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Ash and Kukui were walking home. School had just been dismissed.
Ash was in a good mood. Not just because it was Friday, him and his friends had also planned to camp in the woods today.
~Flashback~
The class was in the middle of lunch. They were sitting in a circle, eating and talking. Mallow and Lillie were in the middle of a discussion. They were talking about activities they could do after school. Why did they do this? You ask. Well, all of them were free this weekend, which was rare. Mallow was normally really busy with her family’s restaurant, and Kiawe was working on his family’s farm.
“Why don’t we all camp in the woods?” Mallow asked. They hadn’t done that in ages. She actually missed it. It was always so fun.
The others looked at her in surprise.
“That’s a good idea!” Kiawe agreed. He was always ready for a little adventure.
Kiawe and Mallow looked at the others. It didn't take long for them all to agree.
“So we meet here, an hour after school ends?” Lana asked.
“Yeah. That sounds good.” They all agreed.
They then got back to eating.
~End Of Flashback~
Kukui looked at Ash. He looked really excited about something. Kukui just had no idea about what. Ash was almost always in a good mood, but today was something different.
Ash was almost bouncing home. It was almost amusing to watch. Kukui decided he would ask later and for now just follow him. So that was what he did. They were home a lot faster than normal.
When they entered the house, Ash immediately climbed the ladder to the loft. He couldn’t wait to get going. He started looking around for the things he would need, and started packing. It didn’t take him long, before he was ready. He had packed everything he needed.
He looked at the time, and saw that he still had twenty minutes, before he needed to meet the others. He decided to go outside and train to pass the time.
Ash climbed down the ladder with all of his things. He placed his things just beside the ladder, before heading for the front door, Pikachu on his shoulder. He had just made it to the door, when Professor Kukui stopped him.
“Where are you going?” The professor asked.
Ash stopped, and turned around
“Just gonna train a bit.” He answered with a grin.
Kukui chuckled. “No, I mean later. I saw your things beside the ladder.” Kukui explained. He was kind of puzzled. Ash hadn’t told him, he was going anywhere.
“Oh. Me and the rest of the class are camping in the woods today!” Ash said enthusiastically. Kukui smiled. Of course he was going out with his friends. That would explain his energy.
“Well, that sounds fun. Just remember your things.” Kukui told him. Ash nodded, before swiftly grabbing his things, and then he ran out the door.
He continued a little down the beach, before he found a suitable spot. There weren’t any stones you could step on, so it was a perfect place to train. Ash sent out Litten and Lycanroc.
Litten landed gracefully on the sand, while Lycanroc took a fighting stance.
“Ok guys! Let’s train.” Ash shouted. Litten mewed, and Lycanroc barked.
~At The Pokémon School~
It was totally silent at the entrance to the school. The wind was rustling the nearby bushes, while the sun was shining through a thin layer of clouds.
The steady wing beats of a pokémon broke the silence. Just overhead a relatively big shape could be seen. Flying smoothly through the air, was a charizard with a passenger. The charizard landed on the ground with a grunt.
“Thanks Charizard.” Kiawe said. It had been fast and easy to fly from Akala to Melemele on the back of Charizard.
“Kiawe!” Mallow shouted. She was running towards him alongside Lana. Kiawe waved to them before dismounting Charizard.
Mallow and Lana arrived only a moment later, with all of their things.
“None of the others has arrived yet?” Lana asked with a looked around their surroundings.
“No we’re the first.” Kiawe answered, but not even a minute later, Sophocles and Lillie came walking towards them.
They all exchanged greetings, but before they could do anything else, a new voice interrupted.
“Hey guys!” Ash’s cheerful voice greeted.
“Hi!” They chorused just as cheerfully.
Before long they were headed for the woods. They were walking along a path, with different flowers and bushes. It didn’t take long, before the treetops started to block out the light from sun. It wasn’t entirely dark though. Small beams of light were coming through here and there.
“Does anyone know where we’re going?” Kiawe asked no one in particular. It had been so long since he last had been here. He had forgotten most of the paths.
“I thought it was obvious? We’re going to the old clearing! You know, the one we always camp in?” Mallow answered happily from the front of the group.
‘Oh, that clearing!’ He had most certainly NOT forgotten it.
Anyway, he didn’t get time to reply, as Ash decided to speak.
“You have a specific clearing, where you camp?! Wow, that’s awesome!” Ash exclaimed. He had stars in his eyes, like it was the most amazing thing in the world.
The rest of the walk was spent in a comfortable silence.
~In The Clearing~
“This is so cool!” Ash shouted. It was beautiful. The grass was green and soft, and there were flowers at the edges of the clearing, shining in the light of the sun. It was perfect. There was even a little stream with reeds, running between some small stones and pebbles, in one end of the clearing.
“It’s just as I remember it.” Lillie whispered in awe. She was standing on a little hill overlooking the clearing.
“Yeah.” Lana agreed beside her.
She was already enjoying this trip. She couldn’t help but smile.
They stood in silence for the time being.
Down in the clearing, Kiawe and Mallow were setting up a campfire, while Ash and Sophocles were setting up the tents.
Ash and Sophocles were having a bit of trouble, so Kiawe decided to help them out.
It didn’t take very long to set up the whole camp, so they still had time, before they needed to make dinner.
Lillie and Lana had come down to help, a while before they were done.
