Realisations...

Chapter 42 - Realisations...

"What a massacre…"

"You can say that again Steve," replied Alder.

"He wasn't kidding about making them feel his wrath."

"No. No he wasn't Diantha," stated Lance.

It was evening and the Champions Lance, Diantha, Alder and Steven had gone to the cabin in the deep part of the Indigo Plateau woods to see the battlegrounds. They wanted to see what happened with their own eyes and to find any evidence, if any remained, of who the Skull Brothers worked for. They were joined by Officer Jenny, along with Kanto reporter Britney Snow and her camera man Richard. All seven of them had flashlights in their hands, the light shining over the area with looks of horror on their faces at the carnage. They grimaced seeing the mangled bodies of three of the Skull Brothers and didn't even want to picture just how Ash was able to do that to them. They had yet to go inside the cabin to see the fourth one.

The Unova Champion knelt down beside the charred remains of a Rhyperior and studied the corpse. The others walked around the many lifeless bodies of the pokémon and men, with Britney and Richard recording everything. He saw the scorch marks, how the area around the marks were blackened and the actual injury itself was like something punched a hole straight through its tough hide. He knew an electrical attack when he saw one but this both confused him and made him shudder in his place.

"Guys…" called out Alder as he kept his gaze on it. Soon enough, the other six gathered round, Richard rolling away on the camera. "What do you see here?" The six looked at the indicated area and after a moment of silence, the Champions becoming wide eyed and the other two just shrugged. "That is a mark left by an electric based attack."

"That's impossible!" said Britney. "Ground types are immune to electrical attacks!"

"That may be Ms. Snow," started Steven and Britney looked at him, slightly blushing that the elegant and handsome Champion was speaking with her. Richard shifted in his spot a bit. "But if an electric type is at a very high level and has learned how to condense or focus the energy in the attack, it can even harm ground types. Like an armor piercing round going through thick steel. Remember what we saw from the hotel balcony? Those incredible lightning strikes from the clouds? It has to be from that."

"And all the other bodies show signs of the same type of scorch marks. And there are craters all over the place too with darkened centers. From what Alder says and what we saw, then that's what caused it. It has to be," stated Diantha.

"All we know is that it was a very dangerous attack and one that only a very powerful and skillful pokémon would be able to pull off. It might have been Raikou or even Zapdos. Who else could penetrate Rhyperior's armor, let alone fry a ground type pokémon with electric attacks and cause the clouds to strike thunder as if it was a toy?" asked Lance and everyone shook their heads. "Officer Jenny, would you please contact the cleanup crew and have them come here?"

"On it sir!" replied back the blue haired officer after snapping out of her stupor. She was thinking about how strong Ash is, remembering what he did back at Indigo Lake and the carnage that was left on the ground in front of her. She didn't like that so many lives were taken, but she was a realist and knew sometimes things don't go the way you want them too. She also knew that the raven haired guardian wouldn't just kill for no reason, seeing him restrain himself before. Remembering him at the lake made her redden slightly but she immediately pushed past it and called the required people for the job. She started explaining the directions once she got someone on the other line.

"Thank Arceus Ash is on our side," remarked Alder after standing up.

"Too right." The Hoenn Champion turned to the frozen reporter. "Ms. Snow?" Britney turned to Steven. "Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm okay. It's not the first time I've been around a horrific scene but it still got to me. Thank you," she replied, smiling at him, slightly red and Steven nodded his head. Once again, Richard shifted in his spot slightly.

"We should check out the cabin," said Diantha.

"Alright. But keep your eyes open and your guard up. This was their hideout and there may be leftover traps or other hidden dangers," remarked Lance. "Britney, Richard and Officer Jenny, please wait outside. We'll let you know if it's safe to enter." The three agreed and the four Champions cautiously made their way towards the cabin. They each brought out their lead pokémon and explained the situation to them before heading inside. While the Champions and their pokémon searched in the cabin, the other three stayed outside, making small conversations here and there. They were talking about what could've happened as they waited for the Champions to come back out and for the cleanup crew to get there.

Around the same time the Champions had reached the battlegrounds, something was happening at the Indigo Hotel's penthouse suite. Many figures were gathered around in the master bedroom, some sitting, some standing, near a king sized bed that had a young man lying unconscious on it. Two blue and black canine pokémon were next to him with their glowing blue paws on the man's chest. Another being, this one human, had his glowing blue hands on his stomach. The three were pulsing healing aura onto him, trying to undo the damages he had received in his battle against the Skull Brothers and the self-inflicted harm he caused onto himself when he forced his aura out. The minor wounds he had sustained, such as the stomach cut was healed with no leftover scar and the stab wounds were partly healed from before and scarred over. But what was really worrying Lucario was that his Master had used his aura before his body had recovered from his alcohol poisoning. That had severely taxed his body and he hoped that it wouldn't be permanent. He had already suffered through a mental breakdown just a few days before, was emotionally broken last night and if he had to go through his body becoming fragile as well, Lucario didn't know if he would be able to handle it.

While the three were trying to heal the gravely injured and weakened raven haired guardian, the ones in the bedroom were silently watching them as they did so. Gardevoir was standing beside Pikachu's bed, watching over the electric mouse, the aura canine and her trainer. Norman and Professor Oak were leaning against the wall near the bathroom door, each with their arms crossed over their chest. Delia was looking at her son's expressionless face, standing near the top of the bed next to Riley. She was gently stroking the top part of his head while silently letting out tears, praying that he would recover and soon. The four girls, Misty, May, Dawn and Serena, were standing at the foot of his bed with their mothers hugging them, though in Misty's case, her oldest sister was hugging her. The girls' eyes were glued onto him, not making a sound but not crying either. He wouldn't want them to and were doing their absolute best to do so. Daisy was also looking at Ash, hoping he would be alright for Misty's sake. She also felt something stirring within her as she kept her gaze on him but after a couple moments, she pushed it aside. What mattered now was her baby sister, not trying to understand what she was feeling.

