Hey, so, I've had this idea for a while now, thanks for checking it out. I just wanted to point out that this is quite different from my other story, this one is a bit more gloomy and serious, and has some angst, predominantly in the beginning. That changes, but I guess I do mean for it to have some hurt/comfort moments, although nothing too hard. Anyway, again thanks for reading.

It all began when our hero overslept, right on that fateful day, when he thought he had been deprived of a starter pokemon by his excess of sleep. Of course, he soon learned he was wrong for thinking this way, seeing as he ended up obtaining a life-long friend full of energy and willpower, just like himself.

And from then on, many unforgettable moments and countless adventures had ensued. From staying on his bed for far too long one morning he had gone on to defeat myriads of powerful villains and experienced opponents alike, had rescued friends and family members from cosmically misunderstood enemies, had gone on to, not only encounter elusive creatures of myth and legend, on lands shrouded in danger and mystery, but he had also saved their lives, each time with a glorious display of courage and determination. As such, he had gained the favor of grandiose beings with a heightened reach of their majestic powers.

But his motivation wasn't the glory, neither the fame to be obtained, from accomplishing such unimaginable feats. He was in it for all the experience that would be gained exploring such an interesting world, for his innate desire for constant improvement, and for the memories that he would undoubtedly make and then treasure for the rest of his life.

So, it was obvious that just one adventure of mythical proportions wouldn't be enough for him. A hundred adventures filled with mortal risks wouldn't be enough for him, as long as he could embark on yet another one. From playing with toys and watching tv on his room, on Pallet Town, on the Kanto Region, he had gone all the way to the other side of the world, to helping inter-dimensional beings of great power return to their world of origin, on a tropical island, on the Alola Region, always with his trusty best friend Pikachu by his side.

His name was Ash Ketchum, and he was a very confident young man full of life. This by itself made him very attractive to his peers. And his pleasant looks were augmented abundantly by the irresistible energy that radiated from him at all times, even when he was asleep. Regardless of how aware they were of it, everyone on Ash's circle of friends was attracted to him in one way or another. And in some cases, the attraction they felt toward him, and the esteem that they had for him, slowly mutated into an infatuation of a most romantic kind. Such phenomenon had in fact happened quite a few times already, without him ever knowing or finding out about it. And every time such a thing happened, it always ended inconspicuously, with a fruitless resolution.

The objective feelings of love had appeared mostly on his female friends, whom he had met on the many regions he had previously visited, and whom he had left behind, but never forgotten.

However, in this particular moment of his journey, as Ash settled into his frantic everyday life in the Alola Region, peculiar developments began to complicate his relationships, in a way that ultimately made a simple, neutral resolution like all the others beforehand, thoroughly impossible. Three of his friends, who were in fact the closest female friends he had made while in Alola, found themselves to be in love with our hero at the very same time. These three girls freshly in love were the warm and attentive Mallow, who was a chef-in-training as well as the only one of them who was taller than Ash, the quietly playful Lana, lover of the sea, phlegmatic in nature, and the sensibly introverted Lillie, whose frightful nature made her seem distant, and, therefore, it was understandable that she hid her desire for a warm friendship from even her closest companions. And what made the situation especially difficult was that, because of their own feelings, each other became aware of the feelings of one another, and this elevated the tensions of every day to extremely uncomfortable levels and, not only that, it threatened the friendship of the group like nothing else that had come before it.

Of course, the three of them were well-mannered, non-confrontational people who would do anything to hold on to their friendship and, most of all, to remain amiable towards each other and towards everyone else. However, even so, some spite, and the tiniest little bit of discomfort brought about by the existence of their feelings in the same space as those of the others, began to seep in to the surface.

What none of them knew, not even their male friends, was that Ash Ketchum, like never before, was aware of the feelings his friends had developed for him. He was naturally in tune with the spirits of the people around him, yes; very much so. However, in order for him to be able to sense correctly the feelings of his friends, he himself had to have experienced those same feelings; he needed to have something to compare them to. Because of this, he had never before noticed when someone had been in love with him. He only began to notice this when his capacity to fall in love began to develop within him. It was bound to happen one day, it was naturally unavoidable. And it was quite unfortunate for him that it had happened when not one, not two, but three of his friends were in love with him, at the same time. Right when he had just learned what being in love felt like. And he was the kind of guy who could feel so much so as to become fully consumed by his feelings, overwhelmed by them in fact; completely neutralized. Indeed, he was in love with all of them, at the same time.

He liked Mallow, and he liked Lana, and he liked Lillie, and he had no idea which of them he liked the most.

