"What have you been doing these few years Mr.Ketchum?"
"Do you plan to challenge the Elites and Champions of the other regions?"
"How many legendaries do you have in your possession?"
Ash slumped his head on the desk.
After the battle, it was a huge drama. Ash shook hands with Tobias and thanked him for the battle. He was then escorted to a room, quiet forcefully, to get interviewed by the reporters who were eagerly waiting. He was now in one of the VIP rooms, sitting on a chair and answering all sorts of ridiculous questions the reporters had in their mind for the past half an hour. It was a torture and he had to be careful in answering each and every one of them. The yellow mouse sitting on his lap was trying to take a nap, visibly annoyed.
After what seemed like an endless session of interview, the raven haired boy quickly took Pikachu and stormed out off the room, not wanting to answer anything else. He started walking to the direction of the cafeteria, considering how wild his apetitie has become.
The exhaustion from Bond Phenomenon and the QNA session, he was hungry as fuck.
He took another hallway towards the cafe, where there are not so much people. He took out his phone in the meanwhile. There weren't any calls or msgs, but the news feed was mentioning him over and over. He sighed and put back the phone.
"Looks like being popular isn't so much exciting as I thought," Ash muttered.
"Pika chu pikapi pika."
Ash thought about it.
"You do have a point. Popularity sure is a part of becoming a Pokemon Master," he nodded and reached an opening hallway.
It was half past nine in his clock. Which means he had battled for an hour minus the interview. It was pretty odd.
The students were chattering and heading towards the cafe as well. The crowd was decreasing in number as the outsiders were leaving the campus.
As soon as he opened the door and entered, he was greeted with a round of cheers and applaud. He just gave a usual appreciative smile before he searched for his friends.
"There you are," a voice said as he looked at his old best friend, Brock. "The others are over there, c'mon," he said and Ash followed him with a nod.
"Great Battle, Ash."
"Dude, that was sick."
"I will beat you someday, you wait."
"That Greninja of yours is op."
"Hi cutie."
"Will you go out with me?"
"I love you."
"How many times a day you fap?"
"Dude, how in the world is that relatable here?!"
All sorts of comments were thrown at Ash. Some good, some gawky and some...weird, like the last one.
Ash just nervously smiled and waved away them. He soon reached the table Brock was taking him to. Two of them were in the heat of a conversation.
"O yeah? How can you be so sure you can do it shorty?" said the mocking tone of Gary.
"Ugh. I told you not to call me that you simp. And I have a better chance than you do," Max countered.
"Why you inconsiderate-"
"Guys, cut it out already" Brock said in a matured manner.
Just then everyone noticed Ash had arrived at their table.
"Yo Ashy-boi," Gary greeted with a smirk. Ash just rolled his eyes.
"Hiya Ash," an excited voice of May said as she got up from her seat and sit beside him, intentionally leaning against him.
Serena and Dawn were sitting across from them, but didn't do anything as they were too shy from their early encounter with the boy. Ash met their eyes as the two girls looked away with a blush.
'I have to fix this,' he thought with a sigh.
"Hey Ash. Glad you came. Gary thinks that I can't beat Darkrai with my Sceptile just like you did," Max complained to which the young professor rolled his eyes.
Ash was about to answer when Brock interrupted.
"I am sure you can. But you need to train harder just like he did," the doctor advised.
"Yeah Max, don't lose hope," Ash said with a reassuring smile.
The young trainer looked happy when Gary spoke again.
"Whatever. I still think Sawyer has a better chance than him," he said bluntly. Max just ignored him for now.
"You guys are talking like Darkrai can only be taken down by Sceptiles," Clemont stated his opinion after listen to their argument.
Gary and Max looked at each other for a second and started laughing.
"You do have a point there Clemont," said Gary.
"Yeah. Seeing the battle seem to have placed the thought in our minds," agreed Max.
"Say Ash, I see you have reunited with Latias again," Misty said with a knowing smile. Ash swallowed some food before he replied.
"Looks like you figured it out. Yes, I met her a year ago or so when I revisited Alto Mare. Bianca and her Grandfather was happy to see me too as well. Latias was still playing her role as the only Guardian of the city, but she was still weak at that time. So, I decided to train her occasionally with my other pokemons and now she is just as strong as them," Ash explained the story briefly as the others listened.
"Wow. You seem to have more Dragon types in your possession than me, and I was the one who is supposed to be the Master of it," Iris said with a pout as Ash chuckled.
"You know," Goh started as Ash looked at him. "I get the feeling all those times I met those rare and mythical pokemons, its only because you were with me," he said with a wonder.
Brock laughed. "It's not you Goh. All of us have encountered rare pokemons on our journey with Ash," he said as the others thought about how precise he was.
