Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon
Night Assassin
Vecransyh sleeps soundly with his two lovers peacefully dreaming in his embrace. The room is silent other then the quiet sound of waves slapping against the ship's hull. In various spots around the room sleep his other five Pokemon, his Gengar, Banette and Dusknoir sleep next to one another as Drifblim lightly brushes the ceiling as he floats making no sound when he lightly bumps it on occasion. Rotom, as always, has fused himself with Vecransyh's alarm clock near the bed and makes a very faint beeping noise as he sleeps.
In the early hours of the morning Vecransyh's door slowly and silently opens and a black, cloaked figure slips in before closing the door behind himself with the exact same silence as his entrance,
(What did I tell you Vecransyh? I said you couldn't protect them... that you should leave them and spare them the pain of loss when you finally do pass on. Then what do you do? You get one of them pregnant with your child...) The figure slips a dagger out from beneath his cloak and draws a second into his other hand a moment later, (Fine then... I'll kill them both to show you the pain of loss... but don't worry, you'll join them shortly afterwards.) As the cloaked figure walks up to the bed Rotom's blue, robotic eyes open and without even wasting a second to analyze the situation he activates an incredibly loud alarm. Vecransyh's eyes shoot open and he jumps to the other side of the bed with the now awake Xylina and Yakira still in his arms. His eyes go wide as he looks towards the same black, cloaked figure that had thrown him into a tree a few months ago,
"You!" The figure wastes no time and releases spheres of dark energy that knock out Xylina and Yakira and the spins knocking out the rest of the Pokemon in the room before he turns back to Vecransyh now wielding the daggers back-handed,
"It's just like before. You are alone and no-one can protect you. I'm glad you're awake so you can watch them die." Vecransyh clenches his fists and looks darkly into the robe's black hood,
"Don't you dare touch them! Or I'll..." The man snickers cutting him off,
"You'll what?!" Vecransyh's tone is now dark and completely serious,
"I'll kill you." The robed figure is silent for a moment before he begins laughing hysterically. Vecransyh doesn't even flinch as he glares. After near thirty seconds the figure speaks again,
"Well, looks like you've grown a spine since our last little chat but that doesn't change your fate."
"I can kill you with two words. I will, however, give you a final chance to leave now and never make another threat against my family." At this the figure brings his hands to his hood and drops it. The male's black, spiky hair sits around his eyes which are almost identical to Vecransyh's in color. The rest of his features are impossible to see because of the very dim lighting of the room but by what Vecransyh can see his face is heavily scarred possible from a past battle of some kind,
"You're really serious. Hehe, you're still a kid but at least you'll die a man... Farewell!!" Vecransyh throws his arm forward with a cry,
"Wait! At least tell me why you're doing this!" The male gives him a hesitant look and is silent for a number of minutes,
"Because I need to kill you now before the events of the future are allowed to unfold." Vecransyh looks at him with an incredibly confused look,
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"It is your love for them that will stray you from your path of good. As of now you are the prince of ghosts but if the events of the future become the events of the present you will become known as the evil lord of demons." Vecransyh is silent for a moment as he attempts to process the information he was just given,
"So you're from the future and in this future I'm some evil lord?! You're insane!!!" The figure simply shakes his head as his eyes stay locked on Vecransyh,
"I am the leader of the resistance in my time. A resistance who's sole purpose is to stop you. Me coming to the past was nothing but a stroke of luck in our favor when we managed to track down the time travel Pokemon known as Celebi. Whether you believe me or not makes no difference. You will die here prince of ghosts... RIGHT NOW!!" With a yell the figure leaps towards Vecransyh with his blades above him ready for a downward strike but Vecransyh jumps back and plants his feet before springing towards him,
"Eclipse blade!!" A look of shock appears of the figure's face as his torso makes contact with the black end of the double-edged, black and silver sword. The male lets out a gasp as he falls to his knees letting his daggers fall to the floor with a light slamming noise and he clutches his wound as his hand becomes caked in blood,
"I... I thought... that sword... couldn't wound!" Vecransyh takes a step back adjusting his grip on the hilt of the sword,
"It wounds if I wish it to." The male lets out a sigh as he falls to the ground lying on his back looking up at the ceiling. The moon shines on his face showing his purple skin as his body begins fading away in shreds of time and darkness,
"Just... please... for the sake of the... future... make the right... decision." With those final words the figure fades away completely and Vecransyh unsummons the Eclipse Blade after releasing everyone from their forced sleep states. He brings the soundly sleeping Xylina and Yakira back to the bed and lays down in between them holding them close to his chest,
(What was he...?)
