Ash was no stranger to camping, as he spent nearly most of his time during the many journeys throughout the regions of the Pokemon world sleeping in a sleeping bag whenever a Pokemon Center was not nearby.
That being said, he rarely if ever camped out in order to stay awake.
“Want an Oran berry Ash?”
“No thanks Latias.”
“Hey Ash, want a Sitrus berry?”
“Oh, thanks Misty.”
He also never had two girlfriends before. So it was a new experience for everybody.
“How would you know if Ash wanted a Sitrus berry?” Latias said in an annoyed voice.
“Cause I’ve known him longer,” Misty said as a matter of fact.
“Hmph.” Latias just pouted and ate the berry in her hand.
Aside from being with Misty and Ash, she was currently in the company of maybe half of Ash’s known Pokemon that he had captured over the years. All of them gathered around the Ley Line in Whitetail Woods as part of Ash’s volunteer duty to stop any servants who might appear.
But so far no servants had appeared yet, even though some of their friends would come by occasionally and casually inform them about servants appearing in other parts of Equestria. So in the meantime, they used the lull in activity to have more dates.
“Hey Ash, remember that time when you and Pikachu became ghosts?”
“Ash was a ghost!?” Latias asked with a hint of worry.
“Oh yeah, it was around the time when I was challenging the Saffron Gym. I wanted to catch a Ghost-Type Pokemon so I went to the Lavender Town Tower to find one.”
“What happened?”
“Long story short a Ghastly, Haunter, and Gengar pulled me and Pikachu out of our bodies and we became ghosts for a while. But we eventually convinced them to put us back.”
“Oh my gosh Ash, I’m so sorry. That must have been a terrifying experience for you.”
“It was at first, but I actually had a lot of fun. I remember waking up to see Misty crying over my body. Although in hindsight, she must have been more worried than I thought.”
The Vaporeon’s cheeks became red. “Yeah. So don’t you ever scare me like that again Ash! I don’t just mean when you had that Haunter scare us afterward!”
“Alright, I promise.”
The two old friends shared a laugh and the old memories. Latias wanted to join in, but she somehow just couldn’t make herself do it.
“Ash and Misty sure have a lot of good memories. More than I ever did with him.”
Indeed, there was no denying it. In terms of experience and shared times, Misty would forever be the friend that Ash knew longer and was closer with. While she had known him for a day at the very least, Misty had known him for years.
There were only two people the Eon Pokemon had ever displayed romantic feelings for, Ash and Weiss. Ash was a boy she had known for about 24 hours and shared the traumatic experience of losing her brother with. But despite that, she fell in love with him in that short amount of time. So when he had to inevitably leave, she made sure to give him the honor of her first kiss...on the cheek.
Weiss on the other hand was the person who had, or rather stole her first mouth-to-mouth kiss. While their first meeting was far from the most ideal one, the mercenary would end up becoming one of her closest friends. Truthfully, Weiss was closer to Latias in ways that Ash never was until recently, he actively visited her, which was more than Ash ever did. He was one of the few people there for her after the death of Latios besides Bianca and her grandfather. All of this lead to the potential for their relationship to be something more.
But Weiss, even though he might have felt the same way, did not think it would work. At least not in the way he wanted it to. He was a mortal man, one who would fade away into the annals of history. After 500 years, what would she have of him? His memories, as well as her brother, her father, and the rest of her extended family. He did not want to impose that onto her, to have her go through the loss of losing someone she loved, just like her brother. They had both come to an agreement on this matter and chose to remain friends.
But even though in the end, she had gotten with Ash, the same problem was true in his case. He would be dead by the end of the century, and she would have lost one of the only humans she ever loved. One that she loved and followed through on.
Before they decided to share him, she told Misty that she didn’t care that Ash was mortal. She wanted to spend every moment she had with him, even though she knew he would be dead long before she would, if ever. But to be honest, that was just a front. In actuality, she wanted to be with Ash forever. Despite being thousands of years old, she had never actually “been” with anyone until now. Anyone who had an interest in her either felt unworthy of mating with a Legendary Pokemon or was too fearful that her brother or her father might not find them worthy. And considering Latios’s reaction upon first meeting Ash and Weiss, she couldn’t blame them.
