, and her face turned away in shame. ∘ I had nothing to sacrifice, for I had no future.That much, I convinced myself of. But now I — I feel like I’ve lost everything. I should have — tried — to share my dream with you. Instead, I — cheated myself. ........ Hilda? I never thought that....I would....die...with regret... ∘ A weak arm raised from her side, searching, reaching for something until she found the shameful prize. Dirtied, spindly fingers molded to Hilda's cheek. With her own palm as a guide, and a second hand pathetically clingling to the warrior's armor... ...brittle, thin, and dry lips connected with a frantic, supple admittance. THIS WAS NOT THE PATH WE WERE MEANT TO TRAVEL. In her final moments, there was a first: for Lysithea von Cordelia, the sands of time froze. ⋆ I...suppose I'm...selfish...aren't I? Truly...the worst... ⋆

#ლ↷ there is no time like the present. no time at all. || ic ↬#ლ↷ a rabid race against time || Bad End ↬#{[ hi trust me i want to die as well ]}#{[ IMMM MAD I FORGOT TO TAG YOU ASKFSJNGDFKGJD ]}

3 notes · View notes

zdbztumble · 8 years ago

Text

“I’m Not That Girl”

Decided to take a stab at my own prompt. First piece of fan fiction I’ve written since the teenage years.

To get our canon straight: everything happened just as it did in the show through the end of XY/Z, except that they age. One year per region, and if you count the Battle Frontier, that’d make Ash and Misty 17 going on 18.

"Pikachu is unable to battle! Gyarados is the winner!"

The great fish let out a mighty roar. Louder and fiercer than usual, or called for in this situation in Misty's opinion.

He must be proud, she thought as she recalled him. Not many Water Pokémon could take down two Electric challengers in a row without breaking a sweat. They weren't the biggest or strongest Electric-types in the world, but that wouldn't matter to Gyarados.

She felt a bit of pride herself. It was her best match in two weeks. Ever since the call, she'd been distracted and unsure, had messed up in pitched fights and blown some easy wins. Today, her mind was clear and focused, and she'd led her team to a flawless victory.

Even if it hadn't been much of a challenge. A low-level Magnemite and a freshly-caught Pikachu might damage some Water teams, but not one as well-trained and powerful as Misty's. And the trainer at the other end of the pool - Ken - couldn't have been more than twelve, and had just started his Pokémon journey.

He wasn't taking the loss well. He held his unconscious Pikachu tightly in his arms, and even with his eyes covered by the brim of his blue Kanto League hat, he looked as if he were about to cry. Misty sighed at the sight; competitive as she was, winning was the best part of being a gym leader, but facing up against as many rookies as she did, hurting their spirits when she won was the worst part. And this little kid was clearly hurt.

"Poor guy," Misty said softly. She took a step toward the edge of her platform.

"Hold on, Misty."

"Huh?" She looked over at her sister. What's wrong, Daisy?" She probably wants another breakdown. Her oldest sister had taken to serving as a battle judge to try and learn more about Pokémon training, and she had a list of questions as long as her make-up bill after every match. It was good that she wanted to learn, but right now, it could wait.

But that's not what Daisy had in mind. "I think you might, like, wanna skip the pep talk this time."

"What? Why? I always talk to trainers after a match, win or lose."

"Yeah, but usually you haven't, like, totally destroyed the trainer's team."

"I didn't destroy his team!"

Daisy just pointed in response. Misty followed her finger back over to Ken. His Pikachu still hadn't come to, and now that Misty really stopped to look, it did seem to be in rough shape. Its fur had been crisped black from ear tips to tail tips by Gyarados's Flamethrower attack. Both his Flamethrower attacks, and the second one hadn't been necessary. That Bite really did a number on Magnemite too. And I didn't need to swap Gyarados in at all; Milotic was doing just fine on her own.

And before she could even ask herself the question, Misty realized why she'd been so brutal. The League cap; the Pikachu; he even had the same sort of messy hair and big brown eyes. She'd noticed all of this when he came in, but she'd forgotten about it right away...she thought.

Daisy had come over to her. "I'll, like, talk to him. But I don't think he needs us."

"What do you mean?"