Leaf was holding his hand while her tear streaked gaze was on his, standing on the opposite side of Riley. Cynthia was standing behind Leaf with Clair, Liza and Sabrina standing next to her. Each of them had sullen expressions on their faces and thinking many different things. Cynthia hoped he would recover but was wondering how long it would take and whether or not he would be alright when he woke up. Clair and Liza, especially the latter, were deathly quiet, which was surprising. Neither could make a sound, both of them completely lost in worry over the young man. Sabrina was the worst one off out of the four. She was thinking how she shouldn't have agreed with what he said and she should've gone with him. She could've helped him out and prevented him from getting so hurt. She kept insulting herself in her mind for that, beating herself up over it but nobody noticed, not even psychic frontier Brain.

Sarah, Anabel, Giselle, Shauna and Lizabeth were standing behind the two Lucarios watching them heal the man they had feelings for. Sarah was saying prayers in her mind and Anabel was thinking about the first time she met him. Giselle was leaning onto the bed post, unable to keep upright by herself, hugging herself. She was shaken to her core seeing him like this since she had believed that he was so strong after their battle together in the tournament. Shauna and Lizabeth were hugging one another with both sets of watery eyes on the young guardian. They were filled with sadness seeing him so vulnerable and weak. Never before had they seen him in such a state and would never have believed it so had they not seen it with their own eyes.

Brock and Lucy were sitting on the chairs against the wall with the Frontier Brain resting her head against his shoulder. Cilan and Iris were sitting next to them, with the dragon trainer hugging her boyfriend. Chili, Violet, Lily and Cress were sitting on the couch against the adjacent wall. The eight of them were quiet, waiting patiently for the raven haired guardian to be healed, many different thoughts going through their heads. Violet and Lily were of course worried about him but were also worried about Misty, wondering how their sister was handling this since she was so quiet. Clemont, Bonnie and Max were sitting on the window ledge near the balcony door with the two young teenagers sitting next to one another. Bonnie was leaning against Max, who would've been embarrassed but was too busy worrying about his friend who he looks up to. Joy and Richie were also in the room but were standing near the room door, crestfallen. Richie was leaning against the wall and Joy was leaning against him with his arms wrapped around her stomach. Joy was feeling useless that all of her medical training and learning was of no benefit right now. Richie was feeling a mixture of emotions. He was happy that his girlfriend and the love of his life was safe and in his embrace. But he was also scared that his close friend was in big trouble. He was also feeling a little relieved that he had prevented him from battling against the Skull Brothers at the forest because he saw the incredible phenomenon in the distance from the hotel balcony.

Gary and Daisy Oak were half sitting, half leaning against the dresser that was placed in front of the opposite wall of where the eight were sitting. Daisy Oak was alternating her gaze from her boyfriend Riley to the young man on the bed. She was worried for both of them. She saw the injuries he had sustained from rescuing the girls and fighting the evil group. She had also noticed the strain Riley was going through with him sweating and his brow furrowed.

Gary was silent with his arms crossed in front of him, having many different thoughts whirl around in his head while his neutral expression was on the bed and the people around it. He was hoping his childhood rival would be alright. He didn't want things to end this way with him. Not after becoming friends after years of competing against one another when they should've been buddies from the beginning. He couldn't just have a half assed understanding and apology between the two as their final one. He may have fought with him, traded insults with him, treated him like shit, let his pride and ego get the better of himself and his rival may have caused the break up between him and his girlfriend by exposing his dirty secret, but he still didn't want this to happen to him. And he couldn't blame him for that though. He was fooling himself. She would've found out one day, sooner or later. Even though he wanted nothing more than to have her in his life, he understood that it wouldn't happen if she didn't trust him.

And there was one more thing as well that he needed to know and it involved him, his rival and the Queen. He wanted to know if he had any feelings for her, if she had any feelings for him and whether or not she felt anything for him anymore. He glanced at the blonde Queen of Rota before moving his gaze so no one would see. Queen Ilene was standing next to Misty and Daisy, her hands clasped together in front of her. She was filled with fear and sorrow over seeing her Knight so injured and weak. And she still felt so horrible and guilty over what she did to him. She hoped he would recover without much issue so she could make it up to him somehow. Whether or not he took up the title of Knight of the Kingdom of Rota, she would always view him as one.

Seeing the process was still going, Delia got up to go check on Natasha. She had promised her son she would take care of her when he wasn't around or able to and would keep that promise. Oak, Norman, Caroline, Grace and Johanna decided to go with her. They didn't want her to be alone and thought that they should get some tea ready for everyone since it would help calm them down and warm them up. They wanted to do something to try and help and that was the best they could at the moment. Riley, his Lucario and Ash's Lucario continued their healing for a while longer but then Riley couldn't go on and stopped abruptly, panting heavily. Daisy Oak appeared by his side immediately, holding him up before he lost balance. "Are you okay?!" she asked him with a worried tone of voice. The others in the room glanced at him besides the two Lucarios and were about to move to him but he stopped them by waving his hand.

"I'm…fine. Just…exhausted," he panted. He looked at the four girls. "I'm sorry…I can't continue."

The girls merely shook their head slightly. "No need to apologize. I'm sure you did your best," replied Serena.

Before Riley could comment back, his Lucario also couldn't continue. He stopped his healing and took a step back, panting heavily. He looked up at his partner and friend with a sorrow filled gaze. "It's alright friend. I know you did your best," praised Riley and his Lucario bowed his head. "Take a good rest." His Lucario nodded and was soon returned to his poke ball. Riley then turned to Ash's Lucario who was still going. "You should take a break Lucario and continue after you rest," advised Riley but Lucario shook his head and kept going. "We've been healing him for a while now. I think he'll be alright. You can take a break and we can continue afterwards," suggested Riley.