Vecransyh finally falls back to sleep after near an hour of silent pondering and wakes up the next day early into the afternoon from a few knocks on his door followed by Kazamaru's voice,
"Lunch time! You'll never guess who's on the ship with us!" Before Vecransyh can question Kazamaru he hears quick steps of running and sits up in the bed with a yawn. Looking over to the right on the floor he sees the two daggers from his assailant lying on the floor but no blood,
"Huh... must have disappeared when he did." Vecransyh jumps when he hears Xylina's voice,
"When who did? That wasn't a dream last night was it?" Vecransyh knows the question is rhetorical and embraces Xylina tightly,
"No, it wasn't but he's never coming back..." Xylina looks down,
"Why was he after us? Did he say?" Yakira sits up awakened from the talking and looks at Vecransyh with the same questioning look. Vecransyh is silent for a few seconds,
"No... he just attacked me and I had to kill him. What's weird though is that his entire body disintegrated into black fading strips as he died." Xylina runs her hand over her pregnant belly and smiles softly,
"At least no-one got hurt in the end..."
"One more thing... both of you." The two girls give him inquisitive looks and Vecransyh's tone is serious, "He called me the prince of ghosts. I want to know what that's about and why every random person whether they want to kill me or not is calling me that." The girls exchange looks and both float over to the other side of the room where they begin talking silently as Vecransyh watches them hoping that he would finally get answers. Finally after a few minutes of discussion Xylina and Yakira both float back over to Vecransyh and Yakira sits in his lap now that he is sitting on the edge of the bed,
"There is a prophecy. And in this prophecy there is said to be a prince that can speak and understand any ghost Pokemon even if they cannot speak English. This is true for you right?" Vecransyh nods, "It is said that once the prince of ghosts has defeated the ultimate evil he will become the king of ghosts and become endowed with all of their powers." Vecransyh feels a sweat drop fall down his face,
"What's the ultimate evil?" Yakira shrugs with a sorry looking expression,
"No-one knows..."
"Is there any more to the prophecy?" Yakira and Xylina both exchange hesitant looks before Yakira smiles and hugs Vecransyh tightly,
"Not that we know of." Vecransyh nods with a smile fully knowing that there is another part of this prophecy but what it says he can't figure out other then it has something to do with becoming the evil lord,
"Alright. Thanks for clearing that up. Now then, let's head to the dining room and see what Kaza was going on about." The two girls nod and the three head out of the room once Vecransyh is fully clothed and his Pokemon are returned to their pokeballs. A short way down the hall Vecransyh notices Latias walking beside him, "You heading to the dining room too?" Latias nods and looks at him with a smile,
"Yeah. Kaza came banging on my door about some kind of super-awesome guy in the dining room and ran away before I could ask who it was." Vecransyh nods along with the two girls,
"Us too." Upon walking into the dining room Vecransyh stops and looks around before spotting Kazamaru waving his arms around frantically for him to come over. Vecransyh takes a step forward before turning to Latias who is frozen with a look of shock, anger and sorrow on her face as her eyes are locked on who everyone is so excited about, "Latias...? What's up?" Latias is silent for a moment and looks down as a small yellow mouse runs over to her and looks up with a happy smile,
"Pika!" Latias is still silent for a few more moments before speaking,
"Hello Pikachu. Long time no see." Latias smiles as the little Pokemon climbs up her leg and sits on top of her head as her and Vecransyh along with Xylina and Yakira walk over to the circle of couches. Sitting around in a circle is everyone in the group except for one. A boy around the age of 19 with black spiky hair that juts out to the side slightly under his hat which is red with a white front and a green sideways 'V' his jacket is a vest with short, black, sleeves on either side and across his chest are two yellow stripes that dip slightly into a bent line, his pants are a light blue color of fairly baggy jeans and his shoes are a dark red color with black on the tops. On the couch next to him is a fairly happy looking Bayleef with her neck occupied with the trainer's knuckle-gloved hand running down it occasionally. On his other side sits a large Sceptile with a small twig in his mouth, his eyes are closed and his arms are folded as he lies back against the couch cushion. Kazamaru grins as he watches Vecransyh, Xylina and Yakira all sit down. Latias sits down next to Stratos avoiding eye contact with the trainer,
"Let me introduce you to the one and only Ash Ketchum." Ash smiles as he looks over to Vecransyh and the two ghosts and holds up a peace sign with his fingers,
"Hey, sup! Your excited little friend tells me that you're all headed to the Pokemon league." Vecransyh nods,
"That's right."
