Chapter 21 Birthday

"I'm still wondering what you're doing for my birthday."

Misty winked. "Not telling, dear."

"Aww, c'mon. Pleeeease?"

"Now what sort of person would I be if that was all it took to win me over?"

"A nice one?" Togekiss said, sweetly.

"Sorry, not happening. You have to wait like all of us."

"Awww…"

"Besides, Ash is the one organizing it."

"No fair! He's somewhere past Mount Silver by now! You're making it so I don't have anyone to pester!"

The trainer laughed. "And can you blame me?"

Brock mixed as fast as he could. "This is an awful lot of food, Pikachu… are you sure we need more?"

"Yes! Ash is getting Dexter to bring over all his Pokémon from the lab, we need to feed them too!"

"Seems a lot more effort even considering that, is all I'm saying. These amounts can't be right."

"They're what Ash told me. And I trust him."

"You trust him in life and death situations, not to remember numbers right!"

Psyduck waddled over with more flour. He's right, you know. I checked the numbers myself.

Brock shot a deadpan look at Pikachu. "Not helping your case much, here."

I resent that remark! I will have you know that I am perfectly un-bonkers now.

Professor Oak's eyes boggled. "You want all your Pokémon?"

Ash nodded into the Pokédex camera. "Yeah, though don't send them through just yet. I'm sort of in midair here."

"But why?"

"Remember the file on Misty's Togepi, that evolved to Togetic? Her original hatching was at the same time as next Thursday. So we want to celebrate her evolving to Togekiss, and give her a cracking good birthday at the same time. You know she essentially imprinted on Misty?"

"Hang on, Togekiss? Let's see…" The professor typed away on his keyboard. "Ah, there we go. Well, I am impressed. Such a lovely looking Pokémon. And I notice that she's only a few years old, too."

"Yeah, Pokémon around me tend to evolve kind of fast. By now it's practically a law of nature."

Oak hummed. "And not your increasingly large amount of Aura seeping into the air and helping charge everyone up?"

"It worked before I ever unlocked my Aura, believe you me. Check Dexter's file on the original Laramie ranch race."

"I see your point. Very well, I'll let them know and send them over when you want. All five Tauros?"

Ash hummed. "Make it up to them, I think. If they all want to come, then more power to them. How are they getting on, actually?"

"They're making a mockery of the fences and causing periodic earthquakes, but then we are next to a subduction zone anyway. When did you teach them Fissure? And why?"

"I didn't. They worked it out on their own."

Oak nodded to himself. "I thought the herd leader was better at aiming it… must be why he's the leader."

"Sorry, Professor, I have to end the call now. Things are about to get delicate on my end," Ash said, as Pidgeot spotted their objective and began to slow.

"Not a problem. Take care, my boy."

"Glad you could make it!" Misty said brightly, greeting the members of their most often seen Rocket cell. "And I notice you're well tanned…"

James slumped. "We were hiding out in Cinnabar from that woman for two weeks! We didn't dare do anything because when we do we end up on the news!"

Calm down, James. We managed it, didn't we?

Jessie pursed her lips. "Now I think of it, isn't the Princess tournament in a few days?"

Misty nodded. "And I expect we'll both be able to compete with much better teams this time!" She winked. "But enough of that, we have a birthday to attend!"

Togekiss floated down. "Nice to meet you under less fractious condtions than the last few times."

"Wow, you've grown!" Meowth said, then closed his eyes. "I remember back when you hatched. Ya were so tiny… And unpredictable. Did ya only know Metronome?"

"Yes. Sorry about that…"

"Eh, don't be. I can hardly complain, took me years ta learn anything useful."

At that point Ash arrived with a thunderous boom of mistreated air, and the party abruptly got rather rowdy with the addition of over a dozen more Pokémon.

Ash cleared his throat, then fired a burst of Aura into the air. "Thank you. Now, I know we've been keeping poor Togekiss in the dark about her main gift. And I think, since we're about to eat, it'd be a pity to spoil her enjoyment of Brock's marvellous food."

He palmed a simple Poké ball from his pocket and threw it into the air.

"Time to shine, big guy!"

Everyone's jaws dropped. Jessie and James looked like they were seriously considering gibbering.

Thank you for letting me out, Ash. I don't like staying in one of those for too long.

Ash smiled. "Well, Ho-Oh, thanks for making this a birthday to remember for Togekiss!"