Once again, Lucario shook his head and continued pulsing out healing aura. They could see him sweating and straining to keep it up. "I cannot."

"But why?" asked Daisy Oak.

Lucario thought for a moment, debating whether he should tell them or not before he decided that he should tell them. "Because Master isn't just suffering because of his battle wounds. He is suffering through alcohol poisoning and he forced his aura out before his body recovered, before the alcohol left naturally. That has damaged him greatly. He wasn't able to sleep at all last night either, both from the pain from his liver and thinking about what happened the night before. I cannot stop until I have healed him enough to prevent permanent damage," revealed the aura canine. Everyone gasped with the girls clapping their hands to their mouths, letting out whimpers.

"This is all my fault. I'm so sorry," apologized Leaf. Her lips quivered and her eyes filled up with water.

She was about to break down when her arm was grabbed all of a sudden and pulled towards the youngest Sensational Sister and wrapped up into a tight embrace. That action surprised many in the room, not expecting it all.

"Don't even think that Leaf. He would've done that for any of us. And there's no point in crying anymore. That won't help anyone and Ash wouldn't want us to. So chin up alright? And…and I'm sorry for being so mean and cruel to you. I really am. It's just…when it comes to Ash…I'll do anything for him. Please forgive me," said Misty sadly as the two girls hugged each other. Leaf couldn't take it and she let out some tears.

"You have nothing to be sorry about Misty. In your shoes, I would've acted and done the same. I don't hold anything against you, Dawn, Serena or May. I just hope you and everyone else can forgive me for what I did," pleaded Leaf through her sobbing.

"We already have." Leaf withdrew from the hug and looked at the blunette who spoke in disbelief. "It's true. We have. What you went through with the Skull Brothers, we wouldn't wish that on anyone. And like we said before; we didn't know about your past. We didn't know that your feelings for him are so great and pure. So what happened is in the past," said Dawn.

"But what we spoke about last night is still true. So if that's all good with you, if you still want it and Ash wants it too, then you'll become one of us, become our sister and be with him," finished up May with a smile. Leaf looked at her and then at the other girls. They were all looking at her with smiles on their faces and Leaf smiled back at them. Some of the others in the room were astounded but also happy in hearing that. The other girls who have feelings for Ash though were lost in thought about what they just witnessed.

"I've come to realize that's all I want. Thank you all," said Leaf. The five girls entered into a group hug that made the others in the room smile that they were able to bury the hatchet and move on from the ugly things that happened before.

When they finally withdrew from one another, Brock spoke up. "So that's out of the way, I have something to ask you girls," started Brock and the five girls turned to face him. "So now that Leaf has been accepted along with Cynthia, who's going to tell the families that the group consists of six girls now instead of just you four? And will they be alright with that?" Brock's questions made the girls' eyes widened and some of the people who didn't know about Cynthia being involved as well had their jaws dropped, who were Clemont, Max, Bonnie and Daisy Waterflower. Three of them was astonished and unable to comment or even form a thought about that. The fourth however was thinking how her baby sister could be alright with all this…

The six girls looked at one another and then at their friends around them. They had forgotten about that. How would their families take it? Would they still support them? Would they try to break them up? What would they say? They thought about it in silence for a bit. "I don't care what they say or think." Everyone turned to the one who said it. "If my parents don't like it or don't support us, I don't care. My best friends and sisters have been there for me and so has Ash. They are my family now as well and we are adults. What we decide to do with our lives is up to us and us only," answered the brunette from Hoenn without hesitation.

"Couldn't have said it better myself May," said Serena, making everyone feel that things would be alright though the oldest Sensational Sister thought she would have to speak with her baby sister later. A sudden blue glow caught everyone's attention and they all looked towards the source; it was coming from Ash. Lucario took a couple steps back, his eyes wide.

"What's happening?!" asked Bonnie out of fear, grabbing onto Max, who went red.

Before Lucario could answer, the blue glow brightened and expanded until it filled the room, washing over everyone. It stayed like that for a moment before it retreated back to its host. The blue glow faded away but left behind a faint blue outline around him. "What was that all about?" whispered Giselle. Nobody spoke but they all turned their attention to Lucario and found him to have a very happy expression on his face.

"This is great news. Master will be alright. His aura was checking to see if his current position was in a safe place and if the people around him are trustworthy before beginning the healing process by itself. If it deemed the area unsafe, it would have lashed out against everyone," explained Lucario.

"So he'll be alright?" asked Sarah, not moving her gaze from Ash.

"Yes, Lady Sarah. Master will be alright. The healing process will take some hours but everything is fine now. We have nothing to worry about anymore," answered Lucario.

"No, we still need to worry about something," piped up Gardevoir and everyone looked at her. "You need to rest now too Lucario." Lucario looked at her and saw she was not going to let him argue about it, one of her rare stern gazes shot at him. He sighed and nodded his head. Gardevoir took his paw and lead him out of the room towards the balcony since she knows he likes nice views.

"So whipped. Just like his trainer," chuckled Gary.

"You shouldn't talk Gare-Bear," said Leaf and they all laughed at him, but he just shrugged.

"Eh, you're probably right, but you know me. Can't stop with the jokes," replied the young researcher, stealing a quick glance at Ilene but she wasn't looking in his direction. Instead she was looking at the guardian on the bed. He had hoped for her to look at him, even if it was for a second but got nothing.

"Too bad they're not funny otherwise we wouldn't mind so much," jabbed Leaf back, making most everyone in the room laugh again, making Gary feel embarrassed.

"Damn it Leaf!"

"Hey, keep it down!" shot May and they all went silent. "Since we know now he'll be fine, we shouldn't have everyone here while he rests."