"Sweet, hope I get to go up against at least one of you. I took the Pokemon league challenge a few years ago but I didn't do to well. I'm trying again this time around... anybody seen Pikachu?" Ash looks around and spots Pikachu on top of Latias' head and blinks before looking shocked as he sees her, "WHA!? Bianca?! Talk about a blast from the past! What are you doing all the way out here?" Latias simply gives him a stern look,
"Guess again." Ash blinks and Pikachu hops off of her head and runs over to him climbing up to his hat. Ash makes a loud gulp,
"Latias...?" Latias looks around at everyone before she stands up,
"Can I borrow him for a little bit?" Kazamaru shrugs,
"Umm... go ahead?" Latias grabs Ash's arm and drags him out of the room as everyone looks at them in confusion until they're out of sight.
In the hallway Latias slams Ash against the wall looking at him with a hurt and angry expression,
"You never came back to Altomare!" Ash looks fairly frightened at the enraged look on the legendary's face,
"I...I'm sorry!" Latias let's go of him and looks down,
"Do you have any idea how much you hurt me? Did you ever once think that it was ME who kissed you on that dock?"
"Latias I was 11..." Latias looks at him with a pained expression that fades slightly as she talks,
"It doesn't matter... I ended up falling for someone else and he replaced all of the pain you caused me with the love I wanted..." Ash takes a breath,
"Latias look. I'm sorry that I never came back I just... I never thought about it again. So many things have happened to me it's just hard to keep track of just who I've met and what experiences I've gone through... but I'm glad you found someone better. Who is he? Can I meet him?" Latias looks off to the side,
"He was killed a few months ago by Heatran in Stark Mountain." Ash and Latias are silent for a moment and almost like clockwork she falls forward against his chest crying loudly and Ash hesitates for a moment before he puts his arms around her,
"So you must be the 'Mommy' that little Lucario was talking about. You and he found him as an egg?" Latias removes herself from his embrace and wipes her eyes with a nod,
"Yes... and when Drake died Stratos took his place as a Pokemon trainer." Ash gives her a sad look,
"I'm so sorry... no-one ever deserves to find love and then have it torn away but just remember that you have good friends to look after you. Consider them your loving family as I do with my Pokemon and all my friends." Latias smiles lightly,
"So Ashy, you ever settle down?" Ash scratches his head with a smile,
"Actually yeah. It was about four years ago when I started teaching my Pokemon how to talk. Pikachu knows how to talk pretty well but he keeps reverting back to saying only his name at times. Anyway, I'm off subject... it was about four years ago and I was at Professor Oak's lab with Bayleef. The first words she ever said to me were 'I love you' and at first I was a little skeptical about having a relationship with a Pokemon but after a while I really fell for her." Latias smiles brightly,
"Well good for you Ashy and... sorry about when I threw you into that wall a little bit ago I hope I didn't hurt you." Ash smiles as he brushes off his shoulder,
"Nah it didn't hurt. You just scared the hell out of me. Anyway I'm glad we're friends again and... again, I'm sorry for putting you through that." Latias sticks her tongue out at him playfully,
"Just don't ever do it again. Now come on, we should head back." As Ash and Latias walk back through the doors to the dining room... or more like living room because of all the couches each of the group had brought into the room to make the large circle Latias turns her head to Ash,
"So what ever happened to Misty and Brock? I thought you would have settled down with her after all this time." Ash shakes his head,
"Nah, Misty and Brock actually ended up hooking up for a while. They're still together I think but they still manage their gyms so they can't be together all the time." Latias nods with a smile,
"Well good for them."
"So how were you allowed to leave the garden? I thought you were the protector of the soul dew." Latias giggles,
"Actually a new guardian came to the garden and relieved me. Oddly enough it's also the same day that Gracidea flowers begun growing in there. Shaymin is the new guardian." Ash smiles as the memories of bringing a lost Shaymin to Gracidea garden come back to him,
"I remember Shaymin, pretty good choice for a guardian." Latias nods with a smile,
"And it wasn't a moment to soon because that was the day Drake's boat was leaving so I was able to go with him."