The only way she could truly be with him was if she begged Arceus to make Ash immortal. That in and of itself would not be too much trouble since Arceus wholeheartedly approved of Ash due to his many heroic deeds. Saving the lives of many Legendary Pokemon will get you on God’s good side. But was it something that Ash would want? While he would have her for all eternity, Ash in turn would outlive all his friends and family. She would ultimately end up forcing the same aforementioned sorrow and heartbreak upon him, only Ash had more to lose in this case.
Could she really make him go through all that?
“Hey, Latias?”
The Legendary Pokemon snapped out of her deep thoughts to see Ash and Misty staring at her with concerned looks on their faces.
“Are you okay? You looked like you were spacing out.”
“Oh, I’m fine Ashy.”
“Alright, so Misty was just reminding me about the time when this girl Macy wanted to take me to lunch. Looking back now I realized that Misty was maybe a little jealous of her.”
“Oh shut up you!”
Both Pokemon once again shared a brief laugh while Latias let out a small fake chuckle.
”No, I shouldn’t force my own selfish wishes upon him. If you love someone, you must also be prepared to let them go. Ash has a right to be happy the way he wants to.”
And yet, a small thought at the back of her head told her that she had a right to be happy as well. After everything that has happened to her, did she not deserve to be happy?
Ghastly Gorge
The members of Chaldea Team A were deep into the cave when they came upon an open area lit up by various fires and torches. Sitting or standing around were several servants who all turned their heads at the sight of several masters arriving.
“Hey everybody,” Yan Qing announced. “Look who we found!”
“Well well, looks like the last masters of humanity have arrived. Now we can finally get started!” One servant said.
“Was wondering when you guys would show up, long time no see!” Said another.
The various members of Team A as a whole were able to remember and identify all the servants present. Among them included: Siegfried, Saint George, Mordred, Gawain, Gareth, Nursery Rhyme, William Shakesphere, Charles Babbage, Sita, Kato Danzo, Karna, Semiramis, and several others they didn’t recognize.
“This is indeed a sizable number of servants,” Ophelia said. “The Counter Force must be serious if it has sent this many.”
“Remember that Alaya only summons the bare minimum amount of power or servants needed to neutralize the current threat against humanity,” Kadoc said. “If it has summoned this many servants, then that should be an indicator of just how dangerous this Lostbelt is.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” Qing said. “There is one servant in particular who wants to see you.”
“Who?” Kirschtaria said.
“He’s right over here.” Qing pointed to a part of the cave that was dug out and had the distinct aura of a magical workshop. This meant that whoever wanted to see them was most likely a Caster.
Kirschtaria, Ritsuka, and Mash went inside. Upon entering the room, they found three tables and littered with various artifacts and items. A modern mage would be astonished at the amount and quality of material on display. After all, stuff like this could only be found in the Age of Gods.
“Hmph about time you showed up.” The voice came from a person standing in front of a table working on something. After he put his things down, he turned to face his guests. “Don’t you know it’s imprudent to keep a king waiting?”
If the voice and clothing were not already a dead giveaway, the identity of this servant was apparent.
“King Gilgamesh,” Kirschtaria said.
The King of Heroes only flashed his signature smug smile. “Well, then mongrels, who will have the honor of forming a contract with me?”
-
Outside, the rest of Team A was getting acquainted with the other servants. Ophelia was currently approaching a Heroic Spirit she didn’t recognize.
“Um excuse me?”
The servant in question turned to greet her. She was female with red hair that was tied in a bun, in a way that resembled the King of Knights, although she did not share the same face as her. She wore unique Grecian clothing and had a lively peach-colored body. Her eyes were gold and she looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. On her arm was a sash that seemed to give off an aura of power and mana, perhaps this was her Noble Phantasm?
“Hello, my name is Ophelia.”
The servant smiled and held out her hand. “Hello Ophelia, my name is Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.”
Ophelia shook her hand and raised an eyebrow, “Hippolyta? You’re the older sister of Penthesilea right?”
“Yes, do you know her?”
“We...have met.” the magus’s thoughts thinking back to the Agartha singularity.
“Well, I apologize if my sister has caused you any trouble. From what I heard she has been summoned in her Berserker class several times. And I know all too well that it takes one or two specific words to set her off."
