Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Return of the Sacred Sword ❯ Chapter 4

Angsty championshipping! And Ash is dense!

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Chapter 4

 

The next morning, they make it to the outskirts of town, and there in a cave, they find Koga and Erika. Ash is surprised to see Aya, and a little girl he doesn't recognize, but she looks like Koga so he guesses she's his daughter.

They're willing to help and none of them look crazy, which is a relief, but after the deal with Lorelei he isn't sure what to expect. They're leaving when they see a swarm heading their way, and Lance hisses.

“Team Rocket.”

That is all the warning they have, and they all reach for their poke balls, and it is melee and chaos for a while before-!

There!

 

Lance freezes, his Dragonite pausing, jaws still open wide as it crushes a Rocket's Arbok. The man is laughing, but Ash can't hear because of the wind rushing past his ears.

… Wife?

“No.” Lance breathes. “Lorelei…”

“If you want her to live, recall your pokémon now.” The man barks.

Lance's eyes narrow, and Ash screams at him to stop, but he recalls his dragons as he walks forwards, almost in a daze.

The men laugh again, and then they attack, and he hears Erika crying out something, even as Hyper Beam smashes them backwards.

Lorelei falls.

 

Ash grins, glad that he's saved the day, but Lance is staring with an expression he can't fathom, and then he realizes that he just killed someone.

Oops.

There's silence for about a moment, before Lance smirks and releases all his pokemon, and then there is nothing left.

 

Afterwards, Bruno is bandaging Ash up - he came down from Mount Moon, though Ash doesn't know how but it matters little, and whispers that it was an accident and that everything will be fine.

Ash knows Bruno is lying. He's not that naïve.

But he almost wishes Lance would scream at him. At least that way, they would get the anger out of the way.

 

Lance refuses their help, and buries Lorelei in some undisclosed location, and Ash keeps her poke balls, because…

It's too late now.

Even if he wanted to give her pokémon back… she wouldn't take them.

Now, she'll never need them again.

 

Koga and Aya are silent, but Erika comforts him, and she says that if he ever needs someone to talk to she'll be there, and he feels better, because for some reason, girls are really good at listening.

He's all bandaged up now.

He should talk to Lance, but with the `Don't touch me' aura the Dragon Master is radiating, it would be safer not to. Maybe he'll cool down in a few days.

At the very least, they defeated Team Rocket, didn't they?

 

Lance does feel sorry for Lorelei's death, though they were nothing more than friends, but it will put another block between them, and he knows she doesn't regret it.

Now she can finally rejoin Clair…

He's happy for his cousins, truly he is, but a little acting never hurt, and he lays a bunch of scraggly weeds in front of the mound where she now lies.

Sleep well…

 

The most intriguing plan pops into his mind at that moment, and he almost chuckles, but it will have to wait until later. The results should be quite amusing though, and it will certainly alienate Ash farther away.

Excellent.

It might even be fun!

 

When he leaves the grave, brushing dirt off his night-silk attire, there is someone waiting for him. He nods as he sees her, and she smiles back, an infinitely sad, heartbreaking smile. Her hair is streaked with gray and her face is lined with wrinkles, and she's leaning tiredly on her staff, but she's alive, though not for much longer.

“I'm sorry.” She tells him.

He waves her apologies off, and gives her a hug, and then her eyes close and he knows it took everything she had to come here.

He cremates her and scatters her ashes to the wind.

Her power is his now.

It feels… different.

Things are whirling around so quickly, but he'll hang on, until the time is right…

Because what else can he do?

 

Ash has nightmares that night, of pokemon dying, and wakes up screaming. Koga yells at him to shut up from his tent and Bruno just continues to snore.

Ash feels angry, but says nothing.

Life is difficult for all of them…

 

He wishes things were different. He wishes he was skill a kid, and everything was green and there were lots of pokemon everywhere.

Now he knows that those things are daydreams. Unless…

Unless he can find the Sacred Sword...

He stumbled across the data purely by accident, of course, but it was something Team Rocket hadn't destroyed and for that he was grateful.

It's all right. He'll find some way to persevere, he's sure of it!

All he has to do is wait and hope, and search for the Sacred Sword while defeating Team Rocket.

At least they don't know about it, for whoever has the Sacred Sword can save the world! He'll make earth green and pretty, and fill it with lots of pokemon, and then he thinks he will be happy.

He closes his eyes and goes back to sleep.

 

End Chapter

Completed 11/7/06

Yes… well… *Sighs*

Killed off Charlotte, in case it wasn't obvious…