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“You’re telling me what happened while you were in Kalos?!”
“Yeahhh, Lysandre was a jerk.”
“He tried mind-controlling you!”
“Yeah, but he’s dead now so there's not a lot we can do about it…” Ash responded with a shrug, as if this was an everyday thing and completely normal.
“And you're just fine with that?”
“I mean… it sucked but it’s in the past now,” he hummed, idly scratching behind Pikachu's ears. As unbothered as he looked, Kukui saw the way Ash’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes and he remembered the nightmares that still gripped the boy. Pikachu nuzzled up to his hand, noticing his slight discomfort at the memories.
“How can you be so casual about this?”
The boy laughed. “Well, it’s not the first time we’ve been attacked and it won’t be the last. May as well move on.” Kukui stood frozen at his words, processing what his son meant.
“It… wasn’t the first time?” he managed, trying not to imagine the other horrors Ash might’ve been through.
“Oh no, not by far. Let me see, there was Giovanni, Cyrus, Ghentis, Archie, Maxie, and a lot of others I could name. Then there was that time Mewtwo killed me but we’ve made up with each other since then.”
“I- I’m sorry- did you say killed…?” Kukui stammered after a moment.
“Oh yeah. That happens all the time. Really annoying. Would not recommend it. But to be honest, the machine Lysandre tried to use on me hurt way worse than death.” The professor stared at him blankly, looking for any hint of amusement in Ash’s eyes, but he found none. The boy just kind of looked sad. Resigned almost. It made Kukui’s heart break wondering just how much this boy had been through. Ash avoided the professor’s gaze, almost embarrassed. “I really don’t mean to dump this all on you. Sorry ‘bout that.”
Kukui’s heart broke a bit more at his small voice. He knelt down and placed a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Ash, don’t worry about it. I’m glad you told me.” He gathered the boy into a hug. Ash tensed for a moment, but then leaned into his arms and let out a contented sigh.
“Thanks, Dad.” His voice was barely a whisper. Kukui smiled softly and held him closer, his fingers brushing through the boy’s hair. He stood there, holding the boy gently, but inside he was fuming. Specifically, at one particular megalomaniac with a god-complex. That monster had hurt his boy. Kukui couldn’t even do anything about it! The man was long gone. Then, an idea struck Kukui.
He gently pulled away from the hug, hands still on Ash’s shoulders.
“You should get some sleep, kiddo.”
“Okay… goodnight Dad.” The boy yawned. Kukui watched as he climbed to his loft with a fond smile on his face. After Ash disappeared, Kukui turned away and headed to the living room. He really hoped this idea worked. If it did, he better take some precautions. Precautions — that’s what he had decided to call his shotgun. He paused, wondering how he even would even get Arceus’s attention. Very few had ever seen the god. Maybe if he mentioned Ash? The poor kid did say he had met a lot of legendaries, maybe he had met him? He wasn’t sure if it would work, but it’s worth a shot. Kukui went outside, shotgun in hand.
“Heya Arceus. So um… have you met Ash? I was wondering if you maybe wanted to talk.” He called out into the quiet. After a few minutes of silence, he was about to head inside, feeling stupid. He was about to call it quits but then.
“Oh yeah, I remember that kid. He tried to fight me once.” A booming voice echoed in Kukui’s head.
“Excuse me, what?” He instinctively asked. He wasn’t very surprised, given all the crazy stuff Ash had done.
“Yeah, but then he saved me, so we’re cool now. What did you need, anyway? Most people don’t pray while carrying a shotgun.”
“Oh yeah. So, there’s this guy, right? Lysandre I think? Traumatized my kid and uh… he’s dead. Which is great but I want to kill him. Again.”
“Honestly? Fair. Now normally I wouldn’t do this. But y’know… I’ve put this kid through enough in his life and he did kinda save me so I’ll make this an exception. One time deal. Got it?” Kukui’s eyes sparkled as the god agreed.
“Perfect.”
Kukui stood waiting for a moment, until a quick burst of light appeared The man who came out face planted into the sand. Rage flared inside Kukui at the sight of the man who’d hurt his son.
“Oww. What- where am I?” The man said, standing up and brushing off the sand with a look of disgust. Kukui didn’t waste time. He walked right up to him and punched him with all the force he could muster.
“That’s for my son.”
“I- what?”
“My son. Who you traumatized.” Kukui cocked his shotgun. The man’s eyes flickered to the gun in Kukui’s hands and he scuffled back quickly.
“You can’t shoot me!”
“I can and I will. Try me.” He snapped, grabbing the man by his collar. “You hurt my son and his friends. This is for them.” He shoved the man back onto the ground, pointing the gun.
A few gunshots later, Kukui still stood over the man. Then he heard the door open and Ash came rushing out.
“Dad! Are you alright, I heard gunshots and- OH MY GOSH!” Kukui whipped around to see his son frozen in shock.
“Ash! I- um…” Kukui stammered, standing awkwardly. “Hi?”
“What in Arceus's name… ?”
“Let's…go inside,” Kukui said.
“Are you sure he’s not going to cause problems?”
“Kiddo, I shot him in the gut four times. There’s not a lot he can do.” Ash opened his mouth to respond, but closed it after a second. He just stared, then followed his dad inside. The two sat on the couch.
“What happened? Why is Lysandre back? Dad, what happened?” Ash asked, worried. How did Lysandre get here? Ash was sure he was dead. Did he come back to finish him off?
“Well…” Kukui started before he saw the fear in his boy’s glassy eyes. “Hey, shh, it’s alright kiddo. It’s a bit of a story. Lysandre isn’t here for you though. Don't worry, it's all going to be okay,” he murmured, pulling his boy close. “I… I asked for Arceus to bring him back. So I could make him pay for what he did to you.
“You what?” Ash breathed.
“I was mad. So, I asked Arceus to bring him back so I could kill him. Arceus said he wouldn’t normally do it but he kind of felt bad for everything.” Kukui admitted.
“Oh…” is all Ash could say.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I know that it probably brought back bad memories,” Kukui murmured guiltily, rubbing Ash’s arm in a comforting way.
“I’m fine, don't worry about me.” Ash murmured. Kukui had heard him say that so many times.
“Keiki... You know that it’s fine to not be okay, right?” Kukui said softly with a worried look on his face. Ash shrugged and didn’t meet his eyes. Pikachu rubbed up against him and Ash pet its head, a distant look on his face. Kukui’s worry deepened and he squeezed Ash’s shoulder gently, trying to bring him back to the present. “Hey…talk to me, kiddo.”
“I’m fine. It’s okay. I’m fine. I’m fine.” Ash muttered repetitively.
“No, you’re not. It’s alright kid. You’re safe. You don’t have to be fine.” Ash hugged his legs and didn’t respond. Kukui sighed, not knowing what to do. He gently cupped his son’s face, wiping away a stray tear. “You’re safe with me. Let all of the tears out. You’ve already been so strong for so long. You can rest.”
Ash wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, biting his lip as more tears fell. He leaned into his dad’s hand as he choked back a sob.
“Let it all out. You’re not fine right now. You need rest.” The boy's shoulders began shuddering from sobs which he tried in vain to stop. Kukui pulled the boy to his chest and gently pet his hair. “Shhh…it’s okay. You’re safe…” he whispered, planting a gentle kiss to the top of his head.
A couple of hours later, Burnet returned home from a long day of work. She came home to find her husband and son on the couch, sleeping peacefully, Ash leaning against Kukui. She smiled fondly at how peaceful her boys looked. After setting her bag down, she draped a blanket over them and gave both of them a gentle forehead kiss. She flicked off the lights and quietly left the room.