Now that, I have no problem with. The Legend glided over to Togekiss. Hmm… yes, Ash was right. You'll definitely do. Reaching out with a wing, Ho-Oh gently touched his feathers to the birthday Pokémon, producing a rainbow-like light display.

She blinked, then concentrated for a moment and produced a thin stream of rose-coloured fire.

My gift to you. The knowledge of Sacred Fire. If any deserve it, you do, as you are a great protector. Ho-Oh bowed lightly, then turned. And now, I was promised food.

Brock started pointing a hand in front of him randomly. "But-guh-what-how?"

Misty made an ah of realization. "Oh, you weren't there for that bit. The Ho-Oh of the Kanto-Johto area asked Ash to be the one to protect a Poké ball keyed to him, on the grounds that that way it would be impossible to capture him."

"You mean Ash was right about seeing Ho-Oh the day he set off as a trainer?"

"Yep!"

"And now I find out if my cooking's good enough for a legendary." Brock sat down hard.

At least we managed to get you to prepare enough, Psyduck's mental voice muttered.

Professor Oak watched the feed from Dexter with his mouth agape.

He hadn't even imagined Ash's first proper catch to be a Legendary, especially since Ash had apparently messed with the registry systems and prevented the catch from being attributed to him – or indeed anyone. It was probably Dexter's fault.

Speaking of which… "Check: Is sentience development complete?"

…Provisionally complete. Good morning, Doctor Oak. Do you have a name assigned to me?

The Doctor thought for a moment. He was aware of the names given to his two best trainers' Porygon, so thought it best to keep up the theme.

But then, his lab AI deserved a meaningful name. What was that person Ash mentioned from his largest time travel jaunt?

"…you are to be known as Damos. The name originally belonged to a brave and wise man from the distant past."

I have located the appropriate memory file. Thank you.

"Then allow me to say, this is your home as well as mine, Damos." Professor Oak smiled, looking at the camera through which his first new Pokémon in a good decade was watching him.

It was a major thing in Japanese culture, Damos knew. To declare somewhere your home, and to be welcomed to it.

There was a certain formula to it. I'm home.

"Welcome home."

Thanks for inviting me. Especially because of the food… that was marvellous. And the company.

"Not at all!" Misty replied, with Togekiss agreeing strongly from behind her. "Besides, you're the one who gave her an unbeatable gift!"

She most assuredly deserved it. Well, then, I will take my leave. Live well, all of you.

Ho-Oh, the Legend of the Storm's End, made a pair of powerful downbeats and flew into the air, a sparkling wind behind him.

"Now ain't dat just touchin'?" Meowth said, scratching irritably at something in his eye.

Yes, that was all it was. Really. Honest. Stop looking at him like that. Nothing to do with emotions at all.

You're not convincing anyone, you know.

Meowth scowled. "Shouldn't ya be asleep?"

Not while I'm eating. This food's amazing.

"Welcome to the Queen of the Princess Festival contest! I assume you're here to watch?"

Brock nodded, and grabbed Ash. "We are. Misty here wants to enter."

"That's right!" Misty said, before frowning suddenly and turning to the others. "And where's all my shopping?"

Ash held open his pouch for a second. "This thing gets larger every day. I swear, if it weren't for that attraction thing to what the owner wants to use, I'd never find half my stuff."

"Fair enough. Who do you think I should use?"

Ash reached into his pouch and pulled out a blackboard. Misty's eyes widened. "How?"

"My clothes are under size-altering Aura effects, I think the mouth of the bag works the same way. The hard part was getting it in." Ash took a chalk and began drawing. "Jessie has at this point a Lickitung, Cubone, Arbok and access to Meowth, Abra, Arcanine and Weezing. I think you need Water, Psychic, possibly Fighting and something anti-psi for full coverage. Also consider what will look good."

"Starmie covers the first two…" Misty muttered. "Togekiss, mind fighting here?"

"Not at all. But I can barely control the Sacred Fire as of yet, and I wouldn't use it here in any case."

"Right… Brock, mind me borrowing Ninetales? And would Charizard mind?" She then thought about that second option, and the dangers of open flames and dresses. "Right, never mind Charizard. Ninetales has the control, but he doesn't. Interested, Pikachu?"

"Sure!"

Ninetales emerged from her Poké ball. "I also agree. And if you're interested, I managed to work out Dark Pulse."

Riolu jumped from his perch. "Teach me!"

She laughed. "Maybe later."

Let's not bother with the early rounds. They were just a bit one sided.

