farawayplace | [in which the rich brat has to work for the first time in his life, probably]

"Well... no, not like that. I'm not that kind of Pokemon Trainer."

That got Ash to think for a moment. As much as he said about wanting to be a Pokemon Master, in actuality he hasn't exactly quite put into words about what it is to him. ~~That the word "Master" in its foreign language still elude him somewhat~~ He does have a vague image that's pictured in his head however. He hummed, before continuing.

"But wouldn't you get lonely if you don't want to meet anyone? Are you okay with that?"

It was a pretty innocent question, as the thought of Banette being all sad and alone didn't sit well with Ash that much. Especially with what it had been through.

Banette froze mid-step and nearly stumbled.

Ash was right! It hated being lonely. It hated being abandoned because it didn't want to be all alone.

"... I'm getting used to it."

It's better than being abandoned again, isn't it?

And Banette would get a pitying look from Ash.

"...Well, you aren't alone right now." Ash reassured, "I'm here with you, and so is Pikachu and Lampent! You've got friends walking by your side right now!"

"Yeah, but I don't reaaally trust you! You could try to trick me or just leave me when I need you, just like my old friend did, so I'm not going to let myself trust another human being ever again!" Banette said stubbornly, folding its arms and walking along. "... Pikachu and Lampent are okay, though."

Well, there's that at least...

'Well, wanting to befriend Pokemon is at least some improvement,' Lampent mused, but didn't translate for Ash. 'Maybe if you befriend some Pokemon, you can find more better things to focus on...'

"I still want to get back at my old friend, though! Why should he get to be happy and enjoy himself when I'm not?!"
Banette's protests, however, Lampent did translate.

"Pikapi pika-pikachu-pi!" Ash would never leave a friend behind! Pikachu reacted defensively at Banette.

Meanwhile with Ash, a sigh escaped his lips. To hear that Banette wouldn't change its mind about trusting humans kind of stung him. But hey, it was willing to befriend Pikachu and Lampent which merely lessened the blow a small bit, so there's that. Trying to get Banette to open up to him more however was going to be a bigger challenge than he thought.

Ash thought back to what Banette said.

"I wonder, did something happen between the two of you before he left you?" he asked. There were a few missing pieces of information he realized, and he needed to hear from Banette for a clue or two.

Banette blinked at Pikachu's defensiveness, then cupped its hands behind its head. "That's just because it hasn't happened to you yet!"

'La~mpent, lamp...' Lampent explained it's not always the case.

Ash's question earned a curious look from Banette.

"Oh, you want to hear my story? Fine, I'll tell you! We both suddenly found ourselves here, but it was fine, because we had each other. We made shelter, found a place to stay, ate food, and explored together. Everything was just fine, even though we missed home, we had each other..."

Banette blinked, starting to feel overwhelmed as it told its story and leaking negative energy again. It tugged on its zipper, trying to keep it from leaking all the way out, but couldn't stop shedding tears.

"... then, he just left. I woke up one day, completely alone. I looked everywhere!!"

Banette earned a look of contempt from the Mouse Pokemon. It was clear on Pikachu's face that he was mildly offended by Banette's words. Though it's not like Banette knew what kind of person Ash is, and the lengths he would go to reach out to anyone, especially the Pokemon he meets.

Meanwhile, Ash listened attentively to Banette's story. And it's from there that he picked something that caught his ears. They sound similarly to the case of him and Pikachu. And from how Banette talked about its Trainer, it sounded like they genuinely cared for one another. We had each other, it said. Now, Ash continued to wonder...

"So like, he's gone? All of a sudden?" He questioned. He didn't want to doubt Banette, but there's one part of the story that he couldn't help but scrutinize at. Did Banette's Trainer really, truly left it behind willingly?

"...The way I see it, I think maybe, he didn't mean to leave you behind." Ash then continued, "He... might have been taken away, by whatever brought us here in the first place."

He recalled stories from the locals in the island, from Professor Banyan too -- how there are people who were drifted in would eventually get drifted back to their home worlds. It was a hope he held on to while in his stay in Ultern.

Banette stopped, stunned, then turned around, staring hard at Ash, as if trying to figure out if he seemed like the sort to tell lies.

"What do you mean? You think something took my f— took that human away from here?! We didn't just end up here by accident?"

It was leaking an intensely negative aura again, but this time, much more chaotic and dischordant, threatening to break out, in every direction.

"This better not be some kind of trick or lie, or I'll curse you too!" Banette warned, angrily.

It seemed Ash hit the nail on the head, but it was making Banette very upset.

Lampent floated ahead of Ash, intent on protecting him, if need be (might want to advise it not to use force again...)