After a few moments Latias is back sitting next to Stratos and Ash is sitting, once again, between Bayleef and Sceptile who it still in the same position he was in when they left. Stratos leans over and whispers to his mom as she sits down and keeps his gaze on the Sceptile,
"He hasn't moved this entire time. Is he dead?" Upon hearing this Sceptile's eyes slide open and he looks to Stratos before shaking his head,
"Just taking in information and listening to what everyone is talking about. No need to talk if I'm not questioned." Stratos blinks,
"Oh... umm... okay." Vecransyh tilts his head as he looks at Ash,
"We've met your brother a few times. Our friend Neo actually battled with him but his Pikachu wiped out everything he threw at it. Really! It was over in like 30 seconds!" Ash lets out a laugh,
"I didn't know it when I first started out but my brother started with a Pikachu just like me. Mine isn't as strong as his but he's been through just as many battles I'm guessing." Kazamaru tilts his head,
"So what team are you using in the tourney this time around?" Ash smirks slightly,
"You can't get to know your opponent if they don't tell you about themselves. I'll save my lineup for when we're all in the tournament. Just be sure you train hard because I'll be using Pikachu for sure. Right Pikachu?"
"Pika!" Ash sighs,
"Come on Pikachu it took me two months to teach you to speak." The yellow mouse moves to his shoulder and the trainer and his Pokemon look at each other, "What?! You know it's true."
"Well what did you want me to say? I mean, you say 'right Pikachu?' and I say 'Pika!' that's how it's always been since we started. I'll talk when I have something to say. Whenever I don't have much of anything going around in my head for input into a conversation I choose to use my native tongue instead of yours." Everyone around Ash is at a complete loss for words and Ash simply pats the mouse on his head,
"Well, that clears up a lot." Kazamaru looks around the room at everyone,
"Hey, what do you guys think about me getting a Garchomp? It seems like I need a new addition to my team." Scarlet lets out a soft laugh as she hugs him,
"I think that's a great idea. To bad they're really rare." Kazamaru smiles,
"Gabite can be found on victory road. I'll be headed there once I get the badge from Volkner the gym leader in Sunnyshore." Vecransyh thinks for a moment,
"That's true Kaza. We're going to have to wait a year before we can enter the Pokemon league. What are we going to do until then?" Everyone is silent for a number of minutes and eventually Kazamaru breaks the silence,
"Should we split up and go train or something?" Tara chimes in,
"Burning a year of time can be a troublesome task. If you all decide what you're going to do now then it'll make it easier when the time comes." Scarlet nods with a smile,
"That's true. I'm going to be doing whatever Kaza is doing. I'm sure Vecransyh and you two girls will be tagging along with him." Xylina and Yakira both smile and kiss Vecransyh on both of his cheeks. Vecransyh smiles as he looks over to Scarlet,
"I was actually thinking about heading home to Hearthome till our baby is born. That should take up most of the time already." Yakira giggles,
"And you can spend the rest of your time giving me one!" Stratos blinks as he listens to this and looks up to Latias,
"Mommy? How do you give someone a baby?" Latias blinks rapidly a few times before she looks down at her son with a smile,
"It's a special hug that only mommies and daddies can do." Stratos nods contented by the answer. Bayleef smiles when everyone starts talking about babies and rolls over onto her back letting her barely visible pregnancy show,
"Just a few more months for me." Kazamaru raises an eyebrow,
"How many tries did that one take?" Ash brings up both his hands and begins counting silently to himself. After a moment he speaks,
"I lost count around thirty or so." Yakira gives Vecransyh a lustful grin and a drop of sweat slides down Vecransyh's face,
"I really wish you hadn't said that Ash."
The rest of the day goes by rather quickly as everyone listens to Ash's stories of how he met his Pokemon and specifically how he saved Bayleef back when she was only a Chikorita from a violent snowstorm.
Meanwhile in Team Galactic headquarters Cyrus turns around in his chair looking towards one of his many grunts,
"Are you sure?!" The grunt nods,
"Yes sir. There has been a very recent reporting of the fourth legend having been spotted in Sunnyshore city." Cyrus smiles darkly as he picks up a sheet of paper,
"Good. We will move on Sunnyshore to capture the fourth legend on my say so. Those meddlesome kids are on their way to Sunnyshore right now and the only one capable of defeating them is Neptune and he's away until tomorrow. I cannot afford any screw-ups on this mission so I will be going myself along with Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Neptune. If we have to fight our way through those stupid urchins then so be it. They'll taste my power first hand! Go and tell the admins what I have just told you." The grunt bows and quickly leaves the room. Cyrus turns his chair away from the door still holding the sheet, "Hmm... it appears that those fools I put in charge of gathering DNA from Pokemon are having more trouble getting the stronger ones then I believed they would. No matter. At this rate experiment 494 will be completed within a year or so depending on how acquisition of legendaries is going to go."