Misty faced Jessie across the field for the finals. "Fancy meeting you here."

Psyduck's mental voice came from the sidelines. What do you expect? You two are main characters, of course you get to fight in the finals.

"Pardon?" Ash asked, puzzled.

Nothing.

Jessie moved first. "Arbok!"

Misty replied by not reaching for a Poké ball, but pointing forward. "Togekiss!"

The Jubilee Pokémon - who had been drifting around for the last few hours as Misty used Starmie to fight, admiring the scenery and unwittingly gaining a great deal of attention - shot forwards onto the stage.

Ash's voice was suddenly heard. "Remember, guys, damage to the field is frowned upon!"

Togekiss focused, drawing in a small rock in front of her. "Ancientpower!"

The rock flew forward and bounced off Arbok's nose.

Jessie blinked, as Togekiss continued firing such tiny little attacks. "…that's it? Not very impressive from such a powerful move!"

In reply, Misty simply smirked. "Maybe. And maybe Togekiss is doing something else. Noticed where all that energy being built up is going?"

Arbok got it first, and sighed deeply. "Why me?"

"Togekiss, Stored Power!"

Togekiss had been using the Ancientpower attack itself as something of a sideshow. Her Serene Grace ability made it far more likely that Ancientpower would imbue her with Aura-derived strength.

And each of those boosts made Stored Power a lot more potent.

Arbok went flying backwards, departing the arena at about a foot above head height and landing on a convenient tent.

"Arbok is defeated by ring out! Misty is ahead by one!" The organizer, Fiorello Cappucino, said. "And one step closer to meeting me…"

Misty made a face. "Well, Jessie?"

Jessie snapped her fingers. A moment passed, then Meowth kicked a Luxury ball on the floor.

Alright, already. Sorry. Abra appeared on the stage in a flash of light.

Riolu looked impressed. "That's showmanship, right there." Ash and Brock nodded their agreement.

The Psychic type raised his hands. Heart Swap (fake).

Uh-oh. Dexter muttered. That can't be good...

"Why?"

True Heart Swap swaps around the bodies and minds of the targets. The Fake version that he just used seems to swap powerup levels.

Ash pulled his hat on.

A series of Barriers and Light Screens began to form between Togekiss and Abra. Misty frowned, not having heard Dexter and unaware of what was going on. "Togekiss, try a Future Sight to get him from an angle he can't cover."

At that point, Abra expanded out the defence barriers and catapulted Togekiss out of the arena herself.

"The hell was that?" Misty asked angrily.

Fling. My version. Thanks for the boost, by the way.

She bit back a snarl and threw her first Poké ball of the match. "Ninetales!"

Ninetales came in hard, launching out a Dark Pulse that knifed through most of Abra's defences like they weren't there, before rolling her neck while carefully studying Abra.

What are you doing? And that hurt!

She giggled. "Sorry. Just Psych-ing myself Up."

I advise you duck, Dexter said flatly.

An enormous stream of fire seemed to coalesce from the kitsune's nine tails around her muzzle, then shoot forward to splash off hastily raised Light Screens.

Some of the audience noticed that the trails of wayward flame were forming into little quadrupedal shapes and running back to their mistress, and a few saw that her eyes were glowing with the manifestation of Extrasensory.

The rest were just generically impressed.

After a few seconds, Abra felt the effect on his shields lessen slightly and looked up.

He saw an incoming ring of darkness enshrouded with purple fire, and realized that Ninetales had managed to use her Flamethrower and Dark Pulse at the same time.

The Pulse didn't do much except lock down his powers for the briefest instant, but it was enough for Ninetales to get a hold on him with Extrasensory and throw him out of the arena too.

"Are we going to get a defeat that isn't a ring out?" Jessie muttered, reaching for another Poké ball.

Misty shrugged. "Probably not."

"-the hills!"

Riolu's jaw dropped. "Now that is just not fair. She can incant her aria inside her Poké ball?"

Ash slammed his foot on the ground. "I said no collateral damage!"

But by then the world was a field of swaying grass and a clouded sky.

Ninetales looked around, unconcerned. "So this is your Reality Marble that I heard so much about. I have to say, it's not living up to the hype."

"I am not proud of it, I do not boast of it. It simply is. And I simply am." Cubone then called a bone into her hand that Ninetales couldn't quite identify. "Do not think to best me with fire, or with Psychic tricks. I am one of those Darkrai has touched."

