Chapter Text
They had just saved Lusamine.
Everyone was climbing onto Solgaleo's back, preparing to leave and care for the woman who had just been rescued from the Ultra Beast; UB-01 Symbiont.
Ash had waited for everyone to climb on the space lions back, and when everyone was safe and secured, he walked over to Solgaleo, petting its mane and preparing to hop on for their graceful departure.
At least, it would have been.
Before climbing on, the UB-01 Symbiont that was previously controlling Lusamine had become angered at its failure to merge with a human. It moved to the closest human to it, that unfortunately being Ash.
Time seemed to slow for the trainer, despite the interactions beginning lasting very few seconds.
He felt the cold tentacles wrap around him. First, they wrapped around his waist, then his upper chest, and pulled him backwards, then up into the distorted sky of this strange Ultra Space.
Ash could only wonder what he could've done to deserve this.
Every region, it seemed, was desperately waiting for the right time to strike out problems for the young trainer, this was no different.
Well, maybe that was a lie. this was different. This time, multiple of his friends were watching. This time, he felt an anger he'd never felt before. Once again, he was being stripped away from family.
A different emotion started to bubble up as he was pulled away; Guilt. Ash knew he felt Guilt. This Guilt overpowered the anger, and flooded his thoughts that already seemed to appear and fade just as quickly. He was Guilty that his newest family had to see this, that they had to be involved any time Arceus had seemingly gotten bored when he wasn't experiencing active grief.
At times like these, he Hated Arceus. It was long ago, he knew, Arceus was a cruel god. Arceus only watched, gave its hardest battles to unwilling soldiers, and cause grief of unbearable levels. Arceus was Cruel, Ash knew.
Ash felt tears on his cheeks, this Anger and Grief had overpowered him. He felt a bit lucky, though, as he was too high up for anyone to see him cry. how embarrassing.
He heard the screams and yells of terror, shock, worry, and that word Ash was so familiar with; Grief, from below. Ash almost wanted to ignore the sounds, they hurt too much to hear. He himself would have been screaming, either in shock or in the pain in his limbs as something punctured his skin, but he knew it would only worry his family more. He'd never want that.
Slowly, Ash felt a strange calm wash over him. He felt as if he were watching the sunset on the Melemele shores, letting the water lap against his shoes and listen to the crashing of calm waves against warm sand, the sun sharing its elegant heat with his body. Pikachu let out a terrifying yelp and a thunderbolt reaching towards him, but neither seemed to reach.
Ash felt contentment with his situation. He gave a soft, gently wave to Pikachu, like he was just going out for a walk. As much as Pikachu called out to him, tried to get a thunderbolt to at least make contact, Neuro-toxins in the bloodstream is much different than Mega Evolution Energy.
The UB-01 Symbiont floated up higher with the trainer, and eventually hid behind rocks and strangely-colored coral, leaving no trace of where it would continue its escape.
-
Most Pokémon that were used to rescue Lusamine were exhausted now, and couldn't afford to fight again.
They had no choice but to leave Ash behind.
After much protest on what to do, Gladion was the one to call the shots.
"Each one of our Pokémon are exhausted, unless you want to exhaust them further, we need to return."
Gladion looked to Lusamine, who was barely conscious, and leaned against Lillie.
"We can't leave Mother in a state like this without medical attention! We're leaving, and then we'll make a plan."
"How do you think Professor Kukui will react…?" Mallow spoke with a soft, somber tone.
Anyone who knew Ash knew the Professor. Anyone who knew the Professor could tell you that he saw Ash as a son, even as much as Kukui would try to hide the fact. Ash Ketchum just had that quality; he could make family anywhere.
-
Gladion had asked Solgaleo to take them back to the Altar of the Sunne. The same Ultra Wormhole that they entered from reopened, and everyone returned to their dimension. Well, almost everyone.
Sophocles held Pikachu in his lap while they returned, he gently pet between Pikachu's ears. Pikachu didn't react to the touch, it hated being separated from it's trainer.
When they had reached their own dimension again, Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet were both ecstatic to see that everyone had returned safely.
Solgaleo dropped each of the passengers off, growled softly in an "I'm Sorry"-like tone, and leapt off into the same Ultra Wormhole.
Professor Kukui was busy checking on each of the kids and Lusamine
"Where's Ash?" Professor Burnet spoke in a concerned tone.
Professor Kukui stood up from his crouched position, and looked at Professor Burnet. Then he took in the people around him, and realized what peice was missing.
Sweat dripped down his forehead as he looked at all the children, his students, his family.
" . . . "
"What happened?"
Professor Kukui almost felt scared to ask, he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to know the answer.
Pikachu climbed out of Sophocles' arms and ran to the Professor, jumping into his arms instead. It rubbed its head against his bare chest and let out a yearning cry.
"Uhm.. Professor," Sophocles started.
"after we saved Lusamine, the same Ultra Beast that took her took Ash instead…"
Kukui, again, looked at his students, as if he wanted someone to say that it was a joke.
If it were a joke, this joke was quite cruel.
Some students looked away, some nodded, one attempted to remain indifferent, and one that wasn't his own tended to his mother.
Kukui wasn't sure what to say, he let his emotions stir for a moment.
"Okay, everyone," he eventually spoke
"Let's head home. You all need rest, we'll come up with a plan once everyone is back in working-condition."