In the early hours of the morning Vecransyh's door slowly and silently opens and a black, cloaked figure slips in before closing the door behind himself with the exact same silence as his entrance,
(What did I tell you Vecransyh? I said you couldn't protect them... that you should leave them and spare them the pain of loss when you finally do pass on. Then what do you do? You get one of them pregnant with your child...) The figure slips a dagger out from beneath his cloak and draws a second into his other hand a moment later, (Fine then... I'll kill them both to show you the pain of loss... but don't worry, you'll join them shortly afterwards.) As the cloaked figure walks up to the bed Rotom's blue, robotic eyes open and without even wasting a second to analyze the situation he activates an incredibly loud alarm. Vecransyh's eyes shoot open and he jumps to the other side of the bed with the now awake Xylina and Yakira still in his arms. His eyes go wide as he looks towards the same black, cloaked figure that had thrown him into a tree a few months ago,
"You!" The figure wastes no time and releases spheres of dark energy that knock out Xylina and Yakira and the spins knocking out the rest of the Pokemon in the room before he turns back to Vecransyh now wielding the daggers back-handed,
"It's just like before. You are alone and no-one can protect you. I'm glad you're awake so you can watch them die." Vecransyh clenches his fists and looks darkly into the robe's black hood,
"Don't you dare touch them! Or I'll..." The man snickers cutting him off,
"You'll what?!" Vecransyh's tone is now dark and completely serious,
"I'll kill you." The robed figure is silent for a moment before he begins laughing hysterically. Vecransyh doesn't even flinch as he glares. After near thirty seconds the figure speaks again,
"Well, looks like you've grown a spine since our last little chat but that doesn't change your fate."
"I can kill you with two words. I will, however, give you a final chance to leave now and never make another threat against my family." At this the figure brings his hands to his hood and drops it. The male's black, spiky hair sits around his eyes which are almost identical to Vecransyh's in color. The rest of his features are impossible to see because of the very dim lighting of the room but by what Vecransyh can see his face is heavily scarred possible from a past battle of some kind,
"You're really serious. Hehe, you're still a kid but at least you'll die a man... Farewell!!" Vecransyh throws his arm forward with a cry,
"Wait! At least tell me why you're doing this!" The male gives him a hesitant look and is silent for a number of minutes,
"Because I need to kill you now before the events of the future are allowed to unfold." Vecransyh looks at him with an incredibly confused look,
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"It is your love for them that will stray you from your path of good. As of now you are the prince of ghosts but if the events of the future become the events of the present you will become known as the evil lord of demons." Vecransyh is silent for a moment as he attempts to process the information he was just given,
"So you're from the future and in this future I'm some evil lord?! You're insane!!!" The figure simply shakes his head as his eyes stay locked on Vecransyh,
"I am the leader of the resistance in my time. A resistance who's sole purpose is to stop you. Me coming to the past was nothing but a stroke of luck in our favor when we managed to track down the time travel Pokemon known as Celebi. Whether you believe me or not makes no difference. You will die here prince of ghosts... RIGHT NOW!!" With a yell the figure leaps towards Vecransyh with his blades above him ready for a downward strike but Vecransyh jumps back and plants his feet before springing towards him,
"Eclipse blade!!" A look of shock appears of the figure's face as his torso makes contact with the black end of the double-edged, black and silver sword. The male lets out a gasp as he falls to his knees letting his daggers fall to the floor with a light slamming noise and he clutches his wound as his hand becomes caked in blood,
"I... I thought... that sword... couldn't wound!" Vecransyh takes a step back adjusting his grip on the hilt of the sword,
"It wounds if I wish it to." The male lets out a sigh as he falls to the ground lying on his back looking up at the ceiling. The moon shines on his face showing his purple skin as his body begins fading away in shreds of time and darkness,
"Just... please... for the sake of the... future... make the right... decision." With those final words the figure fades away completely and Vecransyh unsummons the Eclipse Blade after releasing everyone from their forced sleep states. He brings the soundly sleeping Xylina and Yakira back to the bed and lays down in between them holding them close to his chest,
(What was he...?)