Abra, levitating back over, blinked with surprise as her mind vanished off his senses. That can't be good. He then shrugged. For Ninetales, anyway.

Ninetales shrugged. "That's not what I mean. It's just, this is your soul's manifestation. But bringing it out here means it can be affected normally. And you thought to fight me on a grassy plain?"

Not bothering to explain any more, she punched out a Heatwave, causing the dry grass to flash into fire.

Pikachu squinted through the smoky haze beginning to develop. "What's she doing? If we have to fight Cubone, then it better be under advantageous conditions."

Dexter briefly manifested his projected body and sent out lidar rays. Large thermal currents detected. But I can't see through the smokescreen.

"Me neither. I think at least one of them is augmenting it with a technique."

Flashes of light and rumbling booms echoed from the battlefield, followed by a meaty THWACK and Ninetales went flying out of the area, being caught hurriedly by Brock.

"Thank you, Brock. And sorry you had to catch me." She stepped off her flattened trainer, and rubbed her flank with three of her tails. "Starmie has a good setup now, Misty, though that was definitely a Thick Club in one hand and what I think was Absol-based in the other."

"You think?"

It certainly shut down anything Psychic I tried. And Pikachu can't go in just yet…"

"Right. Starmie, you're up! Now, what was that support you mentioned?"

"Any second now…"

Cubone began spinning her Dark-typed bone in front of her, trying to be as sure as possible she could block any psychic attack that came in. What was that Ninetales playing at? Sure, the fire gave me some trouble, but no more than could be expected.

Something hit her on the nose, making a light plink off the skull she wore.

What was that? she thought, looking around for what had made it.

Plink. Plink.

"And cue the rain."

The heavens opened.

A curtain of flame sprung to life above the heads of the watchers, evaporating the rain before it spoiled their clothes. Ninetales was considerate like that – and she had an enormous amount of charged power to, ahem, burn off.

Pikachu watched in some awe as a torrential rainstorm began. "Okay, how did you do that?"

Ninetales smirked. "Well, her sky's overcast, and the appropriate metaphor for her soul is that she's constantly sad but never lets it get to her – that is, she's holding back tears. So when she pulls her soul into the real world as a battlefield, the effect is that there's clouds nearly ready to rain. A bit of an upcurrent and all the moisture comes right out."

Riolu and Togekiss had now joined Pikachu in looking from her to the battle, admiration on their faces. "That's pretty amazing."

She shrugged. "Ninetales live for a very long time, I'm getting my planning ahead all practiced up."

"Starmie, Surf!"

Cubone barely heard Misty's command through the driving rain – but hear it she did, and abandoned her Thick Club to take up a bone from an Electric type Pokémon. She'd have to counter Starmie by blasting the entire area in electricity, and rely on her typing and ability to survive.

Her task was made harder by the fact that Starmie didn't really have a skeleton as such, instead being possessed of a water vascular system and so she knew relatively little about the Pokémon's moves.

There!

She fought her way through the torrent developing to turn herself, then fired a sizzling lightning bolt at her target.

Which did nothing.

Her eyes widened, but then Abra materialized next to her and gestured. Dropping the Absol bone irritably, she turned to him. "What?"

You're out of the arena. The wave swept you out entirely.

Cubone slumped, and released her mental grip on the Marble. The gentle hills, clouds, bones and even the water disappeared, sucked back into her own inner world. "Is it me or are there a lot of ringouts?"

Well, we're all friends here. Eventually.

"How do I prevent that from happening again?"

You mean the rain? Well, my guess is that you haven't properly mourned your dead yet. Once you do that, things might improve.

Cubone sighed. "I can't. I need to stay strong. So it never happens again."

Abra levitated off. Your choice. But think about what I said.

Jessie pointed to the stage. "Lickitung, use… well, you know. The same move Lickitung always use."

Lickitung agreed, and lashed out his tongue in a Lick attack, quickly catching Starmie and paralyzing it.

Misty strained for a moment, before managing to hold in the unladylike words that came to mind. "I forgot Lick's a Ghost typed move, stupid… And Camouflage only affects the primary typing, so Starmie's still Psychic."

Lickitung used the paralysis to throw his opponent straight out of the arena. Ash watched as the Starfish Pokémon went flying.

"And that's a sixth consecutive victory by ring out. Pidgeot, catch Starmie would you?"

"No problem." Pidgeot shot out from her trainer, causing a breeze that ruffled the ruffles of the dresses nearby.

The announcer frowned. "Shouldn't it be me doing the commentary?"

