Advanceshipping Week 2018

Chapter 3: Theme 3: Reflection

Night-time had arrived over the surrounding area with the stars shining bright in the sky, as Ash was slowly making his way over the surrounding forest, having clearly lost track of how much time had passed since he arrived in this part of the route and was looking around at how quiet everything had become all of a sudden. He took a look up to notice that it was already night-time before looking over at Pikachu as the electric mouse Pokemon was sitting comfortably on his shoulder. "It looks like it's getting pretty late, Pikachu. We better see if we can find somewhere to rest for the night."

"(I'm with you, Ash. I don't think I'd enjoy staying out here for the night.)" Pikachu commented, nodding in agreement while he spoke. Ash let out a chuckle in amusement to himself at what Pikachu had to say, but at the same time he couldn't blame him; after all, he didn't feel particularly fond of being stuck out here either. Once he was certain that they had an idea in mind, Ash turned his attention back to the road ahead of them so he could keep walking; he was certain that they'd be able to find somewhere to stay for the night. As he was having a look around at the area surrounding him, Pikachu had a look ahead of them and his eyes went wide in surprise before he began tapping the side of Ash's head to get his attention. "(Ash!)"

Ash turned his glance over to his partner Pokemon in surprise, wondering what it was that he had spotted. "What is it, buddy?" His question was answered as Pikachu pointed just ahead of them and Ash took a look with him to find that they were slowly approaching a chateau and from the looks of it, it seemed that it had gone unused for a long time; a few of the windows had been broken in certain places, the exterior looked old and run-down and it seemed that a few plants had begun growing in small cracks between the bricks. The two stared at the place in silent amazement before Ash was the one to speak. "Woah… this place looks amazing." A bright smile then came to his face as he turned his glance over to Pikachu. "Great eyes, little buddy. Looks like we've got somewhere to stay for the night. Let's go head inside."

"(Sounds good.)" Pikachu happily nodded in agreement with this suggestion, so without a moment to spare, the two began to make their way over to the front door and as they were getting closer, they could see that the door was slightly ajar, allowing them to step inside. As Ash slowly pushed the door open, allowing him to step inside while Pikachu hopped off his shoulder before closing the door behind them, he slowly glanced around the large front area to find that it appeared to be empty.

"Hello! Is anyone here?" Ash called, with the only answer being the sound of his voice echoing across the room. He slowly turned his head back and forth to look around the room, waiting to see if there was someone here who had heard his call, but after a few seconds he was met with no response. He then showed an expression of puzzlement as he placed one hand on his hip. "Hmm… I guess no one's been here for a long time." While he was busy with that, Pikachu was taking a look around the room as well to find that there seemed to be no one here but the two of them, with Ash bending down to look at his partner. "I guess that means we'll need to find where the guest rooms are on our own. Let's split up and have a look around. If you find anything, run back to me and let me know."

Pikachu nodded in agreement with a confident smile showing. "(Will do!)" With their plan in mind, the two started to head in their respective directions, with Ash deciding to investigate upstairs and Pikachu heading off to start searching through the rooms downstairs.

With Pikachu, he was slowly walking through the open area, clearly taking notice of how much bigger the expanse of the room was than him. Of course, it made sense considering his small stature, but it also made investigating this place on his own feel all the more daunting. "(Wow… this place is huge. I wonder who used to live here…)" Pikachu commented to himself, slowly tilting his head back and forth with a look of awe on his face as he was taking in his surroundings. However, his sightseeing came to a halt as he found himself slamming into one of the doors that he had been slowly approaching without realizing it. Fortunately, it didn't take him long to recover as he shook his head before looking up at the door in surprise. "(What's this room?)" Figuring it best to find out for himself, Pikachu pressed his paws against the door to shove it open and once he had enough space, he rushed into the room as the door was now open behind him. Once he was inside, he had a look up at the room to find it seemed to be one of the guest rooms, complete with a bedside table in the center of the room. Pikachu showed a smile of delight at the sight. "(This must be one of the guest rooms. I better go find Ash and let him know!)" Without a moment to spare, Pikachu turned to run out of the room and make his way towards the staircase to find where Ash could have gone to.

With the raven-haired Trainer in question, he had arrived at the top of the staircase and was slowly walking through the hallway, taking notice of the small stone pedestals with various statues resting on them as well of the several portraits that were hanging on the walls.

"How cool is all of this? Whoever used to live here, it's a bit of a shame to leave this place in a state like this." As he was busy having a look around the different sights covering this building, he stopped in his tracks as something happened to catch his attention. "Hmm? What's this?" He turned his head to find out what it was and found himself staring at a large mirror hanging on the wall in front of him. After a few seconds passed, he was met with quite a shock as the mirror began to shine with a bright purple glow, to which he let out a gasp of shock. "Huh? W-what is this…?" After a few moments, the glow faded to show what appeared to be a reflection of another room, one that looked different from the one he was standing in.

Inside the room in question, a young brunette girl dressed in a pink top with a yellow heart on it and a yellow border on the sleeves and neck, a peach-pink veil with a bright green gem on the top, a light purple long skirt with a piece of pink fabric at the waist, brown sandals and a yellow necklace with a red heart was looking through a similar mirror in the room she was standing in and she showed an expression of surprise as she saw the reflection of the room Ash was standing in. "What is this?" Since she was occupied with looking around at the room she was seeing, she didn't notice that Ash was staring in surprise at the sight of her before a bright smile slowly came to his face.

