Hey guys! I hope you're all good. I've been busy, but in a good way. And yesterday, when it was dark and raining outside, I sat down and wrote 3000 words for this story. So I guess as sad as it is that Summer is mostly over, it has its benefits, too, lmao. Anyway, have a great week, everyone!

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They were silent for most of the walk back home.

Ash had insisted he was fine, and then refused to talk about anything that had happened. Kukui, as much as he hated himself for it, was too afraid of the repercussions to break the fragile trust between them and start demanding answers from him.

It hit hard to see Ash vulnerable like that. And it hurt even more to have no idea how to help.

So he just stayed close, and kept his eyes on Ash.

Ash had Pikachu in his arms, and his shoulders were hunched over it, his head down and lips moving almost silently. Kukui breathed in slowly, his world fading out of focus as he concentrated on Ash's voice.

"You remember Lucario, right?" Ash mumbled into Pikachu's ear, and the pokemon twitched slightly in confirmation. "What happened to it?"

Pikachu's eyes were big and dark as it looked up at Ash.

"Pikapika pikachu", it murmured, paws curling against its chest. Ash huffed, face twisting in frustration.

"But we know that's not true."

"Pika-chupika. Pika-chu."

"Yeah, of course I remember what Brock said!" His voice was rising, and he threw and anxious glare over his shoulder, eyeing Kukui for a second before turning back to Pikachu. "But that makes no sense, anyway! If it died, and you remember me being there right after…" He bit his lip, exhaling sharply. "But I wasn't there, right? I am not there. It's gotta be Mew. It did something big. Maybe it changed what happened, to… to Lucario, and it survived!"

Pikachu stayed silent, and even Kukui could tell its heart was breaking for its trainer.

"If you knew, then… why- why didn't you tell me?" Ash's voice cracked, and Kukui almost walked straight into him as he suddenly stopped walking, standing deathly still in the middle of the path. Pikachu replied something, softly, and Ash's jaw clenched furiously.

"It wasn't a long time ago for me, though!"

"Pi-ka pika!"

"Well, maybe you don't care about it anymore, but I do!"

The words rang loud in the quiet forest, and Kukui could hardly breathe in the stifling silence they left behind.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu twisted in his grip, its whole being bristling dangerously, and Ash dropped it like it was burning hot. He took half a step back, and Pikachu stood in front of him, tail pointed at the sky. "Chu-pika. Pi-ka, Pikapi."

"What-"

He stared at Pikachu, and Pikachu, unfaltering, stared back.

Ash grimaced, his arms dropping to his sides as his shoulders slumped. He muttered, "Crap, I'm sorry…", and Pikachu relaxed as well, its gaze still fixed at Ash but the look on its face softer, now.

"I'm sorry, I know you care", said Ash. He inhaled, shaky and wheezy, like his lungs were resisting the mere act of breathing. "I just…"

"Pi-ka…"

"Ash?" asked Kukui carefully, catching Ash's gaze, and the plain grief in his eyes made Kukui stagger.

Ash's jaw worked as his hands balled into fists. He looked away, down, face shaded by his cap. "I really messed up this time, didn't I?"

He exhaled shallowly. There was an edge of a grim smile on his lips, and Kukui leaped into action.

"Ash, hey, look at me. It's okay. Take a deep breath and try to calm down." He stepped closer, arms spread at his sides. Ash huffed out a laugh, his shoulders bunching up, tense and wary.

"I'm calm", he said, too fast and too sharp for it to be nowhere near the truth. "I'm fine. I feel fine."

His breathing was picking up, and his eyes bounced between Kukui and Pikachu, and he backed off slowly with a seemingly unintentional movement. Like a trapped animal, with nowhere to escape, finally confronted by his predator.

Like…

Kukui cursed silently as realization hit him. He had though about that same thing just that morning. How something was wrong with Ash, how he reacted to the world around him like everything could be a possible threat. Like he was powerless within a deep ocean that had just swallowed him whole.

It twisted Kukui's stomach something sharp. Ash was, and had been the whole time, truly, awfully afraid. Afraid for this Lucario, afraid for his friends and his life he'd been ripped away from, afraid for himself.