“Yes, needless to say, we try to avoid that name around her. So is everyone here all the servants the Counter Force summoned?”
“Actually no. Servants are being summoned all over the Lostbelt in the various countries that make it up. You could say that we are the Equestrian branch of servants summoned by the World. In fact, more servants are still being summoned almost every day. In fact, the one who killed my sister was summoned yesterday.”
“Oh you mean- Ach,” Ophelia on instinct caught herself and looked around to see if Penth was nearby. “Achillies was summoned? But I haven’t seen him here. Is he out?”
“Currently yes. Achilles being the fastest servant was sent by Gilgamesh to round up all the recently summoned Heroic Spirits scattered all over the country. That Caster says that we will need every servant we can for what’s about to happen next.”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“All I know is that it’s something he wished to discuss first with your leader.”
-
Back inside his workshop, it was decided that Kirschtaria was to establish a formal contract with the King of Heroes. After which the Caster got straight to business.
“Alright Chaldeans, tell me what you know of this Lostbelt so far.”
“Are you sure we can’t bring the others in here? Shouldn’t they hear this?” Ritsuka said.
“They will hear it from your mouths in time. I just wanted to converse with you first to see what you will do with this information. Now, tell me what you know.”
The three humans told Gilgamesh everything they had learned about this Lostbelt since arriving in it.
“I see, you indeed learned about as much as I would have expected. But before I begin, you all know that I possess a form of clairvoyance thanks to my Noble Phantasm, Sha Naqba Imuru: The Omniscient Omnipotent Star. With this, I am able to see various worldlines and possible futures.”
“Ah yes,” Mash said. “King Gilgamesh is someone who is said to see through all of creation, his very mentality sublimated into a Noble Phantasm.
“However there is a drawback, while I am indeed able to see many different possibilities, my future sight is only strongest in our world. In a Lostbelt which is considered a different world altogether, the sight is limited and I can only get bits and pieces of what is to come.”
“Oh, I see. So you can’t accurately predict what is going to happen here in this Lostbelt.”
“Hmph, even if I did, knowing the future always runs the risk of changing it in trying to make your desired outcome come true. That being said I have been able to learn some basic but crucial things about this Lostbelt and its people, so allow me to fill in the gaps for you.” Gilgamesh crossed his arms as his face became serious. “First of all, as you know this Lostbelt is abnormal in that it covers the whole planet but does not seem to be complete in its subversion of human history. While I do not know the full details, I learned through my clairvoyance that this Lostbelt’s King is actively preventing the final growth of the Tree of Emptiness.”
This news came as a surprise to the trio. “The King is preventing the growth of the Lostblet?” Mash said. “Why?”
“It’s not like there is no precedent for this Mash,” Kirschtaria said. “Remember that Ivan the Terrible refused to grow his Tree for his own religious reasons. It's why the Crypter of the Russian Lostbelt teamed up with us in the first place so to remove him.”
“While a mystery worth investigating, there are other things about this Lostbelt that are unusual,” Gilgamesh said. “This Lostbelt in a way can be compared to the 6th Singularity during the incineration of humanity. That particular distortion as you may remember had its roots in various events, some of which were unforeseen by the Observer on the Timeless Temple. This Lostbelt is the same in that an outside party invaded this world and affected it in a way that altered what it was supposed to be. I think you can guess what that party is.”
“The Pokemon,” Ritsuka said.
“Correct. If the Lion King was the abnormality of the 6th Singularity, then Arceus and his Pokemon are the unforeseen factors of this Lostbelt.”
“Do you know who this Arceus is King of Heroes?” Kirschtaria asked.
“Arceus, to simply put is a god from another universe. But when I say another universe, I mean a world far removed from our own tree of time. He is from a world similar and at the same time not similar to our own.”
“What do you mean?”
“Basically, Arceus is from another Earth, but this one has a completely different origin than ours. Think of it as two swords that are coincidently similar yet crafted by a different blacksmith who had the same idea, but different methods.”
“I...I think I understand,” Mash said. Giles de Reis told me about how the Outer Gods are not from this universe. That they will not return to the Root once they die, since they did not come from it. I suppose this Arceus is the same?”