'Protagonist Facts,' Pikachu thought while drinking his bottle of ketchup.
"It's just a coincidence," Ash said, laughing the topic off as he proceeded to quickly eat his food.
"Don't eat so fast Ash," May scolded him with a caring tone.
"You are not his mom May," said Max in a blunt tone just to receive a Brick Break on his head from his older sister, and it was Super Effective.
At the mention of his mom, Ash frowned. He remembered how his mom used to scold him about shoving his food down his throat without chewing it properly. He smiled, remembering all those memories he spent with his mom. It was quite short. Because he always kept himself busy with travelling across other regions. His mom always had to spend almost a year alone without him. Ash felt bad. He regretted that he didn't give his mom more time than he did on other things. Now he was willing to do anything just to see her heart warming smile once again.
The others didn't notice, but the girls saw the sudden change of mood in Ash as he was silently eating, lost in thoughts.
"Ash?" Serena asked in a low tone.
Ash snapped out of it.
"Y-yeah?"
"You alright?" Dawn asked this time.
Ash shoved this random thoughts out of his head and smiled.
"I am fine. Just a bit tired," he said as they looked relieved and once again looked away with a blush.
'What's up with them?' thought May who noticed her friends weird behaviour.
"Oh Ash," a sweet and light voice called as he looked at the platinum blonde girl.
"Yes Lillie?"
"Well, I just wanted to know if you still kept in touch with your Z-moves?" she asked.
Ash thought about it. "Well, to be completely honest, I haven't really practiced them in a while," he said truthfully as Lillie frowned a bit.
"WHAT?!" A loud voice interrupted as Ash and Lillie jumped in surprise.
"How could you just forgot about Z-moves?! You are supposed to represent Alola," Kiawe, who seemed to have overheard their conversation, scolded the now cowerded Ash.
"He-hey, I didn't forget about them, it's just um..," he tried to say.
"Tomorrow morning at Battlefield 10 sharp at 7. You and I need to have a serious talk," the Elite Four member of Alola League said in an orderly tone.
"And don't be late," he added. Ash could clearly see a wildfire burning in his eyes. The Alola Champion gulped.
"Y-yes sir," he nodded.
The others who were watching this interaction were giggling and laughing.
"He is right you know," Mallow said, giggling.
"Yeah yeah," Ash muttered and continued to finish his food.
The rest of the night went in a flash. With a many fits of laughter, roasting and gossiping, the night ended peacefully as everyone started to head for their dorms. The girls bid their goodbyes to Ash with lots of hugs and smiles, leaving him blushing a lot.
Ash picked up Pikachu, who has been sleeping for the last two chapters, and headed towards his room as well.
The tired boy entered and immediately collapsed on the bed without changing, considering how tired he was. Soon, the darkness consumed him.
***
"It's not that bad as I thought," Kiawe said to a panting Ash.
"Oh really? Will you explain how does running 5km is related to using Z-moves?" asked Ash with an annoyed tone.
It has been like two hours Ash and Kiawe have been training. They first started with a little training between their pokemons. Then Ash reminisced the poses and dances for each and every Z-move he can use. Then Kiawe suggested to 'jog' for 'a while' which ended up with one hell of a running.
"You need lots of stamina to use a Z-move so, running will help you with it," Kiawe explained.
"You are talking like I've never used a Z-move before," Ash said with narrowed eyes.
The fire type user just chuckled nervously.
Ash was nevertheless grateful for it. He really has forgotten about the thing which Alola specializes for, and he is the Champion of that region for love of Arceus. All his Z-crystals and Z ring were back at his room in the Headquarters.
They soon reached the entrance.
"Thanks for the help Kiawe," Ash thanked his friend and rival.
"Don't mention it. What are friends for?" Kiawe said to which Ash smiled. He really had met some wonderful people in his life, for which he will ever be grateful for it.
"I will see you later," Kiawe said as he walked off to a direction.
"Let's walk around Pikachu," Ash suggested as he started to stroll.
He didn't spot anyone familiar during this time. It was just a normal day at the famous academy. He was quite surprised no one challenged him to a battle until now because he used to get a dozens of them before. Seems like people know better than to challenge a guy who can take down legendaries without much effort.
"Alakazam, use Psybeam."
Ash heard a familiar voice as looked towards a battlefield. Two trainers were battling each other. The psi pokemon shot a beam of Psychic energy at a Vivillion who fainted from the attack.
The trainers returned their pokemons and shook hands, showing sportsmanship.
"That was a clean shot," Ash complimented to the girl who owned the Alakazam.
The long amethyst haired beautiful girl turned around and saw Ash. She looked happy instantly.
"Ash!"
Anabel leaped forward and hugged the trainer who flushed a bit, returning the gesture.