But if Ash ever was anything, though Kukui gravely, he was resilient. And if he didn't want to acknowledge his fear, if he wanted to just ignore the helplessness and go with the flow enough, there was no way anyone was stopping him. Until, that is, something within him would break harshly enough to bring it all to surface.

"You.. You're not fine, Ash. You probably haven't even realized it yourself, but… you're in survival mode", he said to Ash, forcing his voice to not waver. "Have been, for a long time. You were going through a traumatic experience, and then you were pulled into this… other reality, almost, where nothing is familiar to you. That would make anyone to go into shock."

He paused, just long enough to search Ash's face for any kind of reaction. The boy stared back at him, denial a hollow shade on him.

"I'm fine", he repeated, his brow tightening as his voice gained an angry edge. Kukui shook his head softly.

"Your body and your mind are doing everything they can to keep you sane. Whatever it was that was happening over there", he said, and observed as all remaining color drained from Ash's face, "it still hasn't left you. Yeah, you're physically here, but your subconscious is still there, fighting. Trying to survive."

Ash folded his arms in front of him, tightly, the tips of his fingers digging into his skin as he glared up at Kukui.

"I don't really care about all that stuff", he said tersely. "About… my brain or my subconscious or whatever. I just wanna know if Lucario, and Mew, and all the others are okay." He stared at Pikachu, who looked back at him silently. "Pikachu's gotta be wrong", he added then, quietly. "It said I was there, when Lucario died. It says it doesn't remember everything, like some of the things that happened are hazy, but that it knows Lucario's dead."

He trailed off, voice rough. He glanced at Kukui, almost hopefully. "It makes no sense, right?"

And what do you say to that? Kukui worried his lip, stepping closer to Ash again, and this time the kid didn't back off.

"I… don't know, Ash", he ended up admitting, waving his hand apologetically. "I'm sorry. I don't really understand what's happened to you. You have to explain it to me, starting from the beginning. Starting from… who this Lucario was."

"Is", said Ash, before tightly shutting his mouth. "I mean…"

He uncrossed and crossed his arms again, fidgety all of a sudden. Kukui breathed in deeply, watching him. At least the hostility was gone.

"You don't have to tell me right now", said Kukui quietly. "We can go home, you can try to rest for a bit, sleep if you can, and then, when you're ready, you can tell me about Lucario. Does that sound okay?"

Ash nodded, and with the slightest indication he got Pikachu to jump onto his shoulder again.

"We… can do that", he said, looking at Pikachu. "Yeah."

"Great", said Kukui, but the enthusiasm in his voice was thin and uncertain. He turned to walk again, smiling at Ash over his shoulder.

"Come on, let's go home."

.

.

Burnet was waiting for them on the porch when they arrived.

She jumped up, opening the front door an ushering them in a controlled kind of hurry. Kukui raised his eyebrows at her in a silent question, and she marched to the kitchen counter, leaned against it, and crossed her arms.

"We had some… visitors here", she said. She was tense, fuming with traces of anger. "Manu and his gang, and some others. They were looking for you."

"Oh yeah?" said Kukui. He watched from the corner of his eye as Ash released all of his pokemon and busied himself with them, showering them with overflowing affection.

"I can't take it with Manu", said Burnet. "He's just so… Ugh! What an asshole! He's going all in with the 'conflict of interest' -theory, right? You gotta be really careful, Kukui."

"I know", said Kukui. He sighed, all of the built-up energy and tension leaving his body in a huff as he slumped against the counter next to Burnet. He felt exhausted, run down to bare bones. "They caught us, earlier. When we were leaving school grounds."

Burnet looked appalled. "Really? That's outrageous! But… You were with Ash, right? He wasn't alone?"

Kukui nodded. Burnet snaked her arm around his, and they watched Ash getting roughed up by Incineroar as they played tag around the living room.

"Yeah, I was there", said Kukui. He felt embarrassed, thinking about the encounter now. "I don't think I was much of a help, though. I got really angry, Burnet. I said some things I probably shouldn't have."

Burnet was quiet for a while. "I said some things too", she said after a minute. "He has this way of… of making you just so incredibly pissed off that you forget to watch your words. But I guess that's what makes him so successful."