Vecransyh finally falls back to sleep after near an hour of silent pondering and wakes up the next day early into the afternoon from a few knocks on his door followed by Kazamaru's voice,
"Lunch time! You'll never guess who's on the ship with us!" Before Vecransyh can question Kazamaru he hears quick steps of running and sits up in the bed with a yawn. Looking over to the right on the floor he sees the two daggers from his assailant lying on the floor but no blood,
"Huh... must have disappeared when he did." Vecransyh jumps when he hears Xylina's voice,
"When who did? That wasn't a dream last night was it?" Vecransyh knows the question is rhetorical and embraces Xylina tightly,
"No, it wasn't but he's never coming back..." Xylina looks down,
"Why was he after us? Did he say?" Yakira sits up awakened from the talking and looks at Vecransyh with the same questioning look. Vecransyh is silent for a few seconds,
"No... he just attacked me and I had to kill him. What's weird though is that his entire body disintegrated into black fading strips as he died." Xylina runs her hand over her pregnant belly and smiles softly,
"At least no-one got hurt in the end..."
"One more thing... both of you." The two girls give him inquisitive looks and Vecransyh's tone is serious, "He called me the prince of ghosts. I want to know what that's about and why every random person whether they want to kill me or not is calling me that." The girls exchange looks and both float over to the other side of the room where they begin talking silently as Vecransyh watches them hoping that he would finally get answers. Finally after a few minutes of discussion Xylina and Yakira both float back over to Vecransyh and Yakira sits in his lap now that he is sitting on the edge of the bed,
"There is a prophecy. And in this prophecy there is said to be a prince that can speak and understand any ghost Pokemon even if they cannot speak English. This is true for you right?" Vecransyh nods, "It is said that once the prince of ghosts has defeated the ultimate evil he will become the king of ghosts and become endowed with all of their powers." Vecransyh feels a sweat drop fall down his face,
"What's the ultimate evil?" Yakira shrugs with a sorry looking expression,
"No-one knows..."
"Is there any more to the prophecy?" Yakira and Xylina both exchange hesitant looks before Yakira smiles and hugs Vecransyh tightly,
"Not that we know of." Vecransyh nods with a smile fully knowing that there is another part of this prophecy but what it says he can't figure out other then it has something to do with becoming the evil lord,
"Alright. Thanks for clearing that up. Now then, let's head to the dining room and see what Kaza was going on about." The two girls nod and the three head out of the room once Vecransyh is fully clothed and his Pokemon are returned to their pokeballs. A short way down the hall Vecransyh notices Latias walking beside him, "You heading to the dining room too?" Latias nods and looks at him with a smile,
"Yeah. Kaza came banging on my door about some kind of super-awesome guy in the dining room and ran away before I could ask who it was." Vecransyh nods along with the two girls,
"Us too." Upon walking into the dining room Vecransyh stops and looks around before spotting Kazamaru waving his arms around frantically for him to come over. Vecransyh takes a step forward before turning to Latias who is frozen with a look of shock, anger and sorrow on her face as her eyes are locked on who everyone is so excited about, "Latias...? What's up?" Latias is silent for a moment and looks down as a small yellow mouse runs over to her and looks up with a happy smile,
"Pika!" Latias is still silent for a few more moments before speaking,
"Hello Pikachu. Long time no see." Latias smiles as the little Pokemon climbs up her leg and sits on top of her head as her and Vecransyh along with Xylina and Yakira walk over to the circle of couches. Sitting around in a circle is everyone in the group except for one. A boy around the age of 19 with black spiky hair that juts out to the side slightly under his hat which is red with a white front and a green sideways 'V' his jacket is a vest with short, black, sleeves on either side and across his chest are two yellow stripes that dip slightly into a bent line, his pants are a light blue color of fairly baggy jeans and his shoes are a dark red color with black on the tops. On the couch next to him is a fairly happy looking Bayleef with her neck occupied with the trainer's knuckle-gloved hand running down it occasionally. On his other side sits a large Sceptile with a small twig in his mouth, his eyes are closed and his arms are folded as he lies back against the couch cushion. Kazamaru grins as he watches Vecransyh, Xylina and Yakira all sit down. Latias sits down next to Stratos avoiding eye contact with the trainer,
"Let me introduce you to the one and only Ash Ketchum." Ash smiles as he looks over to Vecransyh and the two ghosts and holds up a peace sign with his fingers,
"Hey, sup! Your excited little friend tells me that you're all headed to the Pokemon league." Vecransyh nods,
"That's right."