"Sorry I didn't get to see you yesterday after the battle," Anabel said once they broke the hug.
"You don't need to apologise Anni- uh Anabel," Ash said, once again accidently calling her nickname. The Salon Maiden reddened, but ignored it quickly.
"Uh um yeah you were amazing yesterday Ash," she said avoiding the awkwardness.
"Aha thanks," Ash said with a smile.
He noticed that Anabel was sweating a lot, and so was he from the training session earlier. Today's weather was exceptionally hot and there was low pressure as well. It was usually the sign of a storm.
"Today's really hot huh?" Anabel said reading his thoughts, as she flapped the upper portion of her dress to let air flow inside her body. She was wearing a short casual outfit which included a white short jeans and a pink top, showing of her appealing figure. She had a small necklace which ended up at her chest, where her cleavage could be seen as well. Ash was wearing a tight black shirt showing off his biceps and a grey pant. Both of them tried their best not to stare at the others' asset.
"Yeah I noticed too," Ash agreed. Suddenly an idea popped in his mind.
"Hey wanna grab some ice cream?" Ash suggested to Anabel.
She blushed a bit at the thought of Ash and her being all alone. She smiled and slowly nodded at him.
"I would love to," she said.
"Cool. Let's go then, my treat," Ash said as he started walking to the gate.
"H-hey Ash! You don't have to," she complained and tried to catch upto him.
***
"Thanks for the treat Ash."
"Yeah no prob."
Ash took Anabel to an ice cream parlor in Magenta Plaza, which was pretty far. The shop attendant mistook them as a couple and served them a glass with two straws. After an embarrassing moment, they explained that it was a misunderstanding and all. Overall, it was pretty fun.
The temperature was still the same, but the hot sun was nowhere to be seen. It was covered by dark thick clouds. A low rumbling could be heard from a far distance.
Ash looked up and saw the sudden change in weather.
"Pika pika chu pi ka," Ash's one and only electric type pokemon said.
"Even if Zekrom has a stomach ache as you claim, the storm would have been in Unova, not here in Kalos," Ash debated Pikachu's weird cause of the weather change.
Anabel giggled at their interaction before she frowned.
"We should hurry up if we don't want to get caught in the storm," she said alertly.
"Let's take a shortcut through the forest then, it will be much faster," Ash suggested. He has gotten quickly acquainted with the surroundings in these few weeks and he knew an easy route through the forest.
"Alright, lead the way," Anabel said, trusting Ash.
They started to walk side by side. The environment of the forest was calm and peaceful. Some pokemon started to flee to their homes before the storm came.
Darkness fell upon the once blazing day.
It had been like ten minutes since they started walking, it started raining. Strong winds started to blow with occasional flashes across the sky. A powerful lightning fell upon a place very close to the duo.
Anabel shrieked and tightly held Ash's arm, seemingly frightened. Ash pulled out his arm and put it around the girl in a reassuring manner.
"It's alright. I am here. There is a cave nearby so, lets take shelter there," Ash suggested and hold Anabel's hand, keeping her close to him. The Frontier Brain blushed and leaned close to the boy with a smile. Soon, they reached the cave and entered it.
They sit beside each other, patiently waiting for the storm to end. Pikachu shook off the water from its yellow fur and sat on Anabel's lap, trying to get her attention. She smiled and ran her fingers through his wet fur.
"Can't seem to have a day without trouble," Ash mumbled.
Anabel heard this and turned a bit upset. She thought that Ash was regretting to ask her out in the first place. If he was even asking her out.
"S-sorry," the girl mumbled and turned away.
Ash looked at her confused. He then realized that his statement just now could have been ambiguous to her, to make her feel like she was the reason Ash was annoyed. He didn't mean it like that, but felt bad anyway. He was about to apologise but stopped when he looked at her.
Her long wet lavender hair was coming down to her face with amethyst eyes that looked misty as she looked outside. Her skin was a bit pale. She looked just like an angel to Ash.
'Whoever will end up with her will be one lucky guy,' Ash thought as he put out an arm around the girl. He pulled her close startling her completely.
"I really had a lot of fun today, thank you Anabel," Ash said flashing a smile.
That one sentence was enough to bring a smile to her face. She beamed and hugged him back.
"Me too Ash," she said with a smile.
After some time the rain stopped. Thunder was still rumbling in the sky with periodic lightning bolts.
Ash checked the time in his phone. It was 12 p.m. He felt like they should start moving.
Anabel seemed to read his mind.
"I think it's better we leave now," she suggested.
Ash nodded. "Yeah let's go then."
With that, both of them continued their way towards the academy.