Kukui chuckled humorlessly. "For sure. His way, it's offensive, and dangerous, but it gets results. And we need to be prepared to counter that. When it was just about me, about the Masked Royal, it was easier. But when it's about Ash…"

"I didn't even know I could feel that kinda fury", said Burnet. "The protective anger I felt when he started putting down Ash's achievements, accusing you of…" She looked down, where her hands were balled into fists. "He got to me good. He knows which strings he needs to pull."

"What did he want from you?" asked Kukui. "I guess he was disappointed when he didn't find Ash here."

"Oh, he was disappointed alright", said Burnet, her brow tightening as she followed Ash with her gaze. "He tried to demand where Ash was, where you were. And I had few selected words to say about him coming to my house and harassing my… harassing Ash like that. He, in turn, had a lot to say about you."

"He's trying to push us off balance", said Kukui. "And it's working."

Burnet looked up at him, mouth curling unhappily. "You know what he said about you? He said you're volatile, unpredictable… That you hold many secrets and you hold them well. He said… because you hid your secret identity so perfectly, and for so long… it means it couldn't've been the only secret you have."

Kukui bit his tongue, not saying what he wanted to say, acutely aware of Ash and his team in the room.

Burnet turned her head away, her voice lowering to a murmur.

"I told him to fuck off, after that."

Like husband, like wife, Kukui supposed.

"I love you", said Kukui, because it was the only thing he had energy for, anymore.

Burnet's lips twitched.

"I love you too."

.

.

The next few hours found Ash snoozing on the sofa in a big pile of fur and paws, and Burnet and Kukui quietly drinking chamomile tea ("it helps with your nerves", said Burnet) in the far corner of the space.

"Who else was with Manu?" asked Kukui, grimacing after one sip of his tea. He hated chamomile tea.

"There were few others… I guess he'd collected them to come with him to seem more intimidating, since no one else was even talking. But it was pretty much the basic crowd you'd expect. You saw them too, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. But there was this one guy I didn't recognize."

Kukui glanced out of the window, the same uncomfortable feeling creeping over him. Like someone was watching them.

"He was with Johnson, you know, from Alola's Star?" he continued. "Tall, long hair, kinda regal-looking with his fancy outfit. No way he was local."

Burnet looked at him blankly. "I think I would remember someone like that", she said. "No, I only saw Johnson and that mousy cameraman of hers."

"That's odd", said Kukui, peeking out of the window again. He had a sudden urge to close the curtains, even though they never did that. "I think something strange's going on, Burnet."

She cocked her eyebrow in disbelief. "You think?"

Kukui squared his shoulders. "Something else than what's going on with Ash. That guy, he was odd. He stood out, but at the same time he was gone before I got a good look at him. And at the school, I had this feeling we were being watched."

Burnet gnawed on her lip for a moment. She reached out and took Kukui's hand into her own.

"You're just stressed, honey. That's all. Why would anyone do that? The reporters, they may be assholes but even they won't stoop down to stalking. And there's no way anyone knows about what happened to Ash, right?"

Kukui wanted to feel offended, but he was too realistic for that. Even he knew he probably sounded pretty crazy.

"I… it can't be just me", he said. "I can't really describe it, the feeling I got. But, ah, well…"

He sighed, waiving his hand. "Anyway, I'll drop it for now. Maybe I'm being overly anxious."

"And I'll promise to keep my eyes open", said Burnet, humoring him. She looked fondly in Ash's direction, thought the boy was barely visible under all his pokemon. He seemed to be sleeping soundly.

"I noticed you came home early today", she said quietly. "How did the day go?"

"It was fine", said Kukui. "Everything went really well… until it didn't." He shared a somber look with Burnet, continued, "Something happened when Ash tried to perform a Z-move. It triggered something in him, a memory, or something he'd repressed. It was like it physically hurt him – he couldn't continue with the move. I've never seen anything like it."

"Did he tell you what happened?" asked Burned, concerned.

Kukui shook his head. "He's being really vague about it. Something bad happened, or was happening, to him just before he got here. There's a lucario involved, and Pikachu seems to be sure that that lucario is dead, now. And… Ash refuses to accept it."