“Indeed, you are correct Shielder. Now onto the matter of why he is here. We know that he left his world to get away from the evil parts of humanity that he refused to face. However, in an ironic twist of Fate he ended up here, in a world dominated by the Common Sense of Man. Of course, it did not seem this way when he must have first looked at it, but I guess in his haste, he did not feel the need to delve deeper and peel away the veil that hides the true nature of this world.”
“So what you’re saying is, that Arceus did not realize what this world was before he came here?”
“Indeed, truly his is a mongrel of very low intelligence.”
Elsewhere, Arceus sensed someone insulting his hasty actions for the umpteenth time.
“Okay so aside from that,” Kirschtaria said. “Do you know just how powerful this Arceus is?”
“Well, by the definitions of our world. Arceus is a cosmic god whose power is on the level of a true creator of the universe. Normally back in his world, he would be considered the root and origin of all things.”
It took a while for the three of them to process what they had just heard. Arceus was a god capable of creating a universe. Even here on Earth, where all creation myths are true, those cosmoses were merely relegated to their own textures. In reality, while during the Age of Gods, those who were worshipped as creator deities could very well shape the world to their desires, they were still limited to the boundaries of their own domain, as well as the Earth and the Solar System itself in the case of Sun Gods and Bodhisattvas.
To know that there was indeed a God capable of creating an entire universe…
“Before you all start shaking let me finish. While Arceus is indeed one who created a universe, this is only true back in his world. But after coming here, it seems he has lost that power.”
“Lost?”
“Surely even you all can understand that it takes a lot of energy to travel between stars. Imagine how much would be needed to transport yourself as well as several billion lifeforms from one far-flung universe to another. It would require an absurd amount of energy even greater than the Incineration of Humanity.”
“So, what you’re saying is…”
“Arceus may have at one point been a mighty God, but by coming here and bringing all his people with him, he has drained his power considerably. Not to mention he is bound by the rules and laws of this planet, which states that a god can only have so much power and authority. At best Arceus is less strong than Tiamat during the 7th singularity but stronger than a Divine Spirit. Most likely.”
“Tiamat…” Mash recalled the events of the 7th Singularity where they met King Gilgamesh, and how they somehow managed to beat that Beast by the skin of their teeth.
“But despite his great loss in power, let’s not forget that Arceus is a God of Creation. One who has all the powers and authority that comes with it. It wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility that he could likely erase someone’s existence.”
“The power to erase people from existence,” Kirschtaria said. “This Arceus truly sounds like a grave threat to our mission to restore human history. I suggest we begin to make plans to try and find some kind of weakness, or at least a way to counter or nullify his authorities.”
“A sound suggestion, however, there is something else we need to discuss first.”
Celestia, Luna, and Twilight stood in front of a mirror.
The mirror itself was nothing special, just a large piece of reflective glass that we made for the height and size of an alicorn. But that was all they needed.
“Alright, here we go,” Celestia said as she looked into the mirror. “Oh Harmony, hear me.”
Three seconds later, an image of the Goddess herself appeared in the mirror.
Harmony had told her that if she ever needed to talk or ask her something, that she would only have to stand in front of a mirror and speak those words.
“Celestia, Luna, Twilight, to what do I owe this audience?”
“We have certain questions we want to ask you,” Luna said.
“Very well, I shall answer them to the best of my ability.”
“Harmony,” Twilight said. “You said that Chaldea’s main goal is to cut down the Lostbelt Tree of Emptiness that sustains our world correct.”
“Indeed. By cutting down our Tree, the cornerstone maintaining our existence will be lost and our world will be pruned and
returned to the cosmic void.”
“Alright then, so where is our Tree of Emptiness, what does it look like?”
“...I see, so that’s what you want to know,” Harmony exhaled as she knew this question was inevitable. “That I cannot tell you.”
The three alicorns were shocked at that answer. “What! Why?”
“Allow me to explain. The Tree itself being the thing that maintains the existence of our world is actually very large, its size and height surpassing the clouds. It gives off an energy that can be sensed by certain individuals and instruments. And so I hid the tree, not just to keep Chaldea from finding it, but so that other individuals from our world can’t abuse its power.”
“What do you mean, abuse its power?” Celestia said.