"She's right. All of you except his girlfriends need to get out," said Brock as he and Lucy began ushering everyone out. As they did that, Leaf grabbed hold of two girls who were near the end of the group and pulled them towards her and the other girls. When they gave her confused looks, she shushed them and told them to wait. Clair, Liza, Shauna, Lizabeth, Giselle, Sabrina and Daisy Waterflower glanced back to look at Ash before they left. After everyone else left, Brock closed the door after he too left. Leaf turned to Misty, May, Dawn, Serena and Cynthia with Anabel and Sarah standing behind her.

"There's something you should know," started Leaf and the five girls looked at her with curious expressions, though four of them had an idea what it could be about. The two behind the brunette were looking at her with curious worried gazes. "Anabel and Sarah are good people. They were there for me, putting my needs before theirs when they could've kicked me to the curb to get closer to what they want but they didn't. I cannot make you do anything or agree with me, but please just hear me out; Anabel and Sarah both like Ash too and I believe they will be great for him and be great sisters to us as well. They should be given a chance too if Ash likes them, even a little bit." Cynthia was surprised at Leaf's little speech. She didn't think she would do something like that. She then realized that she was changing and for the better. She looked at the two girls and found them to have embarrassed faces at being found out. She then turned her gaze to the four girls who didn't have any look of surprise on their faces and that made her tilt her head.

"Yea, we know they like him," said Dawn after a moment, making the other four girls become flabbergasted. "I caught you talking with Lucy about it all Anabel."

"Damn. Really?" asked Anabel, embarrassed at being caught so long ago.

"Yea. And even if Dawn hadn't stumbled onto that, it was kind of obvious what you four were doing," said May, making the four flush crimson. "It wasn't that hard to notice. You guys would blush ever so slightly sometimes whenever you and Ash would talk and we saw the way you were looking at him in the past. Just because we didn't say anything, doesn't mean we didn't notice."

"That's right. And we didn't say anything because we thought it was just a crush and nothing more until we found out differently," added Serena, making them become confused.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Sarah.

"After Ash told us everything about his mission, Lucario explained some things to him and us about what happened with him going crazy after talking to Arceus," said Misty. "He told us that…" The four girls then explained everything to them that they were told of, the reasons why they could enter the Guardian's Shield and the rest couldn't.

"So you knew before. Then when he asked you what he should do about us after finding out why we could enter the Guardian's Shield, you told him to give it a shot if he felt there was something, even when you could've not let him?" asked Cynthia in surprise, the other three shocked at what they heard.

"That's right," answered Serena. They looked at the four girls with disbelieving eyes.

"Wow. You girls are something else," commented Anabel and the four girls went pink slightly, thanking her for her kind words but told her to not think of them as special or perfect or whatever else. "But you are! No wonder he loves you!" repeated Anabel and the four blushed heavily.

"Wait…is that what he was talking about when he told me that night how he found out some stuff that made him understand how he feels about me?" asked Cynthia, figuring out what he was talking about that night.

"Yup," replied Dawn instantly.

"Hold on a second!" said Leaf as she, Anabel and Sarah looked at Cynthia. "Are you saying that you told Ash how you feel about him before your kiss with him last night?!"

"Hehe…ah yea…and he kissed me then too," said Cynthia with a grin.

"Damn…and you were alright with that?" Sarah asked the four girls.

"Yes because like we said; Ash didn't hide it once he realized what was going on after what Lucario explained and what we decided together," said Misty.

"I see…so, I take it this means there's a chance things could work out between us?" asked Anabel, hope filling her.

"It means that since Ash does feel something for you and you him, you can try it out and we won't try to stop it. However, you must follow the rules we have agreed on and because of our families being here, we must ask for you to wait to show your affections to him in front of everyone until after my date with him," clarified May.

"Sounds reasonable. I'm in," replied Sarah, feeling absolutely joyful.

"Me too," said Anabel with a large smile on her face.

"Good. I guess that's settled then," said Misty and the eight girls nodded. She turned to look at the love of her life and saw him fast asleep, the faint blue glow still outlining him. Pikachu was still curled up in his basket bed, resting as well since he was exhausted. She smiled a bit and then turned to the girls again. She was starting to feel tired. She rubbed her eyes a bit and seeing her do that, made the other girls realize how tired out they were as well. "You guys too huh?" asked Misty, noticing them becoming tired all of a sudden and the seven girls mumbled their agreement.

"Yea. I wouldn't mind sleeping but I also don't want to leave his side," said Leaf, looking at her childhood friend on the bed and they all agreed.

"Well, unfortunately the bed is too small for us all to fit and I don't think it would've been a good idea right now even if it was big enough," quipped Sarah, slightly chuckling and they agreed.

"May, you and Leaf should stay with him," said Serena and the two brunettes tilted their heads.

"Yea. It's your date up next and Leaf should be here too because she and Ash have to talk when he wakes up," added Anabel, the other girls agreeing.

While May and Leaf told them goodnight and the six girls left the room afterwards to go to their own beds, several conversations were going on from before in the living room, dining room and balcony of the suite. Delia, Oak, Norman, Caroline, Johanna and Grace were speaking with one another in the dining room. Gary, Daisy Oak, Riley, Ilene, Daisy Waterflower, Violet, Lily, Cress, Chili, Cilan, Iris, Richie, Joy, Max, Bonnie, Clemont, Brock and Lucy were speaking in the living room. In the balcony were Clair, Liza, Sabrina, Giselle, Shauna, Lizabeth, Lucario and Gardevoir.

"Are you sure you're alright?" asked Gardevoir while she snuggled up against the aura canine on the lounge chair. They were both looking over the horizon from their seat.

"Yes. I'll be alright. I have you by my side," he replied back and Gardevoir reddened a bit and smiled in response. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in closer, making the psychic fairy feel much comfort in his embrace. They stayed silent as they watched the darkening night sky become decorated with bright dot like stars all over the place.

"Thanks for letting me borrow some clothes until I go home tomorrow to get some extra ones," said Giselle to Liza. She was wearing red sweats along with a red sweater. She was standing next to the green haired girl while the six of them were near the railings.