Daisy pointed over towards Ken again. He had been joined by his travelling partner, who Misty had barely noticed when they first came in. She was around the same age as he was, if a little taller, with red hair kept in a long braid. She knelt by Ken's side, but while Misty couldn't hear what she was saying, it was clear that she wasn't giving a typical consoling speech. There was a frown on her face and she was shaking her finger at Ken. But her methods had gotten him out of his funk; he seemed much more focused on bickering with her now, even as their hands latched together.

Hands touch, eyes meet

Sudden silence, sudden heat

Hearts leap in a giddy whirl...

A hand fell on Misty's shoulder. Daisy was looking at her with a sad smile. "I think we should close the gym for the day after they leave. We don't need you taking it out on more challengers, right?"

When she was Ken's age, Misty would've blushed and vehemently denied what her sister had just implied. Now, she simply nodded. Without another look at her challenger and his friend, she stepped off her platform and slipped down the hall leading from the battle arena to the main lobby.

Her bike was there, right outside the glass doors, chained to one of the pillars. What started it all. Beyond the bike was the path that led away from the gym, away from Cerulean. Not a day had passed since she'd taken up the role of gym leader where Misty hadn't thought at least once about striking out on that path again. She'd been needed - was still needed - here at home, and she was happy and proud of the work she'd done. But something inside her still longed to roam. And would roam again, someday - someday soon, if Daisy kept up with her lessons.

And if she hadn't dreamt of going down the path, she'd dreamt of someone coming up it to see her.

Don't dream too far

Don't lose sight of who you are

Don't remember that rush of joy

He could be that boy...

While never as prim and proper as her sisters, Misty did like to keep a clean bedroom. It was anything but right now. Her busy schedule didn't leave her much time clean as it was, but she'd been in no state of mind to care about appearances since the call. Her sheets were ruffled, papers and books lay scattered everywhere, and the garbage bin was overstuffed with containers from all the cheap take-out places she'd ordered her meals from.

At least it's no messier than I am, Misty thought as she caught herself in the mirror. She'd been swimming laps for almost an hour when Ken had turned up, and she'd had no time to change or shower off before the match. She was sticky with dried sweat and pool water, her hair was fried from the chlorine, and she could still taste the salt of the sea water pool on her lips.

"Psy?"

Psyduck waddled over to her from the bed, carrying a light blue swimming jacket and dark blue short shorts in his flippers. The dope had popped out of his pokéball during the call and had refused to go back in since. Misty had stopped trying to return him; she was glad for the company.

"Thanks, Psyduck." She slipped into the shorts first, then tossed the jacket over her white bathing suit. Her bed was what she came up here for, but it didn't seem worth the effort to cross the room, so she fell into the chair at her desk instead. It was covered, as it had been for two weeks, with photos. Photos she'd taken, photos she'd had taken, photos she'd been sent. The common figure linking them all wasn't her; it was a Murcrow-haired trainer with chocolate eyes and a great big smile. Misty was with him in some of the pictures, but not in any on top of the pile. Those were the ones Ash had sent from Kalos.

"Sent" was being generous. He'd dropped Misty a line a few times during his latest League quest, but most of the pictures, and most of her news of him, came from Mrs. Ketchum. She'd made sure to keep Misty even more in the loop for Kalos, not only to keep the girl up-to-date on Ash's journey, but because she knew how much a romantic like Misty loved Kalos culture. The photo nearest to her was taken at the base of Prism Tower in Lumiose City, the one place in the world Misty most wanted to visit before she died. When she and Ash were travelling together, she used to fantasize that they'd take on the Kalos League after Johto and spend plenty of time in the city. And while Brock was distracted by the local Joys and Jennys, she and Ash could slip off to the tower...

Every so often we long to steal

To the land of what-might-have-been

But that doesn't soften the ache we feel

When reality sets back in...

With Ash at Prism Tower were his Kalosian friends; a roly-poly boy with glasses, a little blonde instantly recognizable as the boy's sister, and a beautiful girl. Misty knew all their names, had even talked to them the two or three times Ash had called her. Serena was soft-voiced and a little shy on the phone, but she had been perfectly sweet and charming when they talked. Ash and Mrs. Ketchum had nothing but nice things to say about the girl. Misty had really liked Serena, and had no reason to be upset with her.

Except the way she looked at Ash. And talked to him. And talked about him. And how, when their time as travel companions came to an end, she'd said good-bye to him.