“The Tree of Emptiness generates an unfathomable amount of energy, the kind of energy that one could use to shape the world. And we all know that there are certain individuals in the world who would try and find a way to steal that power, and I don’t just mean people like King Sombra and Tirek. I didn’t want to say this back then, but I don’t fully trust Arceus.”
This answer came as a slight surprise to the Princesses.
“Why do you not trust Arceus?”
“While I admit he is not the wisest individual to wield the kind power that he does,” Luna said. “He has proven himself to be someone who will protect this world with his life.”
“That right there is the problem,” Harmony said in a grim voice. “Arceus is not at the level of power that he wants to be. Any god who falls from grace will naturally want to regain the power that they lost, that’s just how they are. At the first World Summit, did Arceus not casually mention that he could just overthrow all the World Leaders with just a thought and leave him with no opposition to rule the world?”
Celestia sighed as she thought back to that idiotic and oblivious statement that he made. Indeed it was still somewhat worrying that Arceus could just rule the world unopposed if he so desired. The only thing keeping him from doing that was his well-intentioned but flimsy morality. If a country or one of the World Leaders actually tried doing something appalling to the Pokemon, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t just will said country out of existence.
“You see my point don’t you, Arceus is an individual with too much power who has already demonstrated his lack of consequential foresight in using it. Earlier he asked me why he was still weak when his power should be regenerating much faster than it is. I told him it was because of the pressure from the Counter Force of the World...but in truth, I was the one who put a cap on his abilities.”
The alicorn’s reactions ranged from shocked, surprised, to disbelief.
“Wait, you’re the reason Arceus is not as strong as he should be?” Twilight said.
“And you lied to him about why he has not regained his power?” Celestia stated. “Are you not concerned about how he might react if he discovers this deception?”
“If that day comes I will deal will his rage myself, you all need not suffer. But the point is is that I cannot allow him to run around with too much power. If Arceus ever learns where the Tree of Emptiness is, he will be tempted to siphon off some of its power to restore his own. Weakening the tree in the process.”
“You really think he would try to drain to power from the tree just to restore his own?” Luna said. “Even though it would endanger this world and his own Pokemon who live in it?”
“Keep in mind that Arceus cares more about his Pokemon than the people of this world. If he had his full power back, there is nothing keeping from taking his Pokemon and moving to another world.”
“But what about the new family and friends his Pokemon have made by moving to this world. Would he really be so callous as to just rip them away from their new home?” Twilight said.
“You forget that he has already done this when he took his people from Earth, ripping them away from their lives as well as the friends and family that they knew longer. Even if those friends and family members were among those not worthy of making it here, the fact is that he has done something like this before. You should have seen how many times he casually turned away and dismissed Former Humans who came to his temple and asked to be changed back into their old bodies or who wanted to go back home.”
Celestia wanted to retort but stopped herself. In a sense, Harmony was right. She remembered during one of their first meetings how when Arceus brought up the event that imprisoned him. He also stated that he would be disclosing the means by which he was sealed away for his own protection. While she understood why he withheld that information, it meant that the people of Equss had no contingency for Arceus if he ever went too far. She recalled how he refused to change any former human back to their old selves after he forcibly turned them into Pokemon against their will. And all for the flawed reasoning of him believing that their descendants would restart the cycle of treating Pokemon as lesser beings, it’s as if he believed that human superiority was something engraved into their very being. But Celestia and most people knew that evil is not tied to one single race.
Celestia turned back to Harmony and exhaled. “While I can understand why you would want to keep Arceus at less than full power. I still think that lying to him was a mistake. Equestria is a land built on friendship and trust, if we cannot trust our friends, who can we trust?”
Harmony made no argument no did she openly agree.
“That being said, I will keep your secret for now. However, if Arceus becomes suspicious and directly asks me if you’re hiding something from him, I will have no choice but to tell him. I couldn’t deceive him even if I wanted to.”
“I understand. Is there anything else anyone wishes to ask?”
“I do,” Luna said. “I can understand hiding the Tree of Emptiness from Arceus as well as the public eye. But why not tell us? You know you can trust us with its location right?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust all of you, it’s that once you know, others will eventually learn as well. Mewtwo will only need to glimpse into your minds without you knowing to learn of its location. Now, I promise that I will reveal the location of the Tree to all of you in due time. Even Arceus shall be informed, but only once I believe he has proven himself.”
