ALOLA TO OUR SAVIOUR: Chapter 70 - Fork in the road.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon :/

Dawn was still sore from the overall extraction of the venom that was taken out of her body. But overall, she was already feeling the positive effects.

She looked to the side to see Gladion passed out on the chair next to her medical bed. She looked at the clock to discover that it was 2:30AM.

She groaned slightly, still groggy from the whole thing. She wanted to talk to Gladion but would feel bad about it seeming she had no clue how long it might of took him to fall asleep in that chair.

Dawn closed her eyes to try and attempt to fall asleep only to be pestered by a tapping sound on the door of her room.

Walking was Zossie who was scribbling away at a piece of paper on a clipboard.

"Morning sleepy." Zossie greeted the blue haired girl.

"Zossie, it's 2:30AM." Dawn countered with a sloppy groan of pain at the end.

The ginger struggled her shoulders.

"Still morning. Hey can I, uh. Can I ask you something?" Zossie asked Dawn.

Dawn was cautious but also very much curious.

"Go for it…" She said, giving her approval which resulted in a smirk on Zossie's face.

"Soooo… I don't want to be nosy or anything but…." Zossie started as Dawn felt a sinking feeling in her gut and could feel a burning red blush emerging from her face. "You guys like a thing?"

That said blush was now at full swing as Dawn was baffled for words.

"I uh, no wait! Um, um…. Th-th-"Dawn stuttered.

Zossie giggled a bit.

"Relax. I won't tell anyone." She promised the Sinnoh native.

"Look… I don't know myself to be completely honest…" Dawn confessed with a conflicted look.

Zossie turned to the sleeping president.

"Well… He obviously cares for you. I never knew my mother, but I was told she had a saying: There are many ways of going forward in life. To care, to love, to have a family. But there is only one way to stand still." Zossie told her elder her mother's phrase.

Dawn thought of the words as they tripped around inside of her head.

Care

Love

Fami-

That final word hit her brain as she shook off the thought straight away.

"Gah! No, no, no!" Dawn stuttered as was perplexed by the thought.

Gladion groaned in annoyance as he woke up slowly with his eyes slowly expanding.

Dawn panicked as she still had the massive blush over her face as Zossie quietly snuck out of the room to leave the pair alone.

"Hey…. (yawn) What's up? It's 2:35 in the morning… You should get some more sleep." Gladion told the girl.

She just nodded as she was struggling to say literally anything.

(Hours later)

Gladion wheeled Dawn in a wheelchair with the Sinnoh native giving a death like stare to Zossie who smirked.

In the room was Ash, Lillie, Hau, Dulse, Lusamine, Zossie and the now entering Dawn and Gladion.

"The world championship is in less than 2 weeks. I am pumped!" Hau shouted which annoyed Dulse with the loud noises. The rest snickered a little.

Dawn still felt rather distant from everyone. Sure, she had somewhat made up to at least not be looked down as complete trash, but she could still tell the bulk still didn't trust her.

She just sighed which Ash caught.

"What's up Dawn?" Ash asked which startled her.

"Oh… Just sleepy that's all. Sore yeah." Dawn lied as Gladion walked with to pick up a phone call he was getting.

"I mean at least it's good you got that poison out of you." Hau added on.

"It is rather interesting considering the average person when effected by Spirveven toxins only live for maybe a year or so until complete insanity or dare I say worse…" Dulse confessed which sent a shiver down everyone's spine. "There is a common theory regarding it though…"

Lusamine's curiosity was peaked upon hearing that.

"What do you mean?" She asked the being from Ultra Megalopolis.

"Well… It's believed one counteraction to the venom is hoping on to something dear and not letting go of it. Maybe it was the factor of possibly seeing Ash again and apologising could have been that hope." Dulse suggested.

Lillie puffed out her checks in annoyance which Ash caught and smirked.

"Well maybe… I don't know." Dawn muttered in confusion. "Well at least it's ov-"

"WHAT!?" Gladion roared which startled everyone. "That's impossible! NO! You listen here!"

Gladion was having a screaming match with whoever was on the phone with him.

"NO DON'T YOU HANG UP ON M-"Gladion screamed as the look of anger peaked, resulting at him throwing the phone at the wall.

No one had a clue what was happening.

"Brother, what's going on?" Lillie asked as Gladion raced over to the nearby computer.

"Ash… Remain calm like me. Please." Gladion said with a twitch in his eye.

This statement just confused everyone even more.

"Gladion what's happening?" Lusamine asked this time as her eldest tapped away at the computer.

He turned the screen to everyone as it fell dead silent after the lead headline was revealed.

Pokemon league champion suspected of murder? Two men found dead.

Right below the headline was a picture of Ash winning the Alolan league with his team beside him.