"Arceus", Burnet whispered. Her face was pale, drawn. "Poor boy. What the hell is going on?"

"He said he can tell me more about it later, after he's had time to rest. I'm kinda… scared, to be honest Burnet. Hearing all that… it'll make this all very real."

Burnet's fingers tightened around his. "Just do your best. That's all you can do right now. Just being there for him."

Kukui looked down, anxiety curling his stomach into a tight knot.

"I just wish I could do more for him."

"I know", said Burnet, and she exhaled wearily, leaned her head against his collarbone. "So do I."

.

.

"Lance?" yelped Ash.

"Hey, Ash", said Lance, saluting him sloppily. "Didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Wha-what are you doing here?"

For Ash, it had been years since he'd last seen Lance. While he, Brock, May, and Max were in Hoenn, he remembered. So not that long ago, in this timeline.

It was hard to wrap his head around that.

"It was Kidd who got the idea first", said Brock, and Ash turned to stare at him, surprised. Brock continued, "She knows Lance – 'through work', whatever that means – and after she learned that we knew him already, she suggested we'd call him."

"Luckily, I had time to change course and find them in Rota", added Lance. "The G-men have been tailing Hunter J and others like her for years, now. It's not often we get as solid a lead as this one."

"How…" asked Ash haltingly, "How'd you find me?"

"Well", said Lance, and smiled slyly. "I have friends in odd places. And luckily one of them happened to run into you."

He looked over Ash's shoulder, and Ash turned to stare at Kellyn.

"You know Lance, too?"

Kellyn shrugged, and chuckled, "I was more surprised to learn that you know Lance. What are the odds? But I suppose it does explain a few things."

"When I heard from Brock, I put out an alert to all of the G-men and the rangers I know personally", Lance explained. "I told them that J has been seen in Kanto, and to look out for a lone kid, possibly traveling with a lucario, and who may or may not be injured. Kellyn immediately responded that he had seen someone like that. But that he's in Sinnoh."

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah… I guess I spent a while in J's plane before I got out."

"And how, exactly, did you get out?" asked Brock, in the voice he sometimes got when Ash had done something exceptionally stupid and reckless. "What happened to your arm?"

Ash put his hand over the bandages that peeked from under the sleeve of the hoodie, wincing when even the softest of touches aggravated the steady pulse of pain into something fiery.

"Don't worry about all that", he said quickly. "We got away, and that's what matters, right?"

"Sure, yeah, of course", said Brock, though he looked skeptical. "What about Mew? Did you find it?"

Ash shook his head remorsefully. "No, it wasn't held in the same place with Lucario. I dunno where she's put it. I'm sorry."

"That's alright", said Lance. "That's why I'm here."

Ash nodded quietly. "Thanks."

"Anyway", said Brock, "Kidd had to go meet her boss, make sure they are still okay after getting compromised like that by J. Lance picked us up at Rota and now we're on our way to you."

"On your way?" asked Ash. They definitely weren't walking, or riding on pokemon, so the statement seemed odd.

"Lance has got this awesome aircraft", said Max. "Super cool, state of the art kinda thing. We'll be there before you know it."

"It even has its own jacuzzi", said May, shifting her hold of Pikachu. "Can you believe it? Lance said we can take a bath once we land."

"Awesome", said Ash, but he couldn't stop looking at Pikachu, now. He thought about the device they had hidden behind the poke center, the pure agony they had gone through just to hold on to it, and thought, soon.

"I really miss you guys", he said then. His voice was small, cracked, and the atmosphere changed instantly. His friends behind the screen got really serious, and Kellyn put a careful hand on his shoulder, leaning over to look at him.

"Just hold on a little longer, buddy", he said gently. "Once Lance gets here, he'll take over the operation and you and your friends can rest. You won't have to worry about a thing anymore. We got the best men on the job. I promise we'll catch J and save Mew for you."

Ash nodded, before stilling. "Wait- what do you mean we don't gotta worry anymore? You mean… we're not gonna be part of the operation?"

Kellyn raised his brow in disbelief. "Of course not", he said. "You're civilians – even more, you're just kids! This is a dangerous operation, Ash. You should stay as far away from it as you can."

