The summer festival at Maiden's Peak was bustling with activity, offering all sorts of things. And Ash, the ultimate big spender, was fully flexing his financial muscle. Misty spotted a small accessory? Buy! Yellow glanced at a handicraft? Buy! Elesa took a liking to a Pikachu doll? Buy! Basically, if the girls so much as looked at something, Ash bought it. Because of this, Ash and his group became the most welcomed customers at every stall. You couldn't help it; the guy was a total baller.
"By the way, Meowth, do you feel like we've forgotten something?"
"I don't know. Boss, can we get another five skewers of grilled fish?"
"No problem! Boss, five more skewers!"
"Coming right up!"
While Ash and the others were having a great time, a voice called out to Ash.
"Hold on a moment, young man."
"Hmm? Is there something you need, old lady?" Ash turned around to see the old woman—who was actually Gastly in disguise. The old woman held up a magnifying glass, carefully scrutinizing Ash's appearance, and even leaned in to sniff his scent.
"Impossible... is it really you?"
"I say, old lady, what exactly do you want..." Seeing the old woman continuously observing him, Ash felt speechless. Could it be that Gastly has a thing for handsome guys? Prompted by Ash's words, the old woman finally snapped out of it and said, "Young man, it's not that I have a problem, it's that you're going to have a problem! I can see ominous things. You've been targeted. Remember my words: you must beware of beautiful women!"
Hearing the old woman say this, Ash immediately picked up Yellow and backed away slightly from Elesa and Misty.
"My fiance and Misty are going to do bad things to me?! As expected, cute little Yellow is the most reassuring one after all?!"
Hearing Ash say this, Yellow smiled. Elesa and Misty, their faces entirely red, pinched the flesh at Ash's waist and said, "What do you mean we're going to do bad things to you?!" *2
Despite their words, Elesa and Misty were actually in a really good mood. After all, Ash had just implicitly called them beautiful women. Meanwhile, Gastly, playing the old woman, looked speechlessly at this blindingly bright flashbang of public affection.
"Damn it..." With that, the old woman silently walked away.
Although Ash found it strange why Gastly had approached him, he figured the guy wasn't malicious, so he didn't dwell on it. Later on, Ash and the group finally ran into Brock, though Brock looked a bit dazed and out of it. Despite wondering what was wrong with Brock, seeing that he wasn't injured, they all continued wandering the festival together. Then came the main event: Ash and the group arrived at a storyteller's fortune-telling stand to hear the legend of Maiden's Peak.
"Step right up! The legend of the Maiden's Shrine, passed down for two thousand years! Please, take a close look!" As the storyteller unrolled a scroll, a portrait of a young maiden was revealed to everyone. When he saw this portrait, Ash's head throbbed with pain again, though it quickly passed.
However, the previously dazed Brock, along with Team Rocket's James, were completely mesmerized. If the storyteller hadn't been physically holding their faces back, Ash suspected the two of them might have actually licked the painting.
While holding them back, the storyteller said, "This maiden is the one from the Maiden's Rock. A person from a thousand years ago."
"A thousand years ago?"
"That's right. It was a long, long time ago, before Poké Balls even existed. The maiden had a man she deeply loved, but that man left for the sake of something more precious. The maiden kept waiting for him, hoping for his return, but that man never came back..." The storyteller paused here. Ash raised his hand and asked, "Excuse me, but what exactly was this more precious thing?"
"It was the world..."
"The world? Like, world domination?" Ash found this a bit strange. His question resonated with the group, but the storyteller shook his head and said, "No. That man loved this world deeply, so he sacrificed himself for the world to bring about peace."
Hearing this, Ash became intrigued. This seemed different from the plot in his memories. Could my memories be getting mixed up?
Just as Ash was thinking this, the storyteller continued, "That man was actually very famous. He was the Aura Guardian, Sir Aaron. He and his Lucario stopped a war, but the price was his own life. Right before he faded away, God once asked him why he made that choice. The man simply smiled and answered God, 'Because I truly love this world. So what does it matter if I give my life for my love?'"
"Oh, the Aura Guardian, Aaron? But isn't it said that that was just a fake name?" Elesa seemed to know a bit about this, so she shared what she knew. The storyteller nodded and said, "Correct. No one knows Aaron's true name. There are also legends saying Aaron himself was brought here by God, and in the end, God had him return. Who knows the truth behind all of this? However, since you all know so much about it, I'll bring it out. A perfectly preserved portrait of Aaron! It was preserved using special methods by Pokémon!"
Saying this, the storyteller brought out a portrait of a man. However, upon seeing the portrait, Elesa, the girls, and Team Rocket were all dumbfounded.
"Ash / Big brother Ash / Twerp?!"
That's right! Aaron's appearance was exactly what Ash looked like right now, just wearing a different hat. Actually, rather than saying it was what he looked like now, it was more like how Ash looked when he wore a tailored suit, because the distinct, mature aura radiating from the portrait was something Ash only had when he was dressed up.
Looking at the portrait, Ash couldn't help but say, "He is quite handsome, true. Pity he's an idiot who doesn't value his own life."
Hearing Ash say this, the storyteller didn't get angry. He merely said meaningfully, "Perhaps you're right. He might indeed have been an idiot."
In the end, everyone still hadn't figured out what was going on, though the storyteller did tell Ash and the group they could go check out the Maiden's Rock. However, when they went to the Maiden's Rock, nothing happened to Ash. Instead, it was Brock and James who acted as if they were possessed, desperately trying to get closer to the rock, leaving Ash, Elesa, and the others feeling incredibly helpless.
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