Shock echoed through the room.

Lillie was the one to break the silence with three simple words.

"What the fuck." She stuttered with tears filling her eyes as she realized her partner was being accused of murder.

"But… That's impossible? You've been with us this whole time? Here and in Ultra Space?" Hau questioned.

Both Dulse and Zossie had a look of concern on their faces as they had a firm idea on what had happened.

Ash had yet to say anything as Gladion began to speak up.

"On the phone was the championship organisers… Wanting to remove you from the tournament." Gladion hissed.

"WHAT!?" Lillie screamed with the tears running at full force.

Dawn also teared up slightly.

"I don't understand what's happening, but they are threatening to remove all of Alola out!" Gladion explained further. "This has to be a mistake! One giant fuck up!"

Ash sighed.

"We'll figure this out… Maybe. I don't know…" He said with the sense of hope fading in his voice within every word that was said.

The rest of the day was fairly awkward.

Ash went to his room to try and get some sleep.

Hau went to eat something in comfort.

The Aether family tried to get in contact with the league organisers.

And lastly Dulse and Zossie went outside to discuss something.

Despite the whole issue, Ash managed to fall asleep somehow.

Once again, he woke up in the white room that had haunted his dreams.

"Welcome Ash. What brings you here?"

Ash was confused at what the voice or as it described itself, his guardian seeker.

"Did you not summon me this time?" Ash asked the being.

"No. This time it was you that summoned me. Now, how may I assist?"

Ash thought about this for a second and peaked a question.

"So, what exactly can you do other than control my dreams and appearing when you want?"

"Thought you'd never ask! I am a guiding light. To help reach the truth and expose the darkness."

"Alrighty… You might be able to help then. I've been accused of murder which I didn't do- "

"Indeed, you had no such participation in such an evil act. You wish for the truth?"

Ash nodded furiously. Sooner he could clear his name, the better.

"I am afraid I cannot say the identity of the murder as that would ruin the stars that align."

"Wha- What? But you just said?" Ash stuttered.

"But I know who will be able to give you some guidance…"

An image of Dulse and Zossie appeared as everything went bright.

Ash woke up and without any hesitation, ran for the humans from Ultra Space.

Dulse and Zossie were sitting outside on a bench discussing about the current topic.

"Do you think?" Zossie questioned.

"Yeah. Yeah I do think it's him." Dulse mumbled with a look of anger spreading across his face.

Ash thought about jumping in and screaming at the pair, but he realized that probably wasn't going to work so he decided to just hide and listen for now.

"Dulse… We must tell them… Before they find out the hard wa-"

"We can't Zossie!" Dulse hissed as the young girl flinched.

Ash kept a stern look as he continued to spy.

Dulse just sighed.

"We can't. Phyco told us we can't not let them know close to anything about Red other than he is a dangerous person." He continued in a much softer tone.

A tear ran down Zossie's face which Dulse did pick up upon.

"Dulse… I am scared." Zossie said as another tear fell out of the other eye.

Dulse kept silent.

"I just want a home where I can feel safe in and not live in constant fear! And now… The only place I can call home is in grave danger…" Dulse explained through the tears.

Dulse hugged the young girl which caught her (and Ash who was still hiding away) completely off guard.

"I'm scared as well. But we have to continue…" Dulse explained.

This was a side of Dulse Ash hadn't seen yet. He had only displayed a figure of anger and violence till now.

Ash thought back to what the guardian told him.

"I am afraid I cannot say the identity of the murder as that would ruin the stars that align."

He now realized what it meant… That he wouldn't be able to force the truth out of them… To force the stars to align. They would be able to guide him to the truth though…

Ash sighed as he emerged from the corner.

"Hey Dulse! Zossie!" He said calmly.

The duo jumped as Dulse pushed Zossie away and stood right up.

"What." He said bluntly.

"I wanted to offer you something." Ash explained.

Dulse kept a heavy but stern look.

"Should we be allowed to participate in the league, I have one spot open within the Alolan ranks. I'd like to offer you that spot." Ash offered.

Dulse raised an eyebrow.

"… What's the catch." He asked.

Ash shrugged his shoulders.

"No catch. I am just after an extremely powerful battler to help prove Alola is a force to be reckoned with!" Ash told him.

Dulse presented a stunned look but quickly sorted that out and returned to his serious manner.

"Alright. I'm in." He announced.

Zossie gave a stunned look while Ash kept his concealed but eventually smirked.

"Never knew you were a hugger?" Ash teased.

"Tell anyone about this and I will break every bone in your body and make it look like an accident." Dulse said coldly.

Ash and Zossie sweat dropped at the threat.

"You seem confident this little issue will go away…" Dulse commented.

"I know I am innocent." Ash told him.

Dulse didn't respond straight away.