"Not a problem. Bring them back whenever. I have extras with me," replied Liza. Giselle thanked her again and Liza turned to Sabrina. "You're too quiet again. Is everything alright?" Her question made their small group turn their attention to the psychic prodigy.

"I…I'm not sure," admitted Sabrina. She was thinking about a certain raven haired young man. She placed her delicate hands onto the railings and took in a deep breath. "I never thought I would be so…lost in what to do." Seeing him so vulnerable made her realize that she couldn't wait forever to tell him how she felt because who knew what the future held. She wanted to tell Ash but didn't know how or when.

"About what?" asked Clair but she just shook her head. "Well, if you need to talk, we're here for you," offered Clair, not pressing the issue. She wondered what it could be about, having slight suspicions about it but didn't pursue it because she knew that if she became angry, she could decimate them all. And she had her own issues to deal with right now. Sabrina gave her an appreciative look.

"Do you think Ash will be alright?" asked Shauna with concern, breaking the silence over them.

"You heard Lucario. I'm sure he'll be fine," answered Lizabeth and the other girls agreed. "Even though he looked like he could take on the world, I just hope never to see him so angry again," she sighed. That statement made them all think about that. Sabrina had a look of concern and so did Lizabeth and Giselle. Shauna, Clair and Liza were also a bit worried about him but then they remembered how he completely decimated the Skull Brother in front of them. To say they were impressed that he could do that to someone twice his size was the least of it.

"I'm sure he doesn't like doing that but being an Aura Guardian, he has no choice in the matter," reasoned Sabrina and they all agreed before moving on and began talking about the tournament and who's left in it. They then began talking about what this 'war' that Ilene mentioned could be about.

In the living room, the others were discussing about everything that had happened for several minutes before quieting down. "Why is it that at this one tournament, so much crap has happened?" asked Gary suddenly. The group with him gave him looks that clearly said that they had no clue.

"You got that right but who can answer that?" remarked Iris.

"Maybe it's…no never mind."

"What? C'mon. You know you can speak freely around us Clemont," encouraged Daisy Oak. The rest gave him their full attention and he became embarrassed since everyone had locked their gaze onto him. He decided to say what was on his mind.

"Well…this darkness that is coming that Ash told us about…maybe it's causing all this to happen. Maybe the ones who are going to unleash it are trying to get rid of as much of their opposition as they can before letting it loose. To give them a better chance to take over the world," said Clemont and the group had scared looks on their faces.

"But why attack a tournament?" asked Lily in a whisper.

"Think about it sis," said Violet. "This tournament is for the strongest in the world. So if they're able to take out even a few of them, it'll make it that much easier for them in the long run." The second oldest Sensational Sister's words made them understand, several letting out 'oh'.

"Sadly, that makes sense," expressed Joy. "But it's a good thing we have Ash here. He stopped them from causing too much damage."

"Except for what happened to that poor girl. But he did get her away from those disgusting pieces of shit and made sure they can never hurt anyone ever again," remarked Richie. The others shook their heads in sadness.

"I just hope it doesn't change him," said Bonnie and they all looked at her. "What he did; he killed. He killed five men. The reasons were valid and he did what he had to do. But I just hope it doesn't change him." Her words made them all think and each of them silently prayed that their friend wouldn't change because of going through that.

"I don't think he will Bonnie. It's Ash we're talking about here," he said kindly and Bonnie half smiled at him but was still unsure.

"I hope that this awful experience doesn't weigh on our friend too much. I don't even think I can understand what he'll go through or even that poor girl either," added Cilan.

"What do you mean bro?" asked Chili but Cress answered him.

"Think about it Chili. We all know how Ash wants to help and protect all of us right?" They murmured their agreement. "He saved the girls from the Skull Brothers at first but then he let them go to give them a chance. And what happened next? They hurt Richie, kidnapped Leaf and Joy, almost getting the chance to rape and abuse them. But they already did that to this poor girl who's with us now. Even though he dished out justice, imagine how awful Ash must be feeling or if he's not, how badly he'll feel once he figures out it was his fault that she got raped. Or how she'll feel about it."

"Shit…I didn't think about that," muttered Chili and Violet grasped his hand.

"It's alright. Nobody was expecting something like that to happen," she said.

"But is it really his fault?" asked Daisy Waterflower, playing devil's advocate. "How was he supposed to know what they would do? How would he know that they would rape her or beat her? Or kidnap Leaf and Joy?" Even though she was trying to look at both sides, she still didn't believe he deserved to be blamed at all, doing her best to defend him.

Brock shook his head. "It's not his fault. Just because he can, doesn't mean he should wipe out every single person that we 'think' is bad. Of course, those we know for sure without a doubt should be imprisoned for all their lives at least." There were some agreements mumbled while they rest stayed quiet. "Anyway, enough about that as we have something else to think about. We need to change things," said Brock, changing the topic of the conversation and they gave him their utmost attention, curious as to where he was going with this. "No more relying on Ash. No more just sitting on the sidelines. We need to prepare. We need to train. We need to be proactive. We need to become strong like him. Especially if we are to help fight against the coming darkness. I don't want him to feel that everything is on his shoulders like it's been pretty much in the past."

"You're right Brock. And I gotta say…I love it when you get all assertive," said Lucy, giving him a devious yet sensual grin that made Brock go red and the others to chuckle a bit.

"The only way to become strong like him is to train like him. Remember what he said? That he'll teach us what he knows and how to defend ourselves," said Bonnie, chiming in.

"Bonnie's right. We should have Ash teach us and then we can take care of things ourselves," said Max, backing up Bonnie who appreciated it and there were words of agreement said by everyone.

The Queen of Rota glanced at her advisor and guardian. "Riley, you'll help too won't you?" asked Ilene.

