Adventure's Past

Chapter 11 - Espie

"You're here right now and nothing bad is happening," Amelia pointed out. Ash just chuckled and shook his head. "Somehow, I doubt that things are going to stay peaceful for very long. If people realize I'm back in society, then who knows what'll happen," he stated.

Pikachu, who had been silently listening to them a few feet over, had quickly forgiven Ash after hearing his side of the story and decided to walk over to him. "Pika..." Pikachu apologized, holding out his tail for Ash to shake. Ash noticed Pikachu below him and smiled, realizing what he was doing. "It's alright buddy. I can't stay mad at you anyway!" He grabbed Pikachu and placed him back on his shoulder where they both felt most comfortable.

Amelia smiled at the two and look past Ash when she noticed some movement behind him. "What's wrong?" He asked, turning around and watching as Espie entered from the dark hallway and approached Ash. "Espie, what are you doing?" Amelia asked cautiously. Unbeknownst to Ash, Espie hadn't left the room that Amelia made for it since Frank had passed away.

Espie stared at Ash before its eyes started glowing a deep purple. Ash stood up and took a step back as he remembered that Espie had an unusual power to create Z-Crystals due to its family lineage. "Is it trying to another Z-Crystal for me?" Ash asked Amelia, who stood up and stuttered, "I-I don't really..."

"Essss-Purr!" Espie exclaimed, sending a tiny wave of energy, piercing Ash's skin and causing him to fall into his chair. "Ash!" Amelia exclaimed, running over to him. Espie fell onto its knees and laid on the ground, feeling exhausted from using its energy. "What was that?" Ash asked as Amelia made sure he was fine. "There's not Z-Crystal, so what was Espie doing?"

Amelia turned to Espie and realized it was lying down. "Espie, what's wrong?" She asked, walking over to it. Espie brought its head up and instantly began staring at Ash again, despite its clear exhaustion. Ash rubbed his arm as he stared back at Espie. "I don't think she was trying to make a Z-Crystal, but she was obviously trying to do something-"

"AH!" Ash suddenly yelled, a sharp and excruciating headache coming to fruition. He fell onto the floor, unable to stand due to the pain. Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and worriedly began trying to help him up. Amelia ran over to help Pikachu, but Ash had already lost his vision, making it clear to him that Espie did, in fact, do something; he just had no clue what it had done.

Suddenly, his headache cleared, leaving no trace of the pain it had caused. Ash opened his eyes and asked, "Pikachu, are you here buddy?" He got no response, so he brought his head up, expecting to see Pikachu, Amelia, and Espie, but instead saw a snowy forest all around him. "Where am I?" He whispered to himself, feeling the snow particles falling on his face.

Feeling as though what he was currently experiencing was a vision, Ash knew what to do next, which was to walk aimlessly until he came across anything that had importance. I didn't know Espie could cause me to have visions, Ash thought to himself. But then again, Espie is a weird creature. The large trees towered over him, and he shivered while creating snowy footprints in the ground.

A few minutes before Ash noticed a light through the fog. That must be where I need to go, Ash told himself, making his way towards it. He was getting very tired of having visions whenever people or Pokemon wanted him to, but he had been having this issue ever since starting on his journey, so he didn't mind it at this point.

He caught up to the light, seeing that it was a lit street lamp alongside a snow-covered path. He continued forward and noticed his teeth were now chattering due to the cold, so he hurried his pace in search of anything that could warm him up. His hope soared when he saw a log cabin in the distance alongside a few more street lamps.

Closing in on the cabin, it became more apparent to him that it wasn't just a log cabin in the middle of the snowy woods. Amongst the area were more cabins and buildings. Ash realized that it must be some kind of city, so he quickly hurried closer to the original log cabin he had set his eyes on.

Going towards the front, Ash was met with a familiar sight. The front of the log cabin was shown to be a Pokemon Center with a set of wooden stairs leading up to the inside, which had a small fireplace and empty seating around it. Ash had a feeling he knew where he currently was, but he went inside and decided to ask Nurse Joy inside to make sure.

"How can I help you?" Nurse Joy asked as Ash walked up, feeling warmer the second he walked inside. "Is this Snowbelle City?" Ash asked, sniffling his nose as he walked near the fireplace. "Yes, it is. Do you have any Pokemon that need healing?" Nurse Joy asked after answering his question. "No I don't... do you feel fine Pikach-" Ash was about to ask before realizing Pikachu was still back at the farmhouse at Moomoo Farms.

"You can stay in a room for the night if you want," Nurse Joy offered. "We get a lot of Pokemon trainers coming around here to battle the gym leader, Wulfric." Ash rubbed his hands against the fireplace while he listened to Nurse Joy. "Yeah, I've fought him before. He's no joke," Ash replied while remembering his two matches against the Ice-type gym leader.

"Of course. Did you win against him?" Nurse Joy asked while grabbing a room key for Ash. "Not the first time," Ash answered. "But I was able to clear my head and beat him the second time." Nurse Joy walked over to him and handed him the key. "Well, I'm glad to hear that mister...?" She said, waiting for Ash to respond with a name.

Ash had thought that this was a simple vision a moment ago, but something about the interactions and atmosphere started to make him question whether this was a dream or if he was actually here, so he answered with the safest response. "Ergh, it's just Aaron," he responded, using a name from the top of his head.

"Aaron... got it," Nurse Joy said while writing down his name on the room key. "You'd better get to bed since nightfall is happening soon," she suggested. Ash nodded and politely took the key. "Right," he said, thanking her and getting up from the fireplace. As he made his way to the hallway, he noticed a clutter of papers that had been left out on a table.

"Are those your papers?" Ash asked, pointing towards the scattered mess. Nurse Joy shook her head and replied, "That belongs to someone who's staying here right now. I believe his younger sister is currently trying to beat Wulfric to get a gym badge." Ash smiled at this fact, as he was worried if people were still trying to win their way up to the leagues that he loved to do.

Ash suddenly realized that this Nurse Joy didn't seem to recognize him, as she had accepted the name 'Aaron', so he turned to her and asked, "Do people still participate in the World Coronation Series?" He was curious since he had never completed it, and thought that maybe his goal of beating Leon was still possible.

Nurse Joy gave him a weird look and replied, "You aren't from here, are you?" Ash shook his head and Nurse Joy explained, "It's everywhere these days. It's all the trainers want to do." Ash hid his excitement internally and thanked Nurse Joy for answering his question. "Good night now," she said as she began closing the Pokemon Center for the night.

Heading into his room, which was the final room in the entirety of the small building, Room 10, he noticed a bed of fresh sheets and laid down, exhausted. He was confident now that what he was experiencing was real, and that Espie had teleported him to Snowbelle City. The reason as to why was unknown, but he had a feeling that he was going to figure it out very soon.