"He has just been accused of murder yet is so positive… How…" Dulse thought to himself.

Dulse looked to the ground with a conflicted look. He gave a small turn to Zossie but quickly turned back.

"Let's hope you're innocent. I want to kick some ass." Dulse told him which made Ash smile.

"Gladion is in a call with the league organizer right now but is being stubborn as a wall… Demanding proof… We can't tell them about Ultra space though." Ash explained.

"Proof you say?" Zossie questioned with a grin as she pulled out a phone.

"Zossie wait!" Dulse yelled but the ginger signalled him to shush.

"Hey Soliera! You mind doing me a favour or two? It's involved with our mission." Zossie confessed.

(Elsewhere in the Aether mansion.)

"In all due respect Mr Goodshow, we have proof Mr. Ketchum was no where near these murders." Gladion said sternly.

He was currently having a video call with Charles Goodshow, the Pokemon League President.

Lusamine and Kukui were both in attendance with Gladion.

"Now Gladion. I have great respect for your business, The Aether Foundation. What they do for Pokemon in Alola and regions nearby is extraordinary. But don't you think that these allegations regarding Ash could taint the foundations image?" Charles questioned.

Gladion flinched which was followed up with a sigh.

"Charles, it is going to take more than a few murders to harm Aether's image. Besides…" Gladion explained before giving a cold and sharp glare to his mother. "We've endured much worse here…"

Lusamine rubbed her arm due to the cold shot from her son.

"Mr Goodshow, throwing out Alola of the league will catastrophic for the whole region!" Kukui pleaded. "We've worked so hard to finally have our own national league! The whole region is looking forward to the world championship!"

"I've made my mind up Kukui! Until I see some hard evidence to say otherwise." Charles told the dejected professor.

"I told you old man! I have proof!" Gladion snapped.

"Gladion that's enough!" Lusamine announced who stepped forward slowly.

"Charles." Lusamine said sternly. "Isn't the saying 'innocent till proven guilty'?"

Charles just nodded.

"Then Ash is innocent as there is no hard evidence to sa- "Lusamine started only to be cut off.

"There is security footage." Charles said bluntly.

Gladion, Kukui and Lusamine paled.

"Wh-What!?" Kukui said stunned.

Gladion slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

"Listen her old man! I don't care what footage that is! You are denying one of the favourites in yet you're allowing those that RUINED his life to compete?!" Gladion hissed. "We don't need your stupid world championship to prove we are the be- "

"Proof you say?" A familiar voice called at the entrance.

Goodshow's expression went stiff as Ash walked in.

"Charles." Ash greeted.

Charles hesitated and sighed.

"Ash."

Ash threw a file on to the table with a few pictures falling out of it.

"What's that?" Charles asked.

"My proof." Ash countered back.

Gladion, Kukui and Lusamine gave a shocked look.

"The day/night the murder happened. I was in the Hoenn region with my partner, Lillie Aether and the Goldendisc hotel near Lillycove city! In here is some receipts to back this further such as the hotel payment, bar and diving program." Ash explained.

He placed a USB stick into the computer and sent the files to Goodshow who inspected them carefully.

He turned to his assistant.

"Call all three locations and question them." Charles demanded.

15 minutes later and the assistant returned and whispered the news to Charles, who jumped at the news.

Everyone at Aether stood nervously except Ash who stood sternly with a dead look on his face.

"Well… After checking through with the locations provided and some further background checking… Everything seems clear and lines up with everything you said." Charles admitted.

Everyone gasped.

"We've contacted the international police and informed them. An official report will be presented tomorrow. As for Alola, your status will be returned to participant." Goodshow announced.

Kukui teared up knowing that they were now 100 percent going to the world championships. The Aether family sighed in relief

"But Ash…"

Ash looked at Goodshow dead in the eye.

"There is someone out there impersonating you then…"

That sentence echoed in Ash's head which he shook it off fine.

"I'm sure the international police will be able to sort it all out. Thank you for listening to reason Mr. Goodshow and be read for Alola to win." Ash told him with confidence as the screen went off. "HOLY FUCK THAT ACTUALLY WORKED!?"

The doors swung open as Dulse and Zossie entered.

"What just happened?" Gladion questioned.

"I made a phone call to Soliera saying that our mission in finding the blinding one was in danger. She quickly organised a fake file and sent recon members to those said locations and made sure they got that call from the midget on call!" Zossie explained.

"So, we have merely delayed the problem then…" Lusamine questioned.

Ash shrugged his shoulders.

"All I know is that there is someone out there trying to frame me!" Ash said out loud. "And I know how I am going to flush him out!"

Everyone went silent and looked at the Kanto born.

"Tomorrow: We fly out to win this damn thing!" Ash announced.

Authors note: Hi