“Hmm very well.”
“But Harmony,” Twilight said. “You forget that Chaldea is looking for the Tree as well. What if they find it and cut it down before we get there?”
“Cutting down the Tree of Emptiness is no easy feat. It will take more firepower than Chaldea currently has in order to do it. And besides, I have warded the area around the Tree to alert me if people are near it. Should that happen, you will be the first to learn about it. Anyway, I have to go now. Good luck my little ponies.”
And with that, the image of the deity disappeared, leaving the alicorns once again alone in the throne room.
“That’s my line,” Celestia muttered.
Kirschtaria, Ritsuka, and Mash were a bit surprised and confused, to say the least about what Gilgamesh had just told them.
“Uh, could you repeat that again?” Mash said.
“I said, that the location of the Tree of Emptiness will be revealed soon to all. And once that happens, we will have a small window of opportunity in order to cut it down. After that, we will not have another chance for quite some time.”
“Could you elaborate more on that?” Ritsuka asked.
“I do not have the full details, all I know is that something will soon cause the Lostbelt Tree to fully manifest from wherever it is hiding. Once this happens, assume that the forces of this Lostbelt will rally to its defense almost immediately. In that moment of confusion, we will have an opportunity to strike down the tree before this kingdom can form a strong protection. Whatever happens after that is up to fate.”
“Hmmm, I see,” Kirschtaria said. “This is indeed very good news Gilgamesh. If there is an opportunity to destroy this Lostbelt swiftly, then we must seize it with everything we got. I shall relay this information to the others.”
“Make hast as you do so, I expect a decision about what you intend to do about this information before the day ends.”
“I will Gilgamesh.”
“Wait,” Ristuka said. “I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“It’s about Arceus, do you know where he is?”
“His temple is located in what these natives call the Everfree Forest, the one that just so happens to border on the east side of this canyon. I suggest you avoid it entirely for now. The area in and around it has a high concentration of mystery, plus your little vehicle would not stay undetected for long the closer you get to his complex.”
“Noted. Thank you, Gilgamesh.”
“Take care where you go in this Lostbelt mongrels, it is no exaggeration that this will be one of if not the hardest Lostbelt that you will have the pleasure of erasing.”
Nighttime had once again fallen upon Ash’s little campsite. The former human turned Pikachu was sleeping next to Misty as Latias and several of his Pokemon kept watch on the Ley Line. Although the Legendary Pokemon promised to wake him up at the first sign of trouble.
“You deserve to rest Ashy, wouldn’t want you to fight while drowsy.”
While the Eon Pokemon was thinking of Ash first when she told him to get some sleep, she hadn’t expected Misty to join him in dreamland. Looking over at the couple, they almost looked cute sleeping together. But at the same time, she could not help but feel a twinge of jealousy.
“They do look cute together.”
“May I sit here?”
Latias nearly jumped/turned invisible as Delia Ketchum somehow sneaked up on her.
“Oh sorry dear, did I startle you?”
“No it’s fine, you can sit here with me.”
The Leavany sat on the log nest to Latias while she floated next to her.
“It’s so peaceful isn’t it?”
“Yeah, they do look peaceful.”
“I meant the night sky.”
“Oh y-yeah, that’s what I thought you meant.”
There was an awkward silence on Latias’s part.
“So dear, how are you and Ash doing?”
“Oh, it’s going great miss Ketchum! He’s so sweet and so cute. I never thought I would get with someone like him.”
“Well, I’m happy for you dear. And if Ash is happy then you will always have my full approval.”
“Hehe thank you that means a lot.”
Another few seconds of silence passed before Latias spoke again.
“....Miss Ketchum?”
“Yes, dear?”
“What do you think, about how Ash is dating both me and Misty?”
“What do I think?”
“Well, let’s be real, you never thought he would agree to be with both of us.”
Delia thought back to when Ash first broke the news to her. How the gears in her head had to turn a little before she processed what she just heard.
“I won’t lie, it was as much of a surprise to me as it was to him. But if Ash is okay with it then I trust his decision on who he wants to be with.”