Ash started shying away from his friends, from all of them. He'd sneak away from everyone whenever he could, because he couldn't deal with his newly found feelings. It was too much for him. Only Pikachu could witness his episodes of uncontrollable rage in the woods, and the passionate cries to the skies that each episode contained. He thought he'd never been more fortunate than when he was blind to his feelings of love, and to those of the ones around him. Ignorance truly was bliss, and now the truth had caged him in misery and constant suffering, away from his loved ones to boot.

But that couldn't last. As much as he was being consumed by his feelings, were Mallow, Lillie and Lana. Their agonizing insides were ready to burst, and each of them was wary of the other's situation, as well as their intentions. Each of them, Mallow, Lillie, and Lana, had grown enough, and had enough respect for themselves to act as their hearts dictated. Each of them thought of themselves as worthy enough to try and claim the object of their most fervent desires, as their own.

One night, they laid their most alert eyes on Ash, and successfully tracked him all the way to his place of solitude in the woods. There was no other way but to subject him to a most difficult and painful decision, because things simply couldn't continue like that. Everybody was dying slowly, and only one of them could be saved. The rest would take being killed mercifully over their current situation.

He understood what was going on immediately. They quickly surrounded him in a perfect circle, each girl the same distance apart from each other. Ash turned his head to look at each of them, and then he turned his whole body. He had to, so he could look at them right. He couldn't help but stare at them repeatedly. There was Lana, the shorter one of the trio, also the only one with short hair. She had her head down, but she was softly determined, willing to at least give it a try. Then there was Lillie, standing straight, dignified just like her mother had taught her. But her eyes couldn't hide the anger she felt towards Ash, because of his innocent silence and his reluctance to confront them. And lastly there was Mallow, guarding herself from the asphyxiating atmosphere by holding her right arm with her left hand. She was the most open, therefore the most vulnerable. With her body, and her eyes, she pleaded to Ash to release her, to pick anyone. And at the same time she yearned for her victory, and her desires were displayed out in the open, against her wishes, in her semblance.

Right then, Ash realized he truly loved them all. If only he could go back to being emotionally blind; hating them all would be a far better alternative.

But there was no point in fantasizing about a time long gone. It was not the time nor the place, his mind was bothered enough as it was. Ash's judgment was clouded by all the agony he was in, and yet, the one thing he knew he absolutely couldn't do was pick one of them at random. Because he couldn't pick one of them rationally. At that moment there wasn't a rational thought in his brain, except, perhaps, that he loved all of them equally. That was the only certainty to which he could cling comfortably. He couldn't be so disrespectful towards them so as to pick one of them at random. Ash thought they didn't deserve that, but, past that, he had no idea of what those girls truly deserved. The night was long and they had the time, because a decision had to be made before the sun came up, in order for their lives to carry on.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. There is not a more poisonous bliss than that which comes with the postponement of a decision. But why do decisions have to be made in the first place? Is the exercising of our ability to decide, a right? An obligation? A privilege? An unavoidable burden? All of those and more? Or is it none of those? After all, the decision to be brought into existence wasn't made by any one of us. It was decided by someone else, in one way or another. No one was given the choice in that primordial decision. What's more, any conclusion to which we have arrived as a species, whether by rational thought or by sensory experience, even if it contains the most irrefutable evidence, can be taken apart until only a desolate doubt remains. There is not a certain thought in existence in which we can hide and rest peacefully. So why, oh why, must we then be forced to make decisions? Especially, if it can't ever be guaranteed that any decision made will be rightfully rewarded.

A strange sound interrupted the brooding atmosphere. It was an incessant buzz that increased slowly, then rapidly, until it became unbearable with its overwhelming resonance. It filled the group with fright before it attracted their eyes towards the nightmarish source. A purple cloud headed towards the silent group as the noise continued getting louder, making the ground tremble, in the same way it made the inside of their skulls tremble, just from the overwhelming buzzing. Next they were able to distinguish that the purple blur was made out of myriads of naganadel, all gathered in the giant swarm that was approaching them relentlessly. From where those flying creatures had come the group had no idea, but of what they were sure was that running away was the best choice to such a suddenly dangerous situation. A naganadel was a type of Ultra Beast, a creature that had come from another universe, through an inter-dimensional portal which was called an Ultra Wormhole. The naganadel were limber creatures with an insectoid frame, with a small head and a long, thin spike protruding from its very top, which was directed backwards. A light blue visor-like organ with a futuristic air, right on the upper front of its face, constituted its eyes. On the sides of its comparatively large mouth, seemingly stuck in a perpetual sardonic smile, two fang-like appendages protruded from its mouth and curved heading upward, manifesting its predatory nature. A long and thin purple neck led to a firm purple torso; behind it, a purple pair of wings covered in a hard, insect-like exoskeletal armor, which also covered the rest of its body. And by this point the humans were running fast, away from a myriad of them. To the sides of its torso, its shoulders with more fang-like appendages protruding one from either side; its arms were curiously thin, and looked like they could break easily; they ended in three claws on each arm which constituted its fingers. All naganadel had an oval-shaped bottom, slightly larger when compared to the creature's top. But what granted the creature its most threatening appearance, by far the most fatal weapons on the naganadel's arsenal, were the three spikes that came out from below its ovoid abdomen. A larger one on the middle, which resembled a giant hypodermic needle, and two smaller ones on the sides.