Mrs. Ketchum always called when Ash came home from a League. When she'd called after Kalos, Tracey had happened to ring at the same time, so they'd made it a conference call. Both of them had seemed a little nervous, but Misty couldn't imagine why. Until, while talking about Ash's flight, Tracey had let the news slip. News that they clearly hadn't wanted to break to her, but aside from one good scream, Misty felt she'd taken it well. After all, it wasn't the first time. And at least Serena was a nice girl, not some hot-stuff festival maiden looking to show off. Jealousy was much easier to keep under control when the one stealing a kiss from Ash was a sweetheart half a world away.

Still, once the cat was out of the bag, she couldn't help but ask questions, and she wouldn't let her callers dodge them. It seemed that Ash hadn't been himself since he'd told his mother about that kiss. He'd taken to that most un-Ash of activities: brooding. And, when he'd paid a visit to Oak Ranch, Tracey had walked in on him making a phone call to Brock, asking for girl advice.

A call he'd immediately come to regret, from what Tracey had heard, but that didn't change the facts. Ash Ketchum; the boy Misty had followed all over the continent for three years and met up with as often as she could for another two; the young man whose exploits she'd followed for the three years since meeting up stopped being an option; the reason every stab she made at dating fell apart; direction-challenged, thick-headed, Pokémon-obsessed, big-hearted, hero-playing Ash Ketchum had finally been turned on to girls by a kiss.

And it wasn't Misty's.

Blithe smile, lithe limb

She who's winsome...she wins him

Gold hair with a gentle curl

That's the girl he chose

And Heaven knows

I'm not that girl...

She'd made it through the rest of the call well enough. She'd even managed to smile and change the subject. Only after Mrs. Ketchum and Tracey had let her go had the tears started. Only then had the rage kicked in as she lashed out at Psyduck, screaming at her poor Pokémon all the things she wanted to scream at Ash. When her anger was spent, the tears got worse, and she'd pulled the duck into a tight hug, crying into his feathers for the rest of the night.

She hadn't cried since. That had to be a good thing, right? That when it's obvious that your childhood crush turned much, much more is in love with someone else, you only let the water works flow once?

Of course, she'd been crying inside for the two weeks after the call, so that didn't help her argument.

"Psy."

Psyduck had taken hold of her legs. The look in his eyes as he stared up at her was as uncomprehending as ever, but his feathers felt warm.

"Well," she smiled, reaching down to pat the water fowl's head, "at least I'll always have one dopey man in my life, right?"

"Psy." She assumed that meant yes.

"YOU!"

Daisy might have been in the room for how loud her voice was. From shock Misty kicked out, sending Psyduck crashing into the book case.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Psyduck!" She started over towards him.

"YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE SHOWING UP HERE, KID!"

"Wha - what did I do?"

Ash.

Psyduck would be fine, she decided - the dumb duck crashed himself into at least three things a day. She bolted out the door, following the sound of her sister's screaming.

"DON'T YOU PLAY DUMB WITH ME, MISTER! YOU'RE LUCKY I ANSWERED THE DOOR, OR ELSE YOU'D, LIKE, TOTALLY HAVE GYARADOS IN YOUR FACE RIGHT NOW!"

"Huh? Why would Gyarados -"

"YOU'RE NOT EVEN HERE FOR HER, ARE YOU? YOU JUST WANT A BATTLE OR A TRADE, OR SOME ADVICE ON HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR FROAKIE OR WHATEVER!"

"Actually, he already evolved, but -"

"WHERE'S YOUR FLOOZY, ANYWAY?"

"My what? Look, is Misty -"

"IF YOU THINK I'M LETTING YOU ANYWHERE NEAR MY SISTER, THEN YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING -"

"Daisy!"

Misty practically slid into the lobby. Her sister was flush with rage, and her fists were trembling. Ash stood back by the doors, looking utterly lost. So did Pikachu, though he perked up as soon as he saw Misty. With a happy "Pikachupi!" he leapt from Ash's shoulder, bounded across the room, and jumped into Misty's arms.

"It's OK, Daisy," Misty said, smiling in spite of herself as Pikachu cuddled against her. "I can handle this."

Daisy looked as if she wanted to say are you sure, but she nodded and walked back toward the battle area, stopping to give Ash the death glare and the "I'm watching you" sign with her fingers.

"What's her problem?" Ash asked as soon as the blonde Waterflower was out of earshot.

