Pokemon: The Aura Guardian Strikes Back

Ch 21 - Ferry Trip to Pasio!

It is currently early morning in Alola, Professor Kukui just woke up, but Ash and Lillie are still fast asleep. Though what they don't know is the important day ahead for our young heroes.

"Ugh, what time is it.." Professor Kukui moaned. "6 am? May as well turn on the morning news..."  Professor Kukui walked into the living room, sat down down on the couch and turned on the TV. "You have tuned in this morning to Alola T.V's 6am broadcast!" Said the news reporter. "Our first story today is regarding to the Pokemon Masters Tournament! The opening ceremony of the league will happen at midday at the artificial island, Pasio! It is an artificial island that was built by the Macro Cosmos. Make sure to catch a ferry to the stadium in time, the last ferry leaves from Hau'oli port at 11 am!" The news reporters explained. "Oh CRAP! I have to wake Ash and Lillie up!" Professor Kukui shouted as he ran up the stairs to their bedrooms. 

Professor Kukui slammed open Ash's door. "ASH! Wake up! The Opening ceremony is today!" Kukui shouted. Suddenly, Ash shot awake. "W-WHAT! I have to get ready quickly then!" Ash said. Lillie woke up from the noise in the room next to hers. She walked into Ash's room. "What's the fuss about, I'm trying to sleep-" "Lillie! The opening ceremony is happening today!" Ash shouted. "Huh, w-What! I have to get ready!" Lillie shouted as she ran into her room.

Once Ash and Lillie were ready, they bolted downstairs for breakfast, which Professor Kukui had already prepared. "Professor! Put the T.V on!" Ash shouted. "No need to be loud Ash." Professor responded. The T.V flicked to life, and the news was on. "Uh, Professor." "Yes Ash?" "The announcement doesn't start until 12..." "I know." "We still have 6 hours professor..." Ash said while yawning. "I'm tired too Kukui... why did you wake us up the early?" Lillie said.

"...well the thing is, the others at the school heard about the tournament, and they wanted to come. I got tickets for the 8 o'clock ferry." Professor Kukui said. "Oh, that leaves plenty of time to round up my Pokemon then!" Ash exclaimed. "You might want to pack some clothes as well, I booked some rooms for the 7 of us." Professor said. "7 of us? There is only 6 of us..." Lillie said. "Oh yeah! My research assistant is coming with us to! Her name's Professor Burnet!" Kukui said. "Oh, ok." Lillie responded. "Hmmm? A her?" Ash said smugly. "Don't you dare Ash..."

Ash went outside to the back garden and called for all of his Pokemon. Within a minute, everyone was rounded, apart from one... "Where's Charizard?" Ash asked his Pokemon. None of his pokemon knew until he heard a loud roar from the top of the mountain near Kukui's house. "Why Charizard, why now..." Ash thought to himself. "Staraptor, lets go!" Ash hopped onto Staraptor and flew towards where they heard the roar. 

Ash was expecting Charizard to be battling a wild pokemon, but he was surprised at what he saw. Once the peak of the mountain came into view, he saw Charizard trying to help a trapped Dragonair. "A Dragonair!? We have to help it!" Ash shouted as Staraptor flew towards it. Charizard was happy that Ash was there. Ash surveyed the situation, the Dragonair was trapped under a boulder that fell on it. "Alright Charizard, on the count of 3, we lift the boulder up." Charizard roared in agreement. "Ok, 1! 2! 3! Lift!" They both tried to lift it, but to no avail. "Hold on, what if I use my Aura to give my body a temporary boost in performance, right!" Ash readied himself. "Ok Charizard, you up for a second shot?" Charizard nodded. "Ok. 1! 2! 3! Lift!" Ash shouted. He felt his Aura coursing throughout his body, he felt stronger. 

The Boulder was lifted, and the Dragonair was free. Dragonair flew around for a bit until it flew away. "Alright Charizard, thanks for helping." Ash said. Char Izard was about to take off until Ash told it not to. "I need you, the tournament announcements are today and you're coming, along with the rest of us." Charizard roared in excitement! "Alright, Charizard return!" The Pokeball in Ash's hand sucked in Charizard. Ash walked back to Staraptor. "Alright, let's head back down and start packing up Staraptor." Ash hopped on and they flew back down to the house.

After an hour, everyone was packed up and ready to head to the port. "Alright, Ash, here is your ticket, you should have yours already, right Lillie?" "Yep." Lillie responded. "Alright! Let's go!" The 3 packed their luggage in the car, got in and off they were. "Hey Professor, how long will it take to get to the ferry terminal?" Lillie asked. "It should take about 20 minutes, so we will be half and hour early!" Kukui responded. After 20 minutes of jamming it out, listening to music, they arrived at the booth where they present their tickets. "Ok, you can drive onto the ferry now." Said the booth worker with a very boring tone. "Jeez, her voice just made me tired, how boring." Ash said.

They drove into the ferry and parked. "I got a message from burnet, they're already here, having a bite upstairs, should we go meet them?" "Yes!" Ash and Lillie both shouted. Before they went upstairs, the checked the map of the ferry. "There's 4 levels, bottom floor is the parking area, upstairs is the dining/living area, and the top 2 floors have cabins and seats, I assume this is used for long trips as well." Kukui said. They walked upstairs, once they opened the door they were immediately greeted with some familiar faces. "Lillie!" Shouted Mallow and Lana. "It's been so long since we last saw you, have you been faring well?" Mallow asked. "I've been fine, I enjoyed my time with Ash." Lillie responded. Mallow and Lana had smirks on their faces. "Enjoyed eh? Your going to explain what you did with Ash." Lana said, Mallow giggles. "N-no, it's not like that..." "Aww come on Lillie, let's go chat!" Mallow shouted as Lillie was pulled into another room. 

"That was quick, wonder what they're gonna talk about." Ash said to himself. "Hey Ash!" Ash heard someone shout his name from across the ship. "Kiawe, is that you!?" "Yes!" Ash followed in the direction where he heard is voice.

Ash turned a corner and walked right into Kiawe. "Ash! How have you been?" Kiawe asked. "Good, I guess...." Ash glanced outside through the window. "Jeez, that storm looks bad." "It sure does." ... "I wonder if it will come over." Ash said. "Well if it does, I don't know what will happen, the weather forecast said it will be very stormy today, they might put off the opening ceremony." Kiawe said. 

After about 30 minutes of sailing, the overhead speakers came to life. "Hello everyone, this is your captain speaking. We will be arriving shortly, we should be docked in Pasio in approximately 10 minutes. We also have a message from the head of Macro Cosmos, Chairman Rose. According to new weather forecasts, the opening ceremony will be delayed until tomorrow, so book a room if you don't have one. Safe travels!"  Everyone was disappointed. "Thought so..." said someone.

After about 10 minutes of sailing, they were finally docked. "WOW! THIS ISLAND IS HUGE!" Ash shouted. Everyone else was amazed, including Professor Kukui. "Our villa's are on the other said of the island, so we'll take the car there." Professor Burnet said. The 2 groups split up again and went down the road towards the north-end. 

"The storm is really picking up now, the clouds over there don't look too good." Kukui said. "Yeah, I can wait another day." Ash said sighing.

Once everyone arrived at the villas, Ash went to his room, crashed onto his bed.

And he blacked out.