The moment Banette's negative aura flared got Ash to gasp and flinch. But even then, he could already tell from how it moved and from the tone in its voice that the Marionette Pokemon immediately grew upset. He gestured Lampent to fall back, wanting to attempt to calm Banette again without threatening it with violence. Pikachu meanwhile stood there and watched in worry.

"I'm not trying to trick you!" Ash shook his head as he tried to reassure it, "I'm just saying... That's what this place is doing right now. Bringing us into this world, not knowing when we'll ever come back, until... it does bring us back home."

Yet from what Banette said, Ash came to a realization that it would happen to him and Pikachu too.

"Y'know, I never thought of it until now... But..." He then glanced at his partner and frowned, "If I got back home, but without him by my side, I'd be really, really upset. I'm sure Pikachu would too. I... I don't want that."

Pikachu sensing distress from Ash he began to move to his side and brushed his cheek against his leg, to which Ash proceeded to pick him up and hold him closely against his chest.

"I don't want to leave him behind and feel alone. I want us to return home together."

He then looked at Banette with sympathy.

"I think, your partner might have felt the same too."

Lampent fell back; after all, Trip instructed it to accompany Ash. He seemed better at handling these sorts of situations…

Banette looked even more distraught, then. Its eyes went very, very wide and the malice all vanished. It crumpled to the ground on its stubby little knees.

“… I… was trying to curse him, when, he was taken away? He didn’t mean to leave? I wasn't… abandoned?”

Its malicious intent was gone and it seemed to be grappling with how terrible a thing it nearly inflicted on its beloved friend, that it started to cry.

Ash and Pikachu, too, could be separated…

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know… I didn’t know!”

It didn’t really know how to make any of this better, but it tried to hug them.

And Ash let Banette be as he accepted its embrace. A moment later, he gently wrapped his arm over Banette feeling the Pokemon needed some physical support. Until the Marionette Pokemon has decided to move away from him and had enough pouring all its emotions out on him, Ash stayed quiet for the entire time.

It's the best he could do to make things better for Banette.

Banette cried against Ash for quite some time, wetting his clothes with its tears, shoulders wracked by sobs. All the negativity and heaviness it had brougth to the place lifted and cleared... it cried until it was spent and felt lighter, although still somewhat troubled.

Lampent looked approvingly of Ash and even seemed to smile with just its eyes.

"We have to go back... I have to go back. I need to apologize... for making so much trouble and bothering everyone..."

With the heaviness in the air gone, Ash felt like he can breathe easy. And then he stretched his hand out for Banette to hold on and smiled.

"Let's go together. We'll be right with you."

There are many, many wary, frightened, irate, and angry people when they return to the graveyard.
Banette clung and hid behind Ash’s leg for a moment, wincing when a woman, shieldibg her child, called Banette “a little devil,” while others seemed more wary Banette would disturb the graves again.

He looked at the crowd in surprise.

...That's strange, Ash thought to himself. He didn't expect to find this many people when they returned to where they came from. Was there some kind of gathering going on in the graveyard?

However when he heard all these people voicing their grievances towards Banette and calling it names, that quickly infuriated Ash and moved in to defend his friend.

"Cut it out!" he demanded, his voice raised in anger, "Banette's sorry now! It came here to apologize!"

And he turned to Banette wearing a softened expression.

"C'mon then, just apologize. I'll be there with you, like I said."

Edited 2023-04-08 22:50 (UTC)

They looked stunned by Ash's interjections, staring wide-eyed at him. It seemed Ash's words were enough to silence them.

Banette looked surprised, too, watching Ash with wide eyes, then nodded, slowly and walked forward.

Lampent introduced himself and explained he was translating for Banette.

"I'm... sorry for all of the trouble I caused you all," Banette began his apology. "I thought I was abandoned by my friend, but I nearly made a terrible mistake... I was going to curse him, thinking he abandoned me and saved just himself, but... just because we were brought here together, it doesn't mean we'd be taken away together either... I didn't know at the time and... I really, really am sorry—"

Banette blinekd back tears, then lowered its head, hands on its stubby knees, as it tried ot hold back its tears, but cried again.

This seemed to soften the people's hearts and they, despite some still looking wary of the Ghost type, were largely quick to forgive it.

"... did you clear up that misunderstanding, trainer with the Pikachu?" asked an elderly man.

"You did well," a middle-aged woman said, smiling.

"We're sorry this little one must've felt so betrayed, but regret always comes late, remember that," an older lady said, bending down to gently stroke Banette's head, touch feather-light.

"You should hurry back home," the mother with child said gently to Ash, although she still looked suspicious of Banette. "Or at least find shelter. It's getting late, isn't it? I'm sure your mother would worry..."