'Wow… whoever this girl is, she looks beautiful…' Ash thought to himself, taking notice of the outfit she was wearing as well as the look of her sapphire blue eyes. "Hey there." he quietly greeted, figuring that if either of them was going to give introductions first, it'd be him.

The girl jumped in surprise at the sound of Ash's voice and she turned her glance to notice him happily smiling at him, before she showed a smile in return. "Oh! Hello. Sorry I didn't see you there."

Ash simply shook his head in understanding. "Don't worry, it's okay. I figured you'd be just as surprised about this as I am."

The girl nodded in agreement, showing a look of relief that this boy didn't appear to be upset about her not noticing him at first. "Yeah… I mean, I didn't have any idea something like this was possible. I always thought this kind of thing only existed in fantasy stories. It's kind of surprising that you're handling it well."

Ash let out a chuckle at this statement. "Well, when you've been to as many places as I have, stuff like this becomes kind of normal to you." The girl proceeded to start giggling, to which Ash showed a smile of delight that he was always making a good impression on her, before she began to calm down as she lifted her glance back to him.

"He-he-he… I see." Once she was certain she had managed to calm herself down enough, she figured it best to take care of introductions. "Well, since you're here, I guess I should introduce myself." She then went to grab the sides of her skirt before curtseying. "My name's May. It's really nice to meet you."

Ash gave a nod in understanding before bowing his head. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Ash." He then raised his head back up at May, while she stood upright to do the same for him. "From the looks of it, I'm guessing this place you're from must be a different world, right?"

May immediately nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, that's right! My parents always told me that there was a mirror that allowed people to see into other worlds, but I didn't think it was actually real. But it looks like I've just been proven wrong." She then turned her glance to find that a Pokemon was making their way over to where she was, wondering what was going on, and she showed a bright smile once she recognized who it was. "Glaceon, come have a look at this!" The Pokemon in question poked her head up to find out what was going on and an expression of alarm crossed her face at the sight of Ash from the other side of the mirror, to which May showed a smile of amusement since it was exactly how she felt. "This is Ash. Ash, this is my Pokemon, Glaceon."

Ash showed a bright smile once he spotted Glaceon beside May before bending down so he was looking at her. "It's nice to meet you, Glaceon. I know this must be a bit of a shock to you. Believe me, you're not the only one. May felt the same way." Glaceon showed an expression of surprise as she was listening to what Ash had to say and she looked up at May to find out if that was true, to which May nodded in confirmation. She then turned her head back to Ash as he continued. "I've actually got a partner Pokemon of my own. We were looking for somewhere to stay for the night and came across this place."

May showed a look of surprise at this. "Really? Where is he, then?" Ash's eyes went wide in realization once he remembered that he and Pikachu split up to investigate this building for themselves and he began looking around as he was wondering where the electric mouse Pokemon could be before he was met with the sound of Pikachu's voice from behind him.

"(Ash, there you are!)" Ash then turned around to look behind him, while May and Glaceon had a look from as far as they could see behind the mirror, and they could see that Pikachu had arrived at the top of the staircase and was now approaching where Ash was standing, to which Ash showed a smile of delight while Pikachu began to run over to him.

"Hey there, buddy! Did your search go well?" Ash asked, bending down to Pikachu while he stopped just in front of his trainer. Pikachu gave a nod of confirmation, to which Ash went to pick him up in his arms and show him to May and Glaceon. "I'd like you to meet May and Glaceon. May, Glaceon, this is Pikachu." Pikachu stared in stunned surprise at the sight of May and Glaceon through the mirror before he let out a cry of alarm with his eyes going wide in shock. Ash showed a smile of amusement at Pikachu's state of panic before looking down at his partner with a reassuring smile. "There's no need to panic, Pikachu. I know it's a bit of a shock, but they're from a different world from us and we can actually see them through this mirror."

"(R-really?)" Pikachu asked, blinking twice in surprise as he kept his attention on May and Glaceon as the former was cheerfully waving to him with a big smile while the latter was looking on at him in silence. After allowing a few seconds to pass to let this all sink in, a friendly smile slowly came to Pikachu's face before he nodded in understanding. "(I think I get it now. Great to meet you both.)"

"It's nice to meet you too, Pikachu. I take it you and Ash have been together for a long time, right?" May asked. Pikachu gave a cheerful nod in agreement as he went to climb up onto Ash's shoulder, to which Ash watched him on before looking back to May.

"I think we're going to go turn in for the night. It's been a bit of a long day for us."

May gave a nod in understanding. "Yeah… I'm about to do the same thing myself. I have a busy day for tomorrow and I don't think my parents will be too happy if I end up getting up late. Hopefully I'll see you again tomorrow night."

Ash happily nodded in agreement with that idea. "You bet! See you then!" With this, he began to head off towards the staircase to find where the guest room was that Pikachu found, while May watched him leave and she let out a happy sigh before turning her glance to Glaceon.

"I think we'll have two new guests for a while, huh, Glaceon?" she asked. Glaceon gave a bright smile as she nodded in agreement; she had a feeling that she was going to become fond of Pikachu in no time.