"Of course my Queen. I'll do what I can. But in all honesty, Ash has reached a level I can't even dream about. I can assist him in teaching some things, probably the basics in self-defense but that's about it. I myself need to learn some new techniques from him," admitted Riley.

"Then it's settled. When Ash wakes up, we'll speak with him about all this and we'll go from there," said Daisy Waterflower and they voiced their agreement to it. They all got up and went to do their own thing for the time being until soon enough they went to bed, the day's events tiring them out more than they thought it would. Many of them however stayed up long into the night with many thoughts floating around in their minds, preventing them from falling asleep.

The six elders of the group were conversing while they sat on one end of one of the dining tables. Brock had informed them that Ash would be alright and his own aura was healing himself. To say the parents, especially Delia, were happy to hear it was an understatement. They relaxed and drank their tea. "This tea is really refreshing," said Oak after taking a sip. The mothers had made the tea earlier and handed out a cup to everyone before rejoining Oak and Norman in the dining room.

"You said it. So, what are we going to do now?" asked Grace after taking a sip herself. They looked at her with questioning looks. "About Ash, the girls and Leaf…"

"Oh. Well, I already told you. Just let them handle it," said Delia kindly.

"I know…but we didn't say anything then because we needed Ash to be focused, to save the three girls. Now that's over with, we need to address this. We need to find a solution," said Caroline.

"And what do you propose that solution to be? And to what problem?" asked Oak in a serious yet kind tone of voice.

"Well, we were alright with our daughters being with him after seeing his memories and worst fear and how they love him and he loves them. But Leaf? She betrayed them. She did apologize though but still. I don't know if it'd be a good idea allowing it to happen," expressed Johanna honestly.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," said Delia, setting her cup of tea down onto the table, locking eyes with Johanna. "Leaf may seem like trouble and I know how it looks, believe me. But I've known her since she was a child. She's a good girl with a good heart. She's just easily scared because of what happened in her past when she was young. And remember, her parents divorced and her mother…" Delia stopped, shaking with fury a bit, startling the others. She took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing. "Her good for nothing mother never cared about her and always left her on her own. It didn't help either that she brought home a different man every now and then. Because of that, she feels the need to do things on her own or without others knowing but I've noticed that she has changed greatly since coming here. And I did as much as I could for Leaf in the past. Trust me, she may have her faults but she is a good girl." Delia revealing and reminding them about Leaf's past to the other parents made them shake their heads, disappointed that someone like that would even dare call themselves a parent.

"That's depressing. No child should ever feel that their parents don't care about them," expressed Norman and the others concurred with him. Silence followed after for a couple minutes.

"You know what, you're right Delia. Let's not get involved. She did apologize from what we were told and they seem to have gotten past it from what we saw between them while waiting for Ash to return from his battle. Let them handle it since they're adults," said Caroline with a small smile.

"I'm sorry Delia. I didn't know. I just want my Dawn to be happy. And Caroline is right. I said before I'll be supportive of them and I still will be no matter what. I promise," said Johanna and Grace nodded, showing her support too.

"I'm glad to hear we're all on the same page," said Oak happily. "With what is coming in the future, we cannot afford to be divided. Look at what a petty fight between two young adults made happen because they let their emotions and rash judgments cloud their minds." They sighed, nodding solemnly. "We cannot allow our ego, our pride or our old ways to control us. As elders, we need to be unbiased in our decisions and be strong for them, to council them when they need it and provide help when they ask for it." The others glanced at one another and promised that they will do that. Oak smiled before he spoke again. "Good, but speaking about help…how is our newest guest Natasha doing?"

"She hasn't made a sound yet and still has fear in her eyes," sighed Caroline.

"Not really surprising don't you think after what she went through? And it's barely a few hours she's with us," remarked Delia.

"Sadly, no. She was whimpering when we came into the room and made to move away from us, but couldn't. She was so hurt and weak. Still is I think. It took her almost until the end of cleaning her wounds for her to understand that we were trying to help. When we dressed her, she was shaking. From the cold or out of fear, I have no idea. Heck it could even be from both," said Grace with a frown.

"It's so horrible what those bastards did to her," commented Johanna and they agreed. They were all furious over it. Nobody should ever be raped. And nobody should be beaten for the sheer amusement of another.

However, Serena's mother let a small smile form on her face, making the others tilt their heads. "I think she'll be alright though and do you know why?" They all shook their heads. "The second Ash stepped into the room, you could see her relax and feel safe. The fear in her eyes went away and she was looking at him like he was her knight in shining armor, her guardian angel." The five parents had understanding dawn on them.

Dawn's mother chuckled before commenting. "I would too if I was in her place, being rescued by him. Imagine being around so many people that you don't know. You'd feel overwhelmed and scared until you see the person who saved you from before from such a terrible place," remarked Johanna.

"Very true," commented Norman. "I bet something will happen though." The mothers and professor looked at him. "I bet she's going to fall in love with him," said Norman chuckling and his statement made the others widen their eyes in realization.

"Damn. How did we not think of that? And how many more hearts is Ash going to capture?" asked Delia while Grace and Johanna just shook their head but were chuckling.

"You know what? I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to make half the girls he met on his travels fall in love with him. I mean look at him and the type of man he is. Doesn't hurt either that he's an Aura Guardian, handsome, strong and a celebrity," complimented Caroline with a smile.

"I am right here! That's the second time you did that! Damn it woman!" said Norman, crossing his arms and glaring at his wife. A second later, everyone besides the gym leader burst out laughing.

"You're too easy to mess with honey," said Caroline as she hugged him and kissed him. Norman grumbled a bit while she did that, trying to stay furious. Yet again, he failed though, unable to stay angry with her. He reciprocated the hug and kissed her back. Oak and the three mothers smiled at the two.

"Have fun you two. Just make sure to get a private place if you go at it," teased Delia as she got up and the two went crimson as they broke apart and the others chuckled. "I'm gonna go check on Natasha," she informed them while heading towards the infirmary they made in one of the empty rooms.