Oh, it's this again, thought Ash. It'd probably be useless to argue. Damn the operation – they would just have to do their own thing, then. As usual.

As if sensing his thoughts, Lance said, "We'll talk about this when we get there. Kellyn, keep your eyes on him. Ash…" He stared at Ash, pointedly, until Ash felt like his soul was being searched, "…don't do anything rash. Wait for us, okay?"

Reluctantly, Ash said, "Okay. See you soon."

"See you soon!" his friends called, and they disconnected the line. Kellyn pushed on his shoulder, guiding him towards one of the booths.

"How about you sit down for the time being? I need to speak to Abby about something."

Ash let him settle him into the booth, where his hot chocolate from breakfast was now sitting cold and half-drank. He slumped against the cushions, feeling drained. Lucario shuffled into the opposite sofa and took his hand into its paw in silent support.

"Who's Abby?" asked Ash quietly, when Kellyn didn't immediately leave.

The ranger smiled, glancing over his shoulder towards the front desk.

"Oh, right. Abby's a good friend of mine. Abigail Joy is her name. You might know her as Nurse Joy."

Ash blinked dazedly. "Nurse Joy's first name is Abigail?"

"Funny, right?" said Kellyn. He grinned with deep-seated affection. "You might meet a few dozen Nurse Joys in your life, and never learn any of their first names. Most of the Joys are very private people. It's a family thing, I suppose. But I have known Abby since I was just starting out as a ranger, and she as a nurse. I saved her from an angry pack of houndour and houndoom, and we've been friends ever since."

"That's… cool", said Ash. He felt stupid for never bothering to ask any of the Nurse Joys' names. He found himself wondering if Officer Jenny's family was the same. Now that he thought about it, they couldn't all be called Jenny, right?

"Oh, it is", said Kellyn. He slapped Ash on the knee and waved his hand vaguely. "Anyways, I'm off to talk to her now. You rest up here and wait for me, yeah?"

"Yeah, alright", said Ash. He leaned his head back against the cushions, closed his eyes and smiled to himself.

His friends were okay, and they were coming for him.

And soon, he would be able to hold Pikachu again.

.

.

The things that alerted him to trouble were first the spike of alarm in Lucario's Aura, and then an unfamiliar voice approaching their table.

"Hey dude, that your lucario?"

Ash cracked his eyes open and was met with a face he could only describe as sharp. Sharp cheekbones over a pointy jaw, straight-as-ruler nose, and small, clever eyes. The guy was older than him, possibly even close to Kellyn's age. And he was staring at Ash, hands on his narrow hips.

"What?" said Ash, taken off guard and still half-asleep.

"I asked you", said the guy with frustrating bossiness, "If that lucario is yours?"

He nodded towards Lucario, who was eyeing the newcomer with great suspicion.

"Uh, no", said Ash, still confused about the whole thing. Who was this guy, now? "Lucario's my friend. We're traveling together."

"Well, that's good", said the guy, scratching the side of his incredibly pointy nose. "I would like to catch it."

"Wh-what?" said Ash, sitting up straighter. He stared at the guy, not believing his ears. "Why?"

"Why?" asked Pointy-Nose. "What do you mean, why? Why not? I know a thing or two about lucario, and this one is definitely strong. So I would like to have it for myself."

"Well, you can't", said Ash intelligently. He scooted himself out of the booth, hitting his knee against the table and jostling his bad arm in the process. He grimaced, holding his arm gingerly, and attempted to stand confidently in front of the guy. "It's not my decision anyway. Lucario can well decide for itself who it wants to travel with."

Pointy-Nose looked quite amused by his efforts, and he stepped easily past him, approaching Lucario.

"Lucario will decide?" he smirked. "That's cute. You do know these things have nothing to do with the pokemon, and everything to do with the trainer, right?"

"You're wrong", said Ash, hurrying to plant himself between the booth and the guy. He was at least a head taller than Ash, but he was pretty skinny so Ash though he might be able to take him on.

Pointy-Nose was laughing now. "And how am I wrong? Have you got any pokemon of your own, shorty? Or are you waiting for them to choose you?"

"Most of them did", said Ash plainly. He glanced back at Lucario, who shook its head minutely. Then, he stared down the guy. "I think you should go now."