“Yeah but, if he had to choose, who would have been your first choice?”
“...My dear, I don’t think that’s…” The mother of Ash saw the look in the legendary’s eyes, it was obvious that she would be bothered by this until she had an answer.
“Well if I had to be honest, while I would be happy if he chose you, part of me preferred Misty.”
Latias’s ears dropped. On some level, she expected that answer from Delia, but it still stung to hear it nonetheless.
“I see. I understand.” Latias looked away but then felt a hand on her shoulder.
“My dear, in life, people will always have preferences. Things they lean to more than others, that’s just how it is.”
“I know, it’s just, part of me thought that Ash was gonna choose me. I was so sure he would pick me. I never considered how much time he spent with Misty, how much closer he is to her than I ever was.”
“While Ash is someone who is closer to Misty, he is also someone who would have never realized her feelings unless she blatantly told him. You must remember that Ash being who he is, is oblivious to the feelings of those around him, and often misses the deeper meaning of other things in life.”
“I know, he’s so into Pokemon battling that Misty said he once thought the word ‘Psychology’ was a Pokemon.”
“And that right there is Ash’s defining strength, but as his mother, I can’t help but also admit that it is his greatest drawback. But focusing himself on Pokemon and being a Pokemon Master, he is a complete amateur when it comes to the concept of love itself. It took him a while to understand why the two of you had such strong feelings for him.”
“I know, I thought that by calling him nice, sweet, and cute that he would get the message. Turns out that he is denser than I thought.”
“Another great thing about Ash that also sets him back when it comes to romance, is that he can’t bring himself to hurt his friends. He thought that by not choosing either of you, he would not have to break your hearts in the event that he chose one and not the other. But because he is still a novice when it comes to people’s feelings, Ash failed to realize that by not choosing either, you two would still be heartbroken. At least if he chose one, then somebody would be happy.”
Latias nodded. She remembered how when Ash was walking away after he rejected both her and Misty, how panicked she was. After losing him the first time, after she and Weiss decided to remain friends, she couldn’t bear the thought of not being with him. Her idea of polygamy was a last resort so that she could still have Ash in some form. And to be honest, they sort of forced their decision on Ash rather than asking him if he was okay with such a form of romantic relationship.
“Latias, Ash is still new to this. Whereas he might have had to deal with one girlfriend he ended up with two. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I must ask that you and Misty don’t overwhelm him.”
“...You’re right. I never really thought about it that way.”
“Ash is someone who for the majority of his life has always thought about Pokemon and Pokemon battles. I want you and Misty to show him that there are other forms of joy in life, I want you two to show him what love is, and why it is more important than he realizes.”
“I will, thank you miss Ketchum.”
The Leavanny nodded and smiled. “You are most welcome dear. Now, how about we- oh, what’s that?”
“Whats wha-” Latias paused as she saw the same thing Delia saw.
“And that’s the gist of it Director.”
Kirschtaria had just got done explaining what Gilgamesh had told him about Arceus and the Tree of Emptiness to the rest of Team A as well as those back on the Shadow Border via coms.
“Hmmm, this is most valuable and interesting information indeed.” Sherlock Holmes said.
“So the Tree of Emptiness is gonna appear soon?” Goredolf said. “Well, then I suggest we start preparing immediately!”
“Not so fast Gordolf,” Da Vinci said. “We still don’t know exactly when and where the Tree is gonna appear. Depending on the situation we could be miles away from the Tree when it appears.”
“There is also the matter of if we will be in a position to attack the Tree when it does appear. Not to mention that we still have much to learn about this world before we make any moves that will cause us to come into contact and conflict with its people.”
“Well,” Kirschtaria began. “If it’s information about this world that we still require, then I suggest we try and go to the local settlements and see what more we can learn. There was a town that we passed on the way here, I opt that we go there and see what more we can inquire from the locals.”
“Hmmm, alright. So long as your disguises are maintained, I think we can do that”, Goredolf said. “However I shall only allow two master and servant pairs to go. Kirschtaria and Akuta you two are up, pick a servant, preferably of the assassin class and go as soon as your ready.”
“Very well Director,”
Once Wodime disconnected, Gordolf turned to Sherlock and Da Vinci.