The group had no time to think about how unlikely that situation was, or about how unfortunate it was; how unfortunate they were, for being there at that unfortunate time. From then on it was all about running for their lives as the countless Ultra Beasts chased them through the woods. Their mutual friend Sophocles, a chubby redhead, appeared from the shadows completely aware of the situation. He arrived carrying a pink flare gun, which, as soon as the group reached him, he fired decisively at the densest part of the woods, and then he urged the group to run away to the opposite direction.

"That's not going to distract them for long!" he exclaimed.

"It has to be enough! This has to work!" Ash replied, before he made sure that the naganadel were in fact following the flare.

As they continued their escape, now with an established escape route, Mallow looked behind her and then stopped running entirely. Soon after Lana and Lillie looked back too, and then they stopped, along with Sophocles. Ash didn't have to stop, because he wasn't running with them. He and Pikachu stood still, waiting for them to leave, as the flare was consumed on the ground away from them, and the buzzing ameliorated slightly.

"What do you think you are doing?" Mallow asked, as she ran back towards him with the rest of them right behind her.

"There's no time for this, you need to leave, now!" Ash shouted. He was suddenly overwhelmed, and covered in sweat.

"You don't have to be a hero Ash!" Lana said. "Please, let's just run away."

"I can't, I'm serious. Leave now, I'll do whatever it takes."

"We can't let you do this," Lillie added.

"You must," Ash immediately replied with his fists raised to his chest. Behind him the flare went out, and the buzzing gradually increased in volume. "I'm the only one who has a pokemon with me, there's no time. There's nothing you can do!" he exclaimed. And this last remark made the girls feel extreme impotence as they stared at the ground. They knew he was right, just like they knew there was no escape. At least not without a sacrifice.

"This is the end for us Ash, at least let's see it through together," Lana said.

"Come on Lana! Ash has plenty of experience with Ultra Beasts," Sophocles replied.

"But nothing like this. There's too many of them!" Mallow exclaimed, then she cursed to herself, silently.

"I'm sorry," Ash finalized.

Right then Mallow rushed to Ash and hugged him, desperately, firmly, for a few crucial but still indulgent seconds. Then without looking at him she turned back and ran away. Sophocles followed her. Lana was the next one to leave, after sharing a fleeting look with Ash. And even though it only lasted a second, that intense look contained a whole life, in fact it was the life that could have been had the naganadel not appeared; had Ash chosen her. Then there was Lillie, who kept her feet firm on the ground as she stared right at Ash, with her eyes full of many different emotions, all of them as piercingly concentrated as they could be. With her eyes, she silently suggested she stayed with him, but Ash then nodded negatively, and, still silently, urged her to leave. Lillie still hesitated for a few critical seconds, but ultimately gave up and ran away, mainly because the thought of Ash disapproving her staying, and lamenting her senseless sacrifice, was too much for her. The buzzing became louder and then unbearable once more. Ash watched his friends run away and then disappear. Only then he turned back to look at the swarm of powerful creatures from another world approaching him. He stared at them dourly.

"Are you ready Pikachu?" he asked his pokemon next to him.

Pikachu nodded decisively.

Some time before that tragic night, Ash and Pikachu had befriended a poipole, a naganadel's previous stage. Consequently, Ash had also met a sober naganadel, and was even able to communicate with it. However, that night he didn't need to try to communicate with the swarm, Ash and Pikachu knew they would leave. The naganadel overwhelmed them completely, there was nothing to be done, and then the two of them were fully consumed by the purple cloud.

Ash and Pikachu took one last breath on Earth. Ash departed full of doubt.

Just want to point out that this is just the first chapter. I'll upload the second one next week, and I'll probably upload the third chapter of my other story tomorrow. I hope this was at least mildly entertaining, don't mean to ruffle any feathers or anything, with regards to the shipping, I mean. I pretty much like all of the characters, and even though I have my favorites I want to give each of the love interests the same amount of text. It's fine if you have your favorite too, and it is VERY important that you pick only one and hate everyone who doesn't pick the same one as you. Just kidding please don't hurt me, I just want to write something that's like a passable read. Anyway, again, thanks for reading.