They accelerated faster than before due to the bad weather. Ash was momentarily lost in his thoughts when he suddenly noticed Anabel wasn't by his side. He looked behind and saw the girl was on her knees, taking something out of her shoes.
I can be lost in my thoughts too much sometimes,' Ash thought with a mental sigh, as he noticed that he left the girl a few meters behind him already.
"You okay?" he called out.
Anabel looked up. "I just got something in my shoes Ash, nothing seri-" she didn't get to finish when she heard a loud crack and looked up. She was beside a large tree. One of its branches from above broke apart suddenly and came crashing down towards Anabel, who was paralysed and couldn't move. She didn't know what was happening and how she should react as the huge branch was closing the distance between them. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact.
In an instant, something or someone pushed her out of the way as the heavy branch crashed on the spot she was sitting before. She slowly opened her eyes, to find herself lying on the ground, and a familiar boy on top of her.
"Looks like today really isn't our day," Ash said with a weak chuckle.
Anabel dumbfoundedly looked at him. He was really close to her face with his entire body on top of hers in a not-so appropriate position. Her face turned into a tomato.
"You are not hurt, are you?" Ash asked in a worried tone, still on top of her.
Anabel tried to say something, but couldn't. Her nervous system was exploding from all the adrenaline rush inside her.
"Pika Pika!!" The rodent scolded Ash.
Ash looked down and accidentally, stole a glance of her cleavage from a point blank range. It was then the oblivious fool realised what he was doing and immediately got up with a bright red face. He helped Anabel up who was on the ground.
"S-s-sorry," he apologised immediately bowing his head, totally embarrassed.
"D-don't be. Its not your fault. Be-besides, I should be thankful to you for saving me," Anabel said after she recomposed herself.
"Ye-yeah," Ash said scratching his head, still red in the face.
Anabel then realised something.
"W-wait," she said as Ash looked at her.
"How did you reached to me so fast? You were like a few meters far from me" the Salon Maiden asked.
Ash got nervous. The moment the branch started falling, he immediately released his aura and reached up to her in a flash. Luckily, she didn't notice it because her eyes were closed.
"Quick reflexes," Ash replied, chuckling nervously.
Anabel just smiled in relief and didn't think about it much.
"Let's go quickly. I don't want to end up with another bandage on my head again," she joked as they continued their path once again, holding hands this time.
Soon they arrived at their desired destination.
It was sure a shortcut, but with everything else that happened, it made it seem like a long one. Nevertheless, they were happy they made it in one piece.
There was no change in the weather conditon. It was still windy and turbulent, adding the life threatening lightning bolts.
The activities of the academy were temporarily stopped due to it, as the students were hanging out in the cafe, dorms or using the indoor gyms.
They stopped at a distance from the academy.
"Looks like this is the end of our little adventure," Anabel said with a giggle.
Ash laughed in response. "It sure was quite a one," he said.
Anabel looked at Ash and smiled. She stood on her toes and kissed the boy on the cheek as she stood in front of him.
Ash was obviously startled from the bold move of the amethyst haired girl. She giggled at his reaction.
"Thanks for today Ash," she said and winked at him.
Ash didn't say anything. He was lost in her beautiful angelic eyes. Anabel was waiting for a response, but didn't get any. She was looking back at his wild auburn eyes. Some sort of force was pulling them towards each other. It was yet again, one of this tensions between two opposite sex.
Anabel, still looking at Ash walked upto him. She slowly placed a hand on his cheek, before she started caressing it lovingly.
There wasn't any sort of refusal from Ash.
Anabel wasn't sure about it, but she took the chance. She stood on her toes and slowly closed the distance between them. Ash put his arm on her waist and pulled her closer, leaning forward as well. Soon enough, their lips connected.
Their minds went completely blank. Anabel gave a sweet short kiss on his lips and pulled back a bit. Ash's naughty hormones perked up. The male teenager pulled her even closer and forced his lips on hers.
Anabel put her arms around his neck and kissed him back with passion.
Their wet lips moved back and forth, smooching each other wildly. The kiss deepened as their tongues connected, relishing the other one with lust. Ash smoothly touched her buttock as he sucked her tongue with burning desire. Anabel moaned loudly from the contact. She soon broke the kiss, not being able to take it any longer.
The couple, still in each other's arms, sweated and breathed heavily. Their faces were the deepest shade of red there could be.
When they realised what they just did, Anabel quickly freed herself from Ash and dashed towards the academy in embarrassment, not looking back once.
Ash was shocked that he was capable of doing something like that.
'There is good in my heart,' he thought as he raised his hands and looked at them.
But these hands, they belong to the devil,' he finished his dramatic thought and looked at the direction of the third girl he had a makeout session with.
Pikachu, who was watching the entire scene standing behind them, clapped his paws slowly shaking his head with bewilderment.