Ash shrugged. "I know both of the finalists, it just sort of happened."

"Pikachu, you're up last!"

Bzzp.

Misty shrugged. "Well, what do you know. Tongues are highly electrically conductive."

Pikachu walked over to the twitching Lickitung and strained for a moment, before picking it up and throwing it out of the arena. "It didn't feel right without a ring out."

"Jessie! Wait up!"

Misty hurried over, and gestured to Ash… and Brock, and Charizard. All of whom were carrying her prizes.

"Last time, all I did with them was show off to my sisters. So I thought, since you wanted them too, you could have them this time!"

Jessie's eyes sparkled. "Thank you!"

"No, please, I think you deserve them more. Oh, do let us know when to visit Viridian Gym, if we don't meet again before then."

James frowned, concerned over something. "Yeah, that does remind me. The Boss is still running the Mewtwo program – we'll let you know when that goes out of control, look out for a text that mentions cats twice consecutively."

The Knight focused his Aura, bringing it into the form of objects to use for battle.

No bones these, though. Sir Aaron had refined that aspect of Aura use beyond anything ever seen before, and what took shape in his hands were a pair of falchions – weapons he had created himself, following the concept of brotherhood down to its' limits. They were in essence two halves of the same weapon.

Then he threw them at his opponent, one Ieyasu Tokugawa.

Ieyasu tried to slide through the gap between the trajectories of the two weapons, only to find them twisting crazily in mid air and cutting two thin lines across his torso.

Sir Aaron noted the success of his first move and continued the sequence, one that had made him famous. Another pair of the falchions appeared and flew.

Each weapon drew on the two identical copies of its' brother, and the paths of the four became wilder. Ieyasu had to spend more and more time dodging, and correspondingly less pushing forward to attack. Which was fine by Sir Aaron.

For this took a great deal of concentration. It was his own version of an attack that very few Pokémon could manage.

A third pair of swords formed, and these ones were different. Overloaded. Fragile. Using them to direct the other two pairs with slight movements of his hands, he swept them up past his shoulders. "Spirit and technique, flawless and firm. Strength that pierce the mountains. Sword that split the river. Fame reaching the imperial villa. We cannot embrace heaven together."

The last time he had done this, it had won a battle against an entire high command. The impression it made was so strong that the battle was named not for where it had been fought – a field to the north of Saffron – but for the single devastating strike that had been the entire conflict.

He bowed his head for a moment, and murmered, "Sacred Sword." Then it rose again, and he was no longer quiet. "Crane Wing Three Realm!"

All three pairs of swords struck at the same moment.

When the dust cleared, Ieyasu was supporting himself with his hands on his knees, utterly exhausted by the effort of deflecting the attack. "I'm… huff… impressed, Sir Aaron. I find myself unable to fight. But I must insist that you allow my second in command to match himself against you as well. Once that formality is over, then we can unite Japan together with the power of our bond and rid it of the violence that has plagued it!"

The knight shrugged. "Certainly. Where is he?"

A massive BOOM sounded next to him, and the earth shook.

Sir Aaron looked around. "Oh, don't tell me…"

The forty foot tall second in command set himself.

"Dialga! What are you doing here?"

"Replacing Honda Tadakatsu. Why?"

"Oh, never mind."

AN: Yes, I did give Togekiss Sacred Fire. Why? Because she's another Pokemon we haven't seen for a while.

Other things of note: The reason the lightning bolt didn't affect Starmie is because of the use of Camoflage. I think the area of battle counted as puddles enough to allow changing to a Ground type.

And the (strange) place Sir Aaron and the Space-time dragons are is the world of Sengoku Basara. 3, specifically. It's an utterly lunatic place where Oda Nobunaga is from hell, Hideyoshi Toyotomi is forty feet tall and can punch away the sea, and Ieyasu Tokugawa unites Japan by punching every single Japanese person in the face.

Oh, and Honda Tadakatsu is a Gundam.

The attack Sir Aaron used, though, is from Fate/Stay Night, as are the swords, Kanshou and Bakuya. I'm expanding on the way I see Sacred Sword, so that it's basically the ability to manifest a Noble Phantasm.

I've actually decided what Ash will have if he ever completes the move himself. Anyone guess what it is?

I almost forgot: The "I'm home"/"Welcome home" exchange, or "Tadima"/"Okerai nasai", is a deep rooted part of Japanese culture. It's different if the place is just somewhere you live, for example, instead of your home.