Delia used the excuse of checking on Natasha to not let them see her become sullen. She went to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. Her eyes had become watery. Even though it's been years, she still missed her husband and had no idea where he was. Being surrounded now with so many couples around her throughout the day now had made her miss being in a relationship. She hadn't thought of her love for over almost fifteen years now, not letting herself think about him so she could stay strong for her son. But it was starting to get to her. Seeing Caroline with Norman, Ash with the girls and the other couples made her think of him after so long. She missed him and wanted him to come back home.

But she knew that was a hopeless dream. She had a feeling he wasn't dead but it's been too long and odds are that he's with another woman. Her lips quivered a bit, thinking that he left her and their son for another woman. She shook her head suddenly. "I will not cry. He left me and my Ashy. He doesn't deserve my tears." She washed her face before drying it and exited the bathroom. Only to run into Johanna and Grace who were giving her sympathetic looks. "Hey. Need something?" she asked them, hoping they didn't hear her in the bathroom. Johanna grasped Delia's hand and dragged her to their room, followed by Grace. "What's going on?!" They didn't answer her until they entered their room and shut the door behind them.

"We know how you feel," said Johanna, making Delia's eyes widen. She glanced at Grace who gave an understanding look. "I miss my husband too. He was a firefighter and he died saving our daughter from a wildfire that threatened our town when she was just a child. I think about him every day. I miss being in his embrace. I do my best for Dawn, to make sure she's happy. His last words to me were 'I love you and Dawn. Make sure she's never sad' and I promised him I'll do everything I can to keep that promise before the burns took him." Delia felt saddened to hear that, her eyes filling up with tears again and the same happened to Grace. Before Delia could say anything Grace spoke up.

"I lost my husband as well but it was due to do him being murdered in cold blood," said Grace and that made Delia and Johanna gasp before she continued. "I was a few months pregnant with Serena when we had decided to watch a movie together at the theater. After the movie ended, we were walking home when a drug addicted fool with a gun stopped us and demanded our money. He…he shielded me while handing him the money but he still shot him before running away but they caught him eventually. I'll never forget his face as he died in my arms, trying to speak but couldn't. That's why I moved away to start fresh so I can be strong for my Serena. I taught myself Rhyhorn Racing because that was his favorite sport and always said I could be great at it. I taught it to Serena as well because I wanted her to have something in connection with him. Even though she kept saying she hated it in the beginning until teaching Ash. I haven't told her the reason why I wanted her to learn yet. I don't know how or when to do it," said Grace sadly with tears trailing down her cheeks.

Grace's story was too much and the three started crying heavily. "Come here you two," cried Delia and the three mothers shared a hug together, letting out feelings they had kept bottled up for a long time. They kept crying for a good amount of time before slowly pulling themselves together. "Thanks you two. I needed that. And looks like both of you did too," remarked Delia and the two nodded. Delia wiped away her tears, sniffing and so did Grace and Johanna. "I'm going to go check on Natasha now. You two can go sleep or whatever." The two smiled at her and let her go. They knew that she felt better now having let it out and so did they.

Delia washed up first in the bathroom again before heading towards the infirmary. She opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She glanced at the Blissey who was by Natasha's side who turned to look at her and gave her a soft greeting so as to not wake up the red head. Delia whispered it back and moved to the bedside before looking at Natasha. Her eye was closed and her breathing was somewhat even. Her hair had been tied back into a pony tail to keep it out of her face. Her other eye was still swollen shut and her nose was still broken. She wouldn't let them touch her nose, constantly moving her head, fearing what they would do and they left it alone for the time being, not wanting to force her. There were some bruises on her face and some cuts visible near her collar bones.

She frowned at the sight of her, worried about all of her injuries. She also noticed that the covers had slipped down a bit. She took hold of it and raised it towards her neck to cover her up. As she reached her neck, Natasha opened her good eye, her vision blurry. The moment she saw a figure next to her, she started shaking and whimpering while attempting to move away as she threw up her arms, using up the very little energy she had recovered. Blissey wanted to help keep her down but Delia quickly told the caring pokémon to not get involved.

"It's okay! It's alright! It's just me!" said Delia gently as she attempted to calm the traumatized girl. She grabbed hold of her wrists, forgetting that they were bruised and cut, making Natasha feel stinging pain and she started crying and whimpering loudly. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" yelped Delia, letting go of her wrists. She immediately took the girl into a hug and kept repeating that she was sorry and that everything will be alright while the scared girl just sobbed against her bosom. "Sshh, its okay. You're safe. It's alright. And I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. We won't hurt you and we won't let anyone hurt you. I won't allow it and neither will my son Ash." The second she said her son's name, Natasha began to calm down and her whimpering gradually went away. Delia noticed this and let a small smile form on her face. Damn, Norman and Caroline were right. She started stroking her head a bit before she gently lowered her back onto the bed. Natasha looked at her while she raised the blanket to the bottom of her neck and then she spoke again. "I know you're scared. I know you don't trust me yet and that's alright. But you're safe here. My Ash will come see you soon alright? He's resting now after his battle with those disgusting men. They will never hurt you again. He has seen to it. So please, try to relax. Okay?" Natasha looked at her for a moment, then moved her tear stained gaze to the wall in front of her. "I'll leave you alone and I'll make sure no one bothers you. I'll come by to check on you every now and then. Blissey will stay by your side if you need anything while I'm not here okay?" Natasha merely tilted her gaze to the kind woman as Blissey gave a soft cry of agreement. Delia stood up, giving a small smile at the girl before leaving the room. I hope those bastards are rotting in Hell right now, thought Delia as she headed towards the living room to see what the others were up to.