“Alright, now that they’re busy, let’s discuss the other problem that we have. Namely our ability to Zero Sail being jammed.”
“Yeah,” Da Vinci said. “It’s really weird, everything reads as fine, and neither the paper moon nor any of the instruments seemed damaged or nonfunctioning. So the problem as far as we can tell is not the fault of the Shadow Border. Which means that the problem lies in Void Space itself.”
“What? What do you mean? Are you saying that something happened to Void Space?”
“Well not necessarily,” said Sherlock. “For all we know, Void Space is still there, that much is true. It’s merely a matter of obstruction, something is physically, or rather conceptually blocking our path to the Imaginary Sea.”
“Uh, could you go into more detail please?”
“Well I don’t have any hard evidence, but my theory is this. The current Lostbelt we are in is just one texture, one layer of the world, the Imaginary Sea or Void Space is just another layer of the planet we call Earth. It serves as the opposite vector to the positive number reality we call home, both exist simultaneously but never interact with one another. When we perform a zero sail, we basically just flip ourselves to the reality polar opposite to this one. So if our path is being obstructed when we can still clearly go to our intended destination. Then there is only one other possibility.”
“What’s that?”
“There exists, however unlikely, another world with the same principles and properties as the Imaginary Numbers Space. Another world will time flows inconsistently and the space is different alien. For now, I shall refer to this theoretical space as the Reverse World.
“Ash wake up!”
The Pikachu was shaken out of dreamland by Latias. He rubbed his eyes before asking what was going on.
“Latias, what’s the matter?”
“I think a servant is being summoned Ashy!”
That got the former human’s attention as his eyes widened and he looked over at the Ley Line. Sure enough, the area was glowing in a brilliant display of light.
The veteran Pokemon Trainer’s battle instincts went into autopilot as the years of battling told him exactly what to do in this situation.
“Alright everyone gets into position! Torterra, Infernape, Sceptile, and Megunium take up positions from the north. Unfezant, Kroodile, Glalie, and Buzile to the West. Heracross, Torkel, Corpfish, and Muk stand at the East. Charizard, Emboar, Gigalith, Snorlax, and Staraptor block off any potential escape routes. We want to keep them here and contained.”
Misty stood beside Ash smiling. While he had the density of a black hole, he made up for lack of perception with his many years of battling and skill. He could effectively command any number of Pokemon that he was familiar with, which in the case of the many Pokemon he had captured over the years meant he was on the level of Gym Leaders and Elite Four members. In fact, had Ash not taken up a job as a Battle Frontier Brain, he could have eventually become the champion of another region.
Various Pokemon that belonged to Ash got into positions. The strong bonds and understanding meant that each of them knew what Ash wanted them to do despite one giving a few words.
Eventually, all the Pokemon stood in a semi-circle as the light became brighter and brighter. Until it finally erupted in a blinding climax.
Ash and some others had to shield their eyes until the light died. And when it did, Ash, Misty, and Latias beheld what had just happened.
In the middle of the circle stood three individuals. One was a man in a green hood but had some orange hair sticking out. Another was a traditional Japanese-looking man with grey hair in a bowl cut, sheathed on his waist was a Katana of fine craft. The last figure was the most imposing of the three. He carried three weapons, a sword and claymore the was hosted on his back waist, the last weapon that was in his hand resembled a golden axe of some kind. He had a gauntlet on his left arm that went up all the way to his shoulder and covered the left part of his chest. The last notable features were his spikey hair tied up with a bandana, while his eyes were heroic blue.
The three servants looked around at the gathered Pokemon before the green man in a hood spoke in a sarcastic voice.
“Well well well, looks like we got a welcoming party for us guys. Just what we needed.”
“It appears so, that’s just fine for me,” said the guy with a bowl cut in a neutral voice.
“Hey, which one of you is in charge?” The guy with the axe said the Pokemon.
“I am,” Ash stepped forward as he made eye contact with the servant. “My name is Ash Ketchum.”
“A little guy like you is in charge…..I see. Then since you gave me your name it’s only fair I give you mine. I am Sakata Kintoki, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“Watanabe no Tsuna, also one of the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“Just call me Robin Hood, that’s all your getting.”
“So tell me Ash, do we have to fight?”