Aries

A Fashion Disaster!

"You alright?" Steven crouched over Ash, who was still blinking the exhaustion out of his eyes. A fuzzy cloth-like sensation filled his head as he blinked away the lights dancing in his eyesight. What had he been doing, exactly- to end up here? They were on a cruise... and?

"..Oh, I'm sorry, yeah, Satoshi, we're gonna go and tour this amusement park. Don't worry too hard about it, alright?" Steven laughed reassuringly. Ash was reminded of the nicknames they had come up with to avoid being tracked down by those looking to hurt them.

Who they were, Ash was still sort of fuzzy on, but he didn't mind. He let Steven pull him up with his free hand, looking around the island where massive robotic Pokemon stomped about and people squealed excitedly on rollercoasters. A part of him wanted to try and figure out the full story, but Steven hadn't done anything to suggest breaking his trust yet, so he presumed it was fine.

Ash felt his stomach grumble rather childishly as Steven stifled a laugh and dragged him through the quiet amusement park. A young lady, maybe in her mid-twenties, with long pink hair, spotted them. She waved them over, presenting what looked like a feast of food. She gave a friendly customer service-y smile while the two collected their food.

Steven paid for it. Ash couldn't quite place the reason why he knew Steven wasn't going to worry about money, but he didn't want to worry about that fact either. He could ask Steven later, figure it out with Mewtwo's help, whatever he needed. He sat a the picnic bench and silently chewed the food, gulping it down hungrily. When had he even eaten last? Clearly not in a while, without how he wolfed down the greasy fries and burgers reminiscent of cheap Unovan food.

"Don't forget to have some water, don't choke here-" Steven snorted, sliding a glass of cool water to his friend. Ash grabbed the glass and slurped it, sighing in relief as the sweet icy hydration filled him. He looked around the Pokemon amusement park curiously.

Giant Venusaur and Charizard, and other incredibly realistic Pokemon trotted around the area. It made him almost uncomfortable. Realistic copies of Pokemon just reminded him of- .. of who? He couldn't remember, but he knew it made him sad.

"It is a bit weird, isn't it? Not my idea of a fun vacation." Steven chipped in, interrupting Ash's thoughts before they could spiral to anywhere meaningful. "My idea is spelunking deep in a cave, studying some gorgeous granite formations..."

Ash held back a snicker. "Delightful."

"I mean it! Don't you think it's so interesting how granite forms? Deep underground, from magma slowly cooling and forming gorgeous crystals, into an incredibly tough rock..." Steven rambled a little as Ash continued to eat, enjoying the accompanying geology lecture. Steven eventually breathed in and out and laughed. "I did ramble a bit.."

"It's fine, truly- it was interesting." Ash chuckled. And it really was, he wasn't lying in saying that. He hadn't ever thought about something as mundane as rocks, and it was a fresh change from everything.

What "everything" meant was a question for an Ash trying to not eat his body's weight in food.

"I see your point about his memory. What he doesn't know isn't hurting him, and he doesn't seek to remember it anyway.."

"He'll get it back quickly enough. I don't think my Pokemon did a great job out of empathy."

"That's fine. I understand, I understand this."

Steven and Ash had moved on from the Pokemon Land pretty quickly. They arrived in a beautiful little seaside town, Acapulco. They had found out they were on the island of Porta Vista, a fairly remote location near-ish to Vermillion in the way Pacifidlog was near to anywhere. It was almost nostalgic for Steven, the sun beating down on the beaches and the pristine white buildings lining the resort town reminding him of Slateport City in Hoenn. Ash seemed more in awe with the sand, fascinated by every shell they passed and looking and inspecting each colourful lifeform, rubbing his fingers along the grooves and scrapes that made each little one unique.