“So, what should we do?” Sophocles asked. They were all sitting on some rocks around the campfire. It had been fun setting it all up.
“Why don't we explore a little?” Ash asked. The others thought it over before eventually agreeing.
They all decided to split up in groups. Three in each. Lana, Sophocles and Lillie were one group, while Kiawe, Mallow, and Ash were another.
They were divided like this for a reason. They needed berries to make dinner, so one of the groups had to look for them, while the other could explore. Mallow obviously wanted to look for berries, so her team would do that. But the others couldn’t decide, so they all flipped a coin. Ash got tails, which meant he would be in Mallows group. He was happy, but he also wanted to look for pokémon. But it wasn’t too bad, he would get a chance to look for pokémon later.
They all agreed on a time to be back, before they went their separate ways.
~In The Berry Group~
Mallow, Kiawe and Ash were following the stream. Mallow said it was bound to lead to some fresh berries, and it would also be easier to find their way back.
They were walking in silence, only the sound of pikipek could be heard. It didn’t take long before they found the first berries.
It was an oran berry bush. Within minutes they had gathered enough, and they headed further downstream.
“Any particular berries we’re looking for?” Kiawe asked.
Mallow didn’t seem to hear at first, but eventually she answered.
“No. Any berries would be great.” Mallow said while walking between some flowers. Nothing was said, until a sudden cold wind, blew Ash’s cap off of his head.
“Hey!” Ash shouted.
He ran after his cap leaving the others behind.
It took a while, but the cap eventually hit the ground. Ash took it, before looking around. He was in another clearing. This one was a lot smaller than the other though. He was so distracted by his surroundings, that he didn’t notice the presence of another being.
But Pikachu did. He heard the beating of wings, and the familiar cold sensation. His ears perked up, and his cheeks began to sparkle. Ash finally noticed something was wrong, and turned around.
He was surprised by what he saw. The legendary pokémon Yveltal was flying steadily just above the ground. The Pokémon wasn’t saying a thing, only flapping his wings and looking at Ash. Ash wasn’t sure how to react, he just looked back at Yveltal. He then noticed something about the legendary. Was that guilt in Yveltal eyes? Ash couldn’t be certain, but he was sure, he saw just a glimpse of it.
They stared at each other for another few moments, before any of them did anything. Ash was the one to make a move. He slowly walked closer to Yveltal before sitting down.
“Why don’t you come here?” Ash asked kindly, while patting the grass next to him. He wanted to know what the legendary wanted, and why it was here.
Yveltal just kept looking at him, before letting out a sad trill.
Pikachu chirped something in reply, then looked at Ash.
Ash blinked before answering. “Oh….You can’t? I’m sure it’ll be fine. Besides, I think you can minimize the damage you cause.” Ash said gently.
It took some time, but Yveltal eventually landed. The earth and grass around him blackened, and plants dried out. He looked around himself sadly. He didn’t want to cause destruction like this.
He focused on his powers and managed to minimize it a little. He managed to stop his powers from reaching further than the clearing.
“See? It’s not that bad.” Ash told him with a smile. Yveltal tried to imitate him, but it ended up in a grimace. Ash couldn’t help but chuckle. Legendaries could be so silly sometimes.
They both settled in a comfortable silence. None of them saying anything. Yveltal eventually invited Ash to lean on him, and they sat like that for a while. For Ash, it seemed like hours passed, before Yveltal began talking. But he did.
He trilled something to Pikachu, while looking quite guilty. Pikachu said something reassuringly, while Ash watched. After a moment, Yveltal then trilled something to Ash. It took a moment for him to understand, but eventually he did.
“Of course we forgive you! It was kind of our fault, we did wake you, you know.” Ash said firmly. So this was what it all was about. He didn’t blame Yveltal, he just couldn’t. He believed that everyone deserved a second chance.
After the little conversation, they again settled in a comfortable silence.
Yveltal was lying comfortable, now and then talking to Pikachu, and Ash was asleep within minutes. Lying against one of Yveltal's wings.
~Outside The Clearing~
What none of them knew, was that Ash’s friends were searching after him. Mallow and Kiawe had eventually found the others and told them what happened.
They were now all searching for him. Kiawe was searching between some trees, when he suddenly got a glimpse of the clearing.
“Guys! I think I found something.” Kiawe called. The others were fast to gather around him, and he pointed at the clearing.
They could just make of the dead earth and plants from where they stood. Lana apparently decided to investigate, as she began walking closer.
The others also decided to come closer, and what they all saw was nothing less than absurd. Ash was sleeping against some sort of pokémon. While Pikachu was talking to said pokémon.
All of them stood in shock, before Mallow eventually spoke.
“What pokémon is that?” She asked in a whisper while looking at the others, but also keeping an eye on Ash.
No one answered, until Lillie hesitantly answered.
“I-I think that’s the legendary pokémon of death. I-It’s called Yveltal….”She said nervously.
The others looked at her with gobsmacked expressions. They had all jaw dropped. Ash was SLEEPING against a LEGENDARY pokémon?! What the heck had happened.
No one moved for a minute. They were all frozen on the spot.
Kiawe was the first to move. He slowly, but firmly moved towards Ash and the legendary.
“You BETTER have a GOOD explanation for this Ash......” He muttered under his breath, he was continuing to move forward.
Just WHY had they asked Ash to come with them……