Seeing that most of the crowd had expressed their forgiveness towards Banette, that got Ash to calm down and let out a sigh of relief. At least things settled down surprisingly fast, and that was a far better resolution that he wanted rather than letting it escalate further.

"Isn't that great, Banette?" He cheered, "Everything worked out in the end!"

Pikachu sounded his agreement.

At the mother's question, Ash smiled but shifted his gaze away from them.

"Ah, I'd love to, but the thing is... I can't. My buddy and I aren't from around here, and I dunno when we'll get ourselves back." His brow furrowed, but quickly forced himself to wear a grin. "Oh but don't worry! I have my friends with me, so things aren't so bad!"

Banette nodded, happily shedding tears of relief now.

The mother looked at him pityingly, with a small, sad smile, holding her child close.
“Oh… I’m so sorry. I see, trainers in other regions set off on journeys at your age, don’t they?”

She cane closer.
“Still, to be alone here, without any way to call home… is there anything that reminds you of home?”

"Do I...?" Ash looked away in contemplation. He could think of a number of things that somewhat remind him of home -- the things his Mother packed into his bag, all the memories he carried with him, and... there's his partner, Pikachu. The Mouse Pokemon taking notice of Ash's distant gaze climbed onto his shoulder to check on him.

"Pikapi?" Hearing Pikachu calling out to him got Ash to move away from his thoughts and smiled.

"There's a lot, and I do miss home from time to time. But I'll be alright!" He looked at the mother with a reassured face. "Everyone here in Ultern makes it feel like I'm right at home anyway. And I hope Banette feels the same way too!"

Banette nodded eagerly, saying… something, but Lampent didn’t seem to translate it, rather tired from using so much effort. Still Banette seemed to agree and hugged Ash gratefully, before joining the others.

“Well, as long as this little one won’t cause anymore trouble…”
“Banette can stay with us as long as it likes.”

Banette seemed to have found its place here, too.

"Is that so?" Immediately he gazed at Banette, picked it up and twirled around with it expressing his joy. "You hear that Banette? You've got yourself some new friends!"

Both he and Pikachu let out a laugh, and once he's finally composed himself he set it back down. His smile still remained on his face.

"I know it's not easy not having your friend around, but I'm sure he still cares for you even when far apart." said Ash in a reassuring tone, "Until you and your partner meet again someday, I hope you enjoy everyone's company here."

Ash raised a finger.

"And don't cause too much trouble for them too while you're at it, okay?"

Now noticing that Lampent's been quiet for most of the time, Ash then returned his gaze to the mother and child.

"We better get going! I have a friend who's setting up camp and I can't keep him waiting." And then Ash quickly bowed his head. "Please take good care of Banette!"

They saw him off, waving goodbye and wishing him luck. Although Banette's words couldn't be translated by Lampent anymore, it sounded warm and heartfelt.

Where Ash left him, Trip had set up a little campfire, warmly glowing in the distance, not far from where he'd set up his fold-out tent, although Trip looked quite sleepy, sitting wrapped in his sleeping bag, resembling an exceptionally grumpy Swadloon, poking at the flames occasionally with a stick.

He looked like he'd rather be sleeping, but was forcing himself awake every time he started to doze off.

Once he saw the light of the campfire just up ahead, Ash looked at Lampent and nodded.

"Thanks so much for earlier. You've been a big help to me." And then he gestured the Pokemon to move on ahead. "You should get back to Trip. I'll follow behind."

And true to his word, he does follow behind until he reached camp and spotted his friend looking like he's fighting the urge to sleep. Ash started to feel bad about having to leave Trip like this, and forced a smile as he made his presence known.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Trip!" He grinned. "Banette's feeling much better now, and it even made new friends along the way! Luckily for us we found a bunch of people hanging around in the graveyard and are even willing to take it in!"

Lampent flew swiftly to return to Trip's side.

Trip did his best to hide his sleepiness when Ash came closer, although he still looked tired. He lowered the sleeping bag too, trying to act unbothered.

Ash's words certainly earned a surprised and confused stare from him, though.

"... Ash, what? People don't just go and hang around graveyards, especially not at night.... I didn't even see anyone take this path, so... how did anyone even get there?"

It was touching, however, to hear Banette found a good home... but.

[in which the rich brat has to work for the first time in his life, probably]

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[good job, Ash, have some cookies]

1/2

2/2 ash happily and messily monches the cookies

[so it was youuuu…]

[caught in the act /('o')\]

[greedy child]

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[a little daunting (haunting)]

spoooooky

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[we'll be wrapping up this (massive) thread soon~!]

yahoooo!

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[I Can't Believe My Rival Is This Weird (And Dense)]

1/2 dang that's my favorite light novel-

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[poor Ash xD;;;;;]

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