Paragon

Remnants of the Great War [6]

PARAGON

Remnants of the Great War Arc [6]

Chapter 15 : Rota, Land of the Guardians

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Ash woke up early the next morning. He and Cynthia would be flying out to Kanto later to meet with Albrecht at some function. Pikachu woke up when he did, and a soft jolt passed through Ash's body as his tail brushed against his face. Pikachu cooed and smiled, and Ash scratched him behind his ears.

He knew Pikachu wasn't an early riser like he was, but the mouse made the effort anyway for his sake.

As Ash brushed his teeth, his mind wandered back to his meeting with Albrecht two years ago. With everything that'd happened in the interim, he'd sort of forgotten about the man. The memory was easy enough to recall, he'd just had no reason to until now.

Albrecht hadn't struck him as a trainer, but clearly the man was adept if he could be elected World Champion just like that. Of course, because of the election, Ash had no idea what pokémon he had or what his battling style was, but he was eager to find out.

According to Cynthia, he was coming along so she could try and "suss him out," since he seemed to be interested in Ash two years ago. But to Ash, that just sounded like an excuse to get him away from the danger of an actual assignment, like going after AZ with N and Zinnia.

That decision stung him, but it was warranted, so for now, he'd go along with this benching. He'd proved himself to Cynthia already, and he didn't expect her to keep him away from the action for long.

Either way, his encounter with Zagreus had been sobering, once again. Similar to his decimation by Cynthia, he was once again reminded of how far he still had to go.

Oddly, it wasn't the worst feeling in the world. If anything, it only kindled the fire in his chest even further.

Against Zagreus specifically, Ash knew he could beat him. Their battle hadn't lasted long, but Ash knew his pokémon were stronger. Even without N there, he knew he would have defeated him.

That was the frustrating part. Two years later, and he was still trapped in the mindset of a traditional pokémon trainer. Zagreus hadn't hesitated to target him, but Ash had treated the battle like any other, for the most part. Unwittingly, he'd fallen into another set of habits while training against wilds.

Today, Ash swore, would be the last day he would let himself burden Paragon with his carelessness.

And he would get to work on it immediately.

Pikachu scampered up onto his shoulder after he changed and they headed out to get some breakfast.

Sabrina was awake in the living room, and sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing the window. Her eyes were transfixed on the sun outside, but her eyelids didn't move in the slightest, much less blink.

"Good morning, Sabrina!" Ash said with a smile, and Pikachu chirped and waved.

Sabrina didn't move, and at first he thought she hadn't heard him. But as he approached her, she tilted her head ever so slightly in his direction.

"Good morning," she said. After greeting him, she immediately shifted back into place as if nothing had happened.

Ash stood in the middle of the room looking like a bit of a doofus, and he glanced around to see if anyone else was seeing this. "Uhhh, so what're you doing?"

Silence passed between them. Pikachu's ears twitched, and he sent a jolt into Ash's body for no reason. Just as he thought he was being ignored, she spoke up.