"Sweet, hope I get to go up against at least one of you. I took the Pokemon league challenge a few years ago but I didn't do to well. I'm trying again this time around... anybody seen Pikachu?" Ash looks around and spots Pikachu on top of Latias' head and blinks before looking shocked as he sees her, "WHA!? Bianca?! Talk about a blast from the past! What are you doing all the way out here?" Latias simply gives him a stern look,
"Guess again." Ash blinks and Pikachu hops off of her head and runs over to him climbing up to his hat. Ash makes a loud gulp,
"Latias...?" Latias looks around at everyone before she stands up,
"Can I borrow him for a little bit?" Kazamaru shrugs,
"Umm... go ahead?" Latias grabs Ash's arm and drags him out of the room as everyone looks at them in confusion until they're out of sight.
In the hallway Latias slams Ash against the wall looking at him with a hurt and angry expression,
"You never came back to Altomare!" Ash looks fairly frightened at the enraged look on the legendary's face,
"I...I'm sorry!" Latias let's go of him and looks down,
"Do you have any idea how much you hurt me? Did you ever once think that it was ME who kissed you on that dock?"
"Latias I was 11..." Latias looks at him with a pained expression that fades slightly as she talks,
"It doesn't matter... I ended up falling for someone else and he replaced all of the pain you caused me with the love I wanted..." Ash takes a breath,
"Latias look. I'm sorry that I never came back I just... I never thought about it again. So many things have happened to me it's just hard to keep track of just who I've met and what experiences I've gone through... but I'm glad you found someone better. Who is he? Can I meet him?" Latias looks off to the side,
"He was killed a few months ago by Heatran in Stark Mountain." Ash and Latias are silent for a moment and almost like clockwork she falls forward against his chest crying loudly and Ash hesitates for a moment before he puts his arms around her,
"So you must be the 'Mommy' that little Lucario was talking about. You and he found him as an egg?" Latias removes herself from his embrace and wipes her eyes with a nod,
"Yes... and when Drake died Stratos took his place as a Pokemon trainer." Ash gives her a sad look,
"I'm so sorry... no-one ever deserves to find love and then have it torn away but just remember that you have good friends to look after you. Consider them your loving family as I do with my Pokemon and all my friends." Latias smiles lightly,
"So Ashy, you ever settle down?" Ash scratches his head with a smile,
"Actually yeah. It was about four years ago when I started teaching my Pokemon how to talk. Pikachu knows how to talk pretty well but he keeps reverting back to saying only his name at times. Anyway, I'm off subject... it was about four years ago and I was at Professor Oak's lab with Bayleef. The first words she ever said to me were 'I love you' and at first I was a little skeptical about having a relationship with a Pokemon but after a while I really fell for her." Latias smiles brightly,
"Well good for you Ashy and... sorry about when I threw you into that wall a little bit ago I hope I didn't hurt you." Ash smiles as he brushes off his shoulder,
"Nah it didn't hurt. You just scared the hell out of me. Anyway I'm glad we're friends again and... again, I'm sorry for putting you through that." Latias sticks her tongue out at him playfully,
"Just don't ever do it again. Now come on, we should head back." As Ash and Latias walk back through the doors to the dining room... or more like living room because of all the couches each of the group had brought into the room to make the large circle Latias turns her head to Ash,
"So what ever happened to Misty and Brock? I thought you would have settled down with her after all this time." Ash shakes his head,
"Nah, Misty and Brock actually ended up hooking up for a while. They're still together I think but they still manage their gyms so they can't be together all the time." Latias nods with a smile,
"Well good for them."
"So how were you allowed to leave the garden? I thought you were the protector of the soul dew." Latias giggles,
"Actually a new guardian came to the garden and relieved me. Oddly enough it's also the same day that Gracidea flowers begun growing in there. Shaymin is the new guardian." Ash smiles as the memories of bringing a lost Shaymin to Gracidea garden come back to him,
"I remember Shaymin, pretty good choice for a guardian." Latias nods with a smile,
"And it wasn't a moment to soon because that was the day Drake's boat was leaving so I was able to go with him."