Blissey took up a watchful position from the corner of the room, sitting on a chair. The plump pink pokémon took out a soft clean cloth out of nowhere and then took the egg out of her pouch and started polishing it. Natasha watched Delia leave the room and kept her gaze on the door. Before she was startled awake, she was having a nightmare that she was running for her life from the Skull Brothers. She thought that the kind woman was Ed and was trying to grab her and violate her again. She couldn't get over it as her mind kept flashing their images in her head. She kept seeing them standing in front of her and she didn't believe she was out of that nightmare. She started crying again as she realized that they still had their 'hands' on her, not letting her move forward, forget them or leave them behind. That was when she remembered Edmond's words to her; That's right bitch! You'll never forget us or the happy times we had together! Consider them farewell gifts! She trembled as she heard his voice in her head and she let out more tears. Blissey stopped her egg polishing when she saw the girl cry and went up to her. She grasped the girls' hand gently and patted it while the red head just kept crying.

Clair, Liza, Sabrina, Giselle, Lizabeth and Shauna headed back inside and were heading towards the door. They said goodnight to the others that were still awake on their way when Delia walked into the living room. They went up to her to bid her a good night as well. "Thank you for everything Mrs. Ketchum. We'll be on our way and have a goodnight. If you don't mind, we would like to know of Ash's condition when it changes," said Sabrina and the five other girls voiced the same.

"Nonsense!" said Delia and the six gave her confused looks. "For one, just call me Delia. I feel old when you say that. And two, we have enough rooms here and you're more than welcome to stay with us," she offered.

"That's very kind of you Mrs. Ketchum but we'd rather not impose. We're going to stay in our hotel room that's just a few floors down. We'll be alright," explained Clair but Delia shook her head.

"Okay, next time any of you call me Mrs. Ketchum, I will slap you," threatened Delia, making the six girls gulp but then she smiled making them confused. "You're not imposing and I'm sure Ash and everyone else will be delighted for you to stay with us. We really do have the space and there's no need to go back and forth between floors if you're going to be here anyway most of the time," she explained.

"Good point Mrs….ah…I mean…Delia." Liza changed gears quickly as she saw Delia's eyes narrow for a split second. "If it really won't be a bother and if it is alright then I guess we'll be happy to stay. But allow us to go pack our stuff and then we'll come back tomorrow."

"Okay then," said Delia and four of the six girls thanked her before they left to head down to their hotel room. She then turned to Shauna and Lizabeth. "So you're staying the night?" she asked them.

"Thank you for the offer Delia but no, we shouldn't. Not tonight at least. We need to go home and pack some clothes since it's not too late yet. We also need to call our work place and see if we can get a few days off," explained Lizabeth.

"Understandable but it's getting dark out and after what happened with those…monsters…I don't think you should leave the hotel after dark. So please, just stay the night and you can call your work place from here tomorrow and then you can go from there," suggested Delia and the two blunettes glanced at one another and then back at Delia.

"You have a point and you really are too kind Delia but alright, we'll stay," said Shauna and Delia smiled at the two. She then showed them to their room that they could use. She opened the door for them and gestured them to go inside.

"If you need anything, just let me know," she offered kindly as they walked inside.

"Thank you but I think we're just going to call it a night already," said Lizabeth and Shauna nodded before both blunettes wished her a goodnight and Delia said it back to them. She exited the room and closed the door. Both Shauna and Lizabeth climbed into separate beds without even changing their clothes, since they had none extra with them and didn't feel like borrowing again like last night. They bade each other a goodnight and lied down to sleep. Yet, both of them were unable to. After about ten minutes of just lying there, Lizabeth turned to face Shauna and saw her awake still. "Can't sleep either huh?" she asked her best friend and she nodded. "I've figured it out," she revealed all of a sudden.

Shauna sat up and Lizabeth copied her. "You mean about how you feel about him?" she asked.

Lizabeth nodded. "I do. After seeing him risk it all again for Leaf, becoming injured and how I was beyond worried about him, I know for sure now. It's just like what he did in the past in front of me, risking it all for May and Manaphy. I've realized now why no other guy has held my interest even though I haven't seen him for so long. It's because he's held my heart since then. I know how I feel about him now. I just wonder how and when I could tell him and how the girls will take it. Especially May since I know her better than the others. And I wonder if I could ever tell him," confessed Lizabeth. She placed her head into her hands and sighed.

Shauna was surprised that she came clean so easily. But then again, they were best friends and should feel comfortable about telling her at least. She had to do that same too. She couldn't keep it from her either. "Lizabeth…" started Shauna and waited for her to raise her head to look at her before continuing. "I've come to realize I'm in the same boat too. I've never met anyone like him. Even when I had a crush on Brawly, Ash was able to connect with me. After he left and nothing ever happened between me and Brawly, I haven't stopped thinking about him every now and then. What you said is true for me as well and I have no clue what to do either," admitted Shauna sadly.

Lizabeth half smiled. "We'll come up with something together then. And Arceus willing, perhaps things can work out for the both of us. I wouldn't mind sharing him with you. Would you?" she asked her.

Shauna was quiet for a moment. "Surprisingly, no, I wouldn't. Cause I'd be sharing him with my best friend. Anyone else and it would've been a no holds barred cage match between me and them," joked Shauna truthfully and Lizabeth laughed.

"Good. But I think you forgot about his girlfriends," she replied back with a smirk.

"Oh right. Shit," responded Shauna. She thought about it for a moment. "I think I can do it. I mean, I know May and the other girls seem to be cool. I guess I'll be fine with it as long as they don't turn out to be bitches."

Lizabeth laughed and Shauna chuckled. "I highly doubt that they are otherwise Ash wouldn't be with them let alone have feelings for them. But I'm happy to hear you say that because I think I can too," she said before lying back down and drew the covers up to her shoulders. "Goodnight Shauna."

Her friend copied her. "Goodnight Lizabeth." Soon enough, both blunettes fell asleep feeling a little better after expressing their desires.