"I think you should move aside", Pointy-Nose replied, and his hand reached out to push Ash to the side. Ash felt Lucario grabbing his shoulder from behind, and he raised his hand in defense, his palm against the guy's. Energy surged through his arm and the air between their hands crackled with intense heat, and Ash blinked his eyes against the blinding flash of blue light.

Pointy-Nose was yelling, and when Ash opened his eyes again, the guy was halfway across the room, holding his hand against his chest, his eyes big and scared and fixed at Ash.

"What was that?" he stammered, backing off still. "Who are you?"

Ash's body was thrumming with tingling warmth. He glanced around, heart pounding. Thankfully, the room was empty besides him and Pointy-Nose. And Kellyn, he noted, who was now striding across the room with a determined sort of scowl on his face.

"Come with me", the ranger said, planting his hand against Ash's back and pushing him not so gently towards the door of the back room. "Now."

Ash went, and Lucario ran after them, confusion and smugness equally coloring their Aura.

.

.

Kellyn made him sit down onto a soft bench in the back room, and Nurse Joy – Abigail, thought Ash – fussed over his bandages while Kellyn went back to the lobby to talk to Pointy-Nose.

He came back five minutes later, his mouth a thin line.

"You can use Aura?" he asked, standing in front of Ash with crossed arms.

"Uh, well", said Ash. "Not really. I mean… Kinda? Lucario said I have a similar Aura to Sir Aaron. And when I touch a time flower it activates. And sometimes, I guess, when Lucario helps, I can do other stuff, too."

Kellyn stared at him. "You know that's an incredibly rare skill? Humans even sensitive to Aura are almost nonexistent. Having any ability to control it is a good as a myth."

"I know", said Ash, slowly getting worked up by the topic. "That's why I never tell anyone about it. It's way easier that way."

"How long have you known?" asked Kellyn curiously.

"A few years", said Ash. "I never learned to use it, though. The things like… like what happened with Pointy-Nose back there have only happened while Lucario is with me. I guess it helps me to kinda build it up and form it into something more real."

"Pointy-Nose?" asked Kellyn, before shaking his head. "Whatever. That's incredible, Ash! No wonder you and Lucario seemed to have this invisible connection between you. It's because you do."

"I guess so", said Ash slowly, and turned to look at Lucario. The pokemon was watching him silently, something complex clouding its gaze. "When we saw each other for the first time, Lucario mistook me for Sir Aaron. But… I'm not him. I could never be him."

I do not see you as Aaron, anymore, said Lucario, and from the corner of his eye Ash could see Kellyn flinching, startled by the telepathy. You are your own person, Ash. But you are strong, not unlike the way Aaron was.

"Thanks, Lucario", mumbled Ash. "But I dunno about that. I sure don't feel that strong right now."

Everything you have done for me… said Lucario. I am very thankful. To you, too, mister Kellyn.

Kellyn jumped. "Oh, um…" he stammered, speechless for once. "Well, thank you, Lucario. It's been my pleasure."

Lucario bowed its head towards Abigail. And you, miss Joy. The healing you gave me, in this pokemon center… It was something I've never experienced before. I felt fully restored after just one night of sleep. Sincerely, thank you.

Abigail blushed, grinning. "Oh, no! I was just doing my job!"

You are most excellent in your work, miss.

"Damn right", said Kellyn emphatically, and Abigail slapped him on the arm in mock offense.

"Watch it, mister."

Kellyn yelped theatrically. "Ouch, Abby!" He rubbed his arm, pouting. "How violent! Maybe it was one of your sisters who took care of Lucario, after all."

"Ooh, I'll show you violent", said Abigail, attacking Kellyn with ruthless tickles, and Kellyn screamed, folding almost in two as he tried to shuffle away to escape.

Ash leaned his head back and laughed, genuinely and heartily, for what felt like the first time in a very long time. Kellyn and Abigail joined him, and after a few seconds of hesitation, so did Lucario.

Somehow, between all the moments of hurt and confusion and danger, they had found this moment for themselves. A moment of true friendship, pure and honest and full of healing energy, and Ash felt it filling him up, slowly restoring something deep within him he'd thought might've been already lost for good.