After a few moments Latias is back sitting next to Stratos and Ash is sitting, once again, between Bayleef and Sceptile who it still in the same position he was in when they left. Stratos leans over and whispers to his mom as she sits down and keeps his gaze on the Sceptile,
"He hasn't moved this entire time. Is he dead?" Upon hearing this Sceptile's eyes slide open and he looks to Stratos before shaking his head,
"Just taking in information and listening to what everyone is talking about. No need to talk if I'm not questioned." Stratos blinks,
"Oh... umm... okay." Vecransyh tilts his head as he looks at Ash,
"We've met your brother a few times. Our friend Neo actually battled with him but his Pikachu wiped out everything he threw at it. Really! It was over in like 30 seconds!" Ash lets out a laugh,
"I didn't know it when I first started out but my brother started with a Pikachu just like me. Mine isn't as strong as his but he's been through just as many battles I'm guessing." Kazamaru tilts his head,
"So what team are you using in the tourney this time around?" Ash smirks slightly,
"You can't get to know your opponent if they don't tell you about themselves. I'll save my lineup for when we're all in the tournament. Just be sure you train hard because I'll be using Pikachu for sure. Right Pikachu?"
"Pika!" Ash sighs,
"Come on Pikachu it took me two months to teach you to speak." The yellow mouse moves to his shoulder and the trainer and his Pokemon look at each other, "What?! You know it's true."
"Well what did you want me to say? I mean, you say 'right Pikachu?' and I say 'Pika!' that's how it's always been since we started. I'll talk when I have something to say. Whenever I don't have much of anything going around in my head for input into a conversation I choose to use my native tongue instead of yours." Everyone around Ash is at a complete loss for words and Ash simply pats the mouse on his head,
"Well, that clears up a lot." Kazamaru looks around the room at everyone,
"Hey, what do you guys think about me getting a Garchomp? It seems like I need a new addition to my team." Scarlet lets out a soft laugh as she hugs him,
"I think that's a great idea. To bad they're really rare." Kazamaru smiles,
"Gabite can be found on victory road. I'll be headed there once I get the badge from Volkner the gym leader in Sunnyshore." Vecransyh thinks for a moment,
"That's true Kaza. We're going to have to wait a year before we can enter the Pokemon league. What are we going to do until then?" Everyone is silent for a number of minutes and eventually Kazamaru breaks the silence,
"Should we split up and go train or something?" Tara chimes in,
"Burning a year of time can be a troublesome task. If you all decide what you're going to do now then it'll make it easier when the time comes." Scarlet nods with a smile,
"That's true. I'm going to be doing whatever Kaza is doing. I'm sure Vecransyh and you two girls will be tagging along with him." Xylina and Yakira both smile and kiss Vecransyh on both of his cheeks. Vecransyh smiles as he looks over to Scarlet,
"I was actually thinking about heading home to Hearthome till our baby is born. That should take up most of the time already." Yakira giggles,
"And you can spend the rest of your time giving me one!" Stratos blinks as he listens to this and looks up to Latias,
"Mommy? How do you give someone a baby?" Latias blinks rapidly a few times before she looks down at her son with a smile,
"It's a special hug that only mommies and daddies can do." Stratos nods contented by the answer. Bayleef smiles when everyone starts talking about babies and rolls over onto her back letting her barely visible pregnancy show,
"Just a few more months for me." Kazamaru raises an eyebrow,
"How many tries did that one take?" Ash brings up both his hands and begins counting silently to himself. After a moment he speaks,
"I lost count around thirty or so." Yakira gives Vecransyh a lustful grin and a drop of sweat slides down Vecransyh's face,
"I really wish you hadn't said that Ash."
The rest of the day goes by rather quickly as everyone listens to Ash's stories of how he met his Pokemon and specifically how he saved Bayleef back when she was only a Chikorita from a violent snowstorm.
Meanwhile in Team Galactic headquarters Cyrus turns around in his chair looking towards one of his many grunts,
"Are you sure?!" The grunt nods,
"Yes sir. There has been a very recent reporting of the fourth legend having been spotted in Sunnyshore city." Cyrus smiles darkly as he picks up a sheet of paper,
"Good. We will move on Sunnyshore to capture the fourth legend on my say so. Those meddlesome kids are on their way to Sunnyshore right now and the only one capable of defeating them is Neptune and he's away until tomorrow. I cannot afford any screw-ups on this mission so I will be going myself along with Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Neptune. If we have to fight our way through those stupid urchins then so be it. They'll taste my power first hand! Go and tell the admins what I have just told you." The grunt bows and quickly leaves the room. Cyrus turns his chair away from the door still holding the sheet, "Hmm... it appears that those fools I put in charge of gathering DNA from Pokemon are having more trouble getting the stronger ones then I believed they would. No matter. At this rate experiment 494 will be completed within a year or so depending on how acquisition of legendaries is going to go."