"Nothing." She's just learned to be a good sister. Misty hadn't exactly told Daisy and the others what had upset her so much, so they'd guessed. They hit close to the mark, but their imaginations had also invented a whole mess of shady details that weren't true and weren't fair, to Ash or Serena. Misty hadn't been in the mood to correct them, but as much as part of her loved seeing Daisy cow Ash like that, she couldn't let him suffer.

"It's been a long time, Ash." Her standard greeting.

"Yeah." His standard reply. He'd grown since they met last. He was taller than her now, with a lanky build, and he'd started to grow some side burns. She stayed at the mouth of the hallway, and he stayed over by the doors. Pikachu climbed from her arms to her shoulder, his little paws digging into her hair.

"I saw your final match in the Kalos League. I'm really proud of you, Ash. That was an amazing battle."

"Oh..." Ash's hand went to the back of his head as he gave her an almost sheepish grin. "You saw that?"

"Uh-huh. And I was with your mom watching the news when Team Flare attacked. You really had us worried." Not that they ever weren't worried about him. He doesn't have me to pull him out of the water anymore. She wondered if Serena was a strong enough swimmer to save him, because knowing Ash, it was a miracle he hadn't been in a near-drowning situation in Kalos.

"Yeah - it was amazing, Misty!" And he was off, regaling her with a cliff notes version of all his exploits since his last message. His storytelling had improved over the years, and if he still bragged a little, Misty didn't mind. He asked after the gym too, and she did her best to make it sound more exciting than it was. There were some pointed barbs and shots thrown back and forth, but that was just how they were. It was nice. It was as if she'd never had to leave him.

And never had she more wished she hadn't had to than now.

"So what's next, Ash?" she finally asked him. "Are you going to try re-challenging one of the Leagues you've already faced?"

"Actually, we're going on vacation!"

"Pika!"

"Yeah, Mr. Mime won us a trip to Alola. We're leaving from Vermillion City in two days!"

"That's amazing! I wish I could go!" If Lumiose City was first on her bucket list, Alola was second. The Orange Islands had been nice, but Alola had all those Water Pokémon she'd never seen. The island trials were fascinating. And the beaches...she could just imagine walking along one at sunset as the tide came in, hand in hand with...

Don't wish. Don't start

Wishing only wounds the heart...

"Ahem."

She'd been staring off into space, she realized. She turned back to Ash. He was standing up tall, and he looked more mature, and more serious, than she'd ever seen him.

"I'm glad I caught you before I left, Misty. There's something I need to tell you."

"Oh?"

He nodded. Some of the maturity left him as he looked away nervously, hand back behind his head. Pikachu hopped from Misty's shoulder and ran back to his master to give his leg an encouraging pat. Ash smiled down at his starter before looking back up at Misty.

"See, when I left Kalos, Serena... it shouldn't have been a big deal. I mean, I was surprised, but it's not like girls haven't kissed me before. Or Pokémon. The name of her flight was even Latias, if you can..."

He stopped; something on Misty's face must have tipped him off how little she liked where he was going with that. "Anyway - I didn't really think about it 'til I got home, but after I told Mom about it...I knew it wasn't the same kind of kiss. I know I've never been good with all this love junk, but...well, it made a lot of funny stuff she did around me make a lot more sense..."

Misty wasn't sure where Ash was going with this. If he was just embarrassed to tell his best friend that he was in love, if he was planning to follow Serena to Hoenn once he got back from vacation, or if his sudden revelations about girls included finally realizing how she felt and he was trying to let her down gently. And she wasn't sure how she'd react when it came time to answer him. Even after all these years, anger was still her go-to cloak for grief, and she lashed out the worst at those she loved most.

What Misty was sure of was that she could never truly give Ash up, and if that meant they would only ever be best friends and that she was doomed to an empty love life, then she'd just have to find a way through this and save the tears for later. She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes, steeling herself for what she was sure was coming.

I wasn't born for the rose and the pearl

There's a girl I know

He loves her so...

"Yeah..." she opened her eyes. He'd come much, much closer. "And it made a lot of funny stuff that you - that we - always do around each other make sense too..."

...I am that girl?

Lest there be any confusion - yes. Yes she is. And presumably, it never occurred to Ash to tell his mother or Tracey or anyone else just who he was brooding over, hence the confusion. Sudden epiphany ≠ cure for lifelong denseness.

#pokeshipping #satokasu #aaml #fan fiction #ash ketchum #misty waterflower #wicked #i'm not that